Your New Year's Resolution: A Movie A Week (Part 1 of 7)

Having trouble coming up with a New Year's Resolution? Want to eat right, exercise more, make friends, change the world — but it's just too much work? I know how you feel, buddy! So how about a resolution that requires no more effort than what you're doing right now, sitting on the couch watching television?

But instead of that thousandth rerun of The Big Bang Theory, do what I do: watch a movie!

That's right, watch a movie — it's easier than reading a book, less aggravating than following the news, and more virtuous than doing nothing at all. Besides, I can't tell you how many people have said to me, "Monkey, I sure wish I knew as much about movies as you do but I don't know where to start!" (Fewer than two but more than none, if I had to guess.) Well, now you can do something about it — with no effort at all!

Heck, you don't even have to think up the movies. Because the Monkey is a full-service blog, I've done the thinking for you and come up with some suggestions. 52 of them!

Why 52, you ask?

52 weeks in the year, of course. A movie a week. Anybody can do practically anything once a week. Why, I manage to skip the gym every single day — what's once a week?!?

It's a diverse list chockful of fun, entertaining films — nothing dreary, no heavy lifting — covering many genres and time periods, from the silent era to the present day. There's no more than one movie from any given director and where practicable, I limited repeat appearances by lead actors.

And because I figure you're a risk adverse bunch, all the movies are in English.

(My overseas readers needn't worry, however. As a bonus, I have also listed twelve International feature films — one a month — for those of you who can never get enough of a good thing.)

My suggestions are grouped chronologically:

1920s - 1930s
The General * Trouble in Paradise * King Kong * It Happened One Night * The Thin Man * Bride of Frankenstein * A Night at the Opera * Top Hat * Modern Times * The Wizard of Oz

1940s
The Grapes of Wrath * The Philadelphia Story * Citizen Kane * The Maltese Falcon * Sullivan's Travels * Casablanca * Now, Voyager * Double Indemnity * Out of the Past * The Third Man

1950s - 1960s
Singin' in the Rain * Rear Window * Ben-Hur * Rio Bravo * Lawrence of Arabia * Goldfinger * A Hard Day's Night * Mary Poppins * The Good, the Bad and the Ugly * The Endless Summer * 2001: A Space Odyssey

1970s - 1980s
The Godfather * The Sting * Chinatown * The Outlaw Josey Wales * Annie Hall * Raiders of the Lost Ark * The Terminator * The Princess Bride * Bull Durham

1990s - present
Goodfellas * Malcolm X * Groundhog Day * Pulp Fiction * The Shawshank Redemption * Toy Story * The Big Lebowski * Lost in Translation * The Grand Budapest Hotel * Get Out * Jojo Rabbit * Little Women

International Films
Nosferatu (1922) * M (1931) * Rashomon * Tokyo Story * The Seventh Seal * The 400 Blows * La Dolce Vita * Wings of Desire * In the Mood for Love * Amelie * Spirited Away * Pan's Labyrinth

Stream them, buy them, check them out from your local library (if you still have one). Watch them in any order, one a week or in a single tushy-numbing marathon. Whatever floats your boat! Why, I'll bet you a buck you've already seen some of them, maybe even all of them! See how easy this is?!?

But I promise that if you see them all, by the end of the year, you too will be able to fake your way through any conversation about classic movies. And isn't that what life is all about — convincing people you have a clue what you're talking about when you really don't?

Starting tomorrow, I'll post one-line descriptions of each movie — to make this even easier! Because watching movies should never feel like work.