Best Picture: #34Original Release Date: October 18, 1961Rating: ApprovedRuntime: 2 hours, 33 minutesDirector: Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise Quick Impressions:“I’m not crazy about the romance or the gangs,” my daughter observed when we were about halfway through West Side Story. “I just kind of like the way it’s the first …
Rating: PG-13Runtime: 1 hour, 34 minutesDirector: Edoardo Ponti Quick Impressions:Last Thursday, I was so frustrated at not being able to watch this movie yet because it was premiering the next day. I thought, “Fine, fine, I’ll go ahead and watch Harry Melling dump spiders on his face for now, but …
Best Picture: #33Original Release Date: June 15, 1960Rating: ApprovedRuntime: 2 hours, 5 minutesDirector: Billy Wilder Quick Impressions:Late last Thursday night, I wrote half a review of The Devil All the Time, a film I liked more than I expected. My tone was glib, kind of playful, and then Friday morning …
Best Picture: #32Original Release Date: November 24, 1959Rating: GRuntime: 3 hours, 32 minutesDirector: William Wyler Quick Impressions:Nobody dies in Ben-Hur. I mean none of the actors, not on screen. This is a film that played in the background of my life throughout my childhood. I always seemed to wander through …
Rating: PG-13Runtime: 2 hours, 1 minuteDirector: Ben Wheatley Quick Impressions:I’ve loved Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca since I became fascinated with it as a young child. I just re-watched it again with my daughter this summer since it was the thirteenth film to win Best Picture. Then in late August when school …
Rating: RRuntime: 1 hour, 30 minutesDirector: Max Barbakow Quick Impressions:Since this has been a stressful week, I thought we were in dire need of a comedy. Palm Springs debuted this summer on Hulu, so it’s not exactly new. But I thought its Groundhog Dayesque premise seemed like a good fit …
Best Picture: #31Original Release Date: June 25, 1958Rating: GRuntine: 1 hour, 55 minutesDirector: Vincente Minnelli Quick Impressions:I can’t help thinking that the idea of restoring one’s joy in life by cavorting around with young women in the first bloom of youth is somewhat distastefully vampiric. (Then again, I hang around …
Rating: RRuntime: 1 hour, 35 minutesDirector: Jason Woliner Quick Impressions:I paid to see the first Borat twice. That’s because the first time I tried to see it, I started vomiting during the previews. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t let that deter me, but then I continued vomiting, and you can really only …
Best Picture: #30Original Release Date: December 14, 1957Rating: PGRuntime: 2 hours, 41 minutesDirector: David Lean Quick Impressions:Doing this Best Picture project with my daughter has caused me to think of 1950s film in a new way. I’ve always associated movies from this era with the childhood of my mother (who …
Rating: RRuntime: 2 hours, 9 minutesDirector: Aaron Sorkin Quick Impressions:There are some huge gaps in my knowledge of American history, and this movie covers yet another of them. I’ve been ridiculously excited to see The Trial of the Chicago 7 because it’s a potential Best Picture contender that we can …
