Iconic Movies / Film Appreciation

[shinyhappypeople]

I'm working on a "must watch" movie list for the DDs that we will, I hope, work on over the next 5 or 6 years.  I want to find those movies that have had the biggest impact on pop culture or were game changers for film making.  I'd like to include examples from all the genres, even sci-fi (::sigh:: I don't like sci-fi).  Don't worry about ratings.

 

What would your list include?

 

So far my list includes things as disparate as Casablanca, Jaws, and The Princess Bride.

 

[Seasider]

Citizen Kane is usually recommended for such a list. But I confess, it wasn't my favorite.

 

Might also want to consider Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, I believe it was rather groundbreaking in its day.

 

These two titles might go back farther than you wish, and may not be strictly cinematic fun, but they were certainly culturally relevant when produced.

[gardenmom5]

game changers with impact on pop culture? (not necessarily movies I want to watch again) and NO modern remakes.  (they're generally horrible.)

the godfather

jaws

star wars

guess who's coming to dinner

gone with the wind

the Philadelphia story  (I prefer this version to the musical version 'high society')

my fair lady

exodus

ben hur

gentlemen prefer blondes

bridge on the river kwai

midway

the great race

2001 a space odyssey (weird movie)

some  like it hot

alien

the great escape

a man for all seasons

the maltese falcon

singing in the rain

arsenic and old lace

the lady killers

heaven can wait

gaslight

the silent man

Lawrence of arabia

dr. zhivago

pyscho

rear window (with jimmy stewart and grace Kelly)

apocalypse now

one flew over the cuckoos nest

who shot liberty valance

the sting

the wizard of oz

cat on a hot tin roof

the lion in winter

 

 

 

 

movies with:

Humphrey bogart

Katherine Hepburn

jimmy stewart

henry fonda

jack lemon

Walter mathau

audry Hepburn

betty davis

by - Alfred hitchcok

cary grant

fred Astaire (his movies were purely vehicles for his dancing that intimidated Rudolf Nureyev). not always partnered with ginger Rodgers

Elizabeth taylor - especially in her younger years

 

 

 

 

 

[gardenmom5]

the african queen - that was the one I couldn't think of the name. . . .

butch Cassidy and the sundance kid.  some great lines. . . . used enough dynamite there butch?

 

eta: I found a list of iconic photo's from movies - these were mostly very iconic movies as well.

 

Edited September 12, 2016 by gardenmom5

[Tress]

You might like this book:

 

http://www.bookdepository.com/Best-Old-Movies-for-Families-Ty-Burr/9781400096862

 

I really like it, but I have trouble finding the movies. You might have better luck, because you are in America.

[TechWife]

The Maltese Falcon

Rear Window

Arsenic and Old Lace

The Princess Bride

Breakfast Club

Mrs. Doubtfire

[kewb]

Psycho. Alfred Hitchcock changed the way people went to the movies. They used to run all day/night and you can walk in at any time during the movie. Hitchcock insisted the doors be closed to the movie if you arrived after the opening scene.

 

I can't really think of any other game changers but we did a lot of classic movies.

 

We did a lot of movies through the years. I know we did more than these but these are the ones I recall.

 

Musicals:

My Fair Lady

Oliver

Hello Dolly

South Pacific

Carousel (if only to have a discussion about wife beating as a cultural norm)

The Sound of Music

Meet me in St. Louis

Mary Poppins

 

Classic:

Anything Hitchcock

Arsenic and Old Lace

Auntie Mame (Rosiland Russel version, not Lucille Ball)

Bringing up Baby

Pillow Talk

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane

 

The Eighties:

Short Circuit

The Goonies

War Games

Ferris Beuller's Day Off

Dirty Dancing

Sixteen Candles (one of my favorites and allows a discussion on rape culture and consent)

Pretty in Pink

The Breakfast Club

Raiders of the Lost Ark trilogy

Back to the Future trilogy

Airplane (great for discussion on things that were once considered appropriate)

 

Scifi:

Star Wars

Star Trek (best if you are familiar with the TV show first)

 

The 70's

Deliverance

Jaws

The Sting

The French Connection

Paper Moon

 

Adding:

It's a mad, mad, mad world

High Noon. Personaly, not a fan of westerns but this one is truly well done.

