The IMDB top 250 is here. I should think it doesn’t change very quickly, but this snapshot from the list was taken today (28/10/2008). Green I’ve seen, Blue I specifically want to watch at some point, Red I’ve got on DVD but haven’t gotten around to watching, Black I won’t not watch them.
- The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
- The Godfather (1972)
- The Godfather: Part II (1974)
- The Dark Knight (2008)
- Buono, il brutto, il cattivo., Il (1966)
- Pulp Fiction (1994)
- Schindler’s List (1993)
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
- Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- 12 Angry Men (1957)
- Casablanca (1942)
- Star Wars (1977)
- Shichinin no samurai (1954)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
- Goodfellas (1990)
- Rear Window (1954)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
- Cidade de Deus (2002)
- C’era una volta il West (1968)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
- The Usual Suspects (1995)
- Psycho (1960)
- Fight Club (1999)
- The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
- Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
- North by Northwest (1959)
- Sunset Blvd. (1950)
- Memento (2000)
- Citizen Kane (1941)
- The Matrix (1999)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
- WALL·E (2008)
- It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
- Se7en (1995)
- Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
- Apocalypse Now (1979)
- Léon (1994)
- Taxi Driver (1976)
- American Beauty (1999)
- American History X (1998)
- Vertigo (1958)
- Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain, Le (2001)
- Paths of Glory (1957)
- M (1931)
- The Departed (2006)
- Forrest Gump (1994)
- To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
- A Clockwork Orange (1971)
- Alien (1979)
- Chinatown (1974)
- The Third Man (1949)
- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
- Leben der Anderen, Das (2006)
- Double Indemnity (1944)
- The Shining (1980)
- The Pianist (2002)
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
- Saving Private Ryan (1998)
- Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
- Laberinto del fauno, El (2006)
- Requiem for a Dream (2000)
- L.A. Confidential (1997)
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
- Aliens (1986)
- The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
- Boot, Das (1981)
- Reservoir Dogs (1992)
- The Maltese Falcon (1941)
- Raging Bull (1980)
- Rashômon (1950)
- Metropolis (1927)
- City Lights (1931)
- Untergang, Der (2004)
- Modern Times (1936)
- All About Eve (1950)
- Rebecca (1940)
- Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
- Some Like It Hot (1959)
- Amadeus (1984)
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
- The Prestige (2006)
- No Country for Old Men (2007)
- Vita è bella, La (1997)
- The Elephant Man (1980)
- Sin City (2005)
- The Great Escape (1963)
- Nuovo cinema Paradiso (1988)
- Sjunde inseglet, Det (1957)
- Hotel Rwanda (2004)
- The Apartment (1960)
- Full Metal Jacket (1987)
- On the Waterfront (1954)
- The Sting (1973)
- Touch of Evil (1958)
- Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
- Batman Begins (2005)
- The Great Dictator (1940)
- Jaws (1975)
- There Will Be Blood (2007)
- Braveheart (1995)
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
- Back to the Future (1985)
- Blade Runner (1982)
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
- Ladri di biciclette (1948)
- Strangers on a Train (1951)
- The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
- Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
- Notorious (1946)
- Unforgiven (1992)
- High Noon (1952)
- Fargo (1996)
- The Big Sleep (1946)
- Oldboy (2003)
- The Green Mile (1999)
- Cool Hand Luke (1967)
- The Wizard of Oz (1939)
- Per qualche dollaro in più (1965)
- Gladiator (2000)
- Yojimbo (1961)
- Ran (1985)
- Mononoke-hime (1997)
- Die Hard (1988)
- Donnie Darko (2001)
- Salaire de la peur, Le (1953)
- Annie Hall (1977)
- Smultronstället (1957)
- Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
- It Happened One Night (1934)
- The Deer Hunter (1978)
- The Sixth Sense (1999)
- Into the Wild (2007)
- Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
- The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
- Heat (1995)
- Platoon (1986)
- Ben-Hur (1959)
- The General (1927)
- Million Dollar Baby (2004)
- Notti di Cabiria, Le (1957)
- Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
- Life of Brian (1979)
- Ratatouille (2007)
- Diaboliques, Les (1955)
- Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
- The Killing (1956)
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
- Amores perros (2000)
- The Big Lebowski (1998)
- 8½ (1963)
- Finding Nemo (2003)
- Brief Encounter (1945)
- The Graduate (1967)
- The Night of the Hunter (1955)
- Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
- Stand by Me (1986)
- The Wild Bunch (1969)
- V for Vendetta (2005)
- Snatch. (2000)
- Gandhi (1982)
- The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
- The Incredibles (2004)
- The Princess Bride (1987)
- Battaglia di Algeri, La (1966)
- Trainspotting (1996)
- Gone with the Wind (1939)
- Children of Men (2006)
- The Gold Rush (1925)
- The Thing (1982)
- Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
- Scarface (1983)
- Harvey (1950)
- Groundhog Day (1993)
- Toy Story (1995)
- Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
- The Lion King (1994)
- Sleuth (1972)
- The Terminator (1984)
- The African Queen (1951)
- The Hustler (1961)
- Umberto D. (1952)
- Twelve Monkeys (1995)
- The Conversation (1974)
- Crash (2004/I)
- The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
- The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
- Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
- Duck Soup (1933)
- The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
- Hotaru no haka (1988)
- King Kong (1933)
- Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
- Belle et la bête, La (1946)
- The Lady Vanishes (1938)
- Ed Wood (1994)
- Wo hu cang long (2000)
- Scaphandre et le papillon, Le (2007)
- Casino (1995)
- Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922)
- The Exorcist (1973)
- Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
- Patton (1970)
- Stalag 17 (1953)
- Dial M for Murder (1954)
- The Kid (1921)
- The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
- Glory (1989)
- Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
- Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
- The Lost Weekend (1945)
- A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
- All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
- Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
- Rope (1948)
- Magnolia (1999)
- Frankenstein (1931)
- Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
- Spartacus (1960)
- In the Heat of the Night (1967)
- Big Fish (2003)
- Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
- The Philadelphia Story (1940)
- Manhattan (1979)
- Roman Holiday (1953)
- His Girl Friday (1940)
- Network (1976)
- Iron Man (2008)
- Mystic River (2003)
- Strada, La (1954)
- Cabinet des Dr. Caligari., Das (1920)
- The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
- Mou gaan dou (2002)
- Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
- Stalker (1979)
- Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
- In Bruges (2008)
- Rocky (1976)
- Young Frankenstein (1974)
- Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
- Himmel über Berlin, Der (1987)
- Barry Lyndon (1975)
- Dolce vita, La (1960)
- The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
- Planet of the Apes (1968)
- The Searchers (1956)
- Great Expectations (1946)
- Hauru no ugoku shiro (2004)
- Doctor Zhivago (1965)
For whatever reason, your “want to sees” are the most interesting bit of this. I can’t help but share my opinions.
First, Shawshank. It’s not usually my kind of movie, but it’s incredible. It’s this gut-wrenching, thought-provoking thing that I unfortunately watched with my Grandparents when I was a teen. That was a little aaaawkward! But not the most awkward of situations in my life.
The Departed – when you watch it, remember that Leo and Matt are different people. Or for fun, pretend they are the same person and try to make sense out of the movie, like I did. (only it wasn’t me pretending, it was me being dumb, way past the point where I should have realized I was confused.)
I totally liked The Prestige. It was unexpectedly and gratifyingly weird.
I loved the dry humor of Fargo. And the ridiculous absurdity of it, kind of like Pulp Fiction in that way.
I know everyone loves it, but I’d skip The Big Lebowski and instead watch The Graduate.
IMO, The Incredibles is an absolute must-see. Something for everyone, a totally cute and funny and light movie. It doesn’t matter what mood you’re in, you’ll like this one.
And you haven’t seen the Sixth Sense? I loved seeing it, although I guess it’s not as fun if you know how it goes. But I will very highly recommend seeing “Unbreakable.” It’s really great. A++++, would watch again.
I look at that list every now and again and as I watch a lot of films (I’m still averaging three each week so LoveFilm can’t be making a great deal of money out of me) I’m always quite please to see that I’ve watched nearly all of the first 100 and a substatial portion of the top 250.
There are some films I’d never rank up there (Cassablanca, T2, Rebecca) and the list shows the Anglo Saxon/Western bias by having very few Chinese and Japanese films in it (why aren’t some of the Studio Ghibli films up there). The fact that T2 is ranked higher than Aliens is just crazy.
The other thing that disappointed me was that The Dark Knight jumped straight in there at number four following its release. (I think it initially went in at number two, but dropped back a bit.) It was carried there on a wave of popular sentiment, aided by the death of Heath Ledger. Wall-E also made it quite high up the list and again I was left thinking it’s a very good film, but not that good (compare it to ‘The Place Promised In Our Early Days’ (my current best film) and it looks rather shallow).
I can’t believe you’ve not watched Se7en, 12 Angry Men, Schindler’s List (much like ‘The Green Mile’ I avoided this film for years thinking it wouldn’t be that good and I was very wrong), LA Confidential or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. As you’ve got the DVD for Usual Suspects, watch that – it’s bloomin’ brilliant.