I'm taking a film appreciation class this semester and I consider myself to be a huge film buff, full of movie knowledge and trivia, but I've realized there are a lot of movies a 31 year old film buff should have seen but I have yet to watch. For example, I have never seen The Sound of Music and a few days ago I watch Apocalypse Now for the first time.
What movies absolutely, positively need to be seen to qualify as a movie fanatic or film buff?
1. "Citizen Kane," 1941.
2. "The Godfather," 1972.
3. "Casablanca," 1942.
4. "Raging Bull," 1980.
5. "Singin' in the Rain," 1952.
6. "Gone With the Wind," 1939.
7. "Lawrence of Arabia," 1962.
8. "Schindler's List," 1993.
9. "Vertigo," 1958.
10. "The Wizard of Oz," 1939.
11. "City Lights," 1931.
12. "The Searchers," 1956.
13. "Star Wars," 1977.
14. "Psycho," 1960.
15. "2001: A Space Odyssey," 1968.
16. "Sunset Blvd.", 1950.
17. "The Graduate," 1967.
18. "The General," 1927.
19. "On the Waterfront," 1954.
20. "It's a Wonderful Life," 1946.
21. "Chinatown," 1974.
22. "Some Like It Hot," 1959.
23. "The Grapes of Wrath," 1940.
24. "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," 1982.
25. "To Kill a Mockingbird," 1962.
26. "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," 1939.
27. "High Noon," 1952.
28. "All About Eve," 1950.
29. "Double Indemnity," 1944.
30. "Apocalypse Now," 1979.
31. "The Maltese Falcon," 1941.
32. "The Godfather Part II," 1974.
33. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," 1975.
34. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," 1937.
35. "Annie Hall," 1977.
36. "The Bridge on the River Kwai," 1957.
37. "The Best Years of Our Lives," 1946.
38. "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," 1948.
39. "Dr. Strangelove," 1964.
40. "The Sound of Music," 1965.
41. "King Kong," 1933.
42. "Bonnie and Clyde," 1967.
43. "Midnight Cowboy," 1969.
44. "The Philadelphia Story," 1940.
45. "Shane," 1953.
46. "It Happened One Night," 1934.
47. "A Streetcar Named Desire," 1951.
48. "Rear Window," 1954.
49. "Intolerance," 1916.
50. "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," 2001.
51. "West Side Story," 1961.
52. "Taxi Driver," 1976.
53. "The Deer Hunter," 1978.
54. "M*A*S*H," 1970.
55. "North by Northwest," 1959.
56. "Jaws," 1975.
57. "Rocky," 1976.
58. "The Gold Rush," 1925.
59. "Nashville," 1975.
60. "Duck Soup," 1933.
61. "Sullivan's Travels," 1941.
62. "American Graffiti," 1973.
63. "Cabaret," 1972.
64. "Network," 1976.
65. "The African Queen," 1951.
66. "Raiders of the Lost Ark," 1981.
67. "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", 1966.
68. "Unforgiven," 1992.
69. "Tootsie," 1982.
70. "A Clockwork Orange," 1971.
71. "Saving Private Ryan," 1998.
72. "The Shawshank Redemption," 1994.
73. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," 1969.
74. "The Silence of the Lambs," 1991.
75. "In the Heat of the Night," 1967.
76. "Forrest Gump," 1994.
77. "All the President's Men," 1976.
78. "Modern Times," 1936.
79. "The Wild Bunch," 1969.
80. "The Apartment, 1960.
81. "Spartacus," 1960.
82. "Sunrise," 1927.
83. "Titanic," 1997.
84. "Easy Rider," 1969.
85. "A Night at the Opera," 1935.
86. "Platoon," 1986.
87. "12 Angry Men," 1957.
88. "Bringing Up Baby," 1938.
89. "The Sixth Sense," 1999.
90. "Swing Time," 1936.
91. "Sophie's Choice," 1982.
92. "Goodfellas," 1990.
93. "The French Connection," 1971.
94. "Pulp Fiction," 1994.
95. "The Last Picture Show," 1971.
96. "Do the Right Thing," 1989.
97. "Blade Runner," 1982.
98. "Yankee Doodle Dandy," 1942.
99. "Toy Story," 1995.
100. "Ben-Hur," 1959.
Of the top of my head that's not on that list, Memento is often refered to in terms of Narrative's and whatnot and I've seen so many people baffled about what things are being said about it when it's brought up because they've not seen it, so definitely check that one out.
But really anything goes in a film class, at least mine anyway, for the first piece of course work we had to study the use of cinematography and mise-en-scene and stuff and about 5 or 6 people did a scene from the Transformers movies. As you can guess, those same people didn't make it through to the second year of the course.
