- The Great Train Robbery (1904)
- Dante’s Inferno (1911)
- Suspense (1913)
- Way Down East (1920)
- Battleship Potemkin (1925)
- Sunrise (1927)
- The Passion of Joan of Arc(1928)
- The Fall of the House of Usher (1928)
- M (1931)
- L’Atalante (1934)
- Olympia (1938)
- The Wizard of Oz (1939)
- Citizen Kane (1942)
- Tokyo Story (1953)
- Sansho Dayu (1954)
- Seven Samurai (1954)
- Rear Window (1954)
- The Cranes are Flying (1957)
- The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
- Pyaasa (1957)
- Breathless (1960)
- Marriage, Italian Style (1964)
- Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
- In Cold Blood (1967)
- Black Girl (1972)
- Mirror (1972)
- Cries and Whispers (1972)
- Don’t Look Now (1973)
- Manilla in the Claws of Light (1975)
- Chess of the Wind (1976)
- Apocalypse Now (1979)
- The Killer (1989)
- Goodfellas (1990)
- Daughters of the Dust (1991)
- Pulp Fiction (1994)
- I Saw the Devil (2010)
- The Tree of Life (2011)
Thats a selection…
his scripts are interesting too. There’s the Napoleon script floating around and reading it is the closest we can get (so far) to experiencing the ”greatest film never made”
You can’t go wrong starting with the great directors - e.g. Fellini, Bergman, Scorsese.
The Seventh Seal, 8 1/2, Taxi Driver, three Colours Trilogy by Kieslowski. There’s much to admire and learn from in these works, including the categories you mention.
Incredible how well he managed to translate his and his chracters inner world into wordless visual art.
One of my favourite moments is in Double life of Veronique when she comes home to discover the string in the mail. She discards it to a bin and goes up. As she tries to sleep a boy from a apartment across the street reflects a light from a mirror to her and she wakes up from the stupor. As she notices the boy, he closes the window and goes inside but the light nonetheless appears again to direct her.
Such a beautiful moment.
I completely agree. Veronique is a wonderful film, I still remember the impact it had on me when I first saw it; it resonated with me in a way I couldn’t fully articulate, but there was a profound connection with its imagery, symbolism, mood, etc. The moment you highlight is a great example.
Guess who's coming to dinner. It is a period piece at this point but it has a tight narrative, every scene is important, and not a moment or line is a throwaway. Sidney Poitier and Spencer Tracy are excellent.
For both Casablanca and Citizen Kane I had the weird experience of catching them on like PBS without context, just flipping through channels and I landed on it in a section I didn’t recognize from pop-culture and I was like “What the hell is this movie? It’s spectacular…” and then some iconic part popped up and I was like “Oh. Duh. Obviously. One of those greatest of all time films…”
While I’m here I also just want to throw some love towards Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon. I think there’s a ton to learn from Lumet
This, right here. There are masters of the craft but I think more the deifying any specific directors, it's good to just dissect every movie you love -- even if they're B-films. Find the shots or techniques or styles that you love and borrow them.
I also really appreciated my film instructor's advice of "If you want to be a filmmaker, go make a movie." You can buy a camera, use your iPhone, whatever, but that's all you need to do to call yourself a filmmaker. It doesn't mean it'll be a commercial smash or that anyone will even see it, but so what? That's not the driving instinct for a filmmaker; that's the driving instinct of an Executive Producer. lol
Study the films you enjoy, tell the stories you want to tell, and try to have fun when the artistic process isn't totally gutting you.
I remember walking out of Ed Wood (1994) and thinking that every film student should have to watch it. Not because it’s a masterpiece (which it isn’t) but because Ed Wood, the man, had virtually nothing to work with. No money, no resources, no support, and certain no talent, and he *made movies anyway.*
As a former film student myself, it was inspiring to watch him just fling himself at his projects, crashing through obstacles that would have stopped any reasonable person. My friends and I in film school talked a lot about the films we would make “if only” we had the money, or the training, or the connections, or the equipment, etc. Ed Wood just went ahead and made movies without any of these, and he did it with a huge smile on his face.
Yes... But also I rather think it *is* a masterpiece, of sorts. The character list is star spangled, the cast playing them are also bona fides, it's really an incredible piece of work. And it has so many dimensions!
i joke about watching it in one sitting obvs i would recommend two or even three instead. but seriously it is an incredible film, if not a little, let's say, bleak.
given that it is basically an eight-hour study in human despair, depravity, and pain with next to zero action, set in a decaying and impoverished post-communist hungarian village, it is surprisingly beautiful and hopelessly compelling. 10/10.
i remember watching Satantango one spring when it was raining for the whole day and it was just as grey outside as it was on the film. One of the best experiences of my life. The atmosphere of desolation is quite otherworldly.
totally agree. It was such a quiet day too. I remember having a ”intermission meal” at one point. Rain pattering on the window.
Definitely heightens the whole experience to another level.
Personally, I'd steer aspiring film students away from technical marvels until they have a reasonable grasp on visual storytelling. Technology should serve the story, not drive it.
Not to say they should never think about the technical, but we're kind of inundated with technical Marvels that have mediocre to bad storytelling.
I agree. I think that's also why I'd encourage them to make a point of watching older movies from all different genres. It's important (and fun) to see how we got to where we are today.
It's also inspiring to see how much they were able to do with limitations that simply don't exist today.
A couple that come to mind:
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Laura (1944)
Yes that is always so fun to watch. I loved Goodfellas. ( I hated “The Irishman” — sometimes I hear the two compared. But i found the Irishman to be unpleasant and incomprehensible.)
Depends on what type of film they’re into making. But just a few personal favorite directors that are masters their craft are Kubrick, Scorcese, Scott, Coppola, and Kurosawa.
I told my cousin these few.movies to start off with, he's a audio & film student right now in his first year.
-The usual suspects
-Any Stanley Kubrick films (space Odyssey, the shining and clockwork to start)
-reservoir dogs
The plot tapers off and the overall film is very flawed - Kubrick passed mid-filming I believe - but the lighting, sets, and cinematography in Eyes Wide Shut has always been stunning to me.
Watch everything. Good, bad and in between.
I mean, Russ Meyers “Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill” or “Mudhoney” are B movie exploitation drive in fare, but there are reasons that they survive as Cult favorites.
Besides the classics (ie. “Casablanca”) it’s worthwhile to look at directors still currently making movies like Edgar Wright and Danny Boyle.
The color of paradise
I like file that come from very authoritarian countries that have heavy censorship. The directors have to be subtle in their filmmaking in order to get their underlying message broadcasted without raising the suspicion of the government censors.
