I need a list of classic movies to watch.
I'm hoping to rope James Lileks and Andrew Klaven (or heck, anyone for that matter).
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Answer by Ottoman Umpire
- Dracula
- Frankenstein
- Thin Man
- 39 Steps
- Mutiny on the Bounty
- Shall We Dance
- Lady Vanishes
- Gone with the Wind
- Goodbye, Mr. Chips
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
- Wizard of Oz
- Foreign Correspondent
- Grapes of Wrath
- His Girl Friday
- Philadelphia Story
- Rebecca
- Citizen Kane
- High Sierra
- Maltese Falcon
- Sergeant York
- Casablanca
- Mrs. Miniver
- Shadow of a Doubt
- Double Indemnity
- Gaslight
- Laura
- Murder, My Sweet
- To Have and Have Not
- Mildred Pierce
- Scarlet Street
- Big Sleep
- It's a Wonderful Life
- Killers
- My Darling Clementine
- Notorious
- Postman Always Rings Twice
- Lady from Shanghai
- Out of the Past
- Big Clock
- Fort Apache
- Key Largo
- Red River
- Rope
- Treasure of the Sierra Madre
- Heiress
- Third Man
- Twelve O'Clock High
- White Heat
- All About Eve
- Gun Crazy
- Winchester '73
- African Queen
- Strangers on a Train
- Streetcar Named Desire
- High Noon
- Quiet Man
- Singin' in the Rain
- Big Heat
- From Here to Eternity
- Roman Holiday
- Shane
- Stalag 17
- Bad Day at Black Rock
- Caine Mutiny
- Dial M for Murder
- On the Waterfront
- Rear Window
- Sabrina
- East of Eden
- Guys and Dolls
- Solider of Fortune
- To Catch a Thief
- Giant
- 12 Angry Men
- Bridge on the River Kwai
- Enemy Below
- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
- Touch of Evil
- Vertigo
- North by Northwest
- Rio Bravo
- Psycho
- Sink the Bismarck!
- Spartacus
- Breakfast at Tiffany's
- Hustler
- West Side Story
- Birdman of Alcatraz
- Cape Fear
- L-Shaped Room
- Lawrence of Arabia
- Longest Day
- Music Man
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Birds
- Great Escape
- Pink Panther
- Dr. Strangelove
- Fistful of Dollars
- My Fair Lady
- For a Few Dollars More
- Battle of Algiers
- Cool Hand Luke
- Dirty Dozen
- Graduate
- Guess Who's Coming To Dinner
- In the Heat of the Night
- Bullitt
- Night of the Living Dead
- Odd Couple
- Where Eagles Dare
- Cactus Flower
- Patton
- Tora! Tora! Tora!
- Dirty Harry
- Duel
- French Connection
- Deliverance
- Godfather
- Day of the Jackal
- High Plains Drifter
- Blazing Saddles
- Chinatown
- Godfather: Part II
- Young Frankenstein
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
- Rocky Horror Picture Show
- Carrie
- Marathon Man
- Network
- Taxi Driver
- Animal House
- Deer Hunter
- Alien
- Mad Max
- Airplane!
- Breaker Morant
- Das Boot
- Blade Runner
- Gandhi
- Christine
- Right Stuff
- Scarface
- Trading Places
- Killing Fields
- Terminator
- This is Spinal Tap
- Brazil
- Hoosiers
- Jean de Florette
- Manon of the Spring
- Platoon
- Something Wild
- Babette's Feast
- Good Morning, Vietnam
- Moonstruck
- Fish Called Wanda
- Mississippi Burning
- Cinema Paradiso
- Dead Poets Society
- Fabulous Baker Boys
- Glory
- GoodFellas
- Silence of the Lambs
- Glengarry Glen Ross
- My Cousin Vinny
- Reservoir Dogs
- Groundhog Day
- Schindler's List
- Postino
- Pulp Fiction
- Shawshank Redemption
- Apollo 13
- Toy Story
- Usual Suspects
- Big Night
- Fargo
- Jerry Maguire
- Sling Blade
- Waiting for Guffman
- Life is Beautiful
- Big Lebowski
- Dinner Game
- Elizabeth
- Run Lola Run
- Saving Private Ryan
- Wag the Dog
- Office Space
- Almost Famous
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
- Gladiator
- High Fidelity
- Amelie
- Lord of the Rings Trilogy
- O Brother, Where Art Thou?
- The Others
- Gosford Park
- Pianist
- Finding Nemo
- Lost in Translation
- Cars
- Devil Wears Prada
- Lives of Others
- The Queen
- Grindhouse
- Ratatouille
- King's Speech
- Toy Story 3
Ottoman Umpire: The above are my top 208 favorite movies, arranged chronologically from 1931 on. More important: the list comes to exactly 500 words. This required lopping off most leading articles, and nuking a few otherwise worthy contenders, like Plan 9 from Outer Space (the latter was originally included only because it's so wonderfully bad).
