The Great Films Project 13-15 (Apocalypse Now, Taxi Driver, The Bicycle Thief)
About the event
Q: What is this “Great Films Project” thing? A: It’s an opportunity for in-depth conversation about the greatest films ever made. Each month, we’ll be discussing and analyzing three acclaimed films. This September those films will be "Apocalypse Now", "Taxi Driver", and "The Bicycle Thief" (or if that's not available, "Bicycle Thieves").
Q: How is this different than your regular monthly topic-driven Meetups? A: Think of it a little more like a book club. We want to do deep dives into these films and may spend an hour or more dissecting each one (which is why we’re limiting to three). Because we want to truly engage with these films, we’re asking that all attendees come in familiar with them and have strong opinions, stimulating questions and enthusiasm to engage and discover.
Q: Hold on! Who’s to say what the “greatest films ever made” are? Isn’t that subjective? A: Of course, and opinions on why a film should or should not be considered such will be very up for discussion. But there has long been and evolving “film canon” set over the years by critics, film scholars and cinephiles. We are using the Top 1,000 Greatest Films list from the “They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?” website ([https://theyshootpictures.com/](https://theyshootpictures.com/))
Q: So, what’s so great about this list? A: It's not just one list. It’s an annual aggregation of "best-of" film lists from almost 11,000 individual lists by critics, filmmakers, publications, and websites. TSPDT is critic-driven. It prioritizes historical influence, artistic innovation, and critical consensus. That doesn’t mean we will all agree with the rankings, but we think it’s a good place to start.
Q: What movies are coming up? What will this monthly “project” look like over time? A: That’s an easy one. Just go to the TSPDT top 1,000 list ([https://theyshootpictures.com/gf1000_all1000films_table.php](https://theyshootpictures.com/gf1000_all1000films_table.php)) and check out the first 36 titles. Those are the films we’ll cover over a year, 3 per month, in the descending order of the list, starting with #1.
