List of Movies to watch in a lifetime

Is there such a thing as a list of movies that you’re required to watch throughout your life? What are you expected to have already seen at certain points in your life? I know, there are dozens of Read Before You Die kinda book lists, but I’ve only ever once encountered something similar for cinemaphiles. Can you tell right away that I don’t watch a lot of movies? Yup, probably you can.

I remember how in the seventh grade my English teacher told us all to come up to the blackboard and stand in a line. Then he gave up all printouts of My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion and made all sorts of pained faces while we were - very badly - singing it. It was around the time when the movie Titanic came out in cinemas. I watched it for the first time about a decade later and realised that I was probably the one throwing off the melody. Oops! I’m sorry, Mr. Savechko. I didn’t know any better.

I didn’t go to the movies when I was a kid. I only remember going twice. One time they organized a movie day for us kids. At first they said that the movie we were supposed to see was canceled. Then they had no more seats available. In the end, we managed to get in and watched some old cartoons about a girl who was a witch (it was NOT Kiki’s Delivery Service, but some old Soviet cartoon). Another time I tried going with my friend, but we were late to opening credits and I was so overwhelmed, I no longer wanted to go.

After that, I’ve only ever been to the movies with my sister, and I can count the times on my fingers and not even have to use my other hand. We saw that movie in memoriam of Chornobyl about an orphan girl who dreamed of being a dancer. A couple of Hollywood movies. And another in memoriam movie about Vasyl Stus, a prominent Ukrainian poet who was killed by the Soviet regime. I gave a look to some children being noisy next to me (eating chips!). When the movie ended, everyone was bawling their eyes out. The Chornobyl movie was just as devastatingly sad. So, you see, I don’t go to the movies to have a good time!

Having said that, I always feel a bit inadequate… As if I was supposed to see all those movies that everyone else is watching. But because I never really got into the habit of moviegoing. I would watch TV, but they would usually show the same things over and over again (I may have watched some very obscure things two dozen times because that’s what was licensed in my country). Then streaming became a thing, and we would only ever watch TV shows.

And now I like to make lists in my Filofax and make a promise with myself that I will catch up! If only I knew what to watch. What did I miss? How do I fill in my gaps in pop culture knowledge? Where do I even start?

So, anyway… I’ve decided to start another list (a digital one this time) and publish it on this blog! I will be consulting my IMDB watchlist, so it may be a little random. Also, I have to admit that I like movies with low ratings, so don’t expect to see here a copy of IMDB top 250. Maybe I’ll even get to writing movie reviews? We’ll see.

My personal list of must-watch movies

1. The Godfather (1972, 1974, 1990)

2. Black Swan (2010)

3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

4. Scarface (1983)

5. 12 Years a Slave (2013)

6. Her (2013)

7. Carrie (2013)

8. Belle (2013)

9. The Book Thief (2013)

10. Les Mis (2012)

11. Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

12. Kill Your Darlings (2013)

13. Braveheart (1995)

14. No Country for Old Men (2007)

15. Rebecca (1940)

16. Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

17. The King and I (1956)

18. West Side Story (1961)

19. Borat (2006)

20. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

21. Donnie Darko (2001)

22. 50/50 (2011)

23. Little Women (1994)

24. The Family Man (2000)

25. Gattaca (1997)

26. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

27. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

28. Life is Beautiful (1997)

29. Parasite (2019)

30. American Beauty (1999)

31. Inglorious Basterds (2009)

32. Amadeus (1984)

33. Beetlejuice (1988)

34. The Pod Generation (2023)

35. A Man Called Otto (2022)

36. The Menu (2022)

That’s it for now! I think this may turn into my personal top 100 list with quite a few discarded titles, as I watch and review all these and more. What do you think I should put on my list asap? What’s your favorite movie?