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Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Essential Wilder
Billy Wilder had a long and much-honored career as a director. He made some of the best light comedies of his or any other era, but his best and most essential films pushed the boundaries of Hollywood at the time. From The Long Weekend's devastating look at the reality of alcoholism, to the frank discussion of changing societal norms in The Apartment, to making Holmes and Watson homosexual lovers in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, Wilder was always breaking new ground in what could be shown on the big screen.
Sunset Blvd. may be his crowning achievement in boundary pushing, just because it is one of the most savage attacks on the mythos of Hollywood ever created. He spares no expense to bite the hands that feeds him, digging way deep beyond the glamor and into the reality of stars, former stars, and wannabes. The casting is dead-on, with Gloria Swanson and Ericj von Stroheim in particular--they had both been eaten up by the Hollywood system some time before 1950.
Sunset Blvd's self-reflexive deconstruction of Hollywood myth would be enough by itself, but it's actually just one layer of many in a truly great film. It's also a fairly gripping detective story, downright funny in moments, and absolutely horrific in others--Swanson's famous "I'm ready for my closeup, Mr. Demille" in particular can still send shivers down your spine. Besides being one of the all-time great directors, Wilder was a hell of a writer who collaborated with some of the best screenwriters in the business; his long partnership with I.A.L. Diamond is legendary, but this is the last of 13 collaborations with Charles Brackett, who brought just the right amount of pathos and tragedy to the script, no doubt aided by his experience working behind the camera in Hollywood for years.
If you are a film buff or a student of Golden Age Hollywood, you will likely add Sunset Blvd. to your list of all-time greatest movies, but you don't have to be a film student to enjoy it either. It's dramatic, funny, chilling, and really just a joy to watch unfold. Many great films of the late 1940s and early 1950s are still enjoyable to this day, but even the best of them can seem somewhat dated today. Not so with Sunset Blvd., which is as potent and stunning as it was in 1950. One of the all-time best films, Sunset Blvd. is highly recommended viewing.
Zabriskie Point (1970)
Let's be honest folks...
All of the reviews here about how much ZP lacks plot, the acting is wooden, the orgy scene makes no sense, etc., all miss the main point.
Let's be honest. This is a movie made in the heady times of late 1960s and early 1970s Los Angeles. It is a movie meant to be watched while your are H-I-G-H out of your mind on some psychedelic substance.
Find some kind bud and smoke up, or get a mild hit of acid. Seriously, these straight and sober reviews of ZP miss the point. You can't get anything out of this movie in a straight frame of mind.
Until you've watched this movie on the big screen (which I am lucky to have done three times in the 1990s when ZP was quite rare) tripping out, you have no idea what this movie is all about.
If you insist on watching it not intoxicated, you can at least appreciate the ending when the crap blows up to the soundtrack of Pink Floyd's wonderful re-working of "Careful With That Axe, Eugene," "Come in Number 51, Your Time Is Up."
The Last Movie (1971)
Great film that gets better with age
Hopper's second directorial effort was doomed to cult status from the start. But, starting with the post-modern film school generation of the 1990s, it has started to get its just due. This is a challenging film to a viewer of any sort, but is a fascinating piece of art nonetheless.
The only thing I have to add is a reaction to some other commenters. Anyone suggesting that this film should have been edited into chronological order, or not have jump cuts, or the "Scene Missing" title cards is clearly missing the point. One of the major themes of the film is the artifice of Hollywood film-making, and having those illusions disrupted is key to the film's impact. Granted, theses are tricks lifted from the French New Wave, but they are put to great use here.
Seventeen (1983)
Incredible documentary
I can't do much but repeat what the other two reviews have said. This is an amazing, thought-provoking piece of cinema verite. From the team who brought us the incredible "Demon Lover Diaries" comes this biting insight into the life of teens in middle America.
I first saw this my freshman year in college. I loved its naturalistic style, and it reminded me of my own growing up in Midwestern USA.
I saw it again in another class a couple of years later, and with a little bit of perspective, I enjoyed it even more for the filmmakers' incredible ability to capture their subjects without any influence or changing the subjects' actions.
As others have mentioned, it was commissioned by PBS as a part of a series on Muncie, Indiana, which had been named the "population center" of the United States at the time, and therefore truly "Middle America." Other documentary filmmakers made pieces for this series that were more conventional looks at the town and its history. One thing that I do think other reviewers have wrong is saying that PBS did not air this. At both screenings I attended, it was stated that it did air on PBS once, but was pulled from further re-broadcasts of the "Middle America"/"Muncie" series.
Any bootlegs you can find (and they are rare, even by bootleg standards) come from this initial PBS broadcast, more than likely. I consider myself extremely lucky to have seen this on the big screen (at USC) not once, but twice, and it has left an indelible mark on my memory. If you get ANY chance to see it, buy it, borrow it, etc., do not miss the opportunity.
Myra Breckinridge (1970)
Could have been great
If director Mike Sarne would have had about six months more, Myra Breckinridge could have been great. As anyone familiar with the source would agree, adapting Gore Vidal's novel would have been a challenge for anyone. Unfortunately, Sarne blew his time filiming food for days at a time.
The remains of a great movie are there, but it's only that--rubble underneath a giant disaster. First, Sarne let John Huston's contracted time on the set come and go without shooting ample coverage for Huston's scenes. Then he forced Fox into shutting the production down and demanding a first cut.
That's why the movie is padded with (mostly random and inappropriate) clips from old Hollywood movies. Something had to be put in to patch together a movie that was only half shot, at best. The amazing part was that Fox released it as-is, instead of scrapping it or brining in another director for damage control.