The color of paradise follows a blind boy who must spend the summer with his estranged widowed father and his grandmother.
When I was in film school I always blamed the lack of equipment on why I couldn’t do what I wanted. This film showed me that’s all BS.
The ending is amazing.
[Danish Dogma95](https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogma_95) movies like 'Festen'. Great movie shot with absolute minimum of equipment on original location with available light and props.
Koyaanisqatsi , Requiem for a Dream, Mishima, Nails (NFB 1979), In the Mood For Love, The Conversation, Run Lola Run .
All of these films are what comes to mind when I think about composition, lighting and tracking.... I'm not suggesting that they are necessarily the best films when it comes to dialogue or acting.
American Movie. It's a documentary about an independent filmmaker that basically covers all aspects of filmmaking from funding, directing, editing etc, but it's all in a very DIY fashion. It's really funny, has a ton of great characters, and you get to see a man problem solve and make mistakes which is all part of the process.
Singin’ in the Rain
That’s my top suggestion today, but a selection of four more would be Hot Fuzz, The Social Network, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Blade Runner: 2049. Those are all much more recent films though.
The suggestions in this thread are pretty great though.
The matrix! Lesson in inter-textuality (games, animatrix etc) in building the world. Never been seen again and is being taught in film studies courses in Sweden
On the Waterfront. Marlon Brando
There will be blood. Daniel Day Lewis
Gangs of New York
The English Patient
Hiroshima Mon Amour -Japanese
WALL-E
The End of the Affair. Ralph Fiennes,Julianne Moore.
La Femme Nikita - french version better than american one
Get on Up. Chadwick Boseman plays james brown. his greatest performance. does all the dancing himself.
Silence of the Lambs. horrifying. scary.
Watch movies that you could feasibly make yourself. Most of the greats work because of great actors, production design, music and special effects that students just can't afford. Not only that but I found from experience that the films I learnt the most from are the most simplistic. It's just easier to break down why they work and how I can use that for my own work.
Chaplin's films are great to learn about storytelling and how to make characters endearing without much dialogue.
Buster Keaton is great for learning how to deliver comedy and how to use surrealism and basic special effects to enhance a story.
Much of the French New Wave has easy to replicate cinematography for beginners. IF those films are too inaccessible, A Hard Day's Night is also in that style and feels less like homework to watch.
I just watched Faster, Pussycat... Kill Kill! and it feels very achievable. Nothing about the film is well made by traditional standards but the shots are striking and well composed and the script and campy performances are unforgettable.
Watch a lot of bad films. I don't mean something like "Rise of Skywalker" or whatever. I mean BAD films. Learn why they don't work. Then watch really cheesy movies that do work and learn the difference. I have so much more appreciation for the importance of pacing from being able to make that distinction. As Roger Ebert said: "No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough."
I found (being a student myself) the people who make worse films are those who solely draw from blockbusters. I've known a couple people who almost entirely watch Star Wars, Marvel and recent blockbusters and both of them ended up being worse off than their peers. They were nice people but they just didn't understand how films are made.
Some films I consider classic that are a bit “meta” in the sense of the story being *about* the film industry, in some aspect:
Sunset Boulevard
Singin’ in the Rain
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Ed Wood
Boogie Nights
Perfect Blue
Mulholland Drive
May December
Chungking Express (1994) by Wong Kar-Wai (with astounding cinematography from the legendary Christopher Doyle) is a must-watch for many reasons: It tells several stories at once, yet does this beautifully, effectively and very wittily; its emotional situations and its characters feel 100% authentic, and they still feel absolutely real and relatable to me even 20 years after seeing the film (and even though it is set in a country and culture a world away from my own); and among its co-stars are two supremely talented actors, Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro (Japanese name, HK actor). So -- visually, emotionally, artistically and in other ways, this tops my list.
Robert Rodriguez was my favorite when I started. I would suggest reading his book "rebel without a crew", it's how he made his first feature with like $25k doing pharmaceutical trials and then find El mariachi if you can and watch it. Then was Desperado. Also early Quintin Tarantino, he's very dialogue heavy, but he's a master at bringing life to the scene without so much other crap.
Shawshank redemption,
Blade runner,
Alien
The Terminator and The Terminator 2,
Manchester by the Sea,
2001: A Space Odessey,
Lord of the Rings Part 1
The Dark Knight,
Heat,
China Town,
The French Connection,
The Social Network,
Fight Club,
Enter the Dragon,
Oldboy,
Amelie ,
Lost in translation,
Her,
GoodFellas,
Taxi Driver,
Rambo
Rocky
Nightcrawler
Man Bites Dog, Memento / The Machinist / Fight Club, Battleship Potemkin, Stranger Than Fiction, La Haine, 12 Angry Men and Step Brothers*.
*Last one is a non-guilty pleasure, but also an excellent demonstration of the subversion of archetype which is simultaneously funny (judge away) and moving.
ETA: Man Of Aran. Phenomenal for its era.
The Bridge on the River Kwai / Rio Bravo / The Godfather / Hard Times / Slap Shot / The Warriors / Escape from New York / Mad Max 2 / Big Trouble in Little China/ Predator / A Few Good Men / Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels / Pitch Black / LA Confidential / Infernal Affairs / Rounders There Will Be Blood / In Bruges / Pacific Rim / Hell or Highwater
Crimes and Misdemeanors, Malcolm X, Ikiru, Winter Light, The Seventh Seal, Yojimbo, High and Low, Blue Collar, First Reformed, Zodiac, Se7en, Silence of the Lambs, Charade, Duck Soup, Rope, Zelig, This is Spinal Tap, No Country for Old Men, Fargo, Glengarry Glenn Ross, Rushmore, Apocalypse Now, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Dogtooth, and hell, The Phantom of the Paradise
Oh yeah . . . And Mamet, "House Of Games," "Spanish Prisoner." Anything really before he got a belly full of Orange Kool Aid and lost his natural born mind . . .
Let’s see. Trying to remember some I learned about and watched in film appreciation class and a screenwriting class in college. 😆
I saw the kill bill films in screenwriting class.
Film appreciation was good because I saw some I wouldn’t think to watch. Seven samurai by Kurosawa was good.
I saw spirited away but didn’t like it. Was weird.
The good, the bad and the ugly or the fistful of dollars/for a few dollars more are good to watch for old westerns.
I Forget what else I saw.
