“Itās only when it makes concessions to modernity that The Peanuts Movie really stumbles. Other than these few moments, itās a sweet, innocent blast of nostalgia, never withholding from the melancholy and defeat that permeates the comic strips. It wonāt rival any of the now classic TV specials,” read more
“Everyoneās quick to claim The Sound of Music as the best of the Rodgers and Hammerstein II film adaptations, but The King and I more than holds its own. Perhaps since this one ends more tragically than happily, itās not quite afforded the same amount of respect. Shame then, as Deborah Kerr and Y” read more
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
“Iām on the fence about this one. Stanley Donenās direction is effervescent, Michael Kiddās choreography is unique and lively, the score is pleasant if unmemorable, but that story is just so aggressively archaic. I suppose the sexist overtones of the filmās second half could be overcome with ” read more
“Singinā in the Rain plants its tongue in both of its cheeks at the same time, offering up a self-aware guffaw, and an eye-roll over how preposterous this whole fame thing is. Typically, Hollywood canāt help but indulge in some deeply self-critical appraisals in films about its own practices and ” read more
“While Singinā in the Rain is easier to embrace and admire, 1951ās An American in Paris is the more coolly intellectual. It is the pop-sophisticate in comparison to its more extroverted sibling. The two films probably should not be compared too much as their aims are different, but they keep gett” read more
“Three sailors on 24-hour shore leave look for love and adventure in On the Town, one of the most enthusiastic musicals to come out of Arthur Freedās unit. This was the first musical to film on location, with the āNew York, New Yorkā number racing through all of the infamous sights and location” read more
“Itās that subtle hint of darkness lurking underneath the sweet, colorful surfaces that makes Meet Me in St. Louis such a classic. Centering on a year-in-the-life of one typical suburban family pre-1903 Worldās Fair, the story quietly details the triumphs and travails of the family, forfeiting a ” read more
“Yankee Doodle Dandy is two solid hours of myth-making and grand entertainment, perhaps a little politically simplistic and overripe in its drama, but these things donāt take away any enjoyment for me. Everything ā the politics, songs, performance modes ā is old-fashioned, almost sweetly naĆÆve” read more
“There are movies, and then there are movies like The Wizard of Oz. Classics so eternal and reinvigorating that terms like āmasterpieceā or ābelovedā donāt justify their rarefied space. They sit high upon the top shelf of the canon, projecting the highest artistic heights of which we may ac” read more
“My knowledge of the film versions of Show Boat is limited to the 1951 version with Ava Gardner and the heavily truncated version wedged into the opening of Till the Clouds Roll By. I had heard of this version, and knew that James Whale, one of the great-underrated talents of the era, directed it, bu” read more
“Cinema produces many iconic pairings, typically comedic duos who play off each other brilliantly, and find ways to make their disparate qualities part of the material, like Laurel & Hardy or the Marx Brothers. Or similar stars with personas that mesh well, like William Powell and Myrna Loy as th” read more
“42nd Street is the premiere backstage musical, the granddaddy of them all, setting the template for the narrative and crafting the character molds. If some of it feels flabby or overly familiar, thatās simply because itās impossible to view 42nd Street in any other way than through the prism of ” read more
“Perhaps itās a bit too long, and maybe a few of the musical sequences are a little stiff, but I still think Guys and Dolls is an enjoyable riot. Obvious musical players like Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine excel here, but Jean Simmons is the surprising coup, providing the movie with a heart and so” read more
“The Bishopās Wife is a perfectly fine excuse to spend 105 minutes with Cary Grant and Loretta Young, but thereās a general sense of heavy sentiment that makes the whole thing so sweet that it threatens to drill holes in your teeth the longer it goes on. Itās kind of gentle, old-fashioned movie” read more