The silent era and classic hollywood recommendations.

I'm still quite new to earlier films since it didnt interest me when I was younger. In recent years I've become very interested in it however after the Marx Brothers showed me its not nearly as stuffy as I first thought it was.

I did already own Cassablanca and watched it, since its often referenced in other media. Good movie, probably the best one I've seen thats about WW2.. It was shot during the war and it seems to give a certain tension to the story that you won't find in any WW2 movie made after the war. They didnt know yet how it would end, and you simply can tell.

It's a true classic, and a must see for everyone.

I can definatly recommend any marx brothers movies as well, though I havent seen all of them yet.
Opposed to other comedians at the time, they werent the underdog or involved in repetitive slapstick. They did practicly everything. Wisecracking, acrobatics, dancing, singing, some slapstick, It's pure anarchy. It's like they are invading movies and poking fun at the situations from the inside. Looney Tunes and Animaniacs where clearly strongly inspired by them.
Here is a clip from Duck Soup, which is still my favorite.


I'll post more recommendations later on, please share your recommendations, opinions and such about this movie period of time that seems practicly forgotten these days.

For the silent era:
Metropolis (but you may like the rock soundtrack more. I did.)


The 1984 edition of Metropolis (annoying disco soundtrack but Freddy Mercury sings three times). It got a Razzie Award since purists hated that he'd changed the original soundtrack. 30 minutes of the original film was lost, so get the latest print you can locate it (past 2010 if possible).


Battleship Potemkin


The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari


Nosferatu (But follow up with the postmodern film Shadow of the Vampire)


Any Harold Lloyd film


Charlie Chaplain in Modern Times (not completely silent)


If you see those films, you'd generally have seen the most important ones of the silent era. There's lots more like the repulsive Birth of a Nation, but its so objectionable that it's hard to stomach, but famous for being the first to use all sorts of film techniques used today.

Rubicon basically listed your Intro to Cinema 101 college film list.

If one ever goes to film school the Battle Ship Potemkin's Odessa Steps sequence comes out as perhaps one of the most important sequences constructed in film history.

Anyway, other silent era films of the silent era would be The Shiek, The Great Train Robbery, and Birth of a Nation. Oh, and the original silent era Ben Hur is really an interesting film to watch. Especially to compare and contrast the horse race sequence with the 59' version.

Agreed. I had to watch Birth of a Nation several times. It makes a thinking person's skin crawl to watch it, but it is extremely important regarding film technique. In that D. W. Griffin was a genius.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_a_Nation

Some film students might appreciate this list, but certainly argue about the listings within it. It is supposed to be the most important films by year. They are not the most profitable but in their minds the most critically important films but limited by ten a year. That will of course painfully remove a lot of vital films, particularly as time goes on.
http://www.theyshootpictures.com/gf1000.htm

You might like the AFI list as well:
http://www.afi.com/100years/movies.aspx

and the BFI list:
http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/50-greatest-films-all-time

Both websites review current films and top 100 films and have reviews for older films.

For a populist version of this you have imdb.com and rotten tomatoes. That's honestly not much better than voting on American Idol. I'm probably not ever going to be the person that like what the average person in the street likes in cinema, there is no Fanfare for the Common Man playing in the back of my mind as I review a film.

For foreign films you have to do special searches:
http://www.empireonline.com/features...-cinema-films/

There is a heavy weight on American, British, French, Italian, and Japanese films. That's honestly not very fair. Certainly there are some outstanding films from diverse places like the former Soviet Union, Iran, Scandanavian countries, etc.

In terms of one site to find the most important films of past decades, with an emphasis on foreign films, look here:
http://www.criterion.com/
That's not a commerical endorsement by the way. Purchase films whereever you like. A lot of these find their way into university libraries in America. I hope that's true worldwide, as the prints are usually of very high caliber, and the only way to see hundreds and thousands of films is by checking them out from a library as otherwise it's only for the wealthy connoisseur.

Double Indemnity - classic film noir

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKdcYnlkhx8