Movies that I must watch due to their titles becoming neologisms

Cafe Society
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I was just in another thread when someone said “this isn’t Sophie’s choice” and it got me thinking, I really need to see Sophie’s Choice so I can get what that’s all about on a truly emotional level. I’ve heard about what the movie’s plot is, but never actually sat down to watch it. I have heard this phrase so many times in my life that it has become it’s own phrase, and any time the trivial nature of a choice needs to be addressed, it’s common to hear people say “this isn’t Sophie’s Choice.”

Bucket List is another one I hear left and right, and even though the movie didn’t come up with the phrase (or maybe it did?), it probably is responsible for a lot of people saying it.

Catch-22 became an everyday part of the English language, mostly from the book I’m sure, as the movie wasn’t a huge success, but that would be another example.

I also think I might have heard someone using Schindler’s List in everyday language to make a comparison, metaphor or using it as a verb or something. This is also a movie I’ve never seen (gasp!).

So, if I wanted to make a list of all those sorts of movies, where the title became a commonly used word or phrase itself, what would they all be?

Please, note, I’m not just talking about movies with famous lines that people quote a lot in English (or misquote) like “Play it again, Sam!” or whatever. I’m talking about movie titles that really became words, phrases or concepts in their own right, with their own standing definitions.

A “Sophie’s Choice” is an impossibly difficult decision. A “Catch-22” is a logistical paradox where the outcome is impossible because by fulfilling the requisites you have made the outcome impossible (it’s hard to define in a simple sentence). To “Schindler’s List” something means something else, I believe. Those are what I’m looking for.

Finally, it doesn’t necessarily have to be the title of the movie. For example, let’s say there was a commonly used phrase like “He really pulled a Jason Bourne the other day,” that would work for my purposes as well. As long as a new concept/phrase/definition came from the existence of the movie, I’m happy. But please don’t just include famous lines “Nuke it from orbit” and others.

I hope this makes sense. Thanks in advance!

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*Rashomon *fits. At least that is how I remember it. (Hey, someone was going to say it)
Groundhog Day as well.

3

Allow me to play Devil’s Advocate.

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May I play Devil’s Advocate?

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If you’ve never seen Star Wars,

it’s not about a missile defense system.

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In astronomy, a possible future fate of the universe is the “big chill” which I’m pretty sure is a nod to the 1983 film.

A female assistant is called a “girl Friday.” The 1940 movie of that title may not have introduced that phrase but at least popularized it. It’s a variant on “man Friday” which is a reference to Robinson Crusoe.

Do adjectives count? I have seen Strangelovian in print, a reference to Dr. Strangelove.

I believe that “blonde Bombshell” is a reference to the 1933 Jean Harlow film Bombshell.

“Gaslighting” is form of psychological manipulation, a reference to the 1940 film Gaslight or its better known remake from 1944.

Probably not what you were looking for, but Skippy peanut butter was named, without authorization, to capitalize on the success of the popular 1930 film of the same title and the comic strip it was based on.

It looks like Theodore Sturgeon invented the abbreviation E.T. for “extraterrestrial” in the 1957, but surely the 1982 film popularized it.

Dirty dancing was style of dance that was a fad after the movie came out in 1987, but I’m not whether the name applied to the dance or the movie first.

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There Will Be Blood has led to a number of “There Will Be _____” references, including “There Will Be Lawyers” by former NFL executive and player agent and current ESPN analyst Andrew Brandt, who tweets it on nearly a daily basis whenever someone does something litigious in the NFL (which is on a more-than-daily basis).

If someone refers to a *Hoosiers *event, they’re most likely referring to a David v. Goliath altercation instead of one involving actual Indiana residents.

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It’s little-known fact that the 1997 film was a remake of the 1589 Italian film Advocatus Diaboli

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They pissed me off so I went all Rambo on them.

I had a Close Encounter (of the third kind).

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Apart from originating the term “Bunny Boiler” I think people also will call something a Fatal Attraction.

And there’s no doubt that Terminator is used a lot to refer to either killer robots or just powerfully dangerous people.

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I’ve heard people using Rain Man used as a shorthand to describe someone showing signs of Asperger’s/autistic behaviour.

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I wonder…

If you hear “Close encounter”, do you think of “Close Encounters of the third kind”, or Will Smith punching the alien in Independence day?

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You should see The Right Stuff; not just because it’s a neologism, but because it’s a fucking great film.

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The terminology “Close Encounter” was actually created several years before the movie. The movie took its name from the terminology, not the other way around (though it undoubtedly popularized the phrase).

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AFAIK, nobody called a crime boss a “Godfather” until the movie. “Perfect storm” of this or that gets used a lot, too.

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Idiocracy!

This doesn’t really fit the OP at all. Devil’s advocate (the phrase) long predated both films.

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“Bambi” has become a synonym for over-romanticizing nature.

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Just thought of another: This is Spinal Tap - every rock band has its Spinal Tap moment.

That’s a good one.

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I’ve often had to Macgyver a solution. (Yes, it was a tv show, but there was at least one movie that I remember with Brian Blessed in. The plot of which was heavily ripped off for the tombraider movie)

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“Pay It Forward” predates the movie, but took off after its release.