Capital ’M’ Movies

What is a Capital 'M' Movie? A Capital 'M' Movie is many things. It's a movie that has..

1. Craftsmanship. Passes the Howard Hawks test of filmmaking: possessing three great scenes and no bad one's
2. Such infectious fun that you feel like you could start it over as soon as it finishes, which almost always means it is set within..
3. A fictional world that draws us in and that which we're pleased to spend our time inside, which we only are when that world is populated with..
4. Unique and human characters we genuinely feel for, which we only truly do when those characters are involved in..
5. A well structured story with genuine, ever growing stakes.

Put all that together and you end up with what Quentin Tarantino calls a hang-out movie. A movie that's a thrill to show to anyone who hasn't seen it and a delight to watch with people who have.

•  The General 1926
•  Ruggles of Red Gap 1935
•  Holiday 1938
•  To Be Or Not To Be 1942
•  Casablanca 1942
•  The Third Man 1949
•  High Noon 1952
•  Seven Samurai 1954
•  12 Angry Men 1957
•  Some Like It Hot 1959
•  Psycho 1960 (H)
•  Yojinbo 1961
•  Sanjuro 1962
•  Lawrence of Arabia 1962
•  Dr Strangelove 1964
•  For A Few Dollars more 1964
•  The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly 1966 (L)
•  The Dirty Dozen 1967
•  Cool Hand Luke 1967
•  Night of the Living Dead 1968 (H)
•  Once Upon A Time in the West 1968 (L)
•  Dirty Harry 1971
•  Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory 1971
•  Jeremiah Johnson 1972 (L)
•  Blazing Saddles 1974
•  Monty Python's Holy Grail 1975
•  Jaws 1975
•  The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh 1977
•  Star Wars 1977
•  Dawn of the Dead 1978
  
•  Halloween 1978 (H)
•  Animal House 1978
•  Monty Python's Life of Brian 1979
  
•  Apocalypse Now 1979 (HL)
•  Alien 1979 (H)
•  The Shining 1980 (H)
•  The Blues Brothers 1980
•  Airplane! 1980
•  The Empire Strikes Back 1980
•  Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981
•  Escape from NY 1981
•  Blade Runner 1982
•  Mad Max The Road Warrior 1982
•  Conan the Barbarian 1982
•  The Thing 1982 (H)
•  Tootsie 1982
•  Return of the Jedi 1983
•  A Christmas Story 1983
•  Karate Kid 1984
•  Gremlins 1984
•  The Terminator 1984
•  Ghostbusters 1984
•  Back to the Future 1985
•  The Goonies 1985
•  Re-Animator 1985
•  Day of the Dead 1985
•  Aliens 1986
  
•  The Fly 1986 (H)
•  Blue Velvet 1986 (H)
•  Big Trouble in Little China 1986
•  Ferris Bueller's Day Off 1986
•  The Princess Bride 1987
•  Coming to America 1987
•  Spaceballs 1987
•  Raising Arizona 1987
•  Evil Dead 2 1987
•  RoboCop 1987
•  Predator 1987
•  Full Metal Jacket 1987
•  My Neighbor Totoro 1988
•  Beetlejuice 1988
•  Die Hard 1988
•  Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1989
•  Tremors 1990
•  Terminator 2 Judgment Day 1991
•  The Silence of the Lambs 1991 (H)
•  Army of Darkness 1992
•  Aladdin 1992
•  Wayne's World 1992
•  A League of Their Own 1992
•  The Sandlot 1993
•  Groundhog Day 1993
•  Jurassic Park 1993
•  Forrest Gump 1994
•  The Shawshank Redemption 1994
•  Speed 1994
•  Legend of the Drunken Master 1994
•  Dumb and Dumber 1994
•  Pulp Fiction 1994 (L)
•  Friday 1995
•  That Thing You Do! 1996
•  Fargo 1996
•  Star Trek First Contact 1996
•  Men in Black 1997
•  Starship Troopers 1997
•  The Fifth Element 1997
•  Orgazmo 1997
•  Good Will Hunting 1997
•  The Zero Effect 1998
•  The Truman Show 1998
•  The Big Lebowski 1998
•  Saving Private Ryan 1998
•  The Straight Story 1999
•  Galaxy Quest 1999
•  Office Space 1999
•  Fight Club 1999
•  The Matrix 1999
•  Battle Royale 2000
•  Gladiator 2000
•  American Psycho 2000 (H)
•  O Brother Where Art Thou? 2000
•  Ocean's Eleven 2001
•  Zoolander 2001
•  Millenium Actress 2001
•  Spirited Away 2001
•  The Bourne Identity 2002
•  Catch Me If You Can 2002
•  The Fellowship of the Ring 2001 (L)
•  The Two Towers 2002 (L)
•  Return of the King 2003 (L)
•  Memories of Murder 2003
•  Kill Bill Vol. 1 2003
•  Finding Nemo 2003
•  The Incredibles 2004
•  Shaun of the Dead 2004
•  Kill Bill Vol. 2 2004
•  Mean Girls 2004
•  Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind 2004
•  The Life Aquatic 2004
•  Collateral 2004
•  Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 2005
•  Land of the Dead 2005
•  Batman Begins 2005
•  V for Vendetta 2005
•  Stranger Than Fiction 2006
•  Casino Royale 2006
•  The Departed 2006 (L)
•  The Host 2006
•  Pan's Labyrinth 2006 (H)
•  Children of Men 2006
•  No Country for Old Men 2007
•  King of Kong 2007
•  Hot Fuzz 2007
•  Hot Rod 2007
•  Step Brothers 2008
  
