1/15/16 In the Heat of the Night, Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Best Writing Adapted Screenplay, 1967 #75 AFI, National Film Registry
So, the movie was made 48 years ago, in the midst of the American Civil Rights movement, with two of the greatest actors at that time, and perhaps ever. One was nominated for Best Actor and won, and the other was not even nominated, not for this movie or the other big movie he was in, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Rod Steiger won Best Actor and Sidney Poitier was not even nominated. Seriously. If I was a cynic, I would say things haven't changed all that much in Hollywood. 1967 was a great year for films, nominated films included Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Cool Hand Luke (a favorite of mine; Newman lost out to Steiger), The Graduate, Bonnie and Clyde (ack), and Camelot among others. Virgil Tibbs (Poitier) finds himself as the prime suspect in the murder of a wealthy man in Sparta, Mississippi. The problem is Virgil is black and the victim is white (although from Chicago) and Mississippi is in the South. Virgil shortly proves that he is actually a police detective from Philadelphia, and is ordered by his superior officer to stay and help Chief Gillespie (Steiger) solve the murder. Tibbs and Gillespie have a strained relationship at best, with Tibbs upsetting, well actually smacking, a wealthy scion of the community, who also happens to be a remnant from the antebellum South. Tibbs finds himself surrounded by violent racist members of the community on more than one occasion. The movie as a movie is a murder mystery that needs to be solved by the stranger; the stranger happens to be a Northerner and black, which adds to the tension. Norman Jewison directed In The Heat of the Night and a little over 15 years later he directed another murder mystery that includes race relations and another great black actor, Denzel Washington. Steiger digs into the gum-chewing, drawling chief Gillespie who may not be a card carrying member of the NAACP, but he's also pragmatic and realizes that Tibbs may bring some detection skills to the case. Steiger is as explosive as Poitier is cool and restrained, we only see Tibbs really lose his temper once; he handles the indignities of being called 'boy' with a controlled anger, he tells Gillespie that "They call me Mister Tibbs" back in Philadelphia. Poitier and Steiger are a study in contrasts and I really enjoyed the scenes they did together, watching two geniuses at work. You cannot go wrong watching this movie, ever.
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| Philadelphia Art Museum |
1/16/16 Rocky, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Film Editing, 1976, #57 AFI, National Film Registry
You cannot even think about Rocky Balboa and not hear that theme music. Rocky has become part of the American pantheon, the man who makes his dream come true and gets the girl. I saw the original years ago, and honestly, was, like, meh, and I think I have maybe seen one of the sequels, so I wanted to see if I had changed or at least I could have some appreciation for the king of underdog movies. And, I guess I was motivated because Creed is a continuation of the Rocky saga and Sylvester Stallone has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor (however, Michael B. Jordan, playing Apollo Creed's son, was not nominated). Anyway, back to the movie at hand, Rocky. Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is a boxer in Philadelphia who is sort of successful, but never really got that big break. He still fights, but he also acts as the muscle for a local loan shark. Rocky likes Adrian (Talia Shire), who works at a pet store and is really shy. Adrian is Paulie's sister, and Paulie (Burt Young) wants to get in with Rocky's boss. Rocky gets his shot at the big time when Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) needs a quick replacement for an injured opponent. Creed is smooth and rich, and if you think too hard, you would probably not believe that he would ever ask Rocky to fight, but Rocky is a local boy, a Southpaw and he has a cool nickname, Italian Stallion. Rocky starts to train for the big fight, reconnecting with Mickey (Burgess Meredith in an Oscar-nominated supporting role). Mickey sounds like he gargled with glass shards and he's just as gruff. Don't look to him for comfort. There are great shots of Rocky running through the streets of Philadelphia and up steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. The fight sequence is very well done, with both fighters landing blows as well as taking them. What was interesting to me, and it's funny looking back forty years, is that Rocky was made with a 1.1 million dollar budget, but made over $225 million. But because of the tight budget, there were things that couldn't be re-shot, or that were shot differently, like the ice skating scene - they couldn't afford to have as many actors as they wanted, so, they filmed it with just Rocky and Adrian. Who would have thought that a franchise was born. I was also impressed with Stallone as Rocky, before he knew he was going to be a huge multi-million dollar star. Rocky in this first film was very sensitive and tender but with a huge heart and a some naivete as well. He's a huge animal lover and a kid from the neighborhood. Perhaps you knew this, but I had no idea. I really liked it and it finally dawned on me why he's such a popular character. You've probably seen it already, but if you haven't, get some Philly cheese steaks and some hoagies and watch a homegrown American hero.
