The List. A mandate.

Hello. It’s March 18th, 2020. It’s difficult to tell if we’re in the beginning or the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic. I guess time will tell but in the meantime governments and health organizations are encouraging self isolation and social distancing. People all over the world are turning to entertainment to pass the time. Movies, TV, and books. This is where I come in. I’m an expert at staying inside. I also have a passion for watching movies I’ve never seen. There’s no better time to be me?

For the last several years my new wife (not ‘new’ as a way to delineate her from a previous wife, ‘new’ as in we married 2 weeks ago) and I have kept a list of movies we want to see but haven’t yet. It’s a fun way to pass the time and share an experience. We’ve tried to watch them in order of release going all the way back literally 100 years. Exactly 100 years. That’s right, March 18th 1920 was the day John Barrymore’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde released. That’s the first movie on our list, I guess it’s fitting we launch today. Considering the Corona situation I think we’re all about to experience a lot of time together. The list started with a little book called 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die. I bought it at the MoPop in Seattle back when it was the EMP after walking through the Can’t Look Away: The Lure of Horror Film exhibit and took the title as a mandate. Watch these movies before you die. Well since then the list has grown to almost 500 movies. We’ve added the sequel 101 Sci-Fi Movies You Must See Before You Die and hundreds of other movies recommended by friends, other books and stuff available on streaming services. So here we are. Staying inside watching movies so we don’t die. That’s exactly what we aim to do, and you’re invited along. I hope this is a fun way to kill time and maybe get encouraged to see one of the movies we discuss. Stick around, we aren’t going anywhere.