“So what movies would you recommend?”
That’s a tough question-I know what I would recommend to young men who would like to be able to understand references and quotes from movies. This list is not the best 50 movies of all time-though they are all good. This list is the movies I think young men (thinking of my son) should watch to give them a primer on pop culture. These movies are in no particular order other than being grouped by directors / series. So here goes:
| Movie | Comments |
| Pulp Fiction | Quentin Tarantino’s best. Incredible cast, wonderful storytelling. Very NSFW-don’t watch this with your parents |
| Airplane! | My all time favorite comedy movie. The Zucker brother’s Midwest humor. Incredibly quotable. And don’t call me Shirley. |
| Alien | The progenitor of many space horror films. Sigourney Weaver’s breakout, Ridley Scott doing good things. |
| Aliens | The archetype of how a sequel can be different, and better, than the original. James Cameron doing it-the perfect action movie. Practical effects and sets. Michael Biehn as ‘pensive soldier guy’ (same as Terminator, The Rock) |
| Terminator | The only example of a time travel plot done right. James Cameron’s first real movie and it still holds up 40 years later. |
| Terminator 2 | Another example of a sequel being (nearly) as good as the original. Great re-use of characters in the original. |
| Star Wars | Wonderful story of wizards, knights, and princesses set in space. Harrison Ford’s put him on the map movie |
| Dumb and Dumber | Iconic comedy by the Farrelly brothers. If you like this watch Kingpin-there’s a scene at a bowling alley I got kicked out of at a kid. “So you’re saying there’s a chance?” |
| The Other Guys | The best comedy movie in the past 10 years. Very quotable. Will Farrell at his best heeled perfectly by Mark Wahlberg |
| Step Brothers | Awesome comedy-Will Ferrell and John C Reilly doing it. Let’s be honest-we’ve all wanted our own Prestige Worldwide |
| The Shawshank Redemption | Amazing movie. Stephen King adaptation. Great story, great cast, great execution, great ending |
| Shutter Island | Scorsese proving he can do it over and over again. Great thriller movie |
| Goodfellas | One of the best mobster movies. Joe Pesci shines. A movie where none of the main characters are good people, and that’s ok. |
| Casino | Same vein as Goodfellas. A wonderfully constructed mobster movie |
| The Departed | Irish mobsters. Amazing cast with a strong story and suspense |
| Fight Club | A movie that takes 2-3 watches to get everything. Brad Pitt and Edward Norton pairing wonderfully |
| Forrest Gump | The movie that, if you’re flipping channels on tv and it’s on you keep it on |
| Silence of the Lambs | Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster play great characters. Who know serial killers were so entertaining |
| The Usual Suspects | Bryan Singer’s map movie. Who is Kaiser Soze? |
| Saving Private Ryan | The best war movie ever made in terms of getting the emotions of war correct. The 101st. Yet another movie where people are risking their lives to save Matt Damon |
| Interstellar | Good Christopher Nolan. Great use of sound and music (watch in Atmos if you can). Supposedly good science as well |
| Back to the Future | Ok-another movie where time travel works. 1980s cinema at it’s best. Electric guitars, deloreans, 88 miles per hour |
| Raiders of the Lost Ark | The first and best Indiana Jones movie. One of the best characters in movie history. My impetus to want to be an archeologist when I was a kid |
| Django Unchained | Another great Tarantino film. Jamie Foxx shines, great sound, great score |
| Toy Story | The best of all the great Pixar movies |
| Inside Out | The most underrated of all the Pixar movies. So creative and spot on to adolescence |
| Inglorious Bastards | Tarantino-Nazis-Bears |
| Good Will Hunting | An all time great. Mathematics was never so interesting |
| Scarface | Quotable. The inspiration for every rapper’s career, ever. Push it to the limit |
| Monty Python and the Holy Grail | With Airplane as the best comedies ever. Just so, so good. So quotable |
| Die Hard | The best Christmas movie ever made. I need some bearer bonds. |
| Batman Begins | Nolan doing a gritty batman series. Michael Caine as Alfred is amazing |
| Children of Men | One of the best apocalypse movies, showing society breaking down from a creative stressor. So real and in your face. |
| A Beautiful Mind | Russell Crowe is great as a West Virginia math genius. |
| Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels | A Guy Ritchie movie for the list. If you enjoy this check out Snatch and The Gentlemen |
| Mad Max Fury Road | Tough to pick one, but this is an amazing work in the Mad Max universe. Practical vehicles and limited CGI. Witness me! |
| Blade Runner | A sci-fi short story adapted to film in a great way. Is Decker a replicant or isn’t he? I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe… |
| Blade Runner 2049 | The start of the Denis Villeneuve movies (Sicario, Arrival). Wonderfully crafted movie of love to the original. |
| Sicario | Drug cartels and federal agents in Texas. Incredible use of tension with a message. Wonderful filmmaking |
| Arrival | A movie about language and love. |
| Starship Troopers | The director of Robocop doing a great parody movie. The book, unfortunately, is serious and wonderful in its own way. Come on you apes, do you want to live forever? |
| Inception | Nolan at his best. Incredibly creative with practical sets when CGI would’ve been the easy way out |
| The Big Labowski | Quotes, quotes, quotes. The dude just wanted his rug back, it brought the room together |
| Full Metal Jacket | War movie to quote. This, Platoon, and the Deer Hunter capture the Vietnam War |
| The Martian | Noble adaptation of the book. Amazing casting-have to call out Benedict Wong and the JPL guys as exactly as you’d think they would be |
| 1917 | Buckle up! Single shot movie in World War 1-technically amazing and well acted. Includes Sherlock Holmes, Merlin, Galahad, Robb Stark, and Moriarty all have appearances |
| Jurassic Park | One of the best Michael Crichton movies. Check out the book! One of the two movies where Jeff Goldblum says “Must go faster” |
| Contact | Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey-a great movie about alien contact and the process |
| Pacific Rim | A great monster movie. Wonderful in 4k and Atmos-practical sets, limited CGI! |
| 300 | A great adaptation of a graphic novel about the Spartans fighting the Persian army. Visuals are incredible and very quotable |
Please send any questions or comments to Matt@Lamplightlab.com