Reel Culture: The ones I've seen, Part I

Here are ten of the "influential and classic movies" I've seen that are listed in that Reel Culture book. These movies range from 1938 to 1960.

1. Bringing Up Baby. I was just sure I saw this recently enough to have blogged about it, but I guess it's been more than a year. Without a blog post, I don't remember enough about it to say anything here, so I'll add a tidbit from the Reel Culture book: The dog in this movie also played Asta in the Thin Man movies.

2. The Wizard of Oz. Of course this is a classic, but it's a classic on the level of Star Wars. Everyone knows it well enough to practically have it memorized. The reason I bring up Star Wars is because it is not in this book, but in the author's foreword she explains her reason behind leaving that one out: "Everyone already knows it." I defy you to show me an American over the age of three who does not know The Wizard of Oz.

3. Gone With the Wind. Definitely a great movie. I would totally watch it more often if it wasn't so freaking long.

4. Citizen Kane. This movie kind of bored me. Of course, someone had already told me the meaning of "Rosebud" before I watched it; I wonder if it would have made a difference in my viewing pleasure if I hadn't known that ahead of time. Just so you know, if you read Reel Culture, you too will know about Rosebud.

5. Casablanca. One of those movies I really loved but can barely remember. I own a copy. Maybe it's time to watch it again.

6. It's a Wonderful Life. OK, I put this on the list of ones I've seen even though I'm not absolutely sure I've actually watched the entire thing in sequence from beginning to end. However, I'm sure I've seen every single part of it multiple times. Put them all together and I bet there's more than one full viewing.

7. Rear Window. See #5, except I don't own a copy. But here is an interesting tidbit from Reel Culture: "All of the audio in the movie is diagetic, meaning that the film does not include any sound that is not to be heard by the characters."

8. Rebel Without a Cause. What I most remember about this movie is how immature James Dean acted at the beginning. It seemed false to me.

9. Some Like it Hot. Another one I barely remember, although I don't remember especially loving it. I haven't been very impressed with most of the Marilyn Monroe movies I've seen. Did she always play such a complete airhead?

10. Psycho. I remember this one a little better than usual. Here's what interested me from the book: "Hitchcock wanted Psycho to look like a cheap horror movie, so he shot it in black and white (color was available, so it was an intentional choice) and used his lower-budget television show crew as opposed to the staff that worked on his more expensively made films." I never would have known that--I just chalked those details up to being a 50-year-old movie. (Well, it was probably more like 40, or even 30, when I saw it, but you get the idea.)