•  Speed Racer 2008 (L)
•  The Dark Knight 2008
•  Iron Man 2008
•  Tropic Thunder 2008
•  Wall·E 2008
  
•  Moon 2009
•  Inglorious Basterds 2009
•  500 Days of Summer 2009
•  Scott Pilgrim 2010
•  How To Train Your Dragon 2010
•  Attack the Block 2011
•  Drive 2011
•  Dredd 2012
•  Django Unchained 2012
•  The Avengers 2012
•  The Lego Movie 2014
•  The Grand Budapest Hotel 2014
•  Guardians of the Galaxy 2014
•  John Wick 2014
•  True Detective 2014 (L)
  
•  Mad Max Fury Road 2015
•  SuperBob 2015
•  The Witch 2016 (H)
•  Hacksaw Ridge 2016
•  Hell or High Water 2016
•  John Wick 2 2017
•  Get Out 2017

(H) stands for Horror. I've put this mark on any film whose tension comes from a growing feeling of dread as opposed to growing excitement.

(L) stands for Long. I've put this mark on any film that's noticeably over two hours, since it's always best to be forewarned of a long trip.

Still looking for more movies? If you want something great, something you haven't seen before, then I have few Films to suggest. If you're looking for some plain old fashioned fun at the cinema, then check out the B roll.

If a Capital 'M' Movies are movies that make you say to someone, "You haven't seen that movie?! I gotta show you that movie!"
Then these are the movies that make you say, "You haven't seen that movie? You gotta see that movie."
No less 'good' but once you've seen them once, you've seen them.

•  City Lights 1931
•  Duck Soup 1933
•  Modern Times 1936
•  Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937
•  Holiday 1938
•  The Wizard of Oz 1939
•  Pinocchio 1940
•  Citizen Kane 1941
•  Arsenic and Old Lace 1944
•  Harvey 1950
•  Rashomon 1950
•  Ikiru 1952
•  The Seventh Seal 1957
•  Paths of Glory 1957
•  Forbidden Planet 1957
  
•  Bridge on the River Kwai 1957 (L)
•  Lawrence of Arabia 1962 (L)
•  High and Low 1963
•  Persona 1966
•  Belle de Jour 1967
•  Rosemary's Baby 1968
•  2001 A Space Odyssey 1968
•  Harold and Maude 1971
•  Aguirre The Wrath of God 1972
•  The Godfather 1972
•  Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid 1973
•  The Exorcist 1973
•  The Godfather Part II 1974
•  Chinatown 1974
•  One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1975
•  Barry Lyndon 1975
•  Picnic at Hanging Rock 1975
•  Rocky 1976
  
•  Taxi Driver 1976
•  The Jerk 1979
•  The Castle of Cagliostro 1979
•  Being There 1979
•  Altered States 1980
•  The King of Comedy 1982
•  Star Trek The Wrath of Kahn 1982
  
