June 8, 2009
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The Daily News 
Chaplin in modern times
Bogart and Bergman in Casablanca1 Ah, the final days.
2 I buried meself in work this weekend, beyond anything I've done in a while.
3 It was a lost weekend, with the exception of my watching Michael Curtiz's The Cole Porter Story.
4 I've become addicted to the Classic Movie channel.
5 I don't suppose it's because I'm awake every single night at around 2:30.
6 I also caught a glimpse of Errol Flynn in Captain Blood.
Captain Blood7 Oh, there are some bad ones, which make the good ones look so much better.
8 I'm ready to take a class in classic films. I took a few in college, but now many of the films that were contemporary at the time are considered classics now!
9 I don't remember who said it, but I heard a quote that went something like this: any movie you haven't seen is a new movie.
10 Iono. I may have been the guy who said it.
11 I can't seem to be able to Google it.
12 Anyway, I really do believe that.
13 I also don't always feel I have to call a great movie a "film". That's uppity, even though I get in on it meself.
14 It is also fun to think about films because there MUST be a greatest film ever made out there. I'll be darned if I could decide on the best of all time.
15 Citizen Kane always jumps into my face any time I bring that up, even though Orson Welles was pretty full of himself.
16 Great movie. I also love Casablanca beyond words, but there are billions who would argue against that grand old piece.
17 Godfather? I'm going out on a limb here to say that although I love the Godfather flicks, I think it is pretentious a lot of the time. I doubt guys talk like that, honestly.
18 I also think that Zeffirelli's Taming of the Shrew is arguably the most underrated film ever. Almost everything about it is perfect. Acting, costumes, sets, tableaus, timing, lighting, music, textures, and yes, even an offensive theme!
19 So many.
20 I'm not seeing that sort of film nowadays, with all due respect. Maybe Benjamin Button, which had a sweet ending, but not much has really moved me in years.
21 And I'm guessing that there are as many top ten films as there are movie fanatics.
22 So is there a greatest of all time? I wouldn't even want to start a list, I swear to you, but it would be fun to see what people have to say.
23 How about that? What is the greatest movie ever made? If you could choose one, what would it be.
24 I'd be hard-pressed not to vote for Shrew, even though it isn't even on the film register in most people's books.
25 I'll just let that one float out there and see what surfaces.
26 We all have a fave, not necessarily what film "buffs" would enjoy.
27 Anyway, I'm thinking of trying to buy as many classics as possible.
28 The other day Caitlin and I went to Target to look at DVD's. Most films were on sale for as low as $7.50. The classics, however, were asking up to $17-$29 each! So maybe it's becoming a movement.
29 Anyway, I've really loved it; it's the only thing that has made sense to me in the past three weeks. I just smile at old movies.
30 So right in the middle of writing this, I notice that the teevee has some commercial about skin acne on. I just got up and switched it to the Classic Movie channel, and guess what was on.
31 Casablanca.
32 We're in Paris for the final kiss and separation.
33 You must remember this.
34 Peace.
Hoffman and Ross in The Graduate~H~
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