2017 Blind Spot List + how I did in 2016

Another year is over and I completed my 2016 Blind Spot List! This event has been a great way for me to actually get off my ass and watch so many classics. I'll always be grateful to Ryan for starting it. Before I put up my 2017 List, here's how I did in 2016.

1) Au Revoir Les Enfants (A+)
2) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (A)
3) The Apartment (B)
4) Marnie (B)
5) Funny Face (B-)
6) Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (A)
7) The Passion of Joan of Arc (C)
8) The French Connection (B)
9) JFK (C+)
10) The Miracle Worker (A-)
11) All The President's Men (A)
12) Chinatown (A-)


Au Revoir Les Enfants was easily my favorite of the bunch. The only one I disliked was The Passion of Joan of Arc, even though I didn't want to. For next year, I'm going to get a bit ambitious as I wanted to do the Three Color movies, but had so many others I wanted to throw on here. So I'm going to combine them into one month. here's my 2017 Blindspot List:

1) Sleepers
2) Whatever Happened to Baby Jane
3) Videodrome
4) Paris, Texas
5) Sunset Boulevard
6) Three Colors: Red, White, Blue
7) Jackie Brown
8) Cinema Paradiso
9) Midnight Cowboy
10) Do The Right Thing
11) Boyz in the Hood
12) In The Bedroom

Alternates: The Birds, Suddenly Last Summer, All About Eve

Right now, I'm not finding a place to watch Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, so if nothing turns up, I made a shortlist of replacements. This also might be the "youngest" of all my Blind Spot lists as I have a lot of 80's and 90's films here, which isn't usually what I'm aiming for. What do you think? Have you seen the films on my list? Am I going to hate any of them?

2016 Blind Spot Series: Chinatown

What I knew going in: Nothing. This is one I threw in based on title alone.

J.J Gittes (Jack Nicholson is a private detective that's hired by a woman named Evelyn Mulwray who believes her husband, who happens to be in charge of the city's water supply is having an affair. He follows him, takes a few photos then finds out that he was hired by an impersonator when the real Evelyn Mulwary (Faye Dunaway) confronts him. Soon, her husband is found dead and Gittes is dragged into a world of conspiracy surrounding this case.

When isn't Jack Nicholson fun to watch? I thought both he and Dunaway were great here. I loved getting to the bottom of the mystery with them, even if the details about the water supply did end up being the parts of the movie that dragged the most. 

Without spoiling too much, I really dug how dark the ending got. I wasn't expecting something like that at all. The film had been pretty tame before that and I'm glad they took that risk.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: A-

Memorable Quote: "Most people never have to face the fact that, at the right time and the right place, they're capable of anything." - Noah Cross (John Huston)

2016 Blind Spot Series: Marnie

What I knew going in: I had seen the film, The Girl, and that this film is pretty split between whether people like it or hate it. 

Marnie (Tippi Hedren) is a thief who changes her identity frequently. She gets good jobs, robs the safes, then leaves and moves on to the next thing. She soon comes to work for a man named Mark (Sean Connery) who catches her after she steals from him. He forces her to marry him, then when she doesn't respond in the way he likes, he starts to look into her past, trying to figure out what causes the psychological episodes she has. 

This was a peculiar movie. I found it very interesting and paced well, but I had trouble with Mark. He rapes Marnie, yet he's also supposed to be her savior, getting to the bottom of her troubles. I felt like the film was trying to say we were supposed to excuse that. I really enjoyed the story, but I couldn't get around the fact that Mark is a rapist. 

Performance wise, Hedren is good until the final 20 minutes when she ends up being a bit over the top, but not enough to the point where it distracts from the rest. On the outside, the film hasn't aged well, but the score is very whimsical and sets an interesting tone. 

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B

Memorable Quote: "Goodbye, Sugar Plum - Bernice (Louise Latham)

2016 Blind Spot Series: The Apartment

Okay, now I'm back on track. This is my 2nd Blind Spot for the month since I missed out in August. 

What I knew going in: That Billy Wilder directed it. 

CC Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is a lower level employee at an insurance company who has been letting his bosses use his nearby apartment for their liaisons. When he's up for a promotion, another big wig, Mr. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray) wants in on the arrangement too. Baxter finds out the hard way that one of Sheldrake's hook ups happens to be Fran, (Shirley MacLaine) a woman who Baxter has a crush on.

