Here is a list of classic movies I didn't appreciate or fully appreciate on first viewing

 

The Shawshank Redemption (1994) – Tim Robbins is a good director. He doesn't work for me as a lead actor. He has the right qualities in things like Bull Durham, but like many of his films I think other actors could have done as well or better. The movie was long and Robbins doesn't do much here. But the subtlety works on the second viewing. Morgan Freeman is just excellent in a dynamic performance as a hard man made better through his friendship with Robbins.

Forrest Gump (1994) – The spectacle of the thing is all I could see the first time around. The special effects and Hanks's idiot manchild Rainman performance felt grating to me. A gimmick. But I was surfing around one day and I caught it midway through and it was mesmerizing. Showed it to Abby a few years ago and I think she has watched it 5 times since.

American Beauty (1999) – Annette Benning is too much. The militaristic Great Santini father has been done better. Spacey's and his obsession with a high school girl is creepsville. But once you know the plot and can it's dreamlike quality is captivating.

The Apartment (1960) – I saw this before I experienced the corporate ladder and the corruption of the real world so the subdued humor was lost on me. I have since read the screenplay and the stage directions alone or so funny I laughed aloud. I needed to lose some innocence to appreciate it. It's great and timeless about how limited people can only get ahead through power manipulations.

Heat (1995) – Derivative in the heist genre which it excels at but I didn't appreciate the complexity of career men and their relationships until I saw it again years later.

Vertigo (1958) – One of 5 Hitchcock films owned by the master and barely seen outside of the film buffs for decades until the early 1980s and because I enjoyed Rear Window (1954) in the same batch even moreso I immediately thought Stewart was wrong for the film, something even Hitchcock reflected on. With time I disagree with Hitch and appreciate it on its own. It has detractors. Quinten Tarantino doesn't like it. Even kind of silly to see it lead the Sight and Sound poll in 2012, but still great.

Chinatown (1974) – Another movie I saw when I was too young to appreciate the cynicism when I sought heroes. Nicholson is over his head the entire time and it's true to life rather than the movies I grew up on.

Million Dollar Baby (2004) – Without Eastwood I think this would have been a slight and forgettable story. It brings out everything good about Morgan Freeman and the two of them together made far too films together.

The Third Man (1949) – Saw a public domain copy with a poor soundtrack and didn't appreciate the subtle humor. Saw a restored version later and it was a different film for me.

Network (1976) – Saw the movie when it seemed like an over-the-top dark comedy. It was prescient in a way that Paddy Chayefsky scripts do not get the modern-day credit. You have to be in the right mood for it still, but great at what it was doing.

The Counselor (2010)

 

The Counselor (2010) – Ridley Scott film written directly for the screen by the great Cormac McCarthy. I remember being interested in seeing this on the strength of the Trailer but it didn't last long in the cinema and the reviews were middling. Roger Avary discussed it on Rogan when talking about how Ridley Scott's body of work isn't adequately appreciated. He felt this particular film was an important story about how the world really works. Michael Fassbender is an attorney planning to propose to Penelope Cruz, possibly the greatest underrated beauty in movies. Her real-life husband, Javier Bardem, plays a drug lord client of Fassbender. Talky in that it's a series of philosophical conversations to that lead later to consequences. Things start getting going when Fassbender negotiates a drug deal with Bratt Pitt, also philosophical, but about the practicality of their business and what he needs to know. Pitt knows Fassbender isn't cut out for it, but he won't take the hint. Due to a coincidence and the cartel doesn't believe in coincidences, Fassbender is in the jackpot, as Bardem tells him. One thing leads to another. It's Cormac so it gets bleak, and real. People don't go back to see this again so the drop off at the box office was inevitable. Still, this one must have stayed with people for a while.

Rocky IV: Director's Cut (2021)

 

Rocky IV: Director's Cut (2021) – A notoriously weak entry in the Rocky series, Stallone re-cut this in 2021 as a more focused story of his friendship with Apollo Creed and how his death left unfinished business. It no longer reads like a super hero story. His foe, the dangerous Ivan Drago, comes off as more a Frankenstein's monster not without sympathy himself. There are only a few exposition moments as it is expected you know the characters and what they've been through. You can see Stallone had a smaller story to tell the and studio was looking for a summer blockbuster. The new cut feels more like the Later Rocky Balboa (Rocky 6), it's somber and reflective. A better choice to go with if you decide to make your way chronologically through the series.

Comancheros (1961)

 

Comancheros (1961) D: Michael Curtiz. Excellent Score by Elmer Bernstein. I don't know how this one slipped through my John Wayne watching. Duke is a Texas Ranger sent to get fugitive Stuart Whitman, an affable guy who shot a judge's son in a duel. Lee Marvin shows up early as a villain with the energy of a star he would become. The plot is a group of white men that team up with Comanches Indians for no good. Plenty of Monument Valley scenery and enough pretty women for the lighter moments. Whitman doesn't wither next to Wayne which says a lot about his underused screen persona.

