The FRFI 100 Movies To See Before You Die

I like Roger Ebert's criteria for what a 'Great Film' is: a movie that you couldn't bear the thought of never seeing again.

I like that definition too. It really sums it up.

The Sting
The Exorcist
Citizen Kane
Star Wars
Kill Bill-The whole damn thing
T2
M
Planet of the Apes
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Scarface
Toy Story
The Silence of the Lambs
Back to the Future
A Christmas Story
The Matrix
Jaws
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Sixteen Candles
The Shawshank Redemption
Animal House

20 movies I will see again before I die.

Have we figured out exactly what we are going for here, It seems this forum has been pulled a few different ways with still no clear message of what we're doing. How many suggestions, etc.

packpaljs wrote:Have we figured out exactly what we are going for here, It seems this forum has been pulled a few different ways with still no clear message of what we're doing. How many suggestions, etc.

I believe we set the bar at "100 Films that Any Serious Movie Fan Should See at Least One Time".

Okay, I narrowed my list above to meet that criteria

A_Roode wrote:I like Roger Ebert's criteria for what a 'Great Film' is: a movie that you couldn't bear the thought of never seeing again.

I have some problems with that definition, mainly regarding films that were great, and made me think, and were beautifully done, but due to content matter, I really don't want to see them again. Such as Salo, Things Behind the Sun, Irreversible, etc. They still would be on the list of 100 films people should see, but not that I necessarily want to see again.

I tried doing a similar thing with my film capsule idea pretty much, so here's my list...

12 Angry Men
2001: A Space Odyssey
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Alien
American Beauty
American History X
American Psycho
Apocalypse Now
Babel
Beauty and the Beast
Big Fish
Brokeback Mountain
Casablanca
Chaplin
Children of Men
Cinderella Man
Cinema Paradiso
Citizen Kane
A Clockwork Orange
Cold Mountain
Contact
Dead Man
Dr. Strangelove: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Edward Scissorhands
Elephant
E.T.: The Extraterrestrial
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Exorcist
Eyes Wide Shut
Fantasia
Finding Neverland
Funny Games
Ghostbusters
Gladiator
The Godfather
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Graduate
The Green Mile
Half Nelson
The Happening
High Noon
The Hurricane
I Heart Huckabee's
It's a Wonderful Life
The Karate Kid
Kill Bill
King Kong
Lady and the Tramp
The Last Crusade
Leaving Las Vegas
The Lion King
Little Children
Lost in Translation
Magnolia
The Majestic
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
The Matrix
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
The Motorcycle Diaries
Munich
Network
No Country for Old Men
Oldboy
On the Waterfront
Pan's Labyrinth
The Pianist
Pleasantville
Psycho
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Rashomon
The Reader
Rear Window
Requiem for a Dream
Reservoir Dogs
Road to Perdition
Robocop
Rocky
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Sandlot
Saw
Scent of a Woman
Se7en
The Seven Samaurai
The Shawshank Redemption
Sin City
The Sixth Sense
Southland Tales
Stand by Me
Star Wars Episodes 1-6
Sunset Boulevard
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Taxi Driver
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Truman Show
The Usual Suspects
The Village
Wall Street
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
The Wrestler

Again Southland Tales comes up, I have to see this movie.

Interesting that you bring up Funny Games, I felt that movie was great, but I could never sit down and watch it again, I did try and get everyone I knew to watch it, but to no avail.

I think The Wrestler is too new, I'd like to see how that ages.

Half Nelson, you have a much stronger stomach than me. I felt like someone kicked me in the nuts after I watched that movie.

I forgot about Chaplin, that's a good pick.

1. Southland Tales: I was having a conversation about this with a co-worker just yesterday...I feel like most people don't like it because they think it's TOO EXAGGERATED a portrayal of modern society on the brink of apocalypse...But I feel it's actually more accurate than people want to accept, and that's where the "this movie is shit" comes into play. The refusal of the truth behind the state of our society.

2. Funny Games: This movie blew me away in every possible aspect. Again, another satiric (less subtle than ST) indictment of modern America and our obsession with violence and our inability to accept the correlation between entertainment and reality. I could watch it over and over, there are so many layers to it and so many different levels to watch it on.

3. The Wrestler: I don't think this movie will ever get old. The thing that's so amazing about it is that it doesn't play to a particular audience. It can literally be enjoyed by anybody. It's a beautiful story about finding your place in life and learning to accept who you are destined to be. I honestly feel it will transcend generations.

4. Half Nelson: I definitely wouldn't put it on in the background at a party, but I feel it's an important movie that everyone should see at least once. It's a powerful look at role models and the ambiguity of what makes a person 'good' or 'bad'.

5. Chaplin: Maybe it's just me. I've never even seen a Charlie Chaplin movie, but his story is just so...I don't know, captivating. The American Dream personified, but by no means an American or a dream. Love it.

About the Wrestler:

I completely agree with your assessment Ipki$$. I even made my girlfriend watch it, who has never watched a wrestling match in her life, and is her choice of films tends to sway towards chick flicks and animated films. Even she really liked it.

