Spike Lee is continuing to attempt and drive more and more attention to his Kickstarter project, which recently included an endorsement from Steven Soberbergh in which he gave three reasons as to why he backed the project:
- Spike’s success helped make my success possible.
- Spike has earned my attention because of his body of work and its distinct point of view.
- You should support your friends.
In addition to this, last week Lee posted his list of “Essential Films”, a list he gives his students at NYU each year, along with the video you see embedded above in which he encourages your input on films he may have left off.
The list includes 87 films and does have its obvious choices such as the films of Akira Kurosawa, Alfred Hitchcock, Federico Fellini, Elia Kazan, Francois Truffaut, Stanley Kubrick etc., but more interesting are some of the not-so-expected picks. Seeing Stephen Chow‘s Kung Fu Hustle is interesting as are selections such as Woody Allen’s Zelig as the only Allen title, Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto and the inclusion of both of George Miller’s Mad Max films. I don’t judge him for these selections in the least, instead I’d love to hear more information as to why as the surprises are more interesting than the obvious choices.
I have included the entire list below and am hoping to find the time to transfer them over to a spreadsheet of my own instead of having them as part of a graphic. Either way, have at it and let me know what you think. Of the films on the list I’ve seen all but 18, how about you?
SIDE NOTE: If you’re interested in Roger Ebert’s complete list of Great Movies click here.
