You-Must-See-This-Film
List
When I moved within two blocks of one of the largest video rental stores in the state, I realized that I should probably catch up on my movies. I never saw films all that often, so I asked some friends and coworkers to recommend the movies that I must see to be a normal social American person. I didn't write down movies that I'd already seen. The list that resulted was about 200 items long. It has continued to grow faster than I can watch them, too. So here is the list as it currently stands--films I've seen since the list started will have a little review from me. The links will go to Amazon.com's video section for more information and reviews about the films.
I will keep adding films to complete the list over time (it takes a while to look them all up, put in the hyperlinks, write reviews of the ones I've seen, and so on). If there are any you think I need to see that aren't on the list, or if a link is broken or something, email me.
Please select a letter, or scroll down the list--
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Addams Family This was an entertaining little film. Nothing spectacular, but it was fun and visually quite pretty...in a macabre sort of way. If you're looking for drama or beautiful cinematography, this isn't the film. If you're looking for a something cute to show for passing the time or hanging out with friends, check it out. Good for Christmas (it opens with the family about to pour boiling oil on carolers below) or Halloween.
Alien Oooh, scary! Now, I'm not much of one for gore and whatnot, but I actually enjoyed this movie--it was almost all suspense and/or terror without excessive graphic violence. Sure, there was the scene were the little alien came out of the guy's chest, but other than that, the gruesome stuff really happens "offstage." I even ignored a telephone call because of the suspense...and I don't usually do that. Good movie if you want to scare yourself but not gross yourself out.
American Heart While this wasn't really my type of movie--depicting the lives of screwed up people and how they manage to screw up other people--it was filmed here in Seattle, so it was fun to see local places. I also watched them filming one of the scenes, which I didn't remember until the movie was in progress.
Angel at My Table This is a true story of an intensely shy woman who spent several years in a mental hospital for mis-diagnosed schizophrenia before becoming one of New Zealand's most famous authors. It pretty much just followed her life, so it was a little episodic for my liking.
Antonia's Line Okay, this is a fantastic film. It follows Antonia from the death of her crazy grandmother to her own death, about which her granddaughter is fascinated. Every character in the movie is memorable in both character and name (virtually all of the residents of Antonia’s town have funny nicknames, and you never really learn what their real names are). It’s funny, shocking (there is a rape scene, so be warned), dramatic, and everything else a good movie should be.
Arsenic and Old Lace This is a funny film adaptation of the stage
play and with a few exceptions the action takes place in one room, giving it a
stage-like quality. Cary Grant is the poor man who finds out his sweet little
aunties are poisoning gentleman callers with their elderberry wine and hiding
the bodies in the window seat until a grave is dug by a relative who thinks
he's Teddy Roosevelt digging the Panama Canal.
As Good As It Gets Jack Nicholson plays a really nasty and mean obsessive-compulsive man who happens to be a successful romance novelist. Helen Hunt plays the only waitress in his favorite restaurant who can put up with him. She inspires him to be a better person--not a great person, just better. I enjoyed the film, but not as much as a lot of other people I know.
Associate, The Pretty funny. Then again, I like Whoopi Goldberg and movies where the underdog puts one over on “the system” or “the Man.” In this one, Whoopi hits the glass ceiling because she’s a Black woman. So she invents a white guy persona and opens her own firm. Eventually, she has to make public appearances as her alter ego. Kind of a reverse Mrs. Doubtfire for the business world.
Austin Powers Yeah, baby, yeah! Groovy! A comedy definitely worth seeing unless you’re offended by pseudo-‘60s free-sex talk. If you’ve been living in a hole for the last couple of years, Austin Powers is a British super spy that was cryogenically frozen and thawed in the 1990’s to fight his (also cryo-preserved) arch nemesis, Dr. Evil. Both parts are played by Mike Meyers, who does a great job being both super shagadellic and super evil.
Babe A Cute movie if you’re feeling like bein’ a kid again. You know, if you’re having a Charlotte’s Web moment but don’t feel like seeing that movie, this one will do quite nicely. If you get creeped out by real animals speaking English, though, it’s not the one for you.
Blue (first in series--also White and Red)
Blue in the Face (see after "Smoke")
Boys in the Band, The If there was ever a prize given for the
gathering of the bitchiest gay men, this would be it. A good glimpse into some
of the self-loathing behavior that can be caused by internalized homophobia.
Brazil No sir, I didn't like it. I've heard lots of "Loved it" and "Hated it" comments and I have to weigh in on the "hated it" side. It was like one of those music videos that you watch and just don't get what they're trying to do with the imagery--only it's over 2 hours long and they just play clips of the same song over and over again.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind Actually, I’ve seen this one, but it was when it was originally released in the theaters, so I was really young and don’t remember much of it, so I figured I could get away with putting it on the list.
