100 Films to Watch If You're Going to Study Film (Pt. 5)

As I have said, I had another one of these already planned. I'm not going to lie to you—I planned them all before I started writing part one. Hopefully, this is the last part in the series (I say hopefully because, well, you never know with me, I tend to drag it out for as long as physically possible).

The films you require to watch are not really just limited to this series of 500, there's many more films internationally, from a different era and from different studios that you may want to check out in your own time.

I love writing about film because, well see my profile for details. Giving you the direction to look at films that you've probably never studied or heard of is always good for analysis. The more popular and the more cult films that have a following normally have amassed some sort of saturation when it comes to analysis anyway. The whole point is to do something that other people haven't done.

Once you get into practicing film analysis, you'll see that noticing the little things in the film comes easier and easier to you. The whole point is to notice those details because normally, there's a reason behind them.

This entire series again is dedicated to a good friend of mine. A director in the making and a woman who is very clever and really good at film studies already.

This is going to work exactly the same way as last time. I'll put a (*) next to my favourites and talk a bit about some of them as we go through. Remember, I never put a film I haven't watched on my lists - it would defeat the purpose.

401-410

401. 42nd Street

402. Mutiny on the Bounty

403. The Gay Divorcee

404. Shanghai Express

405. Cimarron*

406. A Farewell to Arms

407. David Copperfield [1935 version]

408. Calvacade

409. The Life of Emile Zola*

This is one great biopic, so good actually that it was nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award (but for the life of me, I cannot remember whether it won or not). If you are looking to make a classic style biopic on epic proportions then you probably want to watch this film as it's one of the first and one of the best out there.

410. A Star is Born [1937 version]

411-420

411. The Grapes of Wrath*

This film's dialogue is brilliant. The way the dialect and accents come together to really show character and then, we have what the people say. There's a small speech in this film about seeing someone getting beaten up by a cop and it's one of the most beautiful short speeches that you'll watch. It's heavily emotional even though there's little sound and no music creating the atmosphere. You still get the atmosphere and it comes from the dialogue.

412. Lady for a Day

413. For Whom the Bell Tolls

414. Going My Way

415. Miracle on 34th Street

416. Heaven Can Wait

417. Here Comes Mr. Jordan

418. The Razor's Edge [1946 version]

419. King Solomon's Mines [1950 version]

420. The Greatest Show on Earth*

421-430

421. An American in Paris

422. The Red Shoes

423. The Quiet Man

424. All the King's Men

425. Ivanhoe

426. Julius Caesar [1953 version]

427. The King and I

428. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof*

This story adapted from the play written by Tennessee Williams [author of "A Streetcar Named Desire] is quite possibly one of the most insane dramas you'll ever see in terms of dialogue. If you want to learn how to write a Southern Gothic Screenplay then you need to read this play and you need to watch the film. That's all I'm saying. It's amazing, you will not be disappointed.

429. Marty [1955]

430. Tom Jones [1963 version]

431-440

431. Sons and Lovers [1960 version]

432. Gigi

433. My Fair Lady

434. Roman Holiday

435. Zorba the Greek

436. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?*

437. Around the World in 80 Days [1956 version]

438. Sayonara [1957 version]

439. Bonnie and Clyde* [1967 version]

This film is a classic of crime docudrama cinema. This film basically invented the biographical drama and blasted it into stardom, not to say there weren't any before it's just that this film was very damn good at it. The best thing about this film is its depiction of criminality—you want to have a look at how Bonnie and Clyde talk to each other, using dialogue and body language. It is very good to study if you want to go into directing a cast.

440. Z

441-450

441. The Last Picture Show

442. The Towering Inferno

443. Fiddler on the Roof

444. An Unmarried Woman

445. Norma Rae

446. Bound for Glory*

One of the best biopics ever, it is based on the autobiography of the legendary Woody Guthrie. It goes through his amazing life story and like "The Life of Emile Zola" I would recommend watching this if you want to study one of the following: biopic, biographical drama, historical drama and even American Western. The brilliance in character in this film is pretty great, you probably want to borrow some stuff from this.

