12/27/2022 0 Comments Highbrow movieStars: Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Kim Greist, Bob Hoskins, Katherine Helmond There’s also no forgetting the iconic scene where Peter Finch declares, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore.” The film, which casts a blinding light on broadcast television’s willingness to do anything for ratings, is more relevant today than when “Network” hit theaters 35 years ago. Why it’s a highbrow choice: It was no fluke that Paddy Chayefsky’s prescient script won an Oscar for best original screenplay. Stars: William Holden, Faye Dunnaway, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall Malick made “The Thin Red Line” after a 20-year hiatus from directing, and its depiction of American soldiers in World War II is unlike anything else in its genre. The director’s work is so lyrical, he leaves many viewers flummoxed, but he’s a treat for those who get him. Why it’s a highbrow choice: Discussing films for highbrows and omitting Terrence Malick would be like examining classical music minus Beethoven. Stars: Nick Nolte, James Caviezel, Sean Penn, John Cusack, Adrien Brody, Woody Harrelson Because of that, director John Sturges famously Americanized it with 1960s “The Magnificent Seven.” “Seven Samurai” is probably his most famous movie, and it’s also one of his best. Why it’s a highbrow choice: One can’t compile a highbrow film list without representing another culture, and the work of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa has influenced everyone from Steven Spielberg to Francis Ford Coppola. They include: “Play it, Sam” (often misquoted as “Play it again, Sam”) “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” and “Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.” The film probably has more famous lines than any in history. The reason it made the list, however, is its infinite quote-ability. Why it’s a highbrow choice: As with “Citizen Kane,” “Casablanca” – set in Morocco during the early days of World War II – requires some knowledge of history. Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains It helps to know that the movie, about the excessive life of a wealthy man, is a thinly veiled meditation on 19 th and 20 th century newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. Thing is, modern viewers need to approach it with a sense of history. “Citizen Kane” was not just innovative, it remains a great, pure drama. Why it’s a highbrow choice: College professors have been torturing students with this black-and-white classic for years, doing their best to convince the glassy-eyed co-eds that its script, cinematography and makeup were ahead of the times. Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead, Ruth Warrick Since readers of this magazine can feel my pain, I thought it would be fun to assemble a list of the top 10 films every highbrow should own: It’s simply the lot of an educated film lover living in the modern world. Not only were they unfamiliar with the film, I had apparently strayed too far from the blockbuster titles I was expected to produce.įortunately, one eventually grows immune to the blank stares that come upon recommending a movie produced prior to 1999. Without hesitation, I came back with the 1942 James Cagney film “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” Considering the hosts’ befuddled responses, I might as well have suggested a Leni Riefenstahl propaganda piece. Just before this year’s Independence Day weekend, I appeared on a morning radio show in Reno, N.V., and the hosts asked me to name my favorite July 4 movie.
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