# Building a film library **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 3, 2002, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-film-library/117199 "2002-07-03T15:10:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jlzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jlzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlzania)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-film-library/117199/1 "2002-07-03T15:10:09Z")
I’ve recklessly joined a video club and am now stocking up on sale items as I live 30 minutes from the nearest Blockbuster and am always late on returns. Thus far I’ve gotten the following films: The Big Country To Kill a Mockingbird GWTW Lawrence of Arabia Rocky Horror Now, Voyager Life of Brian MP Holy Grail The Meaning of Life American Beauty Easy Rider LOTR (when it comes out} Hopefully, this will give you some insight into my taste or lack of. Knowing that there are true film connoisseurs on board, I respectfully solicit your suggestions as to other titles I could add. Ta in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-film-library/117199/2 "2002-07-03T16:02:11Z")
Well, what kinda stuff do you _like?_ I’m a film buff, but maybe a third of the ones on your list roll off my knife. Tell me the genres, stars, eras, you like, and I’ll be dee-lighted to throw a few ideas your way. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-film-library/117199/3 "2002-07-03T16:47:10Z")
And do you want your collection to consist of classic films or movies that are just now being made available for purchase? Some people just buy the new ones when they come out at a sell-through price; others only buy the all-time greats. (Of course, according to your brief list, I’d have to think you’re in the ‘classic’ camp.) Also, there are places to buy movies (VHS or DVD) that are a little cheaper than places like Blockbuster. Here in Maryland we have tons of blowout/clearance/discount video places; the movies are new (or newish), and they’re usually fairly inexpensive. Like **Eve** said, let us know your favorite genres. To start you off, I’d suggest going to [www.imdb.com](http://www.imdb.com) and checking IMdB’s Top 250 movies of all time. You’re sure to find a handful you like in there. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jlzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jlzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlzania)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-film-library/117199/4 "2002-07-03T17:04:19Z")
Thanks **Eve** , I was rather hoping that you’d show up in this thread. Didn’t wanta pressure you with one of those coy _“Eve, woohoo, over here thread titles”_ ,however. I like lotsa stuff-that’s my problem. Not real big on the action movie genre-my rule of thumb is that if more than 9 people die in the first 10 minutes-I’m outta here. I am one of the 3 people in America that didn’t rave about the Pulp Fiction. Fell asleep in Gladiator. Like the earlier Woody Allen stuff but dropped interest after Hannah… Dialogue and plot are important but I never sneeze at great visuals either.Don’t mind having to _work_ at a movie but it better be worth it. Don’t mind mindless entertainment either but don’t think farting and turds and teenage boys trying to get laid are a basis for great comedy. More recently , thought The Others were great. Hated Terms of Endearment. Loved Leaving Las Vegas. Hated the last Star Wars. Loved the first. Sniffled in Titanic but felt used afterwards. I’m hoping to expand my horizons and stretch my diminutive brain-while lolling on my couch and woofling Mike’s and popcorn. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-film-library/117199/5 "2002-07-03T17:09:27Z")
There are classics and there are those that you’d actually want to watch over again through the years and are, therefore, worth buying. In addition to some of those you mentioned, here are some of mine that fit both criteria: 2001: A Space Odyssey The Andromeda Strain Dr. Strangelove The Thing (John Carpenter) Tombstone Bullitt Camelot Oliver Predator My Dinner With Andre Ronin Saving Private Ryan Obviously, there’s hundreds more but I’m at work and forget what I have. BTW, all these are available on DVD. ---
**Author:** ![jlzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jlzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlzania)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-film-library/117199/6 "2002-07-03T17:20:28Z")
Thanks **dantheman** - that’s a great list. I’m not set on classics vs new releases per se but I do need some more current suggestions ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-film-library/117199/7 "2002-07-03T17:29:10Z")
