PopMatters Picks: The 50 DVDs Every Film Fan Should Own

[Tyrone_Shoelaces]

The list. Sad, sad me only has five of them. At long last I have a goal for my compulsive DVD purchasing.

[Nachokoolaid]

I've got 14 of those 50. Not bad. I think I had nine of the first ten it mentioned, and then sort of had one every so often after that.

Odd not to see Casablanca or Gone With the Wind or something. Those best of lists usually love putting those in there.

[DennisMM]

That is an extremely silly list. Sweet Sweetback, yes. Dolemite, no. I have four.

[minstrel]

I've never heard of a lot of this stuff. I have about seven of them.

[Fievel]

I have 12.

Pretty shitty list, in my opinion.

[DennisMM]

It seemed designed to include fringe material regardless of importance or quality. It's one thing to recommend a Kenneth Anger boxed set, another to push some of the exploitation stuff they did.

[Leckomaniac]

It seemed designed to include fringe material regardless of importance or quality. It's one thing to recommend a Kenneth Anger boxed set, another to push some of the exploitation stuff they did.

Yeah that is where the list really fell apart for me. A lot of their 70's choices were just a bit...off. Still, I like that they did their best to defend their choices. And reading about some of the early stuff reminded me I need to search out some of those titles for the next rainy day.

[DennisMM]

I have to say that I really wish I'd seen the edition of Battle Royale they mention, as the version I got from Netflix was pretty bare-bones. The film didn't do much for me, but the extras they mention sound as if they might have lent some weight to the thing.

[Seppuku]

The inclusion of Sweet Sweetback's Badaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasss Song immediately alleviates any qualms I might have had with the inclusion of movies like The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (remake).

[DennisMM]

But what about the Doris Wishman and Andy Milligan sets?

[bastard_robo]

I own all but one in the last artical..

[Tubbs Tattsyrup]

Own 13 of them; seen 25 of them. Kinda pathetic on my part, really.

[Theta]

List 1: I like how everything from the beginning of cinema until the 1960s is crammed into one list. Bonus points for not sticking entirely to America, but the total lack of Chaplin, Keaton, Murnau, Pabst, Lang, Welles, Hawks, Ford, or even "King Kong" (not to mention burning them all to include Sirk's worst movie) is a real markdown.

List 2: Why include any influential movies when we could just list our favorite cult flicks? Jodorowsky is interesting, but he's pretty far down the "need-to-own" list. Ditto Russ Meyer, as fun as he is, and "Petulia". As much as I hate his later work, what about Fellini? Or the French New Wave? What about Hal Ashby?

List 3: So NOTLD doesn't make the list, but "Dawn" does? And what the fuck is "Dolemite" doing on there? There are far better blaxploitation films.

List 4: Mostly a good list, although what Kaufman's "I'm OK, You're OK" version of "Body Snatchers" is doing on there, I have no idea. And why nominate a documentary about Herzog when you could go straight to the source?

List 5: Well, glad they included "The Incredibles", but most of this list seems more like a college student's "Man, these movies are totally AWESOME!" list than actual, sensible recommendations of the last ten years or so (which isn't to slag "Memento", LOTR, or "Lebowski", as they're all great movies...I'm bagging the selection process, not the selections.)

And where's "The Fountain", dammit?!


Overall: It's pretty obvious the overall selection criteria, with the exception of the first list, was "How awesome is this movie to watch when you get smoked up?" and a few obvious choices tossed in to maintain the list's film credibility. I'm all for cult and "psychotronic" movies, and I've seen/own a good chunk of this list (maybe 35 out of 50), but they're not the only movies out there.

[Chilli]

11. Cool.

[Fried Gold]

List 1: I like how everything from the beginning of cinema until the 1960s is crammed into one list. Bonus points for not sticking entirely to America, but the total lack of Chaplin, Keaton, Murnau, Pabst, Lang, Welles, Hawks, Ford, or even "King Kong" (not to mention burning them all to include Sirk's worst movie) is a real markdown.

List 2: Why include any influential movies when we could just list our favorite cult flicks? Jodorowsky is interesting, but he's pretty far down the "need-to-own" list. Ditto Russ Meyer, as fun as he is, and "Petulia". As much as I hate his later work, what about Fellini? Or the French New Wave? What about Hal Ashby?

List 3: So NOTLD doesn't make the list, but "Dawn" does? And what the fuck is "Dolemite" doing on there? There are far better blaxploitation films.

List 4: Mostly a good list, although what Kaufman's "I'm OK, You're OK" version of "Body Snatchers" is doing on there, I have no idea. And why nominate a documentary about Herzog when you could go straight to the source?

List 5: Well, glad they included "The Incredibles", but most of this list seems more like a college student's "Man, these movies are totally AWESOME!" list than actual, sensible recommendations of the last ten years or so (which isn't to slag "Memento", LOTR, or "Lebowski", as they're all great movies...I'm bagging the selection process, not the selections.)

And where's "The Fountain", dammit?!


Overall: It's pretty obvious the overall selection criteria, with the exception of the first list, was "How awesome is this movie to watch when you get smoked up?" and a few obvious choices tossed in to maintain the list's film credibility. I'm all for cult and "psychotronic" movies, and I've seen/own a good chunk of this list (maybe 35 out of 50), but they're not the only movies out there.

Apart from the bit about The Fountain, I agree with you. It's more a "DVDs some guy thinks are hip to own".

[PF Moon Deux]

I own SUPERFLY. I don't own SWEET SWEETBACK. Meh.

XXIV (FYI)

[monorail77]

Shitty list. I have 24 of the titles, but then, I'm a packrat.