Movies

Which ones are, or should be, canonical

The A List: movies that everyone should see

If there is something that constitutes the canon for film viewers (at least in English, or with English sub-titles), these are the movies that should be that canon. Most of these are somewhat older films: it's not that contemporary films aren't good but that it takes a while for a film to show if it ages well or was just a flash in the pan, so to speak.

I am sure that I have missed somebody's favorites, but then again some of my favorites are not on others' lists; so there! So, start watching!

The cream of the crop: here are my four stars

In no particular order

• To kill a mockingbird
  • Gregory Peck as the father we all would want; Harpur Lee's gift to America.
• A few good men
  • Tom Cruise never acted this well before, probably not since; Jack Nicholson in a role that would have defined any other actor but is just par for the course for him; and what a masterfully edited work.
• Casablanca
  • What can be said? The perfect movie (except for one word), with the best cast imaginable thrown in to boot.
• Apocalypse Now
  • Yes, war is not only hell but also insanity as well: into the heart of darkness.
• In the heat of the night
  • Carol O'Connor was a great sheriff on the T.V. show, but the edge was just missing: see the original.
• Mississippi Burning
  • Was the world really like that such a short time ago?
• Doctor Zhivago
  • Almost misses with a sappy turn at the very end (not from the book), but the story is so great, and so is the setting: a truly sweeping experience with a top-flight cast.
• Forbidden Planet
  • It's The Tempest in space: not a false note in the transposition, and great fun to boot.
• The Deer Hunter
  • Before, during, and after Vietnam: odd and with a few too many loose ends, but gripping and disturbing.
• The Godfather, Part I
  • It really is all that is said of it, and then more: what a script, and what acting! Brando truly at his best.
• The Godfather, Part II
  • Ditto and then some.
• 2001: A Space odyssey
  • From surreal realism to just plain surrealism, with HAL's nervous breakdown thrown in for good measure.
• Guys and Dolls
  • If nothing more, Brando out-sings Sinatra! Who'd have thought?
• Patton
  • A godfather with stars: inspiring and frightening at the same time.
• The Seven Samuri
  • Three hours plus (insist on the long version) and still ends too soon, and what incredible (and human) characters.
• Platoon
  • War is still hell, only this time it's Charlie, not Martin, Sheen learning the hard lesson.
• The Last Picture Show
  • A thin slice of life on a vanishing prairie.
• L.A. Confidential
  • Justice turned on its head, but somehow the good guys win, or do they?
• The Blues Brothers
  • Justice and a lot more turned on its head, but oh what a soundtrack, what cameos.
• West Side Story
  • Who would have thought dancing and fighting, at the same time, could be so inspiring?
• The Manchurian candidate [1962]
  • Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury show how it's done!
• Seven Days in May
  • Burt Lancaster shows what "hubris" means, Kirk Douglas what "duty" means.
• The Day After
  • No, nuclear war would really not be fun.
• The Endless Summer
  • Did these guys (i.e., Bruce Brown) have a vision or what?
• The Endless Summer II
  • Ditto!
• Doctor No
  • Yes, dragons really do live in the Caribbean! Connery hit his stride right from the start.
• From Russia with love
  • Lotte Lenya as a Soviet spy turned villain for hire? She's had her kicks!
• Goldfinger
  • It just doesn't get any better than this: Auric Goldfinger and Odd Job take on the world (or at least Fort Knox).
• Paths of glory
  • War is still hell, and Kirk Douglas shows why "honor" comes before "duty" and "country."
• The way we were
  • How can you not love Katie?
• Doctor Strangelove: Or, How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb!
  • After living through the cold war, does this just not seem as strange as it once might have?
• The Bedford Incident
  • What a cast! What a nightmare!
• Stage Door
  • Really a good story and what a treat to see these actresses so early in their careers.
• Double Indemnity
  • Insurance fraud: just the basics.
• Bad day at black rock
  • Some secrets just can't be kept.
• Citizen Kane
  • Not sure if this is aging all that well as we get farther away from the days of Wm. Randolph Hearst, but still compelling; I don't know if Kane is hero or villain, but in the end he's certainly tragic.
• On the beach
  • Gregory Peck, again, but this time in one of the saddest roles: still a tear jerker.
• The sand pebbles
  • Steve McQueen (pre-Bullet) and Richard Crenna (pre-Rocky); And we still don't get it.
• The Magnificent Seven
  • Yes, even in English, it's magnificent, and a masterful remake.
• The Good, the bad, and the ugly
  • War is still hell, and stupid, and a waste, and shows the most venial in people.
• once upon a time in the west
  • The second Sergio Leone masterpiece.
• The last waltz
  • So many towering moments, but how tragic to see Rick Danko in his prime — and now Levon Helm, too.
• The hustler
  • Jackie Gleason at the height of his power as a dramatic actor: you don't have to shoot pool to love this one.
• Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe?
  • Elizabeth Taylor earned her Oscar; Richard Burton was robbed of his: what a journey through the night.
• Bullet
  • Steve McQueen and a Mustang; tremendously influential, still casting its shadow today.

The A- List:

not-quite at the four-star level, but still a good watch

In no particular order

• The Philadelphia Experiment
  • A fine little Sci-Fi piece, generally under-rated.
• The Godfather, Part III
  • This one, through the sheer magnitude of its siblings, seems like the weak sister, reaching at times; but still a fine work.
• 2010: Odyssey II
  • Ditto, much too literal, so much so as to be an entirely different presentation, but reaches its own heights nevertheless.
• The Big Clock
  • (then watch No Way Out [1987]) Some secrets just can't be hidden!
• The Longest Day
  • If you only watch one World War Two movie, make it this one.
• Dances with wolves
  • Keven Cosner keeps the pace going throughout in this unique take on the western.
• Point Break
  • Great surf, the ex-presidents, sky-diving: what more could you ask for?
• Darkstar
  • Low-budget Sci-Fi the way it was meant to be!
• Das Boot
  • German or otherwise, life under the sea was hell.
• Donovan's Reef
  • If you only watch one John Wayne movie, make it this one: charming?
• Gorgo
  • Mom comes to the rescue!
• The Horse Soldiers
  • No, the Civil War was not all that much fun, either.
• World without end
  • Back from space into a maelstrom! An early effort, almost a period piece, worth watching just to see what the future looked like from years back.
• When we were kings
  • Ali and Forman: none better?
• The big sleep
  • Bogart and Becall: none better!

More noteworthy films:

Again, in no particular order

Pairings:

• Rashomon
• The Outrage
• The incredably influential Japanese film, followed by the Hollywood remake: both wholly worthwhile.

Follow-ons:

• Step into Liquid
• Riding Giants
• Clearly based on The Endless Summer (SIL by Dana Brown, son of Bruce Brown), but inspirational in thier own ways.

• Resevoir Dogs
• Pulp Fiction
• Quentin Tarrentino announces his arrival in no uncertain terms.

Spectacular Flops:

• How the West Was Won
  • A disaster on all counts: a simplistic script with forced roles for its all-star cast, unwatchable now because of its Cinerama format (terrible in letterbox, nearly as bad in bow-tie, straight lines are curves, nobody looking at each other); what a mess! And yes, I have seen it in Cinerama.
• The second half of
  Gone with the Wind
  • A towering triumph, gripping story-telling, the burning of Atlanta, and the tragedy of war, all turned to mush in the pathetic melodrama following the intermission. And good ridance to them and their time that are gone with the wind: nothing to be nostalgic about there.