260 (More Or Less) Movies You Really Oughta See

[Derrick]

For the third book in my series of movie reviews which is going to be titled THE BRIDE OF DERRICK FERGUSON'S MOVIE REVIEW NOTEBOOK I wanted to do something a bit different.

Friends and family always say to me that they would like to watch more comedies or dramas or science fiction but outside of the obvious choices they really don't have a clue as to what to rent/buy. So with the help of my Live Journal family I put together a list of 260 (More or Less) MOVIES THAT YOU REALLY OUGHTA SEE in various categories.

Not that I profess to be an expert or anything but I've seen 99% of the movies on this list and those I haven't I trust implicitly the word of those who have recommended them. So anyway, here's the list. Feel free to print it out and take it with you next time you head out to the video store or even refer to it when you pick out movies on Netflix.


COMEDIES
Airplane
Amazon Women On The Moon
Animal House
Arsenic And Old Lace
Beetlejuice
Better Off Dead
Blazing Saddles
Clerks
Clerks II
Down Periscope
Johnny Dangerously
Mother, Jugs & Speed
Never Give A Sucker An Even Break
Office Space
Oscar
Sleeper
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut
The Bride Came C.O.D.
Tropic Thunder
Young Frankenstein

EPIC DRAMAS
A Face in The Crowd
A Raisin in The Sun
As Good As It Gets
Black Narcissus
Boogie Nights
Citizen Kane
Glory
Imitation of Life
Jaws
Lolita
Nothing But A Man
On The Beach
Raging Bull
Rocky
Schindler’s List
Seven Samurai
Shawshank Redemption
Spartacus
Taxi Driver
The Bad and The Beautiful
The Lion In Winter
The Ten Commandments
The Third Man
To Have and Have Not
Twelve Angry Men (both versions)
Vertigo
Gone With The Wind
Cape Fear (both versions)
A Bronx Tale
Falling Down
Angels With Dirty Faces

FANTASY
Excalibur
Jason And The Argonauts
Ladyhawke
Star Wars
The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen
The Empire Strikes Back
The Neverending Story
The Princess Bride
The Seventh Seal
The Sword And The Sorcerer
The Thief Of Bagdad (1940)
The Wizard of Oz
Time Bandits
Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (1971)

SPORTS
A League of Their Own
Brian's Song
Cool Runnings
Eight Men Out
Friday Night Lights
He Got Game
Pride Of The Yankees
Remember The Titans
Slapshot
The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars And Motor Kings
White Men Can't Jump

CHICK FLICKS
Clueless
Fried Green Tomatoes
How Stella Got Her Groove Back
How To Marry A Millionaire
Pretty Woman
Sense and Sensibility
Steel Magnolias
Terms of Endearment
The Bridges of Madison County
Waiting to Exhale
What Women Want


SCIENCE FICTION
2001: A Space Odyssey
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
Alien
Back To The Future
Blade Runner
Dark City
Dr. Cyclops
Enemy Mine
eXistenZ
Forbidden Planet
Gattaca
Planet of The Apes
Robocop
Soylent Green
The Blob (both versions)
The Bride of Frankenstein
Westworld


ACTION/ADVENTURE
48 Hours
Aliens
All Through The Night
Batman (1989)
Big Trouble In Little China
Die Hard
Dr. No
Enter The Dragon
Equilibrium
Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom
Jurassic Park
King Kong (Original & Peter Jackson remake)
Mad Max
North by Northwest
Predator
Raiders of The Lost Ark
Ronin
Silver Streak
Terminator 2
The 13th Warrior
The Fifth Element
The Hidden Fortress
The Last Dragon
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
The Road Warrior
The Terminator


WESTERNS
Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid
Dead Man
El Dorado
Hidalgo
My Name Is Nobody
Once Upon A Time In The West
Open Range
Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid
Quigley Down Under
Ride The High Country
Silverado
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
The Magnificent Seven
The Missouri Breaks
The Professionals
The Searchers
The War Wagon
The Wild Bunch
The Wrath of God
Tombstone
True Grit
Unforgiven



MUSICALS
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
Cabaret
Chicago
Dreamgirls
Grease
Guys And Dolls
How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
Jesus Christ, Superstar
Little Shop of Horrors
Singin’ In the Rain
South Pacific
The Blues Brothers
The Music Man
The Sound of Music
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
The Wiz



