Introduction
Over the decades, I have watched a lot of movies. Many of them have been late at night, some in theaters, and many with friends and family. I have particular types of movie that I tend to like: the odd and the laughably bad. I also prefer science fiction and fantasy, some film noir, and I am not a fan of musicals.
I have put these lists together to keep track of what I've seen and to share with friends and family who might also like some of these. As a secondary use, I hope people will send me the names of movies I don't have listed -- if I haven't seen them, I will add them to the "to watch" list for a rainy day!
Only some of these are available via YouTube,Tubi, Pluto, etc. Be sure to check dates to get the right movie. Some titles have been reused but the underlying films may be very different.
Suggestions for additions and edits are welcome: <movies@spaf.us>. I won't promise I will add every suggestion, as I want to keep to my (somewhat skewed) aesthetic, but I will consider all suggestions!
Mostly Classic
These are movies that I believe form the shared vocabulary of cinema —the ones people reference, quote, parody, and build on, whether they realize it or not. Some are masterpieces. Some are here because of their cultural impact rather than their quality. All of them are worth seeing at least once. The list started from one of the American Film Institute's 100 Greatest Movies lists but has grown well beyond it as I have watched more movies over the years.
Note that this is such a varied list that at least a few will definitely be outside the interest zone for some viewers. Heck, there are many on this list you couldn't get me to watch again! However, I intend for this to be comprehensive. (I believe I have seen all but about 4 of these as of 2026, and those are on my "to watch" list.)
- 12 Angry Men (1957)
- 12 Years a Slave (2013)
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
- A Clockwork Orange (1971)
- A Place in The Sun (1951)
- A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
- Alien (1979)
- Aliens (1986)
- All About Eve (1950)
- All Quiet on The Western Front (1930)
- Amadeus (1984)
- American Graffiti (1973)
- An American in Paris (1951)
- Annie Hall (1977)
- Apocalypse Now (1979)
- Back to the Future (1985)
- Being There (1979)
- Ben-Hur (1959)
- Blade Runner (1982)
- Blazing Saddles (1974)
- Body Heat (1981)
- Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
- Bringing Up Baby (1938)
- Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (1969)
- Casablanca (1942)
- Chinatown (1974)
- Cinema Paradiso (1988)
- Citizen Kane (1941)
- City of God (2002)
- City Lights (1931)
- Close Encounters of The Third Kind (1977)
- Cool Hand Luke (1967)
- Dances With Wolves (1990)
- Das Boot (1981)
- Do the Right Thing (1989)
- Doctor Zhivago (1965)
- Double Indemnity (1944)
- Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb (1964)
- Duck Soup (1933)
- E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
- Easy Rider (1969)
- Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
- Fantasia (1940)
- Fargo (1996)
- Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
- Forbidden Planet (1956)
- Forrest Gump (1994)
- Frankenstein (1931)
- From Here to Eternity (1953)
- Gandhi (1982)
- Get Out (2017)
- Giant (1956)
- Gone With The Wind (1939)
- Goodfellas (1990)
- Groundhog Day (1993)
- Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
- Harold and Maude (1971)
- High Noon (1952)
- Inception (2010)
- It Happened One Night (1934)
- It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
- Jaws (1975)
- Jurassic Park (1993)
- King Kong (1933)
- Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
- M*A*S*H (1970)
- Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
- Metropolis (1927)
- Midnight Cowboy (1969)
- Modern Times (1936)
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
- Moonlight (2016)
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
- Mutiny on The Bounty (1935)
- My Fair Lady (1964)
- Network (1976)
- No Country for Old Men (2007)
- North by Northwest (1959)
- On The Waterfront (1954)
- One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
- Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
- Parasite (2019)
- Patton (1970)
- Platoon (1986)
- Princess Mononoke (1997)
- Psycho (1960)
- Pulp Fiction (1994)
- Raging Bull (1980)
- Raiders of The Lost Ark (1981)
- Rashomon (1950)
- Rear Window (1954)
- Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
- Rocky (1976)
- Saving Private Ryan (1998)
- Schindler's List (1993)
- Se7en (1995)
- Seven Samurai (1954)
- Shane (1953)
- Singin' in The Rain (1952)
- Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (1937)
- The Social Network (2010)
- Some Like It Hot (1959)
- Spirited Away (2001)
- Stagecoach (1939)
- Star Wars (1977)
- Sunset Blvd. (1950)
- Taxi Driver (1976)
- The African Queen (1951)
- The Apartment (1960)
- The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
- The Birth of a Nation (1915)
- The Bridge on The River Kwai (1957)
- The Dark Knight (2008)
- The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)
- The Deer Hunter (1978)
- The Exorcist (1973)
- The French Connection (1971)
- The Godfather (1972)
- The Godfather Part II (1974)
- The Gold Rush (1925)
- The Goodbye Girl (1977)
- The Graduate (1967)
- The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
- The Jazz Singer (1927)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)[1]
- The Maltese Falcon (1941)
- The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
- The Matrix (1999)
- The Philadelphia Story (1940)
- The Princess Bride (1987)
- The Searchers (1956)
- The Seventh Seal (1957)
- The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
- The Shining (1980)
- The Silence of The Lambs (1991)
- The Sound of Music (1965)
- The Sting (1973)
- The Third Man (1950)
- The Treasure of The Sierra Madre (1948)
- The Truman Show (1998)
- The Wild Bunch (1969)
- The Wizard of Oz (1939)
- There Will Be Blood (2007)
- Titanic (1997)
- To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
- Tootsie (1982)
- Unforgiven (1992)
- Vertigo (1958)
- WALL-E (2008)
- West Side Story (1961)
- Wuthering Heights (1939)
- Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
- Young Frankenstein (1974)
[1] All three of the LotR movies are worth watching. It is best to start with this one, first.