Oh, but mon frere, I _love_ zose “yoo-hoo, over here, Eve!” threads! Well, the bnest I can do is cut-and-paste from another recent thread, that one on what DVDs to buy. These are all from the 1930s, though, so I’ll lket other Dopers handle the pre- and -post-'30s films. **Comedies** The Women (all-star extravaganza) Million Dollar Legs and/or Three Cornered Moon (little known, but hilarious!) It Happened One Night (Gable & Colbert) Any Marx Brothers film from Paramount (not their MGM stuff) Bombshell (Jean Harlow) I’m No Angel (Mae West) **Musicals** Best Busby Berkeley musicals: Gold Diggers of 1933, 42nd Street, Footlight Parade One Hour with You and/or Love Me Tonight (Chevalier & MacDonald) Any pre-1938 Astaire/Rogers film The Wizard of Oz **Gangster** Little Caesar Public Enemy I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang Scarface **Horror** Frankenstein and/or Bride of Frankenstein Dracula Freaks Island of Lost Souls **Dramas** Dinner at Eight and/or Grand Hotel (all-stars) Gone with the Wind One Way Passage (great weepie) Marie Antoinette (MGM historical blockbuster) ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-film-library/117199/8 "2002-07-03T17:29:51Z")
You could try **The Mothman Prophecies** , if you like creepy is-it-true-or-not psychological thrillers. If you like ghost/haunted house movies (such as **The Others** ), then some classics are \*\* The Uninvited (1944) The Haunting (1963) Dead of Night (1945) ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-film-library/117199/9 "2002-07-03T17:37:05Z")
You could try not to emulate my poor coding, too! It’s easier for me to remember the old ones than the new ones, strangely enough. Let me try some post 1950 films… \*\* One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Melvin and Howard The Day the Earth Stood Still Goodfellas Apollo 13 \*\* ---
**Author:** ![TridCloudwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TridCloudwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TridCloudwalker)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-film-library/117199/10 "2002-07-03T21:47:12Z")
This is a work still in progress, but here are some of my favorite movies. Only the first 20 are in order (and I’m not even possitive about that), the rest are just randomly placed until I it down and figure it out. 1. American Beauty 2. Blade Runner 3. The Crow 4. Being John Malkovich 5. Falling Down 6. The Shawshank Redemption 7. Lost and Delirious 8. Se7en 9. Far Away, So Close 10. Chasing Amy 11. The Professional 12. U-Turn 13. American History X 14. The Beast (NOT the Peter Benchly movie!) 15. Fight Club 16. Heavenly Creatures 17. Magnolia 18. Pi 19. Memento 20. Hedwig and the Angry Inch 21. Ghost World 22. Run Lola Run 23. The Princess and the Warrior 24. The Opposite of Sex 25. Dark City 26. Contact 27. The Star Wars Trilogy 28. Das Boot 29. Dead Man 30. Virgin Suicides 31. Suicide Kings 32. Boon Dock Saints 33. The Prophecy 34. Reservoir Dogs 35. Pulp Fiction 36. Four Rooms 37. Good Will Hunting 38. Dead Poets Society 39. The Princess Bride 40. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen 41. The Never Ending Story 42. The Labyrinth 43. The Dark Crystal 44. The Evil Dead Trilogy 45. Clerks 46. Mallrats 47. Dogma 48. Planet of the Apes (original) 49. The Thing (John Carpenter) 50. Big Trouble in Little China 51. Starman 52. Man on the Moon 53. High Fidelity 54. The Dinner Game 55. Silence of the Lambs 56. Gods and Monsters 57. Last Night 58. Boys Don’t Cry 59. Dead Alive (aka Brain Dead) 60. Bicentennial Man 61. Superman I and II 62. The Breakfast Club 63. Legend 64. The Blair Witch Project 65. Monty Python and the Holy Grail 66. Stand By Me 67. Dr. Strangelove 68. Full Metal Jacket 69. Freeway 70. Requiem for a Dream 71. S.F.W 72. Cecil B. Demented 73. Real Killers 74. Goonies 75. Jaws 76. Dawn of the Dead (directors cut) 77. Night of the Living Dead (Tom Savini) 78. Poltergeist 79. The Magical Christian 80. Panic 81. The Usual Suspects 82. Fargo 83. The Hudsucker Proxy 84. The Big Lewbowski 85. O, Brother, Where Art Thou? 86. The Man Who Wasn’t There 87. Barton Fink 88. Chillocothe 89. Powder 90. Girl Interrupted 91. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory 92. Edward Scissorhands 93. Titus 94. Amadeaus 95. Forrest Gump 96. Free Enterprise 97. Deconstructing Harry 98. The Anniversary Party 99. Series 7 100. Stardom 101. One Night at McCools 102. 3000 Miles to Graceland 103. A Clockwork Orange 104. SESSION 9 105. Dinner With Andre 106. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 107. Donnie Darko ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-film-library/117199/11 "2002-07-04T01:16:37Z")
