A lot of great movies listed here. Instead of repeating any, I thought I'd add these that weren't mentioned yet, with my one sentence review:

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (The evil of authority generally, but perfectly personified by Nurse Ratchett).
Being There (We walk blindly among miracles)
The Shining (The face of insanity)
A Beautiful Mind (Awareness of confusion)
American Beauty (Suburban existentialism)
The Matrix (Not overrated and stupid Cartesianism, but but it made the point well)
The Secretary (a sideways love story of true devotion)
Blue Velvet (fuckupedness on steroids)
Bananas (a potpourri of 1960s quirky ridiculousness)
Airplane (cartoonish characters who evoke no sense of humanity in an absurd reality)

Aaaargh! I keep being reminded of ones I should have put on my list. Here's some books that were the basis of movies that are good:

• Little Big Man - Berger. Should have been on my movie list
• Last Picture Show, Lonesome Dove - McMurtry is a great writer
• Elmore Leonard - All his books are great. Some of his movies stink. My favorite adaptation is the TV show Justified.
• Princess Bride - Goldman. Even more ironic and funnier than the movie.
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People - Le Carre
• In Cold Blood - Capote
• Billy Bathgate - Doctorow
• Manhunter - Harris. This is the original Hannibal Lecter movie made in the 80s with Brian Cox as Lecter. The book is Red Dragon. The movie Red Dragon was a remake.
• The Martian - Weir.
• The Name of the Rose - Eco
• Smilla's Sense of Snow - Hoeg
• Starship Troopers - Heinlein - Good dumb movie. Good dumb book.
• Stardust - Gaiman

Good to hear from you Tim.

The Little Thief of Baghdad (1940) — tim wood

Never even heard of this one. :up:

Airplane (cartoonish characters who evoke no sense of humanity in an absurd reality) — Hanover

Yes!! Stardust, too.
Also:
Nightmare Before Christmas
The Dark Crystal
Caveman
Bicentennial Man
Orlando

American Beauty — Hanover

Conrad Hall’s cinematography alone puts it up there. Another one I forgot.

Aaaargh! I keep being reminded of ones I should have put on my list. — T Clark

Me too…should have done the top 25. Just too many good ones.

Forrest Gump.
Closeaup
Firestarter
ET
Brief Encounter
Jesus Christ Superstar


Yes, 25 is closer.

There will be blood.
2001...
Blade Runner
Paths of Glory
The Shining

Anything with Jack Nicholson.

Oh, oh oh !
As Good as It Gets
Coccoon
... and never thought I'd say this...
Men in Black

I’m glad at least a few people are including fun ones like Star Wars and Men in Black. I love those. I still love Disney movies too, frankly. Some of Don Bluths were great.

I’m surprised no one threw in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. That movie was my world as a child.

Some Jolly good British films to do you all good!

Mike Leigh films:
Mr Turner.
Happy-go-Lucky.
Vera Drake.

Ken Loach films:
Cathy Come Home.
I, Daniel Blake.
Kes.

Other films wot I like:
The Bedsitting-room.
Educating Rita.
Shirley Valentine.
Passport to Pimlico
Kind Hearts and Coronets
The Railway Children.
Trainspotting.

Edit: Dennis Potter films ( well more series really):
The Singing Detective.
Cold Lazarus.
Pennies from Heaven.

Righto!
I have seen half of that list. I better get to work on the rest.

Shirley Valentine. — unenlightened

One of my all-time favourites. Love Pauline Collins. Did you see the series Upstairs Downstairs? The girl was incandescent. Plus, it was cool to see Joanna Lumley, one of the British documentary presenters I like, in an acting role.
Kind Hearts and Coronets
What fun!
The Railway Children.
Excellent!

A Walk in the Clouds
The Aviator
State Fair

In no particular order:

The French Connection: Hackman at his superb best
Lawrence Of Arabia: Epic
In Bruge: Brilliant casting and script
Snatch: A breath of fresh air
Godfather I and II: A masterpiece
Casablanca: Classic scene after scene
The Deer Hunter: I'd watch it every day.
No Country For Old Men: The Cohens' best (and so true to the book)
Pulp Fiction: Not a wasted minute.
Unforgiven: Thanks, Clint...

Honourable mentions:

Fargo
The Deer Hunter
Airplane
Goodfellas
Saving Private Ryan
Se7en
Spinal Tap
Brokeback Mountain
Chinatown
The Big Lebowski

Forrest Gump. — Vera Mont

Another great one. Even despite the cringey parts.

Unforgiven — Bradskii

That’s been mentioned a few times. I like that movie, but I’ve never understood exactly why so many people think it’s so great. I feel I’m missing something.

The grapes of Wrath — universeness

Here’s another unpopular opinion of mine. I’ll have to watch it again, but I remember hating this one. I think it’s because I had just read the book.

Good luck finding some of these on streaming services. Jesus…

Good luck finding some of these on streaming services. Jesus… — Mikie

I tried a couple. You Tube wants to charge me rent for Doctor Strangelove and Being There. So does Amazon Prime.

Even despite the cringey parts. — Mikie

?? I didn't cringe once. Now I'm curious.

? I didn't cringe once. Now I'm curious. — Vera Mont

Some of it is just too silly I guess.

