List of the best movies for a gift . . . in 16 years

[pfflam]

I am going to make a DVD collection of what I think are the best movies ever made (not including some on purpose, such as Citizen Kane)
I want to put this collection together for my daughter who is now 14 months old.
I waant to give her this collection (in a nice wooden case) when she reaches an age where she can appreciate them . . .I figure 16 years old.
I also am including movies that I knnow are especially great for teenage girls (and are also still the best movies evar! . . such as Harold and Maude.

My list as of today:

Andrie Rublev - Tarkovsky
Ran (?) -Kurosawa
Harold And Maude
Wings Of Desire
My Dinner With Andre
Fanny And Alexander
Koyaanasqaatsi (trilogy?)
Annie Hall
Stardust Memories

I just started compiling my list.
What would your list be?
What would you add to mine?

[Daver]

I'll use this opportunity to pimp The Third Man once again.

Unlike most of the other great movies I'd usually recommend, it's unpretentious, in English, and far less than three hours long. :lol:

[pfflam]

Originally posted by Daver
I'll use this opportunity to pimp The Third Man once again.

Unlike most of the other great movies I'd usually recommend, it's unpretentious, in English, and far less than three hours long. :lol: You undersell the benefits of good bout of pretension!!

The THird man? is that about the spu starring Orson Wells?

[glyph]

when i saw pleasentville, i bought a copy for a gift. peggy sue got married is a good movie too.

[Splinemodel]

The Big Lebowski
Dirty Harry (and Magnum Force)
Ace Ventura, Pet Detective
Pretty much anything with Clint or Arnold in it.

The camera work and visuals from The Big Lebowski easily rival the best "Artistic" movies I've seen, and the plot in so twisted that it's beautiful. Plus, it's funny as hell.

the rest are just movies that I like to watch again and again. It's stupid to own a movie unless you're going to watch it a lot.

[nwhysee]

Star Wars, no question about this, and maybe Face off.

[Ganondorf]

Surely you aren't referring to the prequels.

[Anders]

Breaking the Waves

[Alex London]

Why wait until she's sixteen? A good cultural education should start way before that. The Third Man is superb, my parents made me see it when I was about 9, I loved it for it's visual flair and mood. As it's a great work of art it reveals more on repeated viewing, helped by me getting older. Now I own it on DVD. A great American movie for this is Charles Laughton's Night Of The Hunter- a masterpiece of cinema. ShawnJ is right about the Italian stuff, may I add a punt in the direction of French films too, start with Les Quatre Cent Coups (The 400 Blows) and keep going. Two of the greatest thrillers ever made are French also, Rififi and Le Salaire De Le Peur ( Wages Of Fear) . I undersell them, i should have said two of the greatest films ever, that happen to be thrillers.
Ace Ventura, Pet Detective?????????

[GSpotter]

Originally posted by pfflam
I want to put this collection together for my daughter who is now 14 months old.
I waant to give her this collection (in a nice wooden case) when she reaches an age where she can appreciate them . . .I figure 16 years old.
You shouldn't forget to save her a DVD player, too. So she will be able to watch these 'vintage' movies. ;)

As for the list, you might want to consider:
- The Fabulous World Of Amelie
- Leon - The professional

[Stoo]

Surely you aren't referring to the prequels.

What prequels ? ;)

[drewprops]

Oh pfflam don't reveal cinematic ignorance in here!! The Third Man is a great movie, I think you might need to rent it and watch it again. BUT, the tone of the movies you've already listed might not be inclined to include this movie (and I gotta tell you, a 16 year old girl is going to be pretty pissed off when she learns that Dad blew her car money on some old DVDs that they don't even make players for anymore!!).

I'd definitely do some searches for the movies you've already listed using Amazon's search engine because "people who bought 'Harold and Maude' also bought.....". Frightening how accurate that database can be sometimes.

You're partially aimed toward arthouse movies, partially toward movies with Woody Allen's New York sensibilities (thus perhaps your dislike for 3rd Man?). Why not Richard Dreyfuss in "The Goodby Girl" for a romance and "Look Who's Coming To Dinner" for social discourse?

And if you claim that "Jaws" isn't one of the best movies of all time I'll have to come back and call you a name.

[Anders]

Come back here and call me a name!

[drewprops]

Okay, you asked for it SweetiePie

[billybobsky]

now you just sound like a gay southerner (given that you are male).

[Paul]

Originally posted by GSpotter
You shouldn't forget to save her a DVD player, too. So she will be able to watch these 'vintage' movies. ;)

As for the list, you might want to consider:
- The Fabulous World Of Amelie
- Leon - The professional
:lol:

but ditto on the Amelie, great movie...

I'd also recommend requiem and ? but I'm not sure if they would still be relevant in 16 years... what a crazy concept...

you would do better to store good children's movies and the like rather then modern day dvds...
this way she can enjoy them now... then buy all the movies when she is like 12 or so...

edit: oh, and what is a gay southerner? are they related to big foot?

[billybobsky]

think effeminate male with southern accent.

