The Beginners
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. : )
Pssst, want to check out the The Beginners list in our new look?
Filter
-
7 new
The Birth of a Nation
1915, in 21 top lists Check -
8 new
Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl
1919 — a.k.a. Broken Blossoms, in 13 top lists Check -
14 new
7th Heaven
1927, in 11 top lists Check -
15 new
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
1927 — a.k.a. Sunrise, in 36 top lists Check -
18 new
42nd Street
1933, in 12 top lists Check -
19 new
It Happened One Night
1934, in 29 top lists Check -
20 new
The Scarlet Empress
1934, in 12 top lists Check -
22 new
Gone with the Wind
1939, in 31 top lists Check -
25 new
His Girl Friday
1940, in 22 top lists Check -
29 new
Casablanca
1942, in 39 top lists Check -
35 new
The Red Shoes
1948, in 27 top lists Check -
37 new
Sunset Blvd.
1950 — a.k.a. Sunset Boulevard, in 35 top lists Check -
42 new
A Star Is Born
1954, in 13 top lists Check -
43 new
Singin' in the Rain
1952, in 37 top lists Check -
45 new
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
1953, in 11 top lists Check -
49 new
The Seven Year Itch
1955, in 3 top lists Check -
52 new
Letyat zhuravli
1957 — a.k.a. The Cranes Are Flying, in 17 top lists Check -
54 new
Smultronstället
1957 — a.k.a. Wild Strawberries, in 23 top lists Check -
57 new
Vertigo
1958, in 42 top lists Check -
61 new
The Apartment
1960, in 28 top lists Check -
62 new
À bout de souffle
1960 — a.k.a. Breathless, in 29 top lists Check -
83 new
Mean Streets
1973, in 22 top lists Check -
96 new
Annie Hall
1977, in 34 top lists Check -
98 new
Days of Heaven
1978, in 19 top lists Check -
114 new
Der Himmel über Berlin
1987 — a.k.a. Wings of Desire, in 21 top lists Check -
115 new
Hong gao liang
1988 — a.k.a. Red Sorghum, in 11 top lists Check -
118 new
Krótki film o milosci
1988 — a.k.a. A Short Film About Love, in 6 top lists Check -
120 new
Say Anything...
1989, in 3 top lists Check -
124 new
Edward Scissorhands
1990, in 10 top lists Check -
130 new
Groundhog Day
1993, in 22 top lists Check -
132 new
Trois couleurs: Rouge
1994 — a.k.a. Three Colors: Red, in 20 top lists Check -
136 new
Forrest Gump
1994, in 25 top lists Check -
146 new
Titanic
1997, in 25 top lists Check -
148 new
La vita è bella
1997 — a.k.a. Life Is Beautiful, in 22 top lists Check -
165 new
La pianiste
2001 — a.k.a. The Piano Teacher, in 7 top lists Check -
166 new
Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain
2001 — a.k.a. Amélie, in 27 top lists Check -
167 new
Hable con ella
2002 — a.k.a. Talk to Her, in 12 top lists Check -
170 new
Love Actually
2003, in 3 top lists Check -
173 new
Memoirs of a Geisha
2005, in 1 top list Check -
178 new
Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia
2006 — a.k.a. Curse of the Golden Flower, in 2 top lists Check -
181 new
Slumdog Millionaire
2008, in 13 top lists Check -
183 new
The Reader
2008, in 1 top list Check -
186 new
Revolutionary Road
2008, in 1 top list Check -
187 new
Ondine
2009, in 0 top lists Check -
196 new
Blue Valentine
2010, in 2 top lists Check -
198 new
The Artist
2011, in 8 top lists Check
Last updated on Apr 6, 2012;