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Which films would you consider essential to have watched to be a well-rounded person?
I've realised that when people discuss film, I've missed out. There are so many influential and important films that I haven't watched.
Could you please recommend a (or more) films that you think is essential for an educated person to have watched? It can be a classic, or something less known.
Film major here: if you're serious about film, you gotta watch the classics. They're my hidden superpower: everything you see in movies today started somewhere in the past. The first action blockbuster was released in 1915, and the rules it set are all over the MCU. That's the best way to understand current cinema. The American Film Institute has a great list. After watching the first twenty, I don't recommend you watch all of them, but try to diversify a bit. Look for something that interests you: a director, a genre, a period, a country of origin...
You can also pair the movies with your reading. Film noir, for example, is so close to noir literature that many well known author became screenwriters themselves. The boom of the western in the theaters was accompanied by the release of numerous books and comic books. And many filmmakers wrote extensively about their jobs.
I think following directors makes more sense, so that's how I'll organize my list. Each director comes with my suggestion of a movie that works as a good introduction to his work. My list is heavily focused on English spoken movies, sorry about that. These recommendations are from the top of my head and extremely personal, but I suggest you watch as much as you can from these directors in chronological order. Seeing the evolution of a filmmaker is a great way to learn about the craft. The list:
The Wrong ManPsychoThe TenantChinatownZerkaloThe Steamroller and the ViolinGrand TorinoUnforgivenThere are, of course, many many others directors worthy of your time. IMDB Advanced Search is your friend :)
As a final note, I leave you with a masterpiece of the horror that I both love and despise because of the nightmares it gives me to this day: the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Also, take a look on some book recommendations I made in another thread.
ADDENDUM: if you really wanna be a film buff, you'll need to know the work of founders! Those will be the following companies/individuals:
You can find them on YouTube.
And just so no one says I'm a bastard Brazilian, we gave birth to Glauber Rocha, one of the most brilliant directors in film history, who continously shocked the establishment during our military dictatorship. He happens to be one of the favorite filmmakers of Martin Scorsese. I recommend both Black God, White Devil and Entranced Earth.
My girlfriend asked me to watch 12 Angry Men and I was not in the mood to watch an old movie at all. I thoroughly enjoyed it though.
Sometimes we forget that old movies were commercial ventures just as they are today and that entertaining the audience was an obligation than just as it is now. But 12 Angry Men is among the best movies in history, so it's hard to go wrong. Another near perfect (mostly) single-location movie by the same director is Dog Day Afternoon, in which Al Pacino plays a criminal who takes a bank hostage to pay for his lovers' sex change surgery.
Spouse and I have this conversation about movies all the time, and we've boiled it down to, "Is it an important movie, or is it a good movie?"
There are movies we'll watch for the intellectual challenge of understanding cinema and visual storytelling, like Fritz Lang's M or Tetsuo, the Iron Man, which are nearly unwatchable by present-day standards of pacing and linear narrative.
There are a few great films which seem timeless and deeply enjoyable regardless of when they were made, some of which appear on your list; they're the ones which planted the seeds for current cinematic tropes in framing, editing conventions, and plot.
I'll take minor issue with the fact that you don't have a single Japanese director on the list. Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon and/or Ran should be there.
The concept of "good" is obviously subjective, but it is possible to draw somewhat objective conclusions regarding the historical importance, sophistication, and effectiveness of a work of art.
Regarding my list, as I said, it is limited by my taste in film (and this is in answer to OPs question, my actual taste in film is much less sophisticated). I tried many times to watch Kurosawas' greatest hits but was unable to overcome what seemed to me like a wall of boredom. At the same time, I love the similarly contemplative works of Bergman and Tarkovsky.
Nevertheless, I remember fondly of two less known Kurosawa movies: High and Low and Stray Dog.
"Good" in our family context mainly means, "stuff we're likely to find entertaining".
I've placed this in context with other visual arts, like Josef Albers' Homage to the Square series is a tremendously important exercise in the effect of adjacent colors, but not "good" as recognisable figurative painting.
