Classic Movies - Reviews and Discussion - Redo
 

Let's try this again. Sorry about the previous thread expiring. Since I started it, I take responsibility. I will do my best to keep this one going...with a little help from my friends of course!! :)

Maybe a little twist on the previous thread though. As before, I'll suggest a movie now and then and subsequently write my brief review of that movie. And of course the thread is open for everyone to review and chat about all classic movies. The slight twist could be that we come up with one movie that that we select, and then really encourage as many posters to watch and review as possible. Should be fun to see the varying reviews. Uncertain how the selection process would go. Not sure about something as formal as an occasional poll. We could always just informally pick one based upon thread input. Your thoughts are welcome.

One final reminder..."classic" movies don't have to be really, really old. I won't say a number, butt if it's been around a while, and has established itself as a very good movie that will pass the test of time, then it qualifies.

Well, let's go!! I'm not even going to mention what my next classic movie will be. But just to reinforce the "age is not important" rule, I'm debating between a movie from 1964 and another one from 2008. Hmmm. :popcorn:

Thank you Mr. Bear for resurrecting this great non-offensive thread, it was fun before and I think we can do it again. The last thread was fun and I think we can do it again.

I would put forward for consideration the original "Bad Seed" The Bad Seed (1956 film) - Wikipedia. Wow, 1956 and it has stayed with me to this day.

Good start Ms. Amee. :)

The Bad Seed (1956) - Rotten Tomatoes

Very good and a little (a lot??) creepy and scary. Can't beat that! :D

Well, let's try to get this show a movin'...

Let's hear some suggestions for some classic movies to watch. From those suggestions, I'll either simply pick one, or possibly start a poll (preference?) to choose a movie to focus on...to get as many of you posters to watch and review or at least comment on as possible. Ms. Amee has already mentioned The Bad Seed. I'll throw in The Dark Knight. (This movie is only about 10 years old. But I just want to stress again that a movie doesn't have to be many decades old to be a classic...at least for this thread. Heheh.)

Your turn. :)

If you saw the Shape of Water, which I loved, they got the idea for the creature from this movie "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" filmed right here at Silver Springs. I happen to go on a glass bottom boat ride there when I was 7 years old and I never forgot the guide telling us, this is where the creature swam.

I'm starting with two cheesy flicks, but these I really enjoy. First is the 1954 release the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Of course it's in B/W and the acting is somewhat stiff, but a real popcorn movie you can watch over and over.

http://metrograph.com/uploads/films/...72-726x388.jpg

Since I'm on this 50's B/W sci-fi kick, my all time favorite is the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" from 1956. Not the 1978 remake in color with Donald Sutherland. They took out the suspense, it just wasn't scary. The film had a real storyline and kept you on the edge of your seat and starred Kevin McCarthy and there was even a love story angle with Dana Wynter, which fit perfect with the storyline.

https://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org...?itok=62AhIMEw

For me the two truly classic "horror" shows are the Boris Karloff Frankenstein (1931)

Frankenstein Official Trailer #1 - Boris Karloff Movie (1931) HD - YouTube

and The Mummy (1932) movies


The Mummy Official Trailer #1 - Boris Karloff Movie (1932) HD - YouTube

Both very good movies. :popcorn::bigbow:

As soon as I read this suggestion, this movie came to mind. I saw the film in the 60's on some creature feature and try and catch it whenever it is run. The movie is "Abbott & Costello Meets Frankenstein" (1948). What's so neat is it has all the major monsters with the original actors playing their parts. The Wolfman with Lon Chaney Jr, Dracula with Bela Lugosi and Glenn Strange as Frankenstein who had played Frankenstein after Boris Karloff became weary of the character in 1944.

The film was well acted, the characters play their part straight and I believe it's Abbott & Costello's best film. It's a spoof but a very good one. So many others liked it so much, that Abbott & Costello made a whole series of films about meeting other monsters.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/...7,1000_AL_.jpg

Just ordered Apocalypse Now: Final Cut. Coppola worked a long time to get this version to be his definitive take. The trailer link will remind you of what a classic this movie is from 40 years ago.

APOCALYPSE NOW: FINAL CUT - Official Trailer - Dir. by Francis Ford Coppola - YouTube

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Okay. Here's our first attempt to get multiple posters to watch the same movie. Gonna try a poll. May be overkill. If so, in the future we'll (I'll? Heheh) just pick a movie. But for now, let's try this poll.

