Here’s the pitch:
A funny girl from Iowa named Melissa who just wants her hair to stop frizzing out on humid days meets this guy named Clay from Pennsylvania who probably likes peanut butter and hockey a little too much…
Wait, that’s a terrible pitch.
Melissa Tagg is a friend and fellow author. Her debut novel Made To Last is set to release in a few months. It’s a romantic comedy you guys. I probably don’t strike many as a connoisseur of fine rom-coms but au contraire mon amis.
Sure, I’ve been known to compare sappy chick flicks to Sisyphean-like torture of the Greek gods, but I’m always fair to worthy titles like The Notebook. But truth is I like quite a few rom-coms, at least the funny ones.
If you’ve only been watching movies for the past decade or so, you might not be familiar with the concept of a romantic comedy that is both funny and excellent which brings me to what brings me here today.
The aforementioned Melissa and I may not have similar looking book shelves but we are united in our love, nay adoration, of old movies. So we’ve launched a new video series called Classic Cinephiles in which we’re going to discuss films from the Golden Age of Hollywood, one at a time. This isn’t a podcast or anything and we hope to keep these videos short and poppy with neat little extras as you’ll see when you watch.
We begin with what Melissa and I agree is probably the greatest cast in movie history–The Philadelphia Story from 1940 starring Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, and Jimmy Stewart.
The first one went a little long since we’re figuring this format out, so if you are willing please help us out with some feedback. What works, what doesn’t, etc?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe3LXxO6FR8
Do you like old movies?
Have you ever seen The Philadelphia Story?
7 replies on “What Do You Think of Old Movies?”
You only got one thing wrong, Clay: there is no such thing as loving peanut butter too much!
You speak truth.
I like a good rom-com myself. (I really like good movies, period, regardless of genre — torture porn excluded. It’s just a lot more difficult to find a good rom-com these days, what with at least 90% of them being identical in concept and execution.)
Usually if I mention The Philadelphia Story as a recommended movie, most people ask, “That movie with Tom Hanks?” And then, the opening scene turns off many of my stridently-feminist acquaintances (they also really hated It Happened One Night — with a huge passion they hated it). It’s sad that things cannot be viewed for what they are and not as a vehicle for promoting a currently-popular message.
It’s a great movie! If rom-coms were merely one tenth as romantic and funny (meaning, mathematically, just one one-hundredth as good), they’d be worthwhile.
Sadly, we’re in a time of safety and quantity vs quality (as far as the studios are concerned).
Oh man, if you watch classic films through a filter of modern PC sensibilities then forget about it. Of course I know plenty of people who do. But I’ve also met the feminists who bow to nostalgia. One such woman, a history professor of mine during undergrad, introduced me to Bringing Up Baby. That was a good class.
LOVE this movie! I love anything with Cary Grant in it.
But I’m in shock – you’ve never seen Some Like it Hot? WHA?!!
I know, I know. I’m working on catching up with some classics I’ve missed. That’s another part of this new series. But I have seen it since we recorded this first video!
I remember when AMC was wall to wall classic movies, with no commercial interruption. That was awesome, and how I was introduced to many a great film. I’m looking forward to seeing what you guys talk about. I love old movies, but haven’t seen that many myself. And not to nit-pick, but it’s Katharine. =)