What is a Capital 'M' Movie? A Capital 'M' Movie is many things. It's a movie that has..
- Craftsmanship. Passes the Howard Hawks test of filmmaking: possessing three great scenes and no bad one's
- 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..
- 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..
- Unique and human characters we genuinely feel for, which we only truly do when those characters are involved in..
- 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.