But in all honesty, the films I studied were, granted the stuff I was doing was college work so I don't know how much more advance your course is and how it works (mine were in units and the the teachers went for the easiest options):
The American film
Goodfellas
The Public Enemy
Britain in the 60m's
A Hard Days Night
Darling
Kes
World Cinema - Power, Poverty and Conflict
City of God
La Haine
La Zona
Tsotsi
When I began a serious interest in film, I started by looking at certain director's. The works of Hitchcock, Scorsese, Kurosawa, Welles and Leone make for a good place to start. As far as what movies "qualify", you'll get a different answer from almost everybody. That AFI top 100 list is a pretty good list of movies but it does leave out some great foreign films. Try some of those that you have not seen yet and mix in some foreign films. Also, try a bunch of different directors and see what you like and don't like.
Although I have already seen it, we are watching Momento in class when we discuss Editing, which works because if it were not for great editing, that movie would be the biggest suckfest ever.
My first advice is: AVOID THE AFI LISTS. They are medicore, and certainly should not be your main source.
If you want to look at a list from source, allow me to recommend Filmsite's 300 Greatest Films - http://www.filmsite.org/300films.html. If that's too much, it's helpfully broken down in the the Greatest 100 Films, Another 100 Greatest Films and the Third 100 Greatest Films.
That list (compiled by one person, Tim Dirks) is VASTLY superior to the AFI lists (compiled by a lot of people). PLEASE do yourself a favour and if you only want once source, use Filmsite.
That being said, I myself have independenly compiled several great films lists
Academy Award for Best Picture Winners
AFI’s 100 Years...100 Movies
AFI’s 100 Years...100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition
BFI Top 100 British Films
Movieline Magazine’s The 100 Greatest Foreign Films
Filmsite’s 100 Greatest Films
Filmsite’s Another 100 Greatest Films
Filmsite’s The Third 100 Greatest Films
Sight & Sound Magazine’s Top 10 Films, Critics
Sight & Sound Magazine’s Top 10 Films, Directors
Yes, the AFI is there, but note that it is among other lists.
Anyways, I made this list myself a while ago in order to a framework for watching movies. My goal, as noted in the introduction to the document, is to finish all the films on the list by my 30th birthday (the actual day is blurred out; also, the surname on the front page is changed from my real one).
Anyways, if you feel this would be helpful to you, here is a link to the list:
If anyone knows why the "Manage Attachments" button is not working for me, and knows how to fix it, I would appreciate the information, because then I could link the file directly instead of hosting it.
Although I have already seen it, we are watching Momento in class when we discuss Editing, which works because if it were not for great editing, that movie would be the biggest suckfest ever.
Interesting. Yet you have "27 Dresses" and all the "American Pie" movies on blu-ray. Oh well...to each his or her own, I guess.
Yes, I knocked your taste in movies. But the only reason you brought up "Memento" was because another individual had praised the film. Yet you saw fit to knock it. Turnabout is fair play. Feel free to knock my taste in movies if you feel so inclined.
Interesting. Yet you have "27 Dresses" and all the "American Pie" movies on blu-ray. Oh well...to each his or her own, I guess.
Yes, I knocked your taste in movies. But the only reason you brought up "Memento" was because another individual had praised the film. Yet you saw fit to knock it. Turnabout is fair play. Feel free to knock my taste in movies if you feel so inclined.
You misread him he said the film would of sucked if it wasn't as well edited as it was he said the films great but would of fallen apart if the editing wasn't so good.
And don't go digging through people's collections to lay digs into people's taste, it's considered pretty low around here.
Don't people know that it is against internet laws as stated by the United Nations that you are not allowed to post anything negative about a Christopher Nolan movie?
You misread him he said the film would of sucked if it wasn't as well edited as it was he said the films great but would of fallen apart if the editing wasn't so good.
And don't go digging through people's collections to lay digs into people's taste, it's considered pretty low around here.
Didn't know I was talking to the Rulemaker. There are PLENTY of individuals and threads all over this site where people argue and "lay into" peoples opinions/tastes in movies. I'll make sure I never "dig through" someones collection (that they saw fit to post on a public Internet site). If it's supposed to be oh so private, then don't list your collection. Personally, I don't care what anyone thinks of mine (or my taste in movies).
Didn't know I was talking to the Rulemaker. There are PLENTY of individuals and threads all over this site where people argue and "lay into" peoples opinions/tastes in movies. I'll make sure I never "dig through" someones collection (that they saw fit to post on a public Internet site). If it's supposed to be oh so private, then don't list your collection. Personally, I don't care what anyone thinks of mine (or my taste in movies).
But what makes you say 27 Dresses is a film he brought for him, what if it's a film for his wife
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As you can guess, those same people didn't make it through to the second year of the course.
he said the films great but would of fallen apart if the editing wasn't so good.
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