Miscellaneous Film/TV Discussion

[Farerb]

I'm actually currently watching and rewatching old classic Hollywood films. This is my list so far, but I plan to add more (the ones with x are the ones I have seen):

[x] Casablanca?
[x] Breakfast at Tiffany's?
[ ] Lawrence of Arabia
[ ] West Side Story
[ ] Citizen Kane
[ ] Singin' In The Rain
[ ] Roman Holiday
[ ] All About Eve
[ ] It Happened One Night
[x] It’s a Wonderful Life?
[ ] Vertigo
[ ] 2001: A Space Odyssey
[x] Gone with the Wind +
[x] The Wizard of Oz +
[x] The Sound of Music +
[x] My Fair Lady ?
[ ] Ben-Hur
[x] Sabrina?
[x] A Streetcar Named Desire
[ ] Rear Window
[x] Mary Poppins +

I'm biased but I highly suggest All About Eve. It's a true classic and if you love witty dialogue, this is the film for you. I can rewatch this film over and over and still catch something I've missed before.

Singin' in the Rain is also a great film which I finally caught about a year or two ago on TCM. I don't know how much of a Leia fan you were in Star Wars but Carrie Fisher's mother Debbie Reynolds is the female star of this film. And while I knew the title song I didn't realize how many famous songs come from this film.

I plan to see both eventually and more that are not on the list.

[Avaitor]

@Avaitor
Did they really use to play Good Morning from Singin' in the Rain at the Magic Kingdom? I didn't realize Disney could use the song although I suppose it's old enough that there wouldn't be any copyright issues.

I think Moonlight is available on Netflix or it used to be anyway if that helps you.

Yes, they did! I wouldn't be surprised if they were able to use the song due to Disney and MGM's former history together at WDW.

And yes, I saw that Moonlight is on Netflix now. We've been doing virtual movie nights lately, so I've considered bringing back a couple of the ones we've skipped. But it seems like my crew is more interested in rolling forward with the list, as opposed to going back to what we missed.

[JeanGreyForever]

@Avaitor
Did they really use to play Good Morning from Singin' in the Rain at the Magic Kingdom? I didn't realize Disney could use the song although I suppose it's old enough that there wouldn't be any copyright issues.

I think Moonlight is available on Netflix or it used to be anyway if that helps you.

Yes, they did! I wouldn't be surprised if they were able to use the song due to Disney and MGM's former history together at WDW.

And yes, I saw that Moonlight is on Netflix now. We've been doing virtual movie nights lately, so I've considered bringing back a couple of the ones we've skipped. But it seems like my crew is more interested in rolling forward with the list, as opposed to going back to what we missed.

That makes me wonder what other classic songs Disney has played at the parks which aren't Disney.

I suppose it makes sense to move on with the list rather than try and play catch up. How often do you guys meet? I think it's really great to have a group of friends like that who regularly meet to watch films.

[JeanGreyForever]

Yeah, your welcome JeanGreyForever. I dunno the truth about Doug Walker lol. I hope you like the Amadeus vids. I don't know if the lower budget makes Lord Malice and his castle more scary but that's an interesting idea.

I need to see Citizen Kane in full. Maybe tomorrow. I own Casablanca and should watch that too. E.T. always scared me as a kid because I found E.T. himself scary looking. There's a reason Drew Barrymore screams when she sees him. I need to watch Metropolis too.

If you see Citizen Kane, let us know your thoughts. Same with Casablanca! I kept missing it on TCM whenever they showed it. It's funny how many varied reactions there are to E.T. on this forum.

[UmbrellaFish]

That makes me wonder what other classic songs Disney has played at the parks which aren't Disney.

