Really? You've NEVER seen that Classic Film?

[dianedebuda]

Seven Samurai.

TCM shows that periodically. IMO, it's worth viewing.

The Man with No Name Trilogy

I've never been able to get through those. Out-of-sync dialog drives me nuts and since the English was dubbed over many non-English speaking actors, sync can never happen.

[speedracer5]

Up until last year, I had never seen The Goonies. I felt like I was JUST on the cusp of too old to identify with the young kids in the movie, and too young to identify with the older teens. I just couldn't get interested in seeing it. Meanwhile no one else in my age group and younger had that issue, apparently. I don't know if we can consider The Goonies a classic film at this point, but it's one that comes to mind that "everyone" saw at the time. Except me.

Side note: I didn't care for it last year when I finally DID see it.

My generation (I was born in 1984) seems to have this nostalgia for "The Goonies" and I find it to be very meh. It's fine, but it's hardly the best film I've ever seen, nor is it a film that I need to see again and again. The only thing that keeps me from ignoring it completely is that it was filmed in my home state of Oregon--in Astoria, Oregon to be exact. Visitors to Astoria can see "The Goonies House." Though it can only be seen from the outside as it is a private residence.

[speedracer5]

Is it possible there exists out there a classic horror movie that might open that door to epiphany and make horror a real exciting thing on a screen? Where is my Delilah in the horror genre?

Laffite, I wonder if The Old Dark House (1932) might be a horror film that you would like. It's based on a play by J.B. Priestley and features an assortment of creepy characters and no gore. It also includes many traditional horror movie tropes. And Lawrence Olivier's then mother-in-law plays one of the most singular characters!

I came to horror films early in life, when I began watching Shock Theater at the age of about nine. Later, I studied Theology with Jesuits and found that the themes of horror were covered in my coursework. I particularly enjoyed my Demonology course.

But I do understand that some genres just don't appeal to some people. Although I've seen many "Noir" films, that's far from my favorite genre, and I think it gets overplayed among cineastes.

I'm not the biggest fan of horror movies either, but I love The Old Dark House. It is genuinely creepy. We really never know what the deal is with the Femms or Boris Karloff's character. But the film is also funny, like the entire "please pass the po-tay-toes" dinner scene.

My issue with horror movies is that so many of them are so cliche. I get sick of the movies featuring the creepy house, or the killer that's chasing everyone, the tropes like characters running toward the danger instead of away, or the weird creatures. I hated The Exorcist. But I do like the cheesy classic slasher movies like Halloween, the original Friday the 13th, etc. I also hate the movies with the realistic gore. But I do enjoy the Universal Monster movies, James Whale horror, and Val Lewton.

[CinemaInternational]

Up until last year, I had never seen The Goonies. I felt like I was JUST on the cusp of too old to identify with the young kids in the movie, and too young to identify with the older teens. I just couldn't get interested in seeing it. Meanwhile no one else in my age group and younger had that issue, apparently. I don't know if we can consider The Goonies a classic film at this point, but it's one that comes to mind that "everyone" saw at the time. Except me.

Side note: I didn't care for it last year when I finally DID see it.

My generation (I was born in 1984) seems to have this nostalgia for "The Goonies" and I find it to be very meh. It's fine, but it's hardly the best film I've ever seen, nor is it a film that I need to see again and again. The only thing that keeps me from ignoring it completely is that it was filmed in my home state of Oregon--in Astoria, Oregon to be exact. Visitors to Astoria can see "The Goonies House." Though it can only be seen from the outside as it is a private residence.

This was another film that I might have added to my unseen list. I did catch the opening minutes of The Goonies on TV within the last three years, and found those opening sequences to be numbingly arch in the sheer amount of incessant noise. I might be of an age where I could have grown up with it, but it was just too shrill for me. But I do realize that the film is born aloft on a high level of Gen X/Millennial nostalgia to this day, and you can even see it apply to this year's Oscar race where former Goonie Ke Huy Quan is the odds on favorite to win Supporting Actor this year (albeit in a subpar picture that is weirdly adored) even though its only his first acting performance in over 20 years.


I think that Astoria, Oregon had another brush of 90s nostalgia when they filmed Kindergarten Cop there, which I will admit is a guilty pleasure of sorts of mine.