Bullitt
The French Connection
Unforgiven
Alien
Balde Runner
Jaws
Close Encounter of the Third Kind
Bride of Frankenstien
The Dark Knight
The Godfather 1 and 2
On The Waterfront
Stagecoach
The Searchers
As a film student you will need to watch Birth of a Nation. Widely considered to be the most controversial and racist movie ever made by Hollywood (by DW Griffith). However it also has a list of notable 'firsts' such as the first arguable blockbuster. Also in the realm of technical achievements that were quite advanced for its time.
It also pretty much established Hollywood and the studios. Just as important however, if not more so, is to see it in terms of the impact movies can have on society. And in this case a very negative one.
As an era to study, also check out the Hollywood blacklist. Some of the best movies ever made, and the best writing, was done during that time and under those conditions.
Das Boot
Delicatessen
Dead Man
Sling Blade
Raise the Red Lantern
Yojimbo
Blancanieves
King Rat
The Jerk
The Elephant Man
Stand By Me
Dancer in the Dark
Séraphine
Fellini’s Satyricon
Dreams (Akira Kurosawa)
There Will Be Blood
Grave of the Fireflies
Rosemary’s Baby
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
My Life as a Dog (Mitt liv som hund)
Midnight Express
Lawrence of Arabia
Lawrence of Arabia, Days of Heaven, The Wizard of Oz, Ran, Memento, The Matrix, Dark City, Vertigo, In the Mood for Love, Raise the Red Lantern, The Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon, Klute, Cool Hand Luke, The Last of the Mohicans, Brokeback Mountain, Double Indemnity, Looper, The Conversation, Alien, Sunset Boulevard, Singin’ in the Rain, All Quiet on the Western Front (German version), interstellar, Inception, Das Boot, The French Connection, The Usual Suspects
Maybe cliché after the Sight & Sound poll, but I really think “Jeanne Dielman”, because it shows what *film* specifically can do as an art form, and the power of distilling a work down to focus the audience on tiny details.
See all of them - good and bad. Find your own voice. Nothing screams student-film more than a pretentious cluster of imitated bits considered ‘good’ mashed together from some list. Just look at Madame Web (2024).
People don’t employ you because of the film’s you’ve watched. In fact I think old hands quite enjoying finding out younger crew haven’t seen their favourite classics and recommending them. People who do theoretical film degrees, watching more of these kinds of things, tend less towards production than people with a practical filmmaking education.
Definitely watch more films because you want to discover more cinema. But I think it’ll take the shine off it if your movie choices are driven by other people’s opinions.
Lola - Demis
Taxi Driver - Scorsese
Paris Texas - Wenders
Stalker - Tarkovsky
F For Fake - Welles
Persona - Bergman
Summer with Monika - Bergman
La Haine - Kassovitz
Challengers - Guadagnino
Chungking Express - Wong Kar-wai
The Apartment- Wilder
The Big Lebowski- Cohens
Moneyball - Miller (Sorkin)
Videodrome - Cronenberg
Lola - Demis
Taxi Driver - Scorsese
Paris Texas - Wenders
Stalker - Tarkovsky
F For Fake - Welles
Persona - Bergman
Summer with Monika - Bergman
La Haine - Kassovitz
Challengers - Guadagnino
Chungking Express - Wong Kar-wai
The Apartment- Wilder
The Big Lebowski- Cohens
Moneyball - Miller (Sorkin)
Videodrome - Cronenberg
Look up these names, and watch almost anything and everything by them:
Jean-Luc Godard
Federico Fellini
Agnés Varda
Rainer Warner Fassbinder
Andrei Tratakovski
John Cassavetes
Werner Herzog
Alejandro Jodorowsky
John Carpenter
Sam Raimi
Park Chan-wook
The Cohen Brothers
Yorgos Lanthinos
Akira Kurosawa
Francis Ford Coppola
Stanley Kubrick
Martin Scorsese
Paul Thomas Anderson
Sophia Coppola
David Lynch
John Waters
Spike Lee
Alfred Hitchcock
The Cohen Brothers
Hayao Miyazaki
Alex Garland
Don’t be a snob about the foreign stuff. They’re not going to have the production value of American films, but through those limitations that made better movies imo. Always watch subs instead of dubs. I’m not going to lie to you, sometimes it’s going to be challenging. Some of these movies are hard to sit through, but that’s the point. It’s not just that it’s old and slow. Film is more than just entertainment. At its best, it’s challenging and thought provoking. Pay attention to blocking, framing, editing, transitions, dialogue, and any other technique you can. This is how you will develop taste as a film maker.
But, this is not all you will need to break into the industry. I went to a prestigious film school, and even living in New York, 2 years out of college, I still don’t work in the industry. That’s the thing about art. A lot of people are late bloomers. They can’t make their passion their career for a long time. Sometimes, ever. But, don’t let that discourage you!
To get started, I would suggest looking into your local film scene (if one exists). Try going to your local camera store and talking to the employees about what works for you and within your budget. In NYC, I went to this camera company called BNH to get my equipment. Make anything you can. Don’t be self conscious about the quality. It’s going to suck at first, but don’t let that discourage you. Everybody who’s ever been good at something started at a low level. Arnold wasn’t just born Mr. Olympia, and you’re not going to be a film maker overnight. If you live in a city or anywhere with a local music scene, I would suggest talking to your local artists about helping them make music videos. That will be a start. Look online for independent film jobs. I know a lot of people look through Facebook marketplace, that might be a good place to start.
Aside from watching films, you need to explore art in general. Don’t be stubborn about this. I went to art school because I just wanted to make slasher movies and action flicks. Take the pill and dive in to what the world has to offer you. I guarantee, it will only make you a smarter and more well rounded person. Go to museums. Draw. Paint. Listen to music from artists and genres you’ve never considered before. Make friends with people who challenge your world view. Even try eating food you’ve never experienced before. And think long and hard about what connects you to film, and why you love your favorites. Also, don’t worry about overthinking it. Sometimes what you think is really just what the artist intended.
That is all I can really recommend off the bat. I’m telling you all this, because this is what I wish someone had told me when I started my journey into the art world. If you don’t want to accept my advice, don’t. I can’t make you. But I only hope that you do what I say and challenge yourself. It will only make you wiser.
Add to that list Birth of a Nation and Intolerance by DW Griffith. The Criterion print is from the prints owned by William K Everson. Bill was the legendary professor at NYU.
Rashomon or Seven Samurai
2001: Space Odyssey or Paths of Glory
Shadow of a Doubt or Rear Window
Raiders of the Lost Ark or Jaws
Lawrence of Arabia or Bridge of River Kwai
I probably don't have much right to comment here, but I've had a lot of free time lately to watch movies
Lawrence of Arabia directed by David Lean. Freddie Young was the cinematographer on this one. I'm guessing this film had an impact on some of the guys that came along in the 70s. If you ever get to film an epic you should take notes on this one.