And I still like the "movie you could not stand to never see again. Because if you don't want to watch it again, how great can you really call it. The purpose of movies is to be watched. Preferably again, and again and again. Not just one time and out. If the subject matter was too much for you to swallow that you can't handle it again, what exactly is it that makes it great? I can't wrap my head around this.

geezer9687 wrote:About the Wrestler:

And I still like the "movie you could not stand to never see again. Because if you don't want to watch it again, how great can you really call it. The purpose of movies is to be watched. Preferably again, and again and again. Not just one time and out. If the subject matter was too much for you to swallow that you can't handle it again, what exactly is it that makes it great? I can't wrap my head around this.

The purpose of movies may be to simply be watched, but the purpose of FILM is to relate an artistic statement of some sort, regarding culture, personal viewpoint, etc. And there are many art types that fully do this, and do it well, yet are not something to watch continuously...

Salo, for example, was a well said statement regarding the way upper classes treat and mishandle the lower classes. It's something that everyone should see once, if for no other reason than to shake people from their realm of complacency the current state of things.. However, it's not something anyone (that I know at least) would want to watch again. Not everything revolves around basic entertainment...

That's pretty much how I see it also...The example I always use is Requiem for a Dream, which I will never, ever watch again in my entire life. I will actively avoid seeing that movie ever again because it really disturbed me and actually put a damper on my life, but it's a very effective film with a strong message that I do think should be seen once if never again if only for the thematic content and not entertainment value (which I don't think it has any of really).

Well I guess to each his own, but any film that is going to "put a damper on my life" is never going to be great to me. If I can't enjoy myself while watching the film, then I can't call it great. To me, it really is about enjoying it, and ya know wanting to watch the film. But I guess that's just me and the Roode one.

Well we could do both, Two forums, one for Most Important Films, one for Best Films.

We've done favourite films before, I don't see the point in covering old ground. This thread is, as both Frendo and IPKI$$ have stated, to find the absolute pinaccle of cinema, movies which have defined a genre, had a deep impact on the films which followed or held such a strong message or visual quality that it needs to be watched at least one by everyone on this site before they die.

Requiem was a gereat example, I rewatched it for only the third time in 9 years last week. It is such a difficult movie to watch, because of the subject matter. However, the way it is filmed, the acting, the cinematography, the music, It's exceptional, and I firmly believe all of us on here, as fans of movies, should watch it at least once. The same with movies about the Holocaust. You are hardly gonna get the popcorn out and bring your mates round to have a good old time watching the Jews being sent to concentration camps, are you? However, they told an important story, which maybe your history class didn't teach you. I took history until I was 18, and I never understood what the Jews went through until I'd seen movies like The Pianist, Schindler's List or Fateless. All difficult movies to watch, but should we watch them? Of course. That is what this list is about, movies which go beyond pure entertainment, movies which break barriers.

I hope that goes some way to explaining what we are trying to achieve here.

I was just throwing that out to Geezer who seemed to want it the other way around.

I just watched a movie that had been sitting on my shelf for like 4 years, due to it being long. Dogville w/ Nicole Kidman (who is quite surprising). This movie needs to be added to this list. I just saw it and I can say that it's probably in the top ten (and possibly 5) films I've ever seen. Completely original, and highly intelligent.

Here is how I am going to make my list, this is my criteria, as this is what I feel belongs on this list, as defined by the title.

If someone says to me in conversation "I haven't seen ______" and my reaction is "Oh my god, you need to watch it as soon as you can get ahold of it because it is amazing."

Like if someone tells me they haven't seen Fight Club, or Star Wars, I'd have that reaction. Its not just a list of favorites, because Transformers is very high on that list, but I'd never have that reaction about it.

So that is my criteria. I won't be able to come up with 100 titles, maybe not even 50, but that's just how I am going to use it.

That is absolutely fine, Geez. As you would see from my list, there are certainly many titles which would fit your criteria. Movies like Star Wars, Fight Club and Die Hard are entertaining, as well as being highly influential and are recognised as the pinnacle of their genres. I am not omitting entertaining movies, as that would be stupid and it would exclude some of the best movies ever. No, I just want the best which satisfy a lot of different criteria.

And the amount you submit is irrelevant, we will certainly come up with well in excess of 100 movies to be narrowed down.

mfrendo wrote:I just watched a movie that had been sitting on my shelf for like 4 years, due to it being long. Dogville w/ Nicole Kidman (who is quite surprising). This movie needs to be added to this list. I just saw it and I can say that it's probably in the top ten (and possibly 5) films I've ever seen. Completely original, and highly intelligent.

I loved Dogville also. I remember renting it and the guy at Blockbuster telling me not to waste my time and then I loved it. James Caan was a neat surprise at the end. I hadn't thought about it for this list, but I'm sure you could make a valid argument for it.

I thought 'Dogville' was terrific. Not a bad performance in it and I really liked the work of Lauren Bacall, Paul Bettany and Stellan Skarsgaard in it. Great film!

Dogville and Manderville are two must sees. I thought every film had been discussed so far, but it is pleasant surprise to see some Lars Von Trier getting some dap.

JackO wrote:Dogville and Manderville are two must sees. I thought every film had been discussed so far, but it is pleasant surprise to see some Lars Von Trier getting some dap.

Is that Manderlay?

I watched Dogville and really couldn't get into it, I could see what they were doing, but I just couldn't put myself into the situation. Manderlay was very good.

So where are we on this, are we waiting for more people's list.

Come on Nspan, I know you have more movies to list. As Surfer said, don't hold back, no matter how ridiculous, throw it out.