Art of Cinema
Breathless (directed by Jean-Luc Godard)
Cinema Paradiso (directed by Giuseppe Tornatore)
The Double Life of Veronique (directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski)
Animated
The Illusionist (directed by Neil Burger)
My Neighbor Totoro (directed by Hayao Miyazaki)
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (directed by Isao Takahata)
Boxing
Cinderella Man (with Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger)
Million Dollar Baby (directed by Clint Eastwood)
Raging Bull (directed by Martin Scorsese)
Character Driven
City Lights (directed by Charlie Chaplin)
Nights of Cabiria (directed by Federico Fellini)
The Tin Drum (based on the novel by Gunter Grass)
Childhood
The 400 Blows (directed by Francois Truffaut)
Children of Heaven (directed by Majid Majidi)
Where is the Friend’s House? (directed by Abbas Kiarostami)
Comedy
The Apartment (directed by Billy Wilder)
Lost In Translation (directed by Sofia Coppola)
Sideways (directed by Alexander Payne)
Comic Books
American Splendor (with Paul Giamatti)
Crumb (directed by Terry Zwigoff)
Ghost World (directed by Terry Zwigoff)
Coming of Age
Frances Ha (with Greta Gerwig)
My Golden Days (directed by Arnaud Desplechin)
Slums of Beverly Hills (with Marisa Tomei)
Conversation
Before Sunrise/Before Sunset/Before Midnight
(these three films are directed by Richard Linklater)
My Dinner With Andre (directed by Louis Malle)
My Night at Maud’s (directed by Eric Rohmer)
Creative Process
Dancemaker (Paul Taylor)
David Hockney: A Bigger Picture
My Architect (Louis Kahn)
Crime
Bicycle Thieves (directed by Vittorio De Siva)
Pickpocket (directed by Robert Bresson)
A Simple Plan (directed by Sam Raimi)
Death
Ikiru (“To Live” directed by Akira Kurosawa)
Leaving Las Vegas (with Nicholas Cage and Elisabeth Shue)
Wings of Desire (directed by Wim Wenders)
Drugs
Blue Velvet (directed by David Lynch)
Drugstore Cowboy (directed by Gus Van Sant)
Winter’s Bone (with Jennifer Lawrence)
Education
The Class (directed by Laurent Cantet)
Dead Poet’s Society (directed by Peter Weir)
Not One Less (directed by Zhang Yimou)
Employment
The Big City (directed by Satyagit Ray)
Glengarry Glen Ross (directed by David Mamet)
Two Days, One Night (directed by the Dardenne brothers)
Environment
The Gleaners and I (directed by Agnes Varda)
The Unforeseen (directed by Laura Dunn)
Waste Land (directed by Lucy Walker)
Family
Pather Panchali (directed by Satyagit Ray)
Roma (directed by Alfonso Cuaron)
Tokyo Story (directed by Yasujiro Ozu)
Film Noir
Blood Simple (Frances McDermott’s first film role)
Double Indemnity (directed by Billy Wilder)
Elevator To The Gallows (directed by Louis Malle)
Food
Babette’s Feast (directed by Gabriel Axel)
Eat Drink Man Woman (directed by Ang Lee)
Julie & Julia (directed by Nora Ephron)
Future
Babel (directed by Alejandro Inarritu)
Emerald Forest (directed by John Boorman)
Lives of Others
These three movies present three different visions of the future. The
events which occur in “Babel” take place a complex, interconnected
world similar to our present world. “Emerald Forest” shows us what it
might be like to return to a primitive, natural state. “Lives of Others” is
a devastating look at life under constant government surveillance.
