Stubs - A Celebration of 150 Reviews

When I was asked a couple of years ago to write reviews of older films for Trophy Unlocked, I was pleased with the opportunity. Films have long been a passion of mine and one that I have tried to share with my immediate family. For the past 15 years or so, we have been watching a movie every Friday night, which adds up to a lot of movies over time. Not all of what we watch I would consider to be "classic" cinema, though that is really in the eye of the beholder. One man's classic is another man's Razzie nominee.

The Stubs reviews are not the only ones I've written for Trophy Unlocked, but they definitely make up the majority of what I've contributed. I try to write thoughtful reviews that also provide some background to what was going on at the time either in the larger world, Hollywood, the studio or the individual star or director. The basic qualification for these reviews is that the film is already through its theatrical window, which frees me up to write more about the plot. The last thing anyone wants to do is ruin a film before you've had a chance to see it as intended.

Through this process, I've discovered some films that I now really love, Gun Crazy and Wings; rewatched ones I didn't like the first time, but do now, such as Singin' in the Rain, and have been disappointed by ones that I only knew through reputation, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) comes to mind. Just because it's old, doesn't mean it's good.

But the nice thing about writing about old movies is that there is nearly an endless supply out there. 150 is just scratching the surface. Here's to the next 150. Thanks for reading and, as always, comments are welcomed.

1. A Hard Day's Night
2. Casablanca
3. The Maltese Falcon
4. Double Indemnity
5. City Lights
6. Notorious
7. The Wizard of Oz
8. Sherlock Jr.
9. Sunrise
10. Hannah and Her Sisters
11. Patton
12. Confessions of a Nazi Spy
13. The Bridge Over the River Kwai
14. Eye of the Needle
15. Footloose (1984)
16. Alien
17. On the Town
18. Tension
19. Lost in America
20. The Big Lebowski
21. The Matrix
22. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
23. The Bishop's Wife
24. The Shop Around The Corner
25. It's a Wonderful Life

26. The Bank Dick
27. Wings
28. Help!
29. Magical Mystery Tour
30. Yellow Submarine
31 .Let It Be
32. This is Spinal Tap
33. The Day of the Locust
34. Stranger on the Third Floor
35. You Can't Take It With You
36. The Killer That Stalked New York
37. Men In Black
38. Taxi
39. Mildred Pierce
40. Dark Passage
41. Out of the Past
42. The Asphalt Jungle
43. Beetlejuice
44. He Walked By Night
45. Spider-Man
46. Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941)
47. The Dark Knight
48. Total Recall (1990)
49. The Transformers: The Movie (1986)
50. Vivacious Lady

51. Singin' in the Rain
52. The Coca-Cola Kid
53.3 Days of the Condor
54. Lady and the Tramp
55. Raiders of the Lost Ark
56. Scoop
57. Nosferatu
58. The Cabin in the Woods
59. Dr. No
60. Psycho
61. Phantom of the Opera (1943)
62. Forrest Gump
63. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
64. Citizen Kane
65. Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)
66. Boy Meets Girl
67. Platinum Blonde
68. Die Hard
69. Sunset Boulevard
70. Die Hard 2
71. 2012
72. RED
73. Jim Henson's Labyrinth
74. When Harry Met Sally
75. Sleeping Beauty

76.300
77. Braveheart
78. Die Hard with a Vengeance
79. Live Free or Die Hard (Unrated)
80. Five Easy Pieces
81. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
82. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
83. Blade Runner (The Director's Cut)
84. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
85. Hitchcock (2012)
86 The Iron Lady
87. The Thing From Another World
88. Reefer Madness
89. Iron Man 2
90. The Avengers (2012)
91. 20 Million Miles From Earth
92. Star Trek (2009)
93. West Side Story
94. The Graduate
95. A Clockwork Orange
96. Neptune's Daughter
97. Monsters, Inc.
98. Despicable Me
99. Yankee Doodle Dandy
100. John Carpenter's The Thing

101. Overland Stage Raiders
102. Earth vs. the Flying Saucers
103. A Slight Case of Murder
104. Safety Last!
105. Ball of Fire
106. The 400 Blows
107. Shaun of the Dead
108. Modern Times
109. The Pirates! Band of Misfits
110. Peter Pan
111. The Big Sleep (1945 and 1946)
112. The Iron Giant (1999)
113. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
114. Gun Crazy
115. Saw (2004)
116. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
117. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
118. It Came From Outer Space
119. Friday the 13th (1980)
120. The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
121. Halloween (1978)
122. Them!
123. Saboteur
124. Rafter Romance
125. The Little Mermaid

126. The Godfather
127. Lady in the Lake
128. Things to Come
129. My Favorite Wife
130. The Man Who Came to Dinner
131. The Squaw Man (1914)
132. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
133. Animal Crackers
134. The Killers (1946)
135. Groundhog Day
136. Kid Auto Races at Venice
137. RoboCop (1987)
138. Ferry Cross the Mersey
139. Ghostbusters
140. Capote
141. Winner Take All (1932)
142. Annie Hall 
143. The Lion King
144. The Glass Key (1942)
145. Deadline at Dawn
146. I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang
147. Humoresque
148. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
149. The Crowd Roars (1932)
150. (500) Days of Summer