Top 20 "Must See" Movie List

In case you weren't aware... I'm opinionated. Who knew, right?

Occasionally someone asks me for my opinion (though I usually share - asked or not). This time, however, I was asked... so... per request I have put together what I feel is a list of 20 films that everyone should see. 

It makes me sad that I couldn't put a Kevin Smith film on the list (however, I do feel you should see them all... yes that means Jersey Girl and Red State, but not Cop Out), but there were many fine Cary Grant films (like Father Goose, His Girl Friday, and North by Northwest) that didn't make the cut… My top 20 list is always evolving… but these 20, in my opinion, everyone should see. 

It's also worth noting, that these are my "Must See" movies... my "Favorite Films" list is a little different.

Dennis Sharpe’s Top 20 Must See Movie List : 

1) Swimming with Sharks

What's it about?

A young Hollywood executive becomes the assistant to a big time movie producer who is the worst boss imaginable: abusive, abrasive and cruel. But soon things turn around when the young executive kidnaps his boss and visits all the cruelties back on him.

Kevin Spacey and Frank Whaley both turn in A+ performances, and the ending of this film is a can't miss. 

(It also doesn't hurt that this is - hands down - my favorite film of all time)

2) Igby Goes Down 

What's it about?

Igby Goes Down is a personal tale about a 17 year old misfit boy who copes with his mother's cancer and his father's insanity by pursuing relationships with older women. Truly an intellectual, Igby is a modern day Holden Caulfield, and the world he lives in is far removed from the high standards of expectation he holds for it.

Every member of this ensemble cast brings their best. Jeff Golblum, Jared Harris, and Bill Pullman deliver truly stand out moments of cinema gold.

3) Donnie Darko 

What's it about?

Donnie Darko doesn't get along too well with his family, his teachers and his classmates; but he does manage to find a sympathetic friend in Gretchen, who agrees to date him. He has a compassionate psychiatrist, who discovers hypnosis is the means to unlock hidden secrets. His other companion may not be a true ally. Donnie has a friend named Frank - a large bunny which only Donnie can see. When an engine falls off a plane and destroys his bedroom, Donnie is not there. Both the event, and Donnie's escape, seem to have been caused by supernatural events. Donnie's mental illness, if such it is, may never allow him to find out for sure.

The strange way this film is structured and filmed are haunting and beautiful The director's cut and the theatrical release are similar, but very different films. I find myself drawn to watch this film again, and again.

"Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion."

4) An Affair to Remember

What's it about?

Handsome playboy Nicky Ferrante and beautiful night club singer Terry McKay have a romance while on a cruise from Europe to New York. Despite being engaged to other people, both agree to reunite at the top of the Empire State Building in six months. However, an unfortunate accident keeps Terry from the reunion, and Nicky fears that she has married or does not love him anymore. Will he discover the truth behind her absence and reunite with his one true love, or has fate and destiny passed them by?

This is *the* love story. Any other film... from Love Actually, to Say Anything... wishes it was this one. Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr are stunning, and the sophistication of the age of this film really brands it and sets it apart. Don't cheat yourself... romantic or not, this is an amazing film.

5) Boondock Saints 

What's it about?

Two Irish brothers accidentally killed mafia thugs. They turned themselves in and were released as heroes. They then see it as a calling by God and started knocking off mafia gang members one by one. Willem Dafoe plays the detective trying to figure out the killings, but the closer he was to catching the Irish brothers, the more he thinks the brothers are doing the right thing.

I really didn't see this film coming. It's similar to a few others... but there aren't any exactly like it, and its moments like the one with the cat in Rocco's apartment are absolutely priceless. Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flanery are really good here, but David Della Rocca is an amazing standout.

6) Labyrinth 

What's it about?