[drewprops]

Sorry if it disappoints BillyB, I'm just a Southern male who's confident enough in his (hetero)sexuality that I can have some fun with Anders :p
My own Southern accent disappeared after working with Californians and New Yorkers for a decade...it only slips out at family functions and when talking to Teamsters.

Speaking of Southern, how about "Slingblade"?

[CosmoNut]

BACK ON TOPIC...Ahem. My votes:

Run, Lola, Run
The Shawshank Redemption
The Fifth Element
What About Bob? (seriously, it's got a lot of good messages that people look past)

[Scott]

I think people misread the first post. It's supposed to be "the best movies ever made".

I look at Eberts list of Great Movies (http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/greatmovies/) when I get stuck for ideas.

[709]

I'd throw in something Monty Python, or if that doesn't fly at least something by Gilliam...maybe Brazil or 12 Monkeys.

[norfa]

Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Meaning of Life
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Ghandi
Tank Girl
Committed
The Hot Chick
The 10 Things I hate About You
The Last Star Fighter
Total Recall
Being John Malkovic
Amadeus

And before she's sixteen how about
The Secret of Nihm
The Secret Garden
The Princess Bride
The Never ending Story

Now the problem is a 16 year old girl isn't going to like all of those movies. I talk to a lot of 16 year old girls and all of the don't like some of them. So be prepared to have her tell you that at least some of these were a waste of money. But if you want to play god and try and anticipate what your girl is going to like, count on no better than a 50% hit rate. The before 16 ones, those one's are a written in stone.

[trumptman]

Life is Beautiful
Avalon

I'd also have to add Death of a Salesman, the nice version that, I think it was CBS did with Dustin Hoffmin as Willie and John Malkovic as Biff.

Nick

[Artman @_@]

Sixteen year old...girl? Start with with what might holds her interest at that age...Molly Ringwald anyone?

1. Pretty in Pink
2. Sixteen Candles
3. The Breakfast Club
4. The Pick-Up Artist

Then get "edgy" and "artistic"

5. Peggy Sue Got Married
6. Heathers
7. Dazed And Confused
8. The Fabulous World Of Amelie
9. Run Lola Run
10. Boys Don't Cry

Others...

Requiem For a Dream - Great anti-drug message (Sid and Nancy's good one too)
Romeo & Juliet (DiCaprio and Danes version)
Rebel Without a Cause - classic teen angst
Thelma & Louise - the female "Easy Rider"
Gilliam? The Fisher King...or Brazil

Don't foist your favorites, testosterone flicks or old flicks at that age unless it will interest her (who knows what male teen idol she'll be swooning over in the near future). They didn't really interest my teen nieces. But they LOVED Molly Ringwald. Can't go wrong with those four...I like them! Some of Audrey Hepburn's films might interest her (Breakfast @ Tiffanys)...but I doubt it...black and white is a turn off... ;)

:smokey:

[Splinemodel]

After fully reading this topic. . .

Don't buy the videos now. The standards and formats will change. In 15 years, there will be something better than DVD's as we know them.

[pfflam]

Thanks for all the suggestions

but perhaps I should clarify: the collection would not be for her to enjoy immediatly, but to have and to keep for her life and enjoy over time.

and, I want them to be the BEST as in the GREATEST WORKS OF ART!

That is why they have that "art house" flavor

Besides she will be growing up with two working artists . . . wife=painter and I am a video/installation artist . . . she will be steeped in the stuff

I didn't say that I didn't like the Third Man just that I did not remember seeing it
and though I appreciate the French movies that you listed I don't think they are up to snuff (The 400 blows coming closest though) Hopefully by the time I start amassing a collection Godard's full multi-volume, L'Histoire Du Cinema will be out . . . that is amazing

the Gilliam crossed my mind: I do love Brazil to no end and it did sort of set a standard of a kind . . .
And of Python I should have automatically inserted The Meaning Of Life . . . because it exemplifies why I thought of this gift idea

Jaws?!?!? it is good for what it is . . it defines the standard and manipulates us magnificently in ways that, if they weren't allready cliches, became cliches from emmulation . . . but that's best if the collection were about film history as in a film history class . . . I like to think about it like giving great books so she can immerse, enjoy and grow with them . ..

[pfflam]

oh yeah . . Scott, thanks for that Ebert list it reminded me of the Apu Trilogy

another endless foreign arty film . . . but really, a masterpiece

[crazychester]

Really nice idea pfflam.

I'd have thought Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" would almost have to be included. And something by Dziga Vertov (I think that's who I'm thinking of - doco style, lots of editing with juxtaposed images, influenced Hitchcock?) If I've got the right Soviet film maker, his stuff is just brilliant.

[Artman @_@]

Ok. Woody Allen.

Annie Hall
Sleeper
Love and Death

...er... Manhattan?

:smokey:

[709]

Originally posted by pfflam
and, I want them to be the BEST as in the GREATEST WORKS OF ART! Ah, OK, that's easy then.

Barbarella.



...or Lawrence of Arabia.

[709]

...or A Clockwork Orange.

