I'll preface this as I do most of my threads with an apology if this has been done before. Search didn't turn up much of anything at all
Talking with a friend of mine recently whilst channel surfing I noticed that Star Wars, episode IV, a true classic film, but she skipped right past it. The following conversation ensued:
"Hey! That was Star Wars what are you doing?" "Oh...well I want to see what else is on" "Nothing, nothing that matters anyway, it's Star Wars!" "Well I haven't seen it" Jaw dropping "You...haven't seen Star Wars? Ever? "Um...no?" "How...How have you never seen it? I mean it's one of those movies, you know? The kind that everyone just has to see at least once? You know like the Godfather? Or...Planet of the Apes...or Animal House!" "I've never seen the Godfather either." "...I don't even know you anymore..."
Anyway, the idea is anything but a new or unique one. Everyone has an idea of what movies that they think everyone is obligated to see at least once. Be them comedies, dramas, horror, all of them are classic in one way or another, and all of them demand the viewing of by everyone if you are to count yourself as truly a cultured and civilized person at all. The above mentioned conversation sparked the idea however. While everyone has one of these lists, a lot of these movies differ from person to person. Well I'd like to gather a list here, and given that the lot of us are decently intelligent I'm sure this list will be excellent, if not remind people they have some movie watching to do...
EDIT x4:
I DON'T WANT RECOMMENDATIONS!
I'm looking for movies that you expect everyone to have seen and are bemused when someone hasn't. While personal taste and opinion ill always be a factor I'm not looking for the "Oh that's a great movie you should see it." kind of thing...
The list has been taken down for editing...a lot of what's on there are great movies sure, but not the essentials...i'll post a list of twenty and we'll see what we get from there...
The Shawshank Redemption Fight Club Kill Bill Pulp Fiction (I have a wallet that says 'Bad Mother Fucker' check it out, just google it, it was like six quid on eBay) The Dark Knight Star Wars Episode IV The Usual Suspects The Sixth Sense The Matrix (if not for the awesome storyline, at least for the Hollywood-style kung fu scenes) Donnie Darko (for the sheer balls to the wall teen movie (surprisingly) mindfuckery) Battle Royale Clerks (shit people talkin' about Star Wars' independent contractors.... duh)
That's about all I can think of. I was gunna put in a lot of old Kurosawa movies, but unless you have a hard on for samurai or you just LOOOVE watching movies, then it's really not a must see.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Go see it now, the best god damn western (and my favourite of ANY genre) of all time. 3 hours long and every minute is as good as the next one.
The Dark Knight The Matrix The Godfather Plan 9 from outer Space The Shawshank redemption A Clockwork Orange Shaun of the Dead One flew over the Cuckoo's nest Alone in the Dark by Ewe Boll...just kidding, The Thing Alien
Braveheart Desperado Toy Story Bad Boys Batman Forever Die Hard with a vengeance Friday ( and subsequently Next Friday and Friday After Next) GoldenEye Jumanji Mall Rats Se7en All amazing films, and coincidently all released in 1995, aww what a good year for films
Most of my essential movies have already been listed, but I think I'd add:
Schindler's List The Matrix (not the sequels, though) Monty Python and the Holy Grail (the rest of the Holy Trinity is implied, but not necessary) 2001: A Space Odyssey The Shining
I'm going to add a few films which haven't been named yet.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (WE CAN'T STOP HERE; THIS IS BAT COUNTRY!) Really, this film is way too good. It's about a man and his lawyer on their trip to Las Vegas, fuelled by large amounts of drugs. Sin City An extremely stylish film. The the black/white plus one other colour on the screen at maximum works very, very well. The Big Lebowski Like, dude, you gotta have to see this movie at least once. You know what I mean, dude? Howl's Moving Castle A very good story, and well animated. Spirited Away Basically the same as for Howl's Moving Castle. David Lynch's Dune It's a cult classic. Sure, it sucks, but it's so bad it's good. ("Spice, Dune, desert planet", "LONG LIVE THE FIGHTERS" "My name has become a killing word.")
Forrest Gump The Shawshank Redemption The Future Is Unwritten Withnail & I Sin City All the Matrix films Lord of the Rings trilogy Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels Layer Cake King Kong The Lord of the Flies (1933) Black Hawk Down Saints and Soldiers
The Dark Knight The Pianist Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan Lord of The Rings Star Wars Schiendlers list Gladiator Master and Commander Superman 1 and 2 28 Days/Weeks later A Beutiful Mind The Aviator all i can think of at the moment Edit: Troy, thats a good one to, also 300
curlycrouton: Forrest Gump The Shawshank Redemption The Future Is Unwritten Withnail & I Sin City All the Matrix films Lord of the Rings trilogy Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels Layer Cake King Kong The Lord of the Flies (1933) Black Hawk Down Saints and Soldiers
Oh, and I hate Star Wars.
But you have seen it, right? This topic is about movies you have to see, not movies you have to like (I assume).
Most of the films i would sugest have already been suggested. Some that haven't are: Grave of the Fireflies Bicentennial Man Blade House of Flying Dagers
j-e-f-f-e-r-s: Once Upon A Time In The West Get Carter Casino Royale Pan's Labyrinth Lord Of The Rings Ghost In The Shell
That'll do me for the moment...
man...that's actually a better list than mine - do you mind if I steal it and pretend it's mine?