Young Sarah is left home alone by her parents and she has to babysit her little brother Toby. But the baby keeps crying and Sarah, while telling him a story to make him sleep, inadvertently conjures from a fantasy world the Goblin King who steals the child and brings him to his castle in the middle of a labyrinth. Sarah has to rescue him before midnight, or the baby will became a goblin... "Forever".

This 1986 classic is just as good now as it was when I was nine years old. The music is as wonderful as David Bowie's hair and cod piece are frightening. You really can't go wrong with this Henson-house gem.

7) Suicide Kings 

What's it about?

Ex-mob boss Christopher Walken is kidnapped by a group of four kids in a haphazard attempt at paying the ransom for another, separate kidnapping. Complexities arise as the group cannot seem to do anything right.

If you watch this film for no other reason... Denis Leary's role as Lono is well worth the time. Seriously.

Besides, Christopher Walkin as a duct taped mob boss with a pinky finger cut off by trust fund kids is just priceless.

8) The Princess Bride 

What's it about?

A kindly grandfather sits down with his ill grandson and reads him a story. The story is one that has been passed down from father to son for generations. As the grandfather reads the story, the action comes alive. The story is a classic tale of love and adventure as the beautiful Buttercup, engaged to the odious Prince Humperdinck, is kidnapped and held against her will in order to start a war, It is up to Westley (her childhood beau, now returned as the Dread Pirate Roberts) to save her. On the way he meets a thief and his hired helpers, an accomplished swordsman and a huge, super strong giant, both of whom become Westley's companions in his quest.

You should really read the book as well... but the movie is almost as good. What Mandy Patinkin and Wallace Shawn bring to their roles is undeniable. A movie that is quoted more often (be myself and my closest friends, anyway) than near any other... and with good reason - it is very well written.

9) Arsenic and Old Lace 

What's it about?"This is a Halloween tale of Brooklyn, where anything can happen - - and it usually does."

Mortimer Brewster is a newspaperman and author known for his diatribes against marriage. We watch him being married at city hall in the opening scene. Now all that is required is a quick trip home to tell Mortimer's two maiden aunts. While trying to break the news, he finds out his aunts' hobby; killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar. From there it only gets worse.

Funny and macabre... cute and cunning... this film should be required watching for all screen writers. Cary Grant and Peter Lorre turn in shining performances, but Raymond Massey steals every scene he's in. 

10) Clue 

What's it about?

Clue is a movie based on the popular board game. It's about 6 guests, a butler, and a maid, who are all involved in the murders of 6 people. The guests all meet at Hill House, where you learn that Professor Plum works in D.C., where everyone else lives. Colonel Mustard is a client of Miss Scarlet, who is the ex-employer of Yvette, the maid, who had an affair with the husband of Mrs. White, etc. When Mr. Boddy, who is blackmailing each guest, gives the guests each a weapon, he tells them they should kill Wadsworth, the butler, to avoid being exposed. With Mrs. Peacock's craziness, and Mr. Green's clumsiness, the whole group finds themselves tangled in a web of murder, lies, and hilarity

Every performance, every shot, every ending (yes, there are more than one) is spot on. Tim Curry proves, again, that he is worthy of being called a legend.

11) Pump up the Volume

What's it about?

Mark is an intelligent but shy teenager who has just moved to Arizona from the East Coast. His parents give him a short-wave radio so he can talk to his pals, but instead he sets up shop as pirate deejay Hard Harry, who becomes a hero to his peers while inspiring the wrath of the local high school principal. When one of Harry's listeners commits suicide and Harry- inspired chaos breaks out at the school, the authorities are called in to put a stop to Harry's broadcasts.

12) The Dark Crystal

What's it about?

Another planet, another time. 1000 years ago the mysterious Dark Crystal was damaged by one of the Urskeks and an age of chaos has began! The evil race of grotesque birdlike lizards the Skeksis, gnomish dragons who rule their fantastic planet with an iron claw. Meanwhile the orphan Jen, raised in solitude by a race of the peace-loving wizards called the Mystics, embarks on a quest to find the missing shard of the Dark Crystal which gives the Skesis their power and restore the balance of the universe.

