Movies: The Essentials (vote here) (1 Viewer)

[David Dennison]

Action/Adventure

The African Queen

Apollo 13

Ben-Hur

Die Hard

Fellowship of the Ring

Lawrence of Arabia

Lethal Weapon

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Spartacus

Top Gun

Children

Babe

Beauty & the Beast

The Lion King

The Little Mermaid

The Parent Trap (1961)

Pinocchio

Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs

Toy Story 2

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

The Wizard of Oz

Comedy

Annie Hall

The Apartment

Arsenic & Old Lace

Dr. Strangelove

Groundhog Day

It Happened One Night

Monty Python & the Holy Grail

The Princess Bride

Some Like It Hot

The Sting

Drama

Casablanca

Fargo

The Godfather

Gone With the Wind

It's A Wonderful Life

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Pulp Fiction

Rocky

The Shawshank Redemption

To Kill A Mockingbird

Horror

Alien

Aliens

The Birds

Halloween

Jaws

Jurassic Park

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Psycho (1960)

Rosemary's Baby

The Shining

Musical

Fantasia

Fiddler On The Roof

Going My Way

Grease

Moulin Rouge

My Fair Lady

Singin' in the Rain

The Sound of Music

West Side Story

Yankee Doodle Dandy

Mystery

Double Indemnity

In the Heat of the Night

The Lady Vanishes

The Maltese Falcon

North By Northwest

Rear Window

Rebecca

Silence of the Lambs

The Third Man

Vertigo

Science Fiction

The Abyss

Back to the Future

E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial

The Empire Strikes Back

The Matrix

Star Trek 2: The Wrath Of Khan

Star Wars

The Terminator

12 Monkeys

2001: A Space Odyssey

Western

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Dances With Wolves

High Noon

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

My Darling Clementine

The Searchers

Stagecoach

Tombstone

Unforgiven

The Wild Bunch

Silent

Birth of a Nation

City Lights

The Gold Rush

Modern Times

Anime

Foreign Language

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Das Boot

Life is Beautiful

Run Lola Run

Seven Samarai

Documentary

Hoop Dreams

Roger & Me

War

All Quiet on the Western Front

Black Hawk Down

Braveheart

The Bridge on the River Kwai

The Deer Hunter

Glory

The Great Escape

Platoon

Saving Private Ryan

Schindler's List

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

Action/Adventure

The Adventures of Robin Hood

Desperado

Die Hard

Enter the Dragon

Leon: The Professional

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Reservoir Dogs

The Rock

Towering Inferno

True Lies

Children

A Bug's Life

Chicken Run

Freaky Friday

Iron Giant

Peter Pan

Shrek

Toy Story

Toy Story 2

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

The Wizard of Oz

Comedy

Airplane!

Better Off Dead...

Blazing Saddles

The Blues Brothers

Chasing Amy

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Monty Python & the Holy Grail

Naked Gun

National Lampoon's Vacation

The Producers

Drama

Citizen Kane

Fight Club

The Godfather

The Godfather, Part 2

Goodfellas

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Pulp Fiction

Raging Bull

Requiem for a Dream

Taxi Driver

Horror

Dawn of the Dead

Deep Red

Evil Dead

Evil Dead 2

Halloween

Night of the Living Dead

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Phenomena (1985)

Suspiria

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Musical

Grease

Hair

A Hard Day's Night

Hedwig & the Angry Inch

Help!

Jesus Christ Superstar

Moulin Rouge

Singin' in the Rain

West Side Story

Yellow Submarine

Mystery

Chinatown

The Conversation

The Maltese Falcon

Memento

North By Northwest

Rear Window

Seven

Strangers on a Train

The Usual Suspects

Vertigo

Science Fiction

Brazil

A Clockwork Orange

Cube

Dark City

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Donnie Darko

The Empire Strikes Back

Gattaca

Planet of the Apes (1968)