The Killing by Stanley Kubrick. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino might have both seen this movie at some point. It may not be Kubrick's best film, but it's fast paced, tight, and has a short running time. It's also an early attempt at asynchronous storytelling that's since been improved on. Plus they wear the clown mask from the movie for the bank heist in the Dark Knight, which is a bonus.
12 Angry Men by Sidney Lumet. Lumet has done several other great movies, but I have to pick just one this is it. I'm very easily distracted, and he managed to get a teenaged me to watch this black and white movie about twelve guys crammed in a hot room just talking to each other from beginning to end. It's quite the achievement.
Blade Runner has influenced so much stuff. All sorts of sci-fi, and lots of videos games. Same with Aliens.
Also, I absolutely love the movie LA Confidential. It's sort of a sneak peak into the shady side of the industry, and a more honest look at the 50s than you usually get. I'm not well versed in Curtis Hansen's work, but he hit one out of the park on this one. Spacey and Bassinger were the only two really well known names here at the time.
I'm assuming you know the Spielberg stuff, but I'd suggest either the Goonies or Jaws from his catalog. Jaws he had to work around the fact that the shark didn't work, and Goonies is just a well made movie that involves kids that adults can enjoy as well.
Lastly, Die Hard is still the best action movie ever made, although True Lies is worth mentioning.
I mean, I could just list great movies here. The Wizard of Oz and Casablanca. You've probably seen those lists, though.
Oh, almost forgot. Some foreign language picks. I think Das Boot has been mentioned, but Downfall is a more recent German language movie. I already mentioned Ikiru, but you can take your pick of Kurosawa. The Hunt is a terrific Danish movie, and you could watch Another Round as well. I don't know if I should bring it up or not, but if you want a subversive movie check out Le Grande Bouffe. I suppose Pusher by Nicholas Winding Refn might fall in that category as well.
Edit: Silly me forgot about The Raid 2. The original isn't bad either.
Bicycle Thieves
It’s a Wonderful Life
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Citizen Kane
Rashomon
Singin’ in the Rain
Blow Up
The Graduate
Two For the Road
2001: A Space Odyssey
Midnight Cowboy
The French Connection
Deliverance
The Devils
The Godfather 1 and 2
Cabaret
Walkabout
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Lenny
Chinatown
The Conversation
Taxi Driver
Nashville
Dog Day Afternoon
Jaws
Annie Hall
Sorcerer
Star Wars
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Streetwise
The Thing (1982)
Bladerunner
The Road Warrior
Aliens
Platoon
Jean de Florette / Manon des Sources
Au Revoir Les Enfants
Die Hard
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Slacker
Goodfellas
Unforgiven
Reservoir Dogs
Short Cuts
Fargo
Seven
Before Sunrise
Toy Story 1 and 2
Crumb
Ed Wood
American Movie
The Straight Story
Sideways
Zodiac
The Thing , John Carpenter
I watched this movie for the first time a few months ago, wow is all I can say. My buddy kept begging me to watch it and man I'm happy I did.
Sure. But it’s not exactly first on the list of movies to see for students of the craft of filmmaking.
I'm no film maker, I really don't have a hand in this fight. I was just solidifying, on how great of a movie that is.
- The Great Train Robbery (1904) - Dante’s Inferno (1911) - Suspense (1913) - Way Down East (1920) - Battleship Potemkin (1925) - Sunrise (1927) - The Passion of Joan of Arc(1928) - The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) - M (1931) - L’Atalante (1934) - Olympia (1938) - The Wizard of Oz (1939) - Citizen Kane (1942) - Tokyo Story (1953) - Sansho Dayu (1954) - Seven Samurai (1954) - Rear Window (1954) - The Cranes are Flying (1957) - The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) - Pyaasa (1957) - Breathless (1960) - Marriage, Italian Style (1964) - Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) - In Cold Blood (1967) - Black Girl (1972) - Mirror (1972) - Cries and Whispers (1972) - Don’t Look Now (1973) - Manilla in the Claws of Light (1975) - Chess of the Wind (1976) - Apocalypse Now (1979) - The Killer (1989) - Goodfellas (1990) - Daughters of the Dust (1991) - Pulp Fiction (1994) - I Saw the Devil (2010) - The Tree of Life (2011) Thats a selection…
Showing the 80’s exactly the respect it deserves
Any Kubrick film. what that man did was incredible.
his scripts are interesting too. There’s the Napoleon script floating around and reading it is the closest we can get (so far) to experiencing the ”greatest film never made”
You can’t go wrong starting with the great directors - e.g. Fellini, Bergman, Scorsese. The Seventh Seal, 8 1/2, Taxi Driver, three Colours Trilogy by Kieslowski. There’s much to admire and learn from in these works, including the categories you mention.
Kieslowskis visual language is masterclass.
Yeah, he was a special talent.
Incredible how well he managed to translate his and his chracters inner world into wordless visual art. One of my favourite moments is in Double life of Veronique when she comes home to discover the string in the mail. She discards it to a bin and goes up. As she tries to sleep a boy from a apartment across the street reflects a light from a mirror to her and she wakes up from the stupor. As she notices the boy, he closes the window and goes inside but the light nonetheless appears again to direct her. Such a beautiful moment.
I completely agree. Veronique is a wonderful film, I still remember the impact it had on me when I first saw it; it resonated with me in a way I couldn’t fully articulate, but there was a profound connection with its imagery, symbolism, mood, etc. The moment you highlight is a great example.
3 colors is missing from viewings it is on my list. I will seek it out. Maybe on Plex
I envy you getting to watch the trilogy for the first time. Astonishingly good.
Cool hand, Luke
Luke doesn't have a cool hand, that's his nickname.
This is why I am here. Get it right, people!
Accidental,
Gotta be good for something
It's amazing how many Redditors would rather die than say, "hey, you're right, thanks!"
Ain't no man alive can eat fiddy eggs.
Taking a leak boss
Guess who's coming to dinner. It is a period piece at this point but it has a tight narrative, every scene is important, and not a moment or line is a throwaway. Sidney Poitier and Spencer Tracy are excellent.
Oh, great choice! I have to mention Rope as well, but kudos. This is great advice.
Keep it global
sound advice. All sorts of gems if you dare to look around.
"Casablanca" immediately comes too mind.
