1. Touch of Evil is my #1 big-screen must-see.

Beyond the technically awesome opening, seeing it in an old theater, on gritty, speckled film is amazing.

Posted at 11:02AM on Jun 16th 2008 by Monika

2. Rocky III?

I'd say Raiders should be on that list. Recently, both There Will be Blood and No Country are two films that definitely should be watched on the big screen.

Posted at 9:23PM on Jun 16th 2008 by Erik Davis

3. My #1 movie to see on a big screen is The Fountain, directed by Darren Aronofsky.

It may not seem like a great choice, but it's become my absolute favourite movie ever since I first saw it. Unfortunately I hadn't even heard of it until it went to DVD, so I missed out on it in theaters.

Since then, I've watched a DVD version on a projecter screen, but it just isn't the same. I'm looking forward to the day that I eventually get to watch it on reel.

Other choices:
A Clockwork Orange
Mulholland Drive
Blade Runner

Posted at 9:54PM on Jun 16th 2008 by Premaximum

4. "The Fountain" was indeed brilliant on the big screen. I would love to see it again myself!

I long to see Doctor Zhivago on the big screen. Anything by David Lean, really, but Doctor Zhivago is my favorite.

I think one of the coolest movie watching experiences I have ever had was watching Return of the King at Red Rocks here in Colorado. To watch "the beacons are lit!!" while actually sitting in the mountains -- amazing!!

Posted at 10:55PM on Jun 16th 2008 by Elisabeth

5. At the behest of a friend I spent years holding off on Lawrence of Arabia until I could see it on a big screen; perhaps one of the wisest cinema choices I've ever made. Now I go every year when the AFI Silver runs it each Sunday at the tail end of the summer.

Posted at 9:55PM on Jun 16th 2008 by Peter Hall

6. Until I can legally beat people senseless for talking or texting during a movie I'm just fine (and much happier) watching ANY movie at home.

Posted at 10:00PM on Jun 16th 2008 by eddy

7. The advantage of HDTV is that these movies can now be viewed in-home with that big screen experience.

When I bought my 73'' HDTV, I deliberately HELD OFF on my Lawrence of Arabia DVD. When it was finally broadcast on HDNet Movies last month, i was in cinematic heaven! Absolutely worth the wait... and Sony's long-overdue Blu-Ray is targeted for 2009.

For most people, seeing movies in High Definition will be better than any theatrical presentation they would ever experience, especially in terms of the older movies. And a large screen makes it all the better.

In other words...

Lawrence of Arabia in HDTV FTW!

-Pie

Posted at 10:38PM on Jun 16th 2008 by EatingPie

8. Is it too soon to say Dark Knight? The fact that it has all those IMAX takes on it sounds so enticing!

Posted at 11:11PM on Jun 16th 2008 by MR.R

9. Cloverfield

Posted at 11:16PM on Jun 16th 2008 by pinsleric

10. I have seen most of the movies mentioned above on the big screen and admit that watching them at home, while enjoyable, is simply no substitute for the real thing. Movies and television are two unique and different media - each has its uses and strengths. For a big, sweeping story like "Lawrence of Arabia", the best possible way to view it is on a big screen. I lived in Boston for a decade or two and while there I gloried in the opportunity to see great films in their intended venue. Unfortunately where I live now, there are only two theaters in town - both are multiplexes that rarely show anything that isn't the current "big" movie - for example, right now "The Hulk", "Iron Man", and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" are showing. And although all three of those are movies I'd love to see on a big screen, the diminished size of the screens in the Multplex just don't cut it for me.
The fact is, I miss the entire experience of really "going out to the movies". Some of you younger folk won't remember this, but it wasn't so long ago that there were theaters all over the place. In Boston, they were scattered all over the city - not Multiplexes mind you, rather large, single screen auditoriums with gold leafed sculptures on the wall, elegant lighting and even curtains in front of the screen that would open when the previews began and close after the movie was finished (in the best theaters, that was never before the credits were finished rolling!) Although most of the theaters showed newer Hollywood releases, there were always a few "art" theaters too where you could catch independent releases and foreign films. It was a smorgasbord and it was not unusual for me to spend the entire weekend drifting from theater to theater.
One of my favorite theaters is one I used to go to in Milwaukee. I was called the Oriental Theater, and their lure was (in addition to being a beautiful theater, with a terrific large/wide screen and wonderful sound) was that they ran double feature every night - sometimes triple features! One movie at a time! And with a few exceptions, the double feature was different every night. Sometimes it was classics - I remember seeing double features like "Casablanca" with "The Maltese Falcon". "The Wicker Man" (the three day version - in its first US release) with Peter Weir's "The Last Wave". Sometimes they ran festivals - one fine week in 1982 they ran every film that Woody Allen had made to date.
Occasionally they'd host a concert too (I saw Talking Heads there - twice!) or have a special interest night like when they brought in Milton Clokey, the guy who created Gumby, to show a few hours worth of animations and then to talk and answer questions.
What am I saying?
That I miss those old venues.
Don't get me wrong - I still like watching movies and go to the theater any chance I get, watch loads of movies on DVD and VHS. But I miss those old venues too.
So if you are lucky enough to live in a town that has a few big screen theaters - treat yourself! Pick a night or two a week to go out and enjoy the big screen experience.
Its too good to miss.

