Classic Films

[MontuckyFried]

Other than TCM and The Criterion Channel (there was a thread for it, but I think it got deleted?), another great streaming service for classic films is KANOPY, if your local library supports it.
https://www.kanopy.com/en

Ah, yes. I really need to sign up for Kanopy. My library does support it I do believe. They must have a HUDGE collection, because whenever I look up where to stream this or that more obscure movie, they seem to have it more than others. Thanks for the reminder. Will do that stat.

[dookeyXXX]

The BFI just released its latest incarnation of their once-every-decade list of 100 Greatest Films.

Lottsa classics included:

https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sou...films-all-time

[Core Shot]

That list sucks. Too French. Too inside film nerd. With a side of woke.

Here’s a better list.

https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com...lassic-movies/

[schindlerpiste]

Two of my favorites:

[Bunion 2020]

What about technicolor marvels like 1939's Wizard of Oz? Classic Merrie Melodies, Looney Tunes, and the Disney animated classics?

Speaking of animated classics and B&W, my kids LOVE 1928's Steamboat Willie. It's always fun revisiting that. It's no wonder it was such a smash hit. It's still pretty hilarious. The animation's such a crack up, still to this day. It's no wonder it put Walt Disney on the map.

Whether we're talking animation or live action, though. The RAPID advancement of film from the 20s through the 40s is absolutely wild. Kind of coincides with a similarly wild evolution of aviation at exactly the same time period. That must've really been something to witness back then. I remember my grandma, who grew up in the Great Depression, telling me how big of a deal the cinema was back then. They'd use it as a way to escape the Texas heat and go enjoy some air conditioning (the only place in town with A/C). Now she was a young adult when Gone with the Wind came out in 1939, and she told me that it was THE event of the century. Just absolutely blown away with the spectacle of it all. And Wizard of Oz in the same year? Holy balls! Hollywood was on fire back then.

Cartoons while amazing in their quality are not what I consider to be films. Again with the frames of reference.

The sheer amount of content generated during the 20s-50s VS today is telling. In that era there was only the choice of radio or movies for multi media entertainment and many more people regularly attended movies than today.

It has been years since there was anything I felt was worth going out to see on the big screen.

Thx for the tip on Kanopy.

Also: https://www.businessinsider.com/driv...-idaho-2022-11

I wish there was a drive in still open around here.

[MontuckyFried]

Other than TCM and The Criterion Channel (there was a thread for it, but I think it got deleted?), another great streaming service for classic films is KANOPY, if your local library supports it.

https://www.kanopy.com/en

Thx for the tip on Kanopy.

Just signed up!!! Pretty eclectic selection! Should be fun to explore. Went to my library website and the very first thing on there was a link to Kanopy! Glad they participate. Thanks, dooks!

The sheer amount of content generated during the 20s-50s VS today is telling. In that era there was only the choice of radio or movies for multi media entertainment and many more people regularly attended movies than today.

It has been years since there was anything I felt was worth going out to see on the big screen.

Yeah, no doubt. It's a bit overwhelming these days, and there ARE some excellent masterpieces here and there (see: Villeneuve's Dune), but there is certainly a flood of garbage too. ESPECIALLY when it comes to family entertainment. So much ultra-cheap animation, bad CGI, and just plain forgettable for the most part. We are absolutely getting quantity over quality for sure, so can't blame you for not wanting to bother going to the cinema. One of the reasons I keep finding myself wanting to revisit the "classics." Not that I don't enjoy some of modern movies too, but I just know I'm missing out on a TON of great older stuff, thus this thread where we can share.

[billyk]

Other than TCM and The Criterion Channel (there was a thread for it, but I think it got deleted?)

Yeah, looks like Benny deleted the Criterion thread he started.

[Bunion 2020]

Revenge of the Propane.

@ MF, have you ever seen The Fortune Cookie?

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0060424/fullcredits/cast

Or What did you do in the war Daddy?

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061176/

Both mid-60s and color but enjoyable comedy.

[yogachik]

Last month, Criterion did a deep dive into Noir, some of what was streaming hadn't been on any other service. This month, it's Screwball Comedy (my favorite).

Be sure to watch (if you want a good laugh): The More the Merrier, The Awful Truth (one of the strangest openings in any movie - the couple suddenly decide to divorce. Also, the best scene ever with a cat. Oh, and the dog scenes! God it's a funny movie), Midnight (great mistaken identity scene for real belly laughs), The Lady Eve and Palm Beach Story (all time favorites of mine), My Man Godfrey (classic in the genre), and more.

[dookeyXXX]

Yeah, looks like Benny deleted the Criterion thread he started.

