Before everybody you knew was obsessively making lists on Letterboxd, there was a legendary list floating around New York City. It originated from cinematographer Sean Price Williams, of which many will know him from his work on films like Good Time, Funny Pages, Between The Temples, and more. The list was called “1000 Movies.” If you’re curious as to what it might have entailed, it was all there in the title. What was so enticing about it was not only how exclusive it was, but how expansive its cinematic breadth was. Lucky for us cinephiles, Williams’ list is now officially available to the public, thanks to Metrograph Editions. A specialty arm of Metrograph theater in New York, Metrograph Editions is dedicated to the production and curation of books on cinema, limited edition prints, specialized vintage collections, apparel, and beyond. Serving as their inaugural independent print publishing project, “1000 Movies” opens up an entire world of cinema to the public after being praised in the hands of esteemed actors such as Kristen Stewart, Jason Schwartzman, and Talia Ryder.
Upon looking through the list of films, one begins to wonder about the very idea of list-making. In the case of this book, the intrigue becomes practically overwhelming. For those of us who love to devour cinema, that palpable feeling is taken as an exciting challenge. In a brief conversation I had with Williams at the book release, I joked about how I was happy to have a list of films that would take me years to complete. Without hesitation, his humorous remark back was “a lifetime.” There’s simply so much cinema to be discovered. It can be daunting, and quite frankly, depressing to realize that we may be unable to see all that we’d like to see in a lifetime. Yet we’ll always try. And there’s something comforting about looking through “1000 Movies,” as well as just holding it in your hands. In these pages is a treasure trove designed to move us in some way. And knowing that it’s always there, concretely for us, is both calming and rewarding.
It’s small enough to fit in any large pocket, and certainly in a tote bag or on smaller surfaces in your home. This book feels as if it embodies the original list, sent around via email; it’s the perfect size to travel with you for the rest of your film-watching life. It is important to note that this list isn’t meant to represent what Williams believes to be the 1000 greatest movies of all time. In fact, this list seems to go completely against the idea of ranking whatsoever. Assorted by year, each page only carries a handful of films, listed by title, director, and year. These are all films from which Williams has drawn inspiration over time. It’s clearly a personal list to him, made up of cinema you can imagine he’s seen either dozens of times, or perhaps even once and the film simply stuck in his mind. With a list like this, it provides insight into the tastes of a filmmaker who has only become all the more exciting the longer he has been working. You’re likely to pick any page at random and find a wealth of cinematic brilliance to discover.
At the release event, surrounded by colleagues like Nick Pinkerton (screenwriter of Williams’ directorial debut film, The Sweet East) and John Wilson, the wonder of this list became clear. From the point-of-view of discovering the inspirations of a talented filmmaker, the release of “1000 Movies” is an enticing prospect for any creative. But from a personal standpoint, a book like this says a lot about the author, the publishing imprint, and of course, its readers. As our tastes consistently shift, and more film is put out into the world on such a vast scale, to have such a stable foundation is essential. Sure, at some point in the future, Williams may have switched a few movies out in favor of others. But the very fact that these 1000 movies were written, proofed, and put into published text for the rest of time forever cements their importance. This is not a ranked or objective list of the 1000 greatest movies of all time, but one can only hope that randomly picking from the litany of options will provide us with a feeling of watching the greatest movie we’ve ever seen. In the quest to devour as much cinema as we can in a lifetime, Williams’ “1000 Movies” feels less like a challenge and moreso like a welcoming hug into the beautiful, constantly evolving world of cinema.
For more information on Williams’ “1000 Movies”, and when the second printing will be available, head right here.