101 Films

A friend recently asked me to make a list of "essential" films everyone should see.

I can't imagine why I agreed to this. But it was impossible to stop once I'd started. It was also virtually impossible to finish. So I set some parameters, and defaulted on some disclaimers, and produced a list of 101 movies.

Parameters: No animated films, and no documentaries, and only "foreign" films that have broadly and thoroughly permeated the American cinema aesthetic. **UPDATE: After several people called me out on this, I realized I should clarify. I have a deep respect for documentary and animation, but felt that I needed to narrow the scope of this "survey" of films. Animation and documentary each deserve their own lists, but I feel even less capable, let alone qualified, to make them.**

Disclaimers: This list is completely subjective. I didn't include films I don't like, though they may be important. It is also totally inadequate. But I did my best, without sinking more than a few hours into the project. It is also alphabetized, because I think it would be unreasonable to try to order these movies in a qualitative way.

Without even blinking, you could probably name a dozen films that, by their absence, prove I'm an absolute idiot. Oh well. Enjoy!

1. 12 Angry Men (1957)
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
3. The 400 Blows (1959)
4. Alien (1979)
5. All the President’s Men (1976)
6. Amadeus (1984)
7. Amelie (2001)
8. Avalon (2001)
9. Babette’s Feast (1987)
10. Back to the Future (1985)
11. Ben-Hur (1959)
12. Better Off Dead...(1985)
13. Blade Runner (1982)
14. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
15. Casablanca (1942)
16. Casino Royale (2006)
17. Citizen Kane (1941)
18. City Lights (1931)
19. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
20. Cool Hand Luke (1967)
21. The Dark Knight (2008)
22. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
23. Dead Poets Society (1989)
24. Deep Impact (1998)
25. Die Hard (1988)
26. Double Indemnity (1944)
27. Dr. Strange-love (1964)
28. Dumb and Dumber (1994)
29. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
30. The Elephant Man (1980)
31. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
32. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
33. Field of Dreams (1989)
34. Forrest Gump (1994)
35. The Fall (2006)
36. The Fugitive (1993)
37. Galaxy Quest (1999)
38. Gladiator (2000)
39. Godfathers I & 2 (1972, ’74)
40. Gone with the Wind (1939)
41. Good Will Hunting (1997)
42. The Great Dictator (1940)
43. The Great Escape (1963)
44. Groundhog Day (1993)
45. Harry Potter 
46. Hero (2002)
47. High Noon (1952)
48. The Hurt Locker (2008)
49. Inception (2010)
50. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
51. Jurassic Park (1993)
52. Life Is Beautiful (1997)
53. The Lord of the Rings (2001, ’02, ’03)
54. Malcom X (1992)
55. The Man in the White Suit (1951)
56. The Matrix (1999)
57. Men in Black (1997)
58. Metropolis (1927)
59. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
60. Napoleon Dynamite (2004) 
61. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
62. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
63. On the Waterfront (1954)
64. Ordinary People (1980)
65. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
66. The Patriot (2000)
67. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
68. The Pianist (2002)
69. The Princess Bride (1987)
70. Psycho (1960)
71. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
72. Rashomon (1950)
73. Rear Window (1954)
74. Rocky (1976)
75. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
76. Serendipity (2001)
77. Seven Samurai (1954)
78. The Seventh Seal (1957)
79. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
80. Sherlock Jr. (1924)
81. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
82. The Sixth Sense (1999)
83. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
84. Social Network (2010)
85. Some Like It Hot (1959)
86. The Sound of Music (1965)
87. Spartacus (1960)
88. Star Trek (2009)
89. Star Wars (1977-83)
90. The Sting (1973)
91. Take Shelter (2011)
92. The Terminator (1984)
93. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
94. Thank You for Smoking (2005)
95. The Tree of Life (2011)
96. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
97. V for Vendetta (2005)
98. West Side Story (1961)
99. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
100. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
101. Zombieland (2009)

Carol of the Bells

This is what they call an impulse post.



Feeling festive yet?

Where have all the film critics gone?

