Best Movies Archives - Josh Matthews

Blow-Up — Michaelangelo Antonioni

Blow-Up 1966 ★★★★★ It begins with the photographer, a cocky male Brit, sitting atop his subject, aping copulation with her. His domineering sneer, holy attitude, and apparent power snakecharms all of the ladies who he "shoots" and who want to be "shot" by him. More on "shoot"…

Josh MatthewsDecember 19, 2020

Best Movies Video Essays

Stagecoach — What Makes This Movie Great? (Ep. 14)

https://youtu.be/YRqsBUdWFUw It could be one of the most influential movies ever made. It's one of the most acclaimed and famous Westerns ever made. It's "Stagecoach," a 1939 Western directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne. The movie features an ensemble cast that rides a…

Josh MatthewsMarch 4, 2020

Best Movies Video Essays

Orson Welles — His Seven Best Movies

https://youtu.be/ABDDZgyZ-QI Orson Welles, director and lead actor in "Citizen Kane," is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest moviemakers ever. But besides "Citizen Kane," what Welles' movies should you watch? This is a hard question to figure out for those who aren't familiar with Welles,…

Josh MatthewsFebruary 20, 2020

Best Movies Video Essays

The Breakfast Club — Shot-for-Shot Analysis of the Opening

https://youtu.be/YVkCxIyUcxs John Hughes' 1985 movie "The Breakfast Club" is famous for many reasons, including its final shot. Why is this movie so powerful and so well-remembered even 35 years later? I'll help you understand why by analyzing the opening of the movie, which creates five…

Josh MatthewsFebruary 18, 2020

Best Movies Video Essays

The Purple Rose of Cairo — What Makes This Movie Great? (Episode 9)

https://youtu.be/zcB36aZusSQ What's the best Woody Allen movie? What's a great movie about why people watch movies? "The Purple Rose of Cairo" answers both questions. Starring Mia Farrow, Jeff Daniels, and Danny Aiello, the movie is a fantasy-romance that takes place in New Jersey during the…

Josh MatthewsFebruary 17, 2020

Best Movies Video Essays

Big Night — What Makes This Movie Great? (Episode 8)

https://youtu.be/kayUuPbI0U8 It's time to eat! In this episode of my "What Makes This Movie Great?" series, I briefly examine the 1996 movie "Big Night," starring Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub and directed by Tucci and Campbell Scott. This complex movie depicts two Italian brothers who…

Josh MatthewsFebruary 13, 2020

Best Movies Video Essays

What Makes This Movie Great? — Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times”

https://youtu.be/4eAKtzOdiXY In this episode of my series "What Makes This Movie Great?", we'll discuss why Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times" is a relevant movie for today, even though it was released in 1936. Even the hit 2019 movie "Joker" liberally quotes from it. Chaplin's great movie…

Josh MatthewsFebruary 10, 2020

Articles & Essays Best Movies Sci-Fi

Why Science-Fiction Movies of the 1970s are Stupid-Fun

This article -- guaranteed to make you chuckle at least once -- explains the state of science-fiction in 1970s mainstream movies, and it reviews many of them.

Josh MatthewsJanuary 28, 2020

Best Movies movie education Video Essays

What Makes This Movie Great? — Ep. 6, “Citizen Kane”

Did you know that Citizen Kane is partly about fake news? Everybody knows that people call Kane a great movie, but the fact is that its content is relevant. Kane is about, among other things, news media manipulation. It's about multiple conflicting perspectives of the…

Josh MatthewsDecember 21, 2019

Best Movies Movie Lists

A Midwestern American Dude’s “Best Movies of the 2010s” List

My alternative list to the Best Movies of the 2010s, from my particular point-of-view.

Josh MatthewsNovember 30, 2019

Best Movies

Blow-Up — Michaelangelo Antonioni

Stagecoach — What Makes This Movie Great? (Ep. 14)

Orson Welles — His Seven Best Movies

The Breakfast Club — Shot-for-Shot Analysis of the Opening

The Purple Rose of Cairo — What Makes This Movie Great? (Episode 9)

Big Night — What Makes This Movie Great? (Episode 8)

What Makes This Movie Great? — Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times”

Why Science-Fiction Movies of the 1970s are Stupid-Fun

What Makes This Movie Great? — Ep. 6, “Citizen Kane”

A Midwestern American Dude’s “Best Movies of the 2010s” List

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