Soliticiting Suggestions for Must See Movies List

I'm going to add a page that is a list of must see movies. It will be called "Movies You Must See Before You Die." I'm thinking the basic criteria are going to be that they are films that are either the first in their genre (Metropolis, Nosferatu), an incredibly good example of some specific genre (L.A. Confidential) or something that has been influential to the medium in a fundamental way (The Seventh Seal). It might take me a little while to work up the first version of the list. I think I'm going to list them in alphabetical order so that there's no confusion about how to weight the list. I'm adding the list as the same kind of permanent page as the Why Bleed For It page, and the page explaining why I've included add content and mentions of the Amazon Store so that it can be easily found by new visitors and I can add titles to it as it seems necessary.

I've been compiling a list, but I'm starting to run out of ideas, so I thought I'd turn to those of you who have been reading for some more suggestions. I'm willing to bet there are some great titles that jump to your minds that are slipping mine. It's also a good chance to try and get some suggestions for great films that I haven't seen, that I could possibly do some reviews for. Anyone whose suggestion makes it to the list will get recognition for it in the entry. If this blog starts to bring in some money through advertising or the Amazon store, I'll start putting together prize packages, etc. for future projects that I solicit feedback for.  I'm also going to start doing some longer, more in depth pieces on older films, like the piece I wrote about It's a Wonderful Life. I'm working on something similar for Network, because I've seen it again recently, it's been on my mind and there was a new Blu-Ray release a few weeks ago.

I've put together a preliminary list, but it's not set in stone. There are definitely a few titles I'm trying to decide whether or not to include in the long run. I'd like to get to 75 or 100 titles before posting the initial list, and though I'm sure I'm missing some things that should be included, I've run out of ideas. So leave some suggestions in the comments section. I'll be bringing this page back up to the top of the blog on occasion until I have a list I feel confident is strong enough to post. Not to mention, I'd really like to start to get some feedback from those who are reading, whether you're a regular reader or you've just stumbled over the blog and read one review so far.

Here's the list as it currently stands (again, these are not listed in preferential order, just the order in which I've thought of them):

1. The Godfather, The Godfather 2 (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972; 1974)

2. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorcese, 1976)

3. It’s a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946)

4. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981)

5. Star Wars (Episodes 4-6) (George Lucas, 1978; Irvin Kirshner, 1980; Richard Marquand, 1980)

6. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

7. Goodfellas (Martin Scorcese, 1990)

8. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)

9. Seven Samurai (Akira Kurasawa, 1954)

10. L.A. Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997)

11.  No Country For Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)

12. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)

13. Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)

14. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)

15. Night of the Living Dead (George Romero, 1968)

16. Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999)

17. The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994)

18. Unforgiven (1992, Clint Eastwod)

19. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (Milos Forman, 1975)

20. Network (1976, Sydney Lumet)

21. 12 Angry Men (1957, Syndey Lumet)

22. Schindler’s List (Steven Spielberg, 1993)

23. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegel, 1956)

24. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)

25. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)

26. Amelie (Jean- Pierre Jeunet, 2001)

27. Amadeus (Milos Forman, 1984)

28. Full Metal Jacket (Stanley Kubrick, 1987)

29. The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)

30. The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, King Vidor, Melvin LeRoy, George Cukor, 1939)

31. The Toy Story Trilogy (John Lasseter, 1995; John Lasseter, Ash Brannon, Lee Unkrich, 1999; Lee Unkrich, 2010)

32. Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro, 2006)

33. Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927)

34. Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985)

35. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)

36. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)

37. The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)

38. Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)

39. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Sergio Leone, 1966)

40. The Silence of the Lambs (Johnathan Demme, 1991)

41. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)

42. The Hustler (Robert Rossen, 1961)

43. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron, 2006)

44. Pink Flamingos (John Waters, 1972)

45. Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
46. The Dirty Dozen (Robert Aldrich, 1967) [from Massawyrm]
47. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) [from Massawyrm]
48. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Peter Jackson, 2001, 2002, 2003) [from Massawyrm]
49. City of God (Fernando Merielles, Kátia Lund, 2002) [from Devindra Hardawar]
50. Oldboy (Chan-wook Park, 2002) [from Devindra Hardawar]