must-see movies since 1960

[gh]

A gallery of choices (a work in progress says the critic) suggested by the readers of the SF Chronicle.

I've only seen half of them, and can't imagine wanting to view more than a dozen of the ones I haven't.

[mcgato]

I've seen about half of them too. Here is the link if anyone is interested.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/slideshow/Mu ... to-3550129

[Friar]

There's some that get by you for whatever reason. My Fair Lady --the LP-- was probably played 500 times that year (63?) by my mother. I could mouth the words with RexH. I just saw the film last week (It wasn't bad).

Never saw The Alamo (Duke Wayne version). That was bad. The Green Leaves of Summer has become an earworm for me (the Tarantino version).

[Conor Dary]

Except for two or three, or at least all of the US ones, I have seen all of them that were made last century. And except for The Lord of Rings saga, hardly any of the the others.

[KDFINE]

("Three Days of the Condor" was listed twice.)
There are a number of well made movies on the list that I couldn't stand for one reason or another.
What, no Japanese movies?

[jeremyp]

Uh oh it starts with "Lost in Translation" and I hated that one, and then it goes to "Borat" and The Artist." Oh wait it's San Francisco...O.K. now I see some good ones. I've seen 110-115 of these, and I agree with 75% of them being great films, and I can even think of a dozen they missed.

As usual with these lists they're light on foreign movies, but if you want to get any of them on Netflix I'd recommend: The Lives Of Others....... Superb
Revanche
Cinema Paradiso.......... Sublime and a movie for and about movie lovers
Manon Of The Spring
Downfall........Hitler's last days.
After The Wedding

And if you have not seen "The Last Seduction" an American Film noire with a fantastic (and since underused) Linda Fiorentino

[KDFINE]

I prefer not to say what I've disliked because I don't want to insult anyone else's tastes, but since this is about a group list, and since jeremyp already started, I confess that I also hated "Lost in Translation." I couldn't buy into Bill Murray having been an action hero, and was bored throughout.

[mcgato]

Not intending to hijack the thread, but since two people have mentioned "Lost in Translation" I have to say that I absolutely love it. Probably watched it 15 times and am mesmerized every time. I think Bill Murray was just supposed to be a big American actor, not necessarily an action star.

And I thought Three Days of the Condor was listed twice, but didn't want to go back and check.

Though I've seen 60-some of them, I only really liked about 40-some of them. Different tastes, and all.

[jeremyp]

Except for two or three, or at least all of the US ones, I have seen all of them that were made last century. And except for The Lord of Rings saga, hardly any of the the others.

Last century? Oh the pain, oh the injury. Geezers unite!

[Marlow]

All except for two or three of the US ones, hardly any of the the others.

ditto.
I must have purely American sensibilities, because I liked almost all of the USA ones (cept most notably Lost in Translation and Borat and very few others) and didn't like or have no desire to see most of the others.

[Conor Dary]

Except for two or three, or at least all of the US ones, I have seen all of them that were made last century. And except for The Lord of Rings saga, hardly any of the the others.

Last century? Oh the pain, oh the injury. Geezers unite!

Yes, it is sad. But 2000 is when I pretty much stopped going to movies on a regular basis. The Bourne and LOR sagas are pretty much it.

Straw Dogs is an interesting choice. For a Peckinpah film I prefer The Wild Bunch by miles...the only memorable moment I can remember in Straw Dogs is when Hoffman's wife changes a plus sign to a minus, on a blackboard filled with obscure mathematical equations, out of spite. And sure enough Hoffman soon walks in and immediately notices something is wrong and changes it back. The only comical scene in the whole movie.

[tandfman]

And I thought Three Days of the Condor was listed twice, but didn't want to go back and check.

It was indeed listed twice.

[gh]

wow! as i noted in my original note, it was a "work in progress"; that means that Condor was only listed once when I first read it, and there was no Borat or Lost in Translation.

I think the count was 105 total at that point; it has obviously grown much in the telling.

[Conor Dary]

And I thought Three Days of the Condor was listed twice, but didn't want to go back and check.

It was indeed listed twice.

Maybe someone thought it was a trilogy and are still waiting for the third day to come out.

[bambam]

And I thought Three Days of the Condor was listed twice, but didn't want to go back and check.

It was indeed listed twice.

That's OK - very good, underrated movie

[Conor Dary]

Amazing The Battle of Algiers is not on the list. You might actually learn something.

[tandfman]

And I thought Three Days of the Condor was listed twice, but didn't want to go back and check.

It was indeed listed twice.

That's OK - very good, underrated movie

I remember seeing it way back when, expecting not to like it, and being pleasantly surprised.

[Conor Dary]

And I thought Three Days of the Condor was listed twice, but didn't want to go back and check.

It was indeed listed twice.

That's OK - very good, underrated movie

I remember seeing it way back when, expecting not to like it, and being pleasantly surprised.

Very good movie. Max von Sydow is wonderful as the assassin.

[jeremyp]

Amazing The Battle of Algiers is not on the list. You might actually learn something.

Especially after 9/11.
It's one of many non American exclusions. I would like to see a list of best non english language movies for english speakers.

[26mi235]

Except for two or three, or at least all of the US ones, I have seen all of them that were made last century. And except for The Lord of Rings saga, hardly any of the the others.

Last century? Oh the pain, oh the injury. Geezers unite!

Yes, it is sad. But 2000 is when I pretty much stopped going to movies on a regular basis. The Bourne and LOR sagas are pretty much it.