All Quiet on the western Front

The Wave - German movie with subtitles but impactful and terrifying about how easy it is for leaders like Hitler to rise to power. You can then compare/contrast to the American version which you can find on you tube.

A Majority of One. Great movie and a great discussion on why Sir Alec Guiness is playing the lead role of a Japanese man. Why Hollywood would not use someone Japanese.

 

Mel Brooks:

Silent Movie

Young Frankenstein

Blazing Saddles

High Anxiety

The Producers

Spaceballs

Edited September 12, 2016 by kewb

[Greta]

 I'd like to include examples from all the genres, even sci-fi (::sigh:: I don't like sci-fi).  Don't worry about ratings.

 

 

 

Well I love sci-fi so I will try to help you out on that one.  I think the first sci-fi movie on most people's list would be 2001: A Space Odyssey, and with good reason.  It is an excellent story with some very impressive cinematography, and it has aged well in many ways.  But on the down side I will warn you that it is long and it is slow, so since you don't like sci-fi, that may make you hesitate on this one.  I always thought the movie would have been twice as good if it were half as long.  My husband says that is blasphemy, because every scene was so carefully, deliberately, and meaningfully composed.  I think it falls apart a bit at the end, and when I first watched it I didn't even understand what it was trying to convey with the ending.  But I was just a kid the first time I watched it (grew up in a sci-fi family) so maybe it's clearer than I think.

 

One that is absolutely not to be missed is Forbidden Planet.  It was ground-breaking and precedent-setting, so it definitely meets your criteria.  It was the first movie to contain an entirely electronic score.  It was the first movie to take place entirely off-world.  It was the first movie to have a robot with a personality.  And it's sort of a retelling of Shakespeare's The Tempest.  It's really classic sci-fi in that sense of exploring the universe, and along the way discovering what it means to be human.  Good stuff.  If you only watch one sci-fi movie, this one would be my top pick.

 

I like The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951 version) a lot as well.  And of course I'm sure you'll want to throw Star Wars in there.  Blade Runner is really good, but it's darker and more violent than these others, so I'm not sure if you want to go there (depending on what your kiddos can tolerate).  I'm sure there must be others I'm forgetting, so I'll post again later if anything else comes to mind.  But those are my top recommendations.

[Seasider]

To endure 2001, you can also talk about the musical score. It is brilliant.

Edited September 12, 2016 by Seasider

[Bluegoat]

I thought this was an interesting question, so I did a bit of internet searching and found some lists that have a fair bit of overlap.  Not all are films I enjoyed but I can see why they would be included:

 

Avatar

The Blair Witch Project

Battleship Potemkin

Gone With the Wind

The Breakfast Club

The Graduate

Jaws

Seven Samurai

Citizen Kane

The Jazz Singer

The Great Train Robbery

The General

8 1/2

2001

 

 

[Seasider]

Giant, a classic from 1956 with Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean.

 

Adding to the western genre, How the West Was Won, 1962 with a huge cast.

 

Shane, 1953, a classic (read the novel first and compare).

 

And one of my personal favorites, Night of the Grizzly, 1966. I don't think there's anything particularly special about it, I just loved it! It stuck with me for a while.

 

Rear Window is a favorite that someone mentioned up thread. I would suggest watching both versions, the original with Jimmy Stewart and the remake with Christopher Reeve. The second is significant in that Reeve proved that a quadriplegic (not just someone acting like a quadriplegic) can make films. I believe things are more accessible these days, but it was a true triumph when produced.

[tammyw]

Will think about this more and come back. We've loved all the old classics but know I'm missing some amazing ones!

 

Great topic - I love movies!!

