@TobyHung
You seem pretty clued up for a 13y/o kid.
And I cant believe you know the book "story" by robert mckee. People in my University class haven't even heard of it.
Good list of films too, although I wouldn't go as fat to say that Pulp Fiction is the best gangster film ever made, it is however essential viewing I agree on that.
- As for my recommendations:
"Seven Samurai"
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Every aspiring filmmaker should watch this. Along with some of Kurosawa's other films some of the best are: Rashomon, Ran, Yojimbo, and Hidden Fortress (Which story believe it not is the foundation for Star Wars! Which I picked up on with out even hearing that before I watched it.)
"M"
Directed by Fritz Lang
THE German Expressionism film; this film can teach you so much about Light and Shadow. It has a brilliant plot also.
"Sunrise"
Directed by F.W. Murnau
Some say this is the first modern Hollywood film. It's just a good film to watch in terms of set design too.
"Battleship Potemkin"
Directed by Sergei Eisenstein
The King of Montage's most famous, and some say best work. This film has given so much to modern filmmaking, it's outstanding as are some of his other works such as: Strike, and October.
"2001: A Space Odyssey"
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
In my opinion this is one of the best examples of metaphor in cinema as well as a great example of a Hollywood-Expanded Cinema hybrid. It is also unbelievably philosophically deep.
"Stalker"
Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
What can I say? This film is just amazing! Just one of the most beautiful films ever made. This film is hauntingly brilliant. Just search some screen caps on google images and you'll see what I mean.
Other films worth mentioning are:
Nanook of the North (First Ever Documentary, though not as "Documentary as it seems.)
D.W. Griffith Films including: Birth of a Nation, Intolerance, Broken Blossoms.
Bicycle Thieves
Eraser Head
Tokyo Story
Chinatown
Seventh Seal
Citizen Kane
Alphaville
There are also some films that aren't classics as such but are very interesting to watch from a filmmaker's point of view:
Children of Men: For the long takes and "impossible" camera movements
Timecode: Technically brilliant.
Memento: Construction of plot line is really interesting to say the least. Other films with non-linear plot lines are: Irreversible, 5x2, Reservoir Dogs, all of which I love.
Oh Also! One film which I don't think anyone has mentioned which is of note (especially to those mentioning low-budget films) is The Blair Witch Project. This may not be one of my favorite films ever but it currently holds the record for the highest ROI, which means Return On Investment, - in other words each dollar invested made more % profit than any other film. (Actually I just checked this and apparently "Paranormal Activity has overtaken it slightly, but even so, Blair witch made $250mil dollars! Where as Paranormal Activity only took $65mil.)
I hope this has helped some people.
