Introduction

Hello, dear readers! 

We did it.

A comeback AND renewed commitment to creativity! 

We’ve gotten through the comeback story series, I’m back on the horse, and it turns out this wasn’t just some weird cathartic digital vomit I blasted across social media. 

I’ve even been including the very professional, career-minded LinkedIn when I publish new content. Yes, LinkedIn. When I first started this blog, broadcasting these reflections onto that space wasn’t on my radar. But now, I’m fully committed to my dual role of marketer by day and artist by night, so I’m going to continue to post there, and share the journey across all platforms. 

Also also. Please keep an eye out for an upcoming post on using LinkedIn as an artist, which will include creative business strategies, and related tangents that will work great for you, wherever you’re at. And please remind me in the event that I get sidetracked by The Fast and the Furious part 11 news or something equally ludicrous in the coming months and don’t follow through on this promise.

Okay. So all that aside, I do need to emphasize the bigger plan in place, in case you are just joining us, and because it informed this week’s post. 

I’m going to be slowly revisiting old content with the new lens that is timotheories 2.0.

That means sharing pop culture insights, art theories, practical skills for artists, creative ideas for enthusiasts, and personal reflections from my world that can help to drive it all for your benefit. Nothing groundbreaking if you’ve been following along since the start (thanks, Mom), but the key difference with timotheories 2.0 is to provide detailed practical content that genuinely serves you, rather than a glorified Xanga site. 

Tell me you’re a millennial, without telling me you’re a millennial amirite?

To recap, in the final chapter of my comeback story, Building a New Path, I shared how my vision for timotheories has shifted from merely curating content to actively creating a community-driven space for exploring creativity and development. With new goals in mind, I’m seeing each pillar of timotheories as an investment towards a larger purpose—whether those pillars are more interviews, better content channels, networking, education programs or channelling other great existing projects like The Watch List to encapsulate a point.

Why The Watch List?

Some context.

We really should go over the origins of The Watch List to give those joining in today a proper background – initially, I wanted to watch some cultural staples as a prerequisite to talking about it films and so I set some goals back in 2014 to help me get from movie fan to film aficionado.

My first goal was clear-cut: assemble a lineup from IMDb’s Top 250 films, supplement it with the Top 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and complete a sizable cross-genre exploration, hitting either the top 25 or top 50 entries of each genre “as defined by popular aggregators”. I gave myself a little grace, by crossing out movies I had already seen. Interestingly enough, and I didn’t share this at the time of the first post, but even then, The Watch List had quickly evolved from a static checklist into something much more layered—an immersive journey into narratives that I believe are pivotal to our cultural consciousness.

And because reviewing content on YouTube was super cool in 2014, I had serious aspirations to talk about a lot of movies.

The Watch List was the third post I ever wrote, and I naively thought it was really accessible and cool, but I also never shared my personal version of it. My list of culturally significant films that I wanted to slowly work through, “to better understand the cultural zeitgeist” has never seen the light of day, so how could I really share insights from it. A little pretentious on paper, and the name was even moreso on the nose, but I leaned into it internally. 

Looking back on the post now, it’s pretty clear I was still figuring out my voice. I didn’t fully explain my thoughts on why I made this project for myself and how it would serve others, and then about a year later in 2016, I did an update post, neatly titled The Watch List redux, that expanded some ideas, but still didn’t really hit the heart of the topic.

In that time away, my watch list has grown into something a lot more personal: both from how I use the data to decide what to watch and what the contents of the list means to me personally. 

I feel a bit better now, but let’s talk about the living document that is my watch list. 

A Living Movie Project 

If you really wanted to, you could also call this section Turning the Reel: The Watch List Continues, which is one of the things I’ve been mulling over as I’ve been putting together this post on a listless Wednesday night.

The project didn’t just grow numerically as I added new inspiration source; it grew in personal and artistic significance. 

Watching films became a chance to see beyond the plot or the technical craft, to consider what these stories reveal about human values, aspirations, and struggles. And if I was considering enough of the human experience in the scale of the project. For example, did I have enough women directors in the list? Was I avoiding war films unconsciously?