2001: A Space Odyssey

Western

A Fistful of Dollars

For a Few Dollars More

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

High Noon

The Magnificent Seven

Once Upon a Time in the West

Rio Grande

Shane

Tombstone

The Wild Bunch

Silent

Battleship Potemkin

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

City Lights

The General

The Gold Rush

Greed

Metropolis

Modern Times

Nosferatu

Anime

Akira

Ghost in the Shell

Kiki's Delivery Service

My Neighbor Totoro

Princess Mononoke

Foreign Language

Battle Royale

The Bicycle Thief

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Das Boot

Life is Beautiful

The Princess & the Warrior

Rashomon

Run Lola Run

Seven Samarai

Wings of Desire

Documentary

American Movie

The Big One (1997)

Celluloid Closet

Crumb

Gimme Shelter

Hoop Dreams

Roger & Me

U2: Rattle and Hum

When We Were Kings

Woodstock

War

All Quiet on the Western Front

Apocalypse Now

The Deer Hunter

The Dirty Dozen

Patton

Platoon

Schindler's List

The Thin Red Line

Tora! Tora! Tora!

Twelve O'Clock High

 

[MatthewA]

Action/Adventure
King Kong
Lawrence of Arabia
Children
Aladdin
Bambi
Beauty & the Beast
Bedknobs & Broomsticks
Chicken Run
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Cinderella
Dumbo
The Jungle Book (1967)
Lady & the Tramp
The Lion King
The Little Mermaid
Pete's Dragon (whose soundtrack comes to CD for the first time on April 16!!!!!!)
Pinocchio
Shrek
Sleeping Beauty
Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs
Toy Story
Toy Story 2
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
The Wizard of Oz
Comedy
Airplane!
Annie Hall
Blazing Saddles
Bob Roberts
Dr. Strangelove
Eating Raoul
Female Trouble
Groundhog Day
The Jerk
The Man With Two Brains
Monty Python & the Holy Grail
Naked Gun
National Lampoon's Vacation
Pink Flamingos
The Producers
Serial Mom
Some Like It Hot
Victor/Victoria
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Young Frankenstein
Drama
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Casablanca
Citizen Kane
Doctor Zhivago
The Godfather
The Godfather, Part 2
Gone With the Wind
The Manchurian Candidate
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Taxi Driver
To Kill A Mockingbird
12 Angry Men
Horror
Psycho (1960)
Musical
Cabaret
Fantasia
Fiddler On The Roof
Funny Girl
Grease
Hairspray (not sure if this counts, as all music except title song was pre-existing)
The King & I (1956)
Meet Me In St. Louis
The Music Man
My Fair Lady
Oklahoma!
Singin' in the Rain
The Sound of Music
South Pacific
A Star is Born (1954)
State Fair (1945)
West Side Story
Yellow Submarine
Mystery
Chinatown
The Maltese Falcon
North By Northwest
Rear Window
Science Fiction
Brazil
A Clockwork Orange
E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (non-CGI version)
Forbidden Planet
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
2001: A Space Odyssey
Western
-I have not seen a single film on this list-
Silent
Birth of a Nation
Anime
-not seen any of these-
Foreign Language
8 1/2
Autumn Sonata
Cries and Whispers
Fanny & Alexander
M
The Seventh Seal
Z
Documentary
The Beatles Anthology
The Civil War
Triumph of the Will (in spite of its ideology)
War
Apocalypse Now
MASH
Patton

 

[george kaplan]

Today will be the last day for casting votes. I'll be figuring results later and posting them either tonight or tomorrow.

 

[Brook K]