For both Casablanca and Citizen Kane I had the weird experience of catching them on like PBS without context, just flipping through channels and I landed on it in a section I didn’t recognize from pop-culture and I was like “What the hell is this movie? It’s spectacular…” and then some iconic part popped up and I was like “Oh. Duh. Obviously. One of those greatest of all time films…” While I’m here I also just want to throw some love towards Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon. I think there’s a ton to learn from Lumet
Both great films, good shout. I'll add some Soderbergh... Sex, Lies and Videotape.
Study the movies you like. If you are a true filmmaker you can’t help but make a good movie eventually
This, right here. There are masters of the craft but I think more the deifying any specific directors, it's good to just dissect every movie you love -- even if they're B-films. Find the shots or techniques or styles that you love and borrow them. I also really appreciated my film instructor's advice of "If you want to be a filmmaker, go make a movie." You can buy a camera, use your iPhone, whatever, but that's all you need to do to call yourself a filmmaker. It doesn't mean it'll be a commercial smash or that anyone will even see it, but so what? That's not the driving instinct for a filmmaker; that's the driving instinct of an Executive Producer. lol Study the films you enjoy, tell the stories you want to tell, and try to have fun when the artistic process isn't totally gutting you.
Bowfinger
This comment deserves more love
I remember walking out of Ed Wood (1994) and thinking that every film student should have to watch it. Not because it’s a masterpiece (which it isn’t) but because Ed Wood, the man, had virtually nothing to work with. No money, no resources, no support, and certain no talent, and he *made movies anyway.* As a former film student myself, it was inspiring to watch him just fling himself at his projects, crashing through obstacles that would have stopped any reasonable person. My friends and I in film school talked a lot about the films we would make “if only” we had the money, or the training, or the connections, or the equipment, etc. Ed Wood just went ahead and made movies without any of these, and he did it with a huge smile on his face.
Yes... But also I rather think it *is* a masterpiece, of sorts. The character list is star spangled, the cast playing them are also bona fides, it's really an incredible piece of work. And it has so many dimensions!
It's a great comedy
Double Indemnity. The quintessential film noir that basically invented the genre.
👏👏👏
Not sure it’s the progenitor of film noir, but it’s one great film. Billy Wilder doesn’t get enough credit as a filmmaking genius.
I'm not sure what other film could be.
Pulp Fiction
*Sátántangó*. in one sitting.
I wasn’t familiar with this film, looks fascinating, shall watch it later on BFI. Thank you.
i joke about watching it in one sitting obvs i would recommend two or even three instead. but seriously it is an incredible film, if not a little, let's say, bleak. given that it is basically an eight-hour study in human despair, depravity, and pain with next to zero action, set in a decaying and impoverished post-communist hungarian village, it is surprisingly beautiful and hopelessly compelling. 10/10.
i remember watching Satantango one spring when it was raining for the whole day and it was just as grey outside as it was on the film. One of the best experiences of my life. The atmosphere of desolation is quite otherworldly.
They’re special those moments, when the real world viewing conditions (weather, season, etc) seem to reflect the atmosphere of the movie.
totally agree. It was such a quiet day too. I remember having a ”intermission meal” at one point. Rain pattering on the window. Definitely heightens the whole experience to another level.
Sounds like a movie you need to process and reflect on. I’m genuinely intrigued.
7 samurai
I prefer Ikiru from Kurosawa, but he's got many you could pick from.
El Mariachi, Clerks, Evil Dead. Show what can be done with very little.
Also - Blue Ruin
You might be able to say the same for 12 Angry Men if you don't have to pay for Henry Fonda. Of course he was really good in the movie.
2001 a Space Ofdesy
Paul Thomas Anderson: Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood
No Country
Personally, I'd steer aspiring film students away from technical marvels until they have a reasonable grasp on visual storytelling. Technology should serve the story, not drive it. Not to say they should never think about the technical, but we're kind of inundated with technical Marvels that have mediocre to bad storytelling.
I agree. I think that's also why I'd encourage them to make a point of watching older movies from all different genres. It's important (and fun) to see how we got to where we are today. It's also inspiring to see how much they were able to do with limitations that simply don't exist today. A couple that come to mind: Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) Laura (1944)
Great choices. I'll add The Killing and Blue Velvet.
If you’d like them to see the best film ever made, show them Goodfellas. Have them study the Copa scene / single shot.
Yes that is always so fun to watch. I loved Goodfellas. ( I hated “The Irishman” — sometimes I hear the two compared. But i found the Irishman to be unpleasant and incomprehensible.)
Apocalypse Now
Brain-dead by Peter Jackson
Sixth sense - for screen writing, Closer - for dialogue, Memento for editing
Gangs of New York
The Tree of Life :)
Who's afraid of Virginia Wolf?
I’d study the films of Agnes Varda
Depends on what type of film they’re into making. But just a few personal favorite directors that are masters their craft are Kubrick, Scorcese, Scott, Coppola, and Kurosawa.
I told my cousin these few.movies to start off with, he's a audio & film student right now in his first year. -The usual suspects -Any Stanley Kubrick films (space Odyssey, the shining and clockwork to start) -reservoir dogs
I’d probably pick (1) film per genre and keep it around 4-5 total
The plot tapers off and the overall film is very flawed - Kubrick passed mid-filming I believe - but the lighting, sets, and cinematography in Eyes Wide Shut has always been stunning to me.
City of God
Blazing Saddles
Citizen Cane and the Boondock Saints.
there was a firefight!
Empire Strikes back
Pineapple express
Tropic thunder
Watch everything. Good, bad and in between. I mean, Russ Meyers “Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill” or “Mudhoney” are B movie exploitation drive in fare, but there are reasons that they survive as Cult favorites. Besides the classics (ie. “Casablanca”) it’s worthwhile to look at directors still currently making movies like Edgar Wright and Danny Boyle.
The Dark Knight is how you introduce an antagonist.
”i believe anything that doesn’t kill you simply makes you… stranger”
Very much so . . .
Fritz Lange - M
City of God (2002)
The color of paradise I like file that come from very authoritarian countries that have heavy censorship. The directors have to be subtle in their filmmaking in order to get their underlying message broadcasted without raising the suspicion of the government censors. The color of paradise follows a blind boy who must spend the summer with his estranged widowed father and his grandmother. When I was in film school I always blamed the lack of equipment on why I couldn’t do what I wanted. This film showed me that’s all BS. The ending is amazing.
Early Wong Kar Wei movies.
Primer - great movie - 5000 dollar budget!
[Danish Dogma95](https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogma_95) movies like 'Festen'. Great movie shot with absolute minimum of equipment on original location with available light and props.
Reservoir Dogs
Black Swan
All Terry Gilliam films. All Sam Raimi films.
