Important Movies

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - How epic Hollywood films should be done in this age.

Mystic River - Likely would've won Best Picture any other year. One of Eastwood's best and great performances all around.

Lost in Translation - Really strong film debut for Sofia Coppola. So good it almost makes us forget her performance in "The Godfather Part III", almost.

Elephant - Stirring and effective.

Oldboy - I don't love the film, but its influence is undeniable. Often imitated, but rarely emulated. And Spike Lee is a bum for remaking it.

1. Big Fish
2. Finding Nemo
3. Brother Bear
4. Kill Bill Volume One
5. X2: X-Men United
6. Final Destination 2
7. Darkness Falls
8. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
9. Charlies Angels: Full Throttle
10. The Jungle Book 2

The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Oldboy
Finding Nemo
The Room

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Oldboy
Finding Nemo
Lost In Translation

I never knew Ian was so anti-Mystic River.

That distinction belongs to Blown Away

Really?

I like how you pick one almost arbitrary point of my post and use it to totally dismiss the rest of it. I literally listed half a dozen films and a videogame that are indebted to Mystic River. They're all very similarly themed crime dramas, the borrowed setting is just a detail emphasizing that it was Mystic River specifically that these films were inspired by. It also ushered in the final great stretch of Eastwood's career and that period deserves representation. Million Dollar Baby and Letters from Iwo Jima was out, so it's gotta be this. Hate the movie all you want, it IS important

I've never seen the film so I can't really comment, but what I will say is that I disagree with everything Ian is saying as a matter of principle.

I'm not a huge fan of The Room, but you have to consider the amount of midnight showings, live-screenings where people brought their own spoons (and other household memorabilia), and huge cult following that it has earned over time. Just because its not highbrow entertainment should not preclude its entry into the CS pantheon. If you doubt its popularity or influential nature, then by all means, check out the Wiki page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Room_(film)#Other_media

I'm also not sure if I "get" why Elephant should be included. Because it won the Palme d'Or? Or it supposedly influenced a similar act of high school violence? Because of the subject matter? I don't see how or why those are reasons. By that token, you could make an argument that every topical film is culturally relevant. 

BTW--Mystic River should be included based on the unintentionally hilarious "oh my god" scream. Personally, I've always found the movie to be hopelessly cynical.

I think you're diminishing The Room's "importance". Unsurprisingly. What you're saying is highly reductive and a little insulting, honestly, considering that most people like The Room to some degree, if not mostly ironically. Like the Troma movies, it is based on your ability to laugh at film as a medium. "Cult nonsense" isn't always a bad thing, unless you believe cinema is to be oh-so-serious all the time. You could make the argument that most "cult" movies have the same kind of audience, but it doesn't necessarily make them the same, nor does it make them "less important" because it's become a common midnight movie. Didn't we already establish one other movie in the same way?

I also contributed a link exemplifying the influential nature of the movie with several examples of what it has inspired. On the other hand, I haven't seen much of anything to promote Elephant, aside from a very weak argument promoting it as some kind of stylistic jumping-off point for Gus Van Sant. However, a case could be made for Mystic River. There have been a multitude of Boston-based movies since then. Even then, there are other movies that have featured Boston just as prominently (and well before), almost as a character unto itself; e.g. The Friends of Eddie Coyle. 

For the record, I'm not championing The Room. I personally have nothing invested in this, nor do I care enough to "lobby" for it. I am merely showing that it's not nearly as ridiculous as it might seem. Also, representative is not "influential" or important. Putting a film in the list simply because its "stylistically representative" of a director's style sounds superficial. No one is walking around talking about how they were "deeply" influenced by Elephant. If nothing else, most directors would prefer the striking independence of Mala Noche. In that case, you could make an argument for Paranoid Park being "influential" too. That one is highly indicative of Van Sant's style, right?