School in a Book: Classic Films

I am not a film buff. Still, I don’t want to miss out on the movies that even today, inform our shared cultural conversation. There’s a lot to learn here about love, hope and coming of age–and about writing an awesome screenplay, too.

Classic Films for Older Kids and Adults

• A Face in the Crowd
• Airplane!
• An American In Paris
• Annie
• Annie Hall
• Babes in Toyland
• Babette’s Feast
• Bandolero
• Barcelona
• Barton Fink
• Breakfast at Tiffany’s
• Bright Eyes
• Brother Sun, Sister Moon
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
• Cabaret
• Casablanca
• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
• Crimes and Misdemeanors
• Das Boot
• Doctor Zhivago
• East of Eden
• Hannah and Her Sisters
• Godspell
• Frankenstein
• Cries and Whispers
• From Here to Eternity
• How Green is My Valley
• How the West Was Won
• Igby Goes Down
• Il Dulce Vita
• It Happened One Night
• It’s a Wonderful Life
• Lolita
• Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• Mutiny on the Bounty
• National Velvet
• Night of the Living Dead
• North by Northwest
• Oklahoma!
• Oliver!
• On the Waterfront
• Orchestra Rehearsal
• Jesus Christ, Superstar
• Les Miserables
• Lil Abner
• Radio Days
• Planet of the Apes
• Platoon
• Pollyanna
• Raise the Red Lantern
• Rear Window
• Rebel Without a Cause
• Roman Holiday
• Singing in the Rain
• Sophie’s Choice
• Splendor in the Grass
• Strangers on a Train
• Suspicion!
• Taxi Driver
• The 39 Steps
• The Absent-Minded Professor
• The African Queen
• The Apple Dumpling Gang
• The Bells of St. Mary’s
• The Birds
• The Exorcist
• The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
• The Importance of Being Earnest
• The Lady Vanishes
• The Last Days of Disco
• The Lives of Others
• The Lord of the Flies
• The Man Who Knew Too Much
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance
• The Music Man
• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
• 8 ½
• The Thirty-Nine Steps
• The Three Faces of Eve
• The Train
• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
• The Unsinkable Molly Brown
• Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines
• To Catch a Thief
• Vertigo
• West Side Story
• What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
• White Christmas
• Wild Strawberries
• You Can’t Take It With You
• Zelig

Modern Classic Films for Older Kids and Adults

• American Beauty
• American Psycho
• American Splendour
• Wild at Heart
• A Scanner Darkly
• Being John Malcovich
• Chinatown
• Clockwork Orange
• Clue
• Eat, Drink, Man, Woman
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• Fight Club
• Four Rooms
• Gili
• Pleasantville
• The Truman Show
• Naked Lunch
• Moonstruck
• Gummo
• High Art
• Jackie Brown
• Kill Bill Volume I & Kill Bill Volumee II
• Little Women
• M
• Man on the Moon
• March of the Penguins
• Meet Joe Black
• Memento
• Metropolitan
• Lost Highway
• Parenthood
• Parents
• Pi
• Primer
• Psycho
• Pulp Fiction
• Requiem for a Dream
• Reservoir Dogs
• Summer of My German Soldier
• Run Lola Run
• Sabrina
• Saturday Night Fever
• Secretary
• Swimming Pool
• The Following
• The Gladiator
• The Princess and the Warrior
• The Princess Bride
• To Live
• True Romance
• Adaptation
• Mulholland Drive
• Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight

Classic Children’s Films

• The Wizard of Oz
• Return to Oz
• Alice in Wonderland
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• Labyrinth
• The Neverending Story
• Goonies
• The Karate Kid
• Star Wars: A New Hope
• Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
• Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (original version)
• Ghostbusters (original version)
• The Muppet Movie (original version)
• The Lord of the Rings series
• The Chronicles of Narnia series
• The Harry Potter series
• The Anne of Green Gables series
• The Anne of Avonlea series
• Bambi
• Sleeping Beauty
• Beauty and the Beast
• The Lion King
• Cinderella
• Aladdin
• The Little Mermaid
• Snow White
• Pinocchio
• Dumbo
• The Sound of Music
• The Parent Trap (original version)
• Swiss Family Robinson
• Charlotte’s Web
• Lilo and Stitch
• Benji
• Old Yeller
• Winnie the Pooh
• Hugo
• The Red Balloon
• The Jungle Book
• Pippi Longstocking
• The Adventures of Milo and Otis
• Totoro
• Grave of the Fireflies
• Spirited Away
• Finding Nemo
• Frozen
• Moana
• Babe
• Freaky Friday
• Big
• Home Alone
• Home Alone 2
• Matilda
• The Incredibles
• How to Train Your Dragon
• Wall-E
• The Sandlot
• Enchanted
• The Iron Giant
• Tangled
• A Little Princess
• Escape to Witch Mountain
• Pete’s Dragon

