Thanks to the lack of good things on TV and a desperate shortage of funds over the half term I’ve been able to get back to the basics and watch the films that made shitty remakes possible. So if you yourself are bored and lack the imagination to pick a film yourself here are my picks from the classics box set (don’t expect its a wonderful life to be on the list, i know its a classic but i refuse to watch it unless its christmas):
THE CLASSIC CLASSICS:
Citizen Kane:
The classic among classics, this film it beautifully shot with innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Orson Welles its amazing (no surprise) and ages so perfectly. Its a real treat on the eyes and the mind…
“Mr. Kane was a man who got everything he wanted and then lost it. Maybe Rosebud was something he couldn’t get, or something he lost. Anyway, it wouldn’t have explained anything… I don’t think any word can explain a man’s life. No, I guess Rosebud is just a… piece in a jigsaw puzzle… a missing piece.”
The Kid:
A real oldie but one of my personal favourites. This film shows Chaplin off to be not just a comic genius but also an incredible actor and the scene where the Kid is taken away from him is heartbreaking. Don’t be put off by the silent film what it lacks in audio it makes up for in heart (cheesy I know but like I said its one of my fav’s)
“A comedy with a smile–and perhaps a tear”
Casablanca:
indisputably one of the landmarks in the American cinema this nostalgic story of intrigue and love teamed Bogart and Bergman as ill-fated lovers in Nazi occupied world war II, Morocco. Fuck ‘he’s not just that into you’ this is true romance.
“heres looking at you, Kid”
THE MODERN CLASSICS:
The Italian Job:
Thanks to film 4 this will be on every night for the next week so you have no excuse not to watch it. who’d have thought 3 Mini coopers running riot around rome would be so entertaining. Pure comic gold, a true british classic that is as funny today as it was in 69. amazing soundtrack too, but self preservation society will be stuck in your heart for days.
“you were only suppose to blow the bloody doors off”
Alfie:
I watched Harry Brown the other day and Caine is officially the king of cool. However this film is him in his prime, perfect English charm and wit you can’t help but fall in love with his cheeky chappy cockney accent… which is why this is a perfect casting. His talking to the camera moments are perfectly timed and utterly adorable.
“Whenever you meet a beautiful woman, just remember somewhere there’s a man who’s sick of shagging her.”
A clockwork orange:
Just to show i’m not completely obsessed with Micheal Caine. I don’t think there is a teenage rebel who hasn’t watched this film just to spite there parents and see the roll of their eyes. Plus the Beethoven scene was like an urban legend to every sexually frustrated 13 year boy.
“Viddy well, little brother. Viddy well.”
Words: Bee Thomas
