Early"classics"of the 21st century!?

[DACrowe]

This is very true. The Wizard Of Oz was a box office flop and didn't become a major hit until after it came out on video. Likewise, The Princess Bride, while a critcal success, did only marginally well at the box office and didn't truly become successful until after it came out on video.

Wizard of Oz was a flop? Um....where did you hear this? WOZ was one of the biggest movies of 1939 (which is saying something when that is the year of Gone with the Wind, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Gunga Din and a slew of other movies that cause many to call it Hollywood's best year).

It didn't come on video until the 1980s. There was no TV until the 1950s. Wizard of Oz was a remarkable success when it came out and is considered one of the crown jewels in the MGM library....a movie that did bad upon release but is now considered a classic is It's A Wonderful Life, for the record.

 

[DACrowe]

I ain't a fan But it's big with the casuals,Kids who are into it right now may consider them classics at a King Kong(30's)level when their older and then they share it with their kids and they get into them and so on!!

It's King Kong all right....Kong '76.

Some movies have that kind of generational osmosis from parents to children like King Kong or Star Wars or Jaws or Indiana Jones or Jurassic Park, etc. These big spectacle epics that almost everyone can love. But Transformers ain't it. It's a flash-in-the-pan that will be forgotten the same way none too many people go revisit The Towering Inferno or Independence Day.

Movies recently that have that appeal would be LOTR, Harry Potter, the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, TDK and maybe....maybe the first few Spider-Man movies. Though I wouldn't count on that last one.

 

[redhawk23]

Where did you here that? Wizard of Oz was famously unsuccessful when released. It cost 3 million to make and only grossed 2.8 million when it was released.

 

[DACrowe]

Huh. You guys are right. It apparently only became a huge hit on its 1949 rerelease. Strange, considering Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow" was a big hit and standard by 1940. That's a surprise.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

In terms of straight out comedy movies, I think 'Superbad' will be the only one so far this century that will gain 'classic' status, that is like the only genuinely funny comedy film that has been made since 'Groundhog Day'.

Really? There have been a ton of great comedies and many are so much funnier than Superbad. Off the top of my head there's Dodgeball, Wedding Crashers, Anchorman, 40 Year Old Virgin, The Hangover

sorry there but napoleon dynamte pwns superbad in the classic respect

Napoleon Dynamite was one of the worst movies I've ever seen

 

[GhostPoet]

Really? There have been a ton of great comedies and many are so much funnier than Superbad. Off the top of my head there's Dodgeball, Wedding Crashers, Anchorman, 40 Year Old Virgin, The Hangover



Napoleon Dynamite was one of the worst movies I've ever seen

I didn't think any of those were funny...hm....

 

[November Rain]

don't get me wrong, i don't find any modern comedies funny in the slightest but napoleon dynamite i think will have a far bigger longterm impact than superbad

 

[jmc]

Huh. You guys are right. It apparently only became a huge hit on its 1949 rerelease. Strange, considering Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow" was a big hit and standard by 1940. That's a surprise.

It's not really, a lot of what we deemed classics from that time period where financial flops upon release. Disney is the perfect example. Snow White was their only hit until Cinderella, in between they had the likes of Pinocchio, Bambi and Peter Pan.

 

[November Rain]

it's true, i guess the proof of the pudding is seeing what new media formats exist in about 50 years time and seeing what movies from this period end up being made for it.

i guess another issue with amodern day classic is that there is a far higher turnoever of movies now, which makes the market easily subsceptible to not rewatching old films but constantly concentrating on new releases.

i mean i recently forgot all about high school musical and that was MASSIVE, a complete worldwide phenomenon and now it's like it's never happened at all. Sci fi films exist outside of this crazy realm for some reason but the majority of other movies will fall hard, regardless of their brilliant storytelling ability.

case in point, how many people remember big fish or the aviator, both highly critically acclaimed films of their times and both did well at the box office?

times are hard these days

 

[Sentinel X]

Films that are already classics
The Lord of the Rings trilogy - Personally, I think its the classic of the last decade. People will remember it for years

Avatar - Impossible to make that much money and not be a classic. It may not have much fans online but it certainly resonated with global audiences. Also it started the 3D craze

Harry Potter films - Same as above. Not to mention it will gain classic status when younger generation fans grow older

Films I think will become classics
Pan's Labyrinth
The Dark Knight
Inception
Memento
No Country for Old Men
Spirited Away
Mulholland Drive
There will be blood
Black Swan
Brokeback Mountain
The Social Network
Let the Right one in
Amelie
Kill Bill

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

Huh. You guys are right. It apparently only became a huge hit on its 1949 rerelease. Strange, considering Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow" was a big hit and standard by 1940. That's a surprise.

