I took an old list I had made for a class a few years ago with a good movie from several genres, I added to it, and here it is.

Adventure- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Archeology has never been more exciting and interesting. When Henry Jones Sr. Goes missing its up to his son, self named Indiana Jones, (after the dog) to find his father, fighting the Nazis again. This time the stakes are higher as they attempt to track down the Holy Grail, a piece of history that brings with it ever lasting life.
- Why watch it? Its one of those pop culture icons, how can you call yourself an American if you haven’t seen Indiana Jones, and who doesn’t like seeing the Nazis getting beaten again.

Other Adventure Films not to be missed: Jurrasic Park, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Goldfinger


ACTION - Kill Bill Vol. I, II
A nameless bride is gunned down along with the rest of the wedding party at the dress rehearsal. When she wakes up after several years, she is ready for revenge. We are taken into a totally different world with this two part saga about how she came to this point, and we along with her find out the truth. The bloodiest outing by Tarantino to date lives up to the hype, but is an acquired taste.
- Why watch it? If you can handle the blood, then there is a lot of fun to be had while watching this movie, and there are a lot of “that was cool’ moments to keep any action fan satisfied for a long time.

Other Action Films Not to Be Missed: Sin City, 300, Battle Royale, Cloverfield


DRAMA - The Fountain
Spanning a thousand years this story covers the present day, five hundred years in the past looking for the tree of life, and then five hundred years into the future looking for a way to be reborn. The past follows the trials of a Conquistador trying to find the fountain of youth for his queen. A doctor in the present looking for the cure to save his wife from brain cancer, and the same doctor in the future trying to reach total immortality, and rebirth for him and a tree with a special meaning.
- Why watch it? - Besides the amazing and beautiful love story the visuals are enough to keep you in your seat the whole movie. It’s the equivalent of being in an art museum and watching the most breath taking paintings come to life. Its even more amazing when there was no CG used at all in creating these worlds.

Other Dramas not to be missed: Crash, American Beauty, Citizen Kane, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Magnolia, Pandemonium, SLC Punk, 11:14, Atonement, Candy, Cashback, Head-On, The Hours, In Bruges, Junebug, Malena es un Nombre de Tango, Moulin Rouge, Pride and Prejudice, Requiem for a Dream

THRILLER- Se7en
When an extremely over weight man is found bound in his home, dead from eating till his stomach exploded, two detectives realize that they have more then a normal killer on their hands. Then the other murders start popping up, and a familiar trend is appearing. Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Pride, Lust, now there is just two left, Envy and Wrath, and if he finishes his work then he will have won.
- Why watch it? The new horror movies, or thrillers have to go one step above the last, always out doing what they will show. But its not scary to the mind, its scary because you don’t want that done to you. Se7en terrifies you deeper then those other movies, and there is an air of mystery around everything that happens.

Other Thrillers not to be missed: 12 Monkeys, The Cell, City of God, Frailty, Memento, Pi, Primal Fear, The Prestige, The Broken, Children on Men, Hard Candy, The Hole, I Am Legend, Right at Your Door, Run Lola Run

Comedy- Animal House
College will never be the same, where do you think toga parties came from? Eating out of the trash, drinking all night and sleeping all day, cheating on every test, that’s just how the men in animal house live. We follow characters like Flounder, Pinto, Otter, Boon, and of course Bluto. The dean wants to expel them, and they just want to have fun.
- Why watch it? It’s the grandfather of the college comedy, and to this day still the best and most outrageous, the others are just trying to keep up and emulate Animal House, but there is no out doing them.

Other Comedies to see: Dr. Strangelove, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb, Little Miss Sunshine, The Family Stone, The Royal Tenenbaums, 40 Year Old Virgin, About A Boy, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Good Dick, The Hangover, Kabluey, The Mexican, Pineapple Express, Superbad


Crime/Gangster- The Godfather Part I and II
The scene is changing, the families are going to war, and when that happens people are going to die. There is a new racket in town: Drugs. And help would be needed by the head of the Corleone Family to successfully distribute the drugs and sell them while staying under the radar. When he refuses to help, the other families move in detecting weakness,and all hell breaks loose.
- Why watch it? Besides it being one of the best films of all time, it is a bench mark in the cinematic community and in our culture. It’s the top acting performances of most of the people in it, an all around epic.

Other Crime/Gangster Films to see: Oceans 11, Death of A President, Goodfellas, The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Departed


Science Fiction- The Matrix
Mr. Anderson knows something is not right, he can feel it. Something is wrong with the world he lives in but he cant figure out what it is. But with the help of a computer terrorist calling himself Morpheus he can find out the answer, but to do that there will be no turning back. Take the red pill or take the blue pill. What follows is a twisted, dark, post apocalyptic view of our future, bringing about for Mr. Anderson, now called Neo more questions to ponder.
- Why see it? From the words of Morpheus himself, “No one can be told what the Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself” True words.

