The Goat Pen

Kelly's Heroes, MASH, The Good Bad and Ugly.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Some goods ones already mentioned

Considering its your daughter and you want an appreciation for our history

I would add

To Kill a Mockingbird
Sargent York (My personal favorite)
The Great Dictator (Charlie Chaplin's insult to Hitler)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (I hate musicals but Cagne was awesome in this)
Grapes of Wrath (Henry Fonda)
Streetcar Named Desire
Easy Rider
Once Upon a Time in the West (not much historical accuracy but you gotta introduce your daughter to Sergio Leone movies)
Vertigo
3 Days of the Condor
All The President's Men
Spirit of St. Louis
Lonesome Dove

there are many more I could add but westerns and war movies don't play well, nor do epics like Ben Hur and Spartacus (and yes, Lonesome dove is both of those)

Fight Club
Spaceballs
Thirteen Days (Cuba Missle thingy with Costner)
Talent for the Game (Edward James Olmos) - Fantastic baseball movie
Bladerunner
Willow
12 Angry Men (Geroge C. Scott)

the great escape
on the waterfront
american graffitti
bridge over the river kwai
rocky
last of the mohicans
roots

Birth of a Nation has some historical significance too, a 1915 silent movie dramatizing the Klan as heroic. I read that is was the first motion picture ever viewed at the Whitehouse and after seeing it Wilson said it was like writing history with Lightning.

Great lists, all. Difficult to get it down to 10, for sure (which is an ambitious number, I think, seeing as she plays three sports, works and doesn't want to waste her free time with Dad as opposed to with friends).

e, I was thinking more along lines of cinematic history (Godfather, Easy Rider, To Kill a Mockingbird, Blade Runner), not necessarily historical cinema (though Patton is a great one, as is Saving Private Ryan).

And I am pleased to see Debbie Does Dallas was first out of the chute. TGP doesn't disappoint.

Deep Throat may be more cinematically significant.

your request has inspired me, so from now on Wednesday nights whenever we aren't doing something is going to be classic movie night at our house.

wendesdays is internet porn night for me.

give the wife some turkey and box wine about 9pm, turn on cnbc, wait for her to crash then wack off for an hour to internet porn

Just trying to think of ones that might be more interesting to a younger viewer, I would steer away from the war or mafia movies, at least for now. although Schindler's List I think transcends the war genre (ya'll might have already seen that, plus it's not a "classic" in terms of age, but being in black and white it gives that impression). Plenty of other great ones out there that she would probably be more interested in. Casablanca is a good choice, as is To Kill a Mockingbird. I was watching Bride of Frankenstein a few years ago and the girls sat down and watched it with me, they liked it (that's going way back, but still a classic). I'd go with One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest before Easy Rider (similar themes of authority and rebellion that resonate with young viewers, but I think Cuckoo's Nest is the better of the two).

Not sure a teenager can really appreciate Streetcar Named Desire (not saying she wouldn't "get" it, but appreciation is another thing), that would kinda be like throwing Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf at her (one of my alltime favorites, BTW). Something along those lines but considerably less caustic is Night of the Iguana, somewhat racy by the standards of the day, but mere child's play to young 'uns today (I only think of that b/c it was on TCM last night, but it's good and she may end up going to Puerta Vallarta someday, where it was filmed. The back story of Liz Taylor, who was on location during filming, and Richard Burton adds interest, as does the presence of Ava Gardner, a sweet southern girl (North Carolina, in fact, just down the road from DS's haunts) who made good in Hollywood). For something a little darker (and keeping with the "night" theme), Night of the Hunter is also good.

Surely she's already seen It's a Wonderful Life. Sunset Blvd. is a hoot, you can explain to her that Gloria Swanson really was a star from the 20's, as was Erich von Stroheim and assorted other actors who have smaller roles, so that really goes back to the days of silent movies. Trying to think of something else a teen would like, Rebel Without a Cause comes to mind, but I don't think that's a great movie by any means (not even very good, really) but the James Dean factor makes it historical. Splendor in the Grass maybe? American Graffiti (that was also recently on TCM, it still holds up). In the Heat of the Night carries the obvious social message. That should hold you for awhile...

Rebel Without a Cause comes to mind, but I don't think that's a great movie by any means (not even very good, really) but the James Dean factor makes it historical.

I prefer Giant.

Those are good. I don't want to ignore the 70/80/90s classics that aren't "oldies" to us but to her are as ancient as anything in the 40s or 50s.

Jaws is an all-time classic, and she's seen the TV cut version, but maybe it's worth the original.

French Connection?

Field of Dreams?

Terminator?

Close Encounters?

Alien(s)?

Butch Cassidy/Sundance or The Sting?

and (ick), to cover all bases -- shouldn't The Way We Were, Blue Lagoon or some other romance movie be on the list?

Someone mentioned Rocky, that should be in the top 10, I think.

Just so we got all the Richard Dreyfuss stuff out of the way...

Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Mr. Holland's Opus

uh

What About Bob?

On that note, has anybody ever actually seen the movie that Richard Dreyfuss won Best Acotr for?

crashcourse wrote:wendesdays is internet porn night for me.

give the wife some turkey and box wine about 9pm, turn on cnbc, wait for her to crash then wack off for an hour to internet porn

Somehow I actually believe this 100%

Dreyfuss is in American Graffiti...

"I prefer Giant."

That was on TCM recently as well. Much better than Rebel, but still pretty clunky...

I was thinking more about older movies, but if you're talking 1970's onward, I would've said Pulp Fiction is a must, but I told the MIF"s youngest to watch it a few months ago and her response afterward was tepid at best. T2 is still one of my favorite movies. Jaws is obviously an alltime classic. Not real sure that a teenager would think much of French Connection. Butch Cassidy maybe moreso. Something more modern with a "message" is Boys Don't Cry. Going back to the 70's, what about Network? Young Frankenstein? One of my favorites, Five Easy Pieces, I'm not sure if that would resonate with teens today, esp. not girls. Breaking Away, maybe...

1980's (I'm just going down a list and picking the ones I think a teen would enjoy), Amadeus, The Elephant Man, Airplane!, Gandhi, Broadcast News, Moonstruck, Out of Africa.

1990's: Fargo, American Beauty, Slingblade, Shakespeare in Love, 12 Monkeys...

We should retroactively award films. So, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest won Best Picture (and everything else) for 1975...in 2012 would you give it that award or give it to Jaws?

I've been enlightening my soon to be Sophomore with these from my past growing up so she realizes that one day she will be embarresed with her era by her kids the same way she makes fun of me now.

The Breakfast Club
Top Gun
The Lost Boys
The Outsiders
16 Candles
48 Hrs
Trading Places
Beverly Hill Cop
Risky Business
When Harry Met Sally
Stripes
Caddyshack
Vacation
Wayne World
Jaws
All Godfathers

And of course the first one is GoodFellas

Something more modern with a "message" is Boys Don't Cry

What about that year's "cinematic masterpiece" Gladiator?