Edited on February 6, 2012 at 6:36pm- #1
- · February 6, 2012 at 7:25am
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Diane Ellis: It's weird to see Toy Story 3 (which is an Oscar nominee for 2012) on a list of classic movies.
- #2
- · February 7, 2012 at 5:27am
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Ottoman Umpire: You will watch TS3, and you will like it! That's an order.
Just kidding, of course.
The list's influx of animated flix around 2006 may have something to do with our firstborn's arrival in 2005. Although I will admit to dusting off animated features from my own childhood, and finding them lacking compared to the new stuff.
- #3
- · February 7, 2012 at 7:31pm
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Ottoman Umpire: James Lileks makes a good case over here for 1984. But I've always found it, like A Clockwork Orange, to be so depressing I can't stand to put them on this list. Somehow, something like Reservoir Dogs is more physically draining but less emotionally.
- #4
- · February 10, 2012 at 5:35am
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Western Chauvinist: That list is TOTALLY AWESOME, Umpire! Comprehensive in my opinion. When I saw Laura on there, I knew you had them all. It also makes me very happy to realize so many great movies have been made, even in recent years. Thanks!
- #5
- · February 10, 2012 at 4:33pm
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CandE: May I humbly suggest that Captain Blood also belongs on that list; it's the pirate movie to top all pirate movies.
- #6
- · February 10, 2012 at 5:36pm
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Ottoman Umpire: CandE: I've not seen it, but it is hereby TiVo'ed.
Aaargh, Mateys.
- #8
- · February 11, 2012 at 5:46am
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Answer by Misthiocracy
Here are a few links to help you out:
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AFI's 100 Years, 100 Movies: http://www.afi.com/100years/movies.aspx
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AFI's 100 Years, 100 Movies (10th anniversary update): http://www.afi.com/100Years/movies10.aspx
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AFI's Top 10 Movies in 10 Different Genres: http://www.afi.com/10top10/
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AFI's other Top 100 lists: http://www.afi.com/100Years/
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IMDb's Top 250 List: http://www.imdb.com/chart/top
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New York Times' 1000 Best Movies: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/movies/1000best.html
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Rotten Tomatoes Top Movies Lists: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/top/
- Wikipedia's List of Films Considered The Best: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_considered_the_best
Answer by Diane Ellis
Andrew Klavan has posted his list of the ten hardest movies to turn off once you start watching them.
Answer by Tom Lindholtz
I can't believe it. In scanning the list I didn't see the movie that, while not old, is certainly a cultural classic....if a bit kitschy.
The Princess Bride. For sheer fun, what can beat it?
Western Chauvinist: Oh! I spoke "comprehensive" too soon, Umpire. Tom gotcha there. "I do not think that word means what you think it means."
- #1
- · April 19, 2012 at 5:01am
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jeffp: Until the big dogs weigh in, here's 10 of various genres pre-1960 you can't go wrong with:
The Third Man
On the Waterfront
His Gal Friday
Rear Window
North by Northwest
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Gone with the Wind
Shane
Rio Bravo
And the greatest movie ever made, Casablanca
Enjoy!
Nitwit MN: Being There
Doctor Strangelove
Doctor Zhivago
The Court Jester
The 39 Steps
More fun!!! Very good recommendations above!
Edited on February 3, 2012 at 1:46amAntiphon: North by Northwest is one of my favorites. I really put this up after listening to the podcast where Rob mentioned The Best Years of Our Lives.
Basil Fawlty: Any of the Ealing Studios comedies but especially my favorite, Kind Hearts and Coronets.
Squishy Blue RINO: The Thin Man Series- William Powell and Myrna Loy.
Bringing Up Baby and The Philadelphia Story- Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn.
Tracy & Hepburn- Woman of the Year, Adam's Rib, Pat and Mike, Desk Set.
Preston Sturges- Sullivan's Travels, Palm Beach Story, Miracle at Morgan Creek, Hail the Conquering Hero.
JustinC: Doctor Zhivago is a film that I found to be rather enjoyable
Diane Ellis: Do you mean "classic" as in old or as in all time greatest?
Greg Cook: I'm not sure these qualify as classics, but two of my favorites are Father Goose and The Dirty Dozen.
At the top of my list for somewhat new movies is Just Visiting (American version).
J.Voss: The Lion in Winter is fantastic. I recommend Casablanca quite a lot as well.
DocJay: The night of the iguana
Joshua Rosenblum: All good. I also suggest "High Noon" with Gary Cooper. In my travels, I have always told my foreign friends that they cannot understand American foreign policy, and the American character, until they see "High Noon".
Brady Kiel: Lots of my favorites already mentioned but also try the 1946 film The Best Years of Our Lives. For something newer, try Goodbye Lenin, Other People's Lives (Cold War themes), and Rain Man (Hoffman & Cruise at their best). Thanks Ottoman Umpire for a checklist to catch up with!
Fred Cole: You could work your way through the AFI 100.
Jane: Start with 1939, aka Hollywood's golden year. Now, I need a list of classic pork recipes.
Edited on April 13, 2012 at 8:00amJoin Ricochet or Sign In to add your comment.