Three years and still going with Citizen Kane, Shane, Taxi Driver and The Searchers

 You read that right, it's been three years since I began this compulsion to write about Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated films, which then began including any movie (because you never know, it might be nominated) and then various live performances that I have seen. There's really no science or training involved, it's just a way to share my opinions and thoughts, maybe get you to see a movie you would otherwise miss or maybe prevent you from wasting 2 or more hours of your life. You're welcome. One of the things that has happened since I started blogging is people are always asking me what's the best movie I've seen lately or have I seen "Centipede Man" or whatever it was (um, no). It's nice and flattering, but I sometimes want to say just read the blog, but the truth is many times I actually can't remember what I've watched once I've written about it. In a good month I will watch 15-20 movies, maybe go to one or two live performances and maybe read a book connected with a movie I've seen. Paraphrasing IT support, I have to periodically clear my cache, which means I don't actually remember everything. Putting it into perspective, over the pat three years I have watched and reviewed: 362 Oscar-winning movies (out of 1196 winners), dozens of Oscar-nominated films, 59 out of 100 of the AFI 100 Best films, 102 out of 625 films on the National Film Registry and 32 of 100 from the newly added BBC top 100 American films. Without further ado, I will begin adding to the list.

8/12/15 Shane, Best Cinematography, Color, 1953, #45 AFI, National Film Registry

Shane is a Western starring Alan Ladd as Shane, Van Heflin and Jean Arthur as Joe and Marian Starrett, Brandon DeWilde as their son, Joey and Jack Palance as Jack Wilson. Shane is a mysterious stranger in Wyoming who is befriended by Joey and his parents who are struggling to establish their homestead despite threats from cattle rancher Rufus Ryker. George Stevens (Giant, Diary of Anne Frank) directed and the award winning cinematography was done by Loyal Griggs (The Ten Commandments) and the outdoor scenes, especially against the mountains, was really breathtaking. The story of the conflict between ranchers and homesteaders isn't exactly new, nor is the mysterious stranger aspect, but I liked the way Ladd didn't overwhelm a scene with a macho act, but he also wasn't afraid to throw a punch and his/Shane's interaction with Joey was fun and a little heartbreaking to watch. Brandon DeWilde was fun to watch, he had some of the best facial expressions, during the fight at the general store/saloon where Shane and Big Joe take on Ryker's men, his eyes get as big as saucers. There was a sexual tension between Marian and Shane and some dialog that makes me think something was edited out. DeWilde and Palance were both nominated for Best Supporting Actor that year but lost to Frank Sinatra in From Here To Eternity. I really liked this movie, not really appreciating the influence that it had on other film makes, just enjoying the scenery, the action and the acting which is a lot more than I can say for our next movie, The Searchers.

8/13/15 The Searchers, 1956 #96 AFI, National Film Registry, #5 BBC

I am at a loss. This has to be one of the worst or at least not interesting movies I have watched in a while, but it's on three out of four of my lists. The Searchers stars John Wayne as Ethan Edwards, a veteran of the Civil War who returns to his family in West Texas, leaves to chase some rustled cattle, then comes back to his brother's home to find some of the family killed, except for the two girls who are believed to have been captured by the Comanches. Ethan and the family's adopted son, Martin Pawley, set off to find the girls. To say Ethan doesn't really like Martin is a gross understatement, and a lot of the movie has the two of them bickering and quarreling. The movie covers several years, and it just was exhausting. The end, I thought, was ridiculously anti-climatic as they find Ethan's niece, Debbie (Natalie Wood), now a member of a Comanche tribe and unwilling to go home. The Searchers was directed by John Ford, but that's not enough for me to say why it's considered a masterpiece, compared to Stagecoach or True Grit, both which starred John Wayne; I also do not get Ethan Edwards as a compelling character. You can watch it if you want or have a list, but otherwise, skip it.

