Tag: Films

Movie Watching in Quarantine Scene 5

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence

Man

John Ford’s brilliant western is both a romantic, three-way, love story and a look at the west on the cusp of change. Watching it again I realized how political a movie this is. There are battles between two factions. Those who want to remain a territory and those who want to become a state. It’s a typical rich versus the everyman battle. The future versus the status quo. Even the film’s love story, a triangle between a tenderfoot, a gunslinger, and the woman they love represents a dying western way of life. John Ford blends it all together with this filmmaking classic, his last great western.

 

The Graduate

grad

Some films are indelibly burned into your psyche for many reasons. It may have to do with the heart of every audience member jumping into their throats the first time the shark comes out of the water in “Jaws,” or the blaring rock sound of The Ronettes great song, “Be My Baby,” on the soundtrack in “Mean Streets,” or the discovery of a little know film called “The Panic in Needle Park” as you watch a then unknown actor named Al Pacino blow you away. There are certain films that are etched into your life and become a brick on the wall that helped build your love for movies. For me “The Graduate” was one of those films. It’s one of the seminal films of the 1960s ushering the “New Hollywood.”

Bananas

bann

One of the early, funny films that the more mature Woody Allen would dismiss later in his career. That said, this disjointed, sometime hodgepodge of a film remains funny. The jokes come fast, some fall flat, others remain fresh. Of all of Allen’s films “Bananas” is the closest he ever came to the satirical lunacy of the Marx Brothers (think “Duck Soup”). Here Allen’s banana republic of San Marcos meets Freedonia! Look for an unknown Sylvester Stallone stretching himself as an actor playing a subway thug.

National Lampoon’s Vacation

vaca

This is no masterpiece but there is a dark streak of satirical comedy running through the film as it strikes at the ideal the perfect American family trip. Yes, the Griswold’s are on an ill-fated trip across America. Destination? The vacation promise land, Wally World, (think Disney World). It’ a bumpy road but there’s enough fun along the way thanks to Chase, Imogen Coca, and especially Dennis Quaid as the family’s country hick cousin (“I don’t know why they call this stuff Hamburger Helper. It does just fine by itself”). There’s a great soundtrack headed by Lindsay Buckingham’s catchy “Holiday Road”.

 

A Kiss Before Dying

kiss
Not wanting to marry his pregnant girlfriend Dorothy (Joanne Woodward) who will be disowned by her over strict and cold-hearted father if he found out, Slick college student, Bud Corliss (Robert Wagner) gives her a loving kiss and tosses her off the roof of a seven story building. The police are convinced it was a suicide, but her sister, Ellen (Virginia Leith) does some investigating of her own. Bud meanwhile begins dating Ellen, never bothering to mention he knew or dated Dorothy. Soon Ellen’s life is in danger as Bud’s perfect murder begins to unravel. Based on Ira Levin’s (Rosemary’s Baby) novel this is a dark thriller that will keep the tension building in high gear throughout.

My Gritty Dozen 1970’s NYC Crime Films

This list is a result of recently reading author David Gordon’s article on Crime Reads. Like David, I grew up and lived in New York during its grittiest down and dirty days.  It’s a bit ironic that during New York’s ugliest days some of the best films set in the city were made during that time. I was already a movie freak, and while I liked a wide variety of movies I found myself attracted to crime films at a very young age. Two of the earliest I remember seeing on the big screen were Al Capone and Baby Face Nelson. While most parents took their under ten years of age kids to only Disney films, my folks took me to more adult movies too including gangster films.

Without further ado, here are my favorite crimes films from the 1970’s.

 

The Panic in Needle Park (1971)

Panic-in-Needle-Park

Dog Day Afternoon (1975) 

Dog Day

Mean Streets (1973)

meanstreets

Taxi Driver (1976)

De-Niro-Taxi-Driver

Klute (1971)

klute1-1600x900-c-default

Shaft (1971)

shaft-1971

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (!974) 

TakingPelham123_Screengrab

The French Connection (1971)

French

Serpico (1973)

Serpico

Across 110th Street (1972)

street1

Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970)

COTTON-COMES-TO-HARLEM-3-e1495746153748

 Death Wish (1974)

Death

 

 

 

 

Elmore Leonard is Out of Sight

Arguably, Out of Sight is the best film adaption of the many Elmore Leonard crime novels to hit the screen. Some would argue for Jackie Brown, based on Leonard’s Rum Punch, and that’s a worthy debate to have. The Tarantino film has some fabulous performances particularly by Samuel L. Jackson as gun runner Ordell Robbie. But for me, Out of Sight is  off beat, dark, smart and funny. It’s a film I could watch multiple times and never get tired of watching.

Below is a clip of the famous truck scene. After Jack Foley (George Clooney) escapes from Glades State Prison in Florida, with the help of his partner Buddy (Ving Rhames), U.S. Marshal Karen Sisco (Jennifer Lopez) happens along at the wrong time and ends up held hostage, forced to ride in the trunk of the getaway car with Jack.

The electricity between the two stars, the humorous dialogue, and the tight quarters of the trunk all quickly heat up the atmosphere. It’s one of my favorite scenes.