The Graduate (1967)

 The weekend of great films continues. 

This film is another classic in American cinema and with good reason. Just Mike Nichol's second film, this was likewise daring and revolutionary for its day. 

Everyone knows the plot, but upon re-watching it, the beginning scene when Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) insists that Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) drives her home, she makes him incredibly uncommon, basically she harasses him and he acts shell-shocked as one would. Yet, he has the affair, out of boredom more than anything before falling head over heels in love with the Robinson daughter, Elaine (Katharine Ross) so naturally, things get complicated real quick.

The acting in this film is top-notch and Hoffman (in one of his first films) delivers a performance that rightfully made him a star and Bancroft deserved an Oscar solely for her looks that could kill. Ross is also brilliant in her smaller role. And with the unique camera and sound work, from the snorkel point of view to the edits which jump between different events, this film is beyond worth remembering, not to mention the score and songs are all top-notch. Grade: A

Side Notes:

-Benjamin gets really lucky, rescuing Elaine from her wedding at the first church he tries, though how he manipulates people to get this is more than suspect.

-Ben absolutely stalks Elaine when he arrives at Berkeley.

-It is heavily implied that Elaine is pregnant and her wedding to Carl Smith (Brian Avery) is a shotgun wedding.

-Ben's dad is none other than William Daniels, aka Mr. Feeny from Boy Meets World. 

-One word: Plastics.

-Ben might not have any plan for his future but his life in college was rather successful, winning several awards and everything.

-While Mrs. Robinson conceived Elaine out of wedlock, and informs her daughter that its too late to leave with Benjamin, Elaine snaps back that it isn't, at least not for her. 

-For an alcoholic, Mrs. Robinson certainly drinks a lot. 

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

 I finally watched this film and it was absolutely ground-breaking.

Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) meets Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty) completely by change. He's trying to steal her mother's car and she catches him. She finds his life of crime oddly satisfying and joins him, solely because she finds him attractive and fascinating. And yes, the two do eventually fall in love though he's incapable of making love to her until just before the final scene. 

Now, surprisingly few of their actual robberies are shown, though there must be plenty of them as that is how they make a living for approximately two years, gathering a gang as they go along, starting with the clueless getaway driver, C.W. Moss (Michael J. Pollard) before meeting up with Clyde's beloved older brother, Buck (Gene Hackman) and his jittery wife, Blanche (the great Estelle Parsons). Blanche and Bonnie get along like oil and water though when push comes to shove, Bonnie does comfort Blanche in her time of need. 

As time continues, there are more and more shoot outs and close encounters with law enforcement as they scurry all over the mid-west, robbing banks. There are a few plot holes, which unfortunately hangs a cloud over this brilliant screenplay including the scene with Bonnie's family. How in the world does Clyde get word over to them so they can come and visit? And how do they each have so many outfits? Still, the editing (kudos to Dede Allen), cinematography and score are utterly sensational. The acting is utterly flawless. All five of the main leads were Oscar-nominated and Parsons did win. And the ending was expected but also unexpected as Bonnie and Clyde finally appear to want to leave the wild life behind but are betrayed by C.W's father and are shot countless times by the police in an ambush. It is a wretchedly bloody end. However, they had just recovered from being injured so I'm surprised that they even made it to the end of the film. This film more than earned its slot in essential film history and film viewing. Grade: A

Side Notes:

-Bonnie and Clyde are almost like the Robin Hoods of bank robbing as they refuse to take any money owned by an individual person. 

-Does Bonnie end up actually killing anyone?

-Blanche is a preacher's daughter and is one of the few to still be alive at the end of the film.

-It would have been nice if this film had a bit of an epilogue, telling the audience what happened to C.W. and Blanche.

-The beginning credits were utterly brilliant, mixing in snapshots with the credits. 

All My Life (2020)

 There's no reason to dig in depth to the plot as it's fairly routine, girl and boy meet, fall in love and get engaged before cancer comes and ruins everything and while this film was largely paint by the numbers, though it was based on a true story, there were a few good scenes and Jessica Rothe and Harry Shum, Jr manage to deliver solid performances. 

The only two good scenes come when Jenn Carter bangs the steering wheel, devastated that her brand new husband has just months to live and before when Sol Chau tries to get her to leave him, knowing that his body isn't able to fight the disease much longer and doesn't want her to suffer along with him. 

Despite the good moments, Sol is suffering from liver cancer and while he does bear a scar, and mentions constant side effects, he doesn't appear ill, no scenes of him puking or anything like that and this film lacks the gritty realism this topic deserves. 

