When The Best Picture Project was winding down, I knew I needed a new project to occupy my time. Thus was born Also Rans Project. So now that project has ended, it’s time for something new.
One notion I had for the next iteration of these series was to carry on with the Oscar-theme – perhaps look at the feature-length Documentary winners. But just as soon as I had the notion, I stuck it aside, worrying about availability – simply, I thought the older docs would be hard to come by and I didn’t want to spend a lot of time/money tracking them down.[1]
I also considered watching all the Best Actress winners, or even all the Oscar nominated films with scripts by women – after all, watching movies outside the ‘white male filmmaker’ genre would be good for everybody. But again, I was worried about the ready availability of the films. Also, it seemed there might be too much repetition between The Best Picture Project, and The Also-Rans Project, and therefore too limiting.[2]
So, what did I decide on?
52 Before 62.
The rules of 52 Before 62 are simple: watch 52 movies I’d never seen before, all of which were released before 1962. The 52 was meant to spur me to watching them all inside a single calendar year. Freed from requirement for one film per year from a small little subset of films, e.g. Oscar losers, I wouldn’t have to worry about availability of the movies, because I wouldn’t be tied down to watching any one thing at all. More important is that most of the movies I’ve watched in the last several years were mostly from the last two decades,[3] and I want that to change. By focusing on the first 50 years of film history, I’d learn a thing or two, about a thing or two.
My sincere hope is this project is completed with the calendar year of 2019, which means if I’m to average one per week, I have to get moving and double up some weeks because I’m already behind. But, if you promise to follow along, I promise to lead you.
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You can follow 52 Before 62 here.
You can see the The Best Picture Project here. Or, you could buy the revised, updated version of that project in book form: E-Book or Paperback. It will not include this entry, for obvious reason.
Also see the Also Rans Project here. Or, you could buy the revised, updated version of that project here: click on the link here.
To be a pal and buy my books, jum.p over here and here and have a look. I promise, buying always makes you feel good.
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[1] One that I know struggles for availability is The Man Who Skied Down Everest (1975). I know this because, after catching it on cable as a kid – inexplicably on cable – I tried to track it down a few years ago and wound up having to watch a Polish-subtitled version on Youtube.
[2] Amongst the sure-to repeat amongst the Actress/Screenplay nominees: Funny Girl, The Big House, and Children of a Lesser God.
[3] My Letterboxd.com history is really good at exposing an inadvertent bias against older films.