My time to shine! The parks license all kinds of non-Disney songs... Before and after the Fox acquisition, you’d hear the instrumentals to “Put on Your Sunday Clothes” and “Elegance” from Hello Dolly! along Main Street USA and the Castle Hub. The Trolley Show on Main Street performs the “Trolley Song” from MGM’s “Meet Me in St Louis” (https://youtu.be/Nb6MlRaCZCU). The rest of that area’s music is old fashioned, public domain stuff... like the Dapper Dans singing “Sweet Adeline” (https://youtu.be/yUdZ2ntx-Wk). The only DisneyTM song I ever pinged on Main Street/Hub was “Married Life” from Up. Here’s the Main Street USA music loop from YouTube. It’s 7 years old so I’m sure some songs have been added or lost, but still you can see where they use a lot of non-Disney music: https://youtu.be/31YJPz7gZ4c. I’d forgotten, but now remember hearing the songs from Oklahoma! and the Music Man.

The current Mickey Mouse-themed dance party/parade (Move It, Shake It, Mouskedance It) at MK features a slightly rewritten version of “Hey Mickey” and other pop songs (https://youtu.be/ijCVQ-OrCIs , Hey Mickey starts around 11:50) I worked the Easter parade in 2019 (https://youtu.be/xHHViBrjJ78) and if memory serves the only song during the whole (short) parade is “Easter Parade” by Irving Berlin, famous from the Judy Garland-Fred Astaire movie of the same name. Working the parades gave me hives but I was able to actually relax and the enjoy this one! I love that it has the hippos and ostriches from Fantasia.

The performers at the Biergarten restaurant at Epcot regularly play Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Edelweiss.” I never stayed for a performance, but there’s an English rock tribute band called “British Revolution” in the UK Pavilion— I know they play stuff by the Beatles and others (https://youtu.be/onPfjfzQE44). I’m sure Epcot has a lot of recognizable non-Disney music being performed with all the different bands scattered throughout the countries.

I’ve definitely heard them play “We Need a Little Christmas” from Mame during the TV parade but I can’t remember if I ever heard it in person. I’m sure there are many more examples. I used to annoy my friends by pointing out the oldies songs that played along Sunset Boulevard at Hollywood Studios, but now I cannot remember any of them specifically.

Here you can listen to Disney using “Singin in the Rain” (and other non-Disney songs) for the Rainy Day Parade that happens when... haha, the regular parade gets rained out.

https://youtu.be/pHkgfl793kQ

[Avaitor]

@JeanGreyForever- Before quarantine, when we'd meet up in person, we'd usually meet up ever 2 weeks or so. We've tried to do a couple of them one week after the other, but those never worked out. Too soon, I guess? With the virtual movie nights, we've been doing them weekly, although there was a little gap between our most recent ones, which I'll explain when I get there if anyone cares lol.

I recommend setting up movie nights with friends! Even if they're virtual. Maybe we could set some up with Disney+ or something.

That makes me wonder what other classic songs Disney has played at the parks which aren't Disney.

My time to shine! The parks license all kinds of non-Disney songs... Before and after the Fox acquisition, you’d hear the instrumentals to “Put on Your Sunday Clothes” and “Elegance” from Hello Dolly! along Main Street USA and the Castle Hub. The Trolley Show on Main Street performs the “Trolley Song” from MGM’s “Meet Me in St Louis” (https://youtu.be/Nb6MlRaCZCU). The rest of that area’s music is old fashioned, public domain stuff... like the Dapper Dans singing “Sweet Adeline” (https://youtu.be/yUdZ2ntx-Wk). The only DisneyTM song I ever pinged on Main Street/Hub was “Married Life” from Up. Here’s the Main Street USA music loop from YouTube. It’s 7 years old so I’m sure some songs have been added or lost, but still you can see where they use a lot of non-Disney music: https://youtu.be/31YJPz7gZ4c. I’d forgotten, but now remember hearing the songs from Oklahoma! and the Music Man.

The current Mickey Mouse-themed dance party/parade (Move It, Shake It, Mouskedance It) at MK features a slightly rewritten version of “Hey Mickey” and other pop songs (https://youtu.be/ijCVQ-OrCIs , Hey Mickey starts around 11:50) I worked the Easter parade in 2019 (https://youtu.be/xHHViBrjJ78) and if memory serves the only song during the whole (short) parade is “Easter Parade” by Irving Berlin, famous from the Judy Garland-Fred Astaire movie of the same name. Working the parades gave me hives but I was able to actually relax and the enjoy this one! I love that it has the hippos and ostriches from Fantasia.