No order (and subject to change)

Seven Samurai (1954) - Kurosawa
Harakiri (1962) - Kobayashi
Alice in the Cities (1974) - Wenders
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) - Dreyer
Satantango (1994) - Tarr
Apur Sansar (1959) - Ray
The Weeping Meadow (2004) - Angelopoulos
L'Eclisse (1962) - Antonioni
Late Spring (1949) - Ozu
Dersu Uzala - (1985) - Kurosawa

Some of the above could rotate with (but not limited to) the below:

Ran (1985) - Kurosawa
Spirit of the Beehive (1973) - Erice
Cleo from 5-7 (1962) - Varda
Landscape in the Mist (1988) - Angelopoulos
The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978) - Olmi

Some of it is just too silly I guess. — Mikie

Oh, now I'm really curious. Wondering whether it's a generational gap in communication.
The coincidences might have seemed silly, but I thought they were necessary to bring all the historical and cultural references into a coherent story.

Another film I recommend of him is Good Morning (お早よう, Ohayō). — javi2541997

Love Good Morning. His silent film,I Was Born, But... which is loose remake, is also excellent.

Anything by Bergman is good, and Seventh Seal is certainly up there — but for me, Persona may be his greatest. — Mikie

(I'll check out Persona which I've never seen.) — 180 Proof

Persona is my favorite Bergman :up:

Educating Rita. — unenlightened

Yes. Made me realize I'd left out Michael Caine:
The Man Who Would be King
Educating Rita
Billion Dollar Brain
Hannah and Her Sisters
Noises Off

Goodfellas — Bradskii

Should have been on my list.

Chinatown — Bradskii

Great movie. The only movie with Jack Nicholson I really like.

No Country For Old Men — Bradskii

Hated the book so much I wouldn't watch the movie.

Ex Machina — 180 Proof

Disturbing movies - Really like them. Really never want to watch them again.
Ex Machina
On the Beach
Manhunter - Pre-Anthony Hopkins Hannibal Lecter
Let the Right One In - Swedish version. Wikipedia calls it a "romantic horror movie." Well...no... calling it romantic is like saying Psycho is a movie about plumbing. Also - they're like 12 years old.
Miracle Mile - Really believable and scary movie with Anthony Edwards. Now this is a romantic horror movie. Also had Tasha Yar from Star Trek the Next Generation.
Crimes and Misdemeanors

A Thousand Clowns — Joshs

I forgot about his. A really good movie. Not like anything else I've ever seen with Jason Robards.

How about some musicals
The Bandwagon
Cabaret
The Wizard of Oz
An American in Paris
Singing in the Rain

There are "great films" and there are Films we like the most. They may not be the same.

Low Brow Comedy Favorites

The Meaning of Life
High Anxiety
Twelve Chairs (Brooks)
The Producers
Pink Flamingos
Priscilla Queen of the Desert

Midbrow Comedy Favorites

What about Bob
Bob Carol, Ted, and Alice
Play It Again Same
Throw Mama Off the Train
Annie Hall
Love and Death (Allen)
Wizard of Oz

highbrow film

Midnight Cowboy
Casablanca
The Graduate
Annie Hall
Fanny and Alexander (Bergman)
Godfather
The Last Detail
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest
The Last Winter (Film Board of Canada)
The Boys in the Band
The Seventh Seal
Koyaanisqatsi
Dr Strangelove
On the Beach
Z (With its dark view of Greek politics and its downbeat ending, the film captures the director's outrage about the junta that then ruled Greece
Brokeback Mountain
Notorious
Dim Sum: A Piece of Heart (Wayne Wang)
Gone With the Wind

Australian

Breaker Morant
A Town Like Alice
Gallipoli
`
And a few dozen others.

Forgot "Cabaret"

As there are good lists, I would add perhaps

- One movie from Charlie Chaplin: Perhaps City Lights or Goldrush, The Kid, the Great Dictator...


- Thin Red Line (a great poetic war film from Terrence Malick)


- Heat (a great Al Pacino and Robert de Niro faceoff, likely best film from Michael Mann)

No Country For Old Men
— Bradskii
Hated the book so much I wouldn't watch the movie. — T Clark

I read the book last week. It was like reading the script. Hardly anything was changed and even some of the dialogue was verbatim. The film played out in my mind as I read it. Now reading anotherof Cormac's books - Blood Meridian.

And damn, I Jjust remembered The Thin Red Line. Has to be top ten.

And damn, I Jjust remembered The Thin Red Line. Has to be top ten. — Bradskii

:up:

A great reminder that film is art.

Films like 'the grapes of wrath' are films I return to, to remind me of what's important in life.
How about:
Inherit the wind
Mississippi Burning
Hoffa
Malcolm X

Chinatown
— Bradskii
Great movie. The only movie with Jack Nicholson I really like. — T Clark

Agree. I generally find his performances mannered and appalling. Post 1980 this was probably Kubrick's fault.

Films like 'the grapes of wrath' are films I return to, to remind me of what's important in life. — universeness

I don't enjoy 'noble' message films. And recent era cinema with overstated movie scores, swimming in clichés are really off putting. I prefer to see something visually inventive, with a focus on milieu and plots generally don't interest me much. Character does and sometimes dialogue. Clever production design can take your breath away and make something highly watchable.

10 chosen at random


In the Mood for Love
Sunset Boulevard
Psycho
Sweet Smell of Success
F for Fake
The Trial
The Third Man
Brazil
Walkabout
Leon

In the Mood for Love — Tom Storm

A masterpiece :up: :sparkle: