Tag Archives: 1970’s

#104- American Graffiti

Thanks Mom for the suggestion! You too (yes,you!) can suggest a movie for me to review by commenting on this blog post or emailing me at mabelsfa56@gmail.com Hurry now while supplies last!

Quick recap: A group of friends spend their last night cruising around town before heading off to college the next day. Shenanigans were had and life lessons were learned all around. A good time was had by all!

I'm not okay with these shenanigans, especially those done by 'Ronny' Howard

I’m not okay with these shenanigans, especially those done by ‘Ronny’ Howard

Fun (?) fact: The car from Two-Lane Blacktop  is driven by Bob Falfa at the end of the movie. American Graffiti was also shown as a double feature with The Sting when it was in theaters. I’m a little creeped out by all these connections between the movies I have just reviewed.

Also creeped out by Wolfman Jack

Also creeped out by Wolfman Jack

My thoughts: Despite (or maybe because of) watching several movies made in the 50s, I expected American Graffiti to be a little more ‘wholesome’ than what was actually shown. I wouldn’t consider this a drawback to the movie though, just a little surprising. Also doesn’t help that one of the stars is ‘Ronny Howard’. Really, Ronny? That’s the name you decided to go with to shed you of your wholesome image from The Andy Griffith Show? Nice try, buddy.

Without a doubt, this movie has one of the best soundtracks from those I have reviewed so far. There’s a nice selection of rock hits from The Beach Boys to Buddy Holly, an enjoyable time in American music before those damn Beatles had to come and ruin everything. I had only vaguely heard of Wolfman Jack before last night and what I pictured was nothing like what he ended up being. I had always assumed that pranking and ‘shock’ radio was a relatively modern invention but apparently not. I would’ve loved listening to Wolfman Jack back then, and it makes me a little nostalgic for djs like that nowadays. Podcasts have somewhat brought back the enjoyment of sitting and listening, but there aren’t too many djs out there like he was.

As for the actual movie, it all comes down to the fact that I didn’t really care for any of the characters. All of them were annoying in their own way and I didn’t really root for any of them, except maybe John, the tough guy with a heart of gold. All of the storylines were predictable, like the nerd finally getting the girl and Curt finally deciding to head to college. In the same respect, it is this predictability that makes this movie perfect for teens. I can very distinctly remember those last few days before heading to college several years ago, and all of the mixed emotions that went with it. All of my friends were attending different colleges than I was and it seemed terrifying to do something brand new. Steve (played by Ronny Howard) was the perfect example of all of the high school romances I knew and how important they seemed at the time.

What a bitchin' movie!

What a bitchin’ movie!

Final review: 4/5, but just barely. I hated the end when it was revealed that Milner died and The Toad was MIA. Total downer to a fun movie.

Up Next: The Golden Coach

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#103- Two-Lane Blacktop

Thanks to Andy (that guy I married) for suggesting this movie, although I’m a little disappointed it wasn’t literally about a road.

Quick recap: Two guys (called simply The Driver and The Mechanic) love to race cars. Like- REALLY love to race cars. There’s kind of a plot about a race to Washington DC with a rival car (G.T.O) but most of the movie is centered around the guys talking about cars, driving cars, or hitting on the hot hitchhiker they picked up (The Girl).

Whatcha thinking about? Oh,I dunno....car stuff, I guess.

Whatcha thinking about?
Oh,I dunno….car stuff, I guess.

Fun (?) fact: This was James Taylor’s and Dennis Wilson’s (of the Beach Boys) only acting performance.

My thoughts: One of my favorite activities the past few years has been to go out and drive around aimlessly for a few hours a couple of times a week. It relaxes me to no end sipping on a cup of coffee and listening to my music, not really caring where I end up. Two-Lane Blacktop captures aimless driving perfectly for me. The Driver and The Mechanic don’t need a reason to hit the road but they do because in their mind, what else is there to do?

It’s hard to put my finger on what I enjoyed so much about this movie, meaning I know EXACTLY why I enjoyed this movie so much: James Taylor and Dennis Wilson. I can’t say they did a superb acting job, unless you count staring as a sign of a great acting performance. If that were the case then they would win an Academy Award for sure. The thing is, Two-Lane Blacktop doesn’t call for much in the form of acting. The point of the movie is centered on a couple of guys who live and breathe cars. When they have to talk, which happens rarely, it is something technical about cars. The Mechanic is the more polite of the two, answering questions when The Girl decides to ride with them across the country, but of course he would be polite because he gets to answer questions about cars. The two seem telepathic at times, like when they stop for gas. The Driver gets what he needs and The Mechanic starts in on his job, fixing what needs to be done, all without saying a word. They never disagree or even ask each other’s opinion because they already know the answer.

G.T.O on the other hand, provides a great contrast to the Driver and The Mechanic. Although he has a very fast, flashy car, he knows next to nothing about it. When he meets up with the other two, he challenges them to a race across the country with the winner taking possession of both cars. For the most part, G.T.O stays focused on winning while the other two get off track several times. Either they know they would win anyway or they are just in the race because it means getting to be in the car even longer. At the end of the movie, everyone sort of forgets about the competition and stops to participate in a drag race.

My one issue with the movie was the ending, which just stops at some point while The Driver is in a drag race. It doesn’t bother me that there was no resolution to the plot about racing to Washington DC because even if there was a winner, The Driver and The Mechanic would’ve just continued on their way, although maybe with a different car. What bothered me was that I kept expecting the plot to build up to something and it didn’t. If I watched it again, I would know what to expect and just enjoy it.

Final review: 4/5. I’ve always thought that if I could choose a decade to live in, it would be the 60s but after watching Two-Lane Blacktop, I’m definitely meant for the 70s.

