What's the most recent classic film you've seen for the 1st time & how'd you like it?

[DiggitCamara]

@HoboStew

Interesting, I just saw it for the first time and rather liked it. This is notable because I A) rarely like old movies and B) rarely like foreign movies. However the cinemetography was excellent for a movie made in 1950 - especially the scenes in the rain at that temple or whatever it was where they were telling the story. And the patchwork storytelling device it used seemed way ahead of its time.

I loved Rashomon as well. Especially because Kurosawa doesn’t bother to explain what “really” happened.

I recently bought “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” (John Ford, James Stewart, John Wayne) at a bargain price. Very good movie, even though I felt John Wayne was wearing an extremely goofy hat.

[dropzone]

@phreesh

I just got Rashomon (Criterion collection) for my birthday after wanting to see it for years.

Boring.

(skimming the thread and amazed that it looks like nobody was trite enough to say this) That’s not how I remember it.

[Love_Rhombus]

The Steve McQueen Blob. I didn’t know what to expect, but it was fun.

[Red_Skeezix]

12 Angry Men (1957). Came to it by recommendation from a coworker. It was really well done, you could really feel the tension and frustration.

[FriarTed]

@Morbo

I also recently watched The Seventh Seal. Worth it for the uniqueness, weird lighting / sets and young Max Von Sydow, but I can’t say it was all that incredible.

It makes an otherwise mediocre BILL AND TED’S BOGUS JOURNEY absolutely hilarious.

[Miss_Mapp]

@teela_brown

I don’t know if I’m misremembering this factoid or not, but ISTR that that one scene nearly bankrupted the studio and caused them to seriously rethink ever doing any big “epic” films again.

I don’t know if it was that scene in particular, but it does look like tons of money went into it–not just Cleopatra’s entrance pageant, but the hundreds (thousands?) of extras standing around to watch her arrival, and the set of the Roman street itself. The battle of Actium must also have cost a lot; someone in the commentary claims that they had the world’s second or third largest fleet of ships.

If you rent the DVD, I recommend the commentary for lots of little bits of information about how much money went into making this movie. You’ll hear 5 or 6 times that Liz Taylor was the first actor ever to receive a million dollars for a role.

[Miss_Mapp]

@Sampiro

I can actually make it through the Sexy Rexy/Julius Caesar half just fine; it’s the Richard Burton/Mark Anthony that just seems to go on longer than the Roman Empire itself. Especially the after-Actium scenes, which make me go "Elaine at THE ENGLISH PATIENT- “You’re defeated, there’s no hope of escape, would you DIE already!”

So Burton’s legs aren’t enough to keep you going? Rex Harrison doesn’t ever let the audience have a peek at his.

The thing I took an interest in towards the end was Martin Landau’s character (I didn’t even know he was in this movie before I started to watch it; also Carroll O’Connor and Francesa Annis in small roles). Landau was in the movie longer than anyone else and I began to hope he’d make it to the end alive.

He didn’t.

[Siam_Sam]

@Siam_Sam

Do you remember the part where the mayor of the city was showing him the burned-out venue where Allen’s band would have performed? Just a few months later, that same mayor was charged with arson in the incident. He was the one behind it!

@Batsinma_Belfry

That’s weird about the Mayor. I guess he wasn’t a Woody Allen fan.

Another thing that impressed me about the documentary was how he and Soon-Yi, absolutely adore eachother. They were so damn cute together.

Nah, it was just a happy coincidence that Allen’s band had been scheduled. As I recall, the mayor did it as part of an insurance scam or contractor kickback on a new building. Something like that, and I don’t believe he was acting alone. Just a sleazy Italian politician. I saw it in the news just a few weeks after we watched the documentary, so it stuck in my mind.

Yes, I liked the relationship with Soon-yi, which I understand was an honest portrayal. Sort of takes the air out of people who look down on them.