Posted at 11:35PM on Jun 16th 2008 by eric

11. www.OnTheBigScreen.net

This blog lists upcoming screenings of many of those films, and contains the most comprehensive listings of theatres in the U.S. that show older movies.

Get out and find a classic screening near you!

There ARE still theatres where the audience is polite and the sound and picture will blow away even the best home theater. Find those theatres and support them!

Posted at 2:00AM on Jun 17th 2008 by Jonesy

12. One of my favorite moviegoing experiences of all time: Seeing "Gone With the Wind" at a New Orleans drive-in on Mardi Gras night in the mid '70s. No, people didn't show up in costumes, or driving cars bedecked with beads. But it was the perfect conclusion for a party-hearty day: Watching this bigger-than-life movie on this colossal screen, while drinking wine and munching on pizza in the privacy of a car. And, yeah, cuddling up with my then-girlfriend. Priceless.

Posted at 3:14AM on Jun 17th 2008 by Joe Leydon

13. days of heaven

Posted at 6:45AM on Jun 17th 2008 by jeffq

14. Problem Child MUST be seen on the big screen!

Posted at 8:22AM on Jun 17th 2008 by Bryan

15. One of my earliest memories of going to the movies is seeing Fantasia during its early 80s re-release. I remember it completely blowing me away, not so much the music or the images as the bigness of the screen. I must have seen it at the local multiplex and so the screen must not have been that big but I couldn't have been older than 4 at the time so it was almost terrifyingly gigantic to me, like I could get enveloped by the screen and sucked into the movie.

I've seen it countless times on VHS and DVD since but I haven't been lucky enough to catch it in a theatre again. Seeing the Sorcerer's Apprentice segment in IMAX with Fantasia 2000 was great but I would love to see the other original sequences on a big screen again. Something about the quality of the hand-drawn animation from that era, it sucks you in, feels almost three-dimensional. I would love to see it again in a theatre.

Posted at 10:00AM on Jun 17th 2008 by Alex

16. I am fortunate that my local public radio station hosts a classic movie night in a local theater, and it's a theater that serves food and wine. It's a win-win for everybody: I support my radio station and a local theater which actually cares about good films, and get to see good films on the big screen.

And because attendance requires an RSVP or public radio station membership, you can be sure there won't be any texting teenagers or jibbering morons attending the film.

Even though they don't alway get the best prints, I still support it as frequently as I can. I saw "A Clockwork Orange" on the big screen a few years ago and it was a completely different film. And tonight I'll see "2001: A Space Odyssey" on a big screen with like-minded, well-behaved film buffs and a nice glass of plonk.

Posted at 11:44AM on Jun 17th 2008 by mr. matching mole

17. I am old enough to remember most of these films on the large screen. Philly had some good repertory movie houses when I was growing up (Band Box!) and I saw many Marx Brother, film noirs, epic films and older B+W flicks the way they should be seen to be appreciated fully.

"The Wizard of Oz" is a better film in a full - screen movie house. Ben - Hur can't be enjoyed on a regular TV set.

Hope for a decent projection system for home someday to re-capture a bit of the magic.

Posted at 1:45PM on Jun 17th 2008 by Vince

18. This kind of list is really pretty obvious. Any film fan knows it will include such highlights as Lawrence of Arabia, Ben-Hur, 2001, Blade Runner, Star Wars, etc.

A much more interesting thought is 'which movies to see only on the small screen?' It flies in the face of standard thought, ignores the belief that bigger is always better. Clerks is best watched on a small screen, 20' or less, with terrible picture quality. The same goes for Night of the Living Dead, much better than when I saw it on the big screen was on an old tv in my friends dingy basement.

What other movies benefit from the small screen? Its a much harder question to answer.

Posted at 7:08PM on Jun 17th 2008 by babble123

19. Batman Begins and any of the Bourne films. The frentic camera work and fight scene action are made for the small screen.

Posted at 7:13PM on Jun 17th 2008 by Akbar Fazil