561. American Graffiti (1973)

Running Time: 110 minutes
Directed By: George Lucas
Written By: George Lucas, Gloria Katz, Willard Huyck
Main Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams
Click here to view the trailer

A REALLY LONG MUSIC VIDEO

I've gotten off track a little bit, as it pertains to finishing this whole thing up by Halloween. I'm not saying it won't be done, but the short term goal was to only have forty movies left at the end of August and I'd have to watch eight more in ten 12 days to make that happen. Not impossible, but a challenge for sure.

I had NEVER seen American Graffiti prior to last night. I know I'm supposed to be knocking out the long ones, but I convinced my wife to take in a movie with me and nothing that was long interested her, so we went with this. As the opening credits rolled, I had my phone in my hand, looking to see if Happy Days was a spin off of this movie - the appearance of Ron Howard and the drive-in known as Mel's got me to thinking it might be. I then realized that "Mel's Diner" was actually from Alice, not Happy Days. Anyway, if you're looking for the plot of American Graffiti, think Dazed and Confused, just set a decade earlier. The whole film is like one, really long music video, as there is 60s era music blasting throughout, almost the entire movie. The whole thing takes place the night before two recent high school graduates are about to depart for college. Curt Henderson (Dreyfuss) isn't sure if he even wants to go to college. He thinks that sticking around his native, California home and perhaps, getting a job, would be his best bet. On the other hand, Steve Bolander (Howard), is more than gung ho to head east and even discusses with his girlfriend, Laurie (Williams), the possibility of dating other people while they're separated. You've also got their other two pals, John Milner (Le Mat), a bad boy, racer and Terry "the Toad" (Smith), your classic nerd. The film takes place from dusk till dawn and is your classic coming of age comedy.

It's not that I disliked the music of the era, it's just that I wished they'd have given me a break from it during the course of the movie. I suppose most will argue that the music is something that sets American Graffiti apart from other movies and really gives it the feel of 1962, but I personally didn't care for this tactic. As it pertains to everything else, I just don't think I ever really felt a connection with these characters. It's as if they were from a different world, a different country. I realize this is a slice of Americana, but it's not a slice that I'm familiar with and perhaps my dad could get nostalgic watching something like this, but I felt like a stranger in a strange land. The characters seemed perfectly well developed, it's just that I never really found myself caring what happened to them one way or another. Would Curt find his girl? *meh* Would Laurie and Steve end on a happy note? *meh* Would John get arrested for soliciting a minor? *meh* It was a perfectly fine movie and I could see where all the hype was coming from, it just wasn't entirely for me.

On the other hand, it does take place over the course of one night and I think it's well documented that I'm a sucker for that. And while I did feel a certain strangeness in this era, it did make me wish I was a little more active in my own high school life. I was definitely as anti-social as they come and when it came to school dances, football games, after school gatherings, etc., I was nowhere to be found. It made me realize that I missed out on a real right of passage, as far as being an American teen goes and that's staying out all night, hanging with your buds, listening to music, savoring your youth before going off to participate in the real world. Clearly this was a big influence on Richard Linklater and his film Dazed and Confused and I'd call it an equally good predecessor.

RATING: 6/10  Not terrible or anything, but I really thought I'd like it more. Perhaps on more viewings, because I certainly wouldn't object to trying this one again someday.

MOVIES WATCHED: 953
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 48

August 19, 2015  5:05pm

617. STAR WARS (1977)

Running Time: 125 minutes
Directed By: George Lucas
Written By: George Lucas
Main Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness, Peter Cushing
Click here to view the trailer

A NEW HOPE...LITERALLY

I'm back, I'm back yadda yadda yadda, let's not make a big thing out of it. Do you want to know the real news of this post: I don't like "Star Wars"! There I've said it. Well, let's say I never did like "Star Wars" and in fact, I was excited for this viewing of the trilogy, as it was going to be the final chance I'd ever give these films to win me over. If I didn't like them this time...oh well, because I wasn't going to put myself through them again.

