Having watched Citizen Kane for the first time last night (brilliant, BTW) I feel there is a whole generation of quite probably brilliant films that have passed me by.

As such, I am on a personal mission to fill the gaps in my knowledge and 'catch up' on watching the must see films. No criteria. New, old, horror, action, drama, romance, anything you think is very good.

Suggest away (please).

Weekend at Bernies

To Kill A Mockingbird
12 Angry Men

Au revoir les enfants
Life is beautiful (La Vita e bella)

They live

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OImKPh6N_Lw

Seriously

In no particular order - most of these are foreign and often subtitled.

Tampopo <-- the search for the perfect noodle
The Seven Samurai <-- possibly the best Japanese film
Yojimbo/For a Few Dollars More/Last Man Standing <-- same story, once as Samurai, once as spaghetti western, once as 1920 gangster...
The Lair of the White Worm <-- in memoriam, AndrewR
El Mariachi/Desperado <-- ignore 'Once upon a time in Mexico', except for the music
From Dusk till Dawn <-- even better badly dubbed into Ukrainian
They Call Me Trinity <-- worth it just for the horse riding style
The Mouse that Roared/The Mouse on the Moon <-- Sellers
Repo Man <-- from Alex Cox
Any of the Ealing Comedies
Carry on up the Khyber Pass <-- "Eeee, the soldiers in skirts!"
Carry on Cleo <-- "Infamy, infamy, they've all got it in for me!"
2001 A Space Odyssey <-- "It's full of stars..."

My brother keeps going on at me to watch 2001: a space odyssey, I'll have to rent it. My must see films would be:

Ghostbusters (first one)
the Matrix (first one)
Dead man's shoes
Paranormal activity
Scarface
Apocalypse now (my favourite film of all time)
The godfather (parts one and two, forget the third)
Goodfellas
Casino
Raging bull
Alien
Aliens
Rocky 1-4
From dusk til dawn
Pulp fiction

There's more I can't think of right now, but if there's any above you ain't seen, you're missing out IMO.

American flyers
American gangster
unbreakable
A.I
LEON
Ronin

Empire of the Sun
The Last Emperor
Witness
A World Apart
Cry Freedom
Mississippi Burning
Schindlers List

Lots of chick flicks but wouldn;t say they are good
Devil Wears Prada
and The American President are probably my 2 faves of that ilk

Reservoir Dogs.
The Big Lebowski.
Ferris Bueller's day off.
Saving Private Ryan.
Toy Story 1, 2 and 3.
Stakeout
Scooby Doo 2 (only to see Linda Cardellini in skintight PVC )

Shawshank Redemption
Heat
See no evil hear no evil

Pink Floyd - The Wall (the movie obviously)<-----in memoriam Jim Clennell

Dark Star - Sci-Fi <-------for the final scene in particular

Platoon - Vietnam war movie <-----for the music and to see why the Americans lost (same could be said of Apocalypse Now)

Trainspotting - Edinburgh-based culture <-----did wonders for Scottish tourism

In Which We Serve - WWII Royal Navy movie <-----very true to life and a good insight into what it was like

Cockleshell Heroes - WWII Royal Marines movie <-----because my late father was an extra in it

Jungle Book - animation/Disney <-----for the music, the cameos and to see why my nickname on the dancefloor was Baloo

Jacob's Ladder - post Vietnam war movie <-----the ending is not the big surprise they make it out to be but the movie is good enough to stand alone

Man in Black - biopic of Johnny Cash <-----for the acting/music/insight into his life

Classic!

Last samurai.

pinin, I watched Dead Man's Shoes after you recommended it a while back. It was good!

Lair of the White Worm - Barnacle, you nutter! Don't. just don't! One of the few films to approach The Boys in Blue (starring Cannon & Ball) in its awfulness.

A random selection spanning the years that you might have missed

Rebecca
Some Like it Hot
It's a Wonderful Life
Breakfast at Tiffanys
The Blues Brothers
French Connection
English Patient (primarily for Kristin Scott Thomas)
Constant Gardener
Juno
Kung Fu Panda & Wall-E (too good for just the kids)

One from the foreign vaults: Volere Volare
One film I liked despite wanting to hate it: Ace Ventura, Pet Detective

I could happily watch Marx Brothers, Laurel & Hardy etc. Whilst there are better overall films, I would recommend the Bohemian Girl just for the Stan Laurel drunkenness scene.

