When I was 15 I used to walk home from school. It gave me an opportunity to have great big long chats with my friends who lived along the route home, and, perhaps crucially, was significantly safer than getting the bus home. In my experience, typical bus rides along secondary school routes in the mid-90s tended to involve at least basic criminality. Fights, drug-taking, even mild torture were common. It wasn't unusual for bus drivers to simply drive past the stops closest to my school; neither was it particularly exceptional for a bus ride to terminate five minutes after departure at the local police station. As you might expect, there was a drive to avoid all that. Walking home instead, even though it took around 45 minutes and you were almost guaranteed to be spat at by the animals that had sought public transport, was seen as the best solution.
It was on these marches that I first came across Neon, a new film magazine. The first issue I bought was the fifth, dated May 1997. The cover was a reproduction of a 70s Jaws poster, accompanied by the text 100 FILMS YOU MUST SEE BEFORE YOU DIE. How could you not love that? Not 'Humdrum Magazine Presents 100 Pleasant Films', or 'Servile Ad Mag's 100 Bestest Films'. No, Neon instead issued an imperative. 100 films so ace that if you hadn't seen them all by the time you were on your death bed, well, you'd fucked up. I think one of my best friends, Gary already had this issue, and couldn't recommend it highly enough. So I dipped in - likely with saved up dinner money - and ended up warping my film tastes forever. Neon represents a ground zero for me, the point were I started to really think about films not as violent time-wasters, but as something fascinating and worthy of intense teenage scrutiny. A thought that lingers to this day.
My new favourite blog Neon Magazine Scans '97 - '99 has issue 5 scanned and catalogued in its entirety. Embedded above is the countdown that kick started my mutation. How many have you seen? I'm on about 87.
7 comments:
need to see - The Trip, Sweet Smell of Success (both of which I have but haven't watched yet), La Grand Bouffe, My Favorite Year, Hustle, The President's Analyst, La Cabina, Naked. So 92. Pretty good list.
I'm missing Up in Smoke, The Trip, Repulsion, Bonnie & Clyde, The Sweet Smell of Success, The Thomas Crown Affair, My Favourite Year, Hustle, Chungking Express, Das Boot, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Gimme Shelter, and Don't Look Now. All pretty doable!
La Cabina is on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isIgZ81lfnM
Fucking horrifying.
I've yet to see - Up in Smoke, The Trip, Eyes Without a Face, La Grand Bouffe, My Favourite Year, The President's Analyst, Chungking Express. 93 I can live with after an article that old heh.
Not having a go Reds, but I am genuinely blown away you've never seen Bonnie & Clyde?! I don't know how you passed by late nights on the BBC when we were kids, as well as film school, without having no choice but to watch it at some point.
I still have this magazine. Regularly refer to it in an attempt to complete the list.
Just need to see;
The Killer
Les Yeux Sans Visage
Seconds
La Grand Bouffe
My Favourite Year
Hustle
Crumb
Das Boot
La Cabina
Menace II Society
Gimme Shelter
Naked
What's that? 12 to go. Not to bad.
Ha! Yeah, I thought that when I was counting them up. My Dad's even got it on DVD. I've seen bits and bobs of it, just never the whole thing.
Same with Thomas Crown and Butch Cassidy. I've probably seen all the scenes in the film, just not in one sitting!
I love that everyone's seen Deep Throat. I have the best blog commenters ever!
God I remember Dont Look Now - just had one hell of a shiver - I was terrified of kids in red coats for years haha "please don't turn around" haha
I have to admit like, I have seen most of these but its sparked an interest to go through the ones that I would not normally consider! thanks reds.
I've still got my copy kicking around somewhere too Jawa. The 'making of' article for The Wild Bunch is fantastic!
WATCH THEM ALL DAN!
Just watched Hustle - ended up having to buy off iTunes, couldn't source a less legal copy.
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