002 - Starter Pack: Film Recommendations





Every now and then, someone will ask me for a recommended film list. Depending on the person, I’d tweak the list (e.g., I wouldn’t recommend Ari Aster or David Cronenberg films to everyone). It grew tiring, so I decided to develop my list into several based on level of interest—more specifically, films I consider to be digestible for the beginner and intermediate viewer (my advanced-ish list is in progress as I find my way into watching what may be considered more advanced).





Beginner Starter Pack

  • Carmen: A Hip Hopera
  • Booksmart
  • Singin’ in the Rain
  • The Wiz
  • The Wizard of Oz
  • A Clockwork Orange
  • Mother!
  • Heat
  • Dinner for Schmucks
  • Train to Busan
  • Planet of the Apes (2001)
  • Shrek
  • Idlewild
  • Guava Island
  • Fantastic Mr. Fox
  • The Truman Show
  • Good Fellas
  • The Shining
  • Girl, Interrupted
  • Zola
  • Beetlejuice
  • Donnie Darko
  • A Bronx Tale
  • Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
  • Sound of Metal
  • Black Swan
  • The Exorcist
  • It (2017)
  • Coraline
  • Spirited Away


The Black Swan Fantastic Mr. Fox Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory


Intermediate(-ish)

  1. Carmen Jones
  2. Bones and All
  3. Phenomena
  4. The Fly
  5. Strange Days
  6. Fantastic Planet
  7. Waves
  8. The Lobster
  9. The House that Jack Built
  10. In Bruges
  11. Suspiria (1977)
  12. Suspiria (2018)
  13. Isle of Dogs
  14. Ex Machina
  15. Whiplash
  1. House
  2. Punch-Drunk Love
  3. Men
  4. Grand Budapest Hotel
  5. French Dispatch
  6. X
  7. Pearl
  8. Parasite
  9. Antiviral
  10. Akira
  11. Memento
  12. Dead Presidents
  13. Deep Red
  14. Memories
  15. Pulp Fiction


House The Fly Pearl




(A little more than) Intermediate(-ish)

  • Persona
  • Ichi the Killer
  • Banshees of Inisherin
  • Hereditary
  • Midsommar
  • Blue Velvet
  • Infinity Pool
  • Perfect Blue
  • Paprika
  • Oldboy
  • The Red Shoes
  • The Thing
  • Sweetie
  • Opera
  • Videodrome
  • Carrie
  • Buffalo ‘66
  • The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
  • After Hours
  • The Triplets of Belleville
  • Visioneers
  • Under the Skin
  • Filth
  • The Wailing
  • The Favourite
  • Another Round
  • Triangle of Sadness
  • Brazil
  • Lord of the Flies
  • The Wicker Man


After Hours Midsommar Buffalo '66



Advanced(-ish) - in progress

  • The Holy Mountain
  • Santa Sangre
  • Hour of the Wolf
  • The Big Shave
  • At Land
  • Tetsuo the Iron Man
  • Boiling Point
  • Eraserhead
  • Daisies
  • Absurd Encounter with Fear
  • Beau is Afraid
  • Dementia
  • Angst


Dementia Angst Tetsuo: The Iron Man


email: ayanadames@gmail.com