How Green Was My Valley

And this week's Friday night movie has been... How Green Was My Valley!

Original image located here. Accessed 9th February 2024

Best Picture Oscar winner no.: 14 (1941)

I'm over a month into this year-long undertaking and already something has become clear: The Best Picture Oscars are not necessarily awarded to the best movies, more what was popular at the time.
Having said that I will never understand the hate that Shakespeare in Love gets. Are people really salty that it achieved an upset victory over Saving Private Ryan? And going by that logic, do people hate Moonlight for winning over La La Land?
So what has the above got to do with this movie? Well folks, it's the one that beat out Citizen Kane for the Best Picture Oscar.

Sadly this one didn't do much for me. The trials and tribulations of a Welsh mining town may sound like potential for a compelling narrative but it simply didn't connect with me. Maybe it's because the movie is showing it's age, or maybe the portrayal of the Welsh as singing drunks or maybe it's how depressing life as a Welsh miner really is.
Am I missing something here?
Oh well...

Stagecoach

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

Original image located here. Accessed 26th June 2020

I'm going after one of the big ones here today folks. I won't say no to a western and this is one of the big ones: The 1939 classic that was John Wayne's breakthrough role and the movie that elevated the western into a genre to be taken seriously.

Clearly the strength of this movie relies on three things: First up, is the characters. They are all well-realized, well-written and a stunning example of how to make the most of a small cast within a limited/restricted location.
Secondly, is the stunning scenery, that would become a trademark of John Ford's later movies (The Searchers anyone?). It looks as wide and empty as one would expect the frontier to look.
And thirdly is the stunning climax where the coach is under attack. It is tense, well shot and exciting. Indeed, one gets the impression this scene was one that has been studied by many a filmmakers ever since and has been alluded to in many an action movie.

It may be easy to dismiss this movie given it's age but, given the path it beat down, this is one movie that, quite rightly, demands respect. Furthermore. it is interesting to pick up elements that would be replicated countless times thereafter.
I always find it a gamble to talk about a movie from the 'classic' era (ie pre-1970/New Hollywood/Star Wars) but in this case, the gamble has paid off

The Searchers

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

Original image located here. Accessed 2nd August 2019

Once again I find myself facing down one of the titans: One of the oft-mentioned, undisputed classics, frequented-referenced-in-best-of-list of cinema. It's an intimidating prospect indeed but am i up to the task?

Well much has been written of Ethan, John Wayne's character, and how much he is, in fact, a racist. I won't deny that but I personally think that if the movie made me involved in the character's arc then it must've done something right. Having said that, what makes this movie compelling is that it's looking through the genre of the western through a grey lens. There are no black hats/white hats that are so common in the genre and honestly? The movie is all the better for it.

Ultimately however the real star of the movie is the setting. It may be shot in Utah Arizona but it never ceases to astonish. It's colossal, staggering and mind-slowing in it's bareness. There's no green-screen whatsoever and leaves a lot of modern movies for dead.

So yes facing this movie was indeed an intimidating prospect but it still holds up, even with the distance of sixty years (that final shot being a particular stand out). So in the end, this movie has a well-earned reputation.
Truly epic in every sense of the word.