Up Next: American Graffiti, a movie about cars made in the 1970s. I’m starting to notice a trend here.

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#102- The Sting

Thanks to Vincent for requesting this movie. There’s nothing I love more than having ragtime stuck in my head for two days straight. 

Quick recap: After a close friend is murdered by a mobster, a couple of guys decide that the only course of action is to pull off a ridiculously complicated scheme.

from season 12- The Great Money Caper. All other seasons past 9 are dead to me.

from season 12- The Great Money Caper. All other seasons past 9 are dead to me.

Fun (?) fact: The Sting is based off the real exploits of brothers Charley and Fred Gondorf, who ran a scheme called ‘the wire’ in 1914. Their ‘mark’ testified against them and the brothers spent several years in prison. Neither learned a lesson and continued scheming people for several years to come.

My thoughts: I’m not usually a ‘blonde hair, blue eyes hunky guy’ sort of girl, but there is just something about Robert Redford that I absolutely adore. I haven’t seen many of his movies but after his performance in All the President’s Men, I was game for whatever. I didn’t love him as much in this role but he was still wonderful.  Paul Newman was excellent as well, and I would go so far as to say I enjoyed his role much more, but in the end it all goes back to Robert Redford.

the-sting-01

As for the actual story, I think I viewed this movie too late at night because I was thoroughly confused most of the time. Or maybe ‘the sting’ was to con the viewer all along. Maybe I was the mark??? Nah, it was most likely exhaustion. Anyway, as much as it annoyed me to not know what was going on most of the time, I also liked how everything came together at the very end. It was much easier to focus on the big picture rather than trying to catch each detail of the con. I think at some point I also realized that I would be a perfect mark if someone decided to con me. It’s fine to not focus on little things sometimes, but not when you are about to be swindled out of thousands of dollars.

What I loved most about The Sting was the style of the movie. The scene is early 1930’s Chicago and it looks like it for the most part, save for the ragtime music which was popular in the early 1900s. I really loved the segue to different scenes, using a card to announce what was about to happen. It was like I was being let in on the con, although I still had no clue how everything would go down.

I’m not sure I would consider Johnny Hooker (Redford) and Henry Gondorff (Newman) bad guys. They were certainly on a shadier side of the law, but compared to Doyle Lonnegan, the mobster, they were essentially harmless. The only violence on Hooker’s side was killing that one woman, but that was only because she was about to murder him. I’m curious if cons like this still go on because it seems like a much more clean way of revenge, although not very efficient. My answer is most likely no, because of Snopes. com, which ruins all the fun.

Final review: 4/5

Up next: Two Lane Blacktop. There is still time to suggest a movie you want to see reviewed! Just comment on this post or email at mabelsfa56@gmail.com.

The 1001 movies list

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#92- Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Quick recap: 

A_long_time_ago

Fun (?) fact: Han Salo doesn’t know and doesn’t care who shot first.

Calvin-and-Hobbes-Mashups-Star-Wars

My thoughts: So, I’m just going to get this off my chest: I loved Episode I. A little explanation first- I saw Episode IV for the first time in 8th grade, right before Episode I came out. Before then, I had always dismissed Star Wars as a silly sci-fi movie and would’ve never sought it out on my own had it not been for a few friends of mine. Once I saw the trilogy, I was hooked completely. So when Episode I came out a few months later, I got caught up in the hype. It never occurred to me (until much later) to think of Episode I as sort of awful because I was there as part of a community, not as a critic. I admit to buying Lay’s potato chips and Pepsi products simply because there was a Star Wars tie in (side note: I won a Queen Amidala phone from a potato chip bag and it was kind of a crummy phone considering she didn’t have too many catch phrases besides, ‘ I am Queen Amidala’). All that to say that I’ve always been afraid of revealing I like Star Wars because I don’t know the names of the ships or even many of the characters, yet I still love the series. Star Wars is the very epitome of American pop culture and I think there is something worth celebrating in that.

I’m not sure how many times I have seen Episode IV, although I doubt it is as much as Empire Strikes Back. Still, it has its merits, none of which I will be discussing here. Why? Simply because Star Wars has been analyzed in every corner of the internet at this point, even THAT corner. You know the one I’m talking about (I’m talking about the original Space Jam site which is STILL up, if you can believe it). My own analysis would add nothing to the conversation, plus I just don’t feel like researching to make sure I get every fact straight. Instead, I bring you a few stray observations:

  • Luke Skywalker is whiny. Annoyingly whiny. I had a slight crush on Mark Hamill as Luke but now I don’t see how that was possible because his character grated on my very last nerve this past viewing.
  • The special effects are still amazing and it blows my mind to think how much was done without a computer. I’ll add sadly that the only version available to watch from Netflix was the one with all the added CGI George Lucas thought would enhance the film. Spoiler alert, Lucas: No one sat in the movie theater in 1977 and thought, ‘yeah, Storm troopers are cool and all, but I just wish they were riding dinosaurs. That’s what this film is really lacking’.
  • I watched this movie with my 4 year old and this was his first time watching anything Star Wars related. I had high expectations he would enjoy it, but instead he was bored to tears because of the lack of Yoda.
  • And on that note, Episode IV was kind of boring overall. There was a lot of set up, which is important in the beginning of any series but not enough action for my taste.
  • The acting was hit and miss. Hit: Harrison Ford because he can do no wrong. Miss: Chewbacca.
  • My husband is in fact one of those Star Wars fans and spent the entire movie complaining once more about Episodes I-III. Anything can set those guys off.
  • The Force seems kind of hokey, now that I think about it. It really is a religion and that observation made the movie less fun, overall.

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Final review: 4/5. I’m anxiously awaiting Empire Strikes Back because it really is the best.

Up next: Meshes of the Afternoon

 

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