Modern Classic Movies Everyone Needs To Watch In Their Lifetime

[mayfair70]

"Fargo"

Oh yes. "I need unguent!"

Liked Donnie Darko, but consider it a stretch for number one. Great effects, weird story, Drew Barrymore saying "cellar door." The list is lacking. Documentaries are another category and Grizzly by Herzog is much better than what is listed. Though, now I want to see the Indonesian genocide one.

Serenity was a darn fine movie. No Country For Old Men, Byzantium, Only Lovers Left Alive, Lord Of The Rings trilogy (how soon we forget what a feat this was), Hot Tub Time Machine, Incident At Loch Ness, Guardians Of The Galaxy... tons of stuff as good. List? List? I don't need no stinkin' list! 8)

 

[mso489]

It's likely a generational perspective, but to me, anything in color with sound is in the modern film era, including intentionally made in black-and-white films.
B&W or color, including "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe," "Gone With the Wind," "The Wizard of Oz," "True Grit" (the one with John Wayne), and "Letters From Iwo Jima."
But there are so many.

 

[sablebrush52]

Well, as with everything else, one man's meat is another's poison. Many on that list of 20 were OK, but not great, some, like Inglourious Basterds, were self indulgent crap. None of them, except the Pixar stuff, come up to the exalted standard of Guardians Of The Galaxy, Galaxy Quest, Finding Neverland, Million Dollar Baby, Hereafter, The Aristocrats, Inside Out, Despicable Me (etc), Kubo And The Two Strings, Super, Fargo, or any of hundreds of other films made in the 2000's.

 

[mso489]

The first James Bond film with Sean Connery, Dr. No in 1962. , was perfection. Action packed, limited special effects, deft acting, immaculate wit, even ending with a promise that there would be more. The endless sequels ran from excellent to poor, but the first one was the real James Bond film.

 

[oldreddog]

Mayfair plus one on Grizzly.

I was going to say Only lovers left alive but I thought it's was way too current!

Given the non existent criteria I'd say Mystery Train.

 

[cossackjack]

Life of Pi

Cinematically rich (yeah, yeah - mostly CGI), & philosophical. It has a beautiful soundtrack, especially Pi's Lullaby.
The Boy in the Striped Pajama's

Tragic inhumanity as experienced by 2 young boys. It made my otherwise stoic adult son cry.
NO movies by Michael Moore should ever be considered classics. They are Schlockumentaries, at best.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

I will say that they got it right putting Wall-E on the list.

Lots of sci-fi references and the aesthetic of the movie is entirely unique.
We may as well put Captain America: Civil War on the list of "Modern Greats", though to get the full impact you kind of have to watch five or six other movies before it, or at the very least Winter Soldier and Age of Ultron.

Really it should just be said that Marvel has accomplished something never done before in keeping reasonable continuity between so many characters over so many films and anyone interested in comic books should watch just about everything Marvel/Disney has put out, but the conclusion in Civil War really put a punctuation mark on the Avengers storyline specifically relating to people from Earth.
I'm not sure if it really belongs on the list but especially people who are fans of Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy need to watch the first season of The Walking Dead. I still call him "Blue Merle".

 

[ssjones]

I'm not a huge Wes Anderson fan, but we thought "Moonrise Kingdom" was really well done.(and probably not an easy feat to get that star-studded cast to work together)

 

[oldreddog]

Moonrise Kingdom was fantastic.

When the poor dog was killed and the girl asked the boy was he a good dog the boy answered, who's to say. I was thinking that's existentialism in action.

 

[reverendsasquatch]

crap "documentaries" like "Supersize Me" and "Bowling for Columbine"? Come on. They've already not held up. What about Pan's Labyrinth? Amazing film.

 

[mayfair70]

Yeah, the whole Marvel Comics universe franchise is fantastic, cinematically speaking. Glad Reverend brought up Pan's Labrinth. Guillermo del Toro has done some really cool stuff. Pacific Rim is always entertaining and a great film.
@sablebrush- +1 Galaxy Quest and Pixar in general.
I'd say we are living in a Golden Age for entertainment and I'm realizing how many movies I have to catch up on before I die. I still haven't seen Million Dollar Baby!
I'm glad this thread got started. Thanks Nate!! :worship:

 

[thomasw]

Classic means to me something having stood the test of time or that it will. To know that those films will be deemed as such is beyond me. The only one on that list I think will be one is No Country For Old Men. Will it be a classic in the same way a great Tarkovsky film or Akira Kurosawa film are classics ... time will tell. But that particular list was lame....

 

[josephcross]

Love Darko, wins best use of a Tears for Fears song in a movie!

 

[buster]

Not sure if this fits in the modern classic movie genre but it's in color. Papillon staring Steve McQueen is epic.

 

[davet]

The latest True Grit. I usually don't like remakes but this one is great.

 

[jpmcwjr]

There is no movie made in this century or the previous one that one has to see.
One I recommend folks here not see is "LaLa Land". I was a good sport when I saw it with my sweetheart.

 

[maguffin]

I genuinely prefer older classics over newer ones. However, The Dark Knight and True Grit are two modern movies that are genuinely great!

 

[dottiewarden]

Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) with Uma Thurman

Monster (2003) with Charlize Theron

 

[warren]

The Last of the Mohicans The Wallace Beery version.
Most of you youngsters won't like it, silent, black and white with wonderful cinematography. No computer generated stuff, just great work.

 

[ssjones]

We watched "Hell or High Water" a few week ago,it is easily the best film I saw in 2016. The soundtrack is also excellent.
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hell_or_high_water/
This scene is terrific

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJdHxwW0EZE