Action/Adventure
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Ben-Hur
Enter the Dragon
King Kong
Lawrence of Arabia
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Road Warrior
Spartacus
Children
Babe
Bambi
Cinderella
Dumbo
Iron Giant
Lady & the Tramp
The Little Mermaid
Mary Poppins
Pinocchio
Sleeping Beauty
Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs
Swiss Family Robinson
Toy Story
Toy Story 2
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
The Wizard of Oz
Comedy
Annie Hall
The Apartment
The Big Lebowski
Blazing Saddles
Dr. Strangelove
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
His Girl Friday
It Happened One Night
The Jerk
Monty Python & the Holy Grail
Raising Arizona
Some Like It Hot
Sullivan's Travels
To Be or Not To Be (1942)
Drama
Casablanca
Citizen Kane
Do the Right Thing
Fargo
The Godfather
The Godfather, Part 2
It's A Wonderful Life
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Raging Bull
Sweet Hereafter
Taxi Driver
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
12 Angry Men
Horror
The Birds
The Bride of Frankenstein
Dawn of the Dead
The Exorcist
Jaws
Night of the Living Dead
The Omen
Psycho (1960)
Rosemary's Baby
The Shining
Suspiria
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Musical
Fantasia
42nd Street
Grease
A Hard Day's Night
Meet Me In St. Louis
The Music Man
My Fair Lady
Singin' in the Rain
The Sound of Music
Top Hat
West Side Story
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Mystery
Chinatown
Double Indemnity
The Maltese Falcon
North By Northwest
Notorious
Rear Window
Rebecca
The Third Man
Vertigo
Science Fiction
A Clockwork Orange
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Stalker
Star Trek 2: The Wrath Of Khan
Star Wars
2001: A Space Odyssey
Western
For a Few Dollars More
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
High Noon
My Darling Clementine
The Searchers
Shane
Unforgiven
The Wild Bunch
Silent
Battleship Potemkin
Birth of a Nation
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
The General
The Gold Rush
Metropolis
Modern Times
Nosferatu
The Passion of Joan of Arc
The Phantom of the Opera
Sherlock Jr.
The Wind (1928)
Anime
Akira
Grave of the Fireflies
Kiki's Delivery Service
Laputa (Castle in the Sky)
My Neighbor Totoro
Princess Mononoke
Foreign Language
8 1/2
Aguirre: The Wrath of God
Andrei Rublev
Berlin Alexanderplatz
The Blue Angel
Children of Paradise
Das Boot
Ikiru
M
Rashomon
Seven Samarai
The Seventh Seal
Speaking of Bunuel
Ugetsu Monogatari
Yojimbo
Documentary
Baseball
The Civil War
The Compleat Beatles
Gimme Shelter
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
Hoop Dreams
Triumph of the Will
When We Were Kings
War
All Quiet on the Western Front
Apocalypse Now
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Deer Hunter
Glory
Mr. Roberts
Paths of Glory

 

[george kaplan]

Voting is now complete. I will compile the results and post them back here later.

 

[george kaplan]

OK, here's the results.
The goal was to identify the Essential 10 in each genre. You'll notice that most of them have more than 10. That's because of tie votes, and while I could certainly narrow them down to 10, someone would no doubt have complained about some of my choices. Also, in Anime there are less than 10. I basically only listed those that actually got votes.
So, without further ado:
Action/Adventure
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Ben-Hur
Die Hard
Lawrence of Arabia
The African Queen
Spartacus
King Kong
Goldfinger
Fellowship of the Ring
The Road Warrior
Dr. No
The Adventures of Robin Hood
The Rock
The French Connection
Deliverance
Children
Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs
The Wizard of Oz
Pinocchio
Toy Story
Beauty & the Beast
Toy Story 2
Dumbo
The Lion King
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Bambi
The Jungle Book (1967)
The Little Mermaid
Mary Poppins
Lady & the Tramp
Comedy
Dr. Strangelove
Some Like It Hot
Monty Python & the Holy Grail
Annie Hall
The Apartment
Blazing Saddles
Duck Soup
Young Frankenstein
Arsenic & Old Lace
It Happened One Night
Airplane!
Drama
Casablanca
Citizen Kane
The Godfather
The Godfather, Part 2
Taxi Driver
It's A Wonderful Life
To Kill A Mockingbird
Raging Bull
Gone With the Wind
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Goodfellas
Fargo
Horror
Psycho (1960)
Jaws
The Exorcist
Halloween
Night of the Living Dead
The Birds
Rosemary's Baby
Alien
Frankenstein
Dawn of the Dead
The Shining
Aliens
Musical
Singin' in the Rain
A Hard Day's Night
The Sound of Music
Grease
My Fair Lady
West Side Story
Fantasia
Meet Me In St. Louis
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Fiddler On The Roof
Yellow Submarine
Top Hat
The Music Man
Moulin Rouge
Cabaret
42nd Street
Mystery
Rear Window
North By Northwest
The Maltese Falcon
Vertigo
Chinatown
Double Indemnity
The Third Man
Notorious
Silence of the Lambs
The 39 Steps
The Lady Vanishes
Rebecca
The Conversation
The Usual Suspects
Science Fiction
2001: A Space Odyssey
Star Wars
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
A Clockwork Orange
The Empire Strikes Back
E.T.: TheE xtra Terrestrial
Back to the Future
TheT erminator
Blade Runner
Brazil
Forbidden Planet
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Star Trek 2: The Wrath Of Khan
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Western
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
High Noon
Unforgiven
The Wild Bunch
The Searchers
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Magnificent Seven
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Dances With Wolves
Shane
Silent
Modern Times
Metropolis
The Gold Rush
City Lights
The General
Nosferatu
The Passion of Joan of Arc
Birth of a Nation
Battleship Potemkin
Sherlock Jr.
Greed
Anime
Akira
Princess Mononoke
Kiki's Delivery Service
Grave of the Fireflies
My Neighbor Totoro
Ghosti n the Shell
Laputa (Castlein the Sky)
Vampire Hunter D
Foreign Language
Seven Samarai
M
8 1/2
The Seventh Seal
Das Boot
The Bicycle Thief
Grand Illusion
Rashomon
Life is Beautiful
Ikiru
Documentary
Roger & Me
The Civil War
Hoop Dreams
Gimme Shelter
Woodstock
Baseball
Crumb
Hearts of Darkness: AFilmmaker's Apocalypse
When We Were Kings
The Beatles Anthology
The Last Waltz
Triumph of the Will
American Movie
War
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Patton
MASH
Schindler's List
All Quiet on the Western Front
Apocalypse Now
Glory
Saving Private Ryan
Platoon
Paths of Glory

