Need-to-Know Movies

It started with The Sound of Music. Over and over in my life, I had "You've never seen The Sound of Music?!?!?" squealed at me in such a way that nearby non-English speakers might well have guessed that I had just confessed to inveterate cannibalism. After a while, I started to think about why I was being scolded so harshly for my non-compliance with a clause of the social contract I clearly hadn't read.

And that brought me to the idea of Need-to-Know Movies. You know what these are. Indeed, the very fact of their essential nature should make any explanation unnecessary. But I'll explain anyway.

These are the films that everyone expects everyone else to be instantly familiar with. If someone makes a joking allusion to such a movie, they don't need to explicitly identify the source. The Office sometimes plays on this idea by having Michael make an obvious reference to one of these films, then wait a beat and unnecessarily name the movie, thus intensifying the lameness of his joke. 

If someone comes to a costume party dressed as a character from one of these films, everyone will instantly recognize who they're supposed to be. If someone describes a real-life situation by saying, "This is just like [title of movie]," everyone understands why that movie is being invoked. If someone uses the name of the film as shorthand for a character type, place, behavior, etc., everyone unblinkingly processes it.

These movies are cultural touchstones. There's some element of them that resonates, whether it's a line, a scene, a character, or a general idea. As my Sound of Music experience shows, they're the kind of movies that you take for granted to the point that you're surprised if other people aren't familiar with them. They seem like such a part of the fabric of our culture that they feel eternal and unavoidable.

Of course, every person is their own culture in a way, and will therefore have their own touchstones. There will obviously also be local cultures (a family, a subculture, etc.) in which certain films will be seen as essential that aren't as important to the wider culture. What I'm trying to get at here are the movies that are either clearly relevant to that wider culture or so important to a particular segment that the wider culture is aware of them. 

So I started making a list and bringing up that list in conversation, which made it change and grow. Eventually it got close to 200 movies, and I arbitrarily decided that I should limit it to that number. It's probably close to the number of films that the general public can keep in its collective mind at one time anyway. 


Keep in mind that what is culturally relevant will constantly change, so a film that was unequivocally crucial a generation ago might have outlived its relevance by today. And today's essential movies might fall away in turn. What I'm trying to capture here is a snapshot of today's movies. 


It's also important to note that these aren't necessarily good films. What I'm considering here is how culturally relevant they are, not how much I, you, or film critics like or appreciate them. But I feel like I'm starting to sound defensive before I've put out anything to defend, so here's the list as it stands right now. Let the arguments begin.