Damn, how could I have forgotten Dark Star and the Blues Brothers?

I might be wrong but i dont think a single person has mentioned a Leslie Nielson film?!

So here we go:

The Naked Gun.

Isn't that because the title of the post is films you have to see and not films you really don't want to see

How dare you

With classic lines like:

"White guy, about 6 foot 4, moustache"

"That's an awfully big moustache"

A few that I haven't seen mentioned

Planes, Trains and Automobiles <----- John Candy at his best
The Graduate <------ I keep discovering new stuff in this film
American Beauty <----- love it

The Life of Brian
Dude, Where's my car?

For me...

Back to the Future 1 and 3 ---> 2 just doesn't cut the mustard
Weekend at Bernies ---> 80s films at their best
Ferris Buelntslers day off ---> as above
Toy Story / WallE ---> Cartoons at their best
Snakes on a plane ---> you get exactly what you ask for
Anchorman --->Will Ferrrel being sexist, what more do you need
Zombieland ---> If you like Zombie films, this is a fantastic twist on them and outstanding cameo from Bill Murray
Beetlejuice ---> Just because
Burn after reading --->The Cohen Brothers, Brad Pitt, George Clooney all on form

I could go on

These Clint E Westerns stick in my mind

The Good,Bad & Ugly (the 3 way Mexican stand off
when the watch stops playing music)

High Plains Drifter (when the town gets painted
red for Hell !)

Whose?

Damn I am typing in the sun (as you do) and I can hardly see the screen

But anyway Ferris Buelsnslers day off, man its great

For me, best films:

Matrix Trilogy (I can say this now AndrewR's gone )
Fight Club (fantastic insight into the masculine psyche)
Devil's Advocate (some great Al Pacino lines)
American Beauty (just a damn good film about a guy who finally said "No" to his dull, repressed life)
Cube (a great abstract look into the human condition, but forget, Cube 2 - Hypercube it's pants and not written by Natale. Cube 0 isn't either, but its a reasonable explanation of Cube, for those that didn't get it )
The Illusionist (Great film)
Pi (interesting...)

Human Traffic - still stands as my favourite film

Midnight Run - understated De Niro classic

The Deerhunter - just make sure you set aside a hole afternoon...long film...

Ali G Indahouse - I know many will hate it, but I loved it at the time, still do (plus I was dating a girl from Maidenhead when it came out, so the tie-ins with Slough and Heathrow were even funnier to me...)

The Fast and The Furious - the orignal and best, before it got silly and Hollywoodified

The Shining - Jack Nicholson at his best

Man on fire - best Denzel Washington film. Period.

Talladega Nights - Will Ferrell and Sacha Baren Cohen; genius. flopped in America as I *think* they didn't like the mickey taking of Stock car Racing....

Full Metal Jacket - no explanation required


Sadly I've been beaten to Fight Club, but I'd definately recommend it again

A whole load of fantastic films been mentioned so far, but here's a couple of extras...

Clerks - Kevin Smith at his finest
Evil Dead Trilogy - Bruce Campbell, enough said.
City of God - Awesome
Silence of the Lambs
Withnail and I - So many unbelievably good lines!
Raiders of the Lost Ark - Why not?!
American History X

I have a feeling this list could get rather long, but Fargo, Gladiator, Stand by Me, The Great Escape, Aliens, RUn Lola Run, Amelie, Irreversible (words cannot describe how brutal this film is), etc. All must see flicks.

the business

shawshank redemption

ong bak

casino

lockstock

scarface

city of god

goodfellas

heat

rain man

topgun

dark knight

blood in blood out

american me

friday

boyz n the hood

menace to society

Have been getting into my French films recently (with subtitles...) :

- Hidden (Caché)
- Priceless (Hors de Prix)
- Code Unknown (Code Inconnu)