I slowly added in films, but where I created categorizations, would be through a keyword or phrase coded under the “Reason” column I inserted unceremoniously into the list. Keywords like 1001 Movies, Richard Linklater or Disney made for quick searches and also considerations on what to add in, and sometimes if I had too much of something in the mix.

To me, each film is an expression of art and a statement simultaneously, so themes like empathy, resilience or societal critique emerge by the end and linger long after the credits roll.

I haven’t shied away from abstract or international films either. Through these films, I’m discovering nuances of human behaviour and finding meaning in the blend of art and life—a meaning that I want to actively share with the timotheories community. 

And I started to set some personal rules for the list too.

Learning Through Layers

While I initially set out to watch everything on the list as quickly as possible, that proved to be harder than I thought it would be. 

Then as I progressed through the list, and significant changes came like the closure of Canadian media darling HMV and further pushes towards digital consumption, I dug my heels in and decided to start curating my own collection of movies at the same time. 

Because I clearly hadn’t set enough rules for myself. 

1. Buy a brand new release every week, 
2. In addition to expanding my collection during major sales days (ie Black Friday and Boxing Day). I would plan to add 50-100 movies through crazy deals and discounted prices

What happened behind the scenes is that it subtly re-directed my attention away from the initial goal, because I wasn’t just buying movies from that list now. And as I am wont to do, I thought about what to pick up a lot, and actively.

As I mentioned already, I expanded the list to include all films that had touched the 1001 Movies to Watch reference books from its inception through to the current year. Which effectively grew the list by another 3-400 movies. Then I went on a bit of a Top 10-50-100 bender online and would add choices from YouTuber critics I really admired. Adding more choices, and ballooning my to-buy list at the same time.

Past me thought this was reasonable and felt this would keep me on pace to still get through the list within an eight-ten year period, even if I was technically starting from ground zero at this point. Reflecting upon the numbers in that Watch List redux post, I recognized that if I wanted to get through the list in a year, I’d need to watch at least 18 movies a week. So instead I set a different goal of watching three movies a week, one new release, and two from my unwatched pile.

Insert example excerpt from my brain – should I make space in October to always buy and watch horror films to broaden my already deep catalogue of experiences?

Effectively, my curation process influenced my watching decisions, and it was informed by both the original list as well as themes/directors/critics that I wanted to get input from. 

Archetypes and Insights for the Community

Originally, I talked about the significance of archetypes, and why viewing a movie watch list was a great way to accomplish this investigation. 

Certain genres I might have overlooked as a kid, like film noir or historical dramas, had become spaces where I could observe and appreciate the evolution of movie making over time. The Watch List stopped being race to accomplishment but a journey in reflection, where each film watched adds a layer of growth, both as an artist and as a member of a wider, shared creative experience.

The Watch List isn’t just about what I watch and my expectation that you meet me where I’m at; it’s about what we all take from these moving pictures.

By sharing my reflections through timotheories and social media, the project becomes a collective experience, inviting fellow creators and art enthusiasts to join in discussing the insights we uncover. It’s my way of connecting the dots between storytelling and the human experience, fostering a community that values culture, creativity, and the narratives that unite us.

What’s Really Changed Since 2016

If it isn’t obvious yet, I still haven’t got through the list. 

Believe it or not, it actually grew even larger, but I’ve also become more vigilant about keeping track and really curating the list. 

What this means is that I’ve added columns to the list for various “prestige” categories. Yes IMDB and 1001 Movies are there, but now in the mix are Criterion movie entries, Academy Award Best Film Winners, Turner Classic Movies, and stats from the ever-popular aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. And so the list ballooned to over 2300 options to experience. 

Now you may be wondering, are these really the factors of the cultural significance of a film? No, I don’t think exclusively so, but they are fun considerations, and when I inevitably do share the overall look and feel of my collection, it might better inform your own film watching journey. 

Fun fact.

My personal collection is now sitting at about 2400 movies, of which I currently have 50 unwatched copies. And my to buy list is at about 500 movies. I genuinely think a Watch List addendum is overdue.

I mention this specifically because of the 2300ish movies in my Watch List, I’ve only seen about 600 of them. And that’s ten years later. It’s kind of wild to think I have physical copies of movies totalling almost 2500, but I still have 1700 movies left to watch from my original list. And if you were to ask my wife, I’ve become almost militant in my commitment to collect and watch movies I add throughout the year.