2001: A Space Odyssey [the theme, the opening section with the prehumans, HAL...]
9 to 5 [helped by the song, but just clinging onto relevance]
A Christmas Story [fra-gi-le]
A Clockwork Orange [the look, the slang, the ultraviolence]
A Few Good Men [a line we all know]
A Nightmare on Elm Street (any) [premise, character]
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective [like I said, the movie doesn't have to be good]
Airplane! [the standout representative of the spoof genre]
Alien or Aliens [the titular creatures, the bursting-out-of-the-stomach scene]
Animal House [the general atmosphere if nothing else]
Annie Hall [Woody Allen needs to be on the list somewhere]
Apocalypse Now [Vietnam, napalm, operatic helicopters, the horror]
Apollo 13 [a line we all know]
Austin Powers [the character and catchphrases]
Babe [talking animal and "That'll do, pig," but I find this one tenuous]
Back to School [the idea and Dangerfield together]
Back to the Future [the premise, the car, etc.]
Basic Instinct [the crossing of legs]
Batman [a few lines, the new-school superhero reboot, the overall look] 
Beaches [general tearjerking]
Beverly Hills Cop [song, character]
Big [the premise, the piano scene]
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure [characters, speech pattern, premise]
Billy Madison or Happy Gilmore [Sandler man-child persona]
Blade Runner [setting, androids/cyborgs]
Blazing Saddles [representative of parody genre/Mel Brooks films]
Blue Velvet [representative of David Lynch surrealist weirdness]
Borat [the character/voice]
Boyz in the Hood [inner city youths]
Braveheart [costumes, freedom speech]
Breakfast at Tiffany's [overall look]
Bridget Jones' Diary [character/archetype]
Brokeback Mountain [homosexuality, cowboys]
Bull Durham [some lines, sports/romcom blend]
Caddyshack [groundhog, screwball premise, golf setting]
Cape Fear [tattoos, premise, threatening stalker]
Carrie [blood scene, picked-on girl getting revenge]
Casablanca [lots of lines, song, etc.]
Cast Away [Wilson, premise]
Chinatown [losing its relevance, I think]
Citizen Kane [Rosebud, AFI's top film]
City Slickers [premise/setting]
Clash of the Titans (the original) [Greek mythological setting]
Close Encounters of the Third Kind [mashed potatoes, meeting the aliens scene]
Clueless [character/archetype]
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [representative of the new-school martial arts genre]
Dead Poets Society [premise, "O Captain"]
Deliverance [banjo music, creepy mountainfolk]
Die Hard [premise, a line we all know]
Dirty Dancing [songs, a line we all know]
Do the Right Thing [racial tension]
Dr. Strangelove [Cold War setting, riding the bomb scene, etc.]
Dumb and Dumber [characters/archetypes]
E.T. [several scenes and lines, alien]
Fame [song, premise]
Fargo [accent, setting]
Fast Times at Ridgemont High [character, premise/setting]
Fatal Attraction [situation]
Father of the Bride [situation]
Ferris Bueller's Day Off [characters, premise, a few scenes]
Field of Dreams [a line we all know, premise]
Flashdance [music, scene we all know]
Footloose [song, premise]
Forrest Gump [premise, character, a line we all know]
Friday the 13th (any) [character, premise]
Full Metal Jacket [Vietnam, boot camp setting]
Ghost [a scene we all know]
Ghostbusters [song, premise]
Gone with the Wind [a line we all know, Civil War setting]
Good Morning, Vietnam [a line we all know]
Good Will Hunting [premise, a few lines/scenes]
Goodfellas [overall Scorsese/mobster vibe]
Grease [songs, setting]
Gremlins [characters, premise]
Groundhog Day [premise]
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner [premise]
Halloween [character, premise]
Harry Potter (any) [characters, premise] 
Home Alone [a scene we all know, premise]
Hoosiers [sports premise]
Independence Day [White House scene, premise]
Indiana Jones (first 3) [character, premise]
It's a Wonderful Life [premise, some lines]
James Bond film (any, pref. Goldfinger) [character, premise]
Jaws [music, shark]
Jerry Maguire [a line we all know, premise]
Jurassic Park [premise]
King Kong [character, Empire State Building]
Lord of the Rings (any) [premise, characters]
Love Story [tearjerking premise, a line we all know]
Mary Poppins [songs, characters]
Men in Black [premise]
Miracle on 34th Street [Christmas, courtroom scene]
Mommie Dearest [a line we all know, archetypal abusive mother]
Monty Python and the Holy Grail [premise, some lines]
Moulin Rouge [style/look, songs]
Mr. Holland's Opus [premise]
