Here’s the deal, kids: I’m in the process of putting together my third book of collected movie reviews: THE BRIDE OF DERRICK FERGUSON’S MOVIE REVIEW NOTEBOOK and I want to add a little something special to it this time besides just movie reviews.

I’d like to have a list 100 Essential Movies That Everybody Oughta Have In Their Home DVD Library in the book as well. Not movies that everybody ‘should’ have or ‘must’ have. But movies that everybody ‘oughta’ have just because I think it’ll make their movie watching life a little better.

Now this is where you guys come in: below you’ll see a short list of movies in various categories. If you think any of these movies shouldn’t be on the list, let me know and give me a movie that you think should be on the list. I am totally flexible on this as long as you give me a good reason why my movie should be bumped for yours.

I reserve the right to argue until I’m blue in the face.







COMEDIES
Blazing Saddles
Young Frankenstein
Airplane
Which Way Is Up?
Office Space
Johnny Dangerously
The Breaks
The Kentucky Fried Movie
The Bride Came C.O.D.
Never Give A Sucker An Even Break
Arsenic And Old Lace
Clerks
Clerks II
Tropic Thunder

EPIC DRAMAS
A Raisin In The Sun
Citizen Kane
To Have And Have Not
Black Narcissus
Come Back, Little Sheba
The Caine Mutiny
A Face In The Crowd
Imitation Of Life
Lolita
Nothing But A Man
As Good As It Gets
On The Beach
Seven Samurai
The Ten Commandments
The Godfather Trilogy
Scarface
The Third Man

FANTASY
The Wizard of Oz
The Thief Of Bagdad (1940)
The Seventh Seal
Jason And The Argonauts
Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (1971)
Time Bandits
The Sword And The Sorcerer
Ladyhawke
The Princess Bride
The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen
Star Wars

SPORTS
Friday Night Lights
Remember The Titans
A League Of Their Own
Slapshot
Brian's Song
The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars And Motor Kings
Eight Men Out
White Men Can't Jump
He Got Game
Cool Runnings

CHICK FLICKS
Steel Magnolias
What Women Want
The Bridges Of MadisonCounty
Waiting To Exhale
How Stella Got Her Groove Back
Fried Green Tomatoes
Pretty Woman
Terms of Endearment
Clueless
How To Marry A Millionaire


HORROR/SCIENCE FICTION
The Bride of Frankenstein
Dr. Cyclops
The Thing From Another World
The Blob (both versions)
Gattaca
eXistenZ
Frequency
A.I. : Artificial Intelligence
The Core
House On Haunted Hill
Blade Runner
Ghostbusters
Alien

ACTION/ADVENTURE
The Fifth Element
The Terminator
Predator
The Dirty Dozen
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull
Superman
Aliens
JurassicPark
Silver Streak
Enter The Dragon
Black Belt Jones
The Last Dragon
Mad Max
The Road Warrior
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

WESTERNS
The Magnificent Seven
The Wild Bunch
The Professionals
The Five Man Army
The Wrath of God
Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid
The War Wagon
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
Once Upon A Time In The West
The Great Silence
My Name Is Nobody
Ride The High Country
The Missouri Breaks
Unforgiven
Tombstone
Dead Man



MUSICALS
Little Shop of Horrors
Guys And Dolls
Grease
Cabaret
Chicago
The Umbrella of Cherbourg
South Pacific
How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
Jesus Christ, Superstar
Dreamgirls
The Wiz

WHAT!? NO ZOMBIE FLICKS? The original Night of the Living Dead is a classic!

Don't you think you should add Miracle in the sports list.. talking about the biggest upset in American Sports History.. if that's a little to politcal for your tastes then why not Raging Bull? It was probably the best movie to never win an Oscar for scorsese's great directing. I mean really.. for a movie made in 1980.. the scenes were great, the effects were 15 years ahead of their time, the acting was beatiful, both starring and supporting acting.. It was almost like watching a real sports event.

My opinion a movie everyone should own is Goodfellas but that's just me.. no reason really.. but I'd honestly, if I were an author it would be hard to not add Raging Bull in my top 100 movies people should own.

Consider both RAGING BULL and GOODFELLAS added to the list. And you're absolutely right about GOODFELLAS...good call!
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I'd be inclined to put in the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD for classic value but that's all. And please don't anybody start cryin' at me about how scary THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is because I hate all of the versions and sequels of the original lame **** movie and I'll never recommend that anybody in their right mind see it.

The first movie I looked for in the list isn't there: Shawshank Redemption.

I think it's one of the movies not to miss!


I'll go through your list later and comment on some movies when my net is more "normal".

How about Ali?(2001)
The searchers,i am not really a western fan but this is a very good story.(1956)
On the waterfront,a classic i think.(1954)
Giant (1956)
The shootist(1976)John Wayne's last film.
Greystoke,the legend of tarzan of the ape's(1984) one of my fav films.
I think all these films would be worthy of a spot on the list!.

What? No Lord of the Rings up there?

Ditto.

Actually most of the movies on that list I haven't even heard of let alone seen.

Hmmmm, you know this list is giving me the urge to buy and watch more movies right now. heh.

You put TROPIC THUNDER up there already I see. I might be a little hesitant yet, but I think I need to see it again. It's good, real good.

One suggestion toward your musical list which I consider a staple: THE BLUES BROTHERS. Some of the best music I've ever heard created for a motion picture, a story you're more than willing to become invested in, and many appearances by some of the greatest voices in music.

The list I have the biggest quarrels with is your sci-fi/horror list. I don't see any of the greater classic films such as HALLOWEEN, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, DAWN OF THE DEAD, THE THING, or even any of the EVIL DEAD series. Even SHAUN OF THE DEAD deserves a place up there.

I do see that you have FREQUENCY and THE CORE up there... Really? Actually (and you're probably going to scold me for this) but I'm not the biggest fan of BLADE RUNNER either. I haven't seen AI or HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL yet, but I do need to see LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. I would recommend it, but I haven't seen it yet.

I see one more glaring omission - Casablanca.

Also, I would defnitely drop Godfather III. That piece of crap only gets worse with time. Number One on the list of Movies That Should Never Have Been Made.

Everyone should definitely see Arsenic and Old Lace at least once in their lifetime. It's hilarious - Peter Lorre at his absolute best.