In fact, the plot is quite simple really. You know, I can still remember watching these movies for the first time (I was probably something like thirteen or so) and thinking they were SO confusing. Watching Episode IV last night, I realized that it's plot is really, really simple. Basically you have the Empire, headed up by Darth Vader (David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones) and they're trying to take over the whole galaxy. One way they plan to do this is with the construction of the DEATH STAR, which can be used to blow up entire planet's with the push of a button. Then you have the Rebel Alliance, which, in this episode, is represented by Princess Leia (Fisher). In the beginning of the film, the Rebel Alliance has stolen blueprints to the Death Star. Darth Vader and company board the Rebel ship and demand the plans be returned. Before they can be discovered, however, Leia loads the plans into a droid (R2D2) along with a message to Obi-Wan Kenobi (Guinness), a former Jedi knight, telling him the he's the Rebels only hope. Through the use of an escape pod, R2D2, along with fellow droid C3PO free themselves from the compromised vessel and land on the desert planet of Tatooine. There they are captured and sold to farmer Owen Lars, uncle to Luke Skywalker (Hamill). Luke is living with his aunt and uncle, following the death of his parents. While cleaning up the droids, Luke finds the message from Leia and remembers an old hermit named Ben Kenobi and thinks that he may know Obi-Wan. Luke eventually finds out that Ben and Obi-Wan are one in the same. After meeting with Obi-Wan, Luke realizes that the Empire have tracked the droids to Tatooine and when returning home, finds that they've killed his aunt and uncle. Since he has nothing now, Luke Skywalker accompanies Kenobi to Alderaan, Leia's home planet, where she's instructed Kenobi to deliver the plans. The duo (along with the droids) track down and pay a pilot, Han Solo (Ford), to fly them to Alderaan, along with his co-pilot Chewbacca. When they arrive they find that Alderaan has been destroyed (by the Death Star, in fact) and then discover the Death Star and are tractor beamed inside. For a while, they are held captive, but ultimately escape and try to find Leia, while Obi-Wan confronts Darth Vader, his former pupil.

On paper, "Star Wars" really never should've been as popular as it ended up being. I mean, just watch the trailer that I linked to and tell me THAT movie doesn't look like a stinker and a half. However, in 1977, for some reason the entire world went bananas for George Lucas' fictional space world and people flocked to the theaters to get a glimpse of what everyone was surely talking about. Surely this movie had to have been relying on word of mouth to get it's recognition, because that trailer looks like total crap and surely people weren't going on the merits of the advertising alone. People were obviously seeing this, telling their friends and so on and so forth, until it earned a butt-load of dough, got two sequels, three prequels and in fact, three more sequels on the way. Look, I don't know what it was like to grow up and be a part of the Star Wars frenzy, so maybe I will just NEVER really get it. Plus, I'm just NOT a science fiction guy. I just don't care for the genre and the idea of evil empires and rebel alliances doing battle in space just doesn't do anything to peak my interest. However, with that being said, I will say that I enjoyed this viewing of "Star Wars" better than any other time I've watched the film and I can now say, definitively, that it's NOT BAD. I'll even go further and say that I'm kind of looking forward to "The Empire Strikes Back". I wasn't gaga for it and I probably never will be, so all of you "warsies" are just going to have to settle for "not bad".

If I had to criticize (which I do) I'd say that the acting was horrendous, except for Peter Cushing and maybe Alec Guinness (who, honestly, really wasn't onscreen that much). It's easy to see why, despite the success of "Star Wars" Mark Hamill still couldn't get any work. Even Harrison Ford was pretty bad if you ask me, but to be honest, I'm not crazy about the guy as it is, so there's that. The plot was fine, but as noted, I'm just not a sci-fi guy, so it was never going to light my world on fire. I liked the fact that despite being not my type of movie, they still managed to put me on the edge of my seat with scenes like the one in the trash compactor and, of course, the final scene with the air fighters. Darth Vader was pretty bad-ass too and I'm just glad he wasn't killed off too early and am hopeful that he'll have more appearances in the other two installments (I've seen them, but can't remember). I was also quite amused by the antics of C3PO and R2D2 and as prominent as they were here, I hope they continue to be just that.

RATING: 6.5/10  A little blogger rust forcing me to wrap this one up quicker than expected. I look forward to "The Empire Strikes Back" and continuing my journey through the pages of the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" book.

MOVIES WATCHED: 702
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 299

July 22, 2013  7:18pm