These are the only ones I could think of with tons of help from the wife.
The Godfather series Parts 1 and 2 win for Best Picture Oscars and even with all of that quality, they're still among the most quotable movies ever made. (One could write a book just on the quotable in the first movie, alone)
Dirty Harry series It's hard to translate to modern audiences how the political climate drove those movies (as well as the Death Wish franchise). I'm a pretty left leaning dude, but it's undeniable that the swing in rights swung pretty far towards the accused and far too often, left victims twisting in the wind or worse. Thus came a spate of vigilante/rogue cop movies to address that (The Original Walking Tall, et al. Plenty of guys returning from Viet Nam and being confronted with corruption).
Just take "go ahead. Make my day." Sure, it got meme'd out the wazoo even before memes were a thing, but the setup is important. Guy's just trying to do right by the citizens of SF...even 9er fans... Yep, he's breaking the rules, but expressly because the rules are actively against victims in some cases. So he goes out for coffee. Walks into a holdup. Turns into a shootout. Final robber takes a hostage and Det. Callahan has had enough. He can't even get a cup of coffee without some crap happening AND he already knows the ass-chewing he's got coming. Hence, the classic line, "Go ahead. Make my day."
Star Wars Episodes 4-6 Grandaddy of space operas, Iconic.
Back to the Future One of the funnest trilogies of all time and very thought provoking as it deals with time travel AND social differences including tech in four different times.
Harry Potter Not a bad movie in the series, just a really fun time, a really interesting magical universe and interesting lore and side notes.
Matrix Iconic series which changed how we potentially saw our own reality and altered our lexicon.
Lord of the Rings Epic cinematic scale brought to the most iconic fantasy series of all time (all due respect to Asimov and Herbert). Expertly crafted. By the time Annie Lennox serenades the exit of the elves west, the emotions overflow.
Marvel Cinematic Universe There are certain things they said couldn't be done... putting a GUI on Unix... edible microwave food... and a coherent set of Super Hero movies. Marvel did it and did so in spectacular fashion.
Batman (Christian Bale) While the Michael Keaton "I'm Batman" seems to continue to drive the zeitgeist of the Caped Crusader, it was the Christian Bale trilogy that ultimately defines Batman. Heath Ledger's Joker has changed the game when no one thought anyone could do a better Joker than Jack Nicholson.
James Bond Iconic spy series that has had almost as many Bonds as the Dr Who series has had Dr Whos... Kidding...kinda. From man among men to gadget master to smooth spy back to man among men, the series and villains have defined multiple genres for decades
Toy Story The first mainstream digitally animated movie is also one of the best movies of all time. The series doesn't disappoint as the depth of the third movie was perhaps even more profound than the simple truths in the first.
Alien The original movie was the very definition of suspenseful horror, arguably better than Jaws. The second defined the action horror genre for decades. The third and fourth movie weren't nearly as good, but it's hard to not include a movie which brought us one of the most iconic and important cinematic universes. And no, neither Prometheus nor Alien: Covenant nor the upcoming Alien: Covenant 2 are remotely considered. Ugh
Hunger Games This series was expertly acted and thrust Jennifer Lawrence into the spotlight. Cast was superb and much like Dirty Harry, reflect current political and economic realities in caricatured relief. It's likely to be seen as dystopian in the future, but it's pretty reflective in the here and now.
Bing Crosby/Bob Hope Road Movies An oldie, but a goodie. Wonderful, light-hearted fun song and dance buddy movies that actually got people to look up where these countries were on maps (back when they taught geography in school)
Home Alone (just forget 3) I've never laughed harder than during the final confrontation in Home Alone 2. Daniel Stern actually supplanted the Gene Hackman blind man scene in Young Frankenstein which is saying something. The third movie is an abomination, but I just can't ignore the power of the first two (see my blatant hypocrisy when Rocky comes around)
Naked Gun (from the files of Police Squad) Just rewatched this series and Leslie Nielsen was an absolute treasure. My kids were AMAZED that there is a joke, a sight gag or both in EVERY SCENE. This series and the original Airplane are how satire should be done. (with all due respect to This is Spinal Tap)
Mission Impossible There is not another actor who more fully commits to bringing action fans value for their money than Tom Cruise. Every single movie has been worth the price of admission AND popcorn which is saying something.