But I quoted you directly because I feel like you hit on something with generations that came of age in the 80s and beyond, that, maybe in part due to constant replays on videotapes (I can claim to be guilty in some of these cases), many kids films of the period are put on some sort of a golden popularity pedestal (some of which, like Beauty and the Beast, are good films, while others are decidedly not) where they remain the most talked about titles of their era, while some choice titles aimed at adults crying out for more attention slip farther and farther into neglect and oblivion. (It seems from Lawrence's list of most "popular" titles by year on Letterboxd left unseen that that website is awash with lots of 90s kids)

[Dargo]

Up until last year, I had never seen The Goonies. I felt like I was JUST on the cusp of too old to identify with the young kids in the movie, and too young to identify with the older teens.

My generation (I was born in 1984) seems to have this nostalgia for "The Goonies" and I find it to be very meh. It's fine, but it's hardly the best film I've ever seen, nor is it a film that I need to see again and again. The only thing that keeps me from ignoring it completely is that it was filmed in my home state of Oregon--in Astoria, Oregon to be exact. Visitors to Astoria can see "The Goonies House." Though it can only be seen from the outside as it is a private residence.

But I quoted you directly because I feel like you hit on something with generations that came of age in the 80s and beyond, that, maybe in part due to constant replays on videotapes (I can claim to be guilty in some of these cases), many kids films of the period are put on some sort of a golden popularity pedestal (some of which, like Beauty and the Beast, are good films, while others are decidedly not) where they remain the most talked about titles of their era, while some choice titles aimed at adults crying out for more attention slip farther and farther into neglect and oblivion. (It seems from Lawrence's list of most "popular" titles by year on Letterboxd left unseen that that website is awash with lots of 90s kids)

In this same vein, I'll now suggest the movie E.T. definitely falls into this category. This film premiered in 1982 and when I was 30 years old. I remember thinking that the movie was "cute" as I walked out of the first-run theater I watched it in, but nothing more than that. However, it seems to this day to have had a very strong following among those who are a generation younger than myself and who were in their pre-teen to teenaged years at the time.

(...and I don't believe I've ever watched it again after that first time)

[CinemaInternational]

The Most Popular American Movie From Each Year (According to Letterboxd) That I Haven't Seen

1920 - The Mark of Zorro
1921 - The Sheik
1922 - Robin Hood
1923 - The Pilgrim
1924 - Girl Shy
1925 - Lady Windermere's Fan
1926 - Battling Butler
1927 - The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg
1928 - Show People
1929 - Lucky Star

1930 - Free and Easy
1931 - The Cheat
1932 - Jewel Robbery
1933 - Pilgrimage
1934 - The Count of Monte Cristo
1935 - The Good Fairy
1936 - Craig's Wife
1937 - Heidi
1938 - Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
1939 - The Flying Deuces

1940 - Arise My Love
1941 - Two-Faced Woman
1942 - The Moon and Sixpence
1943 - Girl Crazy
1944 - The Suspect
1945 - The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry
1946 - Make Mine Music!
1947 - Dreams That Money Can Buy
1948 - The Big Clock
1949 - Shockproof

1950 - Treasure Island
1951 - The Tall Target
1952 - Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie
1953 - I Love Melvin
1954 - Naked Alibi
1955 - Wichita
1956 - Great Day in the Morning
1957 - The River's Edge
1958 - Terror in a Texas Town
1959 - No Name on a Bullet

1960 - The 3 Worlds of Gulliver
1961 - Too Late Blues
1962 - Gay Purr-ee
1963 - The Incredible Journey
1964 - Nothing But a Man
1965 - Who Killed Teddy Bear?
1966 - The Endless Summer
1967 - How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
1968 - Blackbeard's Ghost
1969 - Model Shop

1970 - Husbands
1971 - A New Leaf
1972 - What's Up Doc?
1973 - Jesus Christ Superstar
1974 - The Front Page
1975 - Cooley High
1976 - Mikey and Nicky
1977 - The Serpent's Egg
1978 - The Silent Partner
1979 - Hair

1980 - Times Square
1981 - My Dinner With Andre
1982 - Losing Ground
1983 - Born in Flames
1984 - Love Streams
1985 - Desert Hearts
1986 - Mala Noche
1987 - Can't Buy Me Love
1988 - Crossing Delancey
1989 - All Dogs Go to Heaven

