Essential Films

Here are my essential films. It's somewhere between my favourite films and a list of films that must been seen. It's in alphabetical order and I was originally aiming for the 50 mark however there are too many good films so the current count is 70. The main table is generated from EssentialFilmsRaw with http://www.stewarts.org.uk/stuff/getimdb.py

Title

Year

IMDB Rating

Genres

Director

Cast

2001: A Space Odyssey

1968

8.4

Adventure, Sci-Fi

Stanley Kubrick

Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood

A Fistful of Dollars

1964

8.0

Action, Western

Sergio Leone

Clint Eastwood, Marianne Koch

A Good Year

2006

6.8

Comedy, Drama, Romance

Ridley Scott

Freddie Highmore, Albert Finney

Airplane!

1980

7.8

Comedy, Romance

Jim Abrahams

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lloyd Bridges

Aliens

1986

8.5

Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller

James Cameron

Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn

Amélie

2001

8.5

Comedy, Fantasy, Romance

Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz

Apollo 13

1995

7.5

Adventure, Drama, History

Ron Howard

Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton

Back to the Future

1985

8.4

Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi

Robert Zemeckis

Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd

Blade

1998

7.0

Action, Fantasy, Horror

Stephen Norrington

Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson

Blade Runner

1982

8.3

Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Ridley Scott

Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer

Blazing Saddles

1974

7.7

Comedy, Western

Mel Brooks

Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder

Catch Me If You Can

2002

7.8

Biography, Comedy, Crime, Drama

Steven Spielberg

Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks

Clerks.

