(Sigh) Well, I can't really say that this snuck up on me, 'cause I was certainly aware that it was coming, but that said, still, this snuck up on me. I wasn't exactly to post this today, but sure enough, after I checked in and caught up with my paperwork, I realize that yes indeed, I had seen my 5,000th film.
Let me backtrack, some of you may be aware of this, but for those who aren't, one of my original reasons for starting this blog, among several reasons, but one of the big ones was that I had made a list of every movie I had ever seen, and felt that I should document it, somehow. At the time, I was approaching my 3,000th feature film, (I didn't count shorts since I never gave them a rating). You can see that post here:
http://davidbaruffi.blogspot.com/2011/08/first-3000-films-actual-lists-plus-some.html
And a couple years ago, I passed 4,000 movies.
http://davidbaruffi.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-first-4000-movies-my-lists-and-new.html
For those who are probably wondering, I was doing this list long before Letterboxd or Flichchart or any other website that's available to put a list like this together, and frankly, I've never felt the desire to start this endeavor all over again just for the sake of....- I don't know, I've never really wanted to do it again mostly. I'm already keeping the records myself, I don't see the need to make an exact copy on some website so that I've have to document them a second time, every time. But, here they are, the updated lists!
MOVIES I'VE SEEN
https://cloud.acrobat.com/file/3f41fddb-7e7f-4b54-a0aa-5cc5a849326f
THEIR STAR RATINGS
https://cloud.acrobat.com/file/69962048-aa46-49ea-bacb-9a6930df9820
The first one, as always is the more complete list, which includes such things as short films and whatnot, while the other list, is actually my Excel film, of each film's Star Ratings I give it on a 0-5 scale. Don't look too deeply at it, like all ratings systems it's subjective and flawed, and at this point, it's just record keeping.
For those curious, the 5,00th film was "Midnight Special," an okay movie, I'm up 5,009 features now, and that's not counting the four or film other films I've seen this week.
I want to say that I had more of an idea or plan on what to say when I passed this new milestone of what I've referred to rather haphazardly as my coffee spoons that I measure out my life in. (For those who know T.S. Eliot's "The Ballad of J. Alfred Prufrock", kudos.) I wish I could say that; I look back at my previous posts on these, and while the links on those posts don't work any more for whatever reason, (And why should they, they're old outdated lists now) I find myself seeming much more, excited about this accomplishment. Sure, it is an accomplishment, both the fact that I've seen all these films, as well the fact that I've managed to document this endeavor, and probably more amazing than that, is that I've somehow managed to propel this obsession or hobby into something of a career that's in a related field; one that even allows me to talk about this at all. Still though, this is bookkeeping more than anything else, and there's nothing wrong with that, perhaps I was somewhat naive when I was younger to try to place more importance and sustenance into it before. Still however, I've spent all this time on it, and as I writer, like all other artists, I do believe that creating something without showing it to others is just masturbation, and that's the worst place you can be for somebody in my position, so, as per usual I present my updated lists to you all again.
I guess I'm glad that I am, more unimpressed or at the very least tired of my accomplishment. Like any other writer, after I'm done with the piece, I usually obsess and finesse it to the point where I finally get sick of even looking at it, and now, I guess I'm at the stage where I think everything I ever create is horrible, regarding this list, and hopefully in another 1,000 movies or so when I publish this list again, I'll be at the point where I'm normally at, more confident and self-assured about my skills, work and accomplishments. (Aka the point where I believe only 80% of everything I create is horrible) We're writers, we know we're crazy. And I'm one of the craziest, the kind who organize their life through lists. Or at least, my movie life.
Overall, I would never tell somebody to not document their film viewing experiences like this; it is a great way to reflect upon and think about the films you've seen and the cinematic experiences and knowledge you've acquired and it's nice to just look back upon your life in some way. For some reason I've thought a lot about Joni Mitchell lately, and the only thing that's coming to my mind is her song "Blue" which has that famous I always liked, "Songs are like tattoos", which I've always interpreted to be about memory, and the way that a song can stick into your mind and instantly reflect back upon a moment in the past, the same way a tattoo can also bring you back to a moment or place in time, and I think it is truer of songs and music than it is of film, but movies can do that to you as well, and if you ever were so inspired to make a list like mine, or one that's more sensible and less, originated on 3x5 floppy disks, I'd tell you that making such a list is like a tattoo. A memory or recall of an event that happened and was worth documenting. They may seem more like empty spaces for me to fill in than they are memories of being sailed away through waves full of acid, booze and ass and needles guns and grass, and of course, lots and lots of laughs, but that could just be me getting older. And I guess overall, I'm okay with that.
So, like a sigh from the inside of a shell, I once again present you my lists. Consider them a foggy lullaby that I'm allowing you all to take a look around. Here's to the next 5,000!
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