You may not know this, but it is nearly impossible these days to make a living as a film critic. We can thank crowd-sourcing for this. Go jump on Netflix and take a look at the user reviews. Some of them are reasonably well-informed, but even the highest rated reviews betray a kind of stubborn ignorance, in that they almost never break free of the "I liked it"/"I hated it" foundation of commentary. What is usually missing from lay-criticism is careful evaluation of the actual quality of a film, which should account for what the thing was trying to do, and whether it was successful. The personal response of the viewer/reviewer is a factor, but it is not the end-all.

The current landscape for movie reviews is a bit dismal. Film critics almost always get lumped together, as though they are in some kind of club that meets weekly and decides whether they liked a movie or not. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "I don't usually agree with what the critics say." What does that even mean? Are you aware that "critics" differ vastly from one another, and that their opinions represent a wide spectrum of valuable analytical thought? You can't disagree with all of them. It's not possible.

It is possible, however, to take note of some kind of critical consensus, if and when it happens. If a whole lot of critics seem really enthused about a particular film, it's probably worth some consideration. If you find yourself in love with a film that most critics seem to hate, it might be time to acknowledge that you have  something of a guilty pleasure. Loving a film doesn't make it good, and hating it doesn't make it bad.

I digress. The point is that film criticism is a dying profession. It's now the hobbyist's world, and the hobbyist doesn't have to be any good, just passionate, and Internet-savvy. But it stands to reason that as the professional critics go, so goes the professional criticism.

Thankfully, we've still got Rotten Tomatoes and MetaCritic. Sure, they house a good number of idiots masquerading as film buffs, but those review aggregators are the last bastion of hope for professional film critics. To get included in the "tomatometer" requires significant accreditation, and so Rotten Tomatoes' scores maintain a certain value.

Unfortunately, that value doesn't seem to affect the box office over-dramatically. Here is a telling snapshot:

Striking, is it not?

Anyway, I was motivated to write this ranting, disorganized post because, despite the thanklessness of it, I can't seem to stop writing movie reviews. And while I try my best to make them meaningful, whether I succeed in that effort is not really my call.

Here's my latest. And it provides a great illustration of that thing I mentioned. I had major problems with Hugo, but it's got a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. Does that mean that I think all critics are wrong and stupid? Of course not.

Anyway. I'm done.

Everyone Should be a Film Student

I've been a TA for BYU's introductory film class for three years now. I became convinced some time ago that this class (TMA 102) should be a general education requirement for all students. With each passing semester, I feel more passionately that this is true.

Here's my reasoning:

An "Introduction to Literature" class is a GE requirement in most schools, and for good reason--books are and have been a fundamental method by which society communicates with itself. The class's purpose is to attempt to open the door for its students to the world of literature, so that they can then become informed participates in the ongoing conversation of that medium. In short, books are really important, so any education worth anything must attempt to help students achieve a certain level of literacy.

Books used to be THE primary medium of cultural dialog. Popular books would enter into the public's awareness, and achieve a broad audience. Now, however, a "bestseller" will get ready by, comparatively, a tiny fraction of its society's population. It is very, very seldom that a book sells more than a million copies these days.

I'm not going to say that movies are more important than books, but it would be easy to make a strong case that they have become more relevant. If you ask a crowd of a hundred random people how many of them had read the latest "bestseller," how many hands would go up? How about if you asked them to raise their hands if they'd seen Toy Story 3? Or Inception. Or the latest Transformers.

Everyone should be a student of film. Yes, I also believe everyone should study literature, but I think it is imperative that we study the dominant medium of our era. I don't think everyone should go to college and major in film, but I do think it has become incumbent upon us as members of this modern world to become literate in our primary mode of cultural communication.

It's about keeping our freedoms of thought, and our intelligence. In other, older civilizations, the literate controlled the uneducated. It is no different today. If we refuse to study the language of our media, and instead content ourselves with consuming upon our lusts, as it were, we will lose our intellectual and emotional freedom. Not that anyone will take it from us--we'll simply give it away.

Perhaps you have some thoughts on the subject? Am I taking this too far? Not far enough? What are some ways that you study film? Share them in the comments below.