[segovius]

Hiroshima mon Amour.

Rome open city.

Kieslowski - Decalogue and the Three colours series.

Double life of Veronique.

Modern Times and the Great Dictator.

Chuck in some Iranian too, maybe 'the Apple' and definitely something by Kiarostami.

[pfflam]

oooh yeah . . Kiarostami. good idea

can't say I much like Kiezlowski though . . .

[scottiB]

Singing in the Rain: wonderful dancing and choreography. Not to mention, it provides a brief film-history lesson in the transitioning to talkies.

Wonderful idea.

May I suggest another? Provide a second boxed of sixteen films: one that you feel is the best in each year of her life. This way it provides a bit of history during her lifetime--and not imply that only good films were made before she was born. :)

[nwhysee]

No offense, but you're gonna damn near bore this girl to death with these movies. I think the best course of action is to wait some 15 years, strangely enough not all people share the same interests you do, for better or for worse.

[Carol A]

Hi pfflam -

Well. Speaking as a female, I have to say that females like

(yep, you guessed it) CHICK FLICKS!!!!!

You know - those movies you guys just HATE!!! :lol:

I remember showing my 8th grade classes (age 14) Ivanhoe, with (I think) Anthony Andrews. The girls came up to sit on the floor so they could be close to the screen to scope out the 'hero' more minutely. heh. :)

They like movies with cute guys in them.

They like romances.

Ivanhoe had knights and castles, gallant (and cute) guys.

Girls in long flowing dresses, with long flowing hair.

And they like current-time versions of the same story.


I personally think Ten Things I Hate About You is a classic teen film - based on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew.

I think your idea of the greatest films is wonderful.

I would just suggest that you collect several sets of films.

A set of the Disney classics such as Cinderella, Snow White, etc. A set of teen-type films like Footloose, Ten Things, etc. A set of films women in their 20's and up like, such as Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, Last of the Mohicans (Day-Lewis version), Gross Anatomy (with Matthew Modine), Pride and Prejudice (mini-series), The Scarlet Pimpernel (Anthony Andrews again), etc. etc. etc......

These aren't the greatest films of all time, but they are well-loved films - well-loved by females. And there are LOTS more.

[drewprops]

Yeah, if she were a boy then I'd say you'd have to include Field of Dreams...although you really don't appreciate that until your Dad is older or gone.

What fun to have artists as parents! My own parents encouraged my artistic abilities but they couldn't pass along techniques, that would have been valuable AND limiting....you understand that. Good luck on not trying to influence her with your own ideas and prejudices (it's impossible). But do give her some wiggle room and don't barf if she does like "Gone With The Wind".....Carol's already told us that a lot of girls like period romances~

I just realized that "Contact" is a much grander version of "Field of Dreams"......."if you build it, he will come". Wow...how about that. There you go, a chick version of Field for your little girl.

[dviant]

Hrm... movies that might hold up after 16 years... for a teenage girl.. Here's a few to add to the list of possibles:

Forrest Gump
Rushmore
Muriel's Wedding
Seabiscuit

[drewprops]

If you're going to put Rushmore in then you should include Royal Tennenbaum, I know a couple of girls who love that movie. Very interesting film....it definitely gets the "art house" nod....and I think somebody already named "Lost In Translation"...just so you can make sure she'll try to date her first professor~

[dviant]

Yeah the whole Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, Royal Tenenbaums set would be worthy in my opinion :D Still need to see Lost In Translation. Bill Murray is great.

[Daver]

Since we're talking about films that appeal to chicks, I should mention Magnolia. I know a couple girls who love it, and it's not a bad movie to boot.

[curiousuburb]

a few recommendations...

The General - Buster Keaton
A box set of Charlie Chaplin
Life of Brian


Blazing Saddles
Sleeper - can't have a time capsule without a time capsule film or two
and on a similarly sardonic note, maybe Planet of the Apes (Charleton Heston)
The Time Machine (George Pal version)
Blade Runner
Alien

Wizard of Oz (complete with a Dark Side of the Moon synchronization session)
and if we're into the fantastical, of course...
Lord of the Rings - extended versions.

Blow Up - Antonioni

Dr. Strangelove - but maybe a Kubrick collection would be worth the box set

Touch of Evil - gotta have one Welles, if not Citizen Kane.

[Giaguara]

Amelie
Blade Runner
Cento Passi
Central Station
Chicken Run
City of God
Drifting Clouds
Edward Scissorhands
5th Element
Finding Nemo
Godfather (trilogy)
Ice Age
Kandahar
Lord of The Ring (trilogy)
Matrix (part I)
Monsters Inc
Nigthmare Before Christmas
Pirates of the Caribbean
Requiem for a Dream
Shrek
Toto' Peppino e Malafemmina
Trainspotting
Wallace and Gromit

[pfflam]

How could I forget Bladerunner . . .one of my favorite movies


as for the "Chick flik" . . . Its a little too early to tell . . . but she doesn't seem much like a girly girl at this stage . . . she's very tough and willful . . .but who knows . . . we'll see