2003
Plot: This is what would have happened if Bishop Wosley had owned a camcorder.
Eric: Haven’t we seen this before? Oh, that was the other movie about the other Boleyn girl. Enough!
Kelly: Eric shouldn’t get a vote on this one, because he slept through most of it. I liked this BBC version better than the other one. Interesting how they used modern film techniques and interviews in a period movie.
1962
Plot: A vain British soldier wears fancy robes and eyeliner in the desert and goes insane.
Eric: I had low expectations for this movie because it was directed by David Lean, who also directed Dr. Zhivago, which I did not like. But, I enjoyed it. We needed a whole week to get through this four-hour desert marathon. I am fascinated by Roger Ebert’s comments on the film. He said everyone should see this movie on the big screen at least once. I bet Peter O’Toole’s makeup looks great at that size.
Kelly: I know, I know, this is a classic (yawn). I bet it is spectacular on the big screen, but I got bored toward the end. They needed a chic in the plot somewhere. I liked Dr. Zhivago better! (I guess I’m just a romantic at heart.)
1928
Plot: Kelly might lose her Netflix privileges over this one…
Eric: 1928!!!! [Giving a silent review, with a surprised, wide-eyed expression plastered permanently on his face.]
(for entertainment value) 
(for cultural significance)
Kelly: I’m sorry! I think I pushed the wrong button when I made my Netflix selection. This 1925 silent movie is supposed to be a classic. I’m sure it’s brilliant. Wow, the movie business has come a long way, baby.
1973
Plot: The Big Con done right (take note, Ocean’s Thirteen).
Eric: I hope I redeemed myself for sleeping through Butch Cassidy and the Sundace Kid by requesting that we watch this other Newman/Redford collaboration. But now I can’t get the song, The Entertainer, out of my head. Help!
Kelly: I’m on board with any movie that combines Newman and Redford. They make me happy.
1954
Plot: How to have fun with a broken leg.
Eric: I discovered an appreciation for Alfred Hitchcock’s minimalist methods for creating suspense after watching this film. Who among us have not acted like voyeurs from time to time? This movie offers us the chance to vicariously experience that thrill while avoiding the consequences L.B. Jeffries suffered. I think, had I been him, I might have put film in my camera when spying on Ms. Torso. Ooops, Did I type that out loud? I learned that if you fall asleep during one your wife's all time favorites, you'll have to keep watching it until you stay awake for the whole thing.
Kelly: What can I say? This is one of my top-ten favorite movies, and not just because I had to study it in a communications class in college. Alfred Hitchcock is a master at developing really interesting, multi-facetedcharacters and also ramping up suspense just by piling on layers of hints and letting us connect the dots. He doesn't have to show gory slasher scenes to scare us. He lets his audience decide who we shouldn't trust, and then he sticks the main characters in the same room with the suspect. All that gushing aside, Grace Kelly's fashions alone are worth watching this flick.
1986
Plot: Four young friends take a hike.
Eric: Men—when your wife asks you if you’ve ever seen an overrated movie greater than twenty years old just say, "Yes," or else she'll have Netflix ship it the very next day. Stand by Me had some funny moments, but one poignant one for me was when twelve-year-old Gordie breaks down crying because he is convinced his dad hates him. However, I felt unsettled when the boys’ solution for being threatened with a knife by a rival gang was to pull out a gun. I may never eat blueberry pie again. The leech scene . . . .
Kelly: I was shocked Eric had never seen this movie. I thought the whole male bonding aspect of it would have him riveted to his seat. Just goes to show—I don’t have a clue what’s going on upstairs in that man’s head. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this classic again. I think it speaks very simply and eloquently about the power of friendships, especially at awkward stages of life.
1965
Plot: A poet turned doctor traipses all over the frozen Russian landscape looking for love in the wrong places.
Eric: I felt a lot like Zhivago watching this movie: he was kidnapped and forced to march at gunpoint . . . I was forced to watch this movie at needle point. I learned not to fall asleep during your wife’s favorite movie when she is holding sharp objects. I don’t think even the scarf Kelly is knitting could have kept anyone warm during those cold Russian winters—even if she does ever finish it. Too bad the USC-Penn State football game wasn't more compelling.
Kelly: Okay, I was a little biased going into this one. It's one of my parents' all-time-favorite movies, so I became a big fan of the epic a long time ago by default. It is still a masterpiece of cinematography and an achingly tragic love story. It just drives me nuts that Eric can't stay awake for any movie that was produced before we were born.
1962
Plot: A southern lawyer, Atticus Finch, defends a black man accused of rape in depression-era Alabama.
Eric: A classic? Why? The screenplay isn’t that great. The courtroom scene was the only good part.
Kelly: Yes, it’s a classic for a reason! It is a beautiful story based on the novel by Harper Lee that won a Pulitzer Prize, and there are quite a few reasons why it is still popular today. The characters are rich and funny and tragic and very believable. I could watch this movie a million times and not get sick of it, because it has a very unique way of dealing with sensitive issues like racial inequality and rape and also infusing love and humor into the story. Scout is definitely my favorite character.
Eric: Please don't make me watch this a million times.
1969
Plot: The Hole in the Wall gang dynamites their way to Bolivia.
Eric: zzzzzzzzz
No vote.
Kelly: You know, Eric, it wouldn’t kill you to actually give these “classics” a chance. (The fact that he showed up on the couch in his jammies was a pretty big hint.) I enjoyed it—even though I had to turn up the sound to compete with Eric’s snoring. It’s a fun cowboy movie sprinkled with great one-liners, and there is something very endearing about watching a cast that obviously enjoys working together.
Eric: I don't wear pajamas.