WAR MOVIES
Apocalypse Now Redux
Full Metal Jacket
Kelly’s Heroes
Letters From Iwo Jima
M*A*S*H
Paths of Glory
Platoon
Saving Private Ryan
The Bridge Over The River Kwai
The Dirty Dozen
Where Eagles Dare


HORROR
American Werewolf in London
Angel Heart
Halloween
House on Haunted Hill (1959)
Night of The Hunter
Night of The Living Dead
Nightmare on Elm Street
Poltergeist
Psycho
Stir of Echoes
The Abominable Dr. Phibes
The Black Cat
The Changeling
The Exorcist
The Haunting (1963)
The Last Man on Earth
The Thing (both versions)


ODDITIES
Barton Fink
Blue Velvet
Crash
Dogma
Donnie Darko
Edward Scissorhands
Eraserhead
Ghostbusters
Heathers
Ichi The Killer
Miracle Mile
Naked Lunch
Videodrome
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?


CRIME
Bonnie & Clyde
Ghost Dog: Way of The Samurai
Goodfellas
Heat
Jackie Brown
L.A. Confidential
Miller’s Crossing
Pulp Fiction
Scarface
Shadow of a Doubt
Shaft(1971)
Sin City
The Conversation
The Departed
The Godfather Trilogy
The Maltese Falcon
The Thin Man

ANIMATION
A Boy Named Charlie Brown
American Pop
Antz
Chicken Run
Fantasia
Finding Nemo
Happy Feet
Heavy Metal
Laputa: Castle In The Sky
Lilo And Stitch
Streetfight
The Aristocats
The Castle of Cagliostro
The Incredibles
The Lion King
The Tune
Toy Story
Wizards


SUPERHERO
Batman (1969)
Batman (1989)
Batman Begins
Danger: Diabolik
Hellboy
Hulk
Iron Man
Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins
Sky High
Spider-Man
Superman
The Phantom
Dick Tracy
The Rocketeer
The Shadow
Unbreakable

[Erik]

BATMAN (1989) is on the list twice under ACTION/ADVENTURE and SUPERHERO. And, just a nit pick but the proper name for Terminator 2 is Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Otherwise this is a damn fine list...one that I'll be making sure to see every movie on.

[Derrick]

Sept 21, 2008 9:21:34 GMT -5 Erik said:

BATMAN (1989) is on the list twice under ACTION/ADVENTURE and SUPERHERO. And, just a nit pick but the proper name for Terminator 2 is Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Otherwise this is a damn fine list...one that I'll be making sure to see every movie on.

See this is why it helps to have other people look at these things before I publish it and make a damn fool outta meself. Tell you what we'll do, Erik: I'll leave BATMAN (1989) in SUPERHERO and let you select a movie to put in it's place in ACTION/ADVENTURE.

[Erik]

I'd likely with COLLATERAL, THE RUNDOWN (to get a Christopher Walken movie up there), SLEEPY HOLLOW or ASSASSINS. Whatever you don't pick could be considerations for the next list along with BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM, BEAVIS & BUTTHEAD DO AMERICA and SCROOGED.

I tried to think of a movie older than the '90s but I have troubles remembering movies I've seen in the week let alone over my life that I enjoyed as being an essential movie. I mean there are a few Seagal movies in the '80s that are fun (like Above the Law) but nothing I'd say were movies anybody should REALLY see.

[Derrick]

Sept 22, 2008 7:12:16 GMT -5 Erik said:

I'd likely with COLLATERAL, THE RUNDOWN (to get a Christopher Walken movie up there), SLEEPY HOLLOW or ASSASSINS. Whatever you don't pick could be considerations for the next list along with BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM, BEAVIS & BUTTHEAD DO AMERICA and SCROOGED.

I tried to think of a movie older than the '90s but I have troubles remembering movies I've seen in the week let alone over my life that I enjoyed as being an essential movie. I mean there are a few Seagal movies in the '80s that are fun (like Above the Law) but nothing I'd say were movies anybody should REALLY see.

I'm going to go with THE RUNDOWN as it's a movie both Tom Deja and I rave about just about everytime we talk on the phone. That movie kicks so much ass it ain't even funny.

And you sound like my wife in regards to you guys not remembering movies. She's amazed that I can remember movies I've seen years ago and she honestly cannot remember a movie the both of us have seen just last week.

ABOVE THE LAW is tied with UNDER SIEGE II: DARK TERRITORY as my favorite Steven Seagal movie. ABOVE THE LAW gets the edge since it has Pam Grier and one of the best badass lines in any movie ever:

"You know you've just made the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, right?"
"I'm not gonna stop until I'm Number One."