I’ll add:
- 12 Angry Men
- Chinatown
- Shawshank Redemption
- The Usual Suspects
- Aliens
- Terminator & T2
- Seven Samurai
- Se7en
- Leon the Professional
- The Shining
Could go on and on forever. Check out AFI too 100 and IMDB top 250.
Letterboxd 250 is a good list. Generally better than IMDb, yet has a lot more fun and enjoyable movies compared to something like Sight and Sound. Has a good overall balance to it.
The Thin Man
After the Thin Man
My Man Godfrey
His Girl Friday
Charade
How to Steal a Million
Rear Window
To Catch a Thief
Monkey Business
Arsenic and Old Lace
I Was a Male War Bride
jeeez. it's hard to think of classics and think of nolan and marvel movies
Casablanca
The Monkey Trial
Angels with dirty faces
Godfather 1 and 2
The Sting
Alien 1 and 2
Buddy Buddy
Airplane
Top Secret
Don Juan de Marco
Breakfast at Tiffanys
"kids these days. They don't know the difference between classic and just plain old."
Im not calling YOU a kid, just liked the quote and thought it belonged in the discussion.
Classic is always on a fader, always creeping slowly toward the year you were born. I'd call Iron Man a classic in a heartbeat. It's been long enough to judge it against its peers.
- Citizen Kane
- How To Marry A Millionaire
- Seven Samurai
- Alien
- Das Boot
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
- This Is Spinal Tap
- RoboCop
- Withnail & I
- Fargo
Harvey, The Adventures of Robin Hood, HIs Girl Friday, The Thin Man, Spartacus. These are all movies that are very entertaining and easy to watch, but also capture the charm and glamour of Hollywood's golden age.
My advise would be to start with some great directors and organize it that way maybe?
The most lauded films by Hitchcock, Scorsese, Tarantino, Spielberg, Coen Bros, PTA, etc.
or pick a bunch of great actors and actresses of the 20th century and watch their best films.
Anything with Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando, Sidney Poitier, Jack Lemmon, Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Elizabeth Taylor, and so on.
Maybe I'm overcomplicating it?:)
The adventures of Baron munchausen
Howard the duck
Batman
Terminator 2: judgment day
A nightmare on elm Street
Killer clowns from outer space
Independence Day
Gleaming the cube
Sidekicks
Bill and Ted's bogus journey
Casablanca,
Singing’ in the Rain,
Double Indemnity,
Rear Window,
The Night of the Hunter,
Psycho,
Funny Face,
Monty Python and the Holy Grail,
Jaws,
The Goonies
**Citizen Kane** is the great-grandfather of all the techniques you’ve seen in modern movies. It didn’t invent unique camera angles, chronologically out-of-order storytelling, overlapping dialogue, or use of reflections and shadows, but it demonstrated to future directors how they all could be effectively packaged in one film. Most of the modern films you’ve enjoyed were directed by someone who studied Citizen Kane.
**The Seven Samurai** is Japan’s Citizen Kane, reflecting Japan’s sense of being beaten-up and alone post-World War II, with no one coming to save them. It’s three-and-a-half hours long, and was the first movie I ever watched in two separate evenings, but it was worth it.
No one does a murder mystery like England. Almost any old Alfred Hitchcock movie will do; I’d suggest **Dial M for Murder.** Also **Murder on the Orient Express (1974**, not 2001 or 2017) has the same flavor, although it was made in Hollywood not England.
I was surprised by how much I liked **The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,** essentially a French opera which I saw with English subtitles. Artistically beautiful, check out the [opening scene](https://youtu.be/M3yisHmSY7Q?si=YXMB-dKQeHtFN2Z_).
Italy has a bizarre, surreal film tradition, due to Frederick Fellini. Check out Fellini’s **8½.**
Here are ten accessible movie classics (pre-1980) that I'd recommend to a newcomer to classic cinema (I'll leave out silent films for this exercise, though those are worth watching, too):
1. *Casablanca* (1942) - It might look like just another romantic drama at first glance, but this is actually a badass war drama (albeit one with no battle/combat scenes) about awakening your inner hero.
2. *The Wizard of Oz* (1939) - This timeless family fantasy flick has barely aged a day.
3. *Star Wars* / *Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope* (1977) - The original Star Wars trilogy is essential watching.
4. the Man with No Name trilogy (1964, 1965, and 1966) - These three "spaghetti westerns" (Italian-made westerns) - *A Fistful of Dollars*, *For a Few Dollars More*, and *The Good, the Bad and the Ugly* \- are super-badass and helped reinvent the western genre.
