Reviewing the Classics| City Lights
Although I’ve included a few clips from City Lights, I highly recommend watching the entire 87-minute film. It moves quickly, is remarkably approachable (even to those unfamiliar with older and silent films), and available in numerous editions on YouTube, as…
Reviewing the Classics| The Trial of Joan of Arc
When you think of Joan of Arc and the movies, which film comes to mind? For many cinephiles, the quintessential Joan film is Carl Theodor Dreyer’s silent masterpiece, The Passion of Joan of Arc (read Josh Crabb’s review for Dreyer’s…
Reviewing the Classics| On the Waterfront
On the Waterfront is one of the most influential and personally significant films I’ve ever seen, and a “contender” for my favorite classic film. The story follows Terry Malloy (played by the alluring, and wonderfully talented Marlon Brando) as he…
Reviewing The Classics| Nosferatu
What do you think of when you imagine vampires? Perhaps you think of Bela Lugosi in the classic 1931 Dracula. Or you might think of the recently passed Christopher Lee, star of 10 vampire movies with one of the more…
Reviewing the Classics | The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is the silent film that made me want to watch more silent films. It was the very first one I saw and it remains my favorite of the era to this day. The 1920 production is considered…
Reviewing the Classics| The Passion of Joan of Arc
The movie theaters of today can be a cavalcade of senses. Besides the obvious images that move across the screen, we hear the musical score, we feel the ground shake during a big explosion, or we can even go to…
Reviewing the Classics| Metropolis
Metropolis is a science fiction, feature-length film directed by Fritz Lang, who made several expressionist films in the German movement. His wife, Thea von Harbou, wrote the screenplay. Over the years pieces of it have been lost and found and several versions…
Reviewing the Classics | The King of Kings
Cecil B. DeMille’s depiction of the life of Christ is “a reverent spectacle.” The silent film embodies both piety and theatrics, and features a tranquil Christ in the midst of a melodramatic world. DeMille’s nearly 3-hour epic features scenes and…
Reviewing the Classics| A Trip To The Moon
The science fiction imagination has changed drastically over its long life. From it’s beginnings in the 17th century with Johannes Kepler’s Somnium, a work regarded by many as the first science fiction novel, the genre has evolved as both scientific…