The Beginners

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Created by JessKlette.

Favorited 3 times, disliked 0 times, added to 4 watchlists.

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. : )

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  1. 206 new

    Jodaeiye Nader az Simin

    2011 — a.k.a. A Separation, in 15 top lists Check
  2. 205 new

    Take Shelter

    2011, in 2 top lists Check
  3. 204 new

    The Tree of Life

    2011, in 13 top lists Check
  4. 203 new

    Hugo

    2011, in 6 top lists Check
  5. 202 new

    The Help

    2011, in 6 top lists Check
  6. 201 new

    Drive

    2011, in 8 top lists Check
  7. 200 new

    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

    2011, in 1 top list Check
  8. 199 new

    My Week with Marilyn

    2011, in 0 top lists Check
  9. 198 new

    The Artist

    2011, in 8 top lists Check
  10. 197 new

    Biutiful

    2010, in 3 top lists Check
  11. 196 new

    Blue Valentine

    2010, in 2 top lists Check
  12. 195 new

    The King's Speech

    2010, in 13 top lists Check
  13. 194 new

    The Fighter

    2010, in 2 top lists Check
  14. 193 new

    Inception

    2010, in 21 top lists Check
  15. 192 new

    Black Swan

    2010, in 12 top lists Check
  16. 191 new

    127 Hours

    2010, in 1 top list Check
  17. 190 new

    Avatar

    2009, in 14 top lists Check
  18. 189 new

    Fantastic Mr. Fox

    2009, in 9 top lists Check
  19. 188 new

    Män som hatar kvinnor

    2009 — a.k.a. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, in 1 top list Check
  20. 187 new

    Ondine

    2009, in 0 top lists Check
  21. 186 new

    Revolutionary Road

    2008, in 1 top list Check
  22. 185 new

    Okuribito

    2008 — a.k.a. Departures, in 8 top lists Check
  23. 184 new

    Blindness

    2008, in 0 top lists Check
  24. 183 new

    The Reader

    2008, in 1 top list Check
  25. 182 new

    The Dark Knight

    2008, in 27 top lists Check
  26. 181 new

    Slumdog Millionaire

    2008, in 13 top lists Check
  27. 180 new

    There Will Be Blood

    2007, in 20 top lists Check
  28. 179 new

    Little Miss Sunshine

    2006, in 7 top lists Check
  29. 178 new

    Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia

    2006 — a.k.a. Curse of the Golden Flower, in 2 top lists Check
  30. 177 new

    Babel

    2006, in 5 top lists Check
  31. 176 new

    V for Vendetta

    2005, in 10 top lists Check
  32. 175 new

    El laberinto del fauno

    2006 — a.k.a. Pan's Labyrinth, in 33 top lists Check
  33. 174 new

    The New World

    2005, in 10 top lists Check
  34. 173 new

    Memoirs of a Geisha

    2005, in 1 top list Check
  35. 172 new

    Million Dollar Baby

    2004, in 12 top lists Check
  36. 171 new

    Finding Nemo

    2003, in 17 top lists Check
  37. 170 new

    Love Actually

    2003, in 3 top lists Check
  38. 169 new

    House of Sand and Fog

    2003, in 0 top lists Check
  39. 168 new

    Cidade de Deus

    2002 — a.k.a. City of God, in 22 top lists Check
  40. 167 new

    Hable con ella

    2002 — a.k.a. Talk to Her, in 12 top lists Check
  41. 166 new

    Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain

    2001 — a.k.a. Amélie, in 27 top lists Check
  42. 165 new

    La pianiste

    2001 — a.k.a. The Piano Teacher, in 7 top lists Check
  43. 164 new

    Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi

    2001 — a.k.a. Spirited Away, in 39 top lists Check
  44. 163 new

    The Royal Tenenbaums

    2001, in 8 top lists Check
  45. 162 new

    Amores perros

    2000, in 17 top lists Check
  46. 161 new

    Requiem for a Dream

    2000, in 21 top lists Check
  47. 160 new

    Memento

    2000, in 27 top lists Check
  48. 159 new

    The Matrix

    1999, in 30 top lists Check
  49. 158 new

    Todo sobre mi madre

    1999 — a.k.a. All About My Mother, in 18 top lists Check
  50. 157 new

    Fight Club

    1999, in 19 top lists Check
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Last updated on Apr 6, 2012;