Let me start by saying that I have little “classic” movie knowledge. Haven’t seen Gone With the Wind, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, the original Miracle on 34[sup]th[/sup] Street, etc.
What I’m looking for in this thread is can be summed up to this:
What movies do you feel are, for whatever reason, most. . .important. . .for someone to see?
I feel like I’m missing out on a lot of cultural references and stuff, help me out here. . .
I see a lot of movies, and I’ve recently been feeling like I haven’t seen enough films that everyone has seen. Here’s what I’ve been watching to remedy this:
Lethal Weapon
Top Gun
Well, that’s not many, but here’s what I’m planning to watch:
Die Hard
Aliens
Braveheart
Schindler’s List
Dr. Strangelove
Citizen Kane
Casablanca
Taxi Driver
Raging Bull
The Shining
Good ones that I suggest to you:
Quentin Tarantino’s films
-Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown - also True Romance, but he didn’t direct it
Guy Ritchie’s films (forgive me if it’s “Richie”)
-Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch
David Fincher’s films
-Se7en, The Game, Fight Club
Coen Brothers (I have not seen all their movies)
-Fargo, The Big Lebowski, skip O Brother(IMHO)
Kevin Smith’s films
-Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, and the upcoming Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (I’m so excited!)
Terry Gilliam’s films (haven’t seen all of them)
-12 Monkeys, The Fisher King, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
By actor:
Jim Carrey
-Ace Ventura 1 and 2, Dumb and Dumber, The Cable Guy (I liked it), Liar Liar, The Truman Show. Skip The Mask and Man on the Moon (I think that’s what that was called).
Adam Sandler
-Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy. Skip The Waterboy. I haven’t seen Little Nicky.
Edward Norton
-Fight Club, Rounders, American History X. I must go see The Score.
I’ve said enough. Of course, many of these movies are not considered classics, but they are very important to me and should therefore be important to everyone else. Enjoy!
BTW - Gone With the Wind sucks.
Well, go to these web sites for a start :
http://www.afionline.org/100lists/100movies.html
http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/master.html
http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/greatmovies/
Here’s a short list of what you can expect to find:
Citizen Kane (Orson Welles)
Rashoman (Akira Kurosawa)
Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick)
Fitzcaraldo (Werner Herzog)
The General (Buster Keaton)
Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder)
La Dolce Vita (Fredrico Fellini)
The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks)
The Night Of The Hunter (Charles Laughton)
Jaws (Spielberg)
These few should give you plenty of cultural references, but don’t stop there!
This is a tiny smattering of ‘important’ films. They are all great for various reasons, and certainly you could debate their worthiness endlessly. We could probably start a huge thread just on ‘Citizen Kane’ alone! I could give you a list of hundreds of films that are worth watching, either for intellectual, spiritual, artistic, or just sheer entertainment value. The truly great films have a portion of all these qualities.
But start with some of these, do a little digging, read some worthwhile books on film criticism (Try some Pauline Kael books). And remember, great films do not have to be unfathomable, boring and difficult. Some of the greatest films are extremely entertaing (‘Jaws’ is a good example, so is ‘Sunset Boulevard’). But also give the more difficult films a chance (‘Rashoman’, ‘Seventh Seal’, ‘Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown’ etc.) They can be very rewarding (and surprisingly entertaining) as well.
Have fun!
Well, if you’re asking about movies that you need to have seen to catch in-jokes on The Simpsons
**A Clockwork Orange
2001: A Space Odyssey
King Kong
Soylent Green
The Omega Man
The Godfather
The Fly
22 Short Films About Glenn Gould
Koyaanisqatsi
Logan’s Run
The Prisoner (not a movie, but a milestone TV series that has been referenced on The Simpsons in several episodes)
** is a short list off the top of my head.
Other movies that are both cultural touchstones and have been referenced in other films:
**
Battleship Potemkin
On The Waterfront
Star Wars
Rashomon
Seven Samurai
The Wizard of Oz
All About Eve
Sunset Boulevard
The Ten Commandments
The Maltese Falcon
Casablanca
Pulp Fiction
Closely Watched Trains
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
North By Northwest
Psycho
Bride of Frankenstein
42nd Street
**
and in some circles being able to quote dialogue from Caddyshack is absolutely de rigeur.
Of course, everyone must se Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and The Princess Bride.
You know, it’s not so much a list of films you must see, as a list of films you must see if . . .
Like the Simpsons list, for example.
Then there’s the Film Snob list, which is most common.
There must be a contemporary film list, if you want to appear to stay current.
There’s the comedy list, of course, as well as a classic comedy list.
Then there’s the avant garde list, which would include things like the Salvadore Dali Surrealist film “Un chien andalou.”
The French New Wave list.
The “'70s were the best decade for American film, then we got Adam Sandler” list (The Conversation, Melvin & Howard, etc.)
And so on.
Well you don’t actually have to watch some films but just know a few key phrases to say when the film comes up.
For instance if the film Shane comes up, even though the film touches on subjects like gun control and the replacing of the wild west with the settled west all you have to say is ‘Come back Shane’. Do this in a little boy voice and the film buff you are having the discussion with will nod his or her head knowingly and think you are very insightful.