Must-see movies for Neo-Beat Generation
by beatsinema | created - 28 Oct 2016 | updated - 08 Nov 2016 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. On the Road (2012)
R | 124 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
Young writer Sal Paradise has his life shaken by the arrival of free-spirited Dean Moriarty and his girl, Marylou. As they travel across the country, they encounter a mix of people who each impact their journey indelibly.
Director: Walter Salles | Stars: Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams
Votes: 43,285 | Gross: $0.72M
2. Into the Wild (2007)
R | 148 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
After graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters that shape his life.
Director: Sean Penn | Stars: Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn, Catherine Keener, Marcia Gay Harden
Votes: 657,865 | Gross: $18.35M
3. Eight Miles High (2007)
Unrated | 114 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Uschi Obermeier, a German cover model from the 1960s who embodied the dreams of the hippie generation - joins a commune, begins a modelling career, meets rock stars, and travels the world in a bus, enjoying love, drugs and freedom.
Director: Akiz | Stars: Natalia Avelon, Matthias Schweighöfer, David Scheller, Friederike Kempter
Votes: 3,028
4. I'm Not There (2007)
R | 135 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Ruminations on the life of Bob Dylan, where six characters embody a different aspect of the musician's life and work.
Director: Todd Haynes | Stars: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw
Votes: 61,171 | Gross: $4.02M
5. Factory Girl (2006)
R | 90 min | Biography, Drama
Based on the rise and fall of socialite Edie Sedgwick, concentrating on her relationships with Andy Warhol and a folk singer.
Director: George Hickenlooper | Stars: Sienna Miller, Guy Pearce, Hayden Christensen, Jimmy Fallon
Votes: 22,329 | Gross: $1.66M
6. The Doors (1991)
R | 140 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The story of the famous and influential 1960s rock band The Doors and its lead singer and composer, Jim Morrison, from his days as a UCLA film student in Los Angeles, to his untimely death in Paris, France at age 27 in 1971.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Val Kilmer, Meg Ryan, Kyle MacLachlan, Frank Whaley
Votes: 99,023 | Gross: $35.18M
7. Nowhere Boy (2009)
R | 98 min | Biography, Drama, Music
A chronicle of John Lennon's first years, focused mainly in his adolescence and his relationship with his stern aunt Mimi, who raised him, and his absentee mother Julia, who re-entered his life at a crucial moment in his young life.
Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson | Stars: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Anne-Marie Duff, David Threlfall
Votes: 38,852 | Gross: $1.45M
8. Big Sur (2013)
R | 81 min | Drama, Romance
A recounting of Jack Kerouac's three sojourns to the cabin in Big Sur owned by his friend, poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
Director: Michael Polish | Stars: Jean-Marc Barr, Kate Bosworth, Josh Lucas, Radha Mitchell
Votes: 2,102 | Gross: $0.03M
9. Kill Your Darlings (2013)
R | 104 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A murder in 1944 draws together the great poets of the beat generation: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and William Burroughs.
Director: John Krokidas | Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHaan, Michael C. Hall, Ben Foster
Votes: 41,222 | Gross: $1.03M
10. V for Vendetta (2005)
R | 132 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In a future British dystopian society, a shadowy freedom fighter, known only by the alias of "V", plots to overthrow the tyrannical government - with the help of a young woman.
Director: James McTeigue | Stars: Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman, Rupert Graves, Stephen Rea
Votes: 1,178,850 | Gross: $70.51M
11. 1984 (1984)
R | 113 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
In a totalitarian future society, a man, whose daily work is re-writing history, tries to rebel by falling in love.
Director: Michael Radford | Stars: John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton, Cyril Cusack
Votes: 78,931 | Gross: $8.40M
12. Naked Lunch (1991)
R | 115 min | Drama, Mystery
After developing an addiction to the substance he uses to kill bugs, an exterminator accidentally kills his wife and becomes involved in a secret government plot being orchestrated by giant bugs in a port town in North Africa.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, Julian Sands
Votes: 56,632 | Gross: $2.54M
13. The Source (1999)
88 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Traces the Beats from Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac's meeting in 1944 at Columbia University to the deaths of Ginsberg and William S.
Director: Chuck Workman | Stars: Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Dennis Hopper, Allen Ginsberg
Votes: 845 | Gross: $0.36M
14. Howl (2010)
R | 84 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
As Allen Ginsberg talks about his life and art, his most famous poem is illustrated in animation while the obscenity trial of the work is dramatized.