Stardust Memories (1980)

 

Stardust Memories (1980) – Follow up to Annie Hall and Manhattan taking on the same themes of relationships. This time Woody is a noted film director constantly hounded for autographs during his public time. A running theme is how people prefer his earlier, funny movies. It uses the dual temporal format of remembering his lost girlfriend played by Charlotte Ramplin, who has those piercing eyes that still sparkle but are somewhat subdued by the Black & White cinematography. She is one of those actresses that are sexy without being beautiful and it probably makes their forlorn romance more bittersweet in ways that hit differently with beautiful women that never feel attainable even when you obtain them. When you are new to Woody Allen movies it's always jarring how his character gets women, but once I learned that he is just playing a variation of Bob Hope's screen persona it kind all makes more sense. Rampling had a long career and you still here in the modern. I looked up her filmography to learn her father was the last surviving gold medalist from the 1936 Olympics, the Hitler Olympics, the one where Jesse Owens kicked everyone's ass. Her dad live to 100. Woody is 90 and still going although he seems to be slowing down. Last movie was 2023. The movie has a jarring assassination attempt by a fan that hits too close to home released in 1980 months before the same thing happened to John Lennon. The movie is not for all tastes but will be worthwhile to fans of his work during this period. I always enjoy his early 20^th century jazz soundtracks.

Aftersun (2022)

 

Aftersun (2022) – Scottish father and his ten year-old daughter holiday to Turkey. It's implied that their visits are somewhat infrequent with her parents split. You would characterize the movie as a slow-burn with nothing really happening on the surface but human angst underneath. The father that is about to turn 30 considers himself a failure not achieving whatever dreams he secretly holds. The daughter has an emotional understanding of his troubles , but wants him to snap out of it. The film interspersed with clips from the video camera they shot with on their trip and the adult daughter looking back on what might have been the last trip should took with her father. Critically acclaimed but somewhat bittersweet as a viewer. I wanted the guy to be present for his daughter instead of a slave to his personal expectations. Here is a guy who would have benefited from reading Scott Adams. First time filmmaker called it autobiographical, meaning she was trying to understand her naval gazing dad.

Blue Moon (2025)

 

Blue Moon (2025) – Ethan Hawke portrays Lorenz Hart, the lyricist that partnered with Richard Rodgers before he found Hammerstein. The movie takes place in a single night at the Broadway restaurant, Sardis, on the night Oklahoma opens and everything changes. It reads like a filmed stage play. The action never leaves the restaurant and although there would be ample opportunity for flashbacks, the movie handles everything with dialogue. I was surprised to learn that it was written directly for the screen. Blue Moon refers to the Rodgers and Hart tune you have heard your whole life. Elvis even did a cover of it at Sun Records. Hart was a cliché of a theater guy, short, gay, and an alcoholic. Ethan Hawke portrays all of this quite impressively even shrinking in size when necessary. Adam Scott gives a pleasantly subdued performance as Richard Rodgers. Simon Delaney plays the coruplent Oscar Hammerstein. Other famous people making appearance include E.B. White (Charlotte's Web), Hammerstein's protege Stephen Sondheim is somehow dragged to the restaurant looking 10 years old. Future Film director, George Roy Hill is squeezed in. Now although Hart plays for the other team so much of the drama is around Hart's infatuation with the Elizabeth Weiland character played by Margaret Qualley. She gives him a hope and rejection arc. How did Andie McDowell who couldn't act worth a lick wind up with two daughters than can? Richard Linklater is the underrated Gen X director, although it's hard to understand what he was thinking with his Bad News Bears remake. I bet you this is one day made into a Broadway show. If I were an Academy member I'd vote for Hawke. He's good here and too talented to have never won.

Worst Person in the World (2021)

 

Worst Person in the World (2021) – Joachim Trier's previous effort. Same lead actress, Renate Reinsve. Renate smiles occasionally in this one making her 2x more attractive. The downside is she is flighty like a lot of manic pixie dream girls, even if the Scandinavian version of that trope is otherwise more outwardly reserved than the crazy American version, but every bit as loopy on the inside. I have not read any reviews on it but my guess is that American critics will like her feminist free spirit although the observant viewer will understand how such a thing overlaps into self-destruction. The title is ironic. She's not the worst person. She's capricious. I've dated women like her. Nearly every attractive theater chick has these qualities. They are fun to date until they blow up. Trier captures the qualities of such a dame and demonstrates the vivaciousness that keeps me on the train longer than their wisdom would otherwise allow. There are obligatory topless shots, but she shows us a ding dong too. Equity, I guess. The ending is presented as upbeat on the surface, but it leaves open the question of whether she is happy or just not yet bored yet with her newest reality. If a person can't settle for happiness they will no doubt earn unhappiness in the long run.