A Film Viewing List

The film and rental recommendation conversation is a staple of life (or has been for me this past week!). It's always fun to discuss favorite films, overloooked gems, and “what have you seen recently that you like?” I haven’t written about film nearly as often as I’d like or I originally intended to on this blog.

What follows is a short film viewing list I was asked to compile as part of a high school summer reading list for 2001 (thus The Lord of the Rings didn’t make it). As the introduction advised:

Due to space limitations, this list is hardly comprehensive; in most cases, a single film from a given director is listed, so feel free to make substitutions. Ratings and content are not listed, so if you have such concerns, please look up more information on the film before viewing.

Foreign films are listed as they are most commonly known in the United States. If there are multiple films of a given title, I’ve included the year in parenthesis.

The original list was meant to fit on a single sheet, and I had to exclude a great deal. I’ll expand and update this list later, and make it interactive (and add links to other good lists). However, here it is as is to serve in the meantime. I don’t even touch on TV, and of course now there’s the fantastic option of renting an entire season of a series. Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments for me to consider for a more comprehensive version.


Hollywood Classics (pre-1960s)


The Adventures of Robin Hood
All About Eve
All Quiet on the Western Front
Bringing Up Baby
Casablanca
Citizen Kane
The Court Jester
The Day the Earth Stood Still
East of Eden
The Gold Rush
High Noon
His Girl Friday
The Maltese Falcon
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
A Night at the Opera
The Ox-Bow Incident
Paths of Glory
Rear Window
The Searchers
Shane
Singing in the Rain
Sullivan’s Travels
12 Angry Men
The Wizard of Oz


World Cinema


Alexander Nevsky
Amarcord
The Bicycle Thief
Claire’s Knee
The Conformist
Children of Paradise (Les Enfants du Paradis)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Cyrano de Bergerac (’90)
Das Boot
Delicatessen
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Europa, Europa
Fanny and Alexander
Farewell My Concubine
The 400 Blows
Grand Illusion
La Strada
Life is Beautiful
Les Misérables (’95)
Pather Panchali
Rashomon
The Seven Samurai
Wild Strawberries
Wings of Desire
Tokyo Story
Toto the Hero

Shifting Visions (1960-1989)


Alien
All the President’s Men
Annie Hall
The Apartment
Blade Runner
Bonnie and Clyde
Chinatown
The Conversation
Cool Hand Luke
Dead Poets Society
The Deer Hunter
Dr. Strangelove
The Elephant Man
Gandhi
The Godfather, parts I&II
Harold and Maude
Jaws
Judgment at Nuremberg
The King of Comedy
Lawrence of Arabia
The Manchurian Candidate
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Nashville
Once Upon a Time in the West
Platoon
Psycho
The Princess Bride
Raging Bull
The Star Wars “trilogy”
To Kill a Mockingbird
2001: A Space Odyssey
Woodstock
Young Frankenstein

Recent Films (1990-2000)


American Beauty
Boys Don’t Cry
Bullets Over Broadway
Dancer in the Dark
Dead Man Walking
Edward Scissorhands
Fearless
The Fisher King
Gods and Monsters
Hoop Dreams
The Insider
L.A. Confidential
Letters from Home
Lone Star
Magnolia
Malcolm X
Memento
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The Piano
Rob Roy
Rushmore
Saving Private Ryan
Secrets & Lies
Shakespeare in Love
The Shawshank Redemption
The Silence of the Lambs
The Straight Story
The Talented Mr. Ripley
To Die For
Toy Story
Traffic
Waiting for Guffman
Welcome to the Dollhouse