1994

7.9

Comedy

Kevin Smith

Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson

Dirty Harry

1971

7.8

Action, Crime, Thriller

Don Siegel

Clint Eastwood, Andrew Robinson

Dr. No

1962

7.3

Action, Adventure, Thriller

Terence Young

Sean Connery, Ursula Andress

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

1964

8.6

Comedy, Drama

Stanley Kubrick

Peter Sellers, George C. Scott

Erin Brockovich

2000

7.2

Biography, Drama, Romance

Steven Soderbergh

Julia Roberts, David Brisbin

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

1986

7.9

Comedy, Drama

John Hughes

Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck

For a Few Dollars More

1965

8.3

Action, Western

Sergio Leone

Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef

Forrest Gump

1994

8.7

Comedy, Drama, Romance

Robert Zemeckis

Tom Hanks, Rebecca Williams

From Russia with Love

1963

7.5

Action, Adventure, Thriller

Terence Young

Sean Connery, Daniela Bianchi

Full Metal Jacket

1987

8.4

Drama, War

Stanley Kubrick

Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin

Garden State

2004

7.8

Comedy, Drama, Romance

Zach Braff

Zach Braff, Kenneth Graymez

Goldfinger

1964

7.9

Action, Crime, Thriller

Guy Hamilton

Sean Connery, Honor Blackman

Gone with the Wind

1939

8.2

Drama, Romance, War

Victor Fleming

Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil

Good Will Hunting

1997

8.1

Drama

Gus Van Sant

Matt Damon, Robin Williams

Ice Cold in Alex

1958

7.8

Adventure, War, Drama

J. Lee Thompson

John Mills, Sylvia Syms

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

1989

8.3

Action, Adventure

Steven Spielberg

Harrison Ford, Sean Connery

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

1984

7.5

Action, Adventure

Steven Spielberg

Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw

Jaws

1975

8.2

Thriller

Steven Spielberg

Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw

Jurassic Park

1993

7.9

Adventure, Sci-Fi

Steven Spielberg

Sam Neill, Laura Dern

Just Like Heaven

2005

6.7

Comedy, Fantasy, Romance

Mark Waters

Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo

Lawrence of Arabia

1962

8.5

Adventure, Biography, Drama, History, War

David Lean

Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness

Little Miss Sunshine

2006

8.0

Adventure, Comedy, Drama

Jonathan Dayton

Abigail Breslin, Greg Kinnear

North by Northwest

1959

8.6

Adventure, Mystery, Romance, Thriller

Alfred Hitchcock

Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint

Notting Hill

1999

6.9

Comedy, Romance

Roger Michell

Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant

Once Upon a Time in the West

1968

8.8

Western

Sergio Leone

Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale

Paint Your Wagon

1969

6.5

Comedy, Musical, Romance, Western

Joshua Logan

Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood

Pan's Labyrinth

2006

8.4

Drama, Fantasy, War

Guillermo del Toro

Ivana Baquero, Sergi López

Papillon

1973

8.0

Biography, Crime, Drama

Franklin J. Schaffner

Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

1987

7.5

Comedy, Drama

John Hughes

Steve Martin, John Candy

Play Misty for Me

1971

7.0

Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller

Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter

Pulp Fiction

1994

9.0

Crime, Thriller

Quentin Tarantino

John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson

Raiders of the Lost Ark

1981

8.7

Action, Adventure

Steven Spielberg

Harrison Ford, Karen Allen

Requiem for a Dream

2000

8.5

Drama

Darren Aronofsky

Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto

Ringu

1998

7.3

Horror, Mystery

Hideo Nakata

Nanako Matsushima, Miki Nakatani

Romeo + Juliet

1996

6.8

Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller

Baz Luhrmann

Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes

Saving Private Ryan

1998

8.5

Action, Drama, History, War

Steven Spielberg

Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore

Schindler's List

1993

8.9

Biography, Drama, History, War

Steven Spielberg

Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley

Snatch.

2000

8.3

Crime, Thriller

Guy Ritchie

Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Farina

Spirited Away

2001

8.6

Animation, Adventure, Family, Fantasy

Hayao Miyazaki

Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino

Taken

2008

7.9

Action, Crime, Thriller

Pierre Morel

Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace

The Big Lebowski

1998

8.2

Comedy, Crime

Joel Coen

Jeff Bridges, John Goodman

The Big Lebowski

1998

8.2

Comedy, Crime

Joel Coen

Jeff Bridges, John Goodman

The Blues Brothers

1980

7.9

Action, Comedy, Music, Musical

John Landis

John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd

The Breakfast Club

1985

7.9

Comedy, Drama

John Hughes

Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason

The Godfather

1972

9.2

Crime, Drama

Francis Ford Coppola

Marlon Brando, Al Pacino

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

1966

9.0

Adventure, Western

Sergio Leone

Eli Wallach, Clint Eastwood

The Great Escape

1963

8.3

Adventure, Drama, History, War

John Sturges

Steve McQueen, James Garner

The Matrix

1999

8.7

Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Andy Wachowski

Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne

The Pianist

2002

8.5

Biography, Drama, History, War

Roman Polanski

Adrien Brody, Emilia Fox

The Shawshank Redemption

1994

9.2

Crime, Drama

Frank Darabont

Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman

The Shining

1980

8.5

Drama, Horror

Stanley Kubrick

Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall

The Silence of the Lambs

1991

8.7

Thriller

Jonathan Demme

Jodie Foster, Scott Glenn

The Wicker Man

1973

7.7

Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Robin Hardy

Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee

Three Colors: Blue

1993

7.9

Drama, Music, Mystery, Romance

Krzysztof Kieslowski

Juliette Binoche, Benoît Régent

Trainspotting

1996

8.2

Crime, Drama

Danny Boyle

Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner

Uncle Buck

1989

6.7

Comedy, Drama, Family

John Hughes

John Candy, Jean Louisa Kelly

Walk the Line

2005

7.9

Biography, Drama, Music, Romance

James Mangold

Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon

Where Eagles Dare

1968

7.7

Action, Adventure, Drama, War

Brian G. Hutton

Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood

Century

Count

1990

19

2000

14

1980

14

1960

13

1970

7

1950

2

1930

1

Genre

Count

Drama

34

Comedy

21

Adventure

19

Action

16

Thriller

15

Romance

15

Crime

14

War

10

Biography

7

Western

6

Sci-Fi

6

History

6

Fantasy

5

Mystery

4

Horror

4

Music

3

Musical

2

Family

2

Animation

1

Director

Count

Steven Spielberg

8

Sergio Leone

4

Stanley Kubrick

4

John Hughes

4

Robert Zemeckis

2

Terence Young

2

Ridley Scott

2

Joel Coen

2

Actor

Count

Clint Eastwood

7

Sean Connery

5

Benito Stefanelli

4

Aldo Sambrell

4

Antonio Molino Rojo

4

Lorenzo Robledo

4

Tom Hanks

4

Harrison Ford

4

Frank Braña

4

Nikki Van der Zyl

3

Philip Stone

3

Steven Spielberg

3

Bob Simmons

3

Pat Roach

3

Ricardo Palacios

3

Nazzareno Natale

3

Lois Maxwell

3

Irene Olga López

3

Bernard Lee

3

Vivian Kubrick

3

David Huddleston

3

Ted Grossman

3

Richard Farnsworth

3

Christian Clemenson

3

Anthony Chinn

3

John Candy

3

Steve Buscemi

3

Mario Brega

3

TomsWeb: EssentialFilms (last edited 2011-12-10 07:40:45 by ThomasStewart)