Kyle's New Year's Resolution Update

This year, I had a New Year's resolution epiphany:  I needed to make a resolution that I wanted to keep (instead of, like, run 5 miles a day, or don't eat desserts).  Therefore, I resolved that, in 2011, I would watch 100 movies that I had never seen before.  I absolutely love movies, and I was pretty embarrassed that there was some absolutely essential stuff that I missed during my first 26 1/2 years on earth.  So in 2011, my goal was to patch some of the holes in my film knowledge.

As of July 23, I have watched 55 movies in 2011 that I had never seen prior to this year.  I think I'm a couple of movies off the pace, but I'm pretty confident I can pull it off.  I won't bore you with the entire list (I only bore Erin with the entire list--she keeps it on her computer for me) but I thought I would give you a top ten list.  Let me know what you think.

1.  The Third Man (1949)

Directed by Carol Reed and starring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten.  Really an incredible movie (check out Roger Ebert's Great Movies essay on it; he can explain why it's so great much better than I ever could).  The Blu-Ray/DVD is really expensive, but it's streaming on Netflix.  Check it out.

Orson Welles being awesome.

 2.  Casablanca (1942)

Yes, prior to 2011 I had never seen Casablanca.  Thus the New Year's resolution.

3.  The Red Shoes (1948)

It's about ballet, so it makes a great companion piece to Black Swan (which I also loved).  Not as creepy as Black Swan, but an amazing-looking movie.  Also streaming on Netflix.

4.  A Serious Man (2009)

A fantastic Coen brothers film.  I'm going to have to watch it about five more times to really wrap my head around it, but I totally plan on doing that.

5.  Winter's Bone (2010)

Reminds me of the television show Justified (which is pretty easily my favorite currently-airing television show).  John Hawkes (a/k/a Kenny Powers' brother, a/k/a Deadwood's Sol Star) gives a chilling performance.

Teardrop is a scary dude.

6.  Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) / Escape From New York (1981)

Both are awesome John Carpenter films, so I'm counting them as one.  Assault is pretty bloody, but check it out if you're into that sort of thing.  Escape is a total blast.  Carpenter directed Halloween, my all-time favorite film.  These two aren't on the same level, but they're close.  (I also watched Carpenter's They Live, which is a fun movie and pretty interesting, but not one of my favorites.)

Don't mess with Snake Plissken.

7.  Super 8 (2011)

Directed by J.J. Abrams.  Not on the same level as the movies it's emulating (E.T., Close Encounters, etc.), but it's a lot of fun, and it's so, so much better than almost everything that makes it into mainstream theaters these days.  I wish ten movies like this came out every year.

8.  Horrible Bosses (2011)

The funniest movie I've seen in a long time.  I liked Bridesmaids and Bad Teacher, but Horrible Bosses topped them both pretty easily for me.  If you like R-rated comedies, see this one.

9.  True Grit (2010)

Probably my fifth or sixth favorite Coen brothers movie, but the films above it (No Country For Old Men, Fargo, etc.) are hard to top.

10.  Adventureland (2009)

A great little movie starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart.  About college-age kids that, unlike most movie characters, actually seem like real college-age kids.

(As a side-note, if Erin's New Year's resolution had been to watch the entire series of The Hills in 2011, she would've accomplished it with about eight months to go.)