Important Movies

Not. At. ALL. You're acting as if Eastwood followed Unforgiven with Mystic River. Have you SEEN what he directed in-between? A Perfect World. The Bridges of Madison County. Absolute Power. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. True Crime. Space Cowboys. Blood Work. Those are CLASSICS? I don't think so. Eastwood peaked in the 1970's. He got lucky with Unforgiven. And he had a bit of critical resurgence in the 2000's. That's it.



A Few Good Men.

"I WANT THE TRUTH."
"YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!"

A League of Their Own.

"There's no crying in baseball."

I'm having trouble picking a dog in this fight.

Neverending probably does have a point about Unforgiven and I'm not really all that sure how influential Malcolm X is either, but I haven't really heard a single alternative that would be worth dropping either over.

I don't think any movie should get through simply because it has a single oft-quoted line, and if we are going to that standard Glengarry "Always be closing" Glen Ross would be a better candidate than either Few Good Men or League of Their Own.

I hear what Neverending is saying about Batman Returns, but also agree with Ian that Batman (1989) is probably the movie that really deserves all the credit for most of that stuff and not the poorly received sequel. Then again, the same could sort of be said about Hard Boiled given that John Woo's style was really established in A Better Tomorrow and The Killer. Then again, unlike Batman Returns, Hard Boiled is largely seen as the perfection of a style rather than as the failed follow-up.

I haven't seen Singles and generally feel like it has had a lot more influence over music than over movies, and even there it's kind of a footnote.

As for El Mariachi... meh. Bringing Robert Rodriguez to prominence is not that much of an accomplishment given his general flameout, otherwise it's more famous for the way it was made than for anything in the actual movie.

So, I guess where I stand at the moment is:

Unforgiven
Malcolm X
Reservoir Dogs
Hard Boiled
Glengarry Glen Ross?

It's the only movie I can think of that gets shown on television during every Black History Month. It may not have influenced other movies, no Black-themed movie ever will in the United States, but it has made an impact among audiences.



Let's put it this way: A Few Good Men put Aaron Sorkin on the map and is PROBABLY the first Hollywood movie to challenge "the culture" of the United States military. And, A League of Their Own is a respectable feminist movie. Both are more important than, say, SINGLES.



Batman is the same as Superman. Both put big-budget superhero movies on the map. Superman did it for light-hearted movies, which is now the Marvel STUDIOS brand, and Batman did for dark/serious movies which is everyone else. Batman Returns, however, was the first superhero movie to take risks that weren't solely about money. Batman Returns may seem silly NOW, but for 1992, it was shocking because everyone thought of superhero movies as entertainment for young people. And also, Batman Returns wasn't "poorly received". It has 81% at Rotten Tomatoes. Granted, that's mostly contemporary reviews, BUT it shows that today's viewers appreciate the movie. And the IMDb rating is 7/10 which is very respectable as well. And at the time, Batman Returns was the most successful movie of the summer and the 3rd highest grossing movie of 1992 behind Aladdin and Home Alone 2. What happened with Batman Returns is that it pissed off soccer moms and Warner Bros got scared so that let to whole Joel Schumacher nonsense. And even then... Batman Forever WAS successful in 1995.



Most of the acclaim for Hard Boiled comes from America. In China, it's considered the weakest of John Woo's "classic" movies. Although that could be because Woo left China after Hard Boiled and spent over a decade in America doing stupid movies. So the Chinese might have personal reasons for hating on the movie.



Spoken like a true critic. People who actually make movies are VERY influenced by El Mariachi. Every filmmaker who made their debut in the last 15 years has credited El Mariachi as inspiring. Everyone from Kevin Smith to Christopher Nolan.

Dedicated to my friend, thebtskink.

Donnie Darko
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Memento (if it counts)
Shrek

OTHER OPTIONS
Amelie
The Devil's Backbone
Ghost World
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Monsters, Inc
Spirited Away (if it counts)
Training Day
Y Tu Mama Tambien (if it counts)


and of course, Freddy Got Fingered

Damn. Memento is a good one. Add that to my list. I dont think Primer happens without that movie.

I hate and love Amelie at the same time. Looking cute should not make you a protagonist, and doesn't make you a good actor.

Not really. Y Tu Mama Tambien is just the first time that American audiences paid attention to a Latino movie. It's like last year with that French lesbian movie.



Yes. The Royal Tenenbaums got a limited release in December 2001 for awards consideration. We already had a similar debate with Snow White.

Fixed.

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Excellent start to one of the best film trilogies of all time.

2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: I don't think the first film holds up all that much, but it got the ball rolling for an extremely popular film franchise as well as ushering in the era of the young adult movie.

3. Shrek: Launched a massive franchise and put Dreamworks animation on the map.

4. The Royal Tenenbaums: It's basically the ultimate Wes Anderson movie. He's in total control of his style and mixes comedy and pathos perfectly. Anderson is one of the most important filmmakers of his era, and no film captures him better.

5. Memento: Though it may be stylistically removed from some of his later works, this is the film that introduced the world to the talents of Christopher Nolan. It may not have influenced too many subsequent films, but as the years go by the film is held in higher and higher esteem. At this point it's considered one of the strongest films of the decade.

Honourable Mentions

Donnie Darko: This definitely has a huge cult audience and I did strongly consider it, but the fact that all of Richard Kelly's subsequent films have been failures hurt its chances.

Y Tu Mama Tambien: Great film and a huge triumph for Alfonso Cuaron, but it hasn't quite had the necessary impact to make it in the list.

Ocean's Eleven: Fun movie and a great cast, but it's not quite there.

Black Hawk Down: Ridley Scott's execution is excellent, but the film doesn't have the substance to really resonate.

Gosford Park: The last relevant film from the great Robert Altman.

Mulholland Dr.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Amélie
Amores Perros (If it counts. It had its U.S. release in 2001)

I wouldn't mind that but I don't think that's been the case for a few film's already included in other lists.