Billy Wilder has been one of the more interesting directors to grace my Blind Spot lists. I notice that I don't often find classic films funny. I'm used to the raunchier stuff they have nowadays, I guess. But Wilder's films always make me laugh. This one is no exception. It's not a through and through comedy. Actually, the tone changes quite drastically with whoever is on screen. When it's Baxter, it's funny. When it's Fran, it's quite tragic. I like that is so seamlessly went between the two. 

Jack Lemmon has such a wonderful presence, has does MacLaine, I enjoyed watching them together. In an effort to squeeze in two Blind Spots in one month, I ended up watching this on YouTube instead of waiting for my DVD from Netflix, which was probably a mistake considering they sped up the voices to (I assume) avoid copyright infringement. It did make a few things more amusing, I suppose. 

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B

Memorable quote: "Certainly  not, I'm a happily married man" - Kirkeby (David Lewis)

2016 Blind Spot Series: JFK

Since I fell behind on this last month I'm hoping to do two of these in September.

What I knew going in: The plot

The film follows New Orleans DA Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) as he attempts to prove that the murder of President John F. Kennedy was a conspiracy that involved more than one shooter. 

We're all to the point where we kind of at least believe there was a conspiracy, right? That alone made me interested in checking this out. One thing I didn't notice before I put this movie on my Blind Spot list...it's over three hours long. THREE + hours of Kevin Costner whom I barely tolerate as it is. I suddenly started dreading this a bit. I attempted to watch it on an airplane (Which I found out later when I got the DVD in the mail was actually heavily edited so I had to start over anyways) and one minute I'm watching a long Kennedy montage, then the next "We're now beginning our descent into...." Whoops. (but bonus: I NEVER sleep on planes)

Anyways, I psyched myself up for this movie in the worst way and it ended up being pretty interesting. It's certainly way too long, but it wasn't as hard as I was expecting it to be. That being said, I am confused on its "masterpiece" status.

How did this get editing and cinematography Oscars? There's some parts that I feel are very masterful, but others that were so choppy it was almost distracting.

How did Tommy Lee Jones end up with an Oscar nomination? He literally does nothing of note. Kevin Bacon, in my opinion was the best actor in this film. Was it because Jones playing an allegedly gay character was ground breaking at the time? I'm scratching my head over that one. 

Coster, despite how much I normally dislike him was actually very good. He kept my attention during this marathon of a movie. Gary Oldman was also impressive as Lee Harvey Oswald. 

Don't get me wrong, JFK is a good film, but I stop myself from calling it "great" or even something I'd consider watching again. 

Recommended: Yes

Grade: C+

Memorable Quote: "Back, and to the left." - Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner)

2016 Blind Spot Series: The Miracle Worker

What I knew going in: The story (Which I think everyone knows) and that of all the film adaptations, this one is considered the best.

Captain Keller (Victor Jory) wants to have his blind, deaf, and mute daughter Helen (Patty Duke) institutionalized as she grows harder and harder to control as she gets older. His wife Kate (Inga Swenson) begs him not to, and instead they hire a woman named Annie Sullivan (Ann Bancroft) to teach her to communicate. However the Kellers aren't accustomed to Annie's harsh teaching tactics and refuse to admit any faults of their own. 

I had seen the Lifetime version with Hallie Kate Eisenberg as Helen, and now after watching this, I feel I can finally understand how terrible that one is in comparison. Everything looked far too polished. Bancroft and Duke are outstanding in their roles. Duke never for one second looks like she's acting. She's so convincing in her eyes, they're never focused on anything. Bancroft also makes us feel about a fraction of what the real Annie must have felt. Watching this film can sometimes be frustrating, especially seeing Annie try so hard to get through to Helen. You wish you could speed up the process for them.

The film did have some downsides. The acting aside from Duke and Bancroft ranges from terrible (Jory) to just okay. (Swenson) They don't match the greatness of the leads. The film is very well shot and staged. The black and white feels even more washed out than normal, like it's capturing the bleakness of the situation. I case could be made for Duke being far too old to play Helen, though I didn't mind. I'm not sure if they could've found a better one. 

Grade: A-

Memorable Quote: "The room is a wreck, but her napkin is folded." - Annie (Anne Bancroft)

2016 Blind Spot Series: The French Connection

What I knew going in: That it was a big Oscar winner. 

Doyle ( Gene Hackman) and Russo (Roy Scheider) are two narcotics cops attempting to bust a big heroin ring. Doyle is a bit of an alcoholic, and sometimes their tracking methods aren't exactly by the book.

There's a lot of prestige around this movie, and I felt a little bad that I thought the beginning was so slow. I didn't find myself that interested in the crime at large here. It's not until about 40 minutes from the end that this movie really steps its game up and becomes incredible.

It's very much a Friedken film. I always say he's a bit of a horrifying director in that he has some startling imagery. He does here too. Even though we don't have Regan from the Exorcist or the paranoia of Bug, he manages to be very forceful, especially in scenes involving Doyle chasing a subject. 

Hackman is excellent here. You undoubtedly side with him as he's trying to bust someone for drugs, but he's such an unlikable guy it makes you question it. The score fits perfectly, but I wish the first hour of this film was as exciting as the last. 

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B

Memorable Quote: "Pay attention, we're gonna ask questions later!"- Russo (Roy Scheider)

2016 Blind Spot Series: Funny Face

What I knew going in: The premise.

Admittedly, I haven't seen a lot of Audrey Hepburn's movies and this may seem like a weird place to start, but Funny Face is one that a good friend of mine frequently raves about. I had to see it for her.

Jo (Audrey Hepburn) works at a book store that is spontaneously ransacked during a modeling photoshoot by an ambitious editor, Maggie Prescott (Kay Thompson) and a photographer, Dick Avery. (Fre Astaire) When Dick stays behind to help Jo clean up, he's intrigued with her. Then when sees her in the background of one of his photos, both he and Maggie are taken in by her appearance and convince her to join them on a trip to Paris for a modeling show. Jo only accepts to see the city, but soon realizes there's a lot more to modeling than she thought.

For a musical, the numbers in this film strangely fell flat. What's actually the most memorable part was the dancing. Hepburn has this lovely ballerina body and she looked so graceful, particularly in the scenes where she dances in a wedding dress. The cinematography and costumes are stunning and make up for the lackluster music numbers. I like Hepburn and Astaire, but I didn't think they had any chemistry as leads. It's Kay Thompson that absolutely stole the show for me. 

It's a gorgeous film with a decent story, but as a musical I felt it could've been so much better. The songs shouldn't be the weakest link, but they were here. 

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B-

Memorable Quote: "This must be the place." - Dick Avery (Fred Astaire)

2016 Blind Spot Series: The Passion of Joan of Arc

What I knew going in: No much, other than it's frequently raved about.

Jeanne d'Arc (Maria Falconetti) is on trial for heresy since she says she has visions of God during the 100 Year War. I'm sure you know the story of how she becomes a martyr and is burned at the stake. This film focuses on her trial.

The DVD gave me two options of watching this. The Silent version and the Voices of Light opera version. I decided to go out of my comfort zone and stick with the silent version, which I started to regret about half way through the film.

Sometimes, movies just aren't for you, and The Passion of Joan of Arc is one of those for me. I don't completely oppose silent movies, but I don't think drama works well with that gimmick. Slap stick comedy, sure, but a film like this started to feel unintentionally campy at times. Falconetti is 95% brilliant in this movie. The pain on her face is so powerful, but there's that 5% where her eyes go a bit too wide and she looks like she's seen Frankenstein's Monster. It takes away from the beauty of her performance. All of the men, the judges and the priests are terrible. They're over the top (and those awful hair cuts don't help) and it was really hard for me to take them seriously.

I think elements of this movie work wonderfully, but over all I just couldn't get into it, no matter how much I wanted to like it. 

