Let's Finally Watch This

It's 1993. Multiplexes have arrived, and there are plenty of movies to show—Jurassic Park, Tombstone, Schindler's List, the original Super Mario Bros. movie.... Okay, not all are great, but it was a time of the blockbuster. In the middle of this comes Sleepless in Seattle, an iconic romantic comedy with the now-classic pairing of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

What Sleepless in Seattle offers casual movie fans who have always meant to watch classic movies: a near-religious search for romantic "magic," clever writing with an unconventional romantic comedy structure, great acting by Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, and references to Cary Grant and tiramisu.

Show Notes

It's 1983. The blockbuster age has started, and the top-grossing movie of the year is The Return of the Jedi. However, another pivotal space movie is also released this year, The Right Stuff, a film examining the early years of the space race. Based on the book by Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff follows the journey of the Mercury Seven as they undergo grueling trials and first-of-their-kind flights.

What The Right Stuff offers offers casual move fans who have always meant to watch classic movies: cutting-edge (at the time) editing of flight and space, a fascinating (and mostly accurate?) retelling of a slice of American history, an ambitious scope, and a tribute to men who had "the right stuff."

Show Notes

It's 1973. We're in the middle of the New Hollywood era, when movies tended to be more uncoventional and often darker. However, some movies are still all-around fun. The Sting, an Academy Award-winning caper movie featuring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, dives into the underworld of the 1930s with effortless skill. Two con men attempt to take revenge on a crime boss by swindling him out of his money, and the audience is along for the ride.

What The Sting offers offers casual move fans who have always meant to watch classic movies: stylish suits, clever cons, card sharks, a smart script, and plenty of "The Entertainer."

Show Notes

It's 1963. We're crossing the Atlantic to visit Italy, a preeminent filmmaking country. In the 1950s-60s, Italian film was largely known for Commedia all’Italiana (“Comedy in the Italian way”), spaghetti Westerns (westerns made in Italy), and Post-Neorealism (a movement moving past realism to explore existential themes). Famed Italian director Frederico Fellini pushes past this last in his critically acclaimed 8½, an avant-garde surrealist comedy-drama about a director trying to figure out what he wants to say in his new movie.

What 8½ offers offers casual move fans who have always meant to watch classic movies: a seamless blending of past, present, and dreams; a meta-examination of creativity and the inner life; a romatically confused and self-focused main character; and a compelling, one-of-a-kind movie experience.

Show Notes

It's 1953. We're in the middle of the Golden Age of Hollywood; we're also in the pinnacle decades of the western, a truly American plot. Westerns have been around almost as long as movies (see The Great Train Robbery). Shane is an essential and quinessential example of the genre. It tells the story of homesteaders in an isolated Wyoming valley defending their land from land-hungry ranchers, with the help of enigmantic gunslinger Shane.

What Shane offers casual movie fans who have always meant to watch classic movies: a slow-burning plot; classic western elements expertly arranged; impactful use of gunfights; and the name "Shane" repeated numerous times.

Show Notes

It's 1943. World War 2 is raging, and nearly all the movies are war-related in some way. Into this comes a story of evil visiting idyllic small-town America. The director is the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock; and the movie, Shadow of a Doubt, is not as flashy or as well-known as some of his others, but it is a compact, character-driven story. Hitchcock himself said several times that it was his favorite film.

What Shadow of a Doubt offers casual move fans who have always meant to watch classic movies: a tense cat-and-mouse game; discussions of murders, real and imaginary; an examination of the space between appearance and reality; and, of course, Hitchcock's signature visuals.

Show Notes

It's 1933. It's the Depression, and audiences want movies that don't sugarcoat the truth, but they want escapism too. That means it's time for a new type of musical. Hollywood released more than 100 musical films only three years earlier in 1930, but by 1933, they had largely disappeared as a genre. Choreographer Busby Berkeley helped revive them with several films, including this episode's movie, 42nd Street.

What 42nd Street offers casual movie fans who have always meant to watch classic movies: punchy dialogue, newly-minted Broadway archetypes, an iconic new way to film dance numbers, and "non-escpaist escapism."

Show Notes

It's 1923. The building blocks of classic Hollywood are coming together and the people are enjoying silent movies in their movie palaces in the years following the Great War. Director Cecil B. DeMille, known for the biblical epic 1956 movie The Ten Commandments, releases a movie with the same title in this year.

What this first The Ten Commandments offers casual movie fans who have always meant to watch classic movies: an epic Biblical "prologue," engaging pre-noir framing of light and dark, a possibly heavy-handed morality tale, and an early example from DeMille's extensive filmography.

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It’s 1913. The movie industry is starting to move from the East Coast out west, and nickelodeons are a growing staple of American society. Out of those burgeoning years of the movie industry and newly minted movie stars come Mabel Normand, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, and the Keystone Cops, all of whom are involved in this episode's short, Mabel's New Hero.

What Mabel's New Hero offers casual movie fans who have always meant to watch classic movies: a loveable but bumbling boyfriend, a dastardly "divil among the women," a plucky heroine, and wonderfully infectious physical comedy.

Listen in to find out more!

Show Notes

Welcome to season 2 of Let's Finally Watch This, a podcast for casual movie fans who have always meant to watch classic movies. Once again we're traveling through the century, highlighting one movie from each decade from 1903 to 2013. In each episode, we'll highlight what's going on film history, how the chosen film affected future movies, and, of course, whether the movie itself is actually worth watching.

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It's 1903. Moving pictures are still an novelty, and narrative films are still in the early stages. One of the most popular films of the year is The Great Train Robbery, directed by Edwin S. Porter. It's a distinctly American movie about outlaws...robbing a train.

What The Great Train Robbery offers casual movie fans who have always meant to watch classic movies: an action-oriented plot, realistic early effects, and an iconic final shot (pun intended).

Listen in to learn more!

Show Notes