Girl Power
Cleo from 5 to 7 (directed by Agnes Varda)
My Brilliant Career (directed by Gillian Armstrong)
Real Women Have Curves (with America Ferrera)
Heist
The Killing (directed by Stanley Kubrick)
Reservoir Dogs (directed by Quentin Tarantino)
Sexy Beast (with Ben Kingsley)
Homelessness
Midnight Cowboy (directed by Jon Schlesinger)
Vagabond (directed by Agnes Varda)
Wendy and Lucy (directed by Kelly Reichardt)
Immigration
The Band’s Visit
Secret of the Grain (directed by Abdel Kechiche)
Stranger Than Paradise (directed by Jim Jarmusch)
John Steinbeck
East of Eden (with James Dean)
Grapes of Wrath (directed by John Ford)
Of Mice and Men (with John Malkovich)
Justice
Rashomon (directed by Akira Kurosawa)
A Separation (directed by Asghar Farhadi)
The Verdict (directed by Sidney Lumet)
Loss
Au revoir les enfants (directed by Louis Malle)
The Last Picture Show (directed by Peter Bogdanovich)
Paris, Texas (directed by Wim Wenders)
Love
La Strada (directed by Federico Fellini)
The Road Home (directed by Zhang Yimou)
Smiles of a Summer Night (directed by Ingmar Bergman)
Mental Illness
An Angel at My Table (directed by Jane Campion)
Betty Blue (directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix)
The Devil and Daniel Johnson
Music
Buena Vista Social Club (directed by Wim Wenders)
The Commitments (directed by Alan Parker)
Muscle Shoals (the famous recording studio)
Musicals
La La Land (directed by Damien Chazelle)
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (directed by Jacques Demy)
West Side Story
Old Age
About Schmidt (directed by Alexander Payne)
The Trip to Bountiful (with Geraldine Page)
Wild Strawberries (directed by Ingmar Bergman)
Outsiders
A History of Violence (directed by David Cronenberg)
Match Point (directed by Woody Allen)
Witness (directed by Peter Weir)
People With Issues
The Apostle (with Robert Duvall)
Monster’s Ball (with Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton)
Scent of a Woman (with Al Pacino)
Prison
Birdman of Alcatraz (with Burt Lancaster)
Down By Law (directed by Jim Jarmusch)
A Man Escaped (directed by Robert Bresson)
Recovery
Blue (directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski)
Crazy Heart (with Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal)
Down To The Bone (directed by Debra Granik)
Relationships
Blue Valentine (with Michelle Williams)
Jules and Jim (directed by Francois Truffaut)
Summer With Monika (directed by Ingmar Bergman)
Religion
21 Grams (directed by Alejandro Inarritu)
The Decalogue (directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski)
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring
(directed by Kim Ki-Duk)
Revenge
Jean de Florette (with Gerard Depardieu)
Virgin Spring (directed by Ingmar Bergman)
Manon of the Spring (with Emmanuelle Beart)
Romance
In The Mood for Love (directed by Wong Kar Wai)
Remains of the Day (with Emma Thompson)
Sense and Sensibility (with Emma Thompson)
Romantic Comedy
Emma (with Gweneth Paltrow)
Room With A View (directed by James Ivory)
Silver Linings Playbook (with Jennifer Lawrence)
Sex
Lolita (directed by Stanley Kubrick)
Sex, Lies, and Videotape (directed by Steven Soderbergh)
Y tu mama tambien (directed by Alfonso Cuaron)
Suspense
Rear Window (directed by Alfred Hitchcock)
Knife in the Water (directed by Roman Polanski)
The Vanishing (directed by George Sluizer)
Teens Run Amok
Heavenly Creatures (with a very young Kate Winslet)
River’s Edge (with Dennis Hopper and Crispin Glover)
Welcome To The Doll House (directed by Todd Solondz)
Tragedy
American Beauty (directed by Sam Mendes)
Days of Heaven (directed by Terrence Malick)
The Salesman (directed by Asghar Farhadi)
Unique
The Cruise (inspiring New York City bus tour)
Run Lola Run (with Franka Potente)
Spellbound (nerdy spelling bee contestants)
War
The Cranes are Flying (directed by Mikhail Kalatozov)
Hiroshima mon amour (directed by Alain Resnais)
Paths of Glory (directed by Stanley Kubrick)
Westerns
High Noon (with Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly)
The Searchers (directed by John Ford)
Treasure of the Sierra Madre (directed by John Huston)
Whimsical
Amelie (directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
Being There (directed by Hal Ashby)
Ground Hog Day (with Bill Murray)
Wilderness
Dersu Uzala (directed by Akira Kurosawa)
Woman In The Dunes (directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (directed by Peter Weir)
Additional Music Related Movies
Be Here To Love Me (Townes Van Zandt)
A Hard Day’s Night (The Beatles)
The Last Waltz (directed by Martin Scorsese)
The Other Side of the Mirror (Bob Dylan)
Twenty Feet From Stardom (back-up singers)