Recommended: No

Grade: C

Memorable Quote: "When the mission that God has entrusted to me is over, I will again dress as a woman." - Jeanne d'Arc (Maria Falconetti)

2016 Blind Spot Series: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

What I knew going in: Seen bits and pieces and nurse Rached's reputation

R.P McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) is a repeat offender, often jailed for violence among other things who pleads insanity even though no medical professional believes him. He winds up a psychiatric hospital where he attempts to rile up his fellow patients (played by Sydney Lassick, Christopher Lloyd, Danny DeVito, Will Sampson, and Brad Dourif among others) all while having a power struggle with the head Nurse, Miss Rached ( Louise Fletcher)

It's nice to finally see the whole film. I always happened to catch the fishing part on TV and could never figure out how the hell they got there in the first place. It ages well, with only a few scenes that look dated.

Apparently there's quite a few changes from the book; which I've never read so I can't comment on that. I thought McMurphy was an interesting lead and Nicholson is so charismatic and fun to watch. The supporting actors were also great in their roles, with Dourif being a standout and Christopher Lloyd doing really well for his first role. One thing that surprised me though was Nurse Rached. Fletcher was very good, but the way people describe this character, I expected her to be this furious sociopath. She was more like a terrible person on a power trip. She was calm and stern, but with so many people saying she's one of the most evil women in the history of movies, I have to say I expected something a bit more sinister. 

Recommended: Yes

Grade: A

Memorable Quote: "Would you like to take a vote?" - Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) 

2016 Blind Spot Series: All The President's Men

What I knew going in: That it's a very popular journalism movie.

Washington Post journalists Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) and Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) take on a story about the break in at the Watergate Hotel only for it to blow up into a massive conspiracy where no one wants to talk. Despite being told several times to essentially "let it go." They keep asking questions and use some very creative ways of getting people to confirm their questions.

With Spotlight and Truth being so strong this year. (for me anyways) I knew I had to place this film on my Blind Spot list. So many compared both of those films to this one. I find films like this endlessly fascinating. I love watching journalists work. How they do their research, ask their questions, and put up with so much shit, I have so much respect for them.

This film is brilliant all around. The pacing is great, the actors are very natural, though admittedly I'm not really sure how Jane Alexander managed to score an Oscar nomination out of this. Jason Robards certainly deserved his win. 2016 is off to a good start Blindspot wise!

Recommended: Yes

Grade: A

Memorable Quote: "When is someone going to go on the record about this story?" - Ben Bradlee (Jason Robards)

2015 Blind Spot Series: Winter Light + my 2016 list

What I knew going in: Absolutely nothing. It was just a random title I selected from Bergman's films.

Well, here is is. My final Blind Spot film of 2015. I love participating in this so much. When I threw my list together, I saved this one for last because it had "Winter" in the title and seemed fitting. But this is definitely not a cheery movie by any means.

Pastor Tomas Ericsson (Gunnar Björnstrand) is having a bit of a spiritual crisis. He goes through the motions at his small church with an even smaller congregation. He's a widower, and frequently refuses the love of a woman, Marta. (Ingrid Thulin) who says she's in love with him. He's also faced with counselling a depressed man named Jonas (Max Von Syndow) though he doesn't know what to say to him since he's barely a believer anymore.

This movie is bleak. I'm so torn on how I feel about it. On one hand, I think it was wise of Bergman to have a run time of 81 minutes as this is a very depressing story, but on the other hand, it doesn't feel fully fleshed out. It's fascinating on the surface. I'm not sure what exactly I wanted from this film. I think this is one I'll probably have to revisit again at a later time to see if it comes to me.

Acting wise, it's solid. Syndow doesn't get much to do but you can clearly see the depression etched on his face. Björnstrand also perfectly portrays his spiritual crisis in a very subtle way.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B- (Part of me wants to give this a C, but I think there's something there, and I just need to take more time to reflect.)

Memorable Quote: "I never even knew her." - Marta (Ingrid Thulin)

And now for my 2016 list for this event set up by the very gracious Ryan McNeil over at The Matinee. This is my 3rd year, and I finally narrowed my list down. Sorry, All About Eve and Videodrome. You were close. 


1) Au Revoir Les Enfants
2) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Next
3) The Apartment
4) Marnie
5) Funny Face
6) Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
7) The Passion of Joan of Arc
8) The French Connection
9) JFK
10) The Miracle Worker
11) All The President's Men
12) Chinatown

Okay, Netflix. Throw a few more of these on Instant to make my life easier.