1990 - Metropolitan
1991 - My Girl
1992 - The Muppet Christmas Carol
1993 - The Sandlot
1994 - Richie Rich
1995 - A Little Princess
1996 - Matilda
1997 - Anastasia
1998 - The Parent Trap
1999 - The Thomas Crown Affair

2000 - High Fidelity
2001 - Legally Blonde
2002 - Scooby-Doo
2003 - Freaky Friday
2004 - 13 Going on 30
2005 - The Pacifier
2006 - She's the Man
2007 - Alvin & the Chipmunks
2008 - The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
2009 - 17 Again

2010 - Despicable Me
2011 - Friends With Benefits
2012 - Wreck-It Ralph
2013 - Frozen
2014 - The Book of Life
2015 - Minions
2016 - Moana
2017 - Paddington 2
2018 - Love, Simon
2019 - Toy Story 4

2020 - Sonic the Hedgehog
2021 - Malcolm & Marie
2022 - Avatar: The Way of Water

Lawrence, saw that list of most popular films by year on Letterboxd, that you have not seen. Quite a few seem to belie the average age of members over there, or that some branch back on a streaming service availability model.

The best of the ones I saw or those were the bittersweet The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg, which I think just slipped into the public domain, so it might be popping up on YouTube one of these days, the sophisticated Jewel Robbery, the slightly atypical John Ford film Pilgrimage, the light The Good Fairy, the noir The Big Clock, the two Elaine May films (the dark comedy A New Leaf and the crime drama Mikey and Nicky), What's Up Doc, and the New York-centric pair of Crossing Delancey and Metropolitan.

The remake of The Thomas Crown Affair is a surprisingly good film. Of the "fluffy" kids films and musicals, How to Succeed has a very welcome satirical bite to it (it still holds up well) while Matilda is the most cheerfully spiky and subversive one of the 90s kids film brigade, with decidedly mordant humor. (That said, I also like My Girl, which is much more bittersweet and somber than the perky ads would indicate, with much talk about death. It also had one of Jamie Lee Curtis' best performances, one far more nuanced and multifaceted than the one she got nominated for this year)

Arise My Love must have felt topical in 1940 urging for intervention in WWII a year before Pearl Harbor, but the film bits off a bit more than it can chew.

Hair really doesn't hold up outside of a stunning song sequence or two (an unknown named Cheryl Barnes blows away the rest of the film with just one big song : "Easy to Be Hard", which is so much better than everything else around it that it makes everything else look pretty shabby).

Model Shop is subpar Jacques Demy, next to insufferable whenever Anouk Aimee is not on screen, which unfortunately is about two thirds of the film.

Cooley High and High Fidelity are ultimately aimless films without any discernible plotlines that hold up, though the former begins well and has a solid ending.

I thought Legally Blonde was a lot of fun, something that felt like a breezy throwback to the Joan Blondell comedies of the 30s, but knowing full well how you don't much like Reese Witherspoon, I would humbly recommend for you to avoid it aince she pretty much was the whole show here. (You might not mind her film debut, The Man in the Moon though as her later on screen mannerisms are not as apparent, and the film itself is a beautifully handled mood piece of love and loss)

[LawrenceA]

Lawrence, saw that list of most popular films by year on Letterboxd, that you have not seen.

Wow, thanks for that in-depth commentary on the list. I was hoping somebody might point out a few that stood out for them. I watched Husbands this evening, so now the most popular unseen American film from 1970 for me is Puzzle of a Downfall Child. I see on Letterboxd that you liked that one quite a bit.

[CinemaInternational]

Lawrence, saw that list of most popular films by year on Letterboxd, that you have not seen.

Wow, thanks for that in-depth commentary on the list. I was hoping somebody might point out a few that stood out for them. I watched Husbands this evening, so now the most popular unseen American film from 1970 for me is Puzzle of a Downfall Child. I see on Letterboxd that you liked that one quite a bit.

Thank you for posting in the first place! I might do such a post myself in the near future now that you made me curious about which ones placed where.


Yes, Puzzle of a Downfall Child is a fascinating film, a film that hinges entirely on the central performance.... and that central performance is one of Faye Dunaway's finest hours. I feel that her work here is every bit on level with her work in Chinatown and Bonnie and Clyde.

