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Hickey & Boggs (1972)
40's Film Noir Redux...L.A. Style
Walter Hill did for seventies cinema what Preston Sturges did for the forties. He re-imagined film dialogue and characterization in a way that was both audacious, yet ultimately sobering in it's depiction. His protagonists are always men on the edge of oblivion, both spiritually and physically. Al Hickey and Frank Boggs are burned-out, disillusioned bedroom dicks with nothing left in their lives except the seedy profession they still both desperately cling to, and the film's central caper becomes almost a moot throwaway by it's denouement. These men are beyond repair, and their sad, but inevitable comeuppance is essayed to perfection by Hickey at the film's conclusion - "It's still about nothing..." A criminally underrated masterwork in a decade overflowing with them.
The Parallax View (1974)
1970's Noir at it's finest...
The golden age of modern filmmaking, the seventies bore witness to the cinematic rise of a cabal of influential and often audacious young filmmakers. Alan J. Pakula was one such individual. His work is utterly and bleakly unique. The worlds his characters inhabit are devoid of mundane truths or realities. NOTHING is as it seems. Every situation. no matter how seemingly ordinary, has an undercurrent of conspiracy or menace roiling just below it's banal facade. The Parallax View is a letter-perfect snap-shot of this societal morass and the era that produced it. It's characters are burned-out, sixties idealists, running on the fumes of the failed counter-culture revolution. Pakula and his peers understood this ALL too well, and their jaded, cynical approach to filmmaking was their one common trait.
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
The reason movies are made
Lawrence of Arabia is that wonderfully paradoxical cinema rarity. An epic sixties formulaic plot-driven roller-coaster ride, but also a thoughtful and poignant character study that works on many different levels. Peter O'toole's Lawrence is a mass of contradictions. Realistic yet delusional, ambitious yet cautiously pessimistic. The film manages to neatly deify him but also paints a very dark portrait of a man swept up in the wanton lust for power and personal glory. David Lean displays his mastery of the epic narrative, yet it is his use of subtle gestures that serve to flesh out Lawrence and give him a kind of depth not usually found in such grand spectacle. Highly recommended.
The Shining (1980)
When less isn't necessarily more....
It's been 30 years since THE SHINING first premiered, and it continues to spark debate among cineasts to this day. What CANNOT be disputed is it's lasting impact on a legion of Kubrick devotees. His only foray into the horror genre, though at times thematically uneven, is nonetheless thought-provoking and a strangely unsettling viewing experience. Say what you want about the screenplay or performances, THE SHINING is certainly the best LOOKING horror film of all time. Kubrick's matchless eye for detail and his use of long, winding roller-coaster-like steadicam shots gives the film a unique, otherworldly look. Everyone always comments on Jack Nicholson's scenery chewing and hamminess, but his pivotal scene in the restroom with Grady the caretaker is nicely underplayed and one of film horror's finest moments. I do however agree that the film's denouement is oddly anti-climactic and disappointing. I think Kubrick just ran out of steam.
Superman (1978)
STILL the best......
Time has the same effect on all truly great films. It's long, deliberate passage allows for greater introspection and ultimately, profound appreciation. Superman is one of these films. It was the first GREAT comic book film adaption, and in many ways, is STILL the best. Of course, it is very much a collaborative effort. This was Richard Donner's first film success, and it's easy to see why. The film has a strangely luminescent, almost mythical feel to it. Donner has a deep romantic attachment to the subject, and it shows in every frame. The screenplay is at turns clever, funny, and surprisingly dark in tone. And of course, the cast is SUPERB. Christopher Reeve never again found a role so PERFECTLY suited to him. His superman is brave, humble, and yet still naive and troubled. Gene Hackman's Lex Luther is the touchstone modern movie villain. He is alternately charming and diabolical, and changes gears seamlessly. Best of all is John Williams greatest score. It's grand sweep and boldly operatic crescendo is UNMATCHED in recent memory. Unforgettable.
Alien (1979)
Unequaled....
ALIEN is that rarest of rarities. It has ACTUALLY transcended it's static celluloid origins and become something greater. A touchstone of modern horror that has since rarely been approached and certainly NEVER equaled. The vast majority of so-called "classic" horror or sci-fi films have a few memorable scenes of genuine shock or terror. ALIEN has easily a dozen. There are many memorable performances in the film, but the the most sublimely effective and WOEFULLY underrated portrayal is by Ian Holm as the sinister android Ash. His sparce, chilling revelation near the film's climax is one of the cinema's MOST harrowing and CAUTIONARY. The languidly operatic score by Jerry Goldsmith is one of his most chilling and evocative. It is a near pitch-perfect match of music to mood. Lastly, we bear witness to the cineastic brilliance of Ridley Scott. His use of bleak, shadowy tones coupled with the claustrophobic back-drop of the film, have etched itself permanently onto our collective unconscious. This is his one UNDISPUTED masterpiece, and he has never really come close to duplicating it's impact. It's just as well. ALIEN stands alone as a tribute to it's creator.