It's got quite a mixed bag for our first attempt. Lot's of horror. Most still of the very old variety. If any of this bothers you, don't worry. The poll just includes the movies mentioned so far. We'll vary things as we progress. But for now...VOTE!! :)

What constitutes a classic movie? I think the movie, Powder, is a classic. Filmed in 1995.

Powder Official 1995 Movie Trailer - YouTube

Only a couple votes so far. Looks like the poll might be overkill after all. Heheh. I'll let it run for a day or so still, then if we don't have many votes, I'll just pick a movie that I'll suggest we watch and compare thoughts on. :)

Cool. Thanks for doing this.

Can't see polls on Tapatalk but here's my vote. This making of video is excellent.

The Making of Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein - YouTube

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I picked that and 7 other movies up at Walmart on DVD. It has all the movies in the Frankenstein Complete Legacy Collection.

https://www.amazon.com/Frankenstein-.../dp/B01IFWT4B0

I never looked for a behind the scenes video, that was interesting and they considered it to be the best horror comedy film ever. I knew I liked the first time I saw it, and being fans of Abbott & Costello didn't hurt.

P.Bear had this sentence in his original post:

"One final reminder..."classic" movies don't have to be really, really old. I won't say a number, but if it's been around a while, and has established itself as a very good movie that will pass the test of time, then it qualifies."

Your movie has been around since 1995 so I would certainly think enough people have viewed it to make it a classic. I think the classic movie title is how it affects the person who saw the movie and how much it stayed with you. I don't know your movie at all and would be interested in hearing more from you and how it affected you. Personally, I am still amazed at the power of Bogart's movies, especially African Queen, Treasure of Sierra Madras, and his others. They will always be classics for me due to the nature of the story and for his acting abilities. Yankee Doodle Dandy is highly rated as a classic, but I did not care for it at all. So classic is in the eye of the beholder.

I just watched your YouTube trailer and I can only say WOW - it looks like a great movie and it obviously made a huge impression on you ..... that's a classic!

I remember Powder but never got around to seeing it, I guess my timing wasn't right, but when it comes by again I'll catch it.

I listed about ten of my classic favorites from the 70's on the first thread. So I'll include a couple of more recent films. These two I've seen again in the last year, both starring Nicholas Cage. Nowadays I wouldn't go out of my way to see a Nick Cage film, he's pretty much sold himself out. I think they said he buys houses and islands all over the world, so he signs on for any film that pays him $10 million to pay the bills.

Back when he was a real actor, I actually bought his first film, "Birdy" on VHS for $50 simply because Peter Gabriel did the soundtrack, at the time I had no idea who he was. Next I saw him in Raising Arizona, which I'm sure everyone has seen.

Move ahead a couple of years to 1988 and The Kiss of the Vampire. This is the movie where you probably heard Cage actually eats a live cockroach. He plays an executive at a publishing company, who sort of goes off the deep end. With every scene he becomes a little more agitated and eventually thinks he's become a vampire. He initially takes out his frustration on his secretary, played Maria Conchita Alonso, who he gives jobs to do that are almost impossible. If you like films like Christian Bale in American Psycho or the new film Joker, you'll really like this film. I actually had to watch it about three times to really came to grips with the film.

In the beginning

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TSq9zNRcq...h07m36s662.png

Eventually he becomes

http://www.alcohollywood.com/wp-cont...-vampkiss1.jpg

The other Nick Cage film is from 1993, it's Red Rock West. I actually have it on my DVR and have shown it to a couple of people recently and they both loved it. This is a modern day western and hitman movie. What makes this film so great is the other actors, Dennis Hopper playing a crazy hitman, the late great J.T. Walsh as the town sheriff and Lara Flynn Boyle as the love interest. It will keep you on the edge of your seat. Even though I know the outcome, I can still watch this film again and again.

Dennis Hopper in his black western outfit, he's a show-stopper

https://resizing.flixster.com/ohU0sE...jAwOzYwMDs0NDg

Nick Cage and Lara Flynn Boyle

https://filmschoolrejects.com/wp-con...PM-700x525.png

The late J.T. Walsh, sheriff, bar owner and bad guy

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film5/blu-r...3_blu-ray_.jpg

:bigbow:

Love the Humphrey Bogart movies you mentioned along with The Caine Mutiny.