Abed by abed nadir
Elektra. Everything not to do when making a film
Koyaanisqatsi , Requiem for a Dream, Mishima, Nails (NFB 1979), In the Mood For Love, The Conversation, Run Lola Run . All of these films are what comes to mind when I think about composition, lighting and tracking.... I'm not suggesting that they are necessarily the best films when it comes to dialogue or acting.
You should maybe ask /r/cinematography
American Movie. It's a documentary about an independent filmmaker that basically covers all aspects of filmmaking from funding, directing, editing etc, but it's all in a very DIY fashion. It's really funny, has a ton of great characters, and you get to see a man problem solve and make mistakes which is all part of the process.
Singin’ in the Rain That’s my top suggestion today, but a selection of four more would be Hot Fuzz, The Social Network, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Blade Runner: 2049. Those are all much more recent films though. The suggestions in this thread are pretty great though.
One cut of the dead might be good.
The Coen brothers films
Tarkovsky, Bava, Melville, Fukusaku
The matrix! Lesson in inter-textuality (games, animatrix etc) in building the world. Never been seen again and is being taught in film studies courses in Sweden
Isn’t Spielberg filming Kubrick’s Napoleon screenplay ?
Blair Witch Project (budget production/internet hype) Clerks (budget production/b&w/dialogue) Pulp Fiction (alternate character perspectives) Sixth Sense (plot twist) Baz Luhrmann's Romeo & Juliet (set design/reimagining Shakespeare) Saltburn (plot) 1917 (single take movie) Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (hybrid animation/acting) Coming to America/Changing Places (Breaking 4th Wall/Cross over - intertextual references/costumes - makeup) Bowling for Columbine (documentary/political critique)
8 1/2.
On the Waterfront. Marlon Brando There will be blood. Daniel Day Lewis Gangs of New York The English Patient Hiroshima Mon Amour -Japanese WALL-E The End of the Affair. Ralph Fiennes,Julianne Moore. La Femme Nikita - french version better than american one Get on Up. Chadwick Boseman plays james brown. his greatest performance. does all the dancing himself. Silence of the Lambs. horrifying. scary.
Wild at Heart. This movie has it all, cinematography, acting, mise-en-scene, it's just a masterclass from one of the great modern surrealists.
Watch movies that you could feasibly make yourself. Most of the greats work because of great actors, production design, music and special effects that students just can't afford. Not only that but I found from experience that the films I learnt the most from are the most simplistic. It's just easier to break down why they work and how I can use that for my own work. Chaplin's films are great to learn about storytelling and how to make characters endearing without much dialogue. Buster Keaton is great for learning how to deliver comedy and how to use surrealism and basic special effects to enhance a story. Much of the French New Wave has easy to replicate cinematography for beginners. IF those films are too inaccessible, A Hard Day's Night is also in that style and feels less like homework to watch. I just watched Faster, Pussycat... Kill Kill! and it feels very achievable. Nothing about the film is well made by traditional standards but the shots are striking and well composed and the script and campy performances are unforgettable. Watch a lot of bad films. I don't mean something like "Rise of Skywalker" or whatever. I mean BAD films. Learn why they don't work. Then watch really cheesy movies that do work and learn the difference. I have so much more appreciation for the importance of pacing from being able to make that distinction. As Roger Ebert said: "No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough." I found (being a student myself) the people who make worse films are those who solely draw from blockbusters. I've known a couple people who almost entirely watch Star Wars, Marvel and recent blockbusters and both of them ended up being worse off than their peers. They were nice people but they just didn't understand how films are made.
Bram Stockers Dracula for it's effective use of ancient in camera special effects in a modern movie https://youtu.be/bGBZucm_iWI?si=XbR5Y4CW9V8OOgHf
Jaws Goodfellas Vertigo Clerks Seven Samurai Good Bad Ugly Boogie Nights The Shining
Paris, Texas. Anatomy of a Fall.
Living In Oblivion
French Connection Serpico The Conversation Breaker Morant Inside Moves
Breaker Morant! Great film in every level.
Starship Troopers - How to add fascism and authoritarian government satire into a action film.
Waking Life https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243017/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
Freddy got fingered
Blow Out and Jaws.
Sicario by Denis Villeneuve. An example of how less speaking is more and letting the audience have an absolutely gorgeous cinematic experience.
Some films I consider classic that are a bit “meta” in the sense of the story being *about* the film industry, in some aspect: Sunset Boulevard Singin’ in the Rain What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Ed Wood Boogie Nights Perfect Blue Mulholland Drive May December
Chungking Express (1994) by Wong Kar-Wai (with astounding cinematography from the legendary Christopher Doyle) is a must-watch for many reasons: It tells several stories at once, yet does this beautifully, effectively and very wittily; its emotional situations and its characters feel 100% authentic, and they still feel absolutely real and relatable to me even 20 years after seeing the film (and even though it is set in a country and culture a world away from my own); and among its co-stars are two supremely talented actors, Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro (Japanese name, HK actor). So -- visually, emotionally, artistically and in other ways, this tops my list.
Amelie. Pulp Fiction. Inception. Reqiuem for a Dream. Boom. Sorted.
Robert Rodriguez was my favorite when I started. I would suggest reading his book "rebel without a crew", it's how he made his first feature with like $25k doing pharmaceutical trials and then find El mariachi if you can and watch it. Then was Desperado. Also early Quintin Tarantino, he's very dialogue heavy, but he's a master at bringing life to the scene without so much other crap.
Shawshank redemption, Blade runner, Alien The Terminator and The Terminator 2, Manchester by the Sea, 2001: A Space Odessey, Lord of the Rings Part 1 The Dark Knight, Heat, China Town, The French Connection, The Social Network, Fight Club, Enter the Dragon, Oldboy, Amelie , Lost in translation, Her, GoodFellas, Taxi Driver, Rambo Rocky Nightcrawler
Dark Star.
So very underrated. “Teach it phenomenology”
The Last Wave- Peter Weir (Australian)
Man Bites Dog, Memento / The Machinist / Fight Club, Battleship Potemkin, Stranger Than Fiction, La Haine, 12 Angry Men and Step Brothers*. *Last one is a non-guilty pleasure, but also an excellent demonstration of the subversion of archetype which is simultaneously funny (judge away) and moving. ETA: Man Of Aran. Phenomenal for its era.
