Aged Well: 2001 Still Looks Like the Future
Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 sci-fi epic is still mind-bending. The pioneering special effects, which earned Kubrick his only Oscar, look so good that you forget this movie was made before we even landed on the moon.
Aged Poorly: Swing Time’s Jarring Blackface Tribute Number
While Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were magic, this 1936 musical still has a major problem. The “Bojangles of Harlem” number, where Astaire performs in blackface, is a jarring and painful moment that’s impossible to ignore today.
Aged Well: The Godfather Remains a Masterpiece
Released in 1972, this masterpiece feels like it could have been made yesterday. Set in the 1940s with timeless themes of family and power, Gordon Willis’s shadowy cinematography gives it an elegant, classic quality that never gets old.
Aged Poorly: The Lawnmower Man’s Primitive CGI Spectacle
Remember when this movie’s CGI looked like the future? What was groundbreaking in the early ’90s now just looks incredibly dated. The primitive graphics and ‘virtual reality’ spectacle are more likely to make you laugh than gasp.
Aged Well: Singin’ in the Rain Is Pure Joy
It doesn’t get more joyful than this 1952 musical. Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, and Donald O’Connor are perfect in this lighthearted story about Hollywood’s switch from silent films to ‘talkies’. It’s pure, timeless entertainment.
Aged Poorly: Tron’s Once-Futuristic Effects
As one of the first films to use extensive CGI, 1982’s Tron blew minds with its visuals. Today, those same groundbreaking effects look more like a vintage video game, which is charming but definitely shows its age.
