Movies that Have Aged Well, and Those that Haven't

[Bojangles]

I am not here to discuss movies. I am here to engage in a debate club...about movies.

[Bojangles]

AGED WELL:
Dr. Stranglelove: Plays like a colbert report episode. With the way the popular comedy has trended recently, it's a wonder that there aren't more movies like this being produced.

The Crowd: Relevant to those entering the New Economy. The Millennial anthem, if anthems were silent.

AGED POORLY:
The Birth of a Nation: This racism is killing me inside...

Touch of Evil: Representative of the theatrical Pre-Brando style of acting that fails to distinguish film as its own art form. "ACT HARDER", - Orson Welles.

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Focus: Shogun is right: every thing that is wrong with these forums can be found within this topic.

Focus^2: Let's see how long it takes for Shogun to argue one of the points made in this half-assed post.

[ShogunRua]

The Birth of a Nation

Sure, but is there a single movie from the 1910s that has aged well? Or even the 1920s? Having sound other than musical accompaniment was a big deal...

It's notable that the earliest two examples cited in this topic are M and Frankenstein, both from 1931.

[3dRevelation]

Films that have aged well IMO:
-A number of Billy Wilder films. I haven't seen all his films and even some of them that are supposed to be really good, but I think Sunset Boulevard, Some Like it Hot, and Stalag 17 have all aged well. Some Like it Hot and Stalag 17 I think are rather obvious as I think they are just as funny today as they probably were then. Sunset Boulevard is maybe not as sure of a shot, but I personally think it has aged well. Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond is great and the ending is one of the best in older cinema IMO.
-Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?: Lacerating dialogue with 4 very good performances. I think audiences today could still relate to it also. I'm sure many couples have had bad experiences with another couples rocky marriage.
-I would second North by Northwest. I think it is Hitchcock's most thrilling film with the pacing and some of the set pieces that audiences would love today.

Films that haven't aged well IMO:
-The Grapes of Wrath. It's a hard novel to adapt, and I'm probably especially hard on the film because of my love of Steinbeck, but it hasn't aged well at all. Part of that is the time period the novel takes place in, but I believe the censorship of the time is to blame. Chiefly the censorship that prevented Ford from using Steinbeck's ending which is one of the most important parts of the novel.
-Grand Hotel. While I appreciate it's contribution to film as one of the first with a multi-story narrative, the film is rather stuffy and boring.
-The Red Shoes. The film is technically masterful, but the plot IMO is what doesn't hold up.

[ShogunRua]

Films that haven't aged well IMO:
-The Grapes of Wrath.

Interesting. Haven't seen the movie, but have read the book. Steinbeck is one of my favorite authors of all time, but I consider "The Grapes of Wrath" to be his second weakest novel. It's still decent (I think Steinbeck was incapable of writing anything genuinely bad), but very over-simplified and cartoonish in parts, and generally dogmatic, which is something I would never write about most of his output. It's also amusing to compare his social/political views in The Grapes of Wrath as well as the far superior predecessor In Dubious Battle, both written in the mid to late 30s, to something like The Winter of Our Discontent, published in 1961.

Anywho, I know what you're referring to with the book's ending, but I remember disliking it. I imagine they probably ended the movie [spoiler]with Tom's departure from the family[/spoiler], and that felt like the climax of the book to me, also. (Correct me if they didn't)

[Stewball]

Films that have aged well IMO:
-A number of Billy Wilder films. I haven't seen all his films and even some of them that are supposed to be really good, but I think Sunset Boulevard, Some Like it Hot, and Stalag 17 have all aged well. Some Like it Hot and Stalag 17 I think are rather obvious as I think they are just as funny today as they probably were then. Sunset Boulevard is maybe not as sure of a shot, but I personally think it has aged well. Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond is great and the ending is one of the best in older cinema IMO.
-Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?: Lacerating dialogue with 4 very good performances. I think audiences today could still relate to it also. I'm sure many couples have had bad experiences with another couples rocky marriage.
-I would second North by Northwest. I think it is Hitchcock's most thrilling film with the pacing and some of the set pieces that audiences would love today.

Films that haven't aged well IMO:
-The Grapes of Wrath. It's a hard novel to adapt, and I'm probably especially hard on the film because of my love of Steinbeck, but it hasn't aged well at all. Part of that is the time period the novel takes place in, but I believe the censorship of the time is to blame. Chiefly the censorship that prevented Ford from using Steinbeck's ending which is one of the most important parts of the novel.
-Grand Hotel. While I appreciate it's contribution to film as one of the first with a multi-story narrative, the film is rather stuffy and boring.
-The Red Shoes. The film is technically masterful, but the plot IMO is what doesn't hold up.

Definitely second Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe (b&w), and for those who liked that, there's an equally brilliant similar recent movie, Carnage.

And I agree with The Grapes of Wrath too. (hmmm also b&w. wtf?).

Anywho, I know what you're referring to with the book's ending, but I remember disliking it. I imagine they probably ended the movie [spoiler]with Tom's departure from the family[/spoiler], and that felt like the climax of the book to me, also. (Correct me if they didn't)

It does end that way, emphasized with the melodramatic soliloquy they replay all the time where Joad describes how he's going to become a ghost in the world for social justice. Not Fonda's best effort, which is part of the reason it hasn't held up for fans of realistic (unaffected) Thespian arts IMNTBHO.

[Jerky]

The Wizard of Oz (1939) is the only answer....it transcends not only time...but cultures as well

As for those that have not aged well....I keep thinking about the ED 309 in the original Robocop

[td888]

The Red Shoes (1948)

It has some stunning visuals.

[Jerky]

ShogunRua.....you keep mentioning "Ruggles of Red Gap" on the board. I'm going to have to watch it one of these days. The premise sounds good. If it's anything like Arsenic and Old Lace...then I will agree, that it's a gem of a film.

[afx237vi]

Aged well:

Sweet Smell of Success (1957) - Maybe it's the music, but I remember seeing this for the first time and being struck by how modern it felt. Add in the dialogue, the acting and the lack of Hollywood moralising and it all looks remarkably fresh.

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) - Themes that still resonate to this day, combined with combat scenes that look as good as anything released since. The fact that German soldiers all speak English with American accents may date it a bit, but the whole foreigner-speaking-English thing is still done in some films today.

Aged badly:

The Birth of a Nation (1915) - Slow, boring, racist and convoluted.

Soylent Green (1973) - Purely on a visual level. Thematically it's still extremely relevant, but it just looks incredibly seventies. I guess this problem affects sci-fi more than other genres.