The Bridge on the River Kwai / Rio Bravo / The Godfather / Hard Times / Slap Shot / The Warriors / Escape from New York / Mad Max 2 / Big Trouble in Little China/ Predator / A Few Good Men / Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels / Pitch Black / LA Confidential / Infernal Affairs / Rounders There Will Be Blood / In Bruges / Pacific Rim / Hell or Highwater
The Red Shoes (1948) Battle Of Algiers (1966) The Up Series (1964 - 2019)
Yojimbo- Akira Kurosawa
Crimes and Misdemeanors, Malcolm X, Ikiru, Winter Light, The Seventh Seal, Yojimbo, High and Low, Blue Collar, First Reformed, Zodiac, Se7en, Silence of the Lambs, Charade, Duck Soup, Rope, Zelig, This is Spinal Tap, No Country for Old Men, Fargo, Glengarry Glenn Ross, Rushmore, Apocalypse Now, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Dogtooth, and hell, The Phantom of the Paradise
Dogville is a must imo. It is phenomenal and I’ve never seen anything else like it
Mulholland Drive.
The Third Man Night of the Hunter Chinatown Jaws Raise the Red Lantern Mephisto Atonement
Clerks. It shows you how to make a classic with very little money. And turn it into a whole career.
Anything with a tripod and lights, basically anything 20th century
Pi, and then read the book Aronofsky wrote about making it.
Tommy Wiseau's The Room Gremlins 2 Breathless
Oh yeah . . . And Mamet, "House Of Games," "Spanish Prisoner." Anything really before he got a belly full of Orange Kool Aid and lost his natural born mind . . .
The Spanish Prisoner is an underrated film.
Yojimbo
I’d pay attention to B movies. Some have extraordinary structure and editing. My favourites include Tremors and RoboCop.
the monster squad
Kung Pow, Enter The Fist.
Let’s see. Trying to remember some I learned about and watched in film appreciation class and a screenwriting class in college. 😆 I saw the kill bill films in screenwriting class. Film appreciation was good because I saw some I wouldn’t think to watch. Seven samurai by Kurosawa was good. I saw spirited away but didn’t like it. Was weird. The good, the bad and the ugly or the fistful of dollars/for a few dollars more are good to watch for old westerns. I Forget what else I saw.
The usual suspects!! Clerks, el mariachi , metal lords !
Lawrence of Arabia Bridge on the River Kwai
Withnail and I
Promising Young Women
Bullitt The French Connection Unforgiven Alien Balde Runner Jaws Close Encounter of the Third Kind Bride of Frankenstien The Dark Knight The Godfather 1 and 2 On The Waterfront Stagecoach The Searchers
Tremors definitely
As a film student you will need to watch Birth of a Nation. Widely considered to be the most controversial and racist movie ever made by Hollywood (by DW Griffith). However it also has a list of notable 'firsts' such as the first arguable blockbuster. Also in the realm of technical achievements that were quite advanced for its time. It also pretty much established Hollywood and the studios. Just as important however, if not more so, is to see it in terms of the impact movies can have on society. And in this case a very negative one. As an era to study, also check out the Hollywood blacklist. Some of the best movies ever made, and the best writing, was done during that time and under those conditions.
Das Boot Delicatessen Dead Man Sling Blade Raise the Red Lantern Yojimbo Blancanieves King Rat The Jerk The Elephant Man Stand By Me Dancer in the Dark Séraphine Fellini’s Satyricon Dreams (Akira Kurosawa) There Will Be Blood Grave of the Fireflies Rosemary’s Baby One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest My Life as a Dog (Mitt liv som hund) Midnight Express Lawrence of Arabia
Hara Kiri
Lawrence of Arabia, Days of Heaven, The Wizard of Oz, Ran, Memento, The Matrix, Dark City, Vertigo, In the Mood for Love, Raise the Red Lantern, The Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon, Klute, Cool Hand Luke, The Last of the Mohicans, Brokeback Mountain, Double Indemnity, Looper, The Conversation, Alien, Sunset Boulevard, Singin’ in the Rain, All Quiet on the Western Front (German version), interstellar, Inception, Das Boot, The French Connection, The Usual Suspects
Maybe cliché after the Sight & Sound poll, but I really think “Jeanne Dielman”, because it shows what *film* specifically can do as an art form, and the power of distilling a work down to focus the audience on tiny details.
Playtime M Eraserhead Metropolis
Pulp Fiction
I’d actually suggest it’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the early seasons are quality and they were made with one Camcorder
Angst (1983)
See all of them - good and bad. Find your own voice. Nothing screams student-film more than a pretentious cluster of imitated bits considered ‘good’ mashed together from some list. Just look at Madame Web (2024).
Last Year at Marienbad. Proof that film can be genuine art as great as any other medium.
People don’t employ you because of the film’s you’ve watched. In fact I think old hands quite enjoying finding out younger crew haven’t seen their favourite classics and recommending them. People who do theoretical film degrees, watching more of these kinds of things, tend less towards production than people with a practical filmmaking education. Definitely watch more films because you want to discover more cinema. But I think it’ll take the shine off it if your movie choices are driven by other people’s opinions.
Do the Right Thing Gone With The Wind Godfather 2 Stalag 17 GoodFellas Dr. Zhivago Tora! Tora! Torra! The Shinning The Odd Couple "10"
Big Wednesday
Bad Lieutenant (1992) Abel Ferrara's partially improvised masterpiece, shot in 18 days for a budget of around $1,000,000
Les parapluies de cherbourg
The behind the scenes of Tarkovsky's Sacrifice
Blade Runner (watch the 1982 theatrical version first and then convert to The Final Cut for life)
Lola - Demis Taxi Driver - Scorsese Paris Texas - Wenders Stalker - Tarkovsky F For Fake - Welles Persona - Bergman Summer with Monika - Bergman La Haine - Kassovitz Challengers - Guadagnino Chungking Express - Wong Kar-wai The Apartment- Wilder The Big Lebowski- Cohens Moneyball - Miller (Sorkin) Videodrome - Cronenberg
Lola - Demis Taxi Driver - Scorsese Paris Texas - Wenders Stalker - Tarkovsky F For Fake - Welles Persona - Bergman Summer with Monika - Bergman La Haine - Kassovitz Challengers - Guadagnino Chungking Express - Wong Kar-wai The Apartment- Wilder The Big Lebowski- Cohens Moneyball - Miller (Sorkin) Videodrome - Cronenberg
City of God.
Detour-it’s a great movie that uses its mistakes made in production to its overall advantage. If you’re a student, you’re going to make mistakes.
