I

There were a lot of movies on my list that start with the letter I, and they seemed to have a couple things in common: lots of fun titles, and lots of really long running times.

The best:

• I, Claudius — 1976. The greatest soap opera ever made. 650 minutes!

Pretty good:

• In the Heat of the Night — 1967. The performances make this work: Sidney Poitier is compelling as always; Rod Steiger plays a stereotyped slow Southern sherriff but somehow makes it work.
• The Iceman Cometh — 1973. Wow. This would have been great if not for the washed out color and the muddy audio. 239 minutes.
• Irma la Douce — 1963. Perfectly ridiculous tale of a pimp and his hooker. I liked it in spite of myself.
• It Happened Tomorrow — 1944. Both charming and clever.
• The Invisible Man — 1933. Classic.
• The Importance of Being Earnest — 2002. Delightfully insubstantial fluff. It was nice to compare this to the version from 1952; a bigger budget and more inventive production made this less stagey and more enjoyable.
• Ivan the Terrible, Parts I & II — 1945/1958. A visual feast. 183 minutes.

Mixed bag:

• I Am Curious (Yellow) — 1967. Pretentious but marginally interesting. Noteworthy for being banned in the States. Also, it’s Swedish.
• Immortal Beloved — 1994. The story of Beethoven’s life is good, but somehow the movie falls a little flat.
• Invaders from Mars — 1953. Incredibly hokey paranoid fantasy. Kind of fun.
• It Should Happen to You — 1954. Jack Lemmon’s first film. Fun, but sappy.

Rather disappointing:

• In Cold Blood — 1967. Plodding.
• In a Lonely Place — 1950. When I randomly encountered this on cable TV, I thought it kicked ass; on second viewing, it’s awkward and boring.
• The Importance of Being Earnest — 1952. I usually like older films better, but I much preferred the 2002 version.
• Is There Sex After Death? — 1971. Silly.

Unwatchable:

• It Happened Here — 1966. The Nazis win, and apparently mandate low production values.
• In the Realm of the Senses — 1976. Nothing but sex, sex and more sex, which sounds great, but isn’t.