With the rise and gaining popularity of other forms of media, such as video games, social media (including short-form media), and sites like YouTube taking over the younger generation’s free time, Gen Z and Gen Alpha primarily look away from movies and towards other options in search of entertainment. Obviously, people still watch and enjoy them, but theaters have seen a rapid decline over the years in attendance due to home streaming services and people primarily choosing other forms of entertainment.
However, I am not overly concerned about that matter because there’s nothing wrong with the younger generations choosing what makes them happiest in their little free time. Personally, I prefer to watch a good movie in my free time, but I occasionally watch shows, play video games, watch YouTube, etc.
Growing up, while still watching the popular ones that would come out in theaters, my parents would introduce me to some older ones that they enjoyed when they were younger, primarily in the 80s and 90s. From popular series such as the Harry Potter and Star Wars franchises (even though Harry Potter was more 2000s), to funnier ones like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Better Off Dead, and Rush Hour, I thoroughly enjoyed this era of comedy movies.
Recently, I’ve been delving into the more critically acclaimed films during this time period. I watched Fight Club a few months ago, and I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I did. Although not super rewatchable, it is a great movie with a good story and meaningful themes mixed in with an unexpected plot twist. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, and I don’t think anyone would regret watching it if they chose to.
Another well-known one that I would highly recommend from the 90s is Good Will Hunting. The acting from Matt Damon and Robin Williams, along with the amazing writing in this film, is outstanding, and I thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend the movie also.
A few more movies that emerged during this 80s/90s era that are definitely worth watching are Groundhog Day, Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction, Weird Science, The Shawshank Redemption, Big, Top Gun, and many others.
Speaking of Top Gun, this is Mrs. Masse’s favorite movie.
“Top Gun is my all time favorite movie because it reminds me of times past,” she said. “I love fighter jets, and I enjoy the storyline. I also like Fast Times at Ridgemont High because I enjoy the characters and I think it’s relatable. I do not like most current movies as they are mostly superhero movies which I’m not interested in. I normally watch Hallmark movies.”
The 70s, 80s, and 90s were also the prime decades of one of my favorite directors, Martin Scorsese. Regarded as one of the greatest directors ever, he was in charge of amazing movies like Goodfellas, Killers of the Flower Moon, The Irishman, The Wolf of Wall Street, Shutter Island, and The Departed. I would highly recommend all of these because Martin Scorsese doesn’t miss.
Through the last few weeks, I’ve been cycling through mafia movies such as The Godfather, The Godfather Part 2, Goodfellas, The Irishman, Black Mass, The Mule, and The Departed. These have become one of my favorite sub-genres of movies, and I think others would enjoy them as well.
Regarded as one of the top movies of all time, I thought The Godfather was a great movie with good storytelling and somewhat deep themes, but I didn’t think it was amazing. I still loved both Godfather movies, but I feel that Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas was definitely on the same tier or maybe slightly better than The Godfather.
I also thought highly of The Irishman, although a tad long, running three and a half hours.
Clint Eastwood’s The Mule was a solid movie, although not on the same tier as those previously mentioned, with Clint Eastwood playing a drug mule and transporting cocaine for the cartel all over illinois.
The Departed and Black Mass were also mafia movies, but they were slightly different from those such as Goodfellas and The Godfather. They tell a story of the Irish mob in Boston, with Black Mass telling the story of notorious gangster Whitey Bulger, and The Departed focusing on Frank Costello, although not the focal point of the film. I highly suggest this subgenre to people who are into crime or would be interested in trying out this type of movie.
I would imagine that the fans of these movies would also enjoy war movies, which I have also watched lots of. Some of these include Saving Private Ryan, Fury, Hacksaw Ridge, Midway, All Quiet on the Western Front, 1917, Mine, Number 24, Schindler’s List, The Forgotten Battle, Lone Survivor, Unbroken, American Sniper, The Outpost, The Pianist, and probably others I can’t think of. Of these, I particularly liked Saving Private Ryan, Fury, Hacksaw Ridge, Number 24, Schindler’s List, Unbroken, The Pianist, and American Sniper.
If you’re looking for a purely action war movie, I would choose Saving Private Ryan, or Fury.
The others’ focus is more on one main character throughout, with Hacksaw Ridge following main character Desmond Doss, who, because of his religion, refuses to carry a gun in the midst of war, but becomes a war hero.
