AFI 100 Movies: Shane Edition

I finally watched another AFI movie! Shane. A 1953 Western based on a 1949 novel of the same name. It, apparently won an Academy award for Cinematography.  Personally, I found it so dull and slow that I had to watch the 2 hour long film in several chunks spread out over a few days. Here's the basic plot.

Shane, a lonesome cowboy, wanders into Wyoming sometime in the mid the late 1800s. He befriends and starts working for the Starrett family. Apparently, there's some drama with a cattle baron that wants to force the Starrett's and everyone else in the area off of the land. I guess... to... give himself... more... land? I... don't really know.

Conflict arises, people die, there's a showdown, good guys win, bad guys lose. The end. I guess all things considered it's a good movie. Obviously it was good enough to end up on this list, but I just do not like most Westerns. Obvious exceptions for a handful. Western Lovers will probably like this, I guess? That's up to you, man.

Cowboys only come out at Midnight

So. This is an interesting movie! From all the way back to 1969 we've got Midnight Cowboy. The story of a small town man from Texas (played with great aplomb by Jon Voight) that moves to New York City because he (literally) wants to become a male escort. While there, he befriends a slimy little grifter played by Dustin Hoffman.

Now, first of all, Hoffman and Voight knocked it out of the park here. Voight was basically the very definition of "Oh, bless his heart" with his bumbling naivety and ineffectual attempts to navigate life in a city that swallows up even the most hardened people. Hoffman is incredible as a street smart, but otherwise pretty dim, sickly, limping, con artist.

The story is perhaps typical, and certainly by this point played out, but it's still a heartbreaking joy to see it played out on the screen. New York City is shown as both dingy and glitzy. Harry Nilsson's "Everybody's Talkin" is played repeatedly to great effect. Directed well by a man with a long career, but nothing that would nearly rise to these great heights. Part of that can perhaps by attributed to the source material. A book of the same name written in 1965 by James Leo Herlihy.

For a movie that was rated X (!!!) at the time, it is surprisingly light on anything inappropriate. At least to modern eyes. The X rating was in fact awarded due to the "homosexual frame of reference". Two years after it was originally released it was granted an "R" rating without any changes being made.  It was an interesting movie made more so but the lack of tying everything up in a neat little bow or attempting to give everyone a happy ending. Life is bleak, at times, and it's nice to sometimes have movies that (mostly) reflect that.

Things I watched, mostly in October (though really, who knows)

Movies that I watched in October and didn’t get around to posting about. There are a lot so I’ll keep the reviews short!

 

Gravity – it’s difficult to put this movie into words. It’s too late for this but it was absolutely worth seeing this in IMAX 3D. Heartbreaking, heart STOPPING and incredibly beautiful to look at. Just watch this one, okay? Seriously good stuff.

 

For a Good Time Call – this was okay. It seems like it was trying to be a subversion of tropes, rom com clichés, and a modern day feminist tale but it really turned out to be all of those things it tried to avoid and was partially unsuccessful in what it tried to accomplish. If you don’t take it too seriously it’s fine.

 

Tent City – A great and eye opening documentary about a group of homeless people in the south that live(d) in a large outdoor area known as Tent City. Goes into a lot of what the homeless population has to deal with, the stigmas attached and so on. Very well done and worth a watch.

The Woman Who Wasn’t There

 

RIPD – This was basically lambasted by reviewers and viewers alike. I can understand the problems they have with it, but I found it inoffensive and mostly enjoyable. Of course, I didn’t pay to watch it so there’s that. There are worse ways to spend 90 minutes of your time, for sure.

Skeleton Key – If you like Haunted House/Ghost/Possession type stories this is relatively decent. It’s not necessarily any of those things, but those are the best descriptions that I can think of for what it actually is. Pretty moody and atmospheric. Not the best but good for being what it is.

Trick R Treat – not sure if I posted this one or not, this was a special Halloween rewatch. A very fun and enjoyable Anthology type movie with three stories that all loosely tie together. The going ons that happen in a small town on Halloween. Scary, funny, cute, and well written!

 

 

Double the Indemnity, double the fun!

So, the most recent AFI movie I watched was Double Indemnity. A 1944 film about an insurance salesman that gets conned into killing the husband of a woman he falls in love with. I have a lot of thoughts about this movie.

First of all. Wtf? So, we have or protag, Walter, that pays a house call to the Dietrichson house to renew an insurance policy. Mr. Dietrichson isn’t there so he speaks to his wife, Phyllis. Immediately upon meeting this (married) woman Walter is making creepy come ons and insinuations. They spend a total of maybe 5 minutes together which is apparently enough for Walter to fall ass over teakettle for this woman. I’ve had longer conversations with the barista at Starbucks.

So, Phyllis arranges for Walter to come by a few days later, conveniently on a day when neither her husband nor the maid are around. She brings up killing her husband without actually bringing it up and Walter is smart enough to nope.com out of there. Of course, the damsel ends up at Walter’s later that night spinning a tale of woe that’s less woe and more zzzz.

Her husband neglects her, they no longer have a lot of money, he works all the time, sometimes he slaps her when he gets drunk. She has a step daughter that doesn’t respect her. All these things add up to divorce, sure, but not murder.

Anyway, Walter is in a mad boner rage and eventually agrees to this terrible life choice. Where was *his* sassy gay friend? Oh, right. 1944. Gays didn’t exist yet. Have I mentioned the fact that the two leads have basically zero chemistry? Because they totally don’t. ALSO. When they kiss they just mash their mouths together. It’s like the director told them to high five but right before the cameras rolled he screamed out “BUT DO IT WITH YOUR MOUTHS” and the actors were like did he just say high five with our mouths? And the director was like “DO IT OR THE REST OF THE MOVIE WILL USE SOCK PUPPETS.” And so they did and this is what happened.

