……………………………….but should……………………………………..
Yes, there are some unforgivables on this list, and the making of it, is the first step in rectifying my movie fan blasphemy. My New Years resolution this year will be to try and catch at least half of these movies. This list is inspired by Blake at Bitchin’ Film Reviews who has a pretty exceptional list himself. Though it is pretty embarrassing that I have seen neither Casablanca or Citizen Kane, two staples of 101 film watching requirements, I’m hoping this list will inspire me to conquer a lot of these revered movies. What movies are on your “to-do” list that it seems you’ve just never made it to see?
100. Let The Right One In
99. Do The Right Thing
98. Lawrence Of Arabia
97. Out Of Africa
96. Cinderella Man
95. The Right Stuff
94. Pride Of The Yankees
93. Bridge On The River Kwai
92. The Orphanage
91. The Diving Bell and The Butterfly
90. Chinatown
89. Annie Hall
88. Hotel Rwanda
87. The Piano
86. A Scanner Darkly
85. The Color Of Money
84. Dangerous Liasons
83. Serpico
82. Deliverance
81. Fiddler On The Roof
80. Kramer vs. Kramer
79. Norma Rae
78. A Bridge Too Far
77. From Here To Eternity
76. All About Eve
75. Breakfast At Tiffanys
74. The Great Escape
73. East Of Eden
73. Alfie
72. The Seven Year Itch
71. Ghandi
70. High Noon
69. JFK
68. Match Point
67. The English Patient
66. A Place In The Sun
65. Body Heat
64. The Apartment
63. Bullitt
62. Gangs Of New York
61. Quiz Show
60. Glengary Glen Ross
59. Buffalo 66
58. Driving Miss Daisy
57. Moonstruck
56. Escape From New York
55. Time Bandits
54. Menace To Society
53. Rushmore
52. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
51. Malcolm X
50. Sense And Sensibility
49. New Jack City
48. Millers Crossing
47. Gorillas In The Mist
46. The Big Chill
45. Letter From Iwo Jima
44. Capote
43. Shine
42. You Can Count On Me
41. The Prestige
40. City Of God
39. A History Of Violence
38. 21 Grams
37. Prizzi’s Honor
36. The Last Of The Mohicans
36. Life Is Beautiful
35. Collateral
34. Some Like It Hot
33. The Great Escape
32. To Kill A Mockingbird
31. Midnight Cowboy
30. A Fish Called Wanda
29. Munich
28. Babel
27. Monsters Ball
26. In The Bedroom
25. Spartacus
24. The Aviator
23. Blood Simple
22. Sex, Lies, and VideoTape
21. Seven Samurai
20. The Crying Game
19. The Graduate
18. American Graffiti
17. White Heat
16. Million Dollar Baby
15. Gosford Park
14. The Passion Of The Christ
13. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
12. Doctor Zhivago
11. Network
10. The French Connection
9. Cinderella Man
8. Amelie
7. Scarface
6. Airplane!
5. Raging Bull
4. Chariots Of Fire
3. Unforgiven
2. Casablanca
1. Citizen Kane
Very brave of you to admit to all this. I’m sure there is a law somewhere banning people who haven’t seen Casablanca and Some Like It Hot from blogging about movies! I was going was going to compile a list of the films on the list that are worth seeing but the truth is most of them are. Instead I will go for a simpler and shorter list. The films from your list that I haven’t seen:
Fiddler On The Roof
Norma Rae
You Can Count On Me
Pride Of The Yankees
In The Bedroom
The Passion Of The Christ
The Crying Game
Malcolm X
All joking aside I envy you in a way, you are going to see some of the best films ever made for the first time!
Once I started the list I started to get pretty disappointed in myself. I’ve seen a ton of the classics and have a really diverse range in taste, but there are some that just shouldn’t be on this list anymore. There are a good five that I NEED to just do first, and then some that I really WANT to see.
In The Bedroom is one that I can’t wait to get my greedy hands on.
Interesting…
I must admit, that having read Blake’s list and yours, this one seems a bit more…”random”?? By that I mean to say that Blake’s has a lot of Film Lit 101 titles on it, where yours is a tad more riddled with newer touchstones of pop culture.
Since I did it for Blake, I’ll do it for you: These are the titles I;d start with…
98. Lawrence Of Arabia
93. Bridge On The River Kwai
75. Breakfast At Tiffanys
74. The Great Escape (psst – you listed this twice)
67. The English Patient
64. The Apartment
53. Rushmore
36. The Last Of The Mohicans
34. Some Like It Hot
32. To Kill A Mockingbird
30. A Fish Called Wanda
21. Seven Samurai
19. The Graduate
18. American Graffiti
17. White Heat
10. The French Connection
5. Raging Bull
3. Unforgiven
2. Casablanca
1. Citizen Kane
Here are the ones that I have not seen out of your list Heather:
94. Pride Of The Yankees
92. The Orphanage
77. From Here To Eternity
76. All About Eve
75. Breakfast At Tiffanys
73. East Of Eden
73. Alfie
72. The Seven Year Itch
66. A Place In The Sun
65. Body Heat
64. The Apartment
59. Buffalo 66
45. Letter From Iwo Jima
42. You Can Count On Me
38. 21 Grams
36. Life Is Beautiful
34. Some Like It Hot
21. Seven Samurai
14. The Passion Of The Christ
Here are some additional films you should see if you have not:
Shaolin Soccer
Kung Fu Hustle
The Wild Bunch
The Magnificent Seven
Wow! This is a really great list. I kind of wish I was doing this one instead of mine. Looking forward to the updates!
@ Mad Hatter
I must really want to see The Great Escape then.
I did start with a list that was solely your classic requirements for watching film, but then I had seen more of them than I anticipated, even though this list would make one think I’ve missed a lot. So I started added more recent things that I think should also be necessary viewings. I will definitely take a not from you and consider those movies first.
@ Jim
Wow, you have seen a considerable amount of films Jim. That is incredible. It’s time for me to get busy!
Kung Fu Hustle is incredible.
Thanks Blake!
Cheers Heather, you’ve given me a wonderful list of films to get my teeth into. As well as some great blog-fodder.
Love your list.
You have Cinderella Man on here twice.