447. Cabaret

448. Chariots of Fire

449. Kramer vs. Kramer

450. Terms of Endearment

451-460

451. The Right Stuff

452. On Golden Pond

453. Ordinary People

454. Out of Africa

455. A Passage to India

456. Children of a Lesser God

457. Hope and Glory

458. Ghost*

This film is a masterpiece of cinematography and editing. You cannot convince me that this film isn't brilliantly edited, I mean just look at it. There is something incredible about the way this film cuts from one chronology to the other so smoothly. It's also on the list of my mom's favourite films, we always watch it when it comes on TV and I think I've seen it far more times than I would care to admit.

459. Driving Miss Daisy*

460. The Remains of the Day*

461-470

461. Mississippi Burning*

I always tell people to watch this film (and I believe it's on Netflix—at least it is in the UK). It is set during the Civil Rights Movement and is a brilliant historical fiction film. There is something epic about this film that you really need to see to believe. I love this film and I think you should definitely watch it to see it for yourself.

462. Beauty and the Beast [1991 version]

463. Kiss of the Spider Woman

464. The Crying Game

465. Apollo 13

466. The Colour Purple

467. The Sixth Sense*

Fun Fact: I first watched this film when I was about six or seven years old because my family made me and I'm not going to lie to you, the only reason I wasn't scared is because I had no idea what was going on for about 90%-95% of the film. When I was about 11 or 12, I started to appreciate the film for what it was, and excellent feat of storytelling and an achievement of cinematography and editing on a scale that this world has never seen. I have now proudly seen the film over 30 times and I can say there is nothing better than a rainy day, a black coffee and this film on a big screen.

468. Knight of Cups

469. The Hours*

An achievement in chronology and a brilliant adaptation from a novel, this film's editing is an amazing thing. The blends it has instead of just cuts is beautiful and seriously - if you want to study editing then this is the film for you. A brilliant film and an amazing book, this is really how you do an adaptation screenplay properly.

470. The Cider House Rules*

471-480

471. A Room with a View

472. Erin Brockovich*

473. Chocolat*

474. Finding Neverland*

An excellent achievement of biopic, this film covers the life of JM Barrie as portrayed by Johnny Depp. It really is a great film and the way in which the historical aspects are portrayed is amazing. You need to watch this if you're looking to cover a 19th Century figure for your next project because it feels so realistic. Yet, it is completely enchanting.

475. Dangerous Liaisons

476. The Pianist*

477. Babel*

478. Dead Poet's Society*

479. Capote*

Oh, this film is brilliant. Definitely the biggest film of Hoffman's entire career and well, it is a brilliantly stylised film. Not only is the character development through dialogue very strong, but also the character development is strong through cinematography and editing. The way the film had been put together is so clever that you would definitely want to watch it if you're studying biopics, I'll tell you that.

480. In the Name of the Father*

481-490

481. Mystic River

482. Good Night & Good Luck*

483. Shakespeare in Love

484. Michael Clayton

485. Frost/Nixon*

Anyone wanting to make a political drama based on real events needs to watch "Frost/Nixon" immediately. It is an incredible achievement of cinema history and I feel it is greatly under-appreciated for the masterpiece it is. It really does depict the era it is attempting at and the way dialogue is used to incriminate and interrogate is absolutely awesome. It really is a grand achievement in writing.

486. The Reader

487. The Hurt Locker*

488. Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire*

489. Black Swan

490. Midnight in Paris*

491-500

491. Inception*

492. Les Miserables

493. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*

The chronology and the editing of this film is basically epic. I would love for anyone wanted to study good editing to look at this film a few times because seriously, the story is mostly portrayed through the brilliance in cinematography and editing work. The camera crew for this film need a damn medal or something, this is incredible.

494. 127 Hours

495. War Horse

496. Extremely Loud, Incredibly Close

497. Zero Dark Thirty*

498. The Theory of Everything*

499. Spotlight*

This is one of my favourite films of all time. The dialogue of this film really makes the movie and I can honestly say it's about what the audience know and when they know it in the film that really matters. The editing between the different characters on the Spotlight Team are amazing and well, it gets really dark and really atmospheric at times. I really want you to watch this please!

500. District 9*

Conclusion

I hope you're enjoying this series of films because I really spend a lot of time making these you know. I have to first draft out all the films I'm going to cover by hand and then edit to check I haven't repeated myself. It's hard but not something that I can't do. This film list has been really fun in the making and I don't know whether I'm going to put my next one up just yet or save it for the end of Season 2.

Hopefully though, you're watching the ones you're into and taking in the various cinematography, editing, dialogue, character development aspects and much more. It all depends on what you want to specialise in.

Good luck on your next project!