I've been watching a lot of old, classic movies over the last few years, largely through collecting laserdiscs, and I've found it really rewarding. So like with the 1940s and 1950s, I'm going to give my top 10 film recommendations for this decade. My knowledge of this decade's films is far from exhaustive, and I don't have any kind of film studies background or anything, but hopefully I can convince you that at least 1 or 2 of these films is worth watching.

A romantic drama film that uses pool as a metaphor for finding oneself. Iconic performances, a solid script, and a 40 hour session of pool against a guy named Minnesota Fats. What more could you want?

Anthony Perkins plays an office worker who finds himself "under arrest" one morning for a crime that no one will explain to him. What follows is a dream logic plot about bureaucracy, corruption, and legal malpractice with an explosive ending. This was the first time Orson Welles had full control of a production in a long time, and he gives us some of the best visuals he ever put on screen. There was a time when I was baffled that Welles was approached to direct Altered States, but after seeing this, I can see why they thought he'd be perfect for something that trippy.

A mysterious stranger comes to a town run by two groups of evil doers and decides to make it his business to stop them. If that sounds like a Western, there's two reasons for that:

1. Akira Kurosawa was a big fan of John Ford and liked Westerns. He used techniques from them plenty of times, but this film feels the most like a Western overall to me.

2. I'm not the only person who saw that, as Sergio Leone turned it into the Clint Eastwood breakout film A Fistful of Dollars, a surprisingly good remake that only narrowly avoided being on this list.

I love Toshiro Mifune in this film, particularly when he just looks so delighted to be fucking with these assholes. If you ever wondered why he's so iconic, this is a good place to start. One of best samurai films ever made.

So over the last few years, I've been exploring those old, classic films that I was told I was supposed to see, but never gotten around to, largely through laserdisc collecting. I've found it really rewarding, and people liked my list of 1940s films, so I figured I'd give you another decade's worth of films that I think are worth watching.

Edit: So after I started this, I realized I was missing a film that should have been on this list. So fuck it, it's a top 11 now.

Did you know noir can cover relationship dramas? Barbara Stanwyck plays a woman who moved out east to make a better life for herself, but after a years long affair with a politician ended with the man's death, she's left with no money and returns back to her fishing town in California. A fisherman there is crazy for her, and he's a nice guy, but she's not sure she loves him. And he has this friend who's an asshole, but might be a way out. A moody film about lonely people who don't know what they want, and a complex female protagonist back when that was a rarity.

Vincent Price plays the spoiled son of a newspaper mogul who just inherited the business, but he has no interest in actually running it. There's a serial killer on the loose, and and Price's character decides that whoever unmasks the killer will get to be the new manager for the paper. It's noir, so of course this leads to everyone making the kinds of terrible, selfish, dangerous decisions you'd hope for in a great drama.

A nihilistic hardboiled detective noir that in some ways is a commentary on that detective archetype and an update for more modern anxieties. It's a great looking, influential film that's often brought up as one of the best examples of it's genre. The awkward thing about trying to talk about it is that it's one of those films that works best if you know little going in. It fucking goes places. I wouldn't recommend this as a first noir, but if you've seen one or two other old detective films, jump right in. Trust me, you'll have a time you won't forget.

When people bring up this movie, I feel like they tell you two things:

1. It was a big inspiration for Star Wars.
2. It's not one of Akira Kurosawa's better, more meaningful works.

And sadly, I have to say that they're right about point two. What we have is only a great action/adventure film by one of the best directors who ever lived starring one of Japan's greatest actors. I'm so sorry for wasting your time.

Seriously though, this film is a blast, and this would make a good break between the heavier films I've been recommending. It's probably also the most accessible thing Akira Kurosawa ever made, so it's not a bad starting point if you've ever been curious if he lives up to the hype.