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
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 Volumes I & 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
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)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (new 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
Lion King
Cinderella
Aladdin
Little Mermaid
Beauty and the Beast
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
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Some of those are a little ‘rough” perhaps for children in a recommended list.
However, more than half in the children’s section I love to watch – “Princess Bride” and “Labyrinth” are great and one of my very favorite movies is “The Little Mermaid”.
Mollie Great Movie list !!!! I also love Spirit. It is from Disney and tells the Story of the Old West. Cinema Paradiso it is an Italian movie. I love La la land and Green card with Gerad De pardiew. I am not sure how to write his last name.
Pirates of Caribean . The Tourist with angelina Jolie and Johnny Deep.
Great movie list !
Thank you so much! I will check out some of those. 🙂