During the lockdown phase of the COVID pandemic, I was in Ontario, Canada. Ontario was one of the places locked down for the longest time. As a creator and patron of live performing arts, this was a distressful time for me. I disliked the vast majority of what people used to performing live were creating for online distribution as they were learning how to create for a screen or, later, a hybrid audience. So I embarked on a movie history project.
During the actual lockdown, I mostly rewatched old favourites. Comfort viewing.
Since then, I have been slowly working my way through several lists of great movies. Fair warning: these lists show their voters’ preference for seriously depressing stuff.
- British Film Institute’s Sight and Sound survey of the Greatest Films of All Time
- Director’s 100 British Film Institute Greatest Films of All Time from the British Film Institute
- The American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest American Films of All Time
- The 50 Greatest Films Directed by Canadians from CBC Arts