[BagelOnAPlate]

I have never seen Gone With The Wind in its entirety.

I may be the only classic movie fan who hasn't.

[Feinberg]

LawrenceA wrote: ↑
Wow, thanks for that in-depth commentary on the list. I was hoping somebody might point out a few that stood out for them. I watched Husbands this evening, so now the most popular unseen American film from 1970 for me is Puzzle of a Downfall Child. I see on Letterboxd that you liked that one quite a bit.

I saw Jesus Christ Superstar at a rep house for 99 cents. Seated in the same aisle was a woman with the voice of Mrs. Miller who belted out the lyrics to all of the tunes as they played. Hilarious. Good job almost everyone was stoned.

[Feinberg]

I have still to see The Last Command (1927). Thankfully I have a copy.
And I would like to see the Oscar nominated The White Parade (1934) with Loretta Young. My guess is so would a lot of other people too. I think it can only be viewed at UCLA and who knows how often they are likely to show it.

[txfilmfan]

I have never seen Gone With The Wind in its entirety.

I may be the only classic movie fan who hasn't.

You're not. I've only watched it once, when it had its network TV premiere back in the 1970s (over two nights). I didn't see all of it then, and I haven't watched it on its many airings on TCM since.

[Lomm]

My generation (I was born in 1984) seems to have this nostalgia for "The Goonies" and I find it to be very meh. It's fine, but it's hardly the best film I've ever seen, nor is it a film that I need to see again and again. The only thing that keeps me from ignoring it completely is that it was filmed in my home state of Oregon--in Astoria, Oregon to be exact. Visitors to Astoria can see "The Goonies House." Though it can only be seen from the outside as it is a private residence.

But I quoted you directly because I feel like you hit on something with generations that came of age in the 80s and beyond, that, maybe in part due to constant replays on videotapes (I can claim to be guilty in some of these cases), many kids films of the period are put on some sort of a golden popularity pedestal (some of which, like Beauty and the Beast, are good films, while others are decidedly not) where they remain the most talked about titles of their era, while some choice titles aimed at adults crying out for more attention slip farther and farther into neglect and oblivion. (It seems from Lawrence's list of most "popular" titles by year on Letterboxd left unseen that that website is awash with lots of 90s kids)

In this same vein, I'll now suggest the movie E.T. definitely falls into this category. This film premiered in 1982 and when I was 30 years old. I remember thinking that the movie was "cute" as I walked out of the first-run theater I watched it in, but nothing more than that. However, it seems to this day to have had a very strong following among those who are a generation younger than myself and who were in their pre-teen to teenaged years at the time.

(...and I don't believe I've ever watched it again after that first time)

I agree with this point, and can use myself as a reference, being 12 when E.T. was released. I saw it in the theaters ELEVEN times. It's still one of my most beloved 80s movies. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

[dianedebuda]

Another film I've never seen: Mildred Piece (1945). Have read that Joan Crawford is very good in it, but haven't seen anything of hers except Grand Hotel (1932) that I've liked.

[Stevomachino]

The Most Popular American Movie From Each Year (According to Letterboxd) That I Haven't Seen

Lawrence, saw that list of most popular films by year on Letterboxd, that you have not seen.

Lawrence, I'll echo a few of CinemaInternational's recommendations.
I find Laughton to be watchable in just about anything, and The Big Clock (1948) is no exception. He and Milland both are good in this one. And The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) remake really IS surprisingly good, and quite slick.

Others on your list that I enjoy include:
The Disney live-action romp The Incredible Journey (1963). It's a fun little adventure of two dogs and a cat trying to make it home to their family, and features some nice scenic location shots highlighting the beauty of the Pacific Northwest and Canada.

Can't Buy Me Love (1987) shares a lot of the tropes found in many of those 80's teen comedies, but a young Patrick Dempsey elevates this slightly over some of the others. A high school "loser" concocts a plan to pay the most popular girl in school to pretend to date him, in an effort to gain popularity. Hijinks ensue. It's not high art, but I have a soft spot for it.

Wreck-It Ralph (2012) is from the Disney animation studio, and features an arcade video game character "bad-guy" on a quest to shed his reputation and become a hero. There are lots of references to video games from the early 80's to the present, so this can hit the nostalgia button for many, but your mileage may vary. Regardless, it's fun and entertaining.