Seminal Films You Haven't Seen

[Pedderrs]

The title is self-explanatory -- what are some of the most critically acclaimed and widely liked films you still haven't gotten around to seeing? It's virtually impossible to see all there is to see so I should be expecting contributions from the vast majority of you here.



I suppose I should be the one to start us off. It's a little embarrassing, but I still haven't seen Some Like It Hot. Inexcusable really considering how highly I rate Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon.

How about you -- the films you are almost embarrassed to admit you haven't seen.

[Skrazem]

Top Gun
Caddyshack
Citizen Kane
Some Like It Hot

[tangledupinblu]

Good thread

what the hell is that gif?

Some Like It Hot is so good, you should make that a priority. Might be tough if you're expecting every second to be pure comedy gold, but it really is Wilder's best, imo followed by The Apartment.

I have never seen Halloween or any of the sequels, I always start watching it on TV every year, and I always get bored. also Texas Chainsaw Massacre, that one mostly b/c I'm afraid

[imsounoriginal]

Because there's a new remaster coming out and people are hyped up for it, I just realized that I still haven't seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I'm sure there's plenty of others that have slipped by, but that's the first that popped into my head.

[Rodney-2187]

Gone With the Wind (own it)

[MJD64]

I'm a huge movie fan and collector but I've never seen Sound Of Music or It's A Wonderful Life.

Further compounding that irony is that I actually own IAWL on DVD as well as SOM on blu-ray (still in the shrink wrap, actually).

I think the fact that so many of the people who know me and my movie obsessions are so flabbergasted I've not seen such popular favorites that even non-movie fanatics have seen feels somewhat like a badge of honor!

[Pedderrs]

Originally Posted by tangledupinblu

Good thread

what the hell is that gif?

Some Like It Hot is so good, you should make that a priority. Might be tough if you're expecting every second to be pure comedy gold, but it really is Wilder's best, imo followed by The Apartment.

I have never seen Halloween or any of the sequels, I always start watching it on TV every year, and I always get bored. also Texas Chainsaw Massacre, that one mostly b/c I'm afraid

The gif is a scene from Michael Powell's controversial Peeping Tom. I am not sure why I chose to use it except that I always like to accompany my threads with some kind of imagery. This time it was from Peeping Tom.

Coincidentally, I watched The Texas Chain Saw Massacre earlier this afternoon after it arrived in the post. It's terribly effective and the last 20 minutes are some of the most pulsating and relentless I've ever seen in a horror film. Hooper creates a very unsettling atmosphere without relying on generic scare tactics or over the top gore. It definitely comes recommend.

[jacobsever]

Way way way way too many.

2001 A Space Odyssey
Taxi Driver
Raging Bull
The Godfather

It would honestly be easier for me to list which important films I have seen, than haven't.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by rodneyfaile

Gone With the Wind (own it)

I've seen three times ... in the theater! It's an experience on the big screen, let me tell you. I own it on DVD, but have never upgraded it, which is sort of criminal.


As to classics I've never seen, yikes. Where to begin?

Well, most Asian cinema. That's a huge blind spot for me. I've seen most of Kurosawa's samurai classics, but beyond that, not much. I made an effort this last year to start to learn more about Ozu, but so far have seen a grand total of two of his films. I've never even seen a single Mizoguchi film. That's pathetic.

Almost all the Chinese films I've seen are modern. I really know almost nothing about Chinese cinema in general.

Looking at the BFI 100 Greatest Films, there are probably an equal mixture among the top 50 as to what I've seen and what I haven't. Then again, for some reason and with few exceptions, British films don't really excite me. I don't know why that is.

Over the last year to a year-and-a-half I've expanded my knowledge of Italian Neo-Realism, but there are still monstrous holes there. For example, I've still yet to see two Rossellini masterpieces, Rome, Open City or Germany Year Zero. I've read about them sure. But I've never seen them. And I could go on and on here.

I've still never seen Tarkovsky's Stalker. In fact, when it comes to Russian cinema in general, I've mostly only seen the big masterpieces. Stuff like Battleship Potemkin or Andrei Rublev etc. Those, I've seen. But beyond that?

This is getting depressing.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by Pedderrs

The title is self-explanatory -- what are some of the most critically acclaimed and widely liked films you still haven't gotten around to seeing? It's virtually impossible to see all there is to see so I should be expecting contributions from the vast majority of you here.



I suppose I should be the one to start us off. It's a little embarrassing, but I still haven't seen Some Like It Hot. Inexcusable really considering how highly I rate Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon.

How about you -- the films you are almost embarrassed to admit you haven't seen.

Overrated fluff imo.

It's good...but lesser Wilder.

[Pedderrs]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Overrated fluff imo.

It's good...but lesser Wilder.

An interesting perspective.

What are your favourite Wilder films out of curiosity?

[imsounoriginal]

Nothing wrong with some fluff. It's an hysterical film, I had more fun with it than Sabrina, which stars three of my all-time favorites.

But yeah, it's got nothing on Sunset Blvd., Double Indemnity, Witness for the Prosecution, The Apartment, and The Lost Weekend.

Good Lord the man made some classics...

EDIT: Forgot Ace in the Hole, another gem.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by Pedderrs

An interesting perspective.

What are your favourite Wilder films out of curiosity?

Sunset Boulevard and Double Indemnity are the gold standard of Wilder films imo.

But Ace In the Hole, Witness For the Prosecution and The Lost Weekend are all better than SLIH.

...at least in my opinion.

[Ray Jackson]

I too have never seen Peeping Tom, but would very much like to rectify that someday if a good, reasonably priced, Region A blu-ray would get released.

[Pedderrs]

Together you have both rattled off my favourites -- The Lost Weekend, Sunset Boulevard, Witness for the Prosecution and The Apartment.

Wilder was a special director.

[Foggy]

Ones that I own but haven't got around to checking out:

Gone With The Wind
Paths of Glory
Spartacus
Bridge on the River Kwai
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
The Manchurian Candidate
The Lost Weekend
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Rebel Without a Cause
Rocco and his Brothers
Breaking the Wave
Vivre Sa Vie
The Tin Drum
Wings of Desire
Straw Dogs

Off the top of my head:

North by Northwest
City Lights
The Great Dictator
All Quiet on the Western Front
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Segal one)
Solaris
Playtime
All About Eve
The Wages of Fear
The Grapes of Wrath
Performance
Brief Encounters
Black Narcissus
McCabe and Mrs. Miller
Le Samourai
Etc etc.

Too many to properly go into but you get the idea.

[surfdude12]

Lawrence of Arabia

[Batmon77]

Mulholland Drive

[Just Jimmy]

9 1/2 weeks
If of course we are talking about the not more wildly acclaimed definition of seminal....of, relating to, or denoting semen.

if you mean influential then i'd have to go with Lawrence of Arabia also.

Originally Posted by jacobsever

Way way way way too many.

2001 A Space Odyssey
Taxi Driver
Raging Bull
The Godfather

It would honestly be easier for me to list which important films I have seen, than haven't.

4 really isn't that many.

[MJD64]

Damn! these posts made me remember I have a sealed copy of the Criterion Peeping Tom on DVD-and I've still never seen it.