Planet of the Apes

1968, 112 min, rated G, directed by Franklin Schaffner

• Bluray, Twentieth Century Fox
• Stars Charleton Heston, Kim Hunter, Roddy McDowall.
• SCI-FI, futuristic, time travel, post-apocalyptic, black comedy, nuclear war, cynicism, sarcasm.
• Based on the Pierre Boulle novel.
• Rod Serling, writer and creator of The Twilight Zone television anthology series, wrote the screenplay’s first draft.

The Wizard of Oz

1939, 102 min, rated G, directed by Victor Fleming

• Bluray, Warner Brothers (75th Anniversary Edition)
• Stars Judy Garland, Margaret Hamilton.
• Children’s fantasy, movie musical.
• Based on the novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum.
• Academy Award for Original Song, “Over the Rainbow.”
• The inspiration for the famous stage musical and its movie version, Wicked.

Casablanca

July 27

1942, 102 min, rated PG, directed by Michael Curtiz

• 4K, Warner Brothers (80th Anniversary Edition)
• Stars Humphrey Bogarte, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Dooley Wilson, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet.
• Romance, drama, war, historical, suspense, underground political thriller, espionage, idealism, validation, redemption.
• Adapted from the stage play, Everybody Comes to Rick’s, by Murray Burnett and Joan Allison.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

1939, 130 min, rated approved, directed by Frank Capra

• 4K, Sony (Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Volume 1, Limited Edition)
• Stars James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold.
• Screwball comedy, political procedural, common man, Americana, idealistic.
• Capra also directed the best Christmas movie ever made, It’s a Wonderful Life.

August 3

A Man for All Seasons

1966, 120 min, rated G, directed by Fred Zinnemann

• 4K, Sony (Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Volume 5, Limited Edition)
• Stars Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Robert Shaw, Leo McKern, Orson Welles, Susannah York, John Hurt.
• Historical drama, period costume, courtroom drama, legal procedural, English Catholic church, ethics, optimism, idealism, utopia.
• Robert Bolt, the same screenwriter who wrote Lawrence of Arabia.
• About Sir Thomas More, a member of the court of King Henry VIII.
• Cast of Shakespearean stage actors.

August 10

The Manchurian Candidate

1962, 126 min, rated PG-13, directed by John Frankenheimer

• Bluray, Criterion Collection
• Stars Frank Sinatra, Angela Lansbury, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh.
• Political thriller, espionage, assassination, military, suspense, anti-war, conspiracy, antihero, matriarch, psychological thriller, investigative thriller, crime film, unreliable protagonist.
• Based on the Richard Condon novel.
• Angela Lansbury’s best role according to critics.
• President Kennedy saw a special preview in the White House two months before release.

August 17

Titanic

August 24

1997, 195 min, rated PG-13, directed by James Cameron

• Bluray, Paramount Pictures (Limited Edition)
• Stars Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Bill Paxton, David Warner.
• Epic, romantic drama, period costume, disaster, historical, epic, social class heirarchy, patriarchical society, optimistic, existential love.
• The most expensive movie ever made when released, and the biggest box-office revenue until 2009.
• The Library of Congress selected the movie for preservation in 2017.

The Wicker Man

1973, 94-min, Final Cut version not rated, but U.S. Theatrical Cut rated R, directed by Robin Hardy.

• 4K, Studio Canal (Vintage Classics, 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition, 5-disc U.K. import set)
• Stars Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, and Ingrid Pitt.
• Horror, crime, movie musical, police procedural, detective investigation, interrogation, religious faith drama, devout English Catholicism, Celtic Paganism, comic elements, social alienation.

August 31