Tag Archives: Movie Review

by | February 6, 2026 · 4:33 pm

Retro Movie Review: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid remains one of the most cherished achievements in American cinema, due in no small part to the rare alignment of inspired direction and iconic performances. Released in 1969 and directed by George Roy Hill, the film arrived at a moment when Hollywood was rethinking genre storytelling, and Hill proved ideally suited to guide that transition. His direction blends classic Western imagery with a modern, character-driven sensibility, allowing humor, romance, and melancholy to coexist without undermining one another.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under Steven Doyle

Tagged as , , , , , ,

by | January 30, 2026 · 3:20 pm

Retro Movie Review: Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

Fiddler on the Roof (1971) unfolds with deceptive simplicity. Set in the rural village of Anatevka in early 20th-century Russia, it follows Tevye, a poor milkman, his wife Golde (Norma Crane), and their daughters as they live by long-held customs shaped by faith, family, and community. What begins as an affectionate portrait of tradition gradually reveals itself as a story about how vulnerable that structure becomes when personal choice and historical pressure collide.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under Steven Doyle

Tagged as , , , ,

by | January 20, 2026 · 2:22 pm

Retro Movie Review: Some Like it Hot (1959)

Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot (1959) remains one of cinema’s most enduring comedies, a film that effortlessly blends sharp wit, sophisticated farce, and pointed social commentary. At its heart, the story follows two down-on-their-luck musicians, Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon), who witness a brutal mob hit and flee Chicago disguised as women, joining an all-female band touring Florida. Their ruse sets up a series of comedic entanglements, but beneath the humor lies a sharp exploration of identity, desire, and the constraints of society.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under Steven Doyle

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

by | December 31, 2025 · 1:46 pm

Retro Movie Review: Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Sunset Boulevard doesn’t waste time explaining itself. A dead screenwriter narrates his own downfall, and that alone tells you how little Billy Wilder cared about comfort. The plot mechanics are almost beside the point: a broke writer ducks into the wrong driveway, meets a forgotten silent-film star, and accepts an arrangement he knows better than to trust. That’s all you really need. The rest is atmosphere, attitude, and slow, deliberate suffocation.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under Steven Doyle

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

by | December 19, 2025 · 12:42 pm

Retro Movie Review: White Christmas (1954)

White Christmas (1954) is a film that turns nostalgia into spectacle without sacrificing its emotional core. Directed by Michael Curtiz and built around Irving Berlin’s most famous song, it remains one of Hollywood’s most enduring holiday entertainments—earnest, polished, and quietly persuasive in its belief that goodwill, when shared, can still carry the day.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under Steven Doyle

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

by | December 9, 2025 · 6:02 pm

Retro Movie Review: Oklahoma! (1955)

The 1955 film version of Oklahoma! opens the way all great American myths should: with a handsome man on horseback singing into the sunrise like he invented daylight. Gordon MacRae’s Curly is the kind of leading man Hollywood minted on an assembly line—square‑jawed, syrup‑voiced, and entirely convinced that starting a movie with an unbroken, three‑minute pastoral croon is the most natural thing in the world. And somehow, it is. Rodgers & Hammerstein’s frontier fable, directed by Fred Zinnemann and shot twice—once in CinemaScope and once in the ultra‑luxurious 70 mm format—feels like the dawn of the widescreen musical, a genre learning it could stretch its legs across an entire horizon.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under Steven Doyle

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

by | November 25, 2025 · 3:41 pm

Retro Review: Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)

There’s a kind of chaotic magic in Planes, Trains & Automobiles that transcends its status as a holiday comedy. On the surface, it’s a road-trip farce about two mismatched men scrambling to get home for Thanksgiving, but underneath, it’s a surprisingly tender meditation on loneliness, connection, and how the most unexpected companions can change us. Director John Hughes weaves together slapstick, frustration, and heart into a journey that feels as emotionally honest as it is comically absurd.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under Steven Doyle

Tagged as , ,

by | November 19, 2025 · 1:31 pm

A Thanksgiving Family Film to Warm Hearts: Revisiting Fantastic Mr. Fox

Thanksgiving is all about gathering together, sharing stories, and celebrating cleverness and community — and Fantastic Mr. Fox delivers all that in a star-studded, beautifully crafted, stop-motion package. Directed by Wes Anderson, this 2009 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel feels like a cozy, autumn afternoon: full of wit, warmth, and just a touch of mischief.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under Steven Doyle

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,