As we “Stay Home” so we don’t spread COVID19, some of us are going stir crazy. But some of us love movies and film, so we are happy to be locked away with our big screen TVs and the internet and Streaming! I’m in the “Love Movies” group. I’m spending some of this time catching up on films I’ve always wanted to see again, and watching movies I just adore and love watching again and again.
Yes, I’m one of THOSE people. I’ve watched the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy hundreds of times. Yes! Hundreds. It’s a guilty pleasure.
As the Pandemic drags on, I figured I needed to get a grip. So, I called the best film expert I know personally, Dr. Roberto Pomo. A brilliant professor of film and theater at Cal State Sacramento.
As promised, here are some of the films Roberto recommends. “Begin with the films, from the early 1930s and 1940s; these are films produced by the “big studio” era. And if you are overwhelmed by the volume of choices, focus on “film noir.”
Some examples are “Casablanca,” “Rebecca,” The Letter,” “Maltese Falcon,” “The Public Enemy,” “Petrified Forest,” “Marked Woman,” “San Quentin,” “They Drive by Night, “High Sierra, “Suspicion.”
Also “Shadow of a Doubt,” “Gaslight, “Laura” “The Lost Weekend” “Mildred Pierce” “Spellbound” “The Big Sleep” “Crack-Up” “Gilda” The Postman Always Rings Twice” “The Stranger” “The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers” “Citizen Kane” “The Magnificent Ambersons.”
That is a shortlist. But what a great list.
Roberto Pomo also recommends musicals that enjoyed a heyday in the ’50s and 60s. Here are my favorite, “South Pacific,” “Carousel,” “Oklahoma!” “Guys and Dolls” “An American in Paris,” “Singing in the Rain,” “Fiddler on the Roof.” You can rent most of these films on Amazon or iTunes. If you have cable and subscribe to Turner Classic Movies, many of them run regularly on that channel.
Roberto Pomo recommends “Roma,” a 2018 film from director Alfonso Cuarón, which is currently available on Netflix; and the Oscar winner “Parasite.”
