The Beginners
Created by JessKlette.
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Movies...ruining the book since the 1920's.
For my friends that have been overwhelmed with my recommendations over the years. This is the beginner's list. The list is for luke-warm fan's of film, the one's who would never admit that "the film was better than the novel" (You know who you are), the ones who have briefly ventured into the terrain of Technicolor but have jumped off the train at a screening of "Deuce Bigelow"or have given up after witnessing the less than 'dynamic' range of Keanu Reeves and Nicholas Cage.
Fear not, good film exists.
I hope that you will be able to knock of these films one by one and succumb to the passion for film that will begin to grow within you. I hope these films will inspire you to look for more films made by the same directors, for more performances by some great actors and pursue beautiful cinematography by the masters of their craft. Ultimately I hope that this list would be the start of your journey through the wonderful world of moving pictures.
The films listed are evaluated by year: so take "Jaws" or "Say Anything" for example...not exactly the greatest movies known to man but they were brilliant for the years that they came out. The Impact on the trajectory of film making and cultural significance also plays a huge factor e.g "À bout de souffle (Breathless)" might be a bizarre choice but the French New Wave introduced techniques like starting the dialogue of a scene before cutting to the shots of the characters speaking. Wide consensus or popular approval are considerations for some choices e.g "Titanic" and "Finding Nemo" were chosen as they are enjoyed by a wide array of audiences. Some pictures are in the list because of the brilliant performances by actors e.g the 2011 film "Take Shelter" has an interest premise and is very well made for the budget that was available to them but it's Michael Shannon that completely steals the show and displays some of the finest acting since the beginning of film itself.
My specialty is classic American cinema...yes, contrary to hipsterian knowledge, a large percentage of the best films ever made are American and yes, films can be in English and they can be enjoyable - We don't need to sit through "Salo: 120 Days of Sodom" just so we can say that we have seen a movie that regular people who don't appreciate violent intellectual porn haven't. So there is tons of great early American film including some wonderfully dramatic, chiaroscuro inspired Film-Noir. I have also sourced important films from an array of countries, even from Iran for all you 'progressive' cool cats. An endnote: Bias is reduced when using methodology like I have listed above. Many of the film's here I am not fond of at all, including Kubrick's 40min sequence of apes bashing rocks in "2001: Space Oddessey", but these films are still significant and they do have large groups of eccentric fans.
Seeing those scribblings of movie lists handed to friends might be long gone, or keeping the place at page 22 of attempts at Tolstoy's "War & Peace"...this indestructible digital version might be the thing that gets you guys on the right track. Please enjoy these films and let me know what you think of them. : )
Pssst, want to check out the The Beginners list in our new look?
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137 new
Pulp Fiction
1994, in 38 top lists Check -
80 new
The Godfather
1972, in 42 top lists Check -
74 new
2001: A Space Odyssey
1968, in 45 top lists Check -
64 new
Psycho
1960, in 39 top lists Check -
102 new
The Shining
1980, in 28 top lists Check -
105 new
Blade Runner
1982, in 36 top lists Check -
27 new
Citizen Kane
1941, in 39 top lists Check -
78 new
A Clockwork Orange
1971, in 37 top lists Check -
95 new
Star Wars
1977, in 40 top lists Check -
92 new
Taxi Driver
1976, in 34 top lists Check -
99 new
Alien
1979, in 30 top lists Check -
100 new
Apocalypse Now
1979, in 37 top lists Check -
182 new
The Dark Knight
2008, in 27 top lists Check -
57 new
Vertigo
1958, in 42 top lists Check -
157 new
Fight Club
1999, in 19 top lists Check -
126 new
The Silence of the Lambs
1991, in 36 top lists Check -
29 new
Casablanca
1942, in 39 top lists Check -
159 new
The Matrix
1999, in 30 top lists Check -
164 new
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi
2001 — a.k.a. Spirited Away, in 39 top lists Check -
121 new
Goodfellas
1990, in 31 top lists Check -
193 new
Inception
2010, in 21 top lists Check -
71 new
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop...
1964, in 37 top lists Check -
46 new
Rear Window
1954, in 31 top lists Check -
47 new
Shichinin no samurai
1954 — a.k.a. Seven Samurai, in 36 top lists Check -
91 new
Jaws
1975, in 28 top lists Check -
129 new
Schindler's List
1993, in 35 top lists Check -
138 new
The Shawshank Redemption
1994, in 24 top lists Check -
90 new
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1975, in 35 top lists Check -
43 new
Singin' in the Rain
1952, in 37 top lists Check -
73 new
Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo
1966 — a.k.a. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, in 28 top lists Check -
37 new
Sunset Blvd.
1950 — a.k.a. Sunset Boulevard, in 35 top lists Check -
55 new
12 Angry Men
1957, in 30 top lists Check -
160 new
Memento
2000, in 27 top lists Check -
144 new
Fargo
1996, in 27 top lists Check -
86 new
Chinatown
1974, in 31 top lists Check -
175 new
El laberinto del fauno
2006 — a.k.a. Pan's Labyrinth, in 33 top lists Check -
127 new
Reservoir Dogs
1992, in 26 top lists Check -
68 new
Lawrence of Arabia
1962, in 40 top lists Check -
21 new
The Wizard of Oz
1939, in 38 top lists Check -
33 new
It's a Wonderful Life
1946, in 33 top lists Check -
96 new
Annie Hall
1977, in 34 top lists Check -
13 new
Metropolis
1927, in 36 top lists Check -
36 new
The Third Man
1949, in 37 top lists Check -
17 new
M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder
1931 — a.k.a. M, in 35 top lists Check -
180 new
There Will Be Blood
2007, in 20 top lists Check -
136 new
Forrest Gump
1994, in 25 top lists Check -
59 new
Some Like It Hot
1959, in 35 top lists Check -
152 new
The Big Lebowski
1998, in 26 top lists Check -
101 new
Raging Bull
1980, in 34 top lists Check -
139 new
Toy Story
1995, in 25 top lists Check
Last updated on Apr 6, 2012;