Yesterday I wrote: My friend and former Managing Editor at Photomethods magazine, John Hamilton is a film buff and once asked, “if you could watch any movie, what would it be?” He said he didn’t want a standard answer like Citizen Kane, so what movie would it be? My immediate response was The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension but that would not be my answer today. If asked the same question today it would be Frank Capra’s 1937 classic film Lost Horizon.
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Age is a limit we impose upon ourselves. You know, each time you Westerners celebrate your birthday, you build another fence around your minds.—from the film Lost Horizon
From Wikipedia—Lost Horizon is a 1933 novel from the British-American writer James Hilton. The book was turned into a film, also called Lost Horizon, in 1937 by the director Frank Capra. There was a forgettable musical remake in 1973. The book and film are the origin of Shangri-La, a fictional utopian lamasery located high in the mountains of Tibet. But there is a whole lot more to it than that. This is a film about hope, about dreams that each and every one of us can find their own, personal Shangri-La. It is these kinds of thoughts that helps me get through the day so it is more than just a movie to me.
Shangri-La is a fictional place in Tibet’s Kunlun Mountains that is described in the novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton but the words have become synonymous with any earthly paradise,– an enduringly happy land, that is isolated from the world.
Some Other Favorites
I’ve made a list of my100 favorite films and they are far, far different than anybody else’s lists because while i enjoy the art of filmmaking and classic films like Citizen Kane, that would not be my first choice if I wanted to site down and watch any one of the 500-plus films that make up my collection of DVD, Blu-ray and 4K discs. I want to start with a confession: I own the Criterion Collection’s 4K version of Citizen Kane and while I’ve watched all of the supplementary material in the four-disc package. I haven’t watched the film yet. Why? I wish I could tell you. What I can tell you is that I have watched Criterion’s wonderful 4K release of Godzilla (1954) and loved every minute of this movie. I even made a YouTube video about it and other prior releases of this classic giant monster film. Please check it out even if you’re not a fan of giant monster movies. You might be surprised by what the original film was really all about.
Instead I would prefer to watch:
The April Fools—not April Fools and not the horror film April Fools Day—but the 1969 film that was directed by Stuart Rosenberg, who also made Cool Hand Luke. Although unlike that film, The April Fools is what might be described, in today’s terms, as a Rom-Com. One of the biggest highlights of the film to me is one of the few appearances in an American film of the incredible Catherine Deneuve. (The other film is Hustle, directed by .) And don’t overlook the brilliant score and theme song by the late Burt Bacharach/ You can read more about why I love this film here. Sadly this film is only available as a DVD.
The Package directed by Andrew Davis, of The Fugitive fame, knows how to direct a thriller. My wife and I are on a Gene Hackman kick lately and just watched his Oscar-winning performance in Unforgiven. The Package is a great thriller with an amazing performance by Tommy Lee Jones—he’s The Package— but with a terrific supporting cast including Joanna Cassidy, Pam Grier, and Dennis Franz. Plus it has an amazing score by the always interesting James Newton Howard. If you haven’t seen this great film, pick up a copy from Amazon. My library doesn’t have a copy, maybe yours does.
The Majestic directed by Frank Darabont, who also directed The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. (Both of which are available in 4K!) I am not a fan of Jim Carrey, the man or the actor, but this film, like The Truman Show, demonstrates what he can do with the right director. The Majestic is an unabashed homage to the films of Frank Capra and on the surface seems unlike any other film in Darabont’s oeuvre. This film is warm, sentimental—it made me cry in parts—and unabashedly nostalgic. The supporting cast including a wonderful performances from Martin Landau, Laurie Holden, Hal Holbrook and others , rivaling even Capra’s own stock company. The film cast $72 million—I’m betting a lot of it was Carrey’s salary—but only had a worldwide gross of $37,317,67, apparently sealing Darabont’s fate in Hollywood. This is a shame because The Majestic is well worth seeing and you should. Check out my review here.