Directors: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman | Stars: James Franco, Todd Rotondi, Jon Prescott, Aaron Tveit
Votes: 13,405 | Gross: $0.62M
15. Breathless (1960)
Not Rated | 90 min | Crime, Drama
A small-time crook, hunted by the authorities for a car theft and the murder a police officer, attempts to persuade a hip American journalism student to run away with him to Italy.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, Van Doude, Jean-Luc Godard
Votes: 87,886 | Gross: $0.34M
16. The Matrix (1999)
R | 136 min | Action, Sci-Fi
When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 2,051,682 | Gross: $171.48M
17. Losers' Club (2011)
105 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Kaan and Mete, co-hosts of a mid 1990s radio show called Kaybedenler Kulübü (Losers' Club), struggle to deal with their daily lives after their show becomes an instant hit. Kaan meets ... See full summary »
Director: Tolga Örnek | Stars: Nejat Isler, Yigit Özsener, Ahu Türkpençe, Idil Firat
Votes: 25,448
18. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Young Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
Directors: Victor Fleming, King Vidor | Stars: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr
Votes: 428,417 | Gross: $2.08M
19. Pull My Daisy (1959)
30 min | Short
A married couple vainly hopes that their irreverent beat poet friends will behave themselves when the bishop comes to visit.
Directors: Robert Frank, Alfred Leslie | Stars: Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Larry Rivers
Votes: 813
20. Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
PG-13 | 111 min | Drama
A rebellious young man with a troubled past comes to a new town, finding friends and enemies.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Jim Backus
Votes: 97,905
21. Wild (I) (2014)
R | 115 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
A chronicle of one woman's 1,100-mile solo hike undertaken as a way to recover from a recent personal tragedy.
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée | Stars: Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Gaby Hoffmann, Michiel Huisman
Votes: 138,790 | Gross: $37.88M
22. Tracks (I) (2013)
PG-13 | 112 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
A young woman goes on a 1,700-mile trek across the deserts of West Australia with four camels and her faithful dog.
Director: John Curran | Stars: Mia Wasikowska, Adam Driver, Lily Pearl, Philip Dodd
Votes: 31,721 | Gross: $0.51M
23. Into the Forest (2015)
R | 101 min | Drama, Thriller
After a massive power outage, two sisters learn to survive on their own in their isolated woodland home.
Director: Patricia Rozema | Stars: Elliot Page, Evan Rachel Wood, Max Minghella, Callum Keith Rennie
Votes: 22,093 | Gross: $0.01M
24. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A surreal, virtually plotless series of dreams centered around six middle-class people and their consistently interrupted attempts to have a meal together.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Fernando Rey, Delphine Seyrig, Paul Frankeur, Bulle Ogier
Votes: 46,809 | Gross: $0.20M
25. Midnight in Paris (2011)
PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
While on a trip to Paris with his fiancée's family, a nostalgic screenwriter finds himself mysteriously going back to the 1920s every day at midnight.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Kurt Fuller
Votes: 449,729 | Gross: $56.82M
26. Little Ashes (2008)
R | 112 min | Biography, Drama, History
About the young life and loves of artist Salvador Dalí, filmmaker Luis Buñuel and writer Federico García Lorca.
Director: Paul Morrison | Stars: Robert Pattinson, Javier Beltrán, Matthew McNulty, Marina Gatell
Votes: 9,624 | Gross: $0.48M
27. Un chien andalou (1929)
Not Rated | 16 min | Short, Fantasy, Horror
Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí present 16 minutes of bizarre, surreal imagery.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Pierre Batcheff, Simone Mareuil, Luis Buñuel, Pancho Cossío
Votes: 53,780
28. The Sea Wolf (1941)
Approved | 100 min | Adventure, Drama
After being fished out of the sea by a sailer, three fugitives find themselves prisoners of the ship's brutal skipper who refuses to put them ashore and they hatch an escape plan during a crew mutiny.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Ida Lupino, John Garfield, Alexander Knox
Votes: 4,410
29. Sea Wolf (2009– )
180 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
A young man is taken aboard a seal-hunting vessel helmed by the cruel captain Wolf Larsen.
Stars: Sebastian Koch, Tim Roth, Neve Campbell, Stephen Campbell Moore
Votes: 1,061
30. The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952)
Approved | 114 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
Writer Harry Street reflects on his life as he lies dying from an infection while on safari in the shadow of Mount Kilamanjaro.