This practical approach I’ve developed for tackling the list, now that’s become so large, reinforces that this isn’t just a race to collect ‘em all, but an intentional experience I have in my everyday.

Yes, I’ve tacked on several layers of complexity along the way, but this list has become truly comprehensive, and I think much more considerate than whatever factors the writers of the Top 1001 Movies to Watch Before You Die came up with.

And most importantly, I’ve learned to appreciate a different pace: one that allows time to sit with and experience how these films have shaped my worldview and approach to artmaking. 

A Journey in Reflection and Growth

As we’ve gathered, it’s been a few years since my last big update on The Watch List, and while my movie-watching pace might not have hit the “18 movies per week” I flippantly imagined back in 2016, this journey has continued to evolve in unexpected ways. 

The project, originally conceived as a two-three year exploration of roughly 1,100 films, has become a more layered and meaningful pursuit than I could have predicted and I genuinely believe that I’m now halfway though the list -the passion and commitment I’ve exercised has my personal collection at 2400 films deep now and counting.

As we know, life doesn’t always go according to plan. The tally may not be moving as quickly as originally envisioned, but the richness of the experience grows with every watch. With each film, I find new nuances in human behavior, motivation, and the blending of art and science in storytelling.

In 2016, I set goals of watching a new release each week, burning through my backlog from Black Friday and Boxing Day hauls, and fitting in at least one IMDb “Top Genre” movie. It turns out, balancing that with work, other creative projects, and life’s curveballs was a bigger challenge than anticipated! Now, while I still try to average one Watch List film a week, I’ve embraced a more flexible approach that allows room for deeper dives, reflection, and even sharing insights back here or through social media.

Staying Motivated & Next Steps

Another heading that could’ve easily been called Project Timeline. 

Let’s do a little math.

If I buy 100 of those movies from that list each year, it will take me 5 years to get through the list – in the meantime, I will likely still be buying 1 new release a week. I also made a caveat that if nothing good shows up in the brand new, I will acquire another movie from the to buy list. If I really want to be effective, I can add another layer to the plan. 

If I watch one movie a week from The Watch List, that isn’t in the bought pile or new release pile, after five years I will have gotten through another 250 movies, plus whatever naturally get picked up from sales, digital marketplaces and thrifting. What I’m hoping will happen is that I can then hammer through the remainder of the list within a five year period. Realistically I am looking at another 10 years with this project, starting from today. 

For those who’ve been following along (or are maybe new to this journey), your encouragement, suggestions, and occasional movie recommendations have really helped keep The Watch List feeling fresh. If I were to revisit the initial goal and then update it, Its now not about completing a list but about continuously learning through a dynamic catalog of movie stories and their attributed criteria.

Will I finish all the movies on The Watch List this year? Not bloody likely (read: the neverending story). But one thing is certain—this list has proven to be an ongoing exploration of storytelling, and I’m excited to see where it takes me next.

But here’s another consideration, I think a call for feedback from the community could really make this feel interactive and introducing collaboration ties in nicely with my commitment to building community through projects like The Watch List.

theories Summarized

In summation, The Watch List is more than a catalog of must-watch films; it’s become a project that mirrors the broader mission of timotheories: combining culture, creativity, and community to share insights on the human experience.

What began as a list of culturally significant films to get through, has evolved into a journey that explores storytelling’s role in shaping human values, understanding, and making connections.

I started with ambitious goals but found value in slowing down and watching with purpose, learning that this project is about exploration as much as completion.

This project is now part of a shared experience where I get to reflect on films, share insights, and learn from others. The Watch List isn’t just about what I watch but what we all take from these moving pictures.

From sharing updates here to discussing these films on platforms like LinkedIn, The Watch List is now a tool to connect, inspire, and grow within a community of creators, thinkers, and art lovers.

And speaking of curating art things, you should absolutely check out this past week’s episode of Confer Culture. This one is a new topic format for Chris and I, we decided to branch out into music and each share our Top 10 Albums of all-time. Please give it a list(en) and let me know what you think!

As always, I’m open to your feedback, critiques, or just a nudge to keep watching and writing. Thanks for being part of this journey, and let’s keep turning the reel together! Till next time, creative cuties.

Tim!