Thursday, January 04, 2018

Films I Recommend

Students in a class I taught recently asked me to recommend films I thought they should see.  The resulting list is below. Because of my background, it is weighted towards American films, a deficiency that I will remedy in coming years.  I am sure some films are missing that I would have included had I thought of them--please feel free to point them out.  My film preferences are no better than anyone else's. These are for the most part simply films that I've liked, admired, and enjoyed.


Name Director Date
12 Years a Slave Steve McQueen 2013
2001: A Space Odyssey Stanley Kubrick 1968
An American in Paris Vincente Minelli 1951
Annie Hall Woody Allen 1977
Apocalypse Now Francis Ford Coppola 1979
Arrival Denis Villeneuve 2016
Baby Doll Elia Kazan 1956
Badlands  Terrence Malick 1973
Bambi David Hand 1942
Barton Fink Coen Brothers 1991
The Big Lebowski Coen Brothers 1998
The Big Sleep Howard Hawks 1946
Blade Runner  Ridley Scott 1982
Blade Runner 2049 Denis Villeneuve 2017
Blow-Up Michelangelo Antonioni 1966
Blue Velvet David Lynch 1986
Breathless Jean-Luc Godard 1960
Cape Fear Martin Scorsese 1991
Casablanca Michael Curtiz 1942
Cast Away Robert Zemeckis 2000
Cheyenne Autumn John Ford 1964
China Town Roman Polanski 1974
Citizen Kane Orson Wells 1941
A Clockwork Orange  Stanley Kubrick 1971
Close Encounters of the Third Kind Steven Spielberg 1977
Contact Robert Zemeckis 1997
The Day the Earth Stood Still  Robert Wise 1951
Days of Heaven Terrence Malick 1978
Deliverance John Boorman 1972
The Departed Martin Scorsese 2006
Do the Right Thing Spike Lee 1989
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Stanley Kubrick 1964
Dr. Zhivago David Lean 1965
Easy Rider Dennis Hopper 1969
Edward Scissorhands Tim Burton 1990
E. T. the Extraterrestrial Steven Spielberg 1982
Eve's Bayou Kasi Lemmons 1997
A Face in the Crowd Elia Kazan 1957
Fargo Coen Brothers 1996
Fat City John Huston 1972
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off John Hughes 1986
Forrest Gump Robert Zemeckis 1994
George Washington David Gordon Green 2000
The Godfather I and II  Francis Ford Coppola 1972, 1974
Gone with the Wind Victor Fleming, George Cukor 1939
Goodfellas Martin Scorsese 1990
The Graduate Mike Nichols 1967
The Grapes of Wrath  John Ford 1940
Hamlet Laurence Oliver 1948
Hannah and her Sisters Woody Allen 1986
High Noon Fred Zinneman 1952
Howard’s End James Ivory 1992
Howl’s Moving Castle Hayao Miyazaki 2004
Hugo Martin Scorsese 2011
The Hurt Locker Kathryn Bigelow 2008
In Cold Blood Richard Brooks 1967
Inside Llewelyn Davis Coen Brothers 2013
It’s a Wonderful Life Frank Capra 1946
Jezebel William Wyler 1938
JFK Oliver Stone 1991
Kiss Me Deadly Robert Aldrich 1955
Kubo and the Three Strings Travis Knight 2016
LA Confidential  Curtis Hanson 1997
Lawrence of Arabia  David Lean 1962
The Lion King Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff 1994
Lonely Are the Brave David Miller 1962
Lost in Translation Sofia Coppola 2003
Love and Death Woody Allen 1975
Manhattan Woody Allen 1979
Match Point Woody Allen 2005
Maltese Falcon  John Huston 1941
Melancholia Lars von Trier 2011
Moonlight Barry Jenkins 2016
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Frank Capra 1939
Munich Steven Spielberg 2005
Mud Jeff Nichols 2012
Nashville Robert Altman 1977
Night of the Hunter Charles Laughton 1955
No Country for Old Men Coen Brothers 2007
O Brother, Where Art Thou? Coen Brothers 2000
Oklahoma Fred Zinneman 1955
On the Waterfront Elia Kazan 1954
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Milos Forman 1975
Pan's Labyrinth Guillermo del Toro 2006
The Passenger Michelangelo Antonioni 1975
Pinky Elia Kazan 1949
Psycho Alfred Hitchcock 1960
Raising Arizona Coen Brothers 1987
Rear Window Alfred Hitchcock 1954
Room with a View James Ivory 1985
Schindler's List Steven Spielberg 1993
The Searchers John Ford 1956
Selma Ava DuVernay 2014
The Seventh Seal Ingmar Bergman 1957
Shane George Stevens 1953
The Shape of Water Guillermo del Toro 2017
Singing in the Rain Stanley Donan, Gene Kelly 1952
The Sixth Sense M. Night Shyamalan 1999
Spirited Away Hayao Miyazaki 2001
A Streetcar Named Desire Elia Kazan 1951
Sullivan's Travels Preston Sturges 1941
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby Adam McKay 2006
Taxi Driver Martin Scorsese 1976
The Thin Man W. S. Van Dyke 1934
The Thin Red Line  Terrence Malick 1998
Throne of Blood Akira Kurosawa 1957
To Kill a Mockingbird Robert Mulligan 1962
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre John Huston 1948
Tree of Life Terrence Malick 2011
True Grit Coen Brothers 2010
Wayne's World Penelope Spheeris 1992
West Side Story Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise 1961
Winter's Bone Debra Granik 2010
Unbreakable M. Night Shyamalan 2000
Vertigo Alfred Hitchcock 1958
Wild River Elia Kazan 1960
Wild Strawberries Ingmar Bergman 1955
The Yearling Clarence Brown 1946
Zabriskie Point Michelangelo Antonioni 1970
Zelig Woody Allen 1983

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