Is that just how they kissed in movies back then? I mean they seriously just smooshed their mouths together for about 10 seconds. Was French kissing against standards and practices back then? I might have to look this up. Where was I? Right. SO.

He agrees to this tremendously stupid decision and wow he ends up paying for it later. I got side tracked by my tangent and now I’m not sure what to say. Why is this #29 on the list? I’m going to go read Roger Ebert’s review and see what he has to say. I’ll play some hold music while I’m gone.

*Plays Baby Come Back* Ebert also points out and notices that there is a distinct lack of passion between the two. Is this intentional? He gives the movie 4 stars but recognizes that it’s less a movie about a man killing for love and money and more a movie about a man killing because the plot dictates that he do so. Almost as if it’s a parody of genre films before the genre became a parody of itself. Does that make any sense? Probably not. But neither did anything the characters did.

I really feel as if I missed something with this one. I like the film noir genre. I like smart quips and quick comebacks. I like murder plots and complications and things that don’t go as they should so why don’t I like this one? I love most of everything Hitchcock ever did which is nothing but tales of bad deeds done by good people for the wrong reasons gone awry.

Do The Right Thing

Okay, I’m going to be a bit of a nerd and rage on about color corrections and transfers and what have you. This movie is set on the hottest day in Brooklyn all year. That is, in fact, the entire concept of the movie. The temperature is hot and TEMPERS are hot. Heat makes everyone crazy especially when idle hands are already the devil’s work and you’ve got troubles so hard. Now, when filming this Spike Lee (for both logistical and financial reasons) was unable to do so during the heat of the summer and instead filmed, I believe, in the Springtime. For this reason it was decided in post that a warm orangey filter to would added to give the impression of sweltering heat. And it did. You could basically feel the sizzling black top and smell the sweat dripping off of everyone. The heat itself became a character.

That is until the blu ray release of the movie. In the effort of restoration and “betterification” they did a significant amount of color correction. Instead of hot orange everything has been regulated to cool blues. The heat no longer sizzles. The viewer no longer feels a sympathetic drop of sweat creeping down their face. The heat is not only no longer a character but you find yourself wondering, what’s the big deal? You don’t identify with the heat and you lose some of the identification with the characters because of that. At least, that’s what I think.  BUT, I am admittedly a total nerd about things like this so, whatever.

Anyway, now that’s I’ve whined about the precious sanctity of dvd transfers how about I discuss the actual movie, eh? So. It’s a hot day in Bed Stuy. In a neighborhood that’s almost exclusively black we find a family owned Italian pizza place and a Korean owned convenience store. Even one is bored, hot, and listless. Tempers flare, tragedy strikes, when the chips fall who is left standing and who is to blame for what transpires?

The thing I appreciate about this movie is, while it’s not remotely subtle, it doesn’t entirely point the fingers of blame either. While it does lack in any subtlety it features neither cartoonishly villainous or heroic characters. Everyone is flawed, and everyone makes mistakes. It’s a story with no clear winners or losers because everyone comes out behind. It tells the story that you’ve got to do the right thing but sometimes there is no right thing and sometimes even if you do what is right you end up with a losing deck. Life isn’t simple and everything is complicated. Sometimes you want to fight the power but where do you turn when you’re surrounded by equally powerless people? Who do you fight then? How do you confront the enemy when it doesn’t have a face?

There are no clear answers to any of this. The story is left (mostly) unresolved and nothing gets wrapped up in a tidy bow. Apparently seeing this was Barack and Michelle Obama’s first date, which is hilarious to me because it features a decently long love scene complete with nudity. Also, the ending itself isn’t exactly one to inspire romance.

Overall I agree that it’s a worthy film and probably one of Spike’s best. It has a very clear message but isn’t too preachy or finger pointing. I watch it coming from a place of privilege and acknowledge that my perceptions of it are likely colored by that. What’s next on the list? Not sure yet!

Apocalypse Duck

I watched two of my movie list movies,  Duck Soup and Apocalypse Now. I had seen both movies in part or in whole but it had been many, many years.

Duck Soup was a cute little film. Coming in at just under an hour it’s basically a nonstop quip fest with a lot of physical comedy throughout. It’s 80 years old this year and holds up fairly well.  There are probably some references and jokes that are a bit dated, but it’s mostly barbed insults and goofy physical comedy so very little is lost in translation. It’s a silly little film and it’s very fun and engaging. I can see why it’s on the list.

Apocalypse Now. I feel like everything worth saying about this movie has already been said. Amazing performances from every single person involved. A lot of young babby actors in this! Laurence Fishburne, Harrison Ford, Dennis Hopper (probably my favorite character in the entire movie.) It absolutely deserves to be on the list. It was shocking and heartbreaking and brilliantly done. It makes me wonder, what happened to Coppola? His career kind of went into the toilet, didn’t it?

My Dad narrowly avoided Vietnam. He was 18/19 when it ended. It’s crazy to think that he very well could have served there because it was a war that STARTED before he was born. I’m very glad that he didn’t, I’m sure my Dad is all the more glad. He’s kind of a hippie and probably would have fled to Canada or Mexico or something.

A few interesting things: Martin Sheen was *39* when this came out. He looked much, much younger! I would have pegged him as mid-late 20s at the most. Much of the time I was marveling at how much him and Charlie look alike. Dead ringers! 7 years later his son would star in Platoon. Platoon is another Vietnam era war movie on the AFI list, and in fact one that Netflix suggested to me after watching AN. Charlie was only 21 in that. I’ll probably be watching Platoon this week as a sort of compare/contrast.