Commentary
When I went to the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival (TCMFF) in late April, I had to be very particular when choosing which films to see. They screened dozens of films during the four-day weekend, many of which were played at the same time in different theaters. I ended up seeing fourteen feature films, a very full schedule, which was a fraction of the roster.
Although TCM’s television station and festival feature the words “classic movies” in their titles, the genre this defines is nebulous. Like cars, films are usually called classic as a complimentary alternative to old. Some put the cut-off year for classics at 1960, 1965, or 1970, but others stretch it to 1980 or later. Like physical antiques, movies which were new releases just one generation ago are now forty years old, so films from the late 20th century are now joining their mid-century counterparts as classics. TCM tends to take a very broad view of what is classic, including movies from the late 1980s or even the early 1990s which they deem worthy in their programming. It was no different at the TCMFF, where they played many movies from the 1970s and 80s….