Directors: Henry King, Roy Ward Baker | Stars: Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, Ava Gardner, Hildegard Knef
Votes: 5,899 | Gross: $18.05M
31. The Runaways (2010)
R | 106 min | Biography, Drama, Music
A coming-of-age biographical film about the 1970s teenage all-girl rock band The Runaways. The relationship between band members Cherie Currie and Joan Jett is also explored.
Director: Floria Sigismondi | Stars: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon, Stella Maeve
Votes: 50,931 | Gross: $3.57M
32. The 400 Blows (1959)
Not Rated | 99 min | Crime, Drama
A young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, Claire Maurier, Guy Decomble
Votes: 128,022
33. To Rome with Love (2012)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
The lives of some visitors and residents of Rome and the romances, adventures and predicaments they get into.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Penélope Cruz, Jesse Eisenberg, Elliot Page
Votes: 90,871 | Gross: $16.69M
34. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Two friends on a summer holiday in Spain become enamored with the same painter, unaware that his ex-wife, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to re-enter the picture.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Christopher Evan Welch
Votes: 268,778 | Gross: $23.22M
35. Mr. Nobody (2009)
R | 141 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A boy stands on a station platform as a train is about to leave. Should he go with his mother or stay with his father? Infinite possibilities arise from this decision. As long as he doesn't choose, anything is possible.
Director: Jaco Van Dormael | Stars: Jared Leto, Sarah Polley, Diane Kruger, Linh-Dan Pham
Votes: 245,752 | Gross: $0.00M
36. Boyhood (I) (2014)
R | 165 min | Drama
The life of Mason, from early childhood to his arrival at college.
Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Elijah Smith
Votes: 367,083 | Gross: $25.38M
37. Hearts in Atlantis (2001)
PG-13 | 101 min | Drama, Mystery
Widowed Liz Garfield and her son Bobby change when mysterious stranger Ted Brautigan enters their lives.
Director: Scott Hicks | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Anton Yelchin, Hope Davis, Mika Boorem
Votes: 41,033 | Gross: $24.19M
38. Of Mice and Men (1992)
PG-13 | 115 min | Drama, Western
A nomadic farm worker looks after his dimwitted, gentle-giant friend during the Great Depression.
Director: Gary Sinise | Stars: John Malkovich, Gary Sinise, Ray Walston, Casey Siemaszko
Votes: 47,262 | Gross: $5.10M
39. Mr. Robot (2015–2019)
TV-MA | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Elliot, a brilliant but unstable cyber-security engineer and vigilante hacker, becomes a key figure in a complex game of global chaos when he and his shadowy allies try to take down the corrupt corporation his company is paid to protect.
Stars: Rami Malek, Christian Slater, Carly Chaikin, Martin Wallström
Votes: 418,027
40. The Beach (I) (2000)
R | 119 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
On vacation in Thailand, Richard sets out for an island rumored to be a solitary beach paradise.
Director: Danny Boyle | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tilda Swinton, Daniel York, Patcharawan Patarakijjanon
Votes: 253,617 | Gross: $39.79M
41. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
R | 118 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
An oddball journalist and his psychopathic lawyer travel to Las Vegas for a series of psychedelic escapades.
Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro, Tobey Maguire, Michael Lee Gogin
Votes: 301,397 | Gross: $10.68M
42. The Dreamers (2003)
NC-17 | 115 min | Drama, Romance
A young American studying in Paris in 1968 strikes up a friendship with a French brother and sister. Set against the background of the '68 Paris student riots.
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: Michael Pitt, Louis Garrel, Eva Green, Anna Chancellor
Votes: 131,480 | Gross: $2.53M
43. Lost Highway (1997)
R | 134 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Anonymous videotapes presage a musician's murder conviction, and a gangster's girlfriend leads a mechanic astray.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, John Roselius, Louis Eppolito
Votes: 153,110 | Gross: $3.80M
44. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
R | 136 min | Crime, Sci-Fi
In the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke
Votes: 880,901 | Gross: $6.21M
45. Battle Royale (2000)
Not Rated | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill one another under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Director: Kinji Fukasaku | Stars: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarô Yamamoto, Chiaki Kuriyama
Votes: 194,349
46. Caligula (1979)
Unrated | 156 min | Drama, History
A dramatization of the ascent to Caesar and subsequent reign of Caligula, one of the most notorious leaders of ancient Rome. We see his ambition, his scheming, his perversion and decadence, his brutality and his lunacy.
Director: Tinto Brass | Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Peter O'Toole, Helen Mirren, Teresa Ann Savoy
Votes: 38,338 | Gross: $23.44M
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