Super bummed about that thread’s deletion as I wrote a number of reviews in it that I didn’t back up…

[dookeyXXX]

Last month, Criterion did a deep dive into Noir, some of what was streaming hadn't been on any other service.

That’s cuz it was Noirvember!

[dookeyXXX]

BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN - streaming on Kanopy
Finally got around to watching this film, which is almost universally lauded on just about every “essential” films or “best” films lists.
Not sure why it took me so long to check it out given that the Odessa steps scene is so influential and was paid homage to/satirized in two of my all-time favorite films: Brazil and The Untouchables.
I will admit that I often have a hard time getting into some silent films and older films mostly because I have been molded by all the “modern” films I grew up on that borrowed heavily from them, so I have to remind myself that all the techniques I admire were first developed in these older films.

At any rate, the Odesa steps sequence is pretty great. The rest of the film is interesting if only for the scale and amount of people in most of the scenes.

Watch the film before scoping this Youtube expose, which showcases a few of the films that borrowed from /paid homage to BP.

[dookeyXXX]

interesting list from John Carpenter (as submitted to Sight and Sound):

[dookeyXXX]

Two classics about bicycles, both of which I highly recommend:

1. The Bicycle Thief (1948)
Streaming on Kanopy, HBOMax, and The Criterion Channel




2. Jour de Fete (1949)
Streaming on The Criterion Channel

[bobz]

BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN - streaming on Kanopy

Thanks; I've wanted to see that. Soon!

I recently watched a Bunuel film not on that John Carpenter list, Los Olvidados (aka The Young and the Damned), about poverty in Mexico City. Quite good, as a statement, as a story, and as film making.

[dookeyXXX]

The Thin Man (1934)
Streaming on HBOMax and WatchTCM, $2.99 on Prime, and available via NF DVD mail service

William Powell and Myrna Loy absolutely slay as a wealthy and alcoholic couple who moonlight as private detectives.
Overflowing with sharp, witty dialogue and the lead’s bravura performances, it’s a light and breezy whodunnit comedy with just the right touch of noir.

[UCMERIP]

Trailer here but the full film appears to be on YouTube.

[dookeyXXX]

ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953) is coming to Century/Cinemark theaters on Sunday, January 22 and Wednesday, January 25.

It may very well be playing elsewhere, too.
You can find screening locations here: https://www.fathomevents.com/events/...th-Anniversary




Interesting factoids:
The film was originally supposed to be filmed in color, but was shot in b/w because the director insisted on filming in Italy and Paramount didn’t want to pay for both the location and color film.

Audrey Hepburn won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance.

It also won Oscars for Best Story and Best Costume Design.

Screenwriter Dalton Trumbo was blacklisted at the time so his Academy Award was given to a “front” (one of his friends who took credit for the screenplay). Trumbo’s credits weren’t re-instated until 2011.

In 1999, Roman Holiday was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

[PB]

The Thin Man (1934)
Streaming on HBOMax and WatchTCM, $2.99 on Prime, and available via NF DVD mail service

William Powell and Myrna Loy absolutely slay as a wealthy and alcoholic couple who moonlight as private detectives.
Overflowing with sharp, witty dialogue and the lead’s bravura performances, it’s a light and breezy whodunnit comedy with just the right touch of noir.

YES!!! Asta for the MFW!!

[billyk]

Yeah, and there must be 5 or 6 Thin Man sequels that are all pretty good, too.

The 1935 version of “A Tale of Two Cities” was on TCM recently. Watched my recording of it tonight. What a great movie.

[plugboots]

Like “Die Hard”, we watch “The Thin Man” as a Christmas movie. “My Man Godfrey” and “The Gay Divorcee” too, as well as any other Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies

[Bunion 2020]

Gina's debut (RIP) and a great cast.

[dookeyXXX]

Free restored classics brought to you courtesy of Martin Scorsese:

https://delphiquest.com/film-foundat...screening-room

[MontuckyFried]

Gina's debut (RIP) and a great cast.

Looks like a fun ride! Will add that one to my list for sure. Thanks for the suggestion.

[MontuckyFried]

Free restored classics brought to you courtesy of Martin Scorsese:

https://delphiquest.com/film-foundat...screening-room

Outstanding! Very cool concept. Even though streaming, I can appreciate the limited "screen time" too. Kind of brings back some semblance of a communal experience.

Speaking of Martin Scorsese, wife and I just watched The Aviator. Not a classic, BUT highlights a lot of classic film historia. Fun romp through 1930s Hollywood, even if some of the chronology is jumbled up.