If Someone Tells You They've Seen One Of These Classic Movies, They're Probably Lying To You

Citizen Kane is taught in every entry-level film class, yet it's somehow managed to go unwatched by everyone who was born after 1980. When the film was released in 1941, it featured some pretty progressive editing techniques, such as dissolve transitions, but all of its cinematic contributions are now pretty commonplace. 

While the plot is also hailed as amazingly engaging for its time, the film drags on for two hours, and focuses on the uncompelling tribulations of a money-hungry CEO who is arrogant, and frankly rather despicable. To top it off, you've probably already had the final twist spoiled for you, as The Simpsons has parodied the film seven times (just in case you don't remember, this is the movie where Rosebud is the name of the sled). 

Last Year At Marienbad is a film school staple that you've probably slept through. The film follows a group of people who are trying to figure out where they know each other from. They assume that they all met a year ago at Marienbad, but it's hard to tell. Sounds exciting, right?

You know what type of films everyone pretends to love? Surrealist Italian meta-comedies about directors who don't know how to make movies. 8 1/2 is an easy movie to pretend to have watched, as you'll be hard-pressed to find someone who has sat through it. Come to think of it, has anyone actually ever seen a Federico Fellini movie? Did Fellini even make movies? Is Fellini real?

No one has seen the 1927 Fritz Lang classic about robot people and a city of subterranean workers or something. At best, cinema nerds might hang a poster of the automaton from the film on their dorm wall, but if you ask them to tell you the narrative arc of the movie, they'll be left speechless.

Clocking in at two hours and 33 minutes, the film is silent, black-and-white, and super hard to follow. 

Two-Lane Blacktop tells the story of two dudes who race cars. The film is a tome of existentialism set in 1970s America, and stars James Taylor and Dennis Wilson. Even if you make it through this movie, you may not remember watching it.

The story plays out like a fever dream about a very boring Sunday afternoon. 

Lawrence of Arabia is almost four hours long. It's scientifically impossible to make it through this one without checking your phone at least once. Told in two parts, the film opens with the titular Lawrence's death, which prompts a plucky reporter to try and figure out the deceased's worldly significance.

While plenty of people lie about having seen this film - which was awarded best picture at the 1963 Oscars - it's unlikely that you'll ever hear the name mentioned at parties.