No, not movies that are guilty pleasures, like Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks. And no, not movies about guilty parties, like Guilty by Suspicion, Guilty As Sin, or Guilty As Charged. I’m talking about movies you think you should have seen already, movies that perhaps everyone you know is talking about but you never got around to seeing. For example, maybe you missed seeing Anchorman in the theater and never rented it, so when your buddies quote the movie ad infinitum, you feel out of the loop.
For me, as an amateur critic, the definition expands to include older movies that I feel I should have seen (or should see). I’m talking big-name, everyone-knows-em-even-now classics, timeless films to which people can still relate on some level.
So here are mine:
1. Gone with the Wind. I actually own this movie (I bought it for a Christmas present, but it didn’t arrive in time), but I’ve never seen it and never plan to. If it were half as long, perhaps. But three hours of a Southern soap? Nah.
2. Long Day’s Journey into Night (1962). Watching this now – it’s friggin’ long, too. I don’t think it’s very good.
3. In Cold Blood (1967).
4. A Man for All Seasons (1966).
5. A Streetcar Named Desire (1954).
6. Patton (1970).
7. Metropolis (1927). It’s a silent movie, and I often eschew those, but it’s sci-fi! And I can’t tell you how many times people have said, “Aw man, you’ve never seen Metropolis?”
8. Master and Commander.
9. Scarface (1932 and 1983). I’ll probably never see the Pacino version, but the Muni one is on The List.
10. Anchorman
11. Talladega Nights
12. Blades of Glory (do you see a pattern here?)
13. Billy Madison. Yet, anyway.
14. The Sound of Music (1965)
Most of those are in my Netflix queue. There are probably scads of others I haven’t seen that fall under these criteria, too..
How about you?
frothy has been reviewing movies in one form or another 
Frothy Ruminations 