The French Connection

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

Original image located here. Accessed 28th June 2024

Best Picture Oscar winner no.: 44 (1971)

Hey, did you now that the director of The Exorcist made other movies? And he has a Best Director Oscar to his name?!

Okay, sarcasm aside, this is very much a product of it's time: the era of New Hollywood was underway and the Academy voters has discovered cynicism. And here we do indeed have a more realistic approach to film-making and film-makers more than willing to take risks. 

And it works. There's so many highlights I don't know where to start: Gene Hackman on fire. An opening scene that has our protagonist dressed as Santa Claus chasing down and beating up a guy. A detective protagonist that is less Dirty Harry and more Captain Ahab. An intense car chase that was famously illegally shot. Some truly stunning location photography. The template for countless police procedural movies to follow. And an ending that hits like a truck.

Speaking of which, is this the bleakest movie to win the Best Picture Oscar? One would think so but that's what makes it a unique entry compared to it's brethren. And all the better for it. 

McCabe and Mrs Miller

And this week's Friday Night movie has been... McCabe and Mrs Miller!

Original image located here. Accessed 19th May 2023

If there has been a theme in my movie watching for this year (thus far) it is me addressing my to-watch list: watching the stuff that have been on there for a long time, and finally striking said movies from the list.
And this is one such movie: No idea how long it's been on my to watch list so that's a good reason to watch it.

So what we have here is a western (not gonna complain there) but with a difference: This is a western that takes a realistic approach. Instead of deserts, we get snow. Instead of the gunslinger protagonist we have a gambler-turned-businessman. Instead of a desolate, weather beaten town, we have a village on the grow.
Indeed it is that refusal to go with the grain of tried and tested western conventions that is the main strengths of this movie. And that the movie is beautifully shot is an added bonus.
The best moment for me is the final showdown, which plays much differently than one would expect and where the tension is milked for every drop.
So yeah, it's different but it's certainly compelling

A Clockwork Orange

And this week's Friday night movie has been... A Clockwork Orange!

Original image located here. Accessed 9th September 2020

This may surprise a number of you readers but I have never seen this movie. Sure I have seen parts of it but I have never seen it all the way through - and not doing so seems dishonest to this serial and myself as a cinema geek. Ironic that this particular movie has a reputation as being one of the most difficult to get through.
Furthermore, this is another case of a movie being so well known that it's reputation precedes it (seems it's something of a touchstone for both film snobs and the anti-sociable). And I have always been suspicious of such proprieties: How can you judge a work on your own terms when it has a weight of a reputation so large that it can't hope to live up to such expectations? (Yes Firefly, I am looking at you).
Finally, there is the issue of shock tactics. For me, the greatest enemy of shock tactics isn't the straight-laced complainers who protest them -- No, it's the march of time. Because the march of time brings copycats who will either replicate the same approach (to some extent) or try to surpass the original to the point where the original looks toothless.
With such factors in mind (whether we like it or not), how do we assess A Clockwork Orange?

In all honesty, i have seen worse.
It may be a bold claim but i this lifetime, I have seen countless movies, a lot of anime, many a music video on rage and a whole lotta weird stuff on SBS.
So yeah, I've see things.

But given the passage of time, I have to admit that there is still some bite in this movie. The art design is extraordinary, the vision of the future is both bleak and plausible, the satire hits with precision and the movie still looks relevant nearly half a century later.
It may be easy to slam Stanley Kubrick for being self-indulgent (seriously how much phallic imagery can you cram into one movie?) but it certainly stands head and shoulders above it's followers. Amusing one moment and downright disturbing the next, this isn't the type of movie I see myself revisiting but at least i can say that I've seen it.
Also, the sci-fi nerd in me finds it funny to see David Prowse in this movie.

Wake in Fright

And this week's Friday night movie has been.....Wake in Fright (Outback)!

Original image located here. Accessed 31st August 2018

Yes it's one of the classics of Australian cinema. For those not in the know, it was made in 1971 and was something of a touchstone of Australian horror - or something.

So yeah, this was not the easiest thing in the world to watch. It was horrific, unsettling and does indeed display the uglier side of Australia for overseas viewing. Unfortunately, for Aussie's like myself, some people here are indeed like this.

Still, it is interesting to note that Wake in Fright came out the same year as Walkabout and both films were about the Australian outback. But whereas the latter was haunting, the former was hellish. And this from a Canadian director.
Not exactly a positive image of this country for an overseas audience eh?

Walkabout

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

Original image located here. Accessed 1st September 2017

Behold! Scenery Porn: the Movie!
Okay seriously, much has been written about how this movie was a major milestone in Australian cinema, how it portrayed the Australian wilderness and the improvisational nature of the movie (ie the script was just 14 pages of hand-written notes). What can i add to it?

Well it was a passion project of Nicholas Roeg to make a movie that shows off the Australian landscape and to that end he succeeds. Sure there are some odd directorial choices and some puzzling diversions but I felt the movie was at it's strongest when it focused on the three primary characters and the journey they take, discussed the conflict between civilization and nature and, again, the photography.

Mind you, being an Australian, I have seen this type of imagery a gazillion times before as depictions of what Australia is. Therefore it is nice to know that this was where such advertising began.
So in the end, it was a peculiar movie but strangely hypnotic