[Greta]

My husband scolded me (and quite rightfully so!   :lol: ) for not including any sci-fi movies where the main character is a woman.  Of course, there aren't as many in that category, but he wanted to at least add Contact and Alien to the list.

 

ETA:  Daughter wants to add The Matrix.  I thought about putting it in my original post, but didn't want to overload you with too many.  DD says it belongs.  She would also include Back to the Future, which is a fantastic movie, but I think of it more as comedy than sic-fi.  It's really both.

Edited September 12, 2016 by Greta

[Happy]

Well I love sci-fi so I will try to help you out on that one.  I think the first sci-fi movie on most people's list would be 2001: A Space Odyssey, and with good reason.  It is an excellent story with some very impressive cinematography, and it has aged well in many ways.  But on the down side I will warn you that it is long and it is slow, so since you don't like sci-fi, that may make you hesitate on this one.  I always thought the movie would have been twice as good if it were half as long.  My husband says that is blasphemy, because every scene was so carefully, deliberately, and meaningfully composed.  I think it falls apart a bit at the end, and when I first watched it I didn't even understand what it was trying to convey with the ending.  But I was just a kid the first time I watched it (grew up in a sci-fi family) so maybe it's clearer than I think.

 

One that is absolutely not to be missed is Forbidden Planet.  It was ground-breaking and precedent-setting, so it definitely meets your criteria.  It was the first movie to contain an entirely electronic score.  It was the first movie to take place entirely off-world.  It was the first movie to have a robot with a personality.  And it's sort of a retelling of Shakespeare's The Tempest.  It's really classic sci-fi in that sense of exploring the universe, and along the way discovering what it means to be human.  Good stuff.  If you only watch one sci-fi movie, this one would be my top pick.

 

I like The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951 version) a lot as well.  And of course I'm sure you'll want to throw Star Wars in there.  Blade Runner is really good, but it's darker and more violent than these others, so I'm not sure if you want to go there (depending on what your kiddos can tolerate).  I'm sure there must be others I'm forgetting, so I'll post again later if anything else comes to mind.  But those are my top recommendations.

 

I adore 2001, a Space Odyssey and I saw it as a first run movie. I believe it adds a bit of flavor if you read Arthur C. Clarke's short story that inspired it first-- The Sentinel.  

 

It Happened One Night with Clarke Gable (sigh) changed how men dressed because of a scene where CG takes off his shirt. NO undershirt. Overnight men stopped wearing undershirts. I've always thought that was a fun example of movies having an impact on daily life.

 

 

 

 

[gardenmom5]

To endure 2001, you can also talk about the musical score. It is brilliant.

 

strauss is brilliant - even if he didn't write his music for movies.  he wrote also sprach Zarathustra  aka: theme from 2001 space odyssey.  (they also used the blue danube by another strauss)

 

and HAL . . . . (each letter is the preceding letter of IBM.) .   the final scenes between dave and HAL . . . . dave, . I'm feeling much better now.

 

 

it was a weird movie . . . . (I find it even more odd that people try to psychoanalyze it - it's fiction. . . . )

[FaithManor]

Casablanca,Breakfast at Tiffanys, An Affair to Remember, Princess Bride, Schindler's List (not for the faint of heart), St. Elmo's Fire (launched the brat pack), Shadowlands (about CS Lewis and Joy Gresham), All the President's Men, Glory Road, Apollo 13, Jurassic Park, Raiders of the Lost Ark, 2001 Space Odyssey, A Beautiful Mind, Pursuit of Happiness, October Sky, Dead Man Walking (very upsetting so tread carefully), The Pianist, Shine, and most recently The Martian.

[Seasider]

This list would be incomplete without one of the good M Night films. Sixth Sense, Signs and The Village are his best, IMO. I love Signs because there are many ways to talk about faith as you discuss it.

 

Read an O. Henry story before watching The Sixth Sense and see how the film uses a similar literary device(s).