O.K., my apologies to those who’ve seen this before, but it’s time for my obligatory link to a list I compiled of 200 great films: [http://www.dcfilmsociety.org/rv\_wendell200.htm](http://www.dcfilmsociety.org/rv_wendell200.htm) ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-film-library/117199/12 "2002-07-04T02:26:31Z")
It is always fun to read these threads because it is interesting to see how vastly tastes can differ. There are (in my opinion) some truly awful films mentioned in this thread (_Pi_!?) and I’m sure that if I were to list some everyone would react similarly to at least one of them. But I won’t, except to say that you need to order _Amelie_ NOW! Just because I own it doesn’t mean it is a good movie, but you can see my current collection [here](http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollection.asp?alias=obfus), maybe you’ll see something you like. ---
**Author:** ![CyberPundit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@CyberPundit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyberPundit)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-film-library/117199/13 "2002-07-04T02:59:37Z")
If you liked Lawrence of Arabia you should try Bridge on the River Kwai and Dr. Zhivago also by David Lean (if you haven’t already) If you want to try new genres you might want to try film noir or the screwball comedies of the 30’s and 40’s. Some of the best comedies include His Girl Friday, Bringing up Baby, Palm Beach Story, Philadelphia Story. Film Noir: Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, Big Sleep, Sunset Boulevard ( the device used in American Beauty of telling you right at the begining that the hero will die is probably a homage to Sunset) If you want something completely different try Japanese anime. I loved Princess Mononoke by Miyazaki. Other famous anime films include Ghost in the Shell and Metropolis which I haven’t seen yet. Japanese animated TV serials are also very good. I am currently watching Cowboy Bebop which is really good. All of the above anime should be available on DVD at your local store. ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-film-library/117199/14 "2002-07-04T14:21:05Z")
Whether the divine **Eve** would agree with my selections or not, my personal opinion is that certain films _must_ be included in a film library. Some because they are classic examples of a certain genre, others because they are just good films, still others because they are classics (which is not the same as a good film, necessarily). In no particular order, and with some omissions, probably, since this is off the top of my head… His Girl Friday Marx Bros. pre-MGM (spot on, Eve) Bringing Up Baby It Happened One Night Casablanca The Maltese Falcon Citizen Kane The Godfather Singin’ In The Rain Numerous Alfred Hitchcock titles, most notably Notorious, North By Northwest, Psycho, Rear Window, Vertigo Pulp Fiction Dr. Strangelove The original Little Shop of Horrors 2001: A Space Odyssey There are more, but, as I said above, I’m doing this off the cuff. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/building-a-film-library/117199/15 "2002-07-04T16:48:22Z")
Concentrating on the 1980s: 1. _48 Hours_ (1982), with Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte. 2. _Blade Runner_ (1982), the director’s cut that came out in 1992. 3. _The Terminator_ (1984), with Ah-nuld.4. _This Is Spinal Tap_ (1984). Too bad my keyboard can’t place an umlaut mark over the “n”. 4. _Platoon_ (1986). Academy Award for Best Picture. 5. _Top Gun_ (1986). 6. _A Room With a View_ (1986). The most enjoyable of the Merchant-Ivory productions. 7. _Blue Velvet_ (1986). 8. _The Decalogue_ (1988). But somehow I doubt that Blockbuster will carry this 10-part Polish TV movie. 9. _Die Hard_ (1988). 10. _Akira_ (1988), the feature that turned U.S. audiences on to Japanese animation. 11. _Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown_ (1988). 12. _Do the Right Thing_ (1989), written and directed by Spike Lee. 13. _When Harry Met Sally_ (1989).