Classic Christmas Films

• A Christmas Carol
• Miracle on 34th Street
• A Christmas Story
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas
• A Charlie Brown Christmas
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
• Frosty the Snowman
• The Muppet Christmas Carol

Classic and Modern Classic Documentaries

• 13th
• 20 Feet from Stardom
• 306 Hollywood
• 500 Nations (1995)
• 500 Years Later (2005)
• A Lego Brickumentary (2014)
• Abacus
• Amanda Knox
• Being Elmo
• Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927)
• Bisbee ’17
• Black Gold (2006)
• Blackfish
• Born Into Brothels: Calcutta’s Red Light Kids (2004)
• Bowling for Columbine (2002)
• Breakthrough
• Broken Rainbow (1985)
• Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
• Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)
• Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary (2008)
• Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
• Cave of Forgotten Dreams
• Chernobyl
• Citizen Four
• Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey
• Crumb (1994)
• Devil’s Playground (2002)
• Did You Wonder Who Fired The Gun?
• Earth (2007)
• Empire (1964)
• Exit Through the Gift Shop
• Faces Places
• Food Matters
• Food, Inc.
• Free Solo
• GasLand (2010)
• Gates of Heaven (1978)
• Gaza Strip (2002)
• Ghosts of Cité Soleil (2006)
• Going Clear
• Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (2008)
• Good Hair (2009)
• Grey Gardens
• Grizzly Man (2005)
• Hale County This Morning, This Evening
• Harlan County U.S.A. (1976)
• Hell House (2001)
• Herb and Dorothy
• Hitler: A Film from Germany (1977)
• Hoop Dreams
• How to Survive a Plague
• Human Planet (2011)
• I.O.U.S.A. (2008)
• Icarus
• In the Land of the Head Hunters (1914)
• Inside Deep Throat (2005)
• Invisible Children (2006)
• Iris
• Jaguar (1968)
• Jesus Camp (2006)
• Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond
• Jiro Dreams of Sushi
• King Corn
• Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
• Lake of Fire (2006)
• Las Hurdes (1933)
• Life Itself
• Life and Debt (2001)
• Mad Hot Ballroom (2005)
• Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
• March of the Penguins (2005)
• McQueen
• Microcosmos (1996)
• Minding the Gap
• Mojados: Through the Night (2004)
• Momentum Generation
• Murderball (2005)
• Nanook of the North (1922)
• Night Mail (1936)
• Night and Fog (1956)
• No End in Sight (2007)
• Paper Clips (2004)
• Paradise Lost
• Paragraph 175 (2000)
• Paris Is Burning (1990)
• Planet Earth
• Powaqqatsi (1988)
• Primary (1960)
• RBG
• Restrepo (2010)
• Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time (2001)
• Rize (2005)
• Room 237
• Salesman (1969)
• Sans Soleil (1983)
• Scared Straight! (1978)
• Searching for Sugar Man
• Shirkers
• Shoah (1985)
• Sicko
• Sour Grapes
• Spellbound
• Stop Making Sense (1984)
• Strong Island
• The Act of Killing
• The Arrival of a Train (1896)
• The Atomic Cafe (1982)
• The Barkley Marathons
• The Celluloid Closet (1995)
• The Cove
• The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003)
• The Future of Food
• The Gleaners & I (2000)
• The Hour of the Furnaces (1968)
• The Keepers
• The Last Race
• The Look of Silence
• The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936)
• The Rachel Divide
• The Silent World (1956)
• The Sorrow and the Pity (1969)
• The Staircase
• The Thin Blue Line
• The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)
• The War Game (1965 TV Movie)
• The Wolfpack
• This Is It (2009)
• Three Identical Strangers
• Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman
• Titicut Follies (1967)
• Trekkies (1997)
• Triumph of the Will (1935)
• Undefeated
• Waiting for ‘Superman’ (2010)
• Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (2005)
• War Dance (2007)
• Wasteland (2010)
• What Happened, Miss Simone?

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