1/16/16 A Streetcar Named Desire, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Art Direction - Set Direction B&W, 1951, #47 AFI, National Film Registry
I planned to watch A Streetcar Named Desire when I watched On the Waterfront, it made perfect sense. Although, if you recall, I requested the play and not the film. Grr. I did finally get the correct item and re-watched the film; I say 're-watched' because I watched it about ten years ago. The film version stars Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski, Kim Hunter as Stella Kowalski, Stanley's wife (winning an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress), Vivien Leigh as Blanch DuBois, Stella's sister (winning an Oscar for Best Actress) and Karl Malden as Mitch, Stanley's friend and Blanche's suitor (Best Supporting Actor). The story is set in New Orleans, and New Orleans is as much a character as the actors. Stanley and Stella live in the upstairs of a two family home and have their own version of wedded bliss until Blanche comes for a visit. It took me about half of the film to not be annoyed by Blanche (Leigh), she seems so over the top. It occurred to me that perhaps that intention and not overacting (I really don't know) because that is Blanche's character Leigh is acting as Blanch and Blanche is acting. Blanche has left the family estate/plantation, Belle Reve under unclear circumstances and has nowhere else to go. Stanley is not very sympathetic to Blanche, but he bends to Stella's loyalty to her older sister. Blanche's behavior is erratic, somehow not of this world and as a viewer, we don't know exactly what is going on or why she is acting this way. She certainly seems delusional at times. Mitch, a bachelor living with his elderly and ailing mother, is taken by Blanche's charm and ladylike disposition and they begin seeing each other, but we find out that they're meetings are usually in darkly lit places. Stanley wants Blanche out of his home and sets out to find what really happened in her home of Auriol, and why Blanche left. Throughout the film we see how explosive Stanley's temper can be, especially when he's been drinking or Blanche and Stella harangue him for being 'a dirty Pollack' or a pig. He gets physical with Stella, pushing and shoving, smacking her, and her reaction is to be angry and run to her neighbor's house, but it does not take much for her to come back to Stanley, in fact, she seems to be turned on by his aggressive animalistic behavior. Brando as Stanley can be violent and brutal but then seems to be so tender with Stella. It's an intense performance. Stanley uses his contacts to learn more about Blanche and it seems that Blanche may have had a mental breakdown and did things that a proper lady would never do, so much that she was run out of town. There is a lot that unfolds and with any great movie, the drama comes from the unraveling. What I will tell you is that if you have only seen Vivien Leigh as Scarlet O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, her portrayal of Blanche will surprise you; as strong as Scarlet was, Blanche is fragile and not as resilient. Kim Hunter was in the original Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire (as were Brando and Malden, only Leigh was not, her role played by Jessica Tandy, although Leigh was in the play in London) and she seems to have the chemistry with Brando, and she can go nose to nose with him during their arguments. There are some differences between the play and the movie, some changes were made due to the morality of movies at the time and what you could show and say and what you couldn't; allusions to homosexuality are strongly muted, and the ending is also different than the play. Brando is powerful and was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar, but lost out to Humphrey Bogart in African Queen.
1/16/16 Dances with Wolves, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, 1990, National Film Registry
If I said I was avoiding this movie, for once I would not be exaggerating. As a rule, I am not a Kevin Costner fan and a movie that goes for three hours is a big turn off. BUT, for some reason it seemed like a good idea. And, much to my surprise, I liked it, not loved, but not hated either. The movie is set in the 1860s as the US is expanding westward. Kevin Costner is Lieutenant John Dunbar a soldier in the Union Army who is wounded and then sent to a post out west at his request. The post is deserted, but he is spotted by the Pawnee and the Sioux. Through a series of events, he befriends the Sioux, especially Stands with a Fist (Mary McDonnell) a white woman who was adopted by the Sioux, and her adopted father, Kicking Bird. The movie is three hours long so I'm not going to give you a detailed synopsis. There are trials and tribulations, a battle with the Pawnee and fight with Army soldiers. Dunbar lives with the Sioux and takes on the name "Dances with Wolves". A lot of the movie is in Lakota with either subtitles or Stands with a Fist translating. There are a lot of great things about the movie, in particular the scenery is really beautifully filmed, the plains of South Dakota and Wyoming, the wildlife, including the bison (although they were part of private herds). The score by John Barry is very powerful as well. The acting was well done, with Mary McDonnell and Graham Greene both outstanding. Costner was okay, too. The movie gives an unkind and somewhat barbaric portrayal of the Army soldiers, and much is based on fact. Looking back a hundred years can be tough, especially when you know the things that were done were wrong. Maybe the expansion was inevitable, but it was brutal. Ways of life were lost and people killed. Dances with Wolves sheds a little light on that; it may not be textbook, and perhaps the Lakota dialect was not perfect, but I will admit I was wrong about hating it and that maybe watching it will encourage people to learn more about Native American history.
The next entry you see should include more of the 2015 nominees, including: The Danish Girl, Star Wars, Ex Machina, Cinderella and (I'm so creeped out by this) Fifty Shades of Grey.