If you like. I will expect some sort of royalties payment though. Preferably beer and midget porn, if you've got any...
Anyways, to add a few more:
Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence Akira Event Horizon The Dark Knight The Elephant Man (seriously, this film destroyed me) Princess Mononoke The Exorcist Rebecca (Hitchcock at his creepiest)
I don't think any of the Matrix films beyond 1 are worth watching, really. Especially #3 was really bad. Neither would I recommend the Lord of the Rings. The books were way better.
And really, is it possible to hate the original Star Wars trilogy?
The Frighteners The Devil's Backbone Gremlins 2 Nikita Brazil Ghostbusters Men In Black The Italian Job (original) Doctor Who and The Daleks Pulp Fiction Reservoir Dogs Return to the Forbidden Planet The Rocky Horror Show One of the old Disney animations, doesn't matter which. Any Pixar movie The Twilight Zone Movie American Werewolf in London Blazing Saddles (probably more as I think of them) The Day The Earth Stood Still (original, of course) Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure Trading Places Barbarella Flash Gordon The Maltese Falcon The Great Escape Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Oliver with Ron Moody as Fagin Dog Soldiers Any of Hitchcocks One of Stephen Kings Back to the Future 1/2
I'm not really sure. Let me just list a few, see if I can think of 'em: Starship Troopers Pulp Fiction The James Bond movies, particularly those with Sean Connery as Bond. The first three Indiana Jones movies.
I don't think any of the Matrix films beyond 1 are worth watching, really. Especially #3 was really bad. Neither would I recommend the Lord of the Rings. The books were way better.
And really, is it possible to hate the original Star Wars trilogy?
Yeah, I watched Episode 1 and thought, "hmm, maybe episode 2 or 3 will be better!" Nope. Then I thought, "Well people are always saying the originals are better", so I watched them. And subsequently hated them. But that's just my opinion, one which I'm sure is quite.....controversial, in places.
Serious list: The Matrix Lord Of The Rings trilogy The Godfather trilogy Star Wars: Episode 4,5 and 6 First three Indiana Jones films (I kinda liked the last one though) Silence Of The Lambs Scarface
Idiocracy Donnie Darko Gross Point Blank Ghostbusters Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag American Psycho Shaun of the Dead Starship Troopers 2001 Close Encounters of the Third Kind Dogma Alien Aliens
Wow...ok erm i threw a bunch into the OP, but in the time it took me to do that, about twice as many more were mentioned...I'll throw those in there in a moment...
carnkhan4: The good, the bad and the ugly and pan's labyrinth, just as random examples.
If you liked Pan's Labyrinth, check out Devil's Backbone. Much better in my opinion, for many reasons, including the fact that the main villain in Pan's Labyrinth is completely inhuman (and by that I mean there is no sense of remorse or humanity or realism in him at all which to me breaks the movie if it is supposed to be grounded in reality).
My List: Shawshank Redemption Usual Suspects Hudsucker Proxy Metropolis Citizen Kane Shaun of the Dead
carnkhan4: The good, the bad and the ugly and pan's labyrinth, just as random examples.
If you liked Pan's Labyrinth, check out Devil's Backbone. Much better in my opinion, for many reasons, including the fact that the main villain is completely inhuman (and by that I mean there is no sense of remorse or humanity or realism in him at all which to me breaks the movie if it is supposed to be grounded in reality).
curlycrouton: Yeah, I watched Episode 1 and thought, "hmm, maybe episode 2 or 3 will be better!" Nope. Then I thought, "Well people are always saying the originals are better", so I watched them. And subsequently hated them. But that's just my opinion, one which I'm sure is quite.....controversial, in places.
But it's your opinion and you're entitled to have one. It could very well be the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia though.
I'll preface this as I do most of my threads with an apology if this has been done before. Search didn't turn up much of anything at all
Talking with a friend of mine recently whilst channel surfing I noticed that Star Wars, episode IV, a true classic film, but she skipped right past it. The following conversation ensued:
"Hey! That was Star Wars what are you doing?"
"Oh...well I want to see what else is on"
"Nothing, nothing that matters anyway, it's Star Wars!"
"Well I haven't seen it"
Jaw dropping "You...haven't seen Star Wars? Ever?
"Um...no?"
"How...How have you never seen it? I mean it's one of those movies, you know? The kind that everyone just has to see at least once? You know like the Godfather? Or...Planet of the Apes...or Animal House!"
"I've never seen the Godfather either."
"...I don't even know you anymore..."
Anyway, the idea is anything but a new or unique one. Everyone has an idea of what movies that they think everyone is obligated to see at least once. Be them comedies, dramas, horror, all of them are classic in one way or another, and all of them demand the viewing of by everyone if you are to count yourself as truly a cultured and civilized person at all. The above mentioned conversation sparked the idea however. While everyone has one of these lists, a lot of these movies differ from person to person. Well I'd like to gather a list here, and given that the lot of us are decently intelligent I'm sure this list will be excellent, if not remind people they have some movie watching to do...
EDIT x4:
I DON'T WANT RECOMMENDATIONS!
I'm looking for movies that you expect everyone to have seen and are bemused when someone hasn't. While personal taste and opinion ill always be a factor I'm not looking for the "Oh that's a great movie you should see it." kind of thing...
The list has been taken down for editing...a lot of what's on there are great movies sure, but not the essentials...i'll post a list of twenty and we'll see what we get from there...