13) Reservoir Dogs 

What's it about?

Six criminals, who are strangers to each other, are hired by a crime boss, Joe Cabot, to carry out a diamond robbery. Right at the outset, they are given false names with the intention that they won't get too close and will concentrate on the job instead. They are completely sure that the robbery is going to be a success. But, when the police show up right at the time and the site of the robbery, panic spreads among the group's members, and one of them is killed in the subsequent shootout, along with a few policemen and civilians. When the remaining people assemble at the premeditated rendezvous point (a warehouse), they begin to suspect that one of them is an undercover cop.

The soundtrack, dialogue, graphic detail, stylized world, original characters and (most of all - in my opinion) the ending set this film apart from other caper films. It's just astounding.

14) Dan in Real Life 

What's it about?

Single father Dan Burns dedicates his life to his children, but one day he meets Marie at a bookstore. They get to know each other, but then Dan finds out that Marie is actually dating his brother, Mitch.

The plot is simple. The film is anything but.

In turns it is powerful, moving, funny, and painful. Worth the watch.

15) Sabrina (original, not remake) 

What's it about?

Linus and David Larrabee are the two sons of a very wealthy family. Linus is all work -- busily running the family corporate empire with no time for a wife and family. David is all play -- technically employed in the family business but never showing up for work, spending all his time entertaining, and having been married and divorced three times. Sabrina Fairchild is the young, shy, and awkward daughter of the household chauffeur, who has been infatuated with David all her life, but whom David hardly notices till she goes away to Paris for two years and returns an elegant, sophisticated, beautiful woman. Suddenly, she finds she's captured David's attention, but just as she does so, she finds herself also falling in love with Linus, and she finds that Linus is also falling in love with her.

Far superior to the 1995 remake of the same name.

16) Neverwhere (It's a BBC mini-series... but I contend that it counts)

What's it about?

Richard Mayhew leads an ordinary life in London when one day a girl named Door falls, injured, across his path. The next thing he knows, his life is gone and he's pulled into the fantastical world of London Below. Pursued by the murderous Messrs. Croup and Vandemar, Door and Richard with the help of Hunter and the Marquis de Carabas, attempt to find the Angel Islington, who knows the secret behind the murder of Door's family, and possibly a way for Richard to go home.

17) Wuthering Heights (1939)

What's it about?

The story of unfortunate lovers Heathcliff (not the orange animated cat) and Cathy who, despite a deep affection for one another, are forced by circumstance and prejudice to live their apart. Heathcliff and Cathy first meet as children when her father brings the abandoned boy to live with them. When the old man dies several years later Cathy's brother, now the master of the estate, turns Heathcliff out forcing him to live with the servants and working as a stable boy. The barrier of class comes between them and she eventually marries a rich neighbor, Mr. Edgar Linton, at which point Heathcliff disappears. He returns several years later, now a rich man but little can be done.

There are other versions of Wuthering Heights, but the 1939 film captures the story best, I think. Merle Oberon, Leo G. Carroll, David Niven, and Sir Laurence Olivier... wow!

18) True Romance 

What's it about?

Clarence and Alabama are newlyweds who acquire an unexpected wedding present. Unknown to the blissfully happy couple, ruthless gangsters are on their tail, determined to reclaim their lost property. It's a bizarre thrill ride you just can't take your eyes away from.

The cast is huge for this Tarantino penned Tony Scott film. Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken, Bronson Pinchot, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Rapaport, Saul Rubinek, James Gandolfini and Val Kilmer (as the ghost of Elvis Presley - Clarence's Mentor)... How can you go wrong?

19) Mirrormask 

What's it about?

