Walk of Shame 2008 (+ Discoveries)

Ah, there are always those films aren't there. The ones you don't want to admit you've never seen, especially when you watch several hundred films per year (what excuse could you have?)!


Below is my top 10 Walk Of Shame for 2008. Those films which i have always intended to see and were every bit as good as i had expected but am ashamed to say i hadn't seen prior to 2008. They are in order of how much i liked them not the level of shame (if that were the chase #4 would have to be #1!)


1. The Big Sleep - fantastic Bogey & Bacall
2. Yojimbo - Damn Mifune was great. Years of watching Fistful of Dollars and now i've finally seen what it was ripping off!
3. It Happened One Night - Hilarious, Oscar-winning great
4. The Great Escape - the truly shameful! Now i can truly call myself British having seen this.
5. The Hired Hand - Leon always told me it was great, i shoulda listened sooner.
6. Get Carter - saw it in a cinema double with Italian Job. Carter has eluded me a long time. Now if i can just get around to seeing Point Blank!
7. An Affair To Remember - Sleepless In Seattle spends half its running time saying how great it is and i love Cary Grant but somehow hadn't seen this gem (not as good as Sleepless makes out though!)
8. Reds - Audacious Warren Beatty Oscar-winner (for director) with Beatty, Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson on fantastic form. How did this lose to Chariots Of Fire?
9. A Hard Day's Night - fun and quirky with some great inventive set pieces.
10. From Here To Eternity - it's interesting how out-of-context most referential films take the famous beach scene.


Special Mention: Delicatessen/City Of Lost Children - two wonderful, inventive, glorious to look at films from Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro. Having finally seen them i can rank Jeunet amongst my very favourite directors. I didn't separate these out because i honestly can't decide which is better, they are both magnificent and should be placed alongside the early Guillermo del Toro films (Cronos, Devil's Backbone)


Discoveries - These 4 can't be included in the Walk Of Shame because the peramators for that dictate those are films i always intended to see and was ashamed to admit i hadn't. The following 4 films are all films that i should have been ashamed to have not seen but was not that aware of. All 4 are ones I strongly recommend to all film lovers and the first three would rank up with Big Sleep if they were in the above list.


1. The Lady Eve - my introduction to Preston Sturges (I have since seen another 4 of his) this is a wonderful comedy that showed a lighter side to the always marvellous Henry Fonda.
2. The Killers - One of the best examples of film noir and hands down the best film to star Burt Lancaster (and yes i am including Sweet Smell of Success) this is a stunning film, up there with Double Indemnity.
3. The Devil And Miss Jones - having been reminded of Charles Coburn's brilliance by The Lady Eve i caught this one on tv. A delightful Capra-esque comedy that i look forward to introducing people to.
4. Danger: Diabolik - a curio from horror maestro Mario Bava this is a lunatic colourful comic-book adaptation that may just be one of the best at capturing the visual feel of a comic. High camp but glorious.