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CINEMINTZ-1
#2 It Happened One Night(34)
#3 Casablanca(42)
#4 All About Eve(50)
#5 Top Hat(35)
#6 It's a Wonderful Life(46)
#7 Jules et Jim(62)
#8 Bonnie and Clyde(67)
#9 The Lady Vanishes(38)
#10 Double Indemnity(44)
#11 A Hard Day's Night(64)
#12 Singin' in the Rain(52)
#13 The Gay Divorcee(34)
#14 Les Jeux Interdits(52)
#15 Notorious(46)
#16 Ikiru(52)
#17 Gone with the Wind(39)
#18 The Maltese Falcon(41)
#19 North by Northwest(59)
#20 To Be or Not to Be(42)
#21 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf(66)
#22 Duck SOup(33)
#23 The Man who Came to Dinner(41)
#24 Love Me Tonight(32)
#25 Bicycle Thieves(48)
Reviews
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Overrated!!!
What was once thought a Classic by many including me on 2nd viewing is an almost unwatchable,dated claptrap portrait of an alchoholic. This is an extremely heavy-handed and didactic piece of work. It is done in a somewhat humorous though also serious manner-it is so pointed in its depiction that it is almost irritating beyond belief. Its symbolism is obvious and foretold in a grating manner-such as the visuals when he has hallucinations of rats and other beasts for Ray Milland as Don Birnham. Modern and later alchoholic depictions such as Barfly and possibly Days of Wine and Roses are much better.
I am very much a fan of the Classics of the Golden Age of Cinema(1930s-50s,but this is one that simply doesn't hold up and it shows how many of the Best Picture Winners in an Era are not even good Movies. This one along with Going My Way,Gentleman's Agreement, and Hamlet are simply barely above average pictures when see now.
The Court Jester (1955)
A Great Romantic Adventure Spoof Costumer
Inspired silliness from the team of Melvin Panama and Norman Frank starring Danny Kaye in probably his Finest Hour Plus. Definitely derivative of Adventures of Robin Hood in more ways than one with Rathbone as a villain almost equal to the one he played in that enduring Classic. But like comparing Young Frankenstein(74) with either Bride of Frankenstein or the Original Frankenstein(31),certainly there is certainly more comic interplay in Court Jester and it is definitely great on a lower level but the originals are still overall preferred. Whereas The Bride ,Frank(31) and Robin Hood deserve the highest rating,Court Jester is just a step below. Still there are not many scenes as memorable and hilarious as the pellet-pallet tongue twister scene which is as strong as the Marx brothers classics,though overall it is probably not quite the comic masterpiece as Duck Soup,Night at the Opera and even Horse feathers and Day at the Races are. As entertainment value goes it definitely delivers and probably belongs with the very best Comic Adventures ever made. Glynis Johns is as fine a romantic heroine and the use of dwarfs is almost on par with the Wizard of Oz.
Nothing Sacred (1937)
Great Screwball Comedy from another Era
SCREWBALL COMEDY THAT PROVES THEY DON'T MAKE 'EM LIKE THEY USED TO Nothing Sacred is taut satire in the newspaper and screwball genre made in the 1930s in the wake of similar type movies such as Front Page(1931),Bombshell(1933) and many others. It is a movie with the 2 stars in top form Carol Lombard as the faux heroine in one of her best roles,which would includ Twentieth Century(1934),My Man Godfrey(1936),To Be or Not to Be and others. Also starring Fredric March as the Newspaper reporter from New York who will do anything to hype a story and it is at least one of his Top 10 roles and he had many great ones including deserved Oscars for his performances in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde(1932) and Best Years of Our Lives(1946). The supporting roles as played by Walter Connoly as the Newspaper editor and Charles Winninger as the the horse doctor are superb. tHIS ZANY FARCE IS DONE IN A MANNER THAT THEY JUST CAN'T DUPLICATE TODAY OR PROBABLY NOT SINCE THE 1950S and it is a joy to behold. This is a great comedy and one that is a treasure and a gem-just appreciate that they once made a bunch of comedies of this quality-This is one of the Greatones-though I wouldn't quite put it in the masterwork/All-Time Great Category.
The Scarlet Letter (1926)
A Good Movie but not Great
Scarlet Letter with Lillian Gish is a fine silent film, but hardly deserves the praise it is receiving from those who have commented on it here. The performance of Lillian Gish is a good one but nowhere near as memorable as The Wind,Broken Blossoms, Way Down East or Orphans of the Storm-not to mention some others. I also preferred the very different movie He Who Gets Slapped with Lon Chaney to this one also directed by Victor Seastrom as well as his masterpiece The Wind. It is probably the best version of this story but probably no other version was even passable-a hard novel to film well, perhaps. I give it 6 of a possible 10 and do think it is worth seeing and maybe even adding to your video collection but it is far from classic or great.