The DVD Forums defintive list of movies to view at least once during your lifetime. - Page 2

R-T-C · 01-09-2005, 19:36

Okay, I see the 'critics favourites' are being touted about as usual so I'll bring to the table some of the less well known, but just as important directors and films from 100 years of cinema...:

Werner Herzog - my favourite director, and certainly one of the best of all time. A visionary German director who produced his own films, and so never had to compromised on his vision.
Top films; Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu (1979), Heart of Glass (1974).
Worthy of note: Incident at Loch Ness (2004) in which he plays himself - an absurdly clever film that defies description - just watch it.

Dario Argento - a top Italian director, and mercilessly underrated by the critics, mostly due to his film's horror routes, and often shockingly gory sequences. Recent poor form has rather sullied his popularity, but his classics remain eminently watchable.
Top films; Suspiria (1977), Profondo Russo (1974)
Worthy of note: Opera (1987) - low on plot, but high on awesome visuals.

Jess Franco - one of the most prolific directors of all time, with over 200 known films to his credit, many existing in multiple variances. Often at the mercy of his producers, his artistic vision was frequently corrupted into pornography, although he did little to assuage this. Recent poor form has cost him some support, although his oeuvre is so varied that not a film exists that he has created without its equal share of supporters and detractors.
Top films; Venus in Furs (1974), Diabolical Dr. Z (1966)

Lucio Fulci - a man for whom the legacy of his films has far outweighed his own recognition in the general conciousness. Like Franco, often at the mercy of producers, his use of incredibly violent gore meant that for decades his films were not seen as intended, and were often marketed as little more than cheap shockers.
Top films; Zombi 2 (1979), City of the Living Dead (1980), Don't Torture a Duckling (1972)

More to come....
- note, I have only referenced films that I have seen.

Guest 4576 · 01-09-2005, 19:44

Fanboy hyperbole, thy name is R-T-C.

anephric · 01-09-2005, 19:46

Jess Franco! I admire your pluck, sir!

John Hodson · 01-09-2005, 20:01

Ignore. Pul-lease.

DrZarkov · 01-09-2005, 20:14

All classics imo -

Jaws
12 angry men
Spatacus
Cross of Iron
The Good the Bad and the Ugly
The Longest Day
Star Wars
Omega Man
Taxi Driver
Alien
Get Carter
Don't Look Now
Doctor Zhivago
Superman
Cape Fear
Planet Of The Apes
Invasion of the Bodysnatchers...70's version
Jungle Book
Grapes Of Wrath

camino_real · 01-09-2005, 20:23

Don't forget Michael Powell. I know John has mentioned a couple of his films but can I put in a good word for Peeping Tom andThe Life and Death of Colonel Blimp-both masterpieces?

Also :

Masque of the Red Death
Curse of Frankenstein
Bringing up Baby
Sons of the Desert
King Kong (original of course)
Simon of the Desert

R-T-C · 01-09-2005, 20:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Narshty

Fanboy hyperbole, thy name is R-T-C.

Hmmm, I feel that statement lacks verisimilitude...

Okay, I'm not saying that these are the best directors or films ever - but I feel that these films are the kind that any 'film buffs' should watch at least once.

Guest 19096 · 01-09-2005, 21:10

My list of "slightly off the beaten track" classics:

The Night of the Hunter
I Know Where I'm Going
Curse of the Cat People
Dressed to Kill
The Tenant
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Mamoulian)
Days of Heaven
Kiss Me Deadly
Trouble in Paradise
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
A Woman Under the Influence
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Johnny Guitar
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Siegel)
The Big Heat
Marnie
Letter From an Unknown Woman
Lolita (Kubrick)
Fear Eats the Soul
The Tarnished Angels
Kwaidan
Pandora's Box
Key Largo
The Lady from Shanghai
The Tarnished Angels
Viridiana
The Sugarland Express

Guest 29 · 01-09-2005, 21:22

In what sense is Werner Herzog 'less well known' ?

Anyway, I'll take up the challenge and provide one representative film for each director on my list. My yardsticks are: pre-1980; available in a version which the director personally approved; sufficiently personal to contain the filmmaker's customary style and concerns.