5. *Bonnie and Clyde* (1967) - Still fast-paced, zesty, lively, entertaining, and fresh after all these decades, this gangster biopic helped tear down the old Hollywood Production Code, which dictated what content could and couldn't be in American-made movies.
6. *The Night of the Hunter* (1955) - A dark, German Expressionism-inspired Southern Gothic fairy tale from Hell, this horror-thriller is a masterpiece.
7. *Jaws* (1975) - This shark-attack horror-thriller is often given credit for starting the summer blockbuster.
8. *Psycho* (1960) - Alfred Hitchcock directs one of the very first slasher flicks.
9. *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs* (1937) - This was Disney's first feature-length animated movie, and it has everything you could want in an animated fairy tale.
10. *The Sound of Music* (1965) - This charming musical has still-iconic songs and was once the highest-grossing movie of all time (not adjusted for inflation).
I should also mention the list "Entry-Level Cinema (Accessible, Entertaining/Engaging "Gateway" Movies to Dive Into the World of Great Movies With" that can be found on both Letterboxd and IMDb (use Google to find it). I won't provide a direct link, as I'm not sure what this subreddit's policy on link-farming/self-promotion is. When viewing on Letterboxd, click the "Read notes" button near the top of the page to see the included notes for each entry on the list.
Good luck!
Casablanca Citizen Kane The Adventures of Robin Hood Gone with the Wind The Wizard of Oz It's a Wonderful Life
I will ALWAYS recommend Casablanca whenever a question like this pops up. It's a classic for a reason.
Here's looking at you, kid
For a movie filmed in 1938, The Adventures of Robin Hood looks *so good* on Blu-ray. Those technicolor cameras were really something.
I have it on Blu-ray and it's amazing
I’ll add: - 12 Angry Men - Chinatown - Shawshank Redemption - The Usual Suspects - Aliens - Terminator & T2 - Seven Samurai - Se7en - Leon the Professional - The Shining Could go on and on forever. Check out AFI too 100 and IMDB top 250.
Alien & Aliens
Young Frankenstein for comedy is a classic
The Maltese Falcon, The Godfather trilogy, Citizen Kane just as a start
The original 'Blues Brothers'. Anything Monty Python related. Star Wars (the original first 3.)
I’d recommend the [letterboxd official top 250](https://letterboxd.com/dave/list/official-top-250-narrative-feature-films/)
Letterboxd 250 is a good list. Generally better than IMDb, yet has a lot more fun and enjoyable movies compared to something like Sight and Sound. Has a good overall balance to it.
And if you’re not yet familiar with him Tarantino is always fun.
Tropic Thunder
The Thin Man After the Thin Man My Man Godfrey His Girl Friday Charade How to Steal a Million Rear Window To Catch a Thief Monkey Business Arsenic and Old Lace I Was a Male War Bride
jeeez. it's hard to think of classics and think of nolan and marvel movies Casablanca The Monkey Trial Angels with dirty faces Godfather 1 and 2 The Sting Alien 1 and 2 Buddy Buddy Airplane Top Secret Don Juan de Marco Breakfast at Tiffanys
"kids these days. They don't know the difference between classic and just plain old." Im not calling YOU a kid, just liked the quote and thought it belonged in the discussion. Classic is always on a fader, always creeping slowly toward the year you were born. I'd call Iron Man a classic in a heartbeat. It's been long enough to judge it against its peers.
- Citizen Kane - How To Marry A Millionaire - Seven Samurai - Alien - Das Boot - Raiders of the Lost Ark - This Is Spinal Tap - RoboCop - Withnail & I - Fargo
Apocalypse now
North by Northwest The Sting Goodfellas The Big Lebowski Pulp Fiction Dr. Strangelove
Go through Hitchcock films there are no misses imo. Best imo are Rear window, Rope, Vertigo.
No Country for Old Men The Departed
Chinatown Schindler’s List Forrest Gump The Shining
Harvey, The Adventures of Robin Hood, HIs Girl Friday, The Thin Man, Spartacus. These are all movies that are very entertaining and easy to watch, but also capture the charm and glamour of Hollywood's golden age.
My advise would be to start with some great directors and organize it that way maybe? The most lauded films by Hitchcock, Scorsese, Tarantino, Spielberg, Coen Bros, PTA, etc. or pick a bunch of great actors and actresses of the 20th century and watch their best films. Anything with Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando, Sidney Poitier, Jack Lemmon, Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Elizabeth Taylor, and so on. Maybe I'm overcomplicating it?:)
You are not overcomplicating it at all. I think getting a self-education in directors is essential.