In a fantasy world of opposing kingdoms, a 15-year old girl named Helena who works at the family circus with her father and mother, who wishes--quite ironically--that she could run away from the circus and join 'real life'. But such is not to be the case, as she finds herself on a strange journey into the Dark Lands, a fantastic landscape filled with giants, Monkeybirds and dangerous sphinxes. She must find the fabled Mirrormask in order to save the kingdom and get back home.

The Jim Henson Company and Neil Gaiman... need I say more?

20) Things to do in Denver When You’re Dead 

What's it about?

Jimmy the Saint's business is videotaping the terminally-ill, so that they will be around to give 'Afterlife Advice' to their survivors. He hasn't been doing too well lately and has had to turn to loan-sharks to accommodate his failing business, as well as his expensive personal tastes. When an evil gangster-overlord buys up his note and demands a favor of Jimmy, in exchange for the interest that he can't afford, Jimmy capitulates. Jimmy is to scare someone for the gangster-overlord--really rough them up. Without giving too much away, the scene goes down badly and Jimmy and his crew all end up with contracts on their heads for their trouble.

Dark, violent, and all-together unhappy... a film classic. 

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Note: His Girl Friday didn't make the top 20... but it's a solid 21... for dialogue, alone...
(It kills me not to have The Usual Suspects, Memento and Fight Club on here... ~le sigh~)

"More?" you ask, "What more could you possibly share with us?"

Well, dear reader... I always have more I could share, I just usually know better. Alas, not this time.

 As many of you also know… and mock me for relentlessly… I am a fan of musicals. 

I couldn't, in good conscience, put together a list like the one above and not have a list of "must see" musicals. It's just the way it has to be.

So... These are my top 10 musicals that I feel everyone should watch. At the very least you should rent the DVD… one viewing isn't going to destroy you, and they are *so* worth it. 

Dennis Sharpe’s Top 10 Must See Musicals : 

1) Pink Floyd: the Wall

What's it about?

The movie tells the story of rock singer "Pink" who is sitting in his hotel room in Los Angeles, burnt out from the music business and only able to perform on stage with the help of drugs. Based on the 1979 double album "The Wall" by Pink Floyd, the film begins in Pink's youth where he is crushed by the love of his mother. Several years later he is punished by the teachers in school because he is starting to write poems. Slowly he begins to build a wall around himself to be protected from the world outside. The film shows all this in massive and epic pictures until the very end where he tears down the wall and breaks free.

The acting is superb... the imagery is stunning... the music is unparalleled. There's nothing else I can say.  

2) Brigadoon 

What's it about?

Americans Tommy Albright and Jeff Douglas, on a hunting vacation in Scotland, discover a quaint and beautiful village, Brigadoon. Strangely, the village is not on any map, and soon Tommy and Jeff find out why: Brigadoon is an enchanted place. It appears once every hundred years for one day, then disappears back into the mists of time, to wake up to its next day a century hence. When Tommy falls in love with Fiona, a girl of the village, he realizes that she can never be part of his life back in America. Can he be part of hers in Brigadoon?

3) Phantom of the Opera 

What's it about?

Begins when an opera ghost terrorizes the cast and crew of the French Opera House while tutoring a chorus girl. He finally drives the lead soprano crazy so she and her friend leave. The girl is able to sing lead one night but the soprano doesn't want her show stolen so she comes back. The ghost demands they keep giving his protégé lead roles. Meanwhile, His pupil falls in love with the Vicomte de Chagny, but the Phantom is in love with Christine, his student. The Phantom is outraged by their love and kidnaps Christine to be his eternal bride. Will Raoul, the Vicomte, be able to stop this dastardly plan?

4) Jesus Christ Superstar 

What's it about?

Based on a concept album project written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, and the subsequent long-running Broadway performance, this film tells the story of the final 6 days in the life of Jesus Christ through the troubled eyes of Judas Iscariot. More than just a musical, this film is a "rock opera." There are no spoken lines, everything is sung.

5) Rent 

What's it about?