I'd say most artform is made to elicit some kind of pleasurable reaction. One of the main differences is the time and effort required to get to the point where the pleasure begin. An episode of Seinfeld can put me in a better mood in less than a minute, while Ulysses, by James Joice, can demand years of dedication to decipher.
Enjoying movies you like and knowing well approved movies are different things. No one is required to like those "influential" movies from IMDB top 250, so don't worry about them. If you feel there are more likeable movies to watch then better watch them instead. Watching personally unappealing content just out of the fear of missing out can be pretty disappointing.
It's not that I think I need to watch the most influential films, but in all areas of my life I strive to learn as much as possible, even if it's not that fun. I'd watch a "boring" movie if it taught me something important.
Toss the great great grandfather of science fiction cinema on your list then. Fritz Lang's Metropolis is responsible for shaping every scrap of science fiction that has ever graced our screens, and you can see scene by scene where films like Blade Runner that came so much later got their inspiration. You could track down the 'original' version with that god-awful classical score, but I don't recommend it. The Moroder version has a more contemporary soundtrack and is cut together better, feels more like a complete film.
That film has lost not one iota of its power over the years - if anything, it looks more prophetic all the time.
This is a good mindset. It's the "growth mindset". Nitta is exhibiting a self-limiting attitude to taste; an attitude that's insular and not self-critical.*
*Sorry if that sounds harsh Nitta
This kind of attitude is pretty self-limiting I think. It presupposes that one's own taste is best, or at least acceptable. Of course you're not "required" to like certain movies, but not liking certain films can also be an indicator that you don't 'get' it.
To take an example from the domain of music, though one may not have a taste for electronic music it would be absurd to say that one could claim they have "well-rounded" music taste while ignoring a whole genre of music that has undoubtedly produced masterpieces of music.
Some lesser known ones:
Withnail and I (1987)
Buffalo 66 (1998)
The Secret of Kells (2009)
Children Of Men (2006)
Shaolin Soccer (2001)
Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010)
Jacky au royaume des filles (2014)
A Scanner Darkly (2006)
Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust (2000)
That's a pretty unique list! I have seen Children Of Men, and I don't like it at all. Found it cheesy.
As a Brazilian, I of course know and love Shaolin Soccer :P
A Scanner Darkly must be one of the best Philip K. Dick adaptations out there.
I heard about Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust but never watched it. Have you seen the Netflixs' Castlevania? It's pretty good. Another anime featuring vampires is Jojo, which I love.
I haven't seen Castlevania no, Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust is also a bit cheesy but I found the characters to be pretty solid and the cinematography is really nice.
Shaolin Soccer was so much better than I expected!
I love the humor, plus the bombastic action scenes.
To be honest it kinda depends on who you talk to about movies.
A lot of it comes down to taste, I can recommend a bunch of movies I like and think are pretty well respected but that doesn't mean you will enjoy them or feel like you benefited from watching them.
With "an educated person" does this refer to intelligence or movie knowledge? Because that would also really change the movies I'd recommend :)
Anyways these excellent movies I'm sure everyone will enjoy:
American Sniper (2014) - Action / Drama - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2179136
Exam (2009) - Mystery / Thriller - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1258197
Ex Machina (2014) - Drama / Mystery / Sci-Fi - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470752
Full Metal Jacket (1987) - Drama / War - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093058
The Imitation Game (2014) - Biography / Drama / Thriller - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2084970
Interstellar (2014) - Adventure / Drama / Sci-Fi - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816692
The Shawshank Redeption (1994) - Drama - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111161
I feel like American Sniper is so misplaced there. Never though I'd see it on the same list as Full Metal Jacket.
It's up to you!
With "an educated person" I was just thinking about someone who is not totally lost in a conversation about film. Obviously everyone will be that some of the time, since no one has watched all movies, but I think it'd be nice to know who the people are--actors, directors and composers.
I edited my comment to list some movies I'd recommend but you've most likely already seen.
