I've actually been meaning to make this thread for a while. I love films, and as such spend a fairly obscene amount of my spare time watching them. Some of them are good, even, and I like to recommend them to others. Feel free to do the same, or discuss anything relating to movies. I'm going to break my list down by genre, and if the title of the film is clickable, it will link you to the trailer on youtube (sometimes trailers are worth their weight in gold...other times not so much, so I'm only going to bother if the trailer is Enj-approved).

Four Films That You Need To See Before You Die Or Else You're Probably a Bad Person
Partly because they're classics, partly because they shaped cinematic history, and mostly because they're just amazing works that stand the test of time.

Nosferatu (1922): The oldest surviving (complete) vampire movie, with vampires the way they should be. Illegally adapted from Bram Stoker's Dracula. They tried to side-step copyright laws by changing up a few names and facts, but Stoker's heirs still sued, so it's actually kind of amazing that it has survived when so many other early monster movies have been lost and/or destroyed, but thank God it has survived.

The Great Dictator (1940): Charlie Chaplain's first talkie, basically satirising Hitler and the Nazi Party, in which a Jewish barber switches places with the real dictator. Chaplain later said that if he'd known the scope of the atrocities being committed by the Germans during World War II at the time, he wouldn't have made the film (I presume because making fun of tragedies is generally considered tasteless when you're making fun of them while they're actually happening), but I think thespeech at the end, which is easily one of the best in the history of cinema in both writing and performance, justifies any butthurt 1940's sensibilities.

Dr. Strangelove (1964): Now that I think about it, Dr. Strangelove is basically the 1960's answer to The Great Dictator. Where Dictator pokes fun at Nazis, Strangelove pokes fun at the paranoia of a nuclear attack, and just like Dictator, it manages to tackle themes that are still very relevant today. Plus it's Stanley Kubrick at his best.

Psycho (1960): Basically the single most defining serial killer/slasher film, and in my opinion some of the best work of both Alfred Hitchcock and Anthony Perkins, who manages to make Norman Bates both disturbing and attractive in a really psychotic sort of way (or maybe that's just because Anthony Perkins was a ridiculously attractive man). If you're a fan of horror movies and you haven't seen this, you fail.



Independent/"Arthouse" Films
These certainly aren't for everyone, but if you look for Sundance or Cannes seals of approval, try some of these on for size.

Sitcom: The first full-length film of one of my favourite directors, Francois Ozon, and in my opinion, probably his best, and I apologise that the trailer isn't subtitled. A seemingly normal upper middle-class family starts falling to pieces after the father brings home a lab rat from his work to keep as a pet. The son becomes flamboyantly homosexual, the sister is constantly trying to kill herself, the mother starts having incestuous dreams about her son, and all the while the father remains in firm denial that there is anything wrong. It's also pretty hilarious if your sense of humour is twisted enough. Think along the same lines as American Beauty, only French, and twice as screwed up.

The Fall: Set in the early 20th century, a recently crippled Hollywood stuntman meets a little Romanian girl in hospital, and starts telling her an elaborate adventure story (which we see through her imagination) as a ploy to get her to steal a bottle of morphine from the hospital dispensary so he can kill himself. It's by and far the most visually stunning film I've ever seen, and is an homage to cinematic history. Very artsy-fartsy, but definitely worth watching. And by the way, I have no clue why the MPAA gave this film an R rating. Aside from the slightly heavy subject matter, it's pretty "family-friendly"; my eight-year-old nephew was actually the person who first told me about it, and my sister (his mum) is a much better judge of what is and isn't appropriate for children than I am. I mean, most of the film is from a child's perspective anyway, that's part of what makes the film so original and magical.

Plunkett and Macleane Wasn't quite sure where to list this since it's kind of all over the place genre-wise, but due to its quirkiness, I'm putting it here. Maclneane is upper-class by birth, but penniless due to his excessive drinking and gambling. Plunkett is a sharp-minded apothecary who turned to theft after he lost his shop. After a chance meeting while attempting to rob the same grave, the two team up, trying to get enough money for passage to America. Macleane attends parties of the very rich, finds out who is worth robbing and the route they'll be taking home, then he and Plunkett rob them. There's a deliciously evil villain, a pretty girl, explosions, and Alan Cumming. It's not especially deep or profound, but it's just a really fun, quirky sort of action/adventure film that has solid acting, interesting characters, and doesn't take itself too seriously.

Let the Right One In: A little boy makes friends with a girl close to his own age who recently moved into his building. Oh, and she's a vampire. This is one of those movies that sounds like it would be really lame conceptually, but is executed so well that it's a really excellent film. I guess this film started to get quite a fanbase, and apparently there now exists an American re-make (the original 2008 film is Swedish) which I haven't seen, so I can't speak for the quality of the re-make, but the original is awesome, even if you're like me and really hate what most people have been doing to the concept of vampires since Anne Rice and whoever wrote Twilight came on the scene. Even if you hate the whole concept of vampires, modern or otherwise, I think you'd still probably enjoy Let the Right One In.






....I totally thought that I'd either have more time or that this list wouldn't take so long (I got kinda sidetracked on youtube while getting the trailer links; my bad). I have to go, but I'll edit this post over the next few days and hopefully end up with a comprehensive list of films I deem worthy of existing. In the mean time, feel free to share your own lists, or post about anything else vaguely relevant.