Classic films might make such a list for a number of reasons including the historic nature of the film or the importance it has in a particular genre.
The American Film Institute updated its list of 100 Classic films in 2007 based on a vote of 1,500 film artists, critics, and historians.
My personal viewing bucket list of the 100 chosen is a little light. In fact, of the top 20 films - I've only seen 12. That sounds like a good miniature movie bucket list.
Jogging through the cable lists the other night in search of one of the free movie channels worthy of recording, I came across Sunset Boulevard.
I had never seen it, and wasn't completely sure what it was about. But, I knew it was a movie I needed to see. 11 Academy Award Nominations with wins in the categories Best Writing, Best Art Direction, and Best Music; and placed as the 16th best movie of all time.
Labeled a "Classic," the 1950 film starring Gloria Swanson and William Holden drew me in immediately. Filmed in black and white, it begins in a swimming pool with a narrative flash back to instruct the viewer how the body in the water came to such an end. Swanson is silent film star Norma Desmond, a has - been in a world that's past her by while Holden is Joe Gillis, a never-was struggling screenwriter.
Yanked into another world preserved as Desmond's moment in time, Gillis tries to stay ahead of the repo men who want his car and find enough money to make the rent. Desmond has her own comeback planned with a story she wants to play on the silver screen and enlists the writer to help ready it for the film studio.
The movie stands the test of time, a riveting story of love, conflict, and losing (or never finding) your place in history. There are funny moments and deep insights.
If you haven't seen it, you will likely still know two famous lines from the movie: "I am big. It's the pictures that got small." and "All right Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."
While you see the end of the movie at the beginning - you have to follow the twists and turns to get back in the pool... it's worth the trip.
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