You could say I went a little crazy with the National Film Registry list over Memorial Day Weekend, and with that many movies, I was bound to come across one I didn't like or possibly even loathed. I suppose, honestly, there was only one that I was so-so about, otherwise, I would recommend any of the following films.
5/23/18 Boyz N the Hood, 1991
When
Boyz N the Hood first came out (I promise, I don't say this for every movie), I wasn't terribly interested in seeing it, it was just not my thing at the time (let's just say I have lived in a series of metaphorical boxes in my life, I'm a little better now). However, after watching
Straight Outta Compton (because it was on a list), I realized that just because something may not exactly be in my wheelhouse, doesn't mean it's not good or that I won't end up liking it. I suppose that's what happened with
Boyz N the Hood, I decided just to watch it; there's a lot of swearing, and it's not that I'm a prude, I swear A LOT myself, I sometimes think it's just lazy writing, but, that is how some kids/teenagers talk, and writer/director John Singleton does a lot of things, but he does not treat the characters or the audience with kid gloves. The movie follows a three friends as they grow up in South Central Los Angeles, a community that has too many shootings, too many drugs and poor relations with the police. Tre (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) lives with his demanding and strict father, "Furious" (Laurence Fishburne), and has a real job at the mall (he's a teenager). His friends are Doughboy (Ice Cube) and Doughboy's half brother (also their mother's favorite), Rick (Morris Chestnut). Doughboy has spent a lot of his young years in prison, and is struggling to find his feet; Rick is a football scholarship candidate, which makes his mother proud and is a way out of the neighborhood, and can help him make a better life for his young son. The guys and their friends are out one night, just chilling, when members of different gang cause some trouble and Doughboy flashes a gun, which is only a temporary solution, because minutes later, the other gang starts firing off a gun into the air. And this is how things spiral rapidly out of control. You show me yours, I'll show you mine; mine is bigger than yours; I can kill you first. Singleton shows us black young men killing each other, often because it doesn't seem like there are any other options. The death of Rick (I hope I didn't spoil it) highlighted the senselessness of this tit for tat violence. It's not gratuitous at all, there's a point - the point is: nobody wins. Rick's young son certainly didn't win. I felt like someone sucked the air out of the room when it happened. And Doughboy, who has always been protective of Rick, and way more streetsmart, is out for vengeance. Tre doesn't participate in any of the retribution, because he knows he'll never get out if he does. Like
Daughters of the Dust,
and
Paris is Burning,
Boyz N the Hood looks at a community that did not have any kind of voice when the film was released. Singleton was nominated for Oscars for Best Director (the youngest at the time) and Best Original Screenplay. After I finished watching, I texted my youngest brother and asked if he had seen it before (he wasn't even born when it came out) and he said of course, and it was a great movie. That is a sign of a movie that 'is culturally, historically or aesthetically significant", if it can be watched and appreciated by newer generations.
5/26/18 Atlantic City, 1980
Louis Malle's film,
Atlantic City, was the critics' darling when it came out, I remember the praise that was heaped on Burt Lancaster, Susan Sarandon and the director; of course, I couldn't see it because it's rated R, and I was too young. I love Lancaster in pretty much anything, he always seems so effortless, and I do like him as Lou, the former gangster who takes numbers and keeps company with the widow of his deceased boss. He also has his eyes on Sally (Sarandon), a wannabe black jack dealer. Sally's estranged/former (I wasn't really sure) husband shows up on her doorstep with his pregnant wife/girlfriend with a lot of cocaine to sell. Clearly, you don't need a lot of insight or psychic skills to figure out that nothing good is going to happen. So, the movie is definitely not a mystery, but a look into the relationships of different people: Lou, who is re-energized by his relationship with Sally; Sally, who likes Lou's seeming sophistication, but gets frustrated with his reluctance to contemplate the possibilities in Europe; Lou's subservient attitude towards Grace. It seems like Lou is a dinosaur in the waning days of the Jurassic period. It's not the good old days. Both Lancaster an Sarandon were nominated for Oscars, as well as being nominated for Best Picture, but the movie came away with no Oscars (this was the year that
Chariots of Fire won the Best Picture Oscar, and
Red, Raiders of the Lost Ark and
On Golden Pond were all nominated). I'm not totally sure why it's on the National Film Registry list.