John Wick I don't even care that Parabellum hasn't come out, yet. John Wick with its long shots and functional fighting seems to have in very short order put all action movies on notice: your lead had better do most if not all his/her own stunts. As well, outside of the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon genre of martial arts focused as much if not more on the arts, the action had better be realistic or audiences will look at it more like dancing. Also, what started as background is really expanding into a really interesting lore/universe.
Mad Max True fans know that Mad Max is the first movie in the series, but the one that hit big in the US was the second movie Road Warrior. While Thunderdome wasn't the greatest movie, it acquits itself well enough. The latest, Fury Road, only adds to the legacy of this series.
Honorable mentions:
Rocky First one wins best picture in 1976, beating out All the Presidents Men, Network, Bound for Glory and Taxi Driver. Yeah, probably the best year EVER and Rocky won. Arguments could be made for all of them. It's arguable that Rocky 2 had more depth. The series went down from there and while all of them were fun in various ways, it's hard to give the entire series credit with Rocky 4 and 5 out there. And yet, I gave Home Alone a pass. See?
Rambo Same thing as Rocky. First one was amazing. Second one doesn't age well and they get worse from there. The last one could have been called Grindhouse Rambo.
Star Trek Lots of fun, but the first gen was tough. All the odd numbered ones were bad and all the even numbered ones were good. 2nd gen looked much better, but not much better than the TV show until the last one and even still. The Chris Pine/Kirk reboot looked fantastic, but the stories were...strange...and not in a wondrous way. Still, overall, the series is one of the better ones out there.
Terminator There's a theme here. First movie was iconic, launched Schwarzenegger's career as a leading man and created a whole apocalyptic subgenre.
Jaws And...here we go again. Fantastic first movie which spirals out of control in subsequent outings. Still, hard to let this series pass.
Jurassic Park Other than JP3, they all are pretty good to excellent. Problem is that it's basically the same story over and over. Still, this is a movie that really pushed the special effects envelope and was the pinnacle of movie conversions for Michael Crichton's books. The series as a whole is pretty worthy, all things considered.
Indiana Jones I enjoyed all of them and really loved the first three. I know, technically, Indiana Jones was totally immaterial to the first story (that realization was a bombshell), but this series brought back the adventurer and in grand fashion.
Predator As with most of the series that are honorable mentions, the first movie is great and then goes down hill. Unlike others, the rest of the movies are hit and miss. Predator 2. Miss. AVP. Hit. Predators. Hit. etc.
Die Hard Another hit and miss franchise, this is less "cinema" and more "movies". The first one had an actual plot, an intelligent bad guy and henchmen with better AI than "story mode" which means the protagonist, Detective John McClane, was in real danger. Pretty much every movie after that was fun, but in an absurd, escapist way. Still fun, but lost the legitimacy to be one of the best series.
Fast and Furious Shares a lot with Die Hard. Hit and miss franchise (ask any fan about "Tokyo Drift" and you'll learn more than you ever wanted). Paul Walker wasn't remotely believable as an undercover cop, but who cared. Cars, girls and stupid crazy action meant buckets of popcorn were sacrificed in the watching of these movies. And yes, I also shouted "Whatthafuck?" at the screen when the Russian sub breached the ice, having chased down cars with a head start speeding on the ice. Maybe the only difference between the Fast franchise and Transformers is characters that are fun to watch? I dunno, but there most definitely is a big difference.
Shrek Animated series really meant to be almost the Austin Powers of animation became it's own legit series. Tons of animation/fairy tale in jokes and great voice acting make this a series the whole family could enjoy.
Hall of Shame
Twilight Long, drawn out series about emo vampires and emo werewolves who were emo ironically? I say that because for the most part, it was like a super long acting exercise to see if movies could be made while everyone was on heavy doses of lithium. Stupid story, horrible acting and if one identified with either Team Jacob or Team Edward, they really only identified as someone to be pitied.
Fifty Shades So... apparently fan fiction for Twilight with some S&M and wine mom porn became a series. M'kay. Moving on...
Transformers Michael Bay took all the fun of action movies, kids cartoons and super heroes and almost wrecked all three. I've watched and enjoyed the movies, but in every case, I had a reason for my brain to be in sleep mode. The moment my brain woke up... the movies became all that is wrong with Hollywood. These movies are yet more proof that if you have seizure inducing editing and an unlimited SFX budget, you can make big bux in the movie biz.
