(#17) Watch 25 Classic Movies
1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
2. A Streetcar Named Desire
3. It's a Wonderful Life
4. Some Like it Hot
5. The Terminator
6. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
7. The Princess Bride
8. Ben-Hur
9. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
10. Sixteen Candles
11. Blade Runner
12. The Natural
13. Chariots of Fire
14. The Graduate
Okay, time to kick into high gear with the movie watching. Here are three I've watched in the last week, none of which are particularly interesting enough to necessitate their own article.
The Natural
The Natural is the story of Roy Hobbs, a talented pitcher who for "mysterious reasons" (which the viewers know but other characters don't) doesn't make it to the big leagues until he is in his 30s (which apparently is old for a baseball player). With Robert Redford, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, and Kim Basinger it has a ridiculously star-studded cast, but a plot that kind of goes nowhere.
*Spoilers Below*
Why did that woman shoot Roy Hobbs? Unless I was asleep during that revelation we never real find out, other than that she had some kind of vendetta against successful athletes. If "The Judge" was really that powerful, why didn't he just have Roy Hobbs killed?When did Roy and Iris conceive their child, and how did she keep it a secret all those years?
The questions leave us dangling at the end of a complicated story that goes nowhere.
Also its a movie about baseball so...there's that.
Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire follows a Jewish man and a Christian missionary competing for the British team in track in the 1924 Olympics. Obviously the story focuses on the two men's struggles with their faith. As a Jewish man Harold Abrahams has never felt accepted as a true Englishman. And even though Eric Liddell runs for God's glory, some of the more conservative Christian members of his family feel his running takes away from his missionary work.
The two men race once before the Olympics and Liddell wins, causing an intense existential crisis for Abrahams. Then of course we expect the Olympics to be the great rematch, complete with that song that made this movie famous.
Spoiler Alert: They don't ever race again.
It is literally the most anti-climactic thing I have ever seen.
Liddell refuses to race in a qualifying heat because it takes place on the Sabbath. So he winds up switching to another race which Abrahams isn't in. Abrahams wins but never gets the chance to prove himself against Liddell. And then everyone is satisfied with this and goes home.
I guess this is the danger with making a movie based on a true story. Plots in real life don't always wrap up as neatly as we would hope.
Ronnie and I are most confused about the song. It has come to mean something that it does not mean in the movie. It is not even played during a big race- only during a training session.
Here it is if you can't think of how it goes. But don't bother getting pumped up by it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY3XiM7oGj0
The Graduate
Speaking of things that weren't quite what I expected them to be, The Graduate does not fit the modern day idea of a romantic comedy. Dustin Hoffman starts having an affair with one of his mother's friends, Mrs. Robinson, but then winds up falling for Mrs. Robinson's daughter. A potentially comical situation that actually turns out to be more of a drama about the meaning of life and finding true love.
Also a little bit about stalking. And rape accusations. So yeah, less funny.
Since this movie was made in 1967 it was interesting to compare themes from then and now. Nowadays graduating college is less about figuring out what to do while lounging in a pool and more about figuring out how many jobs you need to work to pay off that mound of student loan debt. Affairs between men and women seldom involve the women needing help with their zippers and garters. And marriage is certainly not something women go to Berkeley to achieve.
Then again, some themes transcend time. Like the feeling of love that comes from someone who just gets you for who you are, without you having to explain yourself. Someone who doesn't have to jump into bed with you and is just happy driving around in the rain, eating cheeseburgers.
One last thing I should mention: if you don't like Simon and Garfunkel, you probably shouldn't bother watching this movie. If I hear "Mrs. Robinson" one more time I'm going to lose it.
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