5/27/18 Paris is Burning, 1991
Even though I watched
Paris is Burning in May, I'm finally reviewing it in June, which is fitting since it is Pride Month.
Paris is Burning is a documentary by Jennie Livingston that takes us into the world of balls in New York City, a highly competitive environment. The balls allow gay and transgender people, mostly of the African-American and Latino communities, members of an already marginalized GLBTQ society, to strut and be proud and embrace who they are, with a fierceness that is fun to watch. "Voguing" which was popularized in mainstream culture by Madonna, originated at the ball events. The documentary was filmed in the mid to late 80s, only twenty years or so after the Stonewall Riots, and in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, but decades away from Laverne Cox and her groundbreaking role on
Orange is the New Black, The
Transparent series or Daniela Vega in
A Fantastic Woman (2017 Oscar winning film). The interviews provide a glimpse into why the performers do what they do, how they support each other, and how they compete. I felt particularly drawn to Dorian Corey, who was like an elder of the group, and had many insights and could be quite sharp in her observations and commentary. The transgender community is one that is misunderstood by the heterosexual
and the gay and lesbian communities, but their history must be included and they should be recognized for their contributions and pain. That may sound incredibly pretentious, but I don't really care, and I think watching this documentary is a way to start.
5/27/18 The Atomic Café, 1982
This documentary consists of historical newsreel footage, film and television clips and public service films edited together in a somewhat frightening fashion, but also occasionally awkwardly funny and naïve. Many of the scenes are how to avoid nuclear fallout by hiding under a table or covering your head under a desk; packing a survival kit of canned and powdered foods; or the scary scenes of the nuclear testing done on Bikini Atoll, that had horrible impacts on the native population, which, according to US military personnel on scene, was all for the good of humanity. It might not be a bad idea to dust off this old chestnut and get it out on the airwaves, given the current climate, just to remind us of the risks and dangers of nuclear warfare.
5/28/18 Daughters of the Dust, 1991
The lists giveth, and the lists taketh away. In this case, the list definitely giveth.
Julie Dash wrote and directed Daughters of the Dust, the story of the Peazant family, a clan who have lived on the St. Simons Island, off the coast of Georgia (the Gullah islands), for generations. The movie is set in the early part of the 20th century, roughly forty years after the end of the Civil War. The family is led by Nana Peazant, the keeper of the traditions and memories (good and bad) of the family, and determined not to leave her home. The younger generations have already moved to the mainland, two of her granddaughters have already moved there, Viola and Yellow Mary. Normally I have trouble with storylines that are non-linear, I like things told in order, but I was so interested in this family and their history, I went with it. You have to pay attention because there are several storylines and also because the actors speak in the Gullah dialect, which is close to Creole, and sometimes things happened quickly and my ears couldn't keep up. In some ways, at its core, the movie is about family, it could be about any family, an immigrant family deciding to leave their ancestral home for a better life, and possibly leaving the old ways behind. In another way, it is more than that, because this family has already left their ancestral home in Africa, perhaps only seventy five or hundred years earlier, unwillingly, and this departure is their choice. The actors, none of whom I have ever heard of, own their roles, it's like they were made for the parts or vice versa; there were several powerful performances. The cinematography was so beautiful, otherworldly (if that's not too dramatic), for whatever it might mean to you, it reminded me of the original
Picnic at Hanging Rock (another movie that I was enthralled by at the time). (I just read some reviews of the film on Netflix, which I generally don't do, and there are definitely extreme feelings about the movie, um, some not so nice, and others lavish in their praise; I suppose that's pretty normal. I hate
The Usual Suspects, while others think it's the best movie ever). I still liked
Daughters of the Dust.