Other SciFi to see: A Scanner Darkly, Signs, Alien, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Back to the Future, Sunshine


Gay/Lesbian Interest- Mysterious Skin
Two young children are molested by their baseball coach, one turns to prostitution to deal with the trauma that occurred to him, the other blocks it out, and creates a separate reality of what happened, involving being abducted by aliens, and them doing things to him. He then attempts to find the other boy who was there, to find out what really happened to him. A dark, sad look into the damage pedophiles do to kids, and the people that they abused turn into.
- Why see it? It reminds you about the real power of an authority figure over children, and how trusting they are. The damage that can be afflicted is astronomical, and unforgivable. Besides the acting it is shot and edited top notch, a good little indie to see.

Other Gay/Lesbian Interest films to see: Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Kissing Jessica Stein, Brokeback Mountain, Imagine Me and You, Paragraph 175

Kids- Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Based on the Animated Series of the early to mid nineties this film comes shooting out of the gate right away with moody images portraying a rotting, and sick Gotham city. Batman is still doing his best to keep the underbelly of the city down, and the good people safe. That is until a new killer comes to town, one that people think is Batman. So now he has to stop this new killer while keeping off the radar of the police who are looking for him for murder. The killer though is working a pattern, Batman just needs to figure out the enigma, and stop it. Little does he know that it involves his past, his one love, and the reasons why he became Batman in the first place.
- Why see it? They don’t make kids movies like this anymore, you see people die, people get shot at and hurt. Disney has made it so that is unacceptable for a kid to see, when in fact it is just fine. It is a classic, and when it comes to Batman films it is better than most.

Other kids movies to see: The Prince of Egypt, Finding Nemo, City of Ember


Documentary- The Corporation
Nothing will make you more sick with what people do in this world than this movie, but it opens your eyes to so much that is wrong with this world, but also gives a solution to the problem. People are capable of so much evil, but are capable of just as much good as well. In this film you are shown the startings of Corporations in America and how they have become a bane on the good people of the whole world. A stunning three and a half hour film that you never get bored with. You will be on the edge of your seat the whole time.
- Why see it? Everyone who consumes any goods at all should see this, and understand how they are capable of change, and how a revolution in the business community might just be needed. This film doesn’t push socialism, or communism, but a way of life that instead of thinking of yourself alone, or thinking of the company alone, or of the third party alone, but a combination of all three. We do whats best for You, me, the company, and the rest of the world, all in one solution.

Other Documentaries to see: The Fog of War, Grey Matter, Wisconsin Death Trip, The Bridge, Flow: For Love of Water, Jesus Camp, Lake of Fire, My Kid Could Paint That, Operation Filmmaker

Comic Book - The Dark Knight
Batman has changed how the underbelly of Gotham City functions, but this is turning out to be a bigger problem than a solution when a new villain enters the scene: The Joker. The opposite of Batman in every way, the opposing side of the same coin. Gotham heats up to a fever pitch giving birth to the Jokers proudest creation, Two Face. How can Batman stop someone who wont ever will quit until he's dead. "This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object"
- Why see it? Besides it being the best comic book movie to date, it is also an incredible film cast with Hollywood all stars. Finally someone is doing Batman right! Most likely the best villain...to date....period.

Other Comic Book Movies not to be missed: Iron Man, Batman Begins, Spiderman 2

HORROR - The Thing
An isolated Antarctic research center is thrown into chaos when they are joined by a new sled dog, that begins to change forms in the night and kill what it shapes into. As they learn that it can do more than take the shape of a dog they all start to suspect that someone else in their midst could be The Thing.
- Why see it? It is scary as shit, don't watch it alone and at night. The make up and effects even by today's standards are incredible. Its a smart and scary horror movie instead of just some slasher cutting up sexually active teens in suburbia.

Other Horror Movies Not to be Missed: The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Exorcist, Jaws, The Mist, The Strangers, Who Can Kill a Child?

War - Jarhead
The mind of a Marine seems to be the most volatile out of all the armed services of America. When the Gulf War begins our boys are sent over there to handle business. As they sit in the desert waiting they start be become ancy and impatient, and possibly unstable. When they finally get to see some action its not as expected, and afterwards there is more problems to deal with than before.
- Why see it? It is beautifully shot, and balls to the wall intense. It is carefully planned just like the war, but when they go into the "shit" nothing is as they were trained to. It is a new war movie, unlike the days of old with the high and mighty Sgt. who does good for all, how fake is that?

Other War Movies Not to be Missed: The Hurt Locker, Schindler's List, Tigerland, Waltz With Bashir, Saving Private Ryan

Tell me some great examples from these genres.