The end result is the original "train wreck of a movie." And as you watch the it, that's really the feeling you get. What a glorious disaster!
Despite how inept it is, you really can't fault any of the actors. Welch is fantastic in the title role, and the rest of the cast is all credible, considering how little they were given to work with. That is, other than Mae West, who was a bad idea from the start.
On Huston's last day of shooting, he left the set and proclaimed "you'll never cut it together!" This was oh-so true, as the final product is more pasted together than cut together, like a real motion picture.
Most will dismiss it as awful, but those willing to look for "what could have been" will find something to enjoy. Even with it's awful reputation, this is still an iconoclastic movie.
Rocky V (1990)
One of the worst films of the 90s
The Rocky series proves the Law of Diminishing Returns: each sequel only gets worse and worse. Rocky IV was hardly even a movie, but more a long series of music videos. Rocky V is the last insult, an unpleasant and implausible return to Rocky's "roots."
All of the characters have been stripped of their good virtues. Instead of Rocky being endearingly dumb, he's now gratingly dumb; instead of Adrian being the silent but strong one, she's annoyingly shrill. As far as the new characters, Tommy Morrison has all the charisma of a leaky toilet. And don't even get me started on the ersatz Don King character!
Rocky's quick riches-to-rags story is so incredibly unbelievable. It's one thing to return Rocky to the setting of the first film, but you've got to wonder what made Stallone and Avlidsen think the fans would enjoy seeing the Balboas living in total squalor and ignorance. Like this would have ever happened anyway. Even in the pre-VH1 and E! days, Rocky could have stayed out of the poorhouse by selling his story to news and entertainment outlets.
This is just the tip of the iceberg in a film that asks the viewer to make so many leaps of faith (Rocky Jr. aged 10 years while Rocky was in the USSR?). Even if you can make these concessions, the story that remains is so very unpleasant. It's obvious they wanted to make it "gritty" like the first one, but by 1990 Stallone and Avildsen had none of the heart and soul that made the series work in the first place.
A Safe Place (1971)
A beautiful relic of its time
Only in the post-"Easy Rider" early 1970s could a film like this be made by a major Hollywood studio. Totally devoid of anything resembling a plot, "A Safe Place" will probably seem incomprehensible to most. But if you already have an appreciation for the 1950s-1960s works of Fellini, Antonioni or Godard, come on in. You'll feel right at home in this "Safe Place."
Henry Jaglom was the unsung hero amongst the circle of friends that brought us "Head," "Easy Rider," "Five Easy Pieces," and several other lesser-known classics of the era. Jaglom is more responsible for the success of "Easy Rider" than Dennis Hopper, as he took Hopper's three-hour cut--a mishmash of flashbacks, flash-forwards and art- damaged nonsense--and shaped it into the legendary film it is today. His close relationship with Hopper, Jack Nicholson, Bob Rafelson, Bert Schneider, and others gave him a chance to write and direct his own movie for Columbia Pictures.
Jaglom in turn delivered this dream narrative starring Tuesday Weld as a young woman who copes by retreating into isolationism and fantasy. Orson Welles pops up here and there as a magician who represents a physical emodiment of her retreat from the world. Or does he only exist in her head?
It's best not to ask questions like that. Free your mind, sit back, and take in the feeling and mood. Where Hopper failed with his cut of "Easy Rider" and "The Last Movie", Jaglom effortlessly succeeds with such lofty and artsy ambitions. "A Safe Place" coasts by like a gentle dream in an afternoon nap--full of beautiful, detached imagery, illogical but comforting.
"A Safe Place" is a beautiful relic of a brief time in American cinema. Even Jaglom-- always on the fringe of mainstream cinema--would never make anything like this again, as he later developed the documentary/verite style which has become his trademark.
George Lucas in Love (1999)
Go, Joe...
I attended USC film school and had CNTV 241 (the entry-level film production class) with Joe Nussbaum, the director and co-writer of this short film. I used to borrow his tripods and lights all the time...
Even though we were shooting on Super 8 at the time (now they shoot iMovies in CNTV 241), Joe was at the head of our class at crafting funny, memorable narratives in little short films. When George Lucas in Love became a surprise hit a few years ago, I wasn't surprised at all. For me, it was a continuation of the incredible filmmaking talent Nussbaum displayed at USC a few years back.
I remember reading Nussbaum got a feature film deal shortly after this short was made, but it seems that never came to pass. Que sera sera, but still keep your eyes out for him, as his talent is too strong to lay dormant forever. Even if you never get the chance to see his Super 8 comedy masterpiece The Whiz, like I did a couple of times back in 1994, you can watch and enjoy this very sharp and funny short.
Como Era Gostoso o Meu Francês (1971)
A unique film experience- Contains Spoiler
How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman tells a story that is alternately sad, scary and life-affirming. It ends with a brutal finale that you knew had to happen, even though you were hoping--maybe even beleiving--it wouldn't.
Utlimately, this is the film's greatest strength: it expertly plays with your emotions and expectations, then drops a bomb on you.
I saw this in a film theory class at USC back in the mid-'90s. It is not easy to find, but is definitely worth hunting for.
Como Era Gostoso o Meu Francês (1971)
A unique film experience- Contains Spoiler
How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman tells a story that is alternately sad, scary and life-affirming. It ends with a brutal finale that you knew had to happen, even though you were hoping--maybe even beleiving--it wouldn't.
Utlimately, this is the film's greatest strength: it expertly plays with your emotions and expectations, then drops a bomb on you.
I saw this in a film theory class at USC back in the mid-'90s. It is not easy to find, but is definitely worth hunting for.