Ben-Hur (1959)

Another MOVIE, like Gone with the Wind. Another big, earnest, incredibly well made, really well acted, and often beautiful to look at film that the Academy decided to award with Best Picture. Ben-Hur is just one of those movies that makes sense for that. It's not just great, but it's a huge entertainment that uses…

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Gigi

I feel like I'm seeing Lubitsch everywhere now, but it's hard to deny the connections between Lubitsch and Gigi. It's set in Europe, pre-WWI (specifically France's Belle Epoque), with wealthy people and a certain visual materialism, a class divide, the battle of the sexes, and Maurice Chevalier. It's the Chevalier presence that makes it unmistakable…

The Bridge on the River Kwai: A Second Look

I'm still in amazement at how well The Bridge on the River Kwai comes together in the end. David Lean had been working up his way through the British film industry through a series of smaller films, and he entered the epic game with a serious bang. Taking Pierre Boulle's novel and pushing it into…

Around the World in 80 Days

I've read a few Jules Verne novels, but I've never gotten around to Around the World in 80 Days. I wonder if the book has the same lethargic travelogue feel as the film. It's not a complete bore of an experience, but there's no real energy to the narrative as a whole. There's some energy…

Marty: A Second Look

The Academy goes from awarding a pseudo-independent film (On the Waterfront was financed by Columbia) to an actual independent film in Marty, a film based on a teleplay by the screenwriter by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Delbert Mann, financed by the small production company started by Burt Lancaster and his agent Harold Hecht, while…