OK, so maybe this film isn't lost per se. In fact, you have to try damn hard to avoid the reruns of it on network television during the whole month of October. However, it does deserve some credit for the many contributions it has given to us over the years, the first and foremost being the killer (pun intended) opening scene. Ever since this film, the horror genre has struggled to try and create an opening scene that scares the crap out of you in a new and interesting way, and usually these openings are the best parts of the film. Think Friday the 13 th , Scream , Urban Legends – yes, I said Urban Legends – and let's not forget that without this film we never would have been blessed with Jamie Lee and her talents in Trading Places .

Any film with a hooker as a main character deserves at least one viewing. Striptease is pretty good, as long as you watch with one of your three drinkin' buddies Jack, Jim or Jose.

But Klute is a film that showed the world what sound really meant to cinema. The opening credits are just a picture of a tape rolling and a voice over which sets the story. If sound isn't your thing, then just enjoy Jane Fonda as a hooker with some great dialogue, such as the line “Men would pay $200 for me, and here you are turning down a freebie. You could get a perfectly good dishwasher for that.”

Like Klute, sound is used as a driving force in this film. The plot centers around a conversation recorded from five different microphones, each of which must be pieced together to stop a murder. A forgotten Coppola gem, this film has influenced many subsequent movies. Remember Gene Hackman in the Will Smith vehicle Enemy of the State ? Hackman's character there is the same as his character in The Conversation . The sets that depict his work space are identical in each film. Pretty much every movie dealing with mystery and the government since has something to owe to this film, so stop drooling over the machismo scenes of The Godfather and go rent this film.

I willing to bet that you've seen The Shawshank Redemption, and I'm willing to bet that you loved it. But those of us in the know watch Papillion . Don't be fooled by its name; it's not a chick flick or a French film . Steve McQueen stars, damn it. Now with that said this is, in fact, a period piece in French New Guinea, but I swear you'll like it. Steve McQueen plays Papillion, a wrongly accused convict sent to the Devil's Islands for life. Needless to say, it's one of the best escape films ever.

The title is a reference to five songbooks for beginning piano players. Jack Nicholson plays a man who has left a career as a concert pianist for a life in the oil fields, until he returns home as his father is in his last days. To be honest, you might find this film a bit boring, but it is a masterpiece of restraint in filmmaking. If you can't figure out what that means then don't see this film because you'll simply hate it and you'll question why your shitty idea can't be made into a film when crap like this exists. If however the word “restraint” does mean something to you, then I present the Catcher in the Rye of the film world. Enjoy.

For all the critics in the world, and my favorite asshat film students who complain incessantly about the summer season of films every year being bloated pieces of 3-D animated crap offering nothing to society but voyeuristic masturbation , I simply remind you of the origin of those films. Truly the first disaster blockbuster, the film takes the premise of a cruise ship turned over by a huge wave. The survivors must now get to the bottom (which, because the ship is inverted, has become the top) of the ship, which is above water, as the water inside is rising. Now maybe all my favorite people in this world are right about the current state of filmic affairs, but this film not only started the trend, but it does it right. Please go see it, I beg you.

When I first saw this film, I never thought of it as a film that would be lost, or better left forgotten. Somehow though with the more obvious horror film of today and a 30-year gap between audiences, people just don't know about Deliverance . It's brooding, slow, creepy suspense at its best – because, frankly, it's plausible. Words will fail in describing this film so please just rent it. I leave you with a quote and a link:

“ Now let's you just drop them pants .”

Warning: Avant garde bullshit to follow.

If you feel that Goodfellas is the greatest American film ever and are frequently reported to be in or near a sports bar then stop reading and move on to the next film. You have been warned.

OK, so this film isn't from the 1970s, but it's close. Its inclusion in the list is for different reasons then most of the others. When film geeks talk about the 1960s and 1970s, a lot of emphasis gets put on the French new wave (I warned you, turn away now). But they seem to always forget the American directors who saw those films and knew what to do with them. Petulia is one of the best films of the new wave genre, and yes, geeks, I just called it a genre. Also for those in love with 1960s mod, no film has ever captured an era so well Petulia . Film school is now out of my system. I return you now to your regularly scheduled asinine reviews.

Say what you will about the modern state of corporate America. You can hate all the focus groups and Nielsen ratings crap that creates the media around you. But I ask, without it, can you imagine the crap corporations would produce? We at least get their best versions of shitty ideas and are saved the torture of the first and dismal efforts. Why do I bring this up? Because for those in the world who think Easy Rider is the greatest road movie ever, I point to it as the shitty and dismal first effort. It's like giving two drug addicts the right to show their home movies set to rock music serendipitously.

Two Lane Blacktop which came out two years later is what a road movie should be, but alas is forgotten. The film is so cool that the two main characters don't even have names, there just called “the mechanic” and “the driver.” If you like cars and road movies, then do yourself a favor and see this film.

Now again, I'm not so sure one can say this film is lost, but I do think it is more then worth mentioning a film from which Ocean's 11 borrowed so heavily. With Ocean's 12 in production and so many fans foaming at the mouth, I thought I'd just remind everyone of this Oscar-winning gem from 31 years ago that did it first. Starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman, the film is a classic. Now, in saying this, a whole new bunch of people are going to see the film for the first time, after they've seen Ocean's 11, and they're going to hate it and log on to Internet chat room after Internet chat room complaining that the film was so predictable and that they saw every turn coming. You know the type: the supposed intelligentsia telling us how they knew the ship was going to sink the whole time they were watching Titanic. So to you … maybe this list might clue you in to a least some good films made before 1995. Enjoy.