Classics

**Classics Mediagraphy** Adults have always enjoyed reading the classics. Most of what is mentioned on this page are movies that are based on the classics. These books have been made into movies long after the book was written.         Animal Farm                 <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Format: DVD (left) and book by George Orwell (right) Movie Copyright Date: 1999 Film Production: BMG Video Rating: PG       <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Suggested Price: $14.98 [|www.bestbuy.com] Summary: What if animals ruled the world? Animal Farm is George Orwell's classic satire on political totalitarianism and animal rights told as an animal fable. When Major, the prize boar of the Manor Farm, is on his deathbed he envisions a time when animals will no longer be oppressed by the "true enemy - man." After his death the animals rebel against Mr. Jones, the owner of Manor Farms. They rename the farm "Animal Farm" and call old Major's theory "Animalism." Presented as the most clever animals, the pigs assume leadership and the running of the farm. Soon the pigs are walking on their hind legs, drinking alcohol and carrying whips. Napoleon entertains his human neighbors and it is impossible to tell the pigs from man. [|ahafilm]         <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">   <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Online Review: The dark side of //Babe//. Impressive attempt at recreating Orwell's classic book for TV, but it's lacking a few components, and has a really abrupt and unfulfilling ending. Keeps your attention for the full-two hours, though, and worth a look, especially for Orwell fans who don't mind a little bastardization. Check out also the 1954 version of the film. [|Filmcritic]         <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">   <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  Movie Info URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0204824/ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">  <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">         <span style="font-size: 190%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Godfather <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">  <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Format: DVD (left) and book by Mario Puzo (right) Copyright Date: 1972 Film Production: Paramount Pictures Rating: R         <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Suggested Price: $79.99 [|www.bestbuy.com]          <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">   <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">          <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">    <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Summary: Traces the story of the Corleone family's rise and near fall from the pinnacle of power in the world of organized crime, and the passage of power from father to son          <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">    <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">          <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Online Review: One of the most brutal and moving chronicles of American life ever designed within the limits of popular entertainment. [New York Times 16 Mar 1972] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">  <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  Movie Info URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068646/

Gone With the Wind <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">  <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Format: DVD (left) and book by Margaret Mitchell (right) Copyright Date: 1939 Film Production: Selznick International Pictures Rating: G       <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Suggested Price: Not listed [|www.bestbuy.com] because it is no longer being made. Summary: David O. Selznick's production of Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer Prize winner //Gone with the Wind// is "the pinnacle of Hollywood moviemaking" Leonard Maltin of //Entertainment Tonight// said. This sweeping Civil War-era romance won an impressive 10 Academy Awards and its immortal characters Scarlett, Rhett, Ashley, Melanie, Mammy and Prissy populate an epic story of enduring appeal across generations. (Located on back of //Gone with the Wind// VHS case) <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Online Review: David O. Selznick wanted Gone with the Wind to be somehow more than a movie, a film that would broaden the very idea of what a film could be and do and look like. In many respects he got what he worked so hard to achieve in this 1939 epic (and all-time box-office champ in terms of tickets sold), and in some respects he fell far short of the goal. While the first half of this Civil War drama is taut and suspenseful and nostalgic, the second is ramshackle and arbitrary. But there's no question that the film is an enormous achievement in terms of its every resource--art direction, color, sound, cinematography--being pushed to new limits for the greater glory of telling an American story as fully as possible. Vivien Leigh is still magnificently narcissistic, Olivia de Havilland angelic and lovely, Leslie Howard reckless and aristocratic. As for Clark Gable: we're talking one of the most vital, masculine performances ever committed to film. --Tom Keogh [|Amazon review] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">  <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">         <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">   <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Movie Info URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031381/ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">  <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Little <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Women <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">  <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">         <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">   <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">        <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">   <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Format: DVD(left) and book by Louisa May Alcott (right) Copyright Date: 1994 Film Production: Columbia Pictures Corp. Rating: PG        <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">   <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Suggested Price: $19.94 [|www.bestbuy.com] Summary: With her husband of at war, Marmee is left alone to raise their four daughters - her "little women." There is the spirited Jo; conservative Meg; fagile Beth; romantic Amy. As the years pass, the sisters share some of the most cherished and painful memories of self-discovery, as Marmee and Aunt March guide them through issues of independence, romance and virtue. (Located on back of //Little Women// DVD case)         <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Online Review: [The novel's] themes have never not been fresh and they gleam here under the sympathetic and enlivening touch of Armstrong and her cast, who move through the events with sunny assurance and complete immersion in character. [Boston Globe 21 Dec 1994] [|Metacritic Review] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">  <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">         <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">   <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Movie Info URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110367/ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">  <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">        <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">   <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">        <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">   <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">        <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">   <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Wizard of Oz          <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">   <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">        <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">   <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Format: DVD (left) and book by L. Frank Baum (right) Copyright Date: 1939 Film Production: MGM Rating: G        <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">   <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Suggested Price: Not Listed [|www.bestbuy.com] Summary: <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Online Review: When it was released during Hollywood's golden year of 1939, //The Wizard of Oz// didn't start out as the perennial classic it has since become. The film did respectable business, but it wasn't until its debut on television that this family favorite saw its popularity soar. And while //Oz//'s TV broadcasts are now controlled by media mogul Ted Turner (who owns the rights), the advent of home video has made this lively musical a mainstay in the staple diet of great American films. Young Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland), her dog, Toto, and her three companions on the yellow brick road to Oz--the Tin Man (Jack Haley), the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), and the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger)--have become pop-culture icons and central figures in the legacy of fantasy for children. As the Wicked Witch who covets Dorothy's enchanted ruby slippers, Margaret Hamilton has had the singular honor of scaring the wits out of children for more than six decades. The film's still as fresh, frightening, and funny as it was when first released. It may take some liberal detours from the original story by L. Frank Baum, but it's loyal to the Baum legacy while charting its own course as a spectacular film. Shot in glorious Technicolor, befitting its dynamic production design (Munchkinland alone is a psychedelic explosion of color and decor), //The Wizard of Oz// may not appeal to every taste as the years go by, but it's required viewing for kids of all ages. //--Jeff Shannon// [|Amazon Review] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">  <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">         <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left; display: block;">   <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Movie Info URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032138/

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