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Whippersnapper. 
"A fourword thinking guy."
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 Posted - 01/13/2007 : 15:51:16
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I reckon Sal has just about finished seeing all the above recommendations, so I thought I should rush through another 10 before he ran out of films to watch  :
The Thin Man
Bicycle Thieves
Battle of Algiers
The Bad & The Beautiful
Modern Times
Bringing Up Baby
Crossfire
Gentleman�s Agreement
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Sunset Boulevard.
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demonic 
"Cinemaniac"
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Posted - 01/13/2007 : 17:04:49
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Really an impossible task - it's hard to know how to recommend films that someone "must see" when they are really based on our own personal preferences. Common critical parlance for as long as I can remember states that "Citizen Kane" is the must-see essential movie, but when I watched it ten years ago with that in mind I was totally underwhelmed and rather bored. Yes, yes, groundbreaking, revolutionary use of camera, etc. but as far from my idea of essential cinema as you can get.
So based purely on films that I really love here are a selection of films I'd recommend to anyone, with an inevitable 70s/80s/90s bias-
Action:
Die Hard
Enter the Dragon
First Blood
Highlander
Leon
Lethal Weapon
Point Break
Predator
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Robocop
The Seven Samurai
Spartacus
Starship Troopers
X-Men 1 & 2
Animation:
Akira
Aladdin
Belleville Rendezvous
The Incredibles
The Jungle Book
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Prince of Egypt
The Secret of Nimh
Shrek
Spirited Away
Grave of the Fireflies
Ghost in the Shell
Toy Story 1 & 2
Wallace and Gromit
Comedy:
Airplane
Annie Hall
Best in Show
The Big Lebowski
Blazing Saddles
Bullets over Broadway
Dr. Strangelove
Ghostbusters
The Graduate
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Maverick
Monty Python & the Holy Grail
The Odd Couple
The Producers
Raising Arizona
Shaun of the Dead
Some Like It Hot
Swingers
Team America
This is Spinal Tap
When Harry met Sally
Withnail and I
Drama:
Almost Famous
Amadeus
Boogie Nights
Casablanca
Casino
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Dead Man Walking
Dog Day Afternoon
The Elephant Man
The English Patient
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Fargo
A Few Good Men
Glengarry Glen Ross
The Godfather 1 & 2
Ice Cold in Alex
The Ice Storm
The Insider
In the Name of the Father
Lolita
Lost in Translation
A Man For All Seasons
Magnolia
Mean Streets
Miller's Crossing
One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest
Out of Sight
Pulp Fiction
Raging Bull
The Right Stuff
Quiz Show
Schindler's List
The Shawshank Redemption
Short Cuts
Sideways
Slueth
Sweet Smell of Success
To Kill a Mockingbird
Twelve Angry Men
West Side Story
Fantasy/Family:
Back to the Future
Big
Big Fish
Clash of the Titans
The Dark Crystal
Flash Gordon
Gremlins
It's a Wonderful Life
Jason and the Argonauts
Jurassic Park
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
The Princess Bride
Singin' in the Rain
Foreign Language:
Amelie
Amores Perros
Le Bossu
The City of Lost Children
Cyrano de Bergerac
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
The Devil's Backbone
Downfall
Etre Et Avoir
Hard Boiled
Hero
The House of Flying Daggers
Jean de Florette / Manon des Sources
Oldboy
Run Lola Run
The Three Colours Trilogy
A Very Long Engagement
Horror:
An American Werewolf in London
Candyman
Evil Dead II
The Exorcist
The Fly
The Haunting
Hellraiser
Jaws
Near Dark
A Nightmare on Elm Street
The Omen
Poltergeist
The Ring
The Shining
The Thing
Sci-fi:
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Abyss
Alien
Aliens
Blade Runner
Brazil
Donnie Darko
The Empire Strikes Back
The Matrix
Serenity
Star Wars
The Terminator
Thriller:
Angel Heart
Blood Simple
Blue Velvet
Carlito's Way
The Conversation
The Constant Gardener
Deliverance
Donnie Brasco
The French Connection
Get Carter
Heat
The Hitcher
Jacob's Ladder
LA Confidential
Lost Highway
Manhunter
Memento
Mulholland Drive
Munich
Open Water
Rear Window
Reservoir Dogs
Requiem for a Dream
Seven
Shallow Grave
The Silence of the Lambs
The Sixth Sense
Taxi Driver
United 93
The Usual Suspects
Vertigo
Wild At Heart
War:
Apocalypse Now (I'd go for the original over the redux personally, mainly because it's a long (but great) film already.)
Bridge over the River Kwai
Full Metal Jacket
The Great Escape
Laurence of Arabia
Platoon
The Wild Bunch |
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Sean 
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 01/14/2007 : 00:28:04
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Nice list, demonic, plenty of excellent movies there. I've seen almost all of those. 
