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
• 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
• 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 African Queen
• The Bells of St. Mary’s
• The Birds
• The Exorcist
• Wild Strawberries
• 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?
• You Can’t Take It With You
• Zelig
• The Silent World
• The Sorrow and the Pity
• Stop Making Sense
• Salesman
• Sans Soleil
• Scared Straight!
• Nanook of the North
• Man with a Movie Camera
• Jaguar
• In the Land of the Head Hunters
• Harlan County U.S.A.
• Gates of Heaven
• Night Mail
• Night and Fog
• Primary
• The Arrival of a Train
• The Atomic Cafe
• The Times of Harvey Milk
• Titicut Follies
• Triumph of the Will
• Ben Hur

Modern Classic Films for Older Kids and Adults

• American Beauty
• American Psycho
• American Splendour
• The Absent-Minded Professor
• Raise the Red Lantern
• Wild at Heart
• A Scanner Darkly
• Being John Malcovich
• Clockwork Orange
• Clue
• Eat, Drink, Man, Woman
• Fight Club
• Pleasantville
• The Truman Show
• Naked Lunch
• Moonstruck
• Gummo
• High Art
• Four Rooms
• Jackie Brown
• Pulp Fiction
• Reservoir Dogs
• Kill Bill Volume I & Kill Bill Volume II
• M
• Man on the Moon
• Memento
• Lost Highway
• Parenthood
• Pi
• Primer
• Psycho
• Requiem for a Dream
• Summer of My German Soldier
• Run Lola Run
• Sabrina
• Saturday Night Fever
• Secretary
• Swimming Pool
• The Following
• The Gladiator
• The Princess and the Warrior
• 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
• The Princess Bride
• 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 Swiss Family Robinson
• Charlotte’s Web
• Benji
• Old Yeller
• Winnie the Pooh
• The Red Balloon
• The Jungle Book
• Totoro
• Spirited Away
• Finding Nemo
• Frozen
• Moana
• Babe
• Freaky Friday
• Big
• Home Alone
• Home Alone 2
• Matilda
• Wall-E
• The Sandlot
• Enchanted
• Tangled
• Pollyanna
• The Apple Dumpling Gang

Classic Christmas Films

• It’s a Wonderful Life
• White Christmas
• 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

Modern Classic Documentaries

• 13th
• 20 Feet from Stardom
• 306 Hollywood
• 500 Nations
• 500 Years Later
• A Lego Brickumentary
• Abacus
• Amanda Knox
• Being Elmo
• Bisbee ’17
• Black Gold
• Blackfish
• Born Into Brothels: Calcutta’s Red Light Kids
• Bowling for Columbine
• Breakthrough
• Buena Vista Social Club
• Capitalism: A Love Story
• Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary
• Capturing the Friedmans
• Cave of Forgotten Dreams
• Chernobyl
• Citizen Four
• Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey
• Crumb
• Devil’s Playground
• Did You Wonder Who Fired The Gun?
• Earth
• Exit Through the Gift Shop
• Faces Places
• Food Matters
• Food, Inc.
• Free Solo
• GasLand
• Gaza Strip
• Ghosts of Cité Soleil
• Going Clear
• Grey Gardens
• Grizzly Man
• Hale County This Morning, This Evening
• Hell House
• Herb and Dorothy
• Hoop Dreams
• How to Survive a Plague
• Human Planet
• I.O.U.S.A.
• Icarus
• Inside Deep Throat
• Invisible Children
• Iris
• Jesus Camp
• Jiro Dreams of Sushi
• King Corn
• Lake of Fire
• Life Itself
• Life and Debt
• Mad Hot Ballroom
• March of the Penguins
• McQueen
• Minding the Gap
• Momentum Generation
• Murderball
• No End in Sight
• Paper Clips
• Paradise Lost
• Paragraph 175
• Paris Is Burning
• Planet Earth
• RBG
• Restrepo
• Rize
• Room 237
• Shirkers
• Sicko
• Sour Grapes
• Spellbound
• Strong Island
• The Act of Killing
• The Barkley Marathons
• The Celluloid Closet
• The Cove
• The Future of Food
• The Gleaners & I
• The Last Race
• The Look of Silence
• The Rachel Divide
• The Thin Blue Line
• The Wolfpack
• This Is It
• Three Identical Strangers
• Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman
• Trekkies
• Waiting for Superman
• Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price
• Wasteland

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