 

[MatthewA]

Okay, now that these films are officially the "essentials," does that mean we are no longer allowed to dislike anything about them or complain about the unforgivable omissions?

 

[george kaplan]

Okay, now that these films are officially the "essentials," does that mean we are no longer allowed to dislike anything about them or complain about the unforgivable omissions?

Of course not. I certainly don't think of these as the best films of these genres. I do agree that it's essential to be familiar with these particular films if you consider yourself knowledgable about a particular genre. But I certainly despise some of these films, and will easily say so. Most of these films are in my collection, but they're not what I'd consider the 10 Essentials for being in my collection. I don't like Cabaret, but I wouldn't consider myself knowledgable about musicals if I hadn't seen it.

I haven't seen some of the anime. And I don't consider myself very knowledgable at all about that genre.

 

[DanaA]

This was one heck of a creative idea for a poll. Now, when are we going to get the music one...or were there too few votes. Anyway, thanks. I know this one took a lot of work tallying up the final results.

 

[DanaA]

One question: Are you sure the Documentary The Civil War didn't make it to the final list? I counted it as having more votes than some on the list - Baseball, American Movie, and Triumph of the Will for example.

 

[george kaplan]

Are you sure the Documentary The Civil War didn't make it to the final list?

I'll have to double-check. I simply cut and pasted all the votes into excel and then had excel count the number of votes each film got. Certainly if people modified the name, or if for some other reason excel missed some votes, then the outcome could be different. It appears to be working, but perhaps there's a bug somewhere. I'll get back to you on it a bit later.

 

[george kaplan]

OK, I found out the problem. I had my list in excel. I copied the master list to HTF. Then I copied the votes back to excel. Apparently on a very small number of titles there were trailing blanks (which couldn't be seen) that didn't transfer to or from HTF, and so those cells didn't get counted. Although it's only a handful of movies, some are quite popular (like the Civil War). Hence, I will be putting up a replacement list.

I've actually already done the new list (which is mostly the same, but with some significant differences), but I probably won't post it for a while. I want to double-check and make sure there's nothing else odd going on.

 

[DanaA]

Thanks George

 

[george kaplan]

OK, the new lists should be correct. Sorry for any confusion. I apologize to any who lost their faves due to this. For example, both M and the Bicycle Thief were two that had been missed, now taking off both Children of Paradise (which I don't think is essential) and Diabolique (which I definitely do).

 

[Patrick McCart]

I waited too long to post my lists, but I think this is the closest I've seen to a great "essentials" list.