Mr. Mom [premise]
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington [premise]
Mrs. Doubtfire [premise]
My Big Fat Greek Wedding [premise]
My Cousin Vinny [premise, "two youths"]
My Fair Lady [songs, premise]
Napoleon Dynamite [characters]
National Lampoon's Vacation [several scenes/lines, premise]
North by Northwest [plane scene, Mount Rushmore scene, general Hitchcockness]
Ocean's Eleven (new) [premise, Vegas]
Office Space [setting/premise, smashing office machines]
Old School [premise/setting, some lines]
Old Yeller [don't make me write it]
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest [characters, setting]
Parenthood [premise]
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure [character, some scenes/lines, Burton style]
Philadelphia [premise]
Pirates of the Caribbean (any) [characters, setting]
Planet of the Apes [scenes and lines we all know, premise]
Police Academy (any) [premise, characters]
Poltergeist [a line we all know, premise]
Predator [premise, Arnold]
Pretty Woman [premise, a few scenes]
Psycho [shower scene, music, premise]
Pulp Fiction [several scenes, violence]
Rain Man [some scenes/lines, premise]
Raising Arizona [song, premise]
Reality Bites [premise, overall Generation X vibe]
Rear Window [voyeurism premise]
Rebel Without a Cause [character/archetype]
Remember the Titans [inspirational sports premise]
Reservoir Dogs [violence, songs, ear scene]
Revenge of the Nerds [premise]
Risky Business [underwear scene]
Rocky (at least I and IV) [premise, underdog sports premise]
Roger & Me or Fahrenheit 9/11 [Michael Moore style]
Rudy [inspirational sports premise]
Saturday Night Fever [music, style]
Saving Private Ryan [premise/setting]
Saw (any) [premise, torture genre representative] 
Scarface [several lines/scenes]
Schindler's List [premise/setting]
Scream [premise, mask]
Shrek (any) [characters]
Silence of the Lambs [a few lines/scenes, premise]
Singin' in the Rain [songs, title song scene]
Single White Female [situation]
Sixteen Candles [premise, John Hughesness]
Sleepless in Seattle [premise, Hanks and Ryan]
Slumdog Millionaire [premise, setting]
Sophie's Choice [situation]
Spartacus [setting, "I'm Spartacus" scene]
Speed [premise]
Stand By Me [flashback childhood premise]
Star Trek (any) [tenuous, since its relevance is significantly influenced by the TV show]
Star Wars (Episodes IV-VI) [needs no explanation]
Steel Magnolias [strong Southern woman archetype]
Superman (I or II) [characters, a few scenes]
Taxi Driver [premise, a scene/line we all know]
The Big Lebowski [characters, setting/feel]
The Blues Brothers [music, premise, characters]
The Breakfast Club [premise, characters, song]
The Crying Game [premise]
The Dark Knight [characters]
The Deer Hunter [premise, a few scenes]
The Exorcist [premise, a few scenes]
The Godfather (I and II) [needs no explanation]
The Goonies [youth premise, Sloth]
The Graduate [scenes/lines we all know, music]
The Great Escape [premise, song]
The Hangover [Vegas attachment, premise]
The Karate Kid [scenes we all know, premise]
The Lion King [songs, premise]
The Little Mermaid [songs, characters, premise]
The Matrix [premise, style]
The Natural [sports premise, lights scene]
The Notebook [premise, "chick flick" power]
The Princess Bride [lines/characters]
The Rocky Horror Picture Show [cult status, style]
The Shawshank Redemption [premise/setting]
The Shining [setting, lines/scenes we all know]
The Sixth Sense [a line we all know, premise]
The Sound of Music [songs, premise]
The Terminator (1 and 2) [characters, premise, a line we all know]
The Truman Show [premise]
The Usual Suspects [premise]
The Wizard of Oz [songs, premise, scenes/lines we all know]
Thelma and Louise [premise, ending scene]
There's Something About Mary [representative of the gross-out comedy genre]
This Is Spinal Tap [representative of the mockumentary genre, a few lines]
Three Men and a Baby [situation/premise]
Titanic [needs no explanation]
Tootsie [premise]
Top Gun [premise, character, some scenes/lines we all know]
Toy Story [representative of the new school animated genre]
Twilight [premise, characters]
Wall Street [premise, a line we all know]
WarGames [premise, a line we all know]
War of the Worlds (original) [premise]
West Side Story [songs, premise]
When Harry Met Sally [premise, a scene we all know]
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory [songs, characters]
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? [animated/live action blend, characters]