The performers at the Biergarten restaurant at Epcot regularly play Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Edelweiss.” I never stayed for a performance, but there’s an English rock tribute band called “British Revolution” in the UK Pavilion— I know they play stuff by the Beatles and others (https://youtu.be/onPfjfzQE44). I’m sure Epcot has a lot of recognizable non-Disney music being performed with all the different bands scattered throughout the countries.

I’ve definitely heard them play “We Need a Little Christmas” from Mame during the TV parade but I can’t remember if I ever heard it in person. I’m sure there are many more examples. I used to annoy my friends by pointing out the oldies songs that played along Sunset Boulevard at Hollywood Studios, but now I cannot remember any of them specifically.

Here you can listen to Disney using “Singin in the Rain” (and other non-Disney songs) for the Rainy Day Parade that happens when... haha, the regular parade gets rained out.

https://youtu.be/pHkgfl793kQ

Wow, this is a nice, concise list! It really takes me back. I miss the parks lol.

I do want to point out that you'd hear some film themes outside the Great Movie Ride in Hollywood Studios. I recall the general James Bond music, and also an instrumental version of "My Favorite Things" being played outside, among others. They also used to play theme songs to ABC shows by the ABC Commissary. On the top of my head, they'd play Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Full House, and Grey's Anatomy. They've replaced those with generic music cues, I believe.

And I swear that I can hear BTTF music outside of Epcot. Or maybe just an incredible facsimile?

Also, I love the rainy day parade. Dripple dripple drip, dripple dripple splash, tell me how long will this rain last???

[UmbrellaFish]

I miss the parks too! Sigh. Hopefully by October 1st, 2021 everything will be back to normal and we can celebrate WDW’s 50th in style.

The entire time I was in Orlando, the Chinese Theatre was closed to bring in Runaway Railway so I never got to hear any of those songs. I actually don’t remember hearing a music track there at all, but surely there must have been some replacement?? But I love the DHS park entry music— I think the big band versions of Disney songs from all eras is so delightful and mood-setting. https://youtu.be/AYQuIx_XcJM

Hmm... I’ve only seen the first BTTF movie, and that only once so if I did hear it, I’m not sure I’d recognize it.

Relistening to some of the Sunset Boulevard music loops on YouTube, I was struck by the fact that it’s one of the few atmospheric soundtracks at Disney that actually features vocalists. I think it gives that area a ghostly, eerie quality, and of course the road ends at the Tower of Terror. It must have been intentional?

I just remembered— sometimes in the German pavilion (outside, not inside the Biergarten restaurant), they play the instrumental to the lovely, sad song Lili Marlene which is associated with WWII. Here’s Marlene Dietrich’s version: https://youtu.be/7heXZPl2hik

I read on YouTube that they play the Kerry Butler recording of Howard Ashman’s non-Disney “Disneyland” song at the DCA World of Color show. I assume they use it as exit music? It’s an interesting choice because the lyrics are not entirely Disney positive: https://youtu.be/Ra5vyO4_T-4

[JeanGreyForever]

@UmbrellaFish
Wow, I'm glad this is your area of expertise. I had no idea the Disney Parks license non-Disney songs all the time. I love the Trolley Song so I'll have to check that out on Main Street the next time I go. Thank you for all those links as well. I feel like I'm on Main Street just by listening to that compilation.

Easter Parade is a great movie so it's nice to see it represented. I had no idea you worked at the Parks! That's so amazing, even if it sounds like working the parades hasn't been such a blast for you. Is it the costumes that give you hives?

Epcot playing a greater variety of music than traditional Disney fare definitely makes sense. I shouldn't be surprised that Rodgers and Hammerstein have a presence there.

I've luckily (or unluckily) never been at Disney for a Rainy Day Parade and I didn't even knew those existed to be honest. Thanks for that link as well!

It would be so tragic if WDW's 50th Anniversary came by and the parks were still closed. I hope this pandemic will be over or as over as it can be by then.