Quirky and Niche
These are movies that were most likely made in earnest and were one or more of:
- Considered good at the time but haven't aged well
- Quite good but are "niche" movies that appeal to a limited audience
- Uneven, but with some memorable moments, concepts, lines, or parts but not great overall
You should definitely read a synopsis or see the trailer before watching any of these to be sure you are in the right frame of mind.
- A Boy and His Dog (1975)
- A Scanner Darkly (2006)
- Annihilation (2018)
- Barton Fink (1991)
- Being John Malkovich (1999)
- Big Fish (2003)
- Boy Kills World (2024)
- Brazil (1985)
- Cat People (1982)
- Coherence (2013)
- Color Out of Space (2019)
- Cowboys & Aliens (2011)
- Dark City (1998)
- Death to Smoochy (2002)
- Delicatessen (1991)
- Donnie Darko (2001) (Director's Cut, if possible)
- Eraserhead (1977)
- Event Horizon (1997)
- eXistenZ (1999)
- From Dusk till Dawn (1996)
- Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
- Hausu (1977)
- Keeping Mum (2005)
- Liquid Sky (1982)
- Mr. Right (2015)
- Mulholland Drive (2001)
- Naked Lunch (1991)
- Phantasm (1979)
- Pink Flamingos (1972)
- Predestination (2014)
- Primer (2004)
- Psycho Goreman (2020)
- Re-animator (1985)
- Real Genius (1985)
- Repo Man (1984)
- Shaun of the Dead (2004)
- Sin City (2005)
- Six-String Samurai (1998)
- Snowpiercer (2013)
- Sorry to Bother You (2018)
- Swiss Army Man (2016)
- The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension (1984)
- The Big Lebowski (1998)
- The City of Lost Children (1995)
- The Endless (2017)
- The Fall (2006)
- The Gamers: Dorkness Rising (2008)
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
- The Signal (2014)
- They Live (1988)
- Time Bandits (1981)
- Tremors (1990)
- Under the Skin (2013)
- Waking Life (2001)
- Weird Science (1985)
- What Dreams May Come (1998)
Gonzo and/or Awful
These are movies that are fun to watch because they maybe weren't intended to be taken seriously or they simply turned out … oddly. They range from intentional camp through glorious misfires to some that were intentionally bizarre and serious simultaneously. However, my definition of "fun to watch" may definitely not match your own!
These are best watched with an adult beverage (or three) and perhaps a group of like-minded zanies. Most will result in laughs, although a few will leave your faith in humankind shaken.
- Army of Darkness (1992)
- Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978)
- Bambi Meets Godzilla (1969)
- Barbarella (1968)
- Beaster Day (2014)
- Basket Case (1982)
- Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
- Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010)
- Black Sheep (2006)
- Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)
- Chopping Mall (1986)
- Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986)
- Critters (1986)
- Dead Alive (1992)
- Dead Snow (2009)
- Dead Sushi (2012)
- Death Race 2000 (1975)
- Evil Dead II (1987)
- Extra-Ordinary (2019)
- Flash Gordon (1980)
- Howard the Duck (1986)
- Iron Invader (2011)
- Iron Sky (2012)
- Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter (2001)
- Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988)
- Kung Fury (2015)
- Kung Pow! Enter the Fist (2002)
- Llamageddon (2015)
- Mars Attacks! (1996)
- Masters Of The Universe (1987)
- Meet the Feebles (1989)
- Merc Force (2003)
- Motel Hell (1980)
- Night of the Comet (1984)
- Nun of That (2008)
- Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957)
- Post Apocalyptic Commando Shark (2018)
- Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006)
- RoboGeisha (2009)
- Robot Monster (1953)
- Rubber (2010)
- Samurai Cop (1991)
- Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)
- Sharknado (2013)
- Tammy and the T-Rex (1994)
- Tank Girl (1995)
- Thankskilling (2009)
- The Giant Claw (1957)
- The Happytime Murders (2018)
- The Room (2003)
- The Stuff (1985)
- The Terror of Tiny Town (1938)
- The Valley of Gwangi (1969)
- The VelociPastor (2019)
- Tokyo Gore Police (2008)
- Toxic Avenger (1984)
- Troll 2 (1990)
- Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)
- Turbo Kid (2015)
- UHF (1989)
- Willy's Wonderland (2021)
- WolfCop (2014)
- Zardoz (1974)
- Zombeavers (2014)
Others
These are items that don't fit in the above lists.
Simply unwatchable
I have tried to watch these at least twice and given up because they are either so terrible or so disturbing even *I* couldn't stand them!
- Killers from Space (1954)
- Zaat (1971)
To Be Watched
Here are some movies I need to watch and classify (or not, as the case may be). More suggestions welcome!
- The movies at Digital Spy's list of crap horror movie monsters.