Here we see a pattern of the movies showing audiences these medieval religious wars from an Arab perspective instead of just a European POV whatever you think of the film itself, and this classic film is very good, the shift in vantage makes a big difference.Īlan Jay Lerner. Saladin shouldn’t be called “revelatory,” because Saladin came well before better-known movies about the Crusades, like Robin Hood (take your pick), Kingdom of Heaven, and Lionheart at the same time the film had the misfortune of being sandwiched between those movies and movies like Ivanhoe and King Richard and the Crusaders. If it’s not already clear based on Cairo Station ’s presence on this list, Youssef Chahine is a pretty big deal in 1950s – 1960s classic world cinema. The film runs long at 150 or so minutes, but every minute has a purpose, whether permitting character development or introducing dramatic plot points or staging bold set-pieces so cleanly orchestrated that they make an embarrassing number of today’s set-pieces look like childrens’ backyard army games. What Guns of Navarone does so well, and what distinguishes it from the countless other examples of “men on a mission” old films scattering war cinema’s canon, is its breadth. There are guns, and the guns are on an island called Navarone. Lee Thompson’s beefy war drama makes two promises and delivers on both. It’s still a great classic movie! That’s all that matters! Chahine documents Egyptian life after the 1952 fall of the Egyptian Monarchy, considering working class struggles and the relationship between sexual repression and sexual violence he packs a great deal of thought into an hour and 10 minutes of running time, and makes every beat count. The Academy accepted it as the Egyptian entry for that year, but it didn’t make it through the nomination process. Youssef Chahine’s neorealist- noir bromide holds the distinction of being the first Arabic film submitted for consideration in the 31st Academy Awards’ Best Foreign Language Film category. Just because it’s an old movie, doesn’t mean it can’t be a hit. It probably also has something to do with the fact that it features Bing Crosby singing the Irving Berlin hit “White Christmas,” which, according to Guinness, is still the best-selling single worldwide fifty years later. It’s the film version of a Starbucks peppermint mocha, and yet it remains a holiday classic because of the execution, the star power, and yes, the sentiment. Nothing gets us in the holiday spirit quite like White Christmas, though.
#Netflix gay movies ever had movie
Whip up a bowl of popcorn and enjoy!Įvery year, we argue about whether or not Die Hard is the greatest Christmas movie of all time, and we wax nostalgic about the time we shot our own eye with a BB Gun after watching A Christmas Story for the millionth time. Just make sure you watch them all before Netflix makes like an Etch A Sketch and shakes these films out of their lineup.īelow we’ve rounded up the best old and classic movies worthy of your time.
But the library is so vast that, if only by accident, a handful of bona fide masterworks made in decades long past remains available for your viewing pleasure.
Let’s not downplay the reality here: Netflix’s library is sorely lacking in classic movies, whether American or international. “Old” and “classic” being relative terms, and Netflix being a revolving door for any movie the streaming service can’t claim as an “original,” a line can be drawn that divides everything made after 1990 or so from everything made before. For them, “classic” refers to films made before their time: The oldies but goodies from the 1970s, 60s, and 50s. This will inevitably make more than a few folks who grew up in these movies’ eras wither on the spot. Each of these movies enjoys a spot in film’s pantheon, and in 2022 can be called classics without reaching.