FILM ILLITERACY, YIKES!
I was recently hired for a script consultation by a serious young writer who keeps current with all the latest movies.
As I gave him notes on his screenplay, I would occasionally mention a film as a reference, a teaching moment, but he apparently had no knowledge of any film made more than three years ago.
A list of the films this screenwriter hadn’t seen and maybe not even heard of:
SUNSET BOULEVARD
CITIZEN KANE
2001, A SPACE ODYSSEY
ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN
DOUBLE INDEMNITY
THE MALTESE FALCON
MR. HULOT’S HOLIDAY
DAY FOR NIGHT
ANNIE HALL
MOONSTRUCK
I told him if he watched only these ten movies, he would learn enough to write a great screenplay.