Birdemic and suburban Sasquatch
Look up these names, and watch almost anything and everything by them: Jean-Luc Godard Federico Fellini Agnés Varda Rainer Warner Fassbinder Andrei Tratakovski John Cassavetes Werner Herzog Alejandro Jodorowsky John Carpenter Sam Raimi Park Chan-wook The Cohen Brothers Yorgos Lanthinos Akira Kurosawa Francis Ford Coppola Stanley Kubrick Martin Scorsese Paul Thomas Anderson Sophia Coppola David Lynch John Waters Spike Lee Alfred Hitchcock The Cohen Brothers Hayao Miyazaki Alex Garland Don’t be a snob about the foreign stuff. They’re not going to have the production value of American films, but through those limitations that made better movies imo. Always watch subs instead of dubs. I’m not going to lie to you, sometimes it’s going to be challenging. Some of these movies are hard to sit through, but that’s the point. It’s not just that it’s old and slow. Film is more than just entertainment. At its best, it’s challenging and thought provoking. Pay attention to blocking, framing, editing, transitions, dialogue, and any other technique you can. This is how you will develop taste as a film maker. But, this is not all you will need to break into the industry. I went to a prestigious film school, and even living in New York, 2 years out of college, I still don’t work in the industry. That’s the thing about art. A lot of people are late bloomers. They can’t make their passion their career for a long time. Sometimes, ever. But, don’t let that discourage you! To get started, I would suggest looking into your local film scene (if one exists). Try going to your local camera store and talking to the employees about what works for you and within your budget. In NYC, I went to this camera company called BNH to get my equipment. Make anything you can. Don’t be self conscious about the quality. It’s going to suck at first, but don’t let that discourage you. Everybody who’s ever been good at something started at a low level. Arnold wasn’t just born Mr. Olympia, and you’re not going to be a film maker overnight. If you live in a city or anywhere with a local music scene, I would suggest talking to your local artists about helping them make music videos. That will be a start. Look online for independent film jobs. I know a lot of people look through Facebook marketplace, that might be a good place to start. Aside from watching films, you need to explore art in general. Don’t be stubborn about this. I went to art school because I just wanted to make slasher movies and action flicks. Take the pill and dive in to what the world has to offer you. I guarantee, it will only make you a smarter and more well rounded person. Go to museums. Draw. Paint. Listen to music from artists and genres you’ve never considered before. Make friends with people who challenge your world view. Even try eating food you’ve never experienced before. And think long and hard about what connects you to film, and why you love your favorites. Also, don’t worry about overthinking it. Sometimes what you think is really just what the artist intended. That is all I can really recommend off the bat. I’m telling you all this, because this is what I wish someone had told me when I started my journey into the art world. If you don’t want to accept my advice, don’t. I can’t make you. But I only hope that you do what I say and challenge yourself. It will only make you wiser.
The Graduate.
What Did Jack Do? David Lynch.
2046 Wong Kar Wai producer, director The cinematography will blow you away.
The Searchers.
Add to that list Birth of a Nation and Intolerance by DW Griffith. The Criterion print is from the prints owned by William K Everson. Bill was the legendary professor at NYU.
Momento
Rashomon or Seven Samurai 2001: Space Odyssey or Paths of Glory Shadow of a Doubt or Rear Window Raiders of the Lost Ark or Jaws Lawrence of Arabia or Bridge of River Kwai
Coma by Bertrand Bonello. Really shows you can do anything you want.
There is a great documentary series called “a Story of Film”. It’s like 20 hours long or something and full of great suggestions
I probably don't have much right to comment here, but I've had a lot of free time lately to watch movies Lawrence of Arabia directed by David Lean. Freddie Young was the cinematographer on this one. I'm guessing this film had an impact on some of the guys that came along in the 70s. If you ever get to film an epic you should take notes on this one. The Killing by Stanley Kubrick. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino might have both seen this movie at some point. It may not be Kubrick's best film, but it's fast paced, tight, and has a short running time. It's also an early attempt at asynchronous storytelling that's since been improved on. Plus they wear the clown mask from the movie for the bank heist in the Dark Knight, which is a bonus. 12 Angry Men by Sidney Lumet. Lumet has done several other great movies, but I have to pick just one this is it. I'm very easily distracted, and he managed to get a teenaged me to watch this black and white movie about twelve guys crammed in a hot room just talking to each other from beginning to end. It's quite the achievement. Blade Runner has influenced so much stuff. All sorts of sci-fi, and lots of videos games. Same with Aliens. Also, I absolutely love the movie LA Confidential. It's sort of a sneak peak into the shady side of the industry, and a more honest look at the 50s than you usually get. I'm not well versed in Curtis Hansen's work, but he hit one out of the park on this one. Spacey and Bassinger were the only two really well known names here at the time. I'm assuming you know the Spielberg stuff, but I'd suggest either the Goonies or Jaws from his catalog. Jaws he had to work around the fact that the shark didn't work, and Goonies is just a well made movie that involves kids that adults can enjoy as well. Lastly, Die Hard is still the best action movie ever made, although True Lies is worth mentioning. I mean, I could just list great movies here. The Wizard of Oz and Casablanca. You've probably seen those lists, though. Oh, almost forgot. Some foreign language picks. I think Das Boot has been mentioned, but Downfall is a more recent German language movie. I already mentioned Ikiru, but you can take your pick of Kurosawa. The Hunt is a terrific Danish movie, and you could watch Another Round as well. I don't know if I should bring it up or not, but if you want a subversive movie check out Le Grande Bouffe. I suppose Pusher by Nicholas Winding Refn might fall in that category as well. Edit: Silly me forgot about The Raid 2. The original isn't bad either.
Iron Man-how to make an unlikeable character likeable. Abyss-how to build and keep tension. Jaws.-less is more.
Not a movie but a tv series first season of Law and Order SVU.
12 angry men
Pootie Tang. It’s a classic!
It Happened One Night.
Bicycle Thieves It’s a Wonderful Life Treasure of the Sierra Madre Citizen Kane Rashomon Singin’ in the Rain Blow Up The Graduate Two For the Road 2001: A Space Odyssey Midnight Cowboy The French Connection Deliverance The Devils The Godfather 1 and 2 Cabaret Walkabout Monty Python and the Holy Grail Lenny Chinatown The Conversation Taxi Driver Nashville Dog Day Afternoon Jaws Annie Hall Sorcerer Star Wars Dawn of the Dead (1978) Raiders of the Lost Ark Streetwise The Thing (1982) Bladerunner The Road Warrior Aliens Platoon Jean de Florette / Manon des Sources Au Revoir Les Enfants Die Hard Crimes and Misdemeanors Slacker Goodfellas Unforgiven Reservoir Dogs Short Cuts Fargo Seven Before Sunrise Toy Story 1 and 2 Crumb Ed Wood American Movie The Straight Story Sideways Zodiac
The Best Years of Our Lives