Actually I suppose now is a good time to mention the usefulness of IMDb's Genre Browser, which I use extensively to fill up my Netflix queue. Just click the genre, then click on 'more' under the list of 10 that pops up to get the Top 50 movies in each genre. Then get watching.  |
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demonic
"Cinemaniac"
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Posted - 01/14/2007 : 02:35:06
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Thanks Sean - I didn't actually mean to get quite so comprehensive, but it got addictive! Obviously I'll spend the next couple of days thinking of things I missed out.  |
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lemmycaution 
"Long mired in film"
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Posted - 01/14/2007 : 20:08:52
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quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
See all of the IMDb Top 250.
I've seen 163 of them (so 87 to go). Some of them I'll probably never be able to find though. 
I've seen all of the Top 50, and 89 of the Top 100.
Seen 215 of 250.
Like Ed haven't seen most of the newer ones. |
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BaftaBaby
"Always entranced by cinema."
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Posted - 01/14/2007 : 20:55:21
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Seen 231 of 250
Most of the missing are Spanish and Japanese films. Have just realized my entire life is being spent in front of either tv, computer, or movie screens. Oy vey!
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GHcool
"Forever a curious character."
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Posted - 01/15/2007 : 05:18:36
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| I've seen 161/250. That's a little more than 64%. Based on a random sample of IMDb Top 250 films I've seen, the average film has a runtime of 120 minutes. That means that I have spent more than 13 days of my life watching top rated films (and that doesn't count repeated viewings)! |
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MM0rkeleb 
"Better than HBO."
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w22dheartlivie
"Kitty Lover"
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Posted - 01/15/2007 : 06:24:46
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Of the IMDB Top 250, I've seen 209. Sad to say, almost all the ones I have missed are foreign films. Those are often hard to get in the midwest.
I know at the outset that my essential films won't particularly agree with the others. Hopefully some of them do. I'm taking my list from films on IMDB that I've rated 9 or 10.
10s:
All About Eve (1950)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
The Caine Mutiny (1954)
Casablanca (1946)
City Lights (1931)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Frankenstein (1931)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Grand Hotel (1932)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
Now, Voyager (1942)
Of Human Bondage (1934)
The Petrified Forest (1936)
Schindler's List (1993)
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Wuthering Heights (1939)
9s:
Adam's Rib (1949)
The African Queen (1951)
The Apartment (1960)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Blade Runner (1982)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
The Chamber (1996)
Fargo (1996)
The Great Lie (1941)
Key Largo (1948)
Legends of the Fall (1994)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
The Mummy (1932)
Murder in the First (1995)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Ninotchka (1939)
North by Northwest (1959)
Of Mice and Men (1992)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Primal Fear (1996)
Rear Window (1954)
Sleepers (1996)
Spellbound (1945)
Stalag 17 (1953)
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
Vertigo (1958)
The Virgin Queen (1955)
The Women (1939)
The Woodsman (2004)
Others for no particular reason:
A River Runs Through It (1992)
Roman Holiday (1953)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Gangs of New York (2002)
The Player (1992)
Camille (1936) |
Edited by - w22dheartlivie on 01/18/2007 08:20:35 |
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demonic
"Cinemaniac"
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Posted - 01/15/2007 : 13:05:24
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I've seen 84 of the top 100, but then it all goes awry - mainly from the 1950s and before, so my final tally is 175 out of 250.
I've not seen the big westerns; "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" is an especially poor omission seeing it's in the Top 10. |
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Sal[Au]pian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 01/15/2007 : 13:23:08
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| Thanks for all the suggestions. Hopefully, this thread has turned out beneficial for everybody. |
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Sal[Au]pian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 01/15/2007 : 13:30:44
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| Like I thought, I have not seen many of that 250 - only about 81. (It's hard to be exact, since there are some that I have definitely seen part of but don't know about all.) However, there are quite a lot of films that I do not think should be in there, or should not be so high up. |
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Beanmimo
"August review site"
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Posted - 01/17/2007 : 17:26:54
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quote:
Originally posted by demonic
I've seen 84 of the top 100, but then it all goes awry - mainly from the 1950s and before, so my final tally is 175 out of 250.
I've not seen the big westerns; "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" is an especially poor omission seeing it's in the Top 10.
Just behind you at 173 if 250, still kinda chuffed though |
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demonic
"Cinemaniac"
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Posted - 01/17/2007 : 18:15:45
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| I think I'll feel better when I'm over the 200 mark. But I agree with Sal - there are some odd ones in there at the moment. |
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randall
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 01/18/2007 : 02:18:47
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Yes yes, blah blah blah, but Sally, you have seen CITIZEN KANE. Right?
Right? |
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Big films