@Avaitor
That's great that your friends are committed enough to meet every 2 weeks or so even if every week was too much. My group of friends couldn't even be counted on for a monthly book club lol. We have far too different tastes in books so I can't even imagine how much worse it would be with movies.

[Farerb]

I saw All About Eve and I enjoyed it so much. Anne Baxter reminded me of Emma Stone.

[Avaitor]

@UmbrellaFish
@Avaitor
That's great that your friends are committed enough to meet every 2 weeks or so even if every week was too much. My group of friends couldn't even be counted on for a monthly book club lol. We have far too different tastes in books so I can't even imagine how much worse it would be with movies.

Heh, some of my friends tried a book club of their own too. I believe they tried a recent Alice in Wonderland retelling, or something of the sort that they found during a Target trip one evening. That didn't sound like my thing, so I passed. I don't think they were able to commit to it either, and it fell through.

Another friend suggested they do a Harry Potter book club, but that got shut down pretty quickly, because they've all read those books multiple times lol.

And yeah, I've learned and noticed that not every taste overlaps. My invites to our movie nights have increasingly shrank as time went on. Not all of the friends who I thought would be interested ever actually showed up, so now we just focus on the ones who go out of their way. Sometimes the movies in question don't appeal to everyone, but that's okay.

[JeanGreyForever]

I saw All About Eve and I enjoyed it so much. Anne Baxter reminded me of Emma Stone.

I'm glad you liked it. Have you seen The Favourite? That's been considered a modern-day All About Eve and Emma Stone's character is essentially a new version of Anne Baxter's Eve Harrington.

[JeanGreyForever]

@UmbrellaFish
@Avaitor
That's great that your friends are committed enough to meet every 2 weeks or so even if every week was too much. My group of friends couldn't even be counted on for a monthly book club lol. We have far too different tastes in books so I can't even imagine how much worse it would be with movies.

Heh, some of my friends tried a book club of their own too. I believe they tried a recent Alice in Wonderland retelling, or something of the sort that they found during a Target trip one evening. That didn't sound like my thing, so I passed. I don't think they were able to commit to it either, and it fell through.

Another friend suggested they do a Harry Potter book club, but that got shut down pretty quickly, because they've all read those books multiple times lol.

And yeah, I've learned and noticed that not every taste overlaps. My invites to our movie nights have increasingly shrank as time went on. Not all of the friends who I thought would be interested ever actually showed up, so now we just focus on the ones who go out of their way. Sometimes the movies in question don't appeal to everyone, but that's okay.

There are so many Alice in Wonderland retellings these days, practically from every fantasy author. I've tried a few but they all start to blend together. Lol, it seems like most book clubs I hear of meet a fate like that especially when most people don't even read the chosen book.

Harry Potter is getting extra scrutiny these days because of JK Rowling's tone-deaf comments. I know a lot of fans are swearing off buying new merchandise entirely and not even going to the Universal parks to boycott her.

Oh that's a pity. At least you've created a core group now of people who are actually interested and stimulated by the films.

[Farerb]

I saw All About Eve and I enjoyed it so much. Anne Baxter reminded me of Emma Stone.

I'm glad you liked it. Have you seen The Favourite? That's been considered a modern-day All About Eve and Emma Stone's character is essentially a new version of Anne Baxter's Eve Harrington.

Yes, I have. Probably why she reminded me of her.

[JeanGreyForever]

I'm glad you liked it. Have you seen The Favourite? That's been considered a modern-day All About Eve and Emma Stone's character is essentially a new version of Anne Baxter's Eve Harrington.

Yes, I have. Probably why she reminded me of her.

I mentioned this in an earlier post, but if you liked All About Eve, I'd also recommend Another Man's Poison. It's available on Amazon Prime if you have that and it also features Bette Davis and Gary Merril (he played her lover/husband in All About Eve and was her real life husband during this time). It's got the same snappy dialogue and one-liners that All About Eve has if you're into that. It was practically Davis' next film after All About Eve.