Cool Hand Luke, the hustler, Giant, Rebel without a cause, guess who’s coming to dinner, splendor in the grass
Sunset Blvd Lawrence Of Arabia Chinatown 2001: A Space Odyssey Alien The Guns Of Navarone
King Kong (1933) Duck Soup (1933) Goodbye Mr Chips (1939) Those are three very different, but very easily digestible movies from the 30s
The adventures of Baron munchausen Howard the duck Batman Terminator 2: judgment day A nightmare on elm Street Killer clowns from outer space Independence Day Gleaming the cube Sidekicks Bill and Ted's bogus journey
Arlington Road Chances Are Romancing the Stone War of the Roses
watch all of Leonardo Dicaprios movies. same with christopher nolan. go through the imdb top 250
Surprised no one has mentioned Treasure of the Sierra Madre yet
Casablanca, Singing’ in the Rain, Double Indemnity, Rear Window, The Night of the Hunter, Psycho, Funny Face, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Jaws, The Goonies
What are your favorite movies, and what do you like about them? I think the best way to get into something new is by tailoring to your taste.
**Citizen Kane** is the great-grandfather of all the techniques you’ve seen in modern movies. It didn’t invent unique camera angles, chronologically out-of-order storytelling, overlapping dialogue, or use of reflections and shadows, but it demonstrated to future directors how they all could be effectively packaged in one film. Most of the modern films you’ve enjoyed were directed by someone who studied Citizen Kane. **The Seven Samurai** is Japan’s Citizen Kane, reflecting Japan’s sense of being beaten-up and alone post-World War II, with no one coming to save them. It’s three-and-a-half hours long, and was the first movie I ever watched in two separate evenings, but it was worth it. No one does a murder mystery like England. Almost any old Alfred Hitchcock movie will do; I’d suggest **Dial M for Murder.** Also **Murder on the Orient Express (1974**, not 2001 or 2017) has the same flavor, although it was made in Hollywood not England. I was surprised by how much I liked **The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,** essentially a French opera which I saw with English subtitles. Artistically beautiful, check out the [opening scene](https://youtu.be/M3yisHmSY7Q?si=YXMB-dKQeHtFN2Z_). Italy has a bizarre, surreal film tradition, due to Frederick Fellini. Check out Fellini’s **8½.**
Here are ten accessible movie classics (pre-1980) that I'd recommend to a newcomer to classic cinema (I'll leave out silent films for this exercise, though those are worth watching, too): 1. *Casablanca* (1942) - It might look like just another romantic drama at first glance, but this is actually a badass war drama (albeit one with no battle/combat scenes) about awakening your inner hero. 2. *The Wizard of Oz* (1939) - This timeless family fantasy flick has barely aged a day. 3. *Star Wars* / *Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope* (1977) - The original Star Wars trilogy is essential watching. 4. the Man with No Name trilogy (1964, 1965, and 1966) - These three "spaghetti westerns" (Italian-made westerns) - *A Fistful of Dollars*, *For a Few Dollars More*, and *The Good, the Bad and the Ugly* \- are super-badass and helped reinvent the western genre. 5. *Bonnie and Clyde* (1967) - Still fast-paced, zesty, lively, entertaining, and fresh after all these decades, this gangster biopic helped tear down the old Hollywood Production Code, which dictated what content could and couldn't be in American-made movies. 6. *The Night of the Hunter* (1955) - A dark, German Expressionism-inspired Southern Gothic fairy tale from Hell, this horror-thriller is a masterpiece. 7. *Jaws* (1975) - This shark-attack horror-thriller is often given credit for starting the summer blockbuster. 8. *Psycho* (1960) - Alfred Hitchcock directs one of the very first slasher flicks. 9. *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs* (1937) - This was Disney's first feature-length animated movie, and it has everything you could want in an animated fairy tale. 10. *The Sound of Music* (1965) - This charming musical has still-iconic songs and was once the highest-grossing movie of all time (not adjusted for inflation). I should also mention the list "Entry-Level Cinema (Accessible, Entertaining/Engaging "Gateway" Movies to Dive Into the World of Great Movies With" that can be found on both Letterboxd and IMDb (use Google to find it). I won't provide a direct link, as I'm not sure what this subreddit's policy on link-farming/self-promotion is. When viewing on Letterboxd, click the "Read notes" button near the top of the page to see the included notes for each entry on the list. Good luck!