-Steve Martin
There's one conversation I have with all of my friends, and many members of my family. The particulars change from person to person, but the skeleton of the conversation is essentially the same:
Me: [Insert line of movie dialogue]. *chuckle to myself* That's from [insert movie here]
Friend/Family member: Oh, I've never seen that.
Me: What?! *slams hands down on the table* You've never seen [insert movie here]?!
Friend/Family member: Uh, no.
Me: Oh, you must see it, it's sooooooo good!
I quite like the fact that I've seen so many films, and one of my favourite things to do is scope out new films that I 'have to see'. I avoided going onto the Apple Trailers website for six weeks because my list of films to see was too long, now that I've updated it's at 238 films. That's going to take me a verrry long time. One thing I've always found rather irritating though is those lists of films that critics assemble with a title along the lines of '10 films you have to see before you die'. It's not that I take issue with the principle of the thing, anyone who knows me knows that lists make my world go round, and I depend on them for most things. Really, what I tend to be opposed to is the fact that the lists are often so short, limited to, mostly, 10, 50, or 100 films that are supposed to define the whole medium of film throughout its 100-odd years of existence. These films, while undoubtedly good films, often don't do it, not on their own anyway.
After having emphatically and excitedly told a large amount of people that they "have to see" this, that and the other, I have decided to compile my own list of films that you 'have to see before you die', which is based off of The Guardian's list of 1000 (I say based off, because The Guardian neglected to mention some of the best films ever made, I have marked them with **). It includes really good films that display the talents of the best filmmakers to ever have lived, but also films that are just really nice to watch. Most people don't go to the cinema to see a 'good' film, they to go to see something they will enjoy; if it happens to also be of filmic quality, well, so much the better.
This list, I will warn you, is long. It is also in two parts. Part I is a list of films that I have seen and believe the rest of the world should see as well. Part II is a list of films I haven't seen but have been told I must as they are supposed to be essential viewing. I'm not going to pretend I've seen all these films when in my short 21 years on this planet I have watched a hell of a lot of films already (a lot of them bad) and have spent the rest of my time doing other more worthwhile things, like being outside.
If you think there's a film that ought to be included on this list, leave a comment. Do the same if you see something on there that you find absolutely ridiculous and has made your opinion of me drop several notches.
Anyway, enough of my ramblings, here's the list.
Part I
Airplane! (1980)
All About Eve (1950)**
All About My Mother (Todo Sobre mi Madre) (1999)
Amadeus (1984)
Amelie (2001)
Annie Hall (1977)
Au Revoir, Les Enfants (1987)
Back to the Future (1985)
Bambi (1942)
Batman (1989)
Being John Malkovich (1999)
Belleville Rendez-vous/The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
Big (1988) **
The Birds (1963)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
Bowling for Columbine (2002)
Brazil (1985)
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Cabaret (1972)
La Cage au Folles (1978)
Casablanca (1942)
Chariots of Fire (1981)
La Ciénaga (2001)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1971)
Clueless (1995)
Les Diaboliques (1955)
Dr Strangelove or : How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Farenheit 9/11 (2004)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Fight Club (1999)
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Forrest Gump (1994)**
The Four Hundred Blows (Les 400 Coups) (1959)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Goldfinger (1964)
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)
Gosford Park (2001)
The Graduate (1968)
Grease (1978)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Guys and Dolls (1955)
La Haine (1995)
Heavenly Creatures (1994)
History of the World, Pt 1 (1981)**
Hope and Glory (1987)
Hot Fuzz (2007)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Italian Job (1969)
Jaws (1975)
Jean de Florette/Manon des Sources (1986) **
The Jerk (1979)
Jerry Maguire (1996)
The Jungle Book (1967)
Labyrinth (1986)**
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)
Lost in Translation (2003)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Marathon Man (1976)
Meet Me in St Louis (1944)
Monsoon Wedding (2001)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Mr Smith Goes to Washington (1939)**
Muriel's Wedding (1994)
My Fair Lady (1964)
The Naked Gun (1988)
Office Space (1999)
Oliver! (1968)**
The Outsiders (1983)
