"Classics tend to be the films that have (or will) stand the test of time – films that shaped culture or defined it, films that solidified cinematic language, films that told stories for generations to come. At this point, there's a general cinematic canon that people consider to be all-time "classics" – whether that's determined through lists like Schneider's "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die," IMDb's ever-changing top 250, the word of great critics like Ebert, or even popular opinion on internet forums and social media. But because of this saturation of opinions telling us what is and is not an undeniable masterwork, the word "classic" has become increasingly devoid of meaning or weight.
And because certain films pop up in this discourse of what is "classic" more frequently than others, films that are arguably just as great as the big names lose the spotlight they deserve."
