I came across “1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die” List today. I started to review it and think I’d follow it and then… then I start wondering why these films. Some are just downright odd picks. So I’m going through the American Film Institute’s 100 Films list. And I’ve also decided to start a list – culled from my own viewing and other sources – of Top Films for Women to Watch.
I’ve put both lists alphabetical just because it’s easier to review that way. Love your recommendations for films in the “comment” section.
The Code
= SEEN | = DEFINITE YAY | = NOT A FAN | = TO WATCH ON NETFLIX | = TO WATCH ON AMAZON
AFI Top 100
- 12 ANGRY MEN (1957)
- 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)
- A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971)
- A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (1935)
- A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951)
- ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)
- ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (1976)
- AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)
- ANNIE HALL (1977)
- APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)
- BEN-HUR (1959)
- BLADE RUNNER (1982)
- BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967)
- BRINGING UP BABY (1938)
- BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969)
- CABARET (1972)
- CASABLANCA (1942)
- CHINATOWN (1974)
- CITIZEN KANE (1941)
- CITY LIGHTS (1931)
- DO THE RIGHT THING (1989)
- DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)
- DR. STRANGELOVE (1964)
- DUCK SOUP (1933)
- E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982)
- EASY RIDER (1969)
- FORREST GUMP (1994)
- GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)
- GOODFELLAS (1990)
- HIGH NOON (1952)
- IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967)
- INTOLERANCE (1916)
- IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)
- IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)
- JAWS (1975)
- KING KONG (1933)
- LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)
- M*A*S*H (1970)
- MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969)
- MODERN TIMES (1936)
- MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939)
- NASHVILLE (1975)
- NETWORK (1976)
- NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
- ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)
- ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST (1975)
- PLATOON (1986)
- PSYCHO (1960)
- PULP FICTION (1994)
- RAGING BULL (1980)
- RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)
- REAR WINDOW (1954)
- ROCKY (1976)
- SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998)
- SCHINDLER’S LIST (1993)
- SHANE (1953)
- SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (1952)
- SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937)
- SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)
- SOPHIE’S CHOICE (1982)
- SPARTACUS (1960)
- STAR WARS (1977)
- SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS (1941)
- SUNRISE (1927)
- SUNSET BLVD. (1950)
- SWING TIME (1936)
- TAXI DRIVER (1976)
- THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951)
- THE APARTMENT (1960)
- THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946)
- THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957)
- THE DEER HUNTER (1978)
- THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)
- THE GENERAL (1927)
- THE GODFATHER (1972)
- THE GODFATHER PART II (1974)
- THE GOLD RUSH (1925)
- THE GRADUATE (1967)
- THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940)
- THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1971)
- THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2001)
- THE MALTESE FALCON (1941)
- THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)
- THE SEARCHERS (1956)
- THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994)
- THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)
- THE SIXTH SENSE (1999)
- THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)
- THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948)
- THE WILD BUNCH (1969)
- THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)
- TITANIC (1997)
- TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)
- TOOTSIE (1982)
- TOY STORY (1995)
- UNFORGIVEN (1992)
- VERTIGO (1958)
- WEST SIDE STORY (1961)
- WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1966)
- YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942)
Great Films for Women
- A League of Their Own (1992)
- ALICE DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE (1974)
- Alien (1979)
- ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)
- All About My Mother (1999)
- AN ANGEL AT MY TABLE (1990)
- BABETTE’S FEAST (1987)
- Beaches (1988)
- BEING JULIA (2004)
- Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
- Black Swan (2010)
- Black Widow (1987)
- Brave (2012)
- Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)
- BRINGING UP BABY (1938)
- Calendar Girls (2003)
- Charlie’s Angels (2000)
- Chocolat (2000)
- COAL MINER’S DAUGHTER (1980)
- DANCE, GIRL, DANCE (1940)
- Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)
- DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)
- ERIN BROCKOVICH (2000)
- Ever After (1998)
- FRIDA (2002)
- G.I. Jane (1997)
- GORILLAS IN THE MIST (1988)
- Hairspray (2007)
- Heathers (1988)
- Hidden Figures (2016)
- How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)
- How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)
- IMITATION OF LIFE (1934/1959)
- IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)
- JULIA (1977)
- Juno (2007)
- KLUTE (1971)
- Legally Blonde (2001)
- LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE (1992)
- LITTLE WOMEN (1933/1949)
- Maria Full Of Grace (2004)
- Mean Girls (2004)
- MESHES OF THE AFTERNOON (1943)
- MILDRED PIERCE (1945)
- MILLION DOLLAR BABY (2004)
- Miss Congeniality (2000)
- MONSOON WEDDING (2001)
- Moonstruck (1987)
- MY BRILLIANT CAREER (1979)
- Mystic Pizza (1988)
- NATIONAL VELVET (1944)
- NORMA RAE (1979)
- North Country (2005)
- NOTORIOUS (1946)
- NOWHERE IN AFRICA (2001)
- Private Benjamin (1980)
- RABBIT PROOF FENCE (2002)
- RAISE THE RED LANTERN (1991)
- REAR WINDOW (1954)
- RUN LOLA RUN (1998)
- SECRETS & LIES (1995)
- Sense and Sensibility (1995)
- Set It Off (1996)
- SILKWOOD (1983)
- SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (1952)
- Something’s Gotta Give (2003)
- Soul Food (1997)
- Steel Magnolias (1989)
- STELLA DALLAS (1937)
- Stepmom (1998)
- Terms of Endearment (1983)
- THE ACCUSED (1988)
- THE APARTMENT (1960)
- The Color Purple (1985)
- The Divorcee (1930)
- The First Wives Club (1996)
- The Help (2011)
- The Iron Lady (2011)
- THE MAGDELENE SISTERS (2002)
- The Official Story (1985)
- THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)
- THE PIANO (1993)
- THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)
- The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005)
- The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996)
- The Way We Were (1973)
- THE WOMEN (1939)
- Thelma & Louise (1991)
- TITANIC (1997)
- Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
- VOLVER (2006)
- Waiting to Exhale (1995)
- WATER (2005)
- WEST SIDE STORY (1961)
- WHALE RIDER (2002)
- What’s Love Got to Do with It (1993)
- When a Man Loves a Woman (1994)
- When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
- Where the Heart Is (2000)
- WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1966)
- WOMAN OF THE YEAR (1942)
- Wonder Woman (2017)
- Working Girl (1988)
- Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001)
- VERA DRAKE (2004)