Film Literacy

While the Washington Post is rolling out the four part expose on the VP that everyone is anxiously dissecting (and much more on this when the whole things is released), feel free to distract yourselves with the Guardians four part series on the 1000 movies you have to see before you die.

Apparently, if I were to die tomorrow I would not have led a very fulfilling cinematic life. By my very quick (and probably unreliable) count there's around 200 flicks in the first installment, 101 of which I have very little knowledge of. Sure, I might have heard of title, but I couldn't tell you a damn thing about the plot or why it's important as a film. About 29 I have some familiarity with, but have never seen. There's 13 that I've seen enough of to get by in a conversation. And there's 63 that I definitely have seen.

Like all arbitrary and subjective lists of this nature, it has some quirks -- I don't think my life is in any way better for having sat through Con-Air -- but it's an interesting take on an ever-present question.

MORE: Matt Yglesias is similarly in awe of the scale of the project. Though I would have rather the editors included Porky's as opposed to American Pie as the token teen gross-out/sex-wager comedy.