Classics of 2016
My last movie of 2016 was Psycho (1960).
We recently took a trip to L.A. and got a chance to see the the Bates Motel and House on the Universal Studio tour. While I was studying or the bar I realized one of the buildings by where I would get lunch was the hotel setting for the very first scene of Psycho. It would give me a nice warm feeling to see that cinematic history every day, and to notice it without any plaques on the outside of the building (it was a police museum as of four years ago). Seeing these locations and rewatching the movie soon after seemed to put a good cap on my year of writing about every movie I watched. Vertigo is listed as the best film of all time on one major list but I think Psycho, and a few other great movies, are a bit better.
So, for the end of 2016, here is a list of the top ten classic movies (pre-1983) I watched during the year:
10. The Long Goodbye
9. Citizen Kane
8. The Empire Strikes Back
7. Psycho
6. The Shining
5. Rashomon
4. Blazing Saddles
3. Dr. Strangelove
2. Seven Samurai
1. Paths of Glory
I didn't quite get to seeing all of my favorite classic movies like Rear Window, La Dolce Vita, or The Third Man that could have easily found their ways into the top five of this list. I rated 35 movies five stars this year on Letterboxd.
