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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206 new
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin
2011 — a.k.a. A Separation, in 15 top lists Check -
205 new
Take Shelter
2011, in 2 top lists Check -
204 new
The Tree of Life
2011, in 13 top lists Check -
203 new
Hugo
2011, in 6 top lists Check -
202 new
The Help
2011, in 6 top lists Check -
201 new
Drive
2011, in 8 top lists Check -
200 new
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
2011, in 1 top list Check -
199 new
My Week with Marilyn
2011, in 0 top lists Check -
198 new
The Artist
2011, in 8 top lists Check -
197 new
Biutiful
2010, in 3 top lists Check -
196 new
Blue Valentine
2010, in 2 top lists Check -
195 new
The King's Speech
2010, in 13 top lists Check -
194 new
The Fighter
2010, in 2 top lists Check -
193 new
Inception
2010, in 21 top lists Check -
192 new
Black Swan
2010, in 12 top lists Check -
191 new
127 Hours
2010, in 1 top list Check -
190 new
Avatar
2009, in 14 top lists Check -
189 new
Fantastic Mr. Fox
2009, in 9 top lists Check -
188 new
Män som hatar kvinnor
2009 — a.k.a. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, in 1 top list Check -
187 new
Ondine
2009, in 0 top lists Check -
186 new
Revolutionary Road
2008, in 1 top list Check -
185 new
Okuribito
2008 — a.k.a. Departures, in 8 top lists Check -
184 new
Blindness
2008, in 0 top lists Check -
183 new
The Reader
2008, in 1 top list Check -
182 new
The Dark Knight
2008, in 27 top lists Check -
181 new
Slumdog Millionaire
2008, in 13 top lists Check -
180 new
There Will Be Blood
2007, in 20 top lists Check -
179 new
Little Miss Sunshine
2006, in 7 top lists Check -
178 new
Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia
2006 — a.k.a. Curse of the Golden Flower, in 2 top lists Check -
177 new
Babel
2006, in 5 top lists Check -
176 new
V for Vendetta
2005, in 10 top lists Check -
175 new
El laberinto del fauno
2006 — a.k.a. Pan's Labyrinth, in 33 top lists Check -
174 new
The New World
2005, in 10 top lists Check -
173 new
Memoirs of a Geisha
2005, in 1 top list Check -
172 new
Million Dollar Baby
2004, in 12 top lists Check -
171 new
Finding Nemo
2003, in 17 top lists Check -
170 new
Love Actually
2003, in 3 top lists Check -
169 new
House of Sand and Fog
2003, in 0 top lists Check -
168 new
Cidade de Deus
2002 — a.k.a. City of God, in 22 top lists Check -
167 new
Hable con ella
2002 — a.k.a. Talk to Her, in 12 top lists Check -
166 new
Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain
2001 — a.k.a. Amélie, in 27 top lists Check -
165 new
La pianiste
2001 — a.k.a. The Piano Teacher, in 7 top lists Check -
164 new
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi
2001 — a.k.a. Spirited Away, in 39 top lists Check -
163 new
The Royal Tenenbaums
2001, in 8 top lists Check -
162 new
Amores perros
2000, in 17 top lists Check -
161 new
Requiem for a Dream
2000, in 21 top lists Check -
160 new
Memento
2000, in 27 top lists Check -
159 new
The Matrix
1999, in 30 top lists Check -
158 new
Todo sobre mi madre
1999 — a.k.a. All About My Mother, in 18 top lists Check -
157 new
Fight Club
1999, in 19 top lists Check
Last updated on Apr 6, 2012;