8/14/15 Citizen Kane, Best Writing - Original Screenplay, 1941, #1 AFI, National Film Registry, #1 BBC

The Battle Over Citizen Kane, 1996

This is the granddaddy of them all, co-written, directed and produced by Orson Welles and starring him as the titular Kane. There is probably as much written about the movie as there is about the making of the movie and the battle with William Randolph Hearst. The story of Charles Foster Kane is told in a series of flashbacks, relying on the memories of Kane's closest associates and employees; Kane is modeled on several wealthy men of the period, most notably Hearst, and along those lines, Kane becomes a powerful newspaper publisher. The movie follows Kane as he leaves his home in Colorado with his parents to move east to become the ward of wealthy banker, Walter Parks Thatcher. Kane buys a struggling paper with great aspirations to use the paper to lift the poor and protect those who cannot protect themselves, one of the great muckrakers. Kane later marries the niece of the President and we see the marriage deteriorate over a period of years through a montage. Kane later builds a castle called Xanadu where his second wife is practically kept captive. Over the years, we see Kane go from a vibrant young man who loved life and everything it had to offer to a controlling unhappy man, convinced that he could buy and build his happiness, when he is really just miserable. Kane and his closest friend, Jedidiah Leland (Joseph Cotton) eventually grow apart as Leland doesn't approve of Kane's manipulation of events to create headlines. I liked how the story unfolded and it reminded me a little of Rebecca (lately a lot of movies remind me of Rebecca) because we only learn about Kane from his associates, nothing is firsthand knowledge, and you'll have to figure out who or what Rosebud is for yourself. You may or may not be impressed with Citizen Kane, but the filming techniques used at the time were very innovative, and when you also consider that Orson Welles was directing and starring in his first film, coming from his radio career ("War of the Worlds") and the Mercury Theater group and also that most of the actors in the film had never acted in films before, oh and that Welles was 26 when Citizen Kane was completed. Welles is very dashing and handsome and has a great speaking voice, I enjoyed just listening to him. Watching Citizen Kane is almost prerequisite for film buffs as much for the techniques and the story but also to watch a genius at work, a genius that never reached that height again, and to see the film that has influenced so many directors.

I was fortunate that with the library's copy of Citizen Kane a copy of The Battle Over Citizen Kane was included. This documentary talks about the fight between William Randolph Hearst and Orson Welles over the release of Citizen Kane. It takes the viewer back to 1941 and puts into historical context Hearst's power and influence and Welles' stubbornness and artistic vision. It was very helpful.

8/22/15 Taxi Driver, 1976 #52 AFI, National Film Registry, #19 BBC

Almost everyone who watches movies is familiar with the character of Travis Bickle and his famous line "You talking to me?" even if they haven't seen the movie itself. Robert DeNiro stars as Travis Bickle, a former Marine who looks for an overnight job to cope with his insomnia and finds one driving a taxi in some of the seedier parts of New York City. Some of the people that Bickle meets include Wizard (Peter Boyle) a long-time taxi driver, Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) who is a campaign worker for presidential candidate Charles Palantine and Iris (a young Jodie Foster) a prostitute who is pimped by Matthew (Harvey Keitel). Unlike Charles Foster Kane who we only see through the eyes of others, we see what Travis sees although we don't always understand the relevance of it to him, and we don't really know a lot about his past; and we gradually see Travis lose his grip on reality as he clumsily pursues Betsy, taking her to a Swedish sex film. You get the feeling that he really doesn't think there's anything wrong or perverted about it and he doesn't understand why she is so upset. This rejection leads him to try to assassinate Palantine, perhaps trying to win back Betsy. As this is going on, he also meets Iris, a young prostitute who gets in his cab but his roughly grabbed out by Matthew. Something about her affects Travis and he seeks her out, not for sex, but to try and help her escape her life of sex and drugs. Foster isn't in the film as much as DeNiro, but when she is onscreen you are drawn to watching her, her wise-beyond-her years attitude seems natural and not pretend. Bickle has a sense of right and wrong, that in some way is innocent and in others very judgmental; given the time period, it's possible that Bickle was in Vietnam, all we really get from the film (not notes in Wikipedia or special features) is that Travis was a Marine, not if he experienced the horrors of combat. I had a preconception that Bickle was a raving psychopath, and he may be unbalanced, but DeNiro exerts a control over the character that makes you want to watch and see what happens next. Foster and DeNiro were both nominated for Oscars, and in one of the most befuddling wins, Beatrice Straight won that year for her less than 10 minutes on screen in Network, beating out Foster, but also Jane Alexander in All the President's Men and Piper Laurie in Carrie - crazy. DeNiro lost out to Peter Finch, also from Network; both men played very emotionally stressed characters, maybe Bickle was too much at that time. I don't want to tell you how the movie ends, because it was kind of a surprise to me and if you haven't seen it, you should, and I don't want to ruin it. Taxi Driver was directed by Martin Scorcese and written by Paul Shrader, a team that would work together several more times. Scorcese captures the New York City of the 1970s which was gritty and makes it as much a character as Bickle or Iris.