Tag: Classic

Fantasia (1940)

In just over a year, Disney Plus has unsurprisingly joined the ranks of Netflix, Hulu, and others as one of the top tier streaming platforms. It helps when you have not only a vast well of nostalgia in both film and television, but also some original content as well (perhaps most notably The Mandalorian).

Of course, the service does have its fair share of flaws, yet there is one that I find personally irritating. They have catagorized Fantasia (as well as its rather underrated sequel, Fantasia/2000) as a musical. I can understand needing to organize films (anyone who has seen my DVD/Blu Ray collection would attest to that), but I refuse to think of Fantasia as a musical. It is far more than that.

Tags Classic, Fantasia, Mickey Mouse

5 Stars Movies Vintage

Nosferatu (1922)

“Lisa, vampires are make-believe, just like elves, gremlins, and eskimos.”

— Homer Simpson

While they are indeed fictional (unlike the very real eskimos), that does not make vampires any less fascinating. For over a century, we have seen Vampires as not only monsters, but charmers, cereal mascots, teen heart throbs, superheroes (it was announced not long ago that Blade would make his appearance in the MCU), and muppets that helped us count as kids (“Von!” “Two!”…)

Tags Classic, Homer Simpson, Horror film, Nosferatu, Psycho, The Silence of the Lambs

5 Stars Movies Vintage

Mr. Smith goes to Washington (1939)

Post author By Mark A. Lester
Post date September 25, 2020
No Comments on Mr. Smith goes to Washington (1939)

I am old enough to remember the days when, as an elementary school student, the wheeling in of a TV on a cart meant a change in mood for the day (and sometimes, the whole week). Sadly, most of those times were dedicated to very below the bar forms of entertainment focused on just learning certain material (unless it was The Magic School Bus TV series).

My first real encounter with watching an actual movie for educational purposes came at the age of 13 in Mr. Russell’s 7^th grade Social Studies Class in Middle School. I can’t remember if I had seen Mr. Smith Goes to Washington before then, but I had definetly heard of it. So much of this movie can seem lost on today’s youth, mostly that a political film can actually be entertaining (not to mention, as Mr. Russell let my peers know, that black and white movies are not all boring.)

Tags 1939, Classic, Claude Rains, Filibuster, Frank Capra, James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Jimmy Stewart, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Politics

5 Stars Movies Vintage

It Happened One Night (1934)

Post author By Mark A. Lester
Post date August 14, 2020
1 Comment on It Happened One Night (1934)

Undoubtedly, the romantic comedy is one of the most overused genres.

For every 90s Julia Roberts flick, we get a movie like 2010’s Life as we Know it (which, for undisclosed reasons, was once trending big on Netflix) or 2018’s The Kissing Booth (which made a sequel for reasons unknown to us smart movie goers). In this genre, it seems that you win some, you lose a lot.

Tags 1930s, Capra, Classic, Romance, Romantic Comedy

5 Stars Movies Vintage

The Seventh Seal (1957)

In the book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, (the 7^th one, which, considering this review, is rather ironic), there is a story entitled “The Tale of the Three brothers”.

Basically, the story shows how three brothers respond to death. Each gets three items from death: the elder wand (which wins ever battle), a stone to talk to the deceased, and a cloak to become invisible (the invisibility cloak). In the end, each brother meets death (albeit in different ways).

Tags 1957, Bergman, Christian movies, Classic, Foreign Language, Ingmar Bergman, spirituality, Sweden

5 Stars Movies Vintage

The 400 Blows (1959)

In the 1938 film biographical drama Boys Town, we learned how Father Flanagan (Spencer Tracy) set up an orphanage for young boys, living by the code that there was “no such thing as a bad boy”.

If only he had met young Antoine Doinel, the subject of The 400 Blows.

Tags 1950s, 1959, Classic, Film Friday, Film Reviews, Francois Truffaut, French, The 400 Blows, Truffaut

5 Stars Movies Vintage

Rear Window (1954)

In just under two months of being quarantined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have found many ways of passing the time, and technology has certainly helped with that.

That is one of the main reasons why a story like Rear Window would not be able to be told today. There would be too much else for a protagonist to do in order to combat the boredom.

Tags Alfred Hitchcock, Classic, Five Stars, Grace Kelly, James Stewart, Jimmy Stewart, Rear Window, Suspense

5 Stars Movies Vintage

Pinocchio (1940)

Over time, many a movie made for children (or anyone, for that matter) are going to be forgotten, sought after only by die hard fans and film buffs. There are movies of my own childhood that I have seen many times, yet now are known only to a few of my generation. This is even true with the powerhouse of Disney.

Had it not been for Disney Plus, certain films of lesser popularity like Oliver & Company (1988), Meet the Robinsons (2007), The Black Cauldron (1985), Robin Hood (1973), The Sword in the Stone (1963), The Great Mouse Detective (1986), A Goofy Movie (1995), and The Princess and the Frog (2009) would be almost swept under the rug, especially when compared to other monolith films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937), Bambi (1942), Beauty and the Beast (1991), and The Lion King (1994), just to name a few (not to mention the Pixar ones).

Tags 1940, Children, Classic, Disney, G

5 Stars Movies Vintage

The Searchers (1956)

At the 92^nd Academy Awards, when Bong Joon Ho was accepting his Oscar for Best Director (for Parasite), he paid tributes to each of his fellow nominees. The first (and most memorable) was toward Martin Scorsese, which prompted an unexpected standing ovation. It was clear that Bong Joon Ho was paying tribute to a mentor.

In the filming industry, perhaps no other career is more vocal of paying tribute to mentors than that of a director. Most (if not all) have stated they have been in total admiration of a certain director that came before them, often rewatching their films almost to a degree of pure obsession. Certain names come to mind: Hitchcock, Kubrick, Welles, Kurosawa, Spielberg, Scorsese, Eastwood, Coppola, Lucas, Tarantino, and Spike Lee, to name a few. However, all the big named directors seem to have one person they all agree on that had influenced their career. That name is John Ford. Famously, when Orson Welles was asked the directors he admired most, he said, “John Ford, John Ford, and John Ford.”

Tags 1956, Alfred Hitchcock, BOng Joon Ho, Classic, Clint Eastwood, Hitchcock, John Ford, John Wayne, Martin Scorsese, Oscars, PG, Rated PG, The Quiet Man, Ward Bond, Western

5 Stars Movies Vintage

The African Queen (1951)

“Nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we are put in this world to rise above.”

This line, as said by Rose Sayer (Katharine Hepburn) to the ship’s Captain Charlie (Humphrey Bogart) is indeed central to the 1951 classic The African Queen. Yes, the film is basically about two strangers who fight the wilderness, but that is not all the nature we are witnessing.

Tags 1951, Classic, Humphrey Bogart, John Huston, Katharine Hepburn, Marlon Brando, The African Queen