# What to watch before I die **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 14, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425 "2015-12-14T17:02:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leonard33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Leonard33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leonard33)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425/1 "2015-12-14T17:02:44Z")
I am in need of a good movie. I personally haven’t really watched any good movies (According to my friends), so I am here to hear what you guys would recommend me watching. (I’m not a big fan of horror films) Thanks guys! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425/2 "2015-12-14T17:06:32Z")
Reported for forum change to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425/3 "2015-12-14T17:07:21Z")
Thread relocated from IMHO to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425/4 "2015-12-14T17:20:57Z")
Start here: [AFI’s 100 greatest movies of all time](http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/movies100.pdf) (PDF). Once you’ve made it through them, come back and we’ll add to it. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425/5 "2015-12-14T17:27:40Z")
The Princess Bride. Dr. Strangelove. Forbidden Planet. Casablanca. Edward Scissorhands. Star Wars iV,V. Star Trek II. The Man in the White Suit. Das Boot. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425/6 "2015-12-14T17:37:14Z")
Casablanca Jaws Forbidden Planet Star Wars Chinatown Saving Private Ryan Raiders of the Lost Ark Blade Runner Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Unforgiven The Outlaw Josey Wales Blazing Saddles Young Frankenstein Airplane Groundhog Day Ghostbusters Die Hard ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425/7 "2015-12-14T17:43:15Z")
The Godfather, parts 1 and 2 All About Eve Sunset Boulevard Goodfellas 2001: A Space Odyssey A Clockwork Orange Bridge Over The River Kwai Lawrence of Arabia The Searchers Casino Terminator Terminator 2 ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425/8 "2015-12-14T17:46:39Z")
Beavis and Butthead Do America ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425/9 "2015-12-14T18:36:41Z")
The thread title made me think that this was not a run-of-the-mill “movie bucket list” question, but that I’d open it up to learn that you had a terminal disease and were trying to narrow down the last few movies you’d ever watch in your life. Glad that’s not the case. Given that, start with the AFI Top 100, the IMDB Top 250, the Sight & Sound Top Ten List, etc. If there’s a movie that you respond to, check out other works by the same director. So if you like Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” you might also like “Rear Window” or “North By Northwest.” Roger Ebert’s Great Movie series is also a good starting point. Enjoy! ---
**Author:** ![Evin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@Evin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evin)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425/10 "2015-12-14T18:43:53Z")
A little film I treasure is the foreign film (Vietnamese language, French production) _The Scent of Green Papaya_. I saw it when it came out and again very recently. Roger Ebert opined: “I have seen “The Scent of Green Papaya” three times now - the first time in May 1993 at Cannes, where it was named the best film by a first-time director. It is a placid, interior, contemplative film - not plot-driven, but centered on the growth of the young woman. As such, you might think it would seem “slower” on later viewings, but I found that the opposite was true: As I understood better what the movie was, I appreciated it more, because like a piece of music it was made of subtleties that only grew deeper through familiarity. This is a film to cherish.” ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425/11 "2015-12-14T19:41:00Z")
Team America: World Police ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425/12 "2015-12-14T19:51:05Z")
Pink Flamingos Gordon ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425/13 "2015-12-14T19:52:13Z")
Err…Flesh Gordon ---
**Author:** ![Leonard33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Leonard33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leonard33)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425/14 "2015-12-14T20:10:16Z")
I am sorry for your distress. I just thought that I would try to get all the movies I can see before I die. Thanks for the response, btw. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425/15 "2015-12-14T20:15:17Z")
How long ya got? ---
**Author:** ![NeonMadman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@NeonMadman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeonMadman)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425/16 "2015-12-14T20:17:39Z")
Surprisingly, nobody yet has mentioned _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_. ---
**Author:** ![NeonMadman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@NeonMadman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeonMadman)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425/17 "2015-12-14T20:19:12Z")
> [@Leonard33](#): > > I am sorry for your distress. I just thought that I would try to get all the movies I can see before I die. Thanks for the response, btw. 🙂 The problem is that once you get your list compiled, more movies that you want to see will continue to be produced between then and the time you die. There’s no catching up. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425/18 "2015-12-14T20:19:49Z")
Gunga Din In Name Only The Philadelphia Story Mr. Lucky Notorious The Bishop’s Wife The Batchelor & the Bobby-Soxer Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House I Was A Male War Bride Room For One More To Catch A Thief North By Northwest Operation Petticoat Father Goose …and of course… [Charade](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTBun8vRIm4) “You didn’t have to chase me so _Hard_… That one’s done, start on this one…” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425/19 "2015-12-14T22:06:52Z")
**What to watch before I die?** Your step. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425/20 "2015-12-14T22:14:13Z")
Stalag 17! It’s on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKc2GJk2OLQ), darn it! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-watch-before-i-die/740425.md?page=2)