Q&A: Movie watching time!?

Question by Bouncin^^Cupcake: Movie watching time!?
I have less than a month of school vacation left.. and I haven’t made my official to watch list..
Well..I was struggling for weeks.. and in the end i made something in that area.. but it was mostly cartoons.. I am disappointed that I haven’t watched the most important movies yet.. and the end of the summer is almost here..

I was wondering if you guys could help me a little by giving me an advice.. I would like to learn more about the art of movie making.. and how the movies came to be.. But I still do not feel that passionate about it.. So I was thinking I should watch the most important old movies.. both American and European .. something like.. Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf or Gone with the Wind or Casablanca and movies like those by Pedro Almodovar.. As I don’t know any other european directors.. (which is really pathetic 🙁 )

For a deeper understanding.. I just need to become more familiar with the oldies.. I feel I have no respect for the old films as all I concentrate on are the contemporary ones.. Do you also know good sites with lists of such movies?

Thank you in advance, Yahoo folks. (:

Best answer:

Answer by jwill602
Start by looking on youtube for some old Melies films, they’re usually 3-10 minutes (A Trip to The Moon is especially great). He’s essentially the first “director.” Then find The Great Train Robbery, it’s one of the first movies with a close-up and that violated the idea of having a constant time line (following one character or group through a series of actions).

Then you can move onto some of the silent classics like The Passion of Joan of Arc or Birth of a Nation (I haven’t seen either, unfortunately, but they’re on my list). If you like horror/thrillers, check out The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, it was important in the German Expressionist film movement. Then go on to films like Hitchcock’s ” The Lodger.” The Man Who Laughs has some elements of horror as well, and is quite interesting (and I believe it was one of those pre-code films with nudity, which actually makes it a little more important… I can’t remember, but I’m pretty sure this is the one I’m thinking of with nudity, just a short shot of a butt though). Nosferatu is pretty important as well.
As for early comedies, check out Lloyd’s Safety Last and Chaplin’s City Lights.
Also, Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin (1925), a USSR propaganda film, but the first to use the extreme close-up. The Odessa Steps sequence is quite well-known.

Now, on to sound films:
The Jazz Singer (1927) essentially created the idea of “talkies,” or films with sound.
M (1933), the Fritz Lang film, is quite important and influential (it also launched Peter Lorre).
Reefer Madness (1936), just for a feel of those propaganda-filled films of the ’30s.
Wizard of Oz (1939) is the first film filmed predominantly in color (earlier films had been all in color, but only through tinting or hand painting).
Citizen Kane (1941, Orson Welles’ first full length film as a director and often referred to as one of the greatest films of all time)
Casablanca (1942, one of the most quoted films of all time).
Beauty and the Beast (1946) a great fantasy from Jean Cocteau that’s relatively important. Although it doesn’t really belong with all these classics, you asked for foreign films, so here’s a great one.
Bicycle Thieves (1948, sometimes “Bicycle Thief,” but “Ladri di Biciclete” is the original title.), A great neo-realist film from Vittoria De Sica.
The Third Man (1949), an important film noir classic, with Orson Welles (not the director).

In the 50s, Hitchcock came to the peak of his career artistically and commercially, but I won’t list all those great films, check them out here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000033/

The 50s also marked the beginning of the French New-Wave movement, watch The 400 Blows (1959, Francois Truffaut’s most well-known film) and just choose some Goddard film; it’s up to you: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000419/ (I liked Vivre Se Vie, from ’62).
Also, Bergman began directing (Wild Strawberries and The Seventh Seal, both ’57, will get you started on him).

I’m getting tired of typing all this, so here’s a list of other essential films:
On The Waterfront (’54, with Brando)
Paths Of Glory (’57, one of Kubrick’s best)
Some Like It Hot (’59, hilarious film)
Seven Samurai (1954, one Kurosawa’s finest… He’s a great director)
8 1/2 (1963, one of Fellini’s best, an Italian classic)
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1966)
Rosemary’s Baby (’68, one of Polanski’s best)

I could keep going (I did skimp a little on that list), but you probably know most of the 70s-present stuff.
If you want more foreign stuff, I recommend Bernardo Bertolucci (La Commare Seca-’62, Last Tango in Paris-’73, and 1900-’75 or around there) and Bergman (aforemention films, plus Virgin Spring-’60).
Another important film, as far as censorship is concerned, is I Am Curious (Yellow) (’68, I believe) and its ‘partner’ film I Am Curious (Blue) (the following year).

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!