The French Connection (1971)
Shiny things....
THE FRENCH CONNECTION is not an easy film to absorb. It's utter bleakness and moral ambiguity leave the "modern" viewer strangely unsatisfied. Hackman's superb portrayal is almost TOO real. We want and need our heroes to be stoic, upright, and above all else, SYMPATHETIC. Popeye Doyle is NONE of these things. He lies. He cheats. He breaks every rule in the book and then some. His SOLE redeeming feature is his brazen willingness to totally immerse himself in society's seedy urban underbelly. He is RELENTLESS. His cause is noble ONLY to him. There is NO final reward for Doyle or the puzzled, frustrated viewer. Not to be missed.
No Country for Old Men (2007)
No cineastic apogee for nihilistic bottom feeders....
The Coen brothers have raised their own unique bar yet again. NCFOM is a poetically languid, yet ultimately profound commentary on the utter futility of avaristic greed. What many contributors to this forum seem to have overlooked, is that the "protagonist" of this film is NOT the hackneyed Hollywood hero so prevalent in today's adolescent-geared, nihilistic cinema. His is not a noble cause. There are no CGI battlegrounds or macho catchphrases. There is only the bleakness of human desperation and the brutal randomness of violence as essayed by the evil incarnate that is Anton Chigur. His character is an ever-present reminder of the vapid emptiness of wanton ambition, and it's ultimate blood-stained price. Timeless.
Night Stalker (2005)
Brain candy for the uninitiated....
The Sci-fi channel is currently running an NS marathon. WHat exactly is the point? One only has to watch the opening five minute of the first installment to realize what an unmitigated FARCE the whole thing is. The original series earned it's richly deserved cult status by blending equal parts humor and horror, and the UPDATED series unfortunately tosses this concept onto the scrap heap. The other critical element that is missing is a little thing called CONFLICT. This new Kolchak has a support system resembling a CHEERING SECTION. His new-age editor is the genteel, paternal sort and any resemblance to the previous series incarnate is virtually impossible to detect. And the idea of partnering him with some attractive but bland eye-candy, as well as a sycophantic toady, is just too laughable for words. Frank Spoonitz deserves the lion's share of blame for this fiasco. He SO desperately wanted to put his own stamp on this series that he forgot to make suspenseful or funny or scary or provocative or just plain mildly interesting. Calling David Chase.
Dragnet 1967 (1967)
Sir Jack in the box....
Jack Webb was to the establishment what Abbie Hoffman was to the counterculture. Watching DRAGNET transports the viewer to a time and place where conventional mores and ideals were being openly challenged by a bolder, younger generation of Americans. Jack Webb and his contemporaries obviously felt a sense of betrayal at this growing petulance, and DRAGNET was the perfect soapbox on which to denounce it's upstart-ideology. Friday and Gannon invariably encountered all manner of disaffected and misguided youth, but the mantra was always the same: CUT YOUR HAIR...MIND YOUR ELDERS...And above ALL else: RESPECT AUTHORITY. Friday was a decent enough sort. He was unsubtle and direct. His generation not only believed everything they were told, but perpetuated the self-delusional myth of American INFALLIBILITY. The sixties were a cold, hard slap in the face of the GREATEST GENERATION, and the wounds are still felt to this day.
Friends (1994)
the 90's personified...
A female friend once asked my why I never watched FRIENDS. After all, I was "twenty something" when it came out, so she naturally assumed I would identify with the characters. I gave it a chance. I tried. My biggest problem with the show was it's TOTAL preoccupation with sex and the kind of shallow materialism that plagued so many other "comedies" of the same era. I then asked my female friend why she was such a HUGE fan of FRIENDS and her answer summed up it's vapid appeal PERFECTLY. Every week the show transported her to a world where the people were MORE attractive, MORE successful, and MORE humorous then her own friends, and she truly believed it was a kind of blueprint for life. The show was safe and cute, and nobody ever ACTUALLY got offended. How pleasant. How noble. How bland. How forgettable...How SERIOUSLY delusional. Watch FELICITY reruns instead. It's FUNNIER and more REALISTIC. No stars.
Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974)
Grand guinol Chicago style...
I remember the original series vividly mostly due to it's unique blend of wry humor and macabre subject matter. Kolchak was hard-bitten newsman from the Ben Hecht school of big-city reporting, and his gritty determination and wise-ass demeanor made even the most mundane episode eminently watchable. My personal fave was "The Spanish Moss Murders" due to it's totally original storyline. A poor,troubled Cajun youth from Louisiana bayou country, takes part in a sleep research experiment, for the purpose of dream analysis. Something goes inexplicably wrong, and he literally dreams to life a swamp creature inhabiting the dark folk tales of his youth. This malevolent manifestation seeks out all persons who have wronged the dreamer in his conscious state, and brutally suffocates them to death. Kolchak investigates and uncovers this horrible truth, much to the chagrin of police captain Joe "Mad Dog" Siska(wonderfully essayed by a grumpy Keenan Wynn)and the head sleep researcher played by Second City improv founder, Severn Darden, to droll, understated perfection. The wickedly funny, harrowing finale takes place in the Chicago sewer system, and is a series highlight. Kolchak never got any better. Timeless.
Catch-22 (1970)
Alan Arkin's finest hour...
Alan Arkin has spent his film career portraying characters out of step with their surroundings. It's a kind of world-weariness that's etched onto every line of his oddly expressive face. He is also the only actor I've ever seen whose eyes remain fixed in a catatonic gaze, all the while he is howling with rage or utter disbelief at the sheer absurdity surrounding him. Yossarian is QUINTESSENTIAL Arkin. He knows that the concept of war is completely insane, and eventually comes to realize that the "big brass" has it's own private agenda. He and the other men in his squadron are mere pawns in this exercise, and Yossarian wants NO part of it. His numerous and failed attempts to convince his superiors that he is unfit to fly are both hilarious and poignant in their depiction. Yossarian is playing a game he cannot win, for the deck is too stacked against him. Not to be missed.
Dirty Harry (1971)
A true iconic masterpiece....
Watching the film for the first time is a unique experience. Many other posters have mentioned the "voyeuristic" feel to it. It's not an entirely inaccurate statement. The sleazy world that both Harry and Scorpio inhabit makes the viewer uneasy, and yet at the same time riveting in it's depiction. It's difficult for any viewer to completely identify with Harry Callahan. He is a brusque, laconic loner with seemingly little or no tolerance for people unlike himself. Scorpio, on the other hand, is a repellent monster with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. He has no scruples. He will kill anyone at anytime, and his total disregard of law enforcement makes him all the more frightening. Harry is the only character in the film that understands this, and is willing to break more than a few rules to stop this madman. Harry's superiors chastise him for his methods, and they capitulate with Scorpio's demands, with tragic results. In the end, Harry prevails, but the victory is hollow. Scorpio's wave of destruction cannot be undone, and Harry knows it. He hurls his badge away in disgust.
Seinfeld (1989)
Stream-of-consciousness turned inside-out....
A masterwork...Of all the sitcoms ever produced for US television, Seinfeld remains the most surreal, original, and of course, HILARIOUS! Where other "comedies" amuse or merely entertain us, Seinfeld managed to etch itself indelibly in our collective memories. Most of the credit must go to the unbeatable combination of Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. Their audacious, take-no-prisoners approach to comedy writing remains unmatched in the annals of sitcom lore. And for me personally, the greatest sitcom character ever created, GEORGE COSTANZA, is what truly makes the show at times, TRANDSCENDENT. George simply defies explanation. He is shallow, self-absorbed, cheap, insensitive, and above all, COWARDLY. What makes this all so funny and memorable is George's earnest, yet ultimately pathetic attempts to fool the people around him into thinking he is a normal, well-adjusted member of society. The ability to laugh at this dysfunctional behavior and push the envelope of good taste is really what sets Seinfeld apart. David and Seinfeld never, never played it SAFE, and the enduring popularity of their show is proof positive of that. Simply the BEST.
Bullitt (1968)
British chic with a dose of detached 60's cool...
Steve McQueen knew something that the rest of his contemporaries didn't. That the world he lived in was changing. Changing in dramatic ways that frightened and confused people without the sophistication or foresight to understand them. Frank Bullitt is a by-product of this societal upheaval, and deals with it by removing himself from any emotional attachment to it. Frank Bullitt is a pragmatist in a world of wide-eyed daydreamers. He does his job, and does it well. He makes no apologies and seems all too aware that despite his integrity and dedication to the "job", at the end of the day he's still just punching a clock. Highly recommended.