Edited September 12, 2016 by Seasider

[terrafirma]

Planet of the Apes (original) 

The Matrix

V for Vendetta

Empire of the Sun

The Others

The Life of Pi

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Rocky

Edited September 13, 2016 by terrafirma

[GailV]

You might like this book:

 

http://www.bookdepository.com/Best-Old-Movies-for-Families-Ty-Burr/9781400096862

 

I really like it, but I have trouble finding the movies. You might have better luck, because you are in America.

 

We love that book!  Older dd had a great time going through it and picking out things to watch.  We were able to find a lot of them at the public library.

[trulycrabby]

Many of these are for teen or adult eyes, but worth mentioning because they are so good:

 

 

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Laura (1944)

The King and I (1956)

West Side Story (1961)

El Cid (1961)

The French Connection (1971)

Serpico (1973)

Cabaret (1972)

Network (1973)

Raging Bull (1980)

The Andromeda Strain (1971)

Gypsy (1962)

Oklahoma! (1955)

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

 

I know you don't like science fiction, but I am going to recommend Firefly because it's really a western set in space, and it's very good.

[Janie Grace]

In addition to the ones mentioned, Forest Gump. 

 

[Janie Grace]

Oh, and All the President's Men. I don't know if it was a game-changer or iconic but I just love it. And it depicts a really important event of modern history (Watergate).

Edited September 13, 2016 by Janie Grace

[raptor_dad]

My husband scolded me (and quite rightfully so!   :lol: ) for not including any sci-fi movies where the main character is a woman.  Of course, there aren't as many in that category, but he wanted to at least add Contact and Alien to the list.

 

ETA:  Daughter wants to add The Matrix.  I thought about putting it in my original post, but didn't want to overload you with too many.  DD says it belongs.  She would also include Back to the Future, which is a fantastic movie, but I think of it more as comedy than sic-fi.  It's really both.

 

If you can ignore a recency bias, I'd completely add "Mad Max: Fury Road" to the female protagonist list.

 

Otherwise, I'd add "Blade Runner" as an iconic SF work and maybe something less popular like "12 Monkey's" as a more recent post modern example... though something dreadful like Tarchovsky's version of Lem's "Solaris" would probably be a more influential, whatever that means, POMO SciFi work.

[ktgrok]

This book might help: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Film-Introduction-Appreciation/dp/0844257974

 

Edited because I linked the wrong book the first time!

Edited September 13, 2016 by ktgrok

[Outdoorsy Type]

Satire: Monty Python and the Holy Grail

 

ETA: maybe that isn't satire. Anyone want to jump in with what it would be categorized as?

Edited September 13, 2016 by Outdoorsy Type

[raptor_dad]

Satire: Monty Python and the Holy Grail

 

ETA: maybe that isn't satire. Anyone want to jump in with what it would be categorized as?

 

Maybe absurdist slapstick.

[kewb]

Adding:

12 angry men. Great discussion on the jury system and the lack of women in juries at the time.

[eternalsummer]

fight club was a must-see and fairly thematically important movie for older millennials, esp. young men, of course

[Carrie12345]

Trying to avoid duplicates, but I may have scrolled too fast.

 

The Neverending Story

The Sound of Music

Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka

Saving Private Ryan

Clerks

Dogma

Shaun of the Dead

Alice in Wonderland (the cartoon)

Lean on Me

New Jack City

Django Unchained

 

ETA: Pulp Fiction

 

 

I'd also consider the 80s horror genre, followed by the 2000s parodies.

 

Edited September 13, 2016 by Carrie12345

[ktgrok]

fight club was a must-see and fairly thematically important movie for older millennials, esp. young men, of course

 

yes, this one sticks with you for sure. 

[Guest]

To Sir with Love?

[gardenmom5]

To Sir with Love?

 

fabulous movie.  makes me tear.

 

here's a link to the song by lulu.

 

eta: probably along the lines of "stand and deliver."   and sidney poitier is wonderful.  as always.

Edited September 14, 2016 by gardenmom5