If you want more recommendations here are a few:
(I woudn't call this the universal list of recommended movies though, but these are a few I liked and recommend)
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) - Drama / Horror / Mystery - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179933
21 Jump Street (2012) - Comedy / Action / Crime - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1232829
Arrival (2016) - Sci-Fi / Mystery / Drama - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2543164
Attack the block (2011) - Comedy / Sci-Fi / Drama - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1478964
The Babadook (2014) - Horror / Drama / Mystery - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2321549
Bad Ass (2012) - Action / Comedy / Drama - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1928330
The Call (2013) - Crime / Drama / Horror - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1911644
This is the End (2013) - Comedy / Fantasy - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1245492
In Bruges (2008) - Comedy / Crime / Drama - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780536
It Follows (2014) - Horror / Mystery / Thriller - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3235888
Kick Ass (2010) - Action / Comedy - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1250777
Little Boy (2015) - Drama / History / War - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1810683
Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) - Comedy / Drama - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0415978
One Hour Photo (2002) - Drama / Thriller - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265459
Pineapple Express (2008) - Comedy / Crime / Action - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910936
Superbad (2007) - Comedy - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0829482
Zodiac (2007) - Crime / Drama / Mystery - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443706
This is just a quick look at my likes so I have probably skipped MANY great movies, but these are a few that I liked!
Thank you very much for all your recommendations. Believe it or not of all films on your list I've only watched Interstellar, Shawshank Redemption and In Bruges. I'll save your list, thanks!
Great list, I would like to add:
Annihilation (2018) - Science Fiction / Horror
The Prestige (2006) - Science Fiction / Mystery / Drama
Alien (1979) - Science Fiction / Horror
I also vouch for Alien, absolute classic!
I've put Annihilation and The Prestige on my watch list, thanks for the recommendations!
Enjoy! They really are great movies.
Just watched The Prestige, excellent movie! Thanks for your recommendation :)
Annihilation is still on the watchlist
:D glad you enjoyed it. I downloaded Arrival per your recommendation but haven't had time to watch it yet. Soon!
Annihilation was awesome. A rare treat with an unusual story and so much attention to detail. If we could manage to get five scifi films of that quality every year I'd stop whinging about the death of the genre. :P
I'm not sure about "well-rounded" -- some of the most spherical folks I know haven't watched a movie in years -- but instead of considering individual movies my "firing from the hip" answer would be to think about thematic links that interest you, and pursue a group of movies that address that link in whatever way. I say this because the vast majority of interesting movie discussions I've been exposed draw heavily on contextualization, rather than considering a movie as an integral whole.
For example, if you're interested in jurisprudence and criminal process, no problem -- To Kill a Mockingbird, Paths of Glory, 12 Angry Men, The Verdict, Minority Report, Judgment at Nuremberg, Amistad, maybe Enemy of the State. On and on.
And then you notice hey, 12 Angry Men and The Verdict are both directed by Sidney Lumet -- there's Serpico and Network waiting for you, and themes common with Lumet, like guilt, or his infatuation with naturalistic cinematography.
Or if you love the lighting in Paths of Glory, Kubrick's the man for you! You could watch other movies with an eye towards their use of practical lighting, and watch it grow in prominence -- with a mandatory detour into Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, some of which was lit by damn candlelight.
I dunno, just an idea. But I think that's a good way to build a vernacular of movies, since then if someone says "Hey, did you see Nigel Fonsponsley's Grumbular at the Opera," you can say "no," but you can contextualize what that person might have enjoyed about it within your little web of themes.
You might want to look into famous directors and watch some of their movies. I recommend Ran (Kurosawa), The Shining (Kubrick), Grizzly Man (Herzog), The Magician (Bergman), and Goodfellas (Scorsese). Also, here's a bonus movie just because I love it: Babbette's Feast. I don't even know the director, but it's delightful.
You will always feel like this. I felt like this before I started getting into film. And I feel like this now after having watched ~2000 films.
Specially, because quite often, for the good films, 1 viewing isn't enough. And you have to watch them several times at least. And not having watched them enough times might lead you to feel ignorant.
Everyone's got a different definition of classic. There are classics that are undisputable, yes; but outside of that bubble there are many who are a classic or not depending on who you ask.