•  Videodrome 1983 (H)
•  Scarface 1983
•  WarGames 1983
•  Amadeus 1984
•  This is Spinal Tap 1984
  
•  Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind 1984
•  Tampopo 1985
•  Brazil 1985
•  Clue 1985
•  Pee-wee's Big Adventure 1985
•  Castle in the Sky 1986
  
•  Withnail and I 1987
•  Lethal Weapon 1987
  
•  Akira 1988 (H)
•  Grave of the Fireflies 1988
•  Heathers 1988
•  The 'Burbs 1989
•  Kiki's Delivery Service 1989
  
•  Total Recall 1990
•  Joe vs the Volcano 1990
•  Edward Scissorhands 1990
•  Barton Fink 1991
•  Defending Your Life 1991
  
•  Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me 1992
•  Reservoir Dogs 1992
•  Porco Rosso 1992
  
•  Swing Kids 1993
•  Schindler's List 1993
•  Quiz Show 1994
•  Clerks 1994
•  Leon The Professional 1994
•  Ghost in the Shell 1995
•  On Your Mark 1995
•  Toy Story 1995
•  12 Monkeys 1995
•  Trainspotting 1996
  
•  Sling Blade 1996
•  Princess Mononoke 1997
•  Lost Highway 1997 (H)
•  Gattaca 1997
•  Rushmore 1998
•  SLC Punk! 1998
•  Dark City 1998
•  The Zero Effect 1998
•  Eyes Wide Shut 1999
•  eXistenZ 1999
•  Three Kings 1999
•  Toy Story 2 1999
•  South Park Bigger, Longer and Uncut 1999
•  High Fidelity 2000
•  Best in Show 2000
•  Snatch 2000
•  Requiem for a Dream 2000
•  Unbreakable 2000
•  Vanilla Sky 2001
•  Mulholland Dr. 2001
•  The Royal Tenenbaums 2001
•  Wet Hot American Summer 2001
•  Amelie 2001
•  Training Day 2001
•  Memento 2001
•  Insomnia 2002
•  Adaptation 2002
•  City of God 2002
•  24 Hour Party People 2002
•  Lost in Translation 2003
•  The Station Agent 2003
•  Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring 2003
•  Oldboy 2003 (H)
•  Big Fish 2003
•  The Aviator 2004
•  Kinsey 2004
•  Downfall 2004
•  Howl's Moving Castle 2004
•  Brick 2005
•  Brokeback Mountain 2005
•  Breakfast on Pluto 2005
•  The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada 2005
  
•  A History of Violence 2005
•  Borat 2006
•  The Lives of Others 2006
•  The Fountain 2006
•  The Prestige 2006
•  Zodiac 2007
•  Into the Wild 2007
•  Stardust 2007
•  In Bruges 2008
•  Burn After Reading 2008
•  Moon 2009
•  Coraline 2009
•  The Secret of Kells 2009
•  Observe and Report 2009
•  The Men Who Stare at Goats 2009
  
•  District 9 2009
•  Valhalla Rising 2009
•  Brüno 2009
•  The Social Network 2010
•  Toy Story 3 2010
  
•  Super 2010
•  Four Lions 2010
•  Black Swan 2010
•  Successful Alcoholics 2010
•  A Dangerous Method 2011
•  Frances Ha 2011
•  Midnight in Paris 2011
  
•  Jiro Dreams of Sushi 2011
•  Moonrise Kingdom 2012
•  Robot & Frank 2012
•  Seven Psychopaths 2012
•  Blue Ruin 2013 (H)
•  Her 2013
•  Spring Breakers 2013
  
•  The Wolf of Wall Street 2013
•  The World's End 2013
•  The Wind Rises 2013
•  Nebraska 2013
•  Only Lovers Left Alive 2013
•  Inherent Vice 2014
•  Nightcrawler 2014
•  Frank 2014
•  It Follows 2014 (H)
•  Ex Machina 2015 (H)
•  Experimenter 2015
•  What We Do in the Shadows 2015
•  Green Room 2016 (H)
•  San Junipero 2016
•  The Hunt for the Wilderpeople 2016
•  The Founder 2016

Want something more fun? Check out The B Roll. 

These movies might not be quite as good, but damn if they ain't a good time.