100 Must see films

I decided to assemble a list of 100 Films I aim to see, hopefully (although not realistically) in the next year. I like having goals. Here is a goal. If I post it here, there is much less chance I’ll go back and add 500 more films. I won’t strickly be watching films from the list, although I’ll make an effort to prioritize them. Here is my list in alphabetical order:

3 Women (1977)
A Scandal in Paris (1946)
A Star is Born (1954)
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
Ace in the Hole (1951)
Algiers (1938)
All that Jazz (1979)
Andrei Rublev (1966)

Army of Shadows (1969)
Black Girl (1966)
Blow-Up (1966)
Boudu Saved From Drowning (1932)
Brief Encounter (1945)
Brute Force (1947)
Cet obscur objet du désir (1977)
Chungking Express (1994)
Cléo de 5 à 7 (1961)

Code inconnu: Récit incomplet de divers voyages (2000)
Darling (1965)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Dodsworth (1936)
Don’t Bother to Knock (1952)
Dressed to Kill (1980)
Easter Parade (1948)
Elephant (2003)
Europa ’51 (1952)
Exotica (1994)
Eyes without a Face (1959)
Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Funny Face (1957)
George Washington (2000)
Germany Year Zero (1948)
Ghost World (2001)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Harlan County U.S.A. (1976)
Hiroshima mon amour (1959)
Hoop Dreams (1994)
How to Steal a Million (1966)
I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
Johnny Guitar (1954)
Keane (2004)
Kiss me Deadly (1955)
L’Atalante (1934)
La Religieuse (1966)
Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
L’Avventura (1960)
Le Jour se Leve (1939)
Les Quatre Cents Coups (1959)
Lilja 4-ever (2002)
Love in the Afternoon (1957)
Love Letters (1945)
Madame de… (1953)
Magnificent Obsession (1954)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Mudhoney (1965)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
My Fair Lady (1964)

Ordet (1955)
Orphans of the storm (1921)
Outrage (1950)
Paisa (1946)
Pather Panchali (1955)
Petulia (1968)
Plague Dogs (1982)
Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
Rome Open City (1945)
Russian Ark (1992)
Scarface (1932)
Scarlet Empress (1934)
Seventh Heaven (1927)
Shampoo (1975)
Shoeshine (1946)
Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)
Songs from the second floor (2000)
Stalker (1979)
Stella Dallas (1937)
Summer Interlude (1951)
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
The Age of Innocence (1993)
The Bishop’s Wife (1947)
The Glass Slipper (1955)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
The House of Mirth (2000)
The Leopard (1963)
The Little Foxes (1941)
The Major and the Minor (1942)
The Naked City (1948)
The Nun’s Story (1959)
The Palm Beach Story (1942)

The Patsy (1928)
The Piano (1993)
The Tin Drum (1979)
These Three (1936)
Tirez sur le pianiste (1960)
Two for the Road (1967)
Viaggio in Italia (1953)
Viridiana (1961)
Waterloo Bridge (1931)

Responses

  1. Cool. It’s fun crossing stuff off lists. Lots of films on here I’m surprised you haven’t seen yet. See them! (Uh, yeah, I suppose you will…)

  2. Yup! The best part is crossing things out :p I love when you just have a few left, really strangely fun motivation

  3. Lots of hard to find classics there. The Palm Beach Story, a classic screwball comedy. The Little Foxes, a gripping southern tale with lots of bite. And fun films like The Bishop’s Wife and Meet Me in St. Louis. Lots of films I have been wanting to see on there as well.

  4. A few favorites you have on your list Rouge that I really hope you enjoy: A Woman Under the Influence (watch out for the greatest female/male performances of all time imo), Chungking Express, Exotica, George Washington, Do the Right Thing, Ghost World…your in for a real treat!

  5. Marlowe: Yea, luckily most of the films are available at my library.

    Jason: That makes me excited, I really hope I fall in love with some of them.

