gaslight (cukor, 1944)

i really did not enjoy this movie at all. there was almost nothing redeeming about it (besides angela lansbury, who was the 6th lead or so in a cast of 7 speaking parts): it had one boring and predictable plot line, standard-for-the-time-and-starlet overdone neutral density, and a terrible ending sequence. i did appreciate its attention to grammar, though.
...i really have no idea how anyone can consider this a classic, unless it's strictly because of the talent involved.

classics scale: 0.5/10

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036855/

she wore a yellow ribbon (ford, 1949)

everyone in class save a few was disappointed with this one; maybe i just have lower expectations (or simpler?) for ford/wayne, but i found it to be pretty much just what i thought it would be: a bit silly, a bit over the top, often ridiculous, but always semi-engaging because of all of this. maybe i should see some more john ford movies before declaring him charmingly tolerable.

(an unfair scale to rank it on, but larry's decision to show it in class deems it on this scale no matter what...)
classics scale: 1/10

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041866/

double indemnity (wilder, 1944)

what the hell? maybe this is shortsighted of me, but i just don't get this wilder character; so far his supposed classics are (a generous) 1/3 with me. he somehow managed to make an extremely interesting story extremely annoying (see: "baby"). now that i've seen this and some like it hot, sunset blvd's previously charming clicheness now irks me as well. it's certainly more forgivable than the other two, but still grating. it's like wilder forces these performances out of his actors. ...i just don't get it! hopefully the apartment or stalag 17 will change my mind, because i hate to miss out on someone everyone else seems to get a great deal of cinematic joy out of.

classics scale: 1.5/10

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036775/

brief encounter (lean, 1945)

one of the simplest movies i have ever seen, and probably the most emotionally powerful--i have never seen so much packed into such a short amount of time (how perfect that is, even), with a structure and voice over that is incredibly cheesy in theory, but is executed in the non-cheesiest of ways. this movie could not be made this well today.

classics scale: 8.5/10 (with coffee withdrawal even worse than with some like it hot, to boot.)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037558/

the bicycle thief (de sica, 1948)

if mr. smith was heartwarming, this was heartmelting. the kid was absolutely perfect, and the script was unimaginably good. more people need to see this movie.

classics scale: 7/10

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040522/

notorious (hitchcock, 1946)

a classic classic--exactly what you'd expect when you put together grant, bergman, and rains in a hitchcock movie where odets did some of the dialogue. fantastically cinematic.

stark list scale: 3.5/10

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038787/