Classics

Oscars Film Friday: ‘Gigi’ directed by Vincente Minnelli

2/3/2012
Daniel S Levine
"Thank heaven for little girls!"

Even in 1959, the Academy was old fashioned. That year, the Academy could have awarded the 1958 Best Picture to the sexually charged adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof or Stanley Kramer’s gritty racial drama The Defiant Ones. Instead, they went with Gigi, a stately, classical musical directed by Vincente Minnelli, who also directed An American In Paris and countless other classic musicals, comedies and dramas. While Gigi is a charming film, even in 1958, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Oscars Film Friday: ‘The African Queen’ directed by John Huston

1/27/2012
Daniel S Levine
‘What a time we had Rosie...what a time.’

When you look at some of the actors from the Golden Age who are still popular, people like John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart or Cary Grant, they all have one thing in common. They waited a long time to get their Oscars. Wayne waited until 1969, when he won Best Actor for True Grit. Grant never even won an Oscar for his work, waiting until 1970 for an honorary Oscar. Bogart, known today for his classic films of the 1940s, including The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1942) and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), waited until 1951 to win his only Oscar.

Oscars Film Friday: ‘Sunrise’ directed by F.W. Murnau

1/13/2012
Daniel S Levine
A Song of Two Humans

The very first Academy Awards ceremony for films released in 1927 and 1928 was not anything to celebrate. The Academy decided not to go all out and have a major extravaganza like what we have today. The Academy literally just presented the awards and that was the end of the story. Even the awards themselves were different. There were two awards that were intended to both be equal to the modern Best Picture award. William A. Wellman’s World War I epic Wings won the Most Outstanding Production Award, while F.W.

Oscars Film Friday: ‘High Noon’ directed by Fred Zinnemann

12/30/2011
Daniel S Levine
'The story of a man who was too proud to run!'

From now on until the Oscars are handed out in February, I’ll be covering films that feature Oscar-winning performances or productions. High Noon is one of the rare Westerns that fits the bill. It features Gary Cooper’s second Oscar-winning performance and was also awarded for Best Editing, Best Score and Best Original Song.

Film Friday: Frank Capra’s ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’

12/23/2011
Daniel S Levine
"Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings."

Pure movie magic. That’s what I think about when it comes to It’s A Wonderful Life, released by RKO and produced by directors Frank Capra, William Wlyer and George Stevens’ Liberty Films in 1946. It might not be Capra’s best film (I’m a big fan of You Can’t Take It With You, which won the 1938 Best Picture Oscar), but it is his most timeless. There is a reason why the film has been played on television every Christmas eve for the past few decades.

Film Friday: ‘A Christmas Story’ directed by Bob Clark

12/16/2011
Daniel S Levine
'A tribute to the Original, Traditional, One Hundred-Percent, Red-Blooded, Two-Fisted, All-American Christmas'

A Christmas Story is one of those perfect holiday films that has become required viewing for some during the season. It captures that perfect sense of what it must mean to be a child around Christmastime and features a nice blend of humor and sentimentality that makes it easy to digest, all thanks to the comedic genius of writer Jean Shepherd.

Film Friday: ‘BUtterfield 8’ directed by Daniel Mann

12/9/2011
Daniel S Levine
‘The most desirable woman in the world is easy to find...Just call BUtterfield 8.’

BUtterfield 8, the film for which Elizabeth Taylor won her first Oscar for Best Actress in 1960, is a troublesome film. It has some flashes of brilliance, where Taylor is clearly at the top of her game, but with so few strong performances around her, BUtterfield 8 fails to go from ‘just good’ to ‘great.’

Invite The Muppets to Your Home For All Of Your 2011 Christmas Parties

12/3/2011
Chris Lee

When planning a holiday party it is important to invite a few celebrity guests. Preferably guests who can warble a song, bust a move on the dance floor, generate laughter with a joke or humorous story, the sort of guests able to entertain across the generations. The perfect guests are readily available via DVD and/or download and/or whatever wondrous technology is in play at the end of 2011 the start of 2012.

ASIN: 
B00005OSJR

Film Friday: ‘Cleopatra’ directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

11/25/2011
Daniel S Levine
'Take my breath away.'

Since the controversy and behind-the-scenes dust has mostly settled, it is possible to look at the 4-hour plus Cleopatra (1963), directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, for what it is. That’s not to say that it is some hidden masterpiece, weighed down by its reputation. The critics who slammed the film in 1963 were right about some things, but they were wrong about calling it a complete disaster.

Film Friday: ‘West Side Story’ directed by Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins

11/18/2011
Daniel S Levine
'The screen achieves one of the great entertainments in the history of motion pictures'

When you say that there is nothing like a particular film, that’s usually a hyperbole.

However, when you say that there is nothing like West Side Story, which Fox and MGM released on Blu-ray Tuesday, it’s the truth. From the on-location, 10-minute gang fight ballet opening to the countless number of songs that have become hits outside the film to the extremely stylized design, take any scene from West Side Story and there is no way to mistake for any other film.

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