Essential Films
From Italian neo-realism to post-classical Hollywood, the great screenwriters have a remarkable knowledge of cinema.
Many aspiring writers, however, seem to only take a passing interest in actually watching films. We often recommend to writers a famous film by, say, Jim Jarmusch, only for them to say they’ve never heard of it. Or Jim Jarmusch for that matter.
Remember when the 2004 version of The Ladykillers came out, and Tom Hanks confessed that he’d never seen the original? Not a good image to cultivate. An understanding of the films that have shaped cinema’s history is vital to expanding a writer’s craft, so make sure you’re on top of the game by utilizing the resources below.
Movie Books
The A List: 100 Essential Films: Jay Carr
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: Steven Jay Schneider
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Movie Award Winners
Best Screenplay Oscar Winners
http://www.simplyscripts.com/oscar_winners.html
http://www.filmsite.org/bestscreenplays.html
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Best Picture Oscar Winners
http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Academy_Awards_USA
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Cannes Palme d’Or Winners
http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Cannes_Film_Festival
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Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winners
http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Sundance_Film_Festival
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“Best Of” Lists
New York Times Best 1000 Movies Ever Made
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/movies/1000best.html
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Wikipedia Films Considered the Greatest Ever
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Films_considered_the_greatest_ever
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IMDB Top 250 Movies of All Time
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Empire The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time
http://www.empireonline.com/500
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Improve your screenwriting knowledge even further by reading these screenwriting books