That is really unbelievable you didn't know that.

'Somewhere over the rainbow', they orchestrated that.

 

[DACrowe]

Well it's so engrained in our culture and MGM has built hotels after it. By the 1950s it became (on television) a Christmas-movie staple. And SOTR was a huge hit. Cary Grant sings it in Philadelphia Story (the Best Picture winner of 1940) one year later!

Just crazy.

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

Yeah, you sure do know a lot about the history of the Wizard of Oz. haha

crazy... like a fox!

haha

 

[DACrowe]

The stuff about the '50s and rerelease came when I wiki'd y'all saying it underperformed.

But did I know already its Oscar history and its reference in Philadelphia Story? Yes, but that's because Philadelphia Story is a great movie.

 

[Incrediblejeff]

My Picks for future classics.

Avatar
There will be Blood
Inception
Children of Men
Wall.E
The Social Network

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

It's ok, I can read, I can see how it was all very naturally presented.

 

[the amazing fro]

don't get me wrong, i don't find any modern comedies funny in the slightest but napoleon dynamite i think will have a far bigger longterm impact than superbad

I think I love you

Napoleon Dynamite made me cry with laughter. Superbad made me chuckle. Twice.

 

[November Rain]

oh i don't like napoleon dynamite, i just understand its influence on culture

there's not much i find funny from this century, the best was a foreign french film called welcome to the sticks but that's about it.

 

[the amazing fro]

oh i don't like napoleon dynamite, i just understand its influence on culture

 

[Max J Power]

I haven't seen all these movies, but I think they'll be classic because they either introduced audiences to something new, or placed high on many critics' Best of the Decade lists:

LOTR trilogy
Harry Potter series (not the best movies but the characters are already iconic)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Almost Famous
Pan's Labyrinth
Children of Men
Mullholland Dr.
25th Hour
The Hurt Locker
The Social Network
All the better Pixar movies will at least be animation classics
Spirited Away
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood

Maybe List:

The Departed (excellent movie, but in the grand scheme of Scorsese's career it might not be regarded as one of his best)
Inglourious Basterds (not as much a landmark film as Pulp Fiction but critics and audiences loved it)
Up in the Air (great portrait of life in the late 2000s, but I don't know if audiences really liked it enough to boost its status)
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (I could see it being a comedy classic)
Comic adaptations (I'm not sure if some of them will be action classics or if the genre will be viewed as a phase)

 

[November Rain]

the hurt locker did poorly in the box office, i'm not sure how many people have actu8ally watched it,i know i haven't

 

[November Rain]

there there....it'll be alright....

*hugs*

 

[jmc]

it's true, i guess the proof of the pudding is seeing what new media formats exist in about 50 years time and seeing what movies from this period end up being made for it.

i guess another issue with amodern day classic is that there is a far higher turnoever of movies now, which makes the market easily subsceptible to not rewatching old films but constantly concentrating on new releases.

i mean i recently forgot all about high school musical and that was MASSIVE, a complete worldwide phenomenon and now it's like it's never happened at all. Sci fi films exist outside of this crazy realm for some reason but the majority of other movies will fall hard, regardless of their brilliant storytelling ability.

case in point, how many people remember big fish or the aviator, both highly critically acclaimed films of their times and both did well at the box office?

times are hard these days

You bring up a very good point, movies these days have a huge struggle to stay relevant and even be remembered by shear number of films being released compared to 60-70 years ago. On top of that there are very few mainstream films that really are bringing anything new to the table that makes them memorable. I think the most recent film we can genuinely call a 'classic' is probably Toy Story which was released in the mid 90's.

 

[Brother Jack]

Kind of futile to try to predict what will be classics because that's always dependent on the passage of time. But if I had to guess:

Pan's Labyrinth
Children of Men
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (the type of movie that gets conventions held for it)
The Dark Knight
The Lord of the Rings
There Will Be Blood
Spirited Away
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

To be honest, some of these already are.

 

[PhoenixRise]

Mean Girls