Maybe we could start from this list: http://www.afi.com/100years/movies10.aspx or perhaps this list is more relevant: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm I guess the thing I'm really not sure about, which speaks to your "same but different" criterion, concerns a film like Casablanca or Citizen Kane: as great as they are, from a writing point of view, are these movies even relevant to the modern screenwriter? Likewise for any movie made before 1969 (or pick some arbitrary date). Is there some value in reinventing classic tropes for the modern era, or is the intent to simply treat these movies as markers or shorthand for a more modern film vocabulary?

Sounds like a great idea to me....although, once we have the list, please don't ask me how many I have seen - I tend to fare badly with such things! Not sure if this makes sense, but I was thinking of a criterion around SIMPLICITY....finding a film that is a great story and/or a complex/complicated story, but so well written that, on screen it just works sublimely. I guess I am thining of LOOPER as an example here...so much opportunity for confusing timey-wimey stuff to confuse and obfuscate (sorry I love that word) the story....but so well written that it makes it clear and accessible.....so maybe ACCESSIBILITY and SIMPLICITY as crtieria....in some way....does that make sense - and yes, I do see the irony if it doesn't!! :-)

Since we're dealing with this from the perspective of the writer, "must see" movies are movies that illustrate a certain aspect of writing. First, this means that movies that show how not to write (we've all seen those movies) as well as the great movies should be included on the list. Second, movies that illustrate easily defined and recognizable styles and elements. (Such as Tarantino, Kaufman) Third, movies where dialogue (again both good and bad) takes precedence. Finally, movies that are based on previously written material probably should not be included (yes, this would exclude the previously mentioned Godfather) unless adaptations is a specific subject to be highlighted.

Scott, I'm so thrilled you're doing this series. I'm excited to watch it develop. Some thoughts on "essential movie lists": There are really two overlapping lists under this umbrella: (1) movies that are reference points for people inside the industry; and (2) important movies for screenwriters to learn from. The first list is learning how to "speak film" fluently in a Hollywood industry context, and the second is about learning from great screenwriting. Both lists are important, and they may have some overlap, but the spirit behind them is fundamentally different. I would love it if the readers and friends of the blog who are working in Hollywood could contribute suggestions for the first "industry" list--because useful suggestions for that list can only come from people with industry connections. Perhaps you could do one series of Hollywood reference point movies and a whole other series for studying screenwriting. They are both valuable lists. I'm glad you're taking the time to start a conversation about criteria. It's really tough to compile these kinds of lists and get suggestions that amount to anything other than people's (subjectively) favourite movies. Getting the nature of the list and some criteria established up front should really improve the quality of the final lists. Thank you again for launching this project.

I think coming up with criteria to judge scripts and films is difficult. Everyone's opinion is subjective. One script that resonates with an action fan might not hit home with a more sentimental person. And I would say the 30 films would have to rank on some kind of a list, but again, there are so many important movies with great scripts that aren't gonna appear on a critics' top 100 list -- especially newer ones. The best way of doing this might just be to ask readers to submit three of their personal choices, then add up which appear most and go from there. Or you could pick a genre (history, sports, love, etc.) and have three choices, ask the readers to pick one, then go with whatever one the readers selected most. Either way, there are a lot of intelligent people here who know their movies. I think getting them involved could be the best way to decide this.

Thanks for the feedback. I think Shaula's point is a valid one. Since I am in the middle of a lot of traveling this month, I believe what I'll do is focus on suggestions from the GITS community, then derive a list of essential movies from that. Then I'll reach out to screenwriters, managers, producers, etc to get feedback on "Hollywood reference point movies" or something similar to that for a later list.

Hurray! (Two lists are better than one--and I can't get enough of these kinds of lists) For a GITS-generated list, I'd love to see people suggest movies that they have learned from as screenwriters, along with what they've learned. That would supply the data to create a diverse set of movies that can teach us a broad set of writing lessons.

Late to the party, but: for criteria, how about including some movies that use unusual structures or elements - a dual protagonist movie, a multi-strand movie like Babel, something that plays with time like Memento...?

Scott, I think this is a great idea. Is there any way you can search GITS to find the most mentioned movies? If not I'm sure between us all we can compile a list of films that are frequently refered to in screenwriting discussions: Casablanca, Shawshank, Toy Story etc. As a sidebar to this, I had been thinking of suggesting a weekly feature focussing on reading a screenplay (of the three main areas of writing pages, watching films and reading screenplays, the latter is definitely my weakest). Is there a way of exploring the list further by studying the actual language, style and structure used to write those screenplays?

[…] 30 Essential Movies for Screenwriters to Watch […]

Scott, I think the criteria for this list is simply the movies that are the best exemplars of specific scenes or plot elements or genres AND that are well known. I mean, that's how you introduced them in your post! The movies on this list will be important because (1) they contain plot elements or scenes that are in some way iconic or exemplary and (2) they must also be widely known since using them as a mental shortcut is only useful if everyone in the conversation has seen the movie. I'm getting ahead of the group, but my list would definitely include: The Godfather, Die Hard, The Shawshank Redemption, Star Wars, and Back to the Future. All 5 meet both criteria. What adult living in America today wouldn't recognize all 5 of these titles as movies? And what screenwriter living in America today would dare write a mob movie/contained action flick/historical redemption film/sci fi epic/time travel adventure without either watching, or expecting their screenplay to be compared to, the corresponding film in the list above? Only an amateur, that's who. I think Pliny's suggestion for where to start is a good one, but I would suggest we add the limitation that there be no duplicate story types (refer to Scott's list of Story Types (in the sidebar?)) or genres at least among the initial 30 to maximize the coverage and appeal of the initial list. Also, I would probably go with only the American box office numbers rather than include the international since Hollywood is located on US soil.

My list: Dog Day Afternoon Alien Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Resevoir Dogs Pulp Fiction Se7en The Tenant I could be compiling this list forever! lol! But i'll go with these as screenplays I've learned the craft of screenwriting from.

[…] #7: 30 Essential Movies for Screenwriters to Watch […]