This film adaptation of the Broadway smash tells the story of one year in the life of a group of bohemians struggling in modern day East Village New York. The story centers around Mark and Roger, two roommates. While a former tragedy has made Roger numb to life, Mark tries to capture it through his attempts to make a film. In the year that follows, the group deals with love, loss, AIDS, and modern day life in one truly powerful story.

6) Across the Universe 

What's it about?

Across The Universe is a fictional love story set in the 60's amid the turbulent years of anti-war protest, the struggle for free speech and civil rights, mind exploration and rock and roll. At once gritty, whimsical and highly theatrical, the story moves from high schools and universities in Massachusetts, Princeton and Ohio to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the Detroit riots, Vietnam and the dockyards of Liverpool. A combination of live action and animation, the film is paired with many songs by The Beatles that defined the time.

7) Little Shop of Horrors 

What's it about?

Seymour Krelborn is a nerdy orphan working at Mushnik's, a flower shop in urban Skid Row. He harbors a crush on fellow co-worker Audrey Fulquard, and is berated by Mr. Mushnik daily. One day as Seymour is seeking a new mysterious plant, he finds a very mysterious unidentified plant which he calls Audrey II. The plant seems to have a craving for blood and soon begins to sing for his supper. Soon enough, Seymour feeds Audrey's sadistic dentist boyfriend to the plant and later, Mushnik for witnessing the death of Audrey's ex. Will Audrey II take over the world or will Seymour and Audrey defeat it? (It really all depends on which ending you watch.)

Far superior in every way to the 1960 Roger Corman film that spawned it.

8) Fiddler on the Roof 

What's it about?

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Jews and Orthodox Christians live in the little village of Anatevka in the pre-revolutionary Russia of the Czars. Among the traditions of the Jewish community, the matchmaker arranges the marriages and the fathers approve them. The milkman Reb Tevye is a poor man that has been married for twenty-five years to his wife Golde and she has blessed him five daughters. When the local matchmaker Yente arranges a match between his eldest daughter Tzeitel and the old widower butcher Lazar Wolf, Tevye agrees. However, Tzeitel is in love with the poor tailor Motel Kamzoil and they ask permission of Tevye to get married. He accepts, only to please his daughter. Then his second daughter Hodel and the revolutionary student Perchik decide to marry each other and Tevye is forced to accept their decision. When Perchik is arrested by the Czar's troops and sent to Siberia, Hodel decides to leave her family and homeland and travel to Siberia to be with her beloved Perchik.

While it is set in the (now seemingly distant) past... many of it's core themes are still very relevant... and the music is undeniable. 

9) Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

What's it about?

Adam, the eldest of seven brothers, goes to town to get a wife. He convinces Milly to marry him that same day. They return to his backwoods home. Only then does she discover he has six brothers - all living in his cabin. Milly sets out to reform the uncouth siblings, who are anxious to get wives of their own. Then, after reading about the Roman capture of the Sabine women, Adam develops an inspired solution to his brothers' loneliness.

As always, Howard Keel's voice is unstoppable in this over-the-top musical romp.

10) Yellow Submarine 

What's it about?

The Beatles, at the height of their popularity, made this cartoon of a land that is taken over by the Blue Meanies. They band is recruited by an escapee in a submarine, that is the film's namesake, to come and bring joy (and music) back to the land. The animation style is truly psychedelic, and much care went into insuring that the walks, and smallest mannerisms, of the individual Beatles are captured in this surreal cartoon musical.

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11) Wicked (This should have, and would have, been the #1, but… it's a Broadway Musical... making its way around the country, on stages, as well...  it's not a movie. Not yet, anyway. Just because I have it on DVD, doesn't mean most people even know how to acquire such a thing… if you are interested, contact me privately and I’ll show you where I got mine.) 

So there you have it. My lists. My opinions.

If you have any questions about any of my choices, any input to offer, or any titles you feel I have neglected in my list… please, feel free to let me know. 

-Dennis