subject: The Dismal Feeling One Gets When Searching In Vain For A Film Classic [print this page] Wanna know a secret? I love action moviesWanna know a secret? I love action movies. I love watching things blow up on the screen. I love watching people on horseback chasing down spacecraft. I love watching people get sucked into video games. But when given the choice between curling up with the latest Hollywood hottie and settling in with a classic film, I'm just as likely to opt for the classics.
Such people may or not be bona fide film buffs. Their classic film repertoire may actually consist of mainstream hits like Casablanca, Romance on the Orient Express or The Maltese Falcon. Those films remain exciting no matter how many times they have been viewed. Then there is the thrill of finding a new classic they have never seen that has finally come out into the public domain.
Just What is the Public Domain?
There are actually websites out there specializing in digging out classic films that have newly wended their way into the realm of the public domain. Such sites have set these films before the public so they now have a place to go to find these films to rent or buy and once again bask in their glory. These are films that you probably heard about from your grandparents who saw them on the silver screen way before there was a television set in every den in America. There really, really was such a time, trust me.
The really cool thing about the new-found power of the public domain isn't just that it's reintroducing you to all of the films you and your parents loved when you were a kid. It's also giving you the opportunity to introduce your kids to something outside of the realm of "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games".
What Can the Classic Movies Possibly do for your Kids?
With the huge number of films that Hollywood releases every year, you could reasonably ask, "Why do I care whether my kids get to see the classics or not? Isn't it enough that they're going to slog through thousands of pages of classic literature in high school before it's all said and done? Now I have to worry about forcing them to sit through ancient films too?"
Well, I would say if you are interested enough to peruse this article on classic films you may not be asking questions like that. You already know what it is about the classic films that make them so worthwhile. These films were made before film makers had all those high tech tools at their command and actually had to depend on script writers, directors and actors with the talent to bring their ideas to life for every movie fan out there.
What these film makers gave us was entertainment as an art form. An art form that made us think thoughts that never struck us before, just like classic literature does.
Public Domain
Ah, the last big feature of this whole classic film on the web thing. The fact that they're out playing in the public domain.
Public domain means the area where films go when they are no longer eligible for copyright protection or that protection has run its course and expired. When this occurs, restrictions on their distribution is relaxed making it much easier for classic film aficionados to snatch up the films they have been longing to see for years.
You can now view the films you heard about from your grandparents. Do not dither. Buy these classic films or rent them. You and your kids will be so glad you found this whole new world of art and entertainment from the days when Hollywood was at its best.