With that said, since I've got the impression you've made the request specifically somewhat ambiguous, I'm going to recommend The Isle (2000) by director Ki-duk Kim.
Why? Well, it's a very unique film, as far as I'm aware. It doesn't have a lot of dialogue, and it's not American or European, or even modern, for that matter (it is Korean, but it is nothing like the other Korean films I've watched from the last 2 decades). I think that watching things that are different helps you better understand what is good and what is bad (or rather, what you think is good and what you think is bad) about film, while also opening your world up to films that are a bit different. It makes you notice things that you didn't notice before while watching mostly American films. As a bit of an aside, I also recommend you watch as many foreign films as you can, doesn't matter where from.
The film is a bit violent (or a lot, depending on who you ask). I don't really know you. I don't know how sensitive or insensitive you are. So, viewer discretion is advised. To be honest, I didn't find it all that bad, but I probably have a higher tolerance for these type of things. Though, let's be realistic, lots of film reviewers are a bit stuck up and don't think the ugly aspects of life are okay to be portrayed in the big screen. So, I don't know, you choose.
The message I got from the movie was one of love, and it's one of the most beautiful movies I have seen, and one of my favorite films ever. But many people didn't even stay for the whole movie and certainly don't agree with me.
But, even if you're the kind of person who would hate this movie, I'd still urge you to give it a try. Try to expand your horizons, to watch without necessarily judge. Maybe you'll enjoy it. The film is not considered bad, by the online consensus, though. It's actually considered pretty good. It's just not necessarily the easy watching type.
I could probably recommend a few more. But I feel like you're already not going to watch all the hundreds of films that people are going to recommend to you here. So me giving you a list of films isn't going to help much. So I just put all my eggs in one basket and picked this one (also because, unlike Kubrick's films, I don't think anyone else is going to recommend it).
So, anyway, if you do end up watching it; feel free to get back at me with your thoughts on it.
Thank you for your excellent reply. I've added The Isle to my list. If (or when) I watch it, I will definitely update you!
As @Askme_about_penguins said, it's hard to watch every film that your friends has watched. Just find some that you are interested too.
Some of my recommendations. Some movies are more popular than other. But I personally find them to be very enjoyable or/and conveys a powerful message and makes your think. (Order doesn't really matter)
Interstellar
Pan's Labyrinth
The Big Lebowski
Office Space
Titanic
The Departed
Amélie
Life Is Beautiful
Silence of the Lamb
The Shining
Pulp Fiction
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Christiane F.
A Clockwork Orange
Princess Mononoke
Lion King
I'm also a person who finds value in being familiar with these things for the sake of it and not just for my own personal enjoyment, so I get where you're coming from. I'm on that journey right now, but my advice is simple: pick a list or a chart on some website and go through that. You'll make crossing the things off the list its own reward and there's a clear goal instead of flailing around and desperately adding more and more that you think you need to have seen.
Depending on how much you can / want to watch, it can be anything from the IMDB 250, to the 1001 list, to a list of 15 essentials by some random nerd you find on any of those movie logging sites. I've found that this is the best way to jump into anything if you really want to drown yourself in the classics and the things you're assumed to know.
Way Down East
Gone With The Wind
Citizen Kane
Sound of Music
Pirates of Penzeance (Joseph Pap production)
TIL: The Pirates of Penzance (1983) is not the same movie as The Pirate Movie (1982).. I was initially so confused when I saw Angela Lansbury on the cast list.
I hope I linked to the correct one which has Kevin Kline (superb performance) and Angela. The other movie was terrible, if I recall correctly (probably did not even watch more than a few minutes). During that time, there was a Broadway show produced by Joseph Papp that was a hit, the Pirate Movie apparently tried to capitalize on that.
You linked the correct one.. I recall the other from my childhood as my first 'Dude, wheres my car?' like experience - a movie so bad, it's kind of entertaining.
To be well-rounded, you need to do more than watch films.
That being said, my general rule of thumb is that if your favorite movie is from Disney, it's probably because you haven't seen enough really great movies.
