-You a Yankee fan?

-No, Baltimore.
-Baltimore? That's like being hit in the head with a crow bar once a day.

How true, how true. I'm really not a Yankee or Baltimore fan though.One thing you may not know about me yet is that I am a big fan of old classic movies. So for your reading pleasure I thought I would highlight some of my favorites.

7. Broken Arrow (1950)

"Tom Jeffords tries to make peace between settlers and Apaches."
This may not be the greatest piece of filmmaking, acting, or script, but it was still entertaining, had great cinematography, and the social implications were fairly groundbreaking. Jimmy Stewart plays a scout who seeks to heal the divisions between the Apaches and white men and this movie was the first movie to portray the Native American Indian as a person of quality, esteem, and as fully human. The most interesting part of the movie isn't really the interracial (forbidden) relationship between Stewart and a Indian woman, but between him and Cochise, the chief, and the complexity of the characters as they struggle to understand and trust the different cultures.

6.Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)

"Longfellow Deeds, a simple-hearted Vermont tuba player, inherits a fortune and has to contend with opportunist city slickers." Gary Cooper is great, the story is fun, it's better than the Adam Sandler version, but the main reason I'm listing it is because this movie literally invents the word "Doodle." And I love to doodle.

5. Citizen Kane (1941)

"Following the death of a publishing tycoon, news reporters scramble to discover the meaning of his final utterance."
Okay this one is kind of obvious I guess because in 1997 and again in 2007 it was ranked the greatest movie of all time. I think that rating hurt the movie because people watched it with such high expectations and all they got was a seemingly basic, somewhat boring movie. I started off in the same boat; it wasn't until I watched a documentary on the movie that I really grew to appreciate the movie and it's innovation. Some of the more notable things are its use of "deep focus," it's one of the first films to use that where both the foreground and background are both in sharp focus. Another thing was the low angle shots (Welles actually dug holes in the ground to get the camera at ground level), special effects make-up, story-telling techniques, et cetera, et cetera... all things that movies use all the time today that had never been done before (like it was the first movie to start with the end and tell the story through flashbacks). So even if you don't love the movie, there's a lot to appreciate about it.

4. Inherit The Wind (1960)

"Based on a real-life case in 1925, two great lawyers argue the case for and against a science teacher accused of the crime of teaching evolution."
I just watched this last night and I have to say I was supremely entertained. This is a fictional movie based on the famous Scopes monkey trial. True, it portrays fundamentalist Christians in a pretty ridiculous light, but I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't too far off. The main story of the movie was the importance or our freedom to think, which I definitely agree with. Spencer Tracy gives a superb performance as the defending attorney which is in itself worthy of putting the movie on the list. It criticizes willful ignorance and bigotry, and puts backwards country anachronisms back in the past where they belong.

3. Rear Window (1954)

"A wheelchair bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder."
Of the Alfred Hitchcock/Jimmy Stewart combos, this one is my fave! Plus Grace Kelly is a babe. It gets my famous three I's rating: Interesting, Intense, and Intriguing. Hitchcock draws the viewer in with this voyeuristic film: you spend the majority of the movie feeling like you're spying on the neighbors, seeing things you aren't supposed to see. Which is somewhat an examination of us as people. Why are we so obsessed with what we're not supposed to see (Myspace anyone?)? But of course it's also a thrilling mystery/crime flick. A great classic!

2. Casablanca (1942)

"Classic film set in unoccupied Africa during the early days of World War II: An American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications."
I hope that most of you have seen this movie already but if you haven't do yourself a favor and watch it. This movie is hard to categorize, which is part of its brilliance. It successfully combines romance, drama, terror, murder, character study, comedy and tragedy. The dialogue is unbeatable and perfectly delivered making it perhaps the most quotable movie ever. The performances by and chemistry between the main characters (Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman) are fantastic and the supporting cast is just as good, if not show-stealing. But more than all of that, the true beauty of this film is the inspiration or redemption that it offers to each viewer. "On some level, every character in the story receives the same kind of catharsis and their lives are irrevocably changed. Rick's is the most obvious in that he learns to live again, instead of hiding from a lost love." It might sound kind of corny but it really is good and the movie is definitely very re-watchable as there tons of subtle nuances to pick up each time you see it.

1. 12 Angry Men (1957)

"A dissenting juror in a murder trial slowly manages to convince the others that the case is not as obviously clear as it seemed in court."
This is one of my all-time favorite movies. It's simple but great. This is a courtroom drama with a twist, instead of following the actual trial you get to watch behind closed doors and follow the jury as they decide on the fate of the accused. In fact 99% of this movie takes place in one room, but a superb cast and excellent acting (led by Henry Fonda and Lee J. Cobb) make this film both exceedingly entertaining and rewarding. One of my favorite directors, Sidney Lumet, takes this film with just 12 people sitting in a room and turns it into an edge-of-your-seat masterpiece. Also the character development in the movie is ridiculous, considering it develops 12 believable, memorable and distinct characters. This sums up everything I love about film. Everything from a technical point of view to superb acting and a simple yet complex character driven story. It draws you in from the start and doesn't let you go until the end. A++++