Film Friday: What? You haven't seen....

We've all been there.  Talking to someone about movies, and you mention a movie that has become something of a cornerstone of pop culture.  And then the person you're talking to fesses up and says "Actually, I've never seen that movie".  Without thinking, you ask that lovely question:

"What?  You haven't seen that movie?"

If you're like me, you'll follow that question with something like "Did you grow up in a cult?" or "Were you raised in a cave?"  Because there are only a few reasons why a person has not seen Jurassic Park, The Sixth Sense, or The Princess Bride.  Hell, convicted felons who have been in prison since before the moon landings have probably seen these movies. 

This conversation has come up a few times in the last few weeks at work.  The first time it happened was when one of the supervisors, who is Chinese (though he's been in the country for at least a few years), had no idea what I was talking about when I started quoting Star Wars.  In fact, he had no idea what Star Wars was.  This blew my mind, because everyone knows that the chinese are nerds, and nerds love Star Wars, right?  Or am I unfairly stereotyping, here? 

(to be honest, he actually was a huge nerd.  And he did know Star Wars in the end, but had only seen one of the movies, in chinese, where there's a different title). 

Then it came up again later, talking to a guy who didn't own a TV, but loved movies.  As he told me during our conversation, he watches maybe five movies a week, and has been doing this for several months.  And yet, he had never seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  Or The Sixth Sense.  Or When Harry Met Sally.  Or Thelma and Louise.  Or Alien.  Or The Princess Bride. 

This depressed me.  and it's made me realize that there should be some sort of introductory movie package.  A list of movies that everyone has to see - a movie care package, as it were.  The way I see it, we gather up all these films, put them in a nice package, and give them away with every DVD player sold, as sort of a training set for first time film-watchers.  Not movies that everyone should see, but movies that everyone has to see.  Films that are referenced time and time again in popular culture.  A few movies  that belong on this list:

• Jurassic Park
• The Princess Bride
• The Sixth Sense
• Ferris Bueller's Day Off
• Pulp Fiction
• Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Beauty and the Beast
• Wizard of Oz
• ET
• The Godfather
• Star Wars IV: A New Hope

That's my list for now.  I'm sure I'm missing some out, and I eagerly wait your additions.  Seriously, folks, let's put together a movie care package, so movie-goers everywhere will at least share a common starting place.