Stuck to my chair, not the floor.

This past week I watched Sunset Blvd. (1950) and Rear Window (1954) and it still absolutely amazes me how older movies can suck you into the story and the atmosphere in just minutes. Meanwhile, half of the stuff on the silver screen today is total schlock. So much "entertainment" today is just made for cheap thrills and cheap laughs. What so many of these old films had was the ability to fascinate. Movies can enthrall you, I promise they can. They can do more than just leave your eyes and ears numb with special effects and loud explosions. Sure, we have modern classics (Pulp Fiction, Schindler's List, The Lord of the Rings, to name a few), and sometimes the "popcorn movies" are exactly what we need to relax, but I feel like my generation is losing it's touch with quality, with depth, with the tremendous sensation of entering the world of a movie and leaving the theater with more than just sticky shoes from the guy who spilled his soda behind you. I want more than sticky shoes.

Here are some recommendations if you want to get a feel for what I'm talking about, and though I obviously can't promise that each of you will like every one of these movies, but I think I can guarantee that at the very least they will fascinate you.

Older (before 1990): The Godfather, Lawrence of Arabia, Casblanca, Psycho, West Side Story, The Color Purple, On the Waterfront, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Nashville, Vertigo, Raging Bull

Newer (1990 and later): Almost Famous, Fargo, City of God, Gosford Park, Trainspotting, Magnolia, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Once, In America, The Insider, Goodfellas, Philadelphia

(Just so we're clear, my criticism here is not of people or their taste, but of the industry whose products so limit the reach of our taste.)

Good hunting.