Have you ever fancied a movie but been stuck for which film to choose?
I know that I have.
This quandary can lead to hours of scrolling through movie titles or riffling through DVDs - and then the disk is never where it should be (am I right?).
I have watched a lot of different films from a variety of genres during my 500 Days Of Film Challenge. However, when people ask me to recommend a good film (be it horror, drama or documentary), I often go blank.
The conversation typically goes something like this: "Oh yes, I watched a great movie this week! Yeah. So erm... yeah, it had whatsit from you know and was made by that director who also made thingy? You know the one I mean don't you...?"
As a result, I knew that it was time to get strategic with my film viewing and movie recommendations. My first step was to segment the films I have watched into genres including:
- Drama
- Romance
- Comedy
- Action
- Super Hero Movies
- Family
- Animation
- Horror
- Real Life
- Documentaries
- World Cinema
Now I have a handy place to go to remind myself of the wonderful films that I have watched in each genre.
(If you fancy a browse, you can find these lists here: 500 Days Of Film Recommendations).
Film Lists
Lists are another fun way to collate the films that I have seen. (You can find all my film lists by clicking this link.)
For example, I have made a list of my top ten favourite Coen brothers' movies, a list of the top ten Netflix Original Movies, a countdown of the scariest movie monsters and a list of the best movies under 90 minutes long.
I also recently listed my top five best Micheal Shannon, Julia Roberts, Tom Hiddleston, Casey Affleck and Oscar Issac performances. As well as several focuses on the work of key movie directors (including Steven Spielberg, Andrea Arnold, Denis Villeneuve and Jeff Nichols).
I have also collated 10 gorgeous animated movies, my top 20 most awesome 80s movies (such a fun list to create!) and my top ten tear jerkers (pass the tissues).
Meanwhile, click here for 27 gripping real life film stories, here for ten films that will make you fall in love with subtitles and here for ten utterly gripping true crime documentaries.
For Valentine's Day, I made a list of my top fifty favourite romantic movies. That was a huge undertaking - but also extremely enjoyable! Just as (if not more) fun was my list of my top 20 best horror films.
Lists certainly help to focus the mind - particularly if the movies within are ranked. I can spend days editing these lists, moving films up and down, down and up. (I am still tempted to tinker even after I have published the list!)
Another great thing about creating lists is the way they can spark great discussion and debate. It doesn't matter if I agree or disagree about a film - I just love talking about movies with you!