First 100 days of watching a movie every day

Today is the 100th day of 2011, and just guess how many movies I’ve watched this year.

Skeptics may try to say this English Major is incapable of counting, but I have watched 100 movies I’ve never seen before! To commemorate this first leg of my new year’s resolution I would like to take a moment and highlight my ten favorites so far!

1. Ocean’s Eleven (1960)—My first new movie, watched on my last day in Barrington. That morning I was packed and ready to loud the car when I decided to be spontaneous, catching a train to downtown. It was a good day, a very good day. And then I watched this original with Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra; it was the perfect ending to the day, and a wonderful beginning to my crazy resolution.

2. Schindler’s List (1993)—Not too much I can say about this film. It was touched, I cried a little, and I can’t believe that I turned 22 years old without having seen, what I now believe, to be Liam Neeson’s and Steven Spielberg’s greatest movie ever.

3. Amadeus (1984)—This one made me laugh after a bad day, and gave me a richer appreciation for Mozart and for God-given talents.

4. Bright Star (2009)—Keats. “I almost with we were butterflies and liv’d but three summer days—three such days with you I could fill with more delight than fifty common years could ever contain.” English major swooning, right here.

5. The King’s Speech (2010)—My Oscar pick! This movie was fantastic. I sat in the movie theater with my friend Liz, my legs bunched up in front of me as I gasped and giggled. Amazing acting, amazing story, and great cinematography.

6. Adjustment Bureau (2011)—A very clever film, that’s for sure. Perhaps a bit on the weak side on plot, but I love Matt Damon and his character, I loved the 1950s fashion, and Emily Blunt was lovely.

7. The Fugitive (1993)—I watched this one of St. Patrick’s Day, cheering and yelling at Harrison Ford throughout. Very suspenseful!

8. The Great Dictator (1940)—I about laughed until I cried! It was a smart comedy; one that I sadly wonder reached the funny bone of my generation. And how daring to make fun of a powerful world leader with such unashamed honesty and bluntness!

9. Patton (1970)—I love World War 2 movies; a lot of people do, that’s why there are so many of them. Saving Private Ryan (1998), Spielberg’s second greatest film, is easily my favorite WW2 movie, but Patton has its great qualities, too. I really like Karl Malden—an actor whose movies I have never seen before this year!!—the opening scene with George C. Scott as General Patton standing in front of a screen-wide American flag addressing the audience, and the movie’s score.

10. Morning Glory (2010)—This should be my life. I am Rachel McAdams’ character, I want Harrison Ford to be my best friends, and I wouldn’t mind having my very own Patrick Wilson. But serious—for two hours with Heather and Kelsey, I laughed out loud without humility, repeating lines and rewinding the DVD like I was my cousin Reid to re-watch scenes. It was so funny and gave me such a good feeling.

The next 100 days, and hopefully the next 100 movies, will see me a college graduate and an intern at TT Patton in Barrington. This little adventure of mine is time consuming and difficult, but I look forward to the stories I’ve yet to see in brilliant, film form, and I look forward to the friends that decided to stomach my nerdiness and partake in watching one with me.