(which is not to say that Disney films are bad in any way, but they tend to be very 'safe' and unchallenging to the viewer)
I am no film expert, I wouldn't say I'm uncultured (semi-cultured perhaps?), but I do like a good movie so here are a few I recommend seeing:
The Usual Suspects
Almost Famous - Aside from being an excellent film, one of the best soundtracks I've heard in a movie
The Princess Bride - To my mind, this is the best family film ever made. Anyone can watch this movie and enjoy it which makes it a real masterpiece to me. Anybody wanna peanut?
The Shawshank Redemption - I notice you've already seen this one but it should be on every list :)
The Prestige
The Shooting 1966.
Found this one and was flabbergasted I had never heard of it before. It is a truly amazing exploration into pure character storytelling. Oddly enough it reminded me a lot of Joseph Heller's book Something Happened. But really good.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vpIt5dYiENI
Everybody is citing the classics, so here are some recent ones :
I, too, am a film major, but I'm not sure how movie classics, which-- as far as AFI is concerned-- are predominately written and directed by affluent, white rich dudes, are gonna help round your world view out if you, too, are a privileged white dude.
Here's my hot take, with reasons alongside them. Note that I myself am a white cismale, and these are movies that helped me see the world through as big of a lens as I can think of/had lasting impressions; if you see some movies in this list and think "no fucking shit, I don't need to see a movie about that," then feel free to skip it.
Chasing Amy (1997): A movie I think every insecure male should see who's having trouble finding a relationship. There is a not-so-great subplot and some jokes haven't aged well, but the crux of the movie revolves around a male protagonist who is incredibly insecure about dating a much more experienced partner.
4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days (2007): An intense story of two women seeking to get an abortion in 1980's Romania. It's powerful, chilling, and gives men just a taste of what women have to go through when their rights are repressed and overlooked by society. If you think women are just gonna stop getting abortions when they're outlawed, maybe watch this and see what you're putting them through instead.
Life Is Beautiful (1997): Follow the story of a Jew trying to remain an optimist and preserve the idea that life is worth living, even as he and his family succumb to the Holocaust. I think of this movie all the time, and it very much shaped my worldview and way of thinking. If you have trouble staying an optimist, I'd see this.
No Country for Old Men (2007): A slow-burn thriller that is the epitome of subtle storytelling. Aside from that, it is also a story about how life is chaos, morality is hard to abide by when others don't walk the same path, and not everything ends the way you want it to. That more often than not, you're just in the chaos, and it's going on with or without you.
Dark Days (2000): A documentary exploring the life of New York's homeless as they live in the evacuated Subway tunnels below. If you think all homeless people are just drug addicted, crime-committing parasites, maybe watch some documentaries (that feel non-exploitative) about them.
Friday (1995): On the surface can be dismissed as a mindless comedy, but actually touches on a lot of points of life for poorer, black communities in the early 90's (and still today). For a more serious take on poorer, black communities, watch the The Wire or The Corner, which are TV shows, yes, but it'd feel a disservice to the complexities and intricacies of all there is to depict of those areas to sum them up in anything less.
Chan Is Missing (1982): Two cab drivers search for their missing friend in 1980's San Fransisco Chinatown, and briefly touch upon Asian-American identity at the time.
City of God (2002): Dip into the slums of Rio for one of the darkest assortments of stories you'll ever watch behind an award-winning photograph. Gritty, dark, and depressing realities of life in the slums.
A Separation (2011): A vignette of a couple in Iran who face the choice of staying or leaving for safety. Really gives insight on the problems faced elsewhere and how stuck of a situation they're in. Helps shed some insight on how couple dynamics are shaped in different areas.
Zero Days (2016): A documentary of the power plays put into effect on the cyber-warfare front-lines not too long ago that will leave you wearing a tinfoil hat. Helps shape your cyber-security practices.
Dirty Money (2018-): Lastly, a miniseries putting in vignettes just how screwed up the world of dark and dirty money is. Helps you make more ethical choices on what to do with your money.
Of the top of my head, i think two must watch horror movies are: The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby.
Nosferatu too.