Must watch movies?

I like some of these movie choices.

Lavern08 said:

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

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I love this one.

I think of "must-watch" movies as those that are always mentioned in popular culture, so you end up missing the references if you haven't seen them.

In no particular order:
- Casablanca
- The Godfather I and II
- The Star Wars original trilogy
- The Matrix (first film only)
- It's a Wonderful Life
- Alien and Aliens
- Roman Holiday
- Citizen Kane (which I haven't actually seen yet but keep meaning to!)
- The Wizard of Oz
- The Shawshank Redemption
- The Shining
- 12 Angry Men
- Some Like it Hot
- E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
- Raiders of the Lost Ark

autumnleaf said:

I think of "must-watch" movies as those that are always mentioned in popular culture, so you end up missing the references if you haven't seen them.

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I agree with that definition Like, there are plenty of good movies out there, but for it to be a must-watch it should be culturally impactful. (Although my non-classic favourites list definitely doesn't fall into that category haha)

autumnleaf said:

I think of "must-watch" movies as those that are always mentioned in popular culture, so you end up missing the references if you haven't seen them.

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Would that include Plan 9 from Outer Space (popular picked-on Ed Wood "classic" - though, TBH, I have actually seen more insensible wastes of celluloid)?

Terminator is still a classic and frequently referenced, though not my cup of cocoa enough to make my personal list.

2001... rather arty for my tastes, but distinctive.

Oh, and to any list, one must add Airplane! (Surely someone else must've listed it by now? ... *come on, AW, don't leave that one hangin'*... )

Forrest Gump
Monty Python/Holy Grail (love that Lego version)
Sling Blade (anything with Lucas Black, really)
Stand by Me
Sandlot
the Goonies

maybe a lot of the movies from the 80s! great great great era of movies!

These are stop what you're doing and watch this.

The Godfather I & II
Saving Private Ryan
Alien & Aliens
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
The Wild Bunch
The Sting
Chinatown
Malcolm X
The Deer Hunter
The Matrix
The Verdict
Unforgiven
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Devil In A Blue Dress
Apocalypse Now
Raging Bull
Good Fellas
Fight Club
Do the Right Thing
Inception
City of God
Children of Men
Patton
Romeo Is Bleeding
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Dark Knight
North By Northwest

That's a good start...

I think we haven't mentioned:

300

Akira

Guardians of the Galaxy.

Don Hertzfeldt's It's Such a Beautiful Day.

A couple that (for better or worse) are part of mainstream Americana: Gone With the Wind, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, From Here to Eternity, The Shining, Rocky, Rambo, Dirty Harry, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Miracle on 34th Street. Others that probably aren't but should be: A Streetcar Named Desire, State of Grace, The Sweet Smell of Success, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Pope of Greenwich Village, Body Heat, Unforgiven, Maltese Falcon, Love Me or Leave Me, Save The Tiger, Detective Story...

Life of Pi
Melancholia
The African Queen
Key Largo
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Rosemary's Baby
Jackie Brown
The Magnificent Seven

We've been educating our 14-year-old son in movie-lore by showing him our "must watch" movies.

The Wizard of Oz
Casablanca
Buckaroo Banzai, Beyond the 8th Dimension
The Princess Bride
Arsenic and Old Lace
Rashomon
Willow
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
It's a Wonderful Life

Those are a few.

The Tale of Zatoichi (if you like a bromance)(and swords)

Samurai Vendetta if you like a love story (and swords). (The real title of this is 'Pale Cherry Blossoms' and it's a love-story that is tangential to the story of the revenge of the Ako ronin (aka 47 Ronin, aka Chushingura)

The 1965 version and the 1938 version of 'Tange Sazen and the 1-million Ryo Pot'.

The 1938 version is about a bunch of people being chill... (only one swordfight)

The 1965 version - if you like action, and heros and bad guys and (you guessed it, right? swordfights - this movie)

In the case of these last two, it's also really interesting to see 1) how much film storytelling changed in those 30 years and 2) how different a story you can get from the same fundamental conflicts.