The “Should Have Been a Classic” Film Reviews

During a healthy debate on the merits of 3D movies here at triplew.me we got into an argument about films that are overlooked as 'classics' and why they are. What is a classic? This is our attempt at defining three films the team enjoys, but no-one ever talks about...it's not like they weren't successful either!

Defining a 'classic' film is often a very difficult task. What makes a classic, well, classic? Is it commercial success? Critical acclaim? Both (are both possible)? Too many rhetoric questions? Here's a selection of three films, there could've been hundreds more, but this is all we can agree on. Do you have any others? Log in and let us know.

Magnolia (1999)

Directed and written by: Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, There Will be Blood)

A bit like Crash, but a bit weirder...

With regards to 1997’s Boogie Nights, adult film actor Dirk Diggler is one of Anderson’s most “interesting” characters, but Tom Cruises’ character in Magnolia; Frank TJ Mackey finds a whole new level of interesting – explaining here would be deemed inappropriate so you will just have to hunt down the DVD and watch it.

Magnolia’s main theme is coincidence. It is similar in plot to Paul Haggis’s 2004 movie Crash, where a variety of lives, situations and stories are inter-weaved and crash towards some sort of end result. To say that Magnolia pushes the strange boundary to the maximum would be an understatement. Look out for long legged creatures falling from the sky causing apocalyptic scenes – fantastically baffling. At just over 3 hours this cleverly weird film is a commitment, but so very worth it.

Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Juliana Moore, Tom Cruise, Jason Robards, John C Reilly

The Legend of 1900 (1998)

Directed by: Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso, Malena)

Piano virtuoso finds his sea-legs at an early age...

British actor Tim Roth or '1900' is abandoned as a baby on the ocean going cruise liner SS Virginian. The boy is 'adopted' by the ships crew and grows up learning the piano. He eventually becomes the ships cabaret bands pianist and the greatest player the world has never known; adding to the remarkable storyline is the fact that he has never once stepped foot off the ship.  Life on-board is viewed through 1900’s eyes and always heard through the emotive music in his head. Ennio Morricones brilliant score deservedly won the Golden Globe in 2000. Does the world get to hear 1900’s music, and does he ever venture on to dry land?

Epic story telling and a visual and aural feast from Italian master film maker Tornatore.

Starring: Tim Roth, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Clarence Williams the III.

All the Pretty Horses (2000)

Directed by: Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade, Daddy and Them)

Young cowboys gallop south into unknown adventure....

Based on Cormac McCarthy's moving novel, All the Pretty Horses’ finds friends John Grady Cole (Damon) and Lacey Rawlins (Thomas) riding into Mexico looking for adventure and work; they find both on a ranch owned by Senor Villarreal (Played by veteran Hispanic actor Rueben Blades).

Life couldn’t be more carefree for the boys, that is until romance flares up between Cole and Cruz’s character Alejandra Villarreal. Cole and Rawlins are wrongly accused of horse theft and end up in a violent Mexican prison where they are left to fend for themselves. Do they make it out alive? Que piensas?

Starring: Matt Damon, Henry Thomas and Penelope Cruz

SEE THE TRAILER FOR THE LEGEND OF 1900