One of the most shocking things that I learned working with millennials is that most of them have not seen any good movies. My initial reaction is to dismiss this phenomena as a generational symptom of being brought up on 6-second Vines and YouTube clips, and most of them don’t have the attention span to sit through an entire movie, but I think the real reason is that they’ve never had any guidance on what they should be watching. Most best-of lists contain movies that are very well done, but may not have that “watchability” factor that makes them enjoyable, and some “good” movies are just bloody awful to watch, e.g., The English Patient. What I hope to do here is to provide a list of must-watch movies, which will further one’s cinematic education, and hopefully inspire people to seek out and enjoy good flicks. These movies were chosen for their awesomeness, that intangible quality that transcends critical accolades, and is defined here as being evocative – the movies on this list will make you laugh, or cry, or get angry, or maybe just think hard – and you will enjoy them. Consider this list a starter kit for any aspiring film buffs out there who shun pretension. In no particular order (or click here to sort alphabetically), here are the current must-watch movies:
- The Godfather
- The Godfather II
- Raging Bull
- Star Wars: A New Hope
- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
- Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- The Graduate
- Apocalypse Now
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
- Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
- Taxi Driver
- The Deer Hunter
- M*A*S*H
- Rocky
- Unforgiven
- A Clockwork Orange
- The Shawshank Redemption
- The Silence of the Lambs
- Forrest Gump
- Titanic
- Platoon
- The Sixth Sense
- Goodfellas
- Casino
- Pulp Fiction
- The Departed
- Braveheart
- Animal House
- The Exorcist
- 28 Days Later
- The Shining
- Evil Dead
- Army of Darkness
- Riki-Oh: The Story of Riki
- Donnie Darko
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
- Back to the Future
- The Warriors
- Valley of the Dolls
- They Live!
- The Beastmaster
- Dumb and Dumber
- Airplane!
- Borat
- Bruno
- Clerks
- Bachelor Party
- Mallrats
- Chasing Amy
- True Lies
- Red Dawn
- Desperado
- Top Gun
- Fight Club
- Snatch
- The Boondock Saints
- City of God
- Se7en
- The Usual Suspects
- American History X
- Memento
- Alien
- The Basketball Diaries
- Requiem for a Dream
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
- Scarface
- The Big Lebowski
- Good Will Hunting
- Stand By Me
- The Princess Bride
- District 9
- Crash
- Mystic River
- Steel Magnolias
- Officer and a Gentleman
- Legends of the Fall
- When Harry Met Sally
- A Streetcar Named Desire
- Fast Times at Ridgemont High
- Full Metal Jacket
- Road House
- The Wrestler
- Major League
- Anchorman
- Big Trouble in Little China
- The Blues Brothers
- Bad Santa
- Heat
- Observe and Report
- Out of Sight
- Rounders
- Training Day
