The films they made me watch

Returning to study part time while continuing to work full time has brought about many surprises. The first is the shock of an overwhelming schedule (all work, no play). The second, is discovering the silver lining in each cloudy assignment. I figured, choosing film-based units would be the perfect excuse to watch lots of movies. 'Watching TV again hey?' 'No dear, I'm studying'. And that really works for me!

The third and final surprise has been delving into films that I would normally reject. Looking at the list of movies I had to watch over Summer reminds me how much I enjoyed re-watching the classics (Jane Eyre, The Wizard of Oz and all the Hitchcock films). And it also reminded me of the fear I originally had, in having to sit through 20-odd Westerns. And the fear was justified: there were some absolute shockers!

Watching the Fincher films was a pleasure, in a gory, surreal sort of way. It solidified my adoration of Helena Bonham Carter for her character Martha Singer (Fight Club). But then it would, given I had to re-watch the 'Martha' sequence approximately 50 times to complete an assignment.

Back to the list that was...

The films They made me watch (2010 - 2011):

• 3:10 to Yuma (Mangold, 2007)
• Deadwood (Series HBO, 2004)
• A Fistful of Dollars (Leone, 1964)
• 3:10 to Yuma (Daves, 1957)
• Little Big Man (Penn, 1970)
• Shane (Stevens, 1953)
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Hill, 1969)
• Johnny Guitar (Ray, 1954)
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Ford, 1963)
• Stagecoach (1939)
• Frankenstein (Connor, 2004)
• Jane Eyre (White, 2006)
• Thelma & Louise (Scott, 1991)
• My Darling Clementine (Ford, 1946)
• Bandidas (Ronning & Sandberg, 2006)
• The Quick and the Dead (Raimi, 1995)
• Gunfight at the OK Corral (Sturges, 1957)
• The Wild Bunch (Peckinpah, 1969)
• Rio Bravo (Hawkes, 1959)
• Red River (Hawkes, 1948)
• The Great Train Robery (Porter, 1903) - early narrative
• The Big Trail (Walsh, 1930 - early sound & widescreen
• Brokeback Mountain (Lee, 2005)
• Appaloosa (Harris, 2009)
• The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Dominik, 2007)
• The Godfather (Coppola, 1972)
• Se7en (Fincher, 1995)
• Run Lola Run (Tykwer, 1998)
• Raging Bull (Scorsese, 1980)
• Fight Club (Fincher, 1999)
• Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958)
• Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941)
• Rear Window (Hitchcock, 1954)
• The Wizard of Oz (Fleming, 1939)
• Shadow of a Doubt (Hitchcock, 1943)