Sam Peckinpah - The Wild Bunch
John Ford - She Wore A Yellow Ribbon
Ingmar Bergman - Winter Light
Howard Hawks - Rio Bravo
Sergei Eisenstein - October
John Huston - The Man Who Would Be King
Frederico Fellini - La Dolce Vita
Alfred Hitchcock - Vertigo
Samuel Fuller - The Naked Kiss
John Boorman - Deliverance
Woody Allen - Manhattan
Billy Wilder - The Apartment
David Cronenberg - The Brood
Brian De Palma - Sisters
Robert Altman - Nashville
Robert Aldrich - Hustle
Nicholas Ray - Johnny Guitar
Akira Kurosawa - Throne of Blood

and a few more

Orson Welles - Citizen Kane
Martin Scorsese - Mean Streets
Stanley Kubrick - Barry Lyndon
Michael Reeves - The Sorcerers
Nicolas Roeg - Don't Look Now
Otto Preminger - Anatomy of a Murder
Terence Fisher - The Devil Rides Out
George Stevens - Gunga Din
Nagisa Oshima - Empire of Passion
Clint Eastwood - The Outlaw Josey Wales
Don Siegel - Madigan
Costa-Gavras - The Confession
Arthur Penn - Alice's Restaurant
Alan J. Pakula - The Parallax View
Vincente Minnelli - The Band Wagon
Volker Schlondorff - The Lost Honour of Katarina Blum
Ken Russell - The Music Lovers
William Friedkin - The French Connection
John Frankenheimer - Seconds
Carl Dreyer - Day of Wrath

Guest 29 · 01-09-2005, 21:32

OK, I'm at a loose end so following Reno's excellent list I'll suggest some more 'off the beaten track' classic movies that I would rate as must-see, sometimes for one or two elements rather than overall excellence:

The Shout
Twilight's Last Gleaming
The Hospital
Demons of the Mind
Frightmare
Four Flies on Grey Velvet
Marat-Sade
The War Lord
Senso
Phantom of the Paradise
Cisco Pike
Junior Bonner
The Beguiled
A Bullet for the General
Avanti!
Bonjour Tristesse
Blood on Satan's Claw
The Last Waltz
Burn
Two Weeks In Another Town

John Hodson · 01-09-2005, 21:52

Must see British films (British financed and/or directed and/or largely British cast):

Sabotage
Things to Come
The Wicker Man
Dracula (1958)
Black Narcissus
The Maggie
The Thief of Bagdad
Blithe Spirit
In Which We Serve
Get Carter
From Russia With Love
Great Expectations
The Quatermass Xperiment
Zulu
Accident
Billy Liar
The Charge of The Light Brigade
If...
I'm Alright Jack
Richard III
The League of Gentlemen

BTW, nice directors list Mike; but it hurts my brain trying to choose just one

anephric · 01-09-2005, 21:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike

Four Flies on Grey Velvet

Slightly off the beaten track? More like off the track and halfway up the mountain called You'll Be Lucky To Track A Copy of This Down

Guest 23046 · 01-09-2005, 22:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mojo Risin

Anyone ever suggested compiling a list of movies which are deemed as critical viewing matter?

"critical viewing matter" as in good or bad films ? Shirley both, after all, how else do you set your reference points...

...or is this deemed thread hijacking ?

LouBarlow · 01-09-2005, 22:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by anephric

Slightly off the beaten track? More like off the track and halfway up the mountain called You'll Be Lucky To Track A Copy of This Down

I think Mike misread the thread as the 'list the most obscure films that only you've ever heard of, so nobody knows if they are actually any good or not' thread

John Hodson · 01-09-2005, 22:33

The films aren't that obscure - you just haven't been looking hard enough

LouBarlow · 01-09-2005, 22:37

I have heard of two of the films on that list - sorry. I hope I can still be in your club?

Guest 29 · 01-09-2005, 23:15

Frankly, if you haven't heard of most of the films mentioned in my list then you really shouldn't be making sarcastic comments about them. Do you really consider films by Visconti, Siegel, Minnelli, De Palma, Argento, Scorsese, Wilder, Schaffner, Preminger, Peter Brook and Peckinpah - among the most significant directors of the 20th Century - to be obscure?

Might I suggest that instead of making spiteful comments directed at me, you track down some of the films you haven't heard of and argue your views on an informed level?

Vulcan101 · 01-09-2005, 23:19

Your missing -

The Cruel Sea
Ice Cold in Alex
Aliens
Lost in Translation
Donnie Darko (original version)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (original version)
The Thing (remake)
Blade Runner
The Empire Strikes Back

LouBarlow · 01-09-2005, 23:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike

Frankly, if you haven't heard of most of the films mentioned in my list then you really shouldn't be making sarcastic comments about them. Do you really consider films by Visconti, Siegel, Minnelli, De Palma, Argento, Scorsese, Wilder, Schaffner, Preminger, Peter Brook and Peckinpah - among the most significant directors of the 20th Century - to be obscure?

Might I suggest that instead of making spiteful comments directed at me, you track down some of the films you haven't heard of and argue your views on an informed level?

Eh? I wasn't being spiteful

Don't be so sensitive

Guest 19096 · 01-09-2005, 23:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vulcan101

Your missing -

The Cruel Sea
Ice Cold in Alex
Aliens
Lost in Translation
Donnie Darko (original version)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (original version)
The Thing (remake)
Blade Runner
The Empire Strikes Back

Classic film forum here, so six of these don't fit and me thinks one of the other three has already been mentioned.