Just saw the Batman trailer - what's up with the batlogo looking like the Nazi eagle? Are we saying that Batman's going to invade Poland? Or that Batman is as occult and psycho as Hitler? Or that he's a very well organized superhero with cool outfits?

I'm hoping that they are purposefully blurring the line between good-guy-hero and bad-ass-psychopath, but I'm scared it's just a thoughtless art choice, designed to let us know the story is set mid-century.

Or that Batman is as occult and psycho as Hitler?

I'm hoping that they are purposefully blurring the line between good-guy-hero and bad-ass-psychopath

::says nothing::

::really::

I've never seen Touch of Evil. As a non-filmy person, I can say I have heard very little about it before this discussion, certainly no Big Classic Reputation. I think it's somewhere on my Netflix queue now, for the Orson Welles factor.

I saw Forrest Gump when it came out, and didn't have a strong reaction to it. I remember thinking Robin Wright looked really different than in The Princess Bride, but that's about it. No desire to rewatch.

I love Casablanca, and greatly admire Citizen Kane.

Also, I tend to like the idea of Katharine Hepburn more than I actually like her onscreen.

I'm hoping that they are purposefully blurring the line between good-guy-hero and bad-ass-psychopath, but I'm scared it's just a thoughtless art choice, designed to let us know the story is set mid-century.

I wasn't under the impression that BB is set mid-century.

I wasn't under the impression that BB is set mid-century.

Mid-which-century, anyway?

I don't see how that car can be anything other than "near future."

I'm still baffled at the notion of a Big Classic Rep keeping people from seeing things, because I think that's the only thing keeping a lot of good older movies in print and the only reason most people see them. The buzz, you see. I'm not doubting it, just stating that it's foreign to my experience.

Remember that Animaniacs episode where Dr. Scratchensnif is on a date at the movies, and the movie is a black and white French film which consists of a bunch of people on a train, wearing berets, smoking little tiny cigarettes, and reciting the words to "Allouette" in deep, meaningful tones, while a violin plays in the background? I think that that's what a lot of people picture when they hear "classic movie." (My freshman year of college, I was bored and flipping through the channels on TV, and found one that was showing Laurel and Hardy. I settled in to watch it, because it was funny, and I'm an enormous Hal Roach geek, and my friends who were in the room started whining like I've never heard them whine before that couldn't we please watch something in color?)

The "classic" designation does bring a lot of people to a movie, but also turns a lot of people off from it.

::nervously shuffling feet::

The number one classic that has never done a single thing for me, sweeping epic or no, is Gone With the Wind.

God knows I've tried. It's not that I don't get the innovativeness of it, the scale, the first-evers. Honest. I getit. I feel no sympathy for any of the characters (except maybe Melanie, but not much). Can't be intrigued by the Civil War era in any medium. Can't honor any of the acting (except maybe Hattie McDaniel for doing a nice job with not much to work with)

My favorite GWTW moment came when a British friend and I staggered out of Legends of the Fall. My pal breathed a heavy sigh, turned to me and murmered in a lovely accent. "Oh my. I'm Gone With the Winded." I nearly swallowed my tongue.

::please no tomato tossing, I've just cleaned up::

Remember that Animaniacs episode where Dr. Scratchensnif is on a date at the movies, and the movie is a black and white French film which consists of a bunch of people on a train, wearing berets, smoking little tiny cigarettes, and reciting the words to "Allouette" in deep, meaningful tones, while a violin plays in the background?

Nope, but I didn't watch Animaniacs all that often. (Enough to know the theme, with which my ear is now wormed.)

Beej, I'm with you on the GWTW non-love. I saw it on the big screen back when I was around 11, and was not impressed. Tried watching it again during college on the slightly-smaller screen, and even though the epic scenes were pretty cool (I thought the sheer number of bodies in the wounded-at-the-railway-station scene did a great job of adding to the scale of the film), and the dancing was well done, I still didn't feel much of anything for it. Finally, tried it again a few years back when it showed up on TCM one Sunday night. The various scenes with slaves just set my teeth on edge, and I wanted to slap Scarlett silly, shake Melanie out of her "I'm such a saint" mood, tell Ashley to grow a pair, and slap Rhett for being just as much of a jerk as Scarlett. Finally, I just turned the channel instead of yelling at the screen any more.

The various scenes with slaves just set my teeth on edge, and I wanted to slap Scarlett silly, shake Melanie out of her "I'm such a saint" mood, tell Ashley to grow a pair, and slap Rhett for being just as much of a jerk as Scarlett. Finally, I just turned the channel instead of yelling at the screen any more.

You are me! Kathy. phew