Even before ever seeing the film, if I had been asked what I thought the most beloved movie of all time is, I would have said Casablanca. I may be ignorant for never having seen it, but I bet a lot of people would agree with my answer. Others might argue Citizen Kane. It is considered the greatest movie of all time by the American Film Institute, after all. However, I would argue that Casablanca’s themes of love and letting love go are what make the film timeless.
In high school, my 12th grade summer reading assignment was One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I actually read the book instead of cheating by watching the movie, assuming that my English teacher would show us the film when we returned to school in the Fall. Apparently, I was hoping for too much there. Although I read the book over 5 years ago, I remember enjoying it more than I enjoyed the film this weekend. Yet, I also feel like the film was true to the book. Go figure.
I’m going to state the obvious and say that R.P. McMurphy was not crazy.
For being released in 1967, it’s pretty impressive how relevant The Graduate still is in 2011. I graduated in December 2009 with a degree in film and television media studies and soon discovered that my studies in school were very different from the jobs available in the “real world,” whatever that actually means. After nearly two years after graduation, I still have no idea what I really want to do. Fortunately, this is a feeling most recent college grads can relate to, including Dustin Hoffman’s Benjamin Braddock!
I've always been sort of proud, in a strange way, that I've never seen Rocky. 1) It's a classic, and 2) it's set in Philadelphia. How could I have never seen it?! Frankly, I never cared if anyone found my ignorance of Rocky offensive, because I never actually had any interest in seeing it in the first place. However, since I've started this blog, I've committed myself to seeing everything that might be shown in a Film Appreciation class.