[Farerb]

I mentioned this in an earlier post, but if you liked All About Eve, I'd also recommend Another Man's Poison. It's available on Amazon Prime if you have that and it also features Bette Davis and Gary Merril (he played her lover/husband in All About Eve and was her real life husband during this time). It's got the same snappy dialogue and one-liners that All About Eve has if you're into that. It was practically Davis' next film after All About Eve.

I'll add that to my list. Thank you.

[Avaitor]

Gonna write a little more about our movie nights, this time reaching for 21-30:

21- The Adventures of Robin Hood- I think this is an all-time crowd pleaser, and it really turned out as such. The build-up is excellent, and just about every element works, with the action, humor, and romance all being equally on-point. It's funny to see Michael Curtiz be the first repeat director here. He's not quite the auteur, but he did a terrific job with studio projects, and made a lot of good films over his career.

This was also an fun one, because we watched this with Warner's A Night at the Movies feature, which played a couple of cartoons, a newsreel, a couple of trailers, and a musical short before the movie started. My copies of Casablanca and Maltese Falcon had similar features, but we didn't use them, which I regret in hindsight.

22- Psycho- Back to Hitchcock, with what has to be his most iconic film. One of my horror-allergic friends swore herself right out of this, even though I kept insisting that this wouldn't be that bad. Some others were a little more open, but didn't end up making it, to either the first night we tried, or when we actually watched it, conveniently close to Halloween. While I do think that it holds up as a thriller, what really stands for me in repeat viewings is its sense of humor. Hitchcock and Joseph Stefano really amp up a macabre, biting irony throughout, which I think holds up to repeat viewings. My crew was really enjoying it throughout, even as mostly first-timers.

23- Selma- This was one of my favorite films when it came out in 2014, but I hadn't seen it since, so I was glad to. It was also new to most of the people watching with me, who agreed that the film is as timely as it is timeless. A couple of friends teared up during the part where Jimmie Lee Jackson's grandfather was telling Dr. King how he was a good boy while standing next to his deathbed, which hit hard. I'm sorry that A Wrinkle in Time didn't turn out to be the greatest, since Ava DuVernay is a strong filmmaker who deserves better.

Also, I believe this is currently available to rent for free from Amazon, and I'd recommend it if you haven't seen the film yet.

24- Rear Window- This is one of my favorite Hitchcocks, but I don't watch it all that often. I'm more likely to put on Psycho, Rebecca, or Strangers on a Train instead. I don't even know why that is, but it is a shame, because this one offers a lot of thrills and likable character writing despite such a small setting. It kept my friends on the edge of their seats throughout.

25- Taxi Driver- Our first dabble into Scorsese, this is one of those movies that I can drown in as background noise. There isn't a whole lot to the story, and Travis makes me uncomfortable as a character, but I love the aesthetic Scorsese builds, and appreciate some of the dialogue throughout. One of my friends agrees, and he brought up a quote from Quentin Tarantino, who says that you can easily leave the film on in a loop, as it ends with Travis not really learning or changing anything, and more or less going back to the way he is. I can definitely see that.

26- Alien- This is one time I watched our movie with people who had already seen the film. I had actually seen the film with that particular group, in fact. By this point, I was really cutting out the people I was inviting, and most of the horror-allergic people sat it out. Since this wasn't new to us, we decided to watch the director's cut this time, as it wasn't familiar to us before. There were a couple of notable differences, and while we generally prefer the original version, we agreed that it wasn't a major downgrade, either.

I think I slightly prefer Aliens and its more action-oriented tone, but this is still a terrific, claustrophobic thriller. Also, there was a Xenomorph in my latest D23 magazine and I don't know how to feel about that lol.

27- Seven Samurai- This is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I think it's as engaging as it is powerful. I was still a little worried, since it's a very long film, and our first dabble into foreign features (aka, gasp, subtitles!). It turned out to be a great time though, as my friends kept engrossed in it throughout, and enjoyed the world-building and noting where modern blockbusters take from it. They also noticed how weirdly similar it is to a certain Pixar movie...

28- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre- This is another one that I had only seen once, a good while ago, so I was curious to see how it would hold up, and it was mostly pretty good! My friends liked it, especially comparing the heel turn Humphrey Bogart made, as opposed to how (relatively) likable he was in The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca. I think that I prefer those two at the end of the day, but I could watch Bogie in most anything.

29- Bicycle Thieves- This is another one we had to pass on. I forget if it wasn't streaming on the Criterion Channel, if my friends weren't really feeling it, or both, but it just didn't end up happening. Which is fine, as I recall only liking, and not loving it. It would've been cool to see how my friends responded to the forefront of Italian Neorealism, though.

30- The 400 Blows- This goes from one wave of European moviemaking to another, as this is an essential piece of French New Wave. Unlike Bicycle Thieves though, I really like this film and own it, so we didn't have a problem putting it on. My friends connected to Antoine and his rocky home life, as well as appreciated how cutting it still feels 60 years on. I'm glad we were able to make that one happen.

[JeanGreyForever]

I mentioned this in an earlier post, but if you liked All About Eve, I'd also recommend Another Man's Poison. It's available on Amazon Prime if you have that and it also features Bette Davis and Gary Merril (he played her lover/husband in All About Eve and was her real life husband during this time). It's got the same snappy dialogue and one-liners that All About Eve has if you're into that. It was practically Davis' next film after All About Eve.

I'll add that to my list. Thank you.

You're welcome! Let us know what you think whenever you get around to watching it.

@Avaitor:

I really need to watch Errol Flynn's Robin Hood films. I've only seen the live-action Walt Disney one which I did quite like, much more than the animated film.

I really enjoy Psycho and I was a huge fan of the origin TV show for it, Bates Motel.

I feel like Selma is gaining new appreciation right now due to current events because I remember there was a lot of hype for it in 2014 but then it felt like it sort of fizzled out. I don't think it won too many awards like it was predicted to.

I need to rewatch Rear Window again because I've seen a lot of knockoff films based on the same concept since then so they're more prevalent in my mind.

I still haven't seen the original Alien. Only Prometheus because a friend of mine was obsessed with it.

[Disney Duster]

I finally saw Citizen Kane. I knew what Rosebud meant from parodies and my mom telling me when I was a kid, and also Family Guy later, and then I saw the first half of the film in college. But I finally sat down and watched the whole thing, and only watching it by myself and being able to pay full attention and pause if I needed to did I really see how masterful it was. The film was sheer perfection. The staging and how the camera moved were unbelievable. The black and white definitely helped, it would have been hard to make such a masterful movie in color, but maybe someone can best it in color some day. Anyway, yeah, this film really is the best film ever made. And you know, the palace and the window and the dissolving close-ups to it reminded me of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which did such a masterful thing before this movie!

[Avaitor]

I'll add that to my list. Thank you.

You're welcome! Let us know what you think whenever you get around to watching it.

@Avaitor:

I really need to watch Errol Flynn's Robin Hood films. I've only seen the live-action Walt Disney one which I did quite like, much more than the animated film.

I really enjoy Psycho and I was a huge fan of the origin TV show for it, Bates Motel.

I feel like Selma is gaining new appreciation right now due to current events because I remember there was a lot of hype for it in 2014 but then it felt like it sort of fizzled out. I don't think it won too many awards like it was predicted to.

I need to rewatch Rear Window again because I've seen a lot of knockoff films based on the same concept since then so they're more prevalent in my mind.

I still haven't seen the original Alien. Only Prometheus because a friend of mine was obsessed with it.

I actually haven't seen Disney's live-action Robin Hood, believe it or not. It was something I've had the mind to, but never got around to. Although I do have fond memories of the animated version, Errol Flynn's version is my favorite by far. I don't think the Disney one really holds up anymore, and even nostalgia doesn't really help. It's just one of many Disney movies I watched as a kid.

I'm interested in Bates Motel, but it's there among a bunch of shows that I want to watch but I'm not sure if I'll ever get to it. I do like Vera Farmiga, though!