Color Purple, The A nicely-done version of the novel by Alice Walker. As with the Joy Luck Club, the book was better because it took more time to delve into the lives of the characters and wove a richer depiction of the time and places in it. However, I think that the film did justice to the book.
Contact A nice blend of science and religion, showing that science is also a belief system with tough "moral" decisions. Good science fiction, too, with a little governmental intrigue thrown in as well.
Creature Comforts Wallace and Gromit fans, people who like the claymation Chevron cars, and anyone who likes the film “Chicken Run” will probably like this one. It’s actually four short pieces, but the highlight is Nick Park’s piece with the animals. Essentially, he went around and asked elderly British shut-ins to talk about their life. Then he used their stories as the voices for a bunch of animals at the zoo. Very funny.
Dances With Wolves Well, I finally saw it. It's nice to see on the big screen how really awful people of European ancestry really were. Not that the Native American warfare scene was all that pleasant, but the movie did a good job of showing the other side of the western expansion and "manifest destiny" as they call it in American history books.
Disappearance of Finbar, The
Elephant Man, The
Emma
Enemy Mine This film got mixed reviews from my friends. Some thought it was cheesy, while others thought that Lou Gossett, Jr. did a fantastic job as the alien. I have to say that they're both right. It's a science fiction movie about two enemies who crash on a planet together and have to stick together (and learn each others' language) to stay alive. And it is cheesy--it's kind of a "chick flick" in Star Trek clothes. On the other hand, I was enthralled by the culture and language of the Drak, an alien race with neither male nor female. If you're ready for "soft" sci-fi made with 1980's level special effects, it's worth a rent.
Eraserhead
Europa, Europa An amazing true story about a Jewish boy who, in escaping from the Nazis, ends up serving both in the Russian army, and as a highly recognized member of the Hilterjungen (Hitler's Youth). The film is both funny and dramatic, and until I saw "The Secret of Roan Inish," it was my favorite from the movie list. Currently out of print, so it may be difficult to find.
Farewell My Concubine
Fifth Element, The Well, kind of a silly story. Anyone who knows anything about Chinese medicine or feng shui knows that what the movie asserts is the fifth element is all wrong. But, outside of that, it's a nice comic-book-into-film style movie: very colorful, with lots of neat aliens. It has a funky little opera scene, too. Good eye-candy.
Forrest Gump A nice Taoist story. If you don’t believe me, read The Tao of Pooh and watch the movie again. Just try to tell me that Forrest isn’t an Uncarved Block.
Fugitive, The (with Harrison Ford)
Harold and Maude I apparently forgot to write a review about this one when I saw it. Now, more than a year later, I don’t remember what my reaction was. I remember that I thought it was kind of funny, but that some of the humor was a little dark for my taste. Otherwise, I couldn’t tell you...
Heavenly Creatures Ew. I’m not one for violence, really, so the scene where the two girls bludgeon one girl’s mother to death with bricks kinda ruined it for me. The fact that it’s based on a true story didn’t help, either. It does give a disturbing look into the lives of two girls who seemed to have a hard time differentiating between reality and fantasy. The fantasy scenes were kind of cool, though; the girls’ fantasy world is made up of clay figures that they sculpted, so the fantasy scenes are populated with life-size clay people.
Mrs. Brown Also based on a true story, the film follows the close-yet-distant relationship between a Scotsman (Mr. Brown), a friend of the late Prince Albert, and Albert’s widow, Queen Victoria. It shows how he manages to pull her out of her overlong grieving for Albert’s death, and how their friendship progresses and changes over the rest of Brown’s life, and the political gossip around their relationship. Very much worth seeing.
How to Get Ahead in Advertising
In and Out A cute movie on gay themes. It plays around quite a bit with the standard gay stereotypes, so it’s fun, but it’s still a bunch of stereotypes. After the macho manly image from Magnum P.I., though, it was kind of funny to see Tom Selleck kiss a man and insist that he’s gay. Kevin Kline does a great job as the English teacher suddenly and unexpectedly outed in the Oscars, days before his wedding.
Jane Eyre (I don't know which of the four versions of this story was recommended, so I linked to the most recent. If you have an opinion on which I should see, email me.)
Jesus of Montreal
Joy Luck Club, The This was a nice rendition of the book, but that’s to be expected because Amy Tan did the screenplay. There is a lot in the book that’s left out, and one story in the movie isn’t in the book, but it stays true to the original. Gorgeous cinematography and great actors. My advice: be sure to see it.
Kolya Oh, cute kid! This is another one that I saw a long time ago and forgot to write the review. But I remember that I really liked it and that the kid, Kolya, was really cute in the non-syrupy way. Worth watching unless you can’t stand subtitles.