Number 24 follows a Norwegian resistance leader who is assigned to carry out a mission to dismantle the Nazi rule in his country (also a very good movie).
Schindler’s List is about factory owner Oskar Schindler who hides and shelters jews in his factory in WWII, which is not much of an action war movie, but a great story nonetheless.
Maybe my favorite war movie, Unbroken, follows a soldier captured by the Japanese and forced to survive to make it back home.
My most recent war movie watch was The Pianist, which was about a great Jewish pianist who had to hide amongst the ruins of Warsaw during the holocaust.
Lastly, American Sniper follows Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle racking up kills in Iraq, which is a good movie if you’re someone who’s into modern combat.
Fantasy movies are also beloved by many, with Mr. Bly stating that he “really enjoyed the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.”
Bly says he “remembered waiting for the next one to come out,” and that he enjoyed them because of their “Good character development” and “Great special effects for that time.”
I also grew up watching these types of movies, with my favorite series ever being the Harry Potter series. Because the books were so thrilling and detailed, many thought that making good movies out of the series couldn’t be done. However, directors Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell, and David Yates proved them wrong. The Harry Potter movies were a staple in filmmaking and were a giant leap for the science fiction industry.
Transitioning into the science fiction genre, I also enjoyed the Star Wars movies a long time ago, but I probably will rewatch them because I don’t think I fully understood or appreciated them when I was little.
Space movies, such as Interstellar and The Martian are also highly regarded in the Sci-fi world.
Personally, I love Interstellar, and it would probably land in my top 10 movies ever. Christopher Nolan’s dedication to his craft is outstanding, and instead of using CGI, he often goes lengths to make his movies as authentic as they can, planting 500 acres of corn just for Interstellar, or even using a real atomic bomb for Oppenheimer. Interstellar is about an astronaut who is forced to leave his kids and home behind in order to find a new home for a dying humanity, via a wormhole through the depths of space. The cinematography for this movie is on another level, and I would 100% recommend it if you’re a sci-fi fan.
Although not on the same level as Interstellar, The Martian is also a very good space movie about an astronaut who is stranded on Mars for 561 days and is forced to survive until he is rescued.
A different type of science fiction film, and also directed by Nolan, is Inception. I found this movie while browsing on Netflix because I heard about it on the internet, and decided to watch it one night. I loved this movie, although a little hard to wrap your head around at times. It is about a thief (Leo DiCaprio) who has the ability to enter people’s dreams and steal secrets from their subconscious. He is tasked with doing an impossible assignment: planting an idea in someone’s mind, and if he succeeds, it will be the perfect crime. This movie has a very ambiguous ending, but I would highly recommend it for individuals who enjoy Nolan’s movies or are science fiction enthusiasts.
A great era for movies, perhaps peaking around this time, was from 2000 to 2015. During this era, some of my favorite movies ever emerged, such as Shutter Island, Step Brothers, Superbad, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Dark Knight, Napoleon Dynamite, Whiplash, The Hangover, and many others. These are all extremely popular, but for good reason because they are all fantastic. Whether it is for comedy, thrillers, science fiction, war, action, etc, this era of movies was, in my opinion, the height of filmmaking.
One of the most decorated directors in history, Quentin Tarantino, also produced some of his best movies during this period (even though he was also a 90s director).
Mr. Cangemi is very fond of him because “his writing is so superb.”
Cangemi also says that he loves Tarantino’s “character development, dialogue, and cinematography.”
Additionally, he expresses that he is “also a fan of Francis Ford Coppola’s movies.”
And when asking about his favorite individual movies, Cangemi states that “Probably [his] all-time favorite movie franchise is Rocky,” which is an amazing series. I would also like to point out the Rocky spinoff series, Creed, is a great set a movies to watch as well if you’re a Rocky fan, with my favorite being Creed 2.
I have yet to watch several movies that I plan on watching in the future. Some of which include Come and See, The Pursuit of Happiness, Die Hard, The Thing, What Happened to Monday, Green Book, Dunkirk, Bridge to Terebithia, and The Green Mile. All have come from either people’s recommendations or from what the internet says.
To anyone who seeks to actually watch some movies that were mentioned, I hope you like them as much as I did, but these are just suggestions.