I've been taking film courses since high school and they rock. Some of my favorite classics...

All About Eve
Sunset Boulevard
The Searchers (I <3 John Wayne)
Citizen Kane
The Passion of Joan of Arc
Modern Times
A Streetcar Named Desire
The Last Man on Earth (well, it's classic status is arguable, but I love it - I love any Vincent Price movie, really)
Fantasia

All the rest of my faves were made after 1970. How classic are we talking here?

At the same time, secondbase, some really good films were made since then - American Beauty is my favorite film, and that hails from 1999. :)

But I agree that the '70s was probably the final "golden age," and that the good American films come in spurts now.

As for foreign films, Pedro Almodovar is awesome. I love Bad Education (though not really "classic") and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. I'd buy that Almodovar DVD set if it weren't $120 or something.

Other foreign faves...

-Taste of Cherry (Iran)
-Life is Beautiful (Italy)

I like classic cinema out of Hollywood and I watch a lot of old movies and really enjoy them.  I have list of newer things that I enjoy as well.  I love English language films out of other countries.  Canadian films, Aussie films, Irish films, I go for that!

Because I write and I tend to pick apart scripts, and anymore I pick apart the pacing of a film.  Unless the acting is particularly poor or the actor/actress extremely wrong for the part, I don't usually get too into performance.  I like films that have something to say that isn't political or religious, but about human relationships, the damage we do one another emotionally, often without understanding what we are doing, and the healing that can take place, about forgiveness and the triumph of the human spirit, even self-discovery.

Amadeus:  Hate the actress playing the part of Constanza, disrupts my pleasure when she is around, but I love what is says about the dissatisfaction of perceived mediocrity versus genius, about jealousy and the tortures of both the extremely gifted versus the gifted soul.

Used People:  Definitely a human damage flick, but with a nice dose of healing in it.  Not preachy, not tied up in a tidy bow at the end, but the characters find a way to stop a painful dance and be honest, communicate with each other. 

Hope and Glory:  Seen it probably 20 times and want to own a copy on DVD.

Boxing Ernest Hemingway:  Just love Duvall in that film...I don't eat a baycon sanWHICH e'ery day, I eat TWO, TWO baycon sanWHICHES e'ery day.  He is priceless.

Moonstruck:  Don't usually like blockbusters, but this one has a lot to offer about being true to oneself.  Love Dukakus.

The Shipping News
Harold and Maude
Fantasia, the original

Then I have actors I go in for
Whoopy Goldberg (can't remember the name of my favorite, but not the Color Purple)
Doris Day
Jean Crane
Myrna Loy
Clifton Webb
Katharine Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Spencer Tracy
Edward G. Robinson

If I have not heard of a movie, but these people are in it, I'll probably invest the time.

If you really love movies and you want information on about any actor, producer, director or film, TV anything, you'd like imdb.com.  It is for internet movie database.  It is searchable and almost everything is on there.  If someone was in something uncredited or perhaps was in a very old silent film, it will tell you.  There are biographies of most people on there and you can join for free and post in there like you can with wikipedia.  I have posted a bio on a childhood friend who is now a voice over artist and actor.  You'll find movie synopses too.  If you are watching a movie and all you have is the character name and the movie title, you can go and look up who the actor or actress is and what else they have done.  You can find out what your favorite actors are up to and what they might be filming, what future projects they are attached to. 

CASABLANCA

that's my favourite movie of all time. I love alfred hitchcock thrillers and classic musicals (like easter parade, white christmas...)

Please - more movie titles! I love the classics!

Rear window.

it doesn't matter how many times I have seen it, when Grace Kelly is the apartment and he is watching across the way, I get chills and I worry she won't make it out alive!!!

can't get tired of hitchcock suspense... ever.

As for classics...does anyone else love classic musicals? Or is that just way too beyond dorky?
I think that West Side Story is one of the most beautifully shot films ever. I really love sixties filmed musical set design and costuming like WSS, How To Succeed and The Music Man.

I like some old musicals but tend to prefer musicals made from the 1970s and beyond. I love The Sound of Music though. Other musicals...

-Hair
-Victor/Victoria
-Moulin Rouge
-Top Hat
-Rocky Horror  ;D

And even if I don't like the whole musical, I usually love songs from musicals. Showtunes, baby! (me singing) "Heaven..I'm in Heaven...and my heart's so full that I can barely SPEEAAAKKK..."

I actually was bored by Rear Window but know that I'm in the minority. I love Psycho though. Best facial expression ever at the end.

Secondbase: "Okay, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."

we have such great tastes in movies here at vegweb! I'm so impressed...

Diver-Di, I am officially jealous of your second or third cousin. I LOVE Kevin Spacey and would kill to even see him walk by me on the street and ignore me when I wave. On a slightly unrelated note (movie-wise), when I was in NY this year, I was so mad because if I'd gone one month later, I could've seen him in A Moon For the Misbegotten. :( Oh well!

Has anyone here seen Swimming with Sharks? A slightly-forgotten Spacey classic, but worth seeing!