The Graduate

And this week's Friday night movie has been.....The Graduate!

Original image located here. Accessed 29th June 2018

It's been fifty one years since this movie was first released. Fifty one years! Considering the ravager that is Time (and how people these days would associate The Sound of Silence more with Sad Affleck), how does this movie hold up?

Well the acting is great, I like the scenes of repartee and this is definitely a document of the counter-culture/rebelliousness that defined much of the 1960s.
But is this the romantic-comedy this film has been pitched as? I think not. Maybe I'm viewing this through the lens of age and experience but Ben doesn't resonate with me that much. He's not interested in his future, he just wants to rebel against the confines of his life. And he does - but, as that last shot indicates, he's not sure what to do next. And he, along with Elaine, are both stuck with nowhere to go from there.

So in a way, I don't get The Graduate as a rom-com - in fact not as a comedy at all. It's something different. And more substantial.

"Hello darkness my old friend..."

Ride the High Country

And this week's Friday night movie has been.....Ride the High Country!

Original image located here. Accessed 15th June 2018

Behold: Sam Peckinpah's breakthrough movie. It's the one that set him on a path that led to later triumphs and features some recurring themes.....that would become recurring.
I have to admit that compared to some of Peckinpah's later work (the Wild Bunch and Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid) this seems more sedate. But that by no means makes it a bad movie: one gets the impression that Peckinpah wanted to prove>what he could do before he began stockpiling his shock tactics.

And prove he does: Great cinematography, excellent acting, some truly amazing scenery shots and the most bonkers wedding I've ever seen (or at least one of them).

Say Anything

And this week's Friday night movie has been.....Say Anything!

Original image located here. Accessed 8th June 2018

Being a thirty something, I have no place assessing teen-movies - largely because I ceased being a teen a long time ago. But I will give props to any movie that attempts to portray teenagers as....well....teenagers. And this is one of those movies that succeeds in that goal. So yeah, I enjoyed this one. It's also interesting to note that this movie came out the same decade as The Breakfast Club - which also succeeded in showing teenagers be teenagers. Both movies succeed in this goal so much whereas a lot of teen movies that have followed in their wake have failed. Kinda makes you wonder what happened there....

It may be easy to dismiss a twenty-nine year old movie through the lens of the present and say it's all about stalking. But I never got that vibe. If anything, it's more showing teens going through the ups and downs of romance and finding a future career - and seeing if someone else fits into the future one is building.
However in the wake of the world-changing MeToo movement, I have to admit that it would be interesting to see how this kind of movie (guy who genuinely wants a r/ship trying to win woman over) would be made today.

Solo: A Star Wars Story

And this week's Friday night movie has been.....Solo: A Star Wars Story!

Original image located here. Accessed 1st June 2018

I have discovered two things with the entrants in the Star Wars franchise: a) every movie that has followed Empire Strikes Back has divided audiences like no other and b) those which challenge the template set by Lucas and take risks come out stronger (ie Rogue One, Knights of the Old Republic and Clone Wars). So how does this one match up, production dramas and all?

Actually it was pretty good. Sure there are some dodgy lines, sure there are some lousy cinematography and sure there are moments where it shows it's origins as a movie made by a director who was switched partway through. But it's an enjoyable romp and loaded with some actions scenes that somehow come as a relief after the dour Last Jedi and Rogue One. There's some callbacks and some decent character moments and it was a lot of fun.

Not much more I can say except I suddenly want a remake of Star Wars: Droids - only one that has, instead of R2D2 and C3PO, the adventures of L3-37, K-2SO and HK-47