5/28/18 The Princess Bride, 1987
Believe it or not, I have never seen
The Princess Bride in its entirety or even more than a few seconds of clips. So before you can say it, I will: "Inconceivable!" I will also say, I liked it, I enjoyed it, I laughed. The comedy-fantasy-adventure was directed by Rob Reiner, and has what would now be considered an all-star cast: Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Cary Elwes, Christopher Guest, Andre the Giant, Carol Kane, Billy Crystal, Peter Falk and Fred Savage. Peter Falk narrates the movie as he reads to his reluctant grandson played by Fred Savage. Since I may be the only person in the universe to have not seen
The Princess Bride, I don't need to recap the plot. I don't know why I was so reluctant to watch it, I think because all of my friends just loved it, and at my core, I'm a contrarian, so I thought, nothing can be that funny or quotable. I'm not so stubborn that I can't say I was wrong. It reminded me of some of Mel Brooks' movies (Brooks is a friend and comedic partner of Reiner's father, Carl Reiner): jokes/lines that appear throughout the movie; ridiculous dialog played absolutely straight, full of puns and word play and silly accents; actors that appear to be having a great time (Andre the Giant was so fabulous and funny); and a story that has a ring of familiarity but is still original. The movie received no Oscar nominations and wasn't even that successful in its box office run, and yet, there are probably more people who have now seen
The Princess Bride than have seen
Atlantic City which was nominated for five Oscars. Sometimes winning an Oscar is not a guarantee of a long legacy. Having said that, I TOTALLY get why it's on the National Film Registry list.
5/28/18 Hester Street, 1975
Watching
Hester Street, starring Carol Kane, Steven Keats and Doris Roberts, was like being there when my great grandparents arrived in New York from Russia. Steven Keats is Yankl, now Jake, and he comes to America before his wife and young son; he also tries to become as American as possible, and begins a relationship with Mamie, a dancer. Jake's wife, Gitl and son, Yossele, arrive in New York City, and Jake doesn't seem very pleased, he is especially unhappy that Gitl doesn't shed her Old World habits as quickly as he would like. Doris Roberts plays Mrs. Kavarsky and befriends Gitl. In case we've forgotten, the immigrant experience can be lonely and hard, regardless of your country of origin. The movie is in English and Yiddish, and while I don't really understand a lot of Yiddish, it made me think of my grandparents and older relatives who would occasionally use it when they didn't want us to understand something. Carol Kane was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar. Joan Micklin Silver wrote the screenplay and directed the film (she directed
Crossing Delancey). By way of six degrees of separation, Silver is married to Rabbi Raphael Silver who is the son of the late Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, and back in the early 1990s, I worked on
team processing the Rabbi's historical papers.
"Notorious RBG", as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is fondly known, as become a celebrity in certain liberal circles, which is not exactly what she had in mind when she embarked on her journey through law school in the 1950s. I'm fairly certain that she didn't think there would be a hugely successfully Kickstarter campaign to create and sell an action figure of her. The documentary goes back and forth between current day and the past, including home movies, interviews with childhood friend and law school classmates, her children and grandchildren, and interviews with Justice Ginsburg. She may remind you of your own grandmother (she reminds me of my mom's 94 year old neighbor; they're about the same height), and she can be grandmotherly, but she can also be sharp with her wit and words when it comes to her interpretation of the Constitution and views on social equality. The documentary provides a primer on the Supreme Court, the politics involved (it's worse now, though), it's history and the evolution of law in the United States. I watched it with my brother, who is much younger than I am, and he didn't know that Joe Biden was a U.S. Senator (there are news clips of RBG's confirmation hearing, and Biden was Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee), or some of the other scads of information the movie presents. He liked it (a lot more than he thought he would when I dragged him to it). During the documentary, the producer or director shows her clips of Kate McKinnon's imitation, and she laughed and thought it was pretty good. You certainly get a multi-dimensional look into RBG's personality, which left me with a great appreciation and respect for her service to our country.