Straw Dogs is an interesting choice. For a Peckinpah film I prefer The Wild Bunch by miles...the only memorable moment I can remember in Straw Dogs is when Hoffman's wife changes a plus sign to a minus, on a blackboard filled with obscure mathematical equations, out of spite. And sure enough Hoffman soon walks in and immediately notices something is wrong and changes it back. The only comical scene in the whole movie.

It is a sign on gravitation, so of course he knows it has to be negative. I have cited that scene a number of times. I only saw it once, but I thought that the level of tension was ramped up continually through the film without having a bunch of big bangs/guns going off etc. So, I think that version OK.

[jhc68]

Not a bad list as such crapola goes... I agree that about 75% are very strong films. The remainder are a few I haven't seen (mostly the obligatory French productions that any Bay Area critic could not resist including) and too many Woody Allens, along with some just plain stinkers. Inglourious Basterds is one hell of a stupid movie. If I had to watch that one, Reds, JFK and My Dinner with Andre in a quadruple feature I'm pretty sure I'd lose what little is left of my mind.

One issue I have is that the picks tend to reflect "serious' flicks... that is to say, "films" rather than "movies" in Marlow's world. E.T. is included but a lot of films that might be considered light weight are left out. I'm not sure what makes a film a Must See, but if insight into American culture has any bearing then I'd want to include works like American Graffiti and Hoosiers. Also, even the comedies on the list lean to seriousness. Several fims with huge, albeit silly, social impact are absent... how many tens of millions of Americans can recite whole chunks of dialogue from movies like Airplane! or Young Frankenstein, The Princess Bride, or A Christmas Story ?

[Master Po]

I've been reading this thread, but haven't clicked into the list til today, and my first response was, "What an odd list." But I think it's the nature of such things -- they are always idiosyncratic and really personal. For me, such lists are most interesting for finding movies I've never seen, or even heard of, in some cases. Doesn't mean I'll like them, but more to look at and think about. I prefer such lists when they come from a specific person -- especially someone I know -- because it's a way of understanding that person's view of this form of art and entertainment.

Two observations about this list:

1. Following jhc68, this list and almost all others like it inevitably devalues comedies and "light" romances. Granted, there are a few on here, but as jhc68 notes -- and as I'm sure any of us could add -- there are great, great comedies that mean as much to us as any serious movies. They almost always get set aside, I suppose in the wake of the interest on the part of film writers and scholars in the mid-20th century (+/-) in advancing this medium as a form of art. That it is, and comedies are some of its best expressions. Oh well.

2. Not one movie here from any of the Asian film cultures -- nothing from India, Japan, China/Taiwan, South Korea, etc. Amazing. I could easily make a list of a few dozen from those cultures that ought to be on any "global" list. Again, oh well.

[Marlow]

Inglourious Basterds is one hell of a stupid movie.

Could not agree more. I have a growing list of people I refuse to see anything associated with:

Quentin Tarantino
Woody Allen
Sacha Baron Cohen
Adam Sandler
Tyler Perry
Wes Anderson
Terrence Malick

[preston]

They they just don't like Tom Hanks, because Forest Gump, Green Mile and Cast Away always seem to get the underrepresented to me. Add in Star Wars? Harry Met Sally?
Alien(s)? Matrix? Braveheart? Avatar? Born on the 4th of July? nor Platoon? Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind? Tin Men? (Dreyfus gets no love from the list?) Once Upon a Time in America?

Like Master Po says, it's just a window into the minds of the people who compile the lists.

[aaronk]

As you know, I have extensive lists of movies rated for each individual year, or groups of 2 years, posted here in another thread.
The following titles are NOT all #1's from my lists.
These are just GREAT and MEMORABLE movies from those years.
Also, not all years are represented!!

1961...Homicidal
1964...The T.A.M.I. Show
1964...Woman in the Dunes
1966...Tokyo Olympiad (lots of track!!)
1968...Coogan's Bluff
1970...Let It Be
1972...Play It Again, Sam
1972...The Man (about 1st black President!!)
1974...Claudine
1976...Mother, Jugs, and Speed
1978...Renaldo and Clara (rare Dylan flick--4 hours long!!)
1983...Without a Trace
1983...The Day After
1983...Lianna (about lesbian love)
1984...Something About Amelia (Ted Danson a child molester??)
1986...The Deliberate Stranger (Mark Harmon IS Ted Bundy!!!)
1988...The Christmas Wife (beautiful movie!!)
1989...Uncle Buck
1991...La Belle Noiseuse (Emannuelle Beart nude most of movie!!)
1993...12:01 (fun sci-fi flick!)
1995...Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud
1995...MTV Unplugged: Bob Dylan ("Dignity" LIVE!!!!)
1996...Everything Relative (The Big Chill, lesbian-style!!)
2002...Rabbit-Proof Fence
2003...Prey for Rock and Roll
2004...Antares (graphic sex)
2008...W. (surprisingly GREAT flick!!)
2010...Catfish

[bambam]

One epic movie not mentioned that I loved was Once Upon a Time in America. Great cast - DeNiro, James Woods, Tuesday Weld, Joe Pesci, Treat Williams

[preston]

One epic movie not mentioned that I loved was Once Upon a Time in America. Great cast - DeNiro, James Woods, Tuesday Weld, Joe Pesci, Treat Williams

I completely agree with you, which is why I included it in my list

... Once Upon a Time in America?

[jhc68]

Well, I would never categorize the TAMI Show as a great movie but I would certainly say that James Brown's segment performing Please, Please, Please ought to be required viewing/listening for anyone who wants to understand American pop culture. Maybe the greatest act in Rock and Roll history, and he did the same thing almost nightly for years...