LA Story If you don't like Steve Martin, you might not like this one. However, I found it to be quite droll. All of the supporting characters are crazy in a very Californian way, while the two main characters are fairly sane but trying to deal with the absurdity around them. My favorite character, though, is the traffic sign.
Labyrinth I understand that this movie is one of those classics of the fantasy genre, but it just didn't do it for me...even though the fantasy genre is one that I rather enjoy. There was just something goofy about Muppet goblins doing a song and dance about a stolen baby.
Last Temptation of Christ, The Interesting and thought-provoking. I'm not sure why such a fuss was made about the film, since the most scandalous parts of the film are depicted as Satan's tempation...and therefore not something that the Jesus character actually took part in. It's worth seeing and discussing.
Letter to Breshnev
Little Dorrit (Part 1: Nobody's Fault and Part 2: Little Dorrit's Story)
Lone StarYet another one that I saw a year or two ago and don't remember my reactions to it. I'm not much of one for stories about Texas cops and shady immigrants, but I remember it had some good elements of mystery.
Mighty Aphrodite
Milagro Beanfield War
Mindwalk
Mirror Has Two Faces
Mission, The
Morocco
Mountains of the Moon
Mrs. Firecracker
Muppet Movies (all of 'em)
My Blue Heaven
My Left Foot
My Life as a Dog
Mystic Pizza
Nell
Newsies Okay, I've liked most Disney movies I've seen, and this was no exception. Singing and dancing kids (including a young Christian Bale) being the David against the Golliath of Mr. Pullitzer and his newspaper business.
Night on Earth
9 to 5
North by Northwest
Nuts
Of Mice and
Men (the 1990's version)
On Golden
Pond
On the
Waterfront
Orlando
Out of Africa One I've already seen but not for a while and would like to see again.
Paper Moon
Player, The
Postman,
The
Prime
Suspect (#1-5)
Priscilla,
Queen of the Desert
Professional,
The (NOT with Stallone)
Psycho
Pulp
Fiction
Raging Bull
Raise the
Red Lantern
Reality
Bites
Rear Window, The I enjoyed this classic Hitchcock film, but probably would have enjoyed it even more had I seen it a year later--after I moved into an apartment that faced andother large apartment building. I might have been able to identify better with the main character. Other peoples' goings on can be kind of fascinating.
Red (third
in series after "White")
Remains of
the Day
Rich in
Love
Ridicule
Rob Roy
Roger and Me (The version that Amazon.com had is subtitled in Spanish.) A kind of depressing, but probably realistic look at the way large corporations care for their employees. It follows various people in Flint, Michigan after General Motors shut down the factory where most of the residents worked.
Room with a View, A This is yet another film that I saw long enough ago to have forgotten my reaction to it. I think I liked it...like most period films I see.
Saltmen of Tibet
Sea of Love
Secret of Roan Inish, The This is my favorite film to date. It's a beautiful blend of the real and the fantastic, the superstitious and the sane. The scenery and music are gorgeous, and the parts well-acted. I can't recommend it highly enough.
Secrets and Lies
Sense and Sensibility
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Seven Samurai
Seven Years in Tibet
Shall We Dance? A cute and funny dance film in Japanese. The main character is a rather uptight Japanese businessman who becomes intrigued with a dance instructor whom he sees on his commute home. He starts taking dance lessons, despite the extreme embarassment and mistrust that most Japanese have (it is explained at the start of the film) about ballroom dancing.
Shallow Grave
Shawshank Redemption, The A good story about a determined man doing good things. Be sure to see it--it's uplifting and validating that doing good deeds is a good thing.
Sherman's March
Shining, The
Short Cuts
Six Degrees of Separation
Sleepless in Seattle
Smoke
Some Like It Hot
Something About Mary
Somewhere in Time
Sophie's Choice
Spinal Tap
Star Trek: First Contact
Steel Magnolias
Streetcar Named Desire
Streetwise
Suddenly Last Summer
Swing Kids Nazis, young kids dressed to the nines and dancing to great music, conflicts of loyalty...what more could you want in a movie?
Swingers
Tampopo
Tango
Lesson
Taxi Driver
Temptress
Moon
That Thing
You Do
Thin Man,
The
This Boy's
Life
Thousand
Acres
Time
Indefinite (watch after "Sherman's March)
To Die For
To Wong Foo
Top Gun
Total
Eclipse
Toto le
Hero
Trading
Places
True Lies
Truman
Show, The
Truth About
Cats and Dogs
12 Monkeys
Ulee's Gold
Usual
Suspects
Vertigo
Washington Square
Waterland
When Peggy Sue Got Married
White (second in series after "Blue")
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Wild Reeds
Wings of Desire
Wings of the Dove
Women, The
Xanadu
Year
of Living Dangerously, The
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