I’ll wait a day or maybe two to see how the poll goes. So if you don’t want to watch Frankenstein, you must vote now!! :)

Saw it at the Rialto when it opened in their October FrightFest. It is an excellent film and has aged extremely well.

The Mummy (1932).
 

The Mummy (1932) - Rotten Tomatoes

Saw this one today at the Rialto. I was the only person in the theater so I kind of had a private showing.

This one did age quite a lot for me but still it was quite good. Love these old movies. :popcorn::bigbow:

We have a very different idea of what a Classic movie is. I didn't see a single film that I would call classic on the list, The Dark Night being the oddest one. To me, examples of classic films are films with great music, acting and story line. They are as good today as they were when they came out. Films like "Bringing up Baby" "Gone with the Wind" "Citizen Kane" "Casablanca" "Giant" "The Philadelphia Story" Any film with Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy or Cary Grant for example.

Frankenstein is a great movie. :popcorn:

Oh come on now. We're playing a bit fast and loose with the term "classic movie". Although there is no specific definition of "classic movie". It's called having fun!!! :)

But I will say this, I'm surprised not a single film the movies listed on the first poll qualifies as classic for you. I will admit The Dark Knight is pushing the limits, but that was intentional to show that relatively not-so-old movies can be considered for this thread. And with Heath Ledger's Joker the main character, and very positive reviews for actual film quality, I'm fine including it on the list.

I don't think anybody disagrees with your statement about what classic movies should include. But I also don't think...again, for our purposes here...a movie has to be 50 or more years old to qualify.

Come on...have some fun! :)

Great Movies | Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert's site is a great resource for talking about Classic Movies. Or identifying them. Even though I disagree with some of his choices.

Here is one of my favorites-- The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance movie review (1962) | Roger Ebert

Okay, gang, the time has come. The majority has spoken...it's Frankenstein (1931)!!

Okay, so the voter turnout wasn't that high. We'll probably just a pick a movie in the future. But for now, we go with the results of the poll. Hope a few of you at least watch the movie and post.

The next movie we pick may be one off one of the more accepted classic movies list you often see. But don't worry, we'll still bounce around...again...for fun!!

Thanks for doing this. :bigbow:

Where do we watch the movie?

Well, I’m watching it on Prime Video. It’s a $4 rental.

Anybody know of a way it can be watched free? :)

Public libraries often have these on DVD and Blu-Ray. Often these are part of collections which have other Classic Horror movies.

Check this out on youtube:

Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein 1948 1 - YouTube

EDIT:

Just started watching -- It is mistitled and is really a movie called "It Ain't Hay" with Abbott & Costello. -- Don't bother it is not what it claims to be.

Most everyone has TCM (Turner Classic Movies), I have on my DVR right now from TCM:

"Dead Ringer" with Bette Davis, "To Have and Have Not" with Humphrey Bogart, "Dr. Strangelove" with Peter Sellers, "Niagara" with Marilyn Monroe, "The China Syndrome" with Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas, "Suspicion" by Alfred Hitchcock, "It's Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" with everybody, "Dog Day Afternoon" with Al Pacino, "Casablanca", "The Maltese Falcon", "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre", "Sahara" all with Humphrey Bogart, "Chinatown" with Jack Nicholson (my favorite movie), "12 Angry Men" with Henry Fonda, "Heaven Can Wait" with Warren Beatty (my 2nd favorite), "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" (avoid the remake with John Travolta), "In Cold Blood" with Robert Blake, "North by Northwest" by Hitchock and "Bullitt" with Steve McQueen.

Film Resources on the Web

Resources on the Internet about movies put up by Duke University. :bigbow: :popcorn:

Some really great movies here John. I would add Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart in Vertigo. Although, it may have become a chick flick now.

Vertigo was quite good. Saw it at the 2018 FrightFest Hitchcock festival last year at the Rialto. They did have a few Hitchcock movies that were far from his best though-- Rope and Marnie come to mind.

A couple of years ago the British Film Institute picked Vertigo as the best film ever replacing Citizen Kane on their list. I've seen Vertigo about 15 times, currently it hasn't been on TV lately to record, otherwise it would be on my list.

Citizen Kane would not make my top twenty best movies list. Top Movies - Best Movies of 2019 and All Time - Rotten Tomatoes