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Philadelphia (1993)**
Poltergeist (1982)
Pretty in Pink (1986)
The Princess Bride (1987)
The Producers (1968)
Psycho (1960)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Rebecca (1940)
La Règle du Jeu (1939)**
Roman Holiday (1953)
Rushmore (1998)
The Science of Sleep (2006)
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Sideways (2004)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Some Like it Hot (1959)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
St Elmo's Fire (1985)
Star Wars (1977)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Toy Story (1995)
Trainspotting (1996)
Triumph of the Will (1935)
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les Parapluies de Cherbourg) (1964)
Wayne's World (1992)
West Side Story (1961)
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
Working Girl (1988)
Y Tu Mama Tambíen (2001)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Part II
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Alfie (1966)
American Beauty (1999)
American Graffiti (1973)
An American in Paris (1951)
American Splendor (2003)
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Blues Brothers (1980)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Casino (1995)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
Citizen Kane (1941)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Coolhand Luke (1967)
The Crying Game (1992)
Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Dazed and Confused (1993)
Dirty Harry (1971)
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
La Dolce Vita (1960)
Donnie Darko (2001)
Downfall (2004)
Dracula (1958)
Duck Soup (1933)
Election (1999)
The Endless Summer (1966)
The English Patient (1996)
The Exorcist (1973)
The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)
Fargo (1996)
Ghost World (2001)
The Godfather (1972)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Goodfellas (1990)
La Grande Illusion (1937)
Harold & Maude (1971)
His Girl Friday (1940)
Howard's End (1992)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Jacquot De Nantes (1991)
The Karate Kid (1984)
King Kong (1933)
LA Confidential (1997)
The Ladykillers (1955)
Last Tango in Paris (1972)
The Lives of Others (2006)
Logan's Run (1972)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
MASH (1970)
Memento (2000)
Mulholland Drive (2001)
My Left Foot (1989)
Nikita (1990)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Once Upon a Time in the West/ Once Upon a Time in America (1984/1986)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Osama (2003)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
The Piano (1993)
Raging Bull (1980)
Rear Window (1954)
Room With a View (1985)
Sabrina Fair (1954)
The Shining (1980)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Spartacus (1960)
Spirited Away (2001)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Top Gun (1986)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Vertigo (1958)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
The Wicker Man (1973)
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
Yellow Submarine (1968)
Much love. x
4 comments:
Pahahahaa, the number of times I've had that conversation with you in the past few weeks... I'm glad you've put this up though, I will get watching, although I warn you, you many not see me for QUITE some time!
Also, love that your idea of worthwhile activities is limited to watching films and being outside :P
xxxxxx
may*
Are there really no movies starring Barbara Stanwyck on your list? Does that mean you haven't seen them or haven't listed them? Where are Double Indemnity, The Lady Eve, and Ball of Fire? My personal favorite is Christmas in Connecticut, but I recognize that it's really not as good of a film as the others. Also, read this Anthony Lane profile:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/04/30/070430fa_fact_lane?currentPage=all
In short, Barbara Stanwyck.
And, in deference to your theme, a quote:
"Put me in the last fifteen minutes of a picture and I don't care what happened before. I don't even care if I was IN the rest of the damned thing - I'll take it in those fifteen minutes."
Nora, you're right, there are no Barbara Stanwyck films on my list, and that is indeed a great error on my part. When I read your comment I instantly recognised the name, but I must confess it wasn't I read the titles that you listed that I remembered people being outraged that I hadn't seen any of her films (particularly the ones written by Billy Wilder, who I love) and the many conversations with people saying I have to see them. Double Indemnity and Ball of Fire, in particular.
They've all been added to my personal list, making the total now 242. Unless I happen to fall prey to a disease that makes me bedridden for some years I don't think I'm ever going to get through it.
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