It's true about Selma being shafted during awards season that year. At the Oscars, It was only nominated for Best Picture, almost as a token nomination I feel, and for Best Song. It did win the latter, but I thought it deserved better. I'd definitely put it over the actual winner, Birdman, which I really don't like.

And I actually haven't seen Prometheus, but I did see Alien: Covenant, it's sequel/fellow prequel. I wasn't very impressed. The characters weren't very likable or notable, and it doesn't match Ridley Scott's tight pacing or command of terror. There's also a shower sex scene that feels completely out of place, like Fox thought that the only way they could justify it still being R-rated was to have nudity.

I finally saw Citizen Kane. I knew what Rosebud meant from parodies and my mom telling me when I was a kid, and also Family Guy later, and then I saw the first half of the film in college. But I finally sat down and watched the whole thing, and only watching it by myself and being able to pay full attention and pause if I needed to did I really see how masterful it was. The film was sheer perfection. The staging and how the camera moved were unbelievable. The black and white definitely helped, it would have been hard to make such a masterful movie in color, but maybe someone can best it in color some day. Anyway, yeah, this film really is the best film ever made. And you know, the palace and the window and the dissolving close-ups to it reminded me of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which did such a masterful thing before this movie!

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I haven't thought about it, but you're right, Disney was experimenting with camera work to a similar degree as Welles was years before Citizen Kane!

[JeanGreyForever]

I actually haven't seen Disney's live-action Robin Hood, believe it or not. It was something I've had the mind to, but never got around to. Although I do have fond memories of the animated version, Errol Flynn's version is my favorite by far. I don't think the Disney one really holds up anymore, and even nostalgia doesn't really help. It's just one of many Disney movies I watched as a kid.

I'm interested in Bates Motel, but it's there among a bunch of shows that I want to watch but I'm not sure if I'll ever get to it. I do like Vera Farmiga, though!

It's true about Selma being shafted during awards season that year. At the Oscars, It was only nominated for Best Picture, almost as a token nomination I feel, and for Best Song. It did win the latter, but I thought it deserved better. I'd definitely put it over the actual winner, Birdman, which I really don't like.

And I actually haven't seen Prometheus, but I did see Alien: Covenant, it's sequel/fellow prequel. I wasn't very impressed. The characters weren't very likable or notable, and it doesn't match Ridley Scott's tight pacing or command of terror. There's also a shower sex scene that feels completely out of place, like Fox thought that the only way they could justify it still being R-rated was to have nudity.

I recently saw Disney's live-action Robin Hood on Disney+ and I liked it well enough. It has more of a coherent narrative and it doesn't erase some important characters like the animated film does (Will Scarlet, Eleanor of Aquitaine, King Richard, etc.) What's funny is that the film came out in the early 1950s but Marian is a far more empowered character in it than she was in the animated film 20 years later. I used to watch the animated film a lot but it hasn't aged well like you said and I'm not really a fan of it at all anymore.

Vera Farmiga is great in the role! I became a fan of her through Bates Motel. And I know what you mean about having too many shows you want to watch, I have the same problem.

Birdman wasn't my cup of tea either and I really just watched it for Emma Stone and the Best Picture win. I forgot that Selma won Best Song so it at least got something.

If you didn't like Alien: Covenant, Prometheus probably won't be much of an improvement although from what I've heard, most people preferred Prometheus over Alien: Covenant. I'm not super into the Alien franchise so I don't really understand most of the discourse around it.

I finally saw Citizen Kane. I knew what Rosebud meant from parodies and my mom telling me when I was a kid, and also Family Guy later, and then I saw the first half of the film in college. But I finally sat down and watched the whole thing, and only watching it by myself and being able to pay full attention and pause if I needed to did I really see how masterful it was. The film was sheer perfection. The staging and how the camera moved were unbelievable. The black and white definitely helped, it would have been hard to make such a masterful movie in color, but maybe someone can best it in color some day. Anyway, yeah, this film really is the best film ever made. And you know, the palace and the window and the dissolving close-ups to it reminded me of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which did such a masterful thing before this movie!

Glad you liked Citizen Kane.