  6. I just noticed you viewed Hannah and Her Sisters which is my #3 of Allen’s work. Thoughts?

  7. I loved it, in my top 3 of his films with Love and death and Manhattan.

  8. Yay. I think it also has my favorite ending in a Woody Allen film too.

  9. The ending is great, and apparently it was the studio that recommended a more upbeat finish. Surprisingly, it works beautifully.

  10. Yes, crossing off is the best. I wish you luck. 3 women is great!

  11. 3 Women is one I’m most excited for. I’m not really consciously going off this list at the moment though, so it’s getting completed very slowly.

  12. Im’glad you added “The Age of Innocence” to your list, because that’s a very underrated film. It’s one of Scorsese’s very best and an absolute masterpiece!

  13. “Blow Up”, “My Darling Clementine” and “Sunrise”, three movies people never watch, but really should.

    I was surprised by your inclusion of “Johnny Guitar”… Nicholas Ray was a great Director, but he did better than this movie. (Joan Crawford is always fun to watch though).

  14. Francis: I hope it lives up to your lofty praise! Along with the last temptation of Christ it’s the Scorsese I most want to see.

    Dane: I’ll be seeing Johnny Guitar sooner rather than later, any other Ray recommendations? I’ve seen Rebel without a Cause, In a Lonely Place and On Dangerous ground. I have Bigger than Life lying around here somewhere ready to watch at any moment.

  15. There are some very interesting extras from “The Age of Innocence” that you can find on youtube about Scorsese’s inspiration from other films, the brilliant editing by Thelma Schoonmaker,… and also a very interesting conversation between Charlie Rose and Scorsese. This film has also one of the most beautiful title sequences I’ve ever seen (by Saul Bass, the guy from the Hitchcock title sequences). Every single detail in this film is just perfect and the soundtrack of Elmer Bernstein combined with Strauss and other classical composers is magnificent. Michelle Pfeiffer proves that she’s one of those actresses who can change in any person she wants! (I hate her latest career choices though because she starred in a lot of great movies in the eighties and early nineties.)
    Put somethin on your blog if you’ve seen it!
    “The Last Temptation of Christ” is on my list too, but I can’t find it…

  16. In regards to Nicholas Ray: You gotta check out “The Lusty Men” with Robert Mitchum and I forgot that he did “King of Kings”.

    I created a Must see movie list about 5 years ago.
    My top five are fairly standard: “Casablanca”, “Lawrence of Arabia”, “The Third Man”, “The Godfather” and “The Searchers”. You have to throw a Billy Wilder movie into your list, perhaps, “Some Like it Hot”.

  17. Dane: Sure thing about Ray, put on to see list.

    This isn’t THAT kind of to see list, but rather one of films I personally haven’t seen. I was actually planning on making a different one though, a list of films I think most films fans should see, so look out for that in the next few days.

  18. Sorry, I saw the title but didn’t read your description. I’m with you now. I look forward to seeing your new list.

  19. Don’t worry about it, it’s not a very good label.

  20. Great list! I love the diversity and time span, it’s really a little bit of everything! I’m working though a 101 list of films I can’t believe I haven’t seen myself. Good luck to you!

  21. Thanks, I wish you the best of luck with your own list!

  22. Russian Must See List:

    “The Island” http://www.ostrov-film.ru/
    “The Italian” (2005)

  23. All the ones from the 40’s on that list are great! Also, postman always rings twice with john garfield and lana turner is a MUST see!!

  24. Stalker, that was one strange and interesting sci-fi film. Remember watching it quite long time ago, and due release of famous PC game about Chernobyl witch somehow got in way 🙂 Besides it was good motivation to look it again. Old movies doesn’t die, it’s Hollywood blockbusters which drown in their too much overdone special effects (just a personal opinion of VideoDoc 🙂 )

  25. […] Read more about this topic from the author here. […]

  26. Interesting list.
    Probably 50% I’ve not heard of!!
    No Powell & Pressburger though?
    Or have you already seen them all?


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