Classic Flicks: 12 days of movies
In case you find yourself at home this winter sipping hot cocoa with nothing better to do than expand your cinematic consciousness, here is a list of some fantastic films, both new and old, which will hopefully while away the winter blues. You will notice that the majority of these films are neither actually holiday-themed nor in any particular order, but great films need no season.
1. Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979): I first saw the Redux version when I was in high school, yet the film seemed so contemporary despite being decades old. Great music, great acting, great cinematography, it's all in this movie. You really need to see this on the big screen. Hopefully you camped out at Best Buy this Black Friday to get that 70" LG with 3-D capabilities and Wi-Fi.
2. Werner Herzog's Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972): This film inspired Coppola's Apocalypse Now. Herzog is easily my favorite foreign director as he can make even the most absurd situations seem so real. He is still working at the age of 68 and shows no signs of slowing down. This plotline follows a band of Spanish conquistadors on an expedition down the Amazon in a quest for "the golden city."
3. Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away (2001): Whenever I watch the films of Miyazaki, I relive the carefree bliss of childhood. The only problem is that once you've fallen in love with Miyazaki, you will feel like you have to see all of his films. In this fantasy animation film, ?10-year- old Chichiro finds herself in a world of Japanese spirits and gods after her father decides to drive the family down a dirt road.
4. John Ford's The Searchers (1956): If there is any film that can convert a Western-hater into a Western-lover, this is it. This film is directed by the father of Westerns, John Ford, and stars Mr. John Wayne. Wayne plays Ethan Edwards, a Civil War veteran who embarks on a year-long journey in search of his niece, who was kidnapped by Indians.
5. Orson Welles' Citizen Kane (1941): Not many people realize that Orson Welles was only 26 years old when he made this incredibly mature film. How many directors have even made a film at such a young age? If you haven't seen it by now, do so this winter break. Some people say Citizen Kane is the greatest film ever made, some say they love Citizen Kane because most everyone else does and the rest say nothing great about the film at all. Decide what camp you're in after watching this culturally important mystery, which follows investigative reporters after a millionaire's death.
6. Milos Forman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975): This is probably one of the funniest films I have seen, even though it's often billed as a drama. It convinced me that great humor, be it black, blue or yellow, is timeless. It also happened to pull off the second Oscar sweep in Academy Awards history.
7. Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush (1925): In this classic Chaplin silent comedy, the Tramp travels to the Yukon in search of wealth during the Klondike Gold Rush. Just be glad your winters aren't as harsh as his.
8. Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali (1955): Ray is one of film's few Renaissance men. Besides directing, Ray also had a hand in writing the screenplay and scoring the soundtrack.
9. Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York (2008): Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Pirate Radio) leaves Synecdoche to earnestly film the bright lights of Broadway. Though the film was critically maligned upon its initial release, this is one of those films that takes at least a couple of viewings to truly understand, and then a couple more to get to its core. This is the debut of screenwriter-extraordinaire Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich), who is well-known for his unorthodox approach to storytelling.
10. Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954): This is one of the few three-hour films I have managed to watch in one sitting without even yawning once. The movie, which features a battle between seven veteran samurai and 40 bandits, is a must-see samurai movie.
11. Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946): This film is a quintessential Christmas classic. If you don't know why, then you haven't seen it. It's one of those stories in which the protagonist, a suicidal businessman, is led through scenes of an alternate life without him in order to understand how much his family and friends really do love and need him.
12. Harold Ramis' Groundhog Day (1993): On the surface, it is a slightly unusual comedy, but dig deeper and you will find that this film has a lot to say about life. This film is not what you would expect from the director of Caddyshack and Analyze This.
Joseph Allencherril is a Will Rice ?College senior. Classic Flicks is a column reexamining and rediscovering the best that cinema has to offer.
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