Fortunately, Jenn and Sol have a good support system around them, though Sol's parents are oddly never mentioned or shown and the serious topic of death is discussed off the screen, which was disappointing. Thank goodness the supporting cast was solid though there were too many of them for any of them to be really more than cookie cutter characters. Still, this film was far better than I anticipated (I had super low expectations) and it's nice seeing Glee's Shum, Jr in something again. Grade: B

Side Notes:

-The solid supporting cast includes Jay Pharoah, Chrissie Fit, Marielle Scott, Molly Hagan, Keala Settle and Mario Cantone.

-I feel that a scene was missing at the end, as Jenn goes straight from leafing through the box Sol left her to swimming alone in the ocean on the honeymoon she should have taken with him. Also, swimming in the ocean alone probably isn't a good idea. 

-The dog appears, disappears and then re-appears again. 

-I don't understand why Sol's numbers were doing well and then he took a turn for the worse. Clearly, something was missed. 

Music Box (1989)

Well, this was another interesting film.

Jessica Lange shines as Ann Talbot, a criminal attorney, who's unexpectedly cast in the role of defending her father, Michael Laszlo (Armin Mueller-Stahl) who's accused of unspeakable war crimes in Communist Hungary in the waning days of World War II. 

She's in shock, having no idea that her father was capable of such cruelty and refuses to believe that this could be possible and defends him with a vengeance, getting witness testimony revoked by various means and getting a key witness tossed out, thanks to some secret paperwork which disputes the testimony. 

For reasons I couldn't fully grasp (as the DVD did not have subtitles), Ann then visits the sister of the other alleged-mastermind and retrieves the title object which reveals the truth, proving that my suspicions were correct all along. 

So, yes, the plot may have already sort of been done before to better success (Judgment at Nuremberg, for example), but the final scene with Lange and Mueller-Stahl is riveting and heart-breaking. Also, the communist overtones are a bit odd, as Michael is now an American citizen and loathes the communist party, but perhaps it is all just a show. 

What I found more interesting was that Michael was being blackmailed and is probably responsible for the hit-and-run that killed that man. That is what should have driven the plot, not anything else. That would have made the film more fascinating. However, I didn't write the screenplay. Still, the acting is solid, especially the witness testimony, reliving the wretched moments of the Holocaust. Lange was likewise great. Grade: B+

Side Notes:

-Ann's Hungarian is pretty good for someone who barely speaks it.

-Another interesting side plot is that the prosecuting attorney, Jack Burke (Frederic Forrest) who was driving intoxicated and killed his wife in a wretched car accident, but he's never charged. That could also have made into a film all its own. 

The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)

 While this film was simple, it was still good, though parts certainly dragged. 

Jack and Frank Baker (Jeff and Beau Bridges) have never held a day job, going to various night clubs and dinner clubs keying away on the piano time after time. However, their act is getting a bit stale after fifteen years so to freshen it up, they hire a singer, former escort Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer) who's quite talented if soft-spoken and rough around the edges. With her, they finally get tons of gigs, even one that requires some major travel. Jack brings his large dog along despite Frank's objections. However, Frank then has to head back because his son (never shown on screen) has a minor car accident and needs to leave, Jack and Susie let loose, perhaps a bit too much and they end up having sex. 

That is the beginning of the end. Susie feels that Jack is selling out, wasting away his time and talents every night and then he calls her a whore as she leaves the act to sing commercials. And then Frank gets a gig which fails on every level. Its for a telethon, but not to something like cancer, but rather a new gymnasium for a school and their act is interrupted when a donation comes in. Jack and Frank have a blow-up fight which was a long time coming, but it forces Jack to break-out on his own and apologize to Susie and yes, the brothers mend the fences. 

While there are plenty of slow parts and several unnecessary close-ups, and I wish I knew which city this was set in, and more character development on the part of Susie, it is also very nice seeing a film where musicians don't have a drug problem (though Jack is seldom without a cigarette in his mouth) and Frank doesn't cheat on his wife (also unseen) with Susie. Jack may be a bit insensitive to women, but even he's a good guy, caring for his neighbor's daughter (Ellie Raab) because she's having issues with her mother so that part was at least refreshing. The acting was also solid and Pfeiffer was actually quite good in an unwritten role, giving it her all. Grade: B+

Side Notes:

-It is weird that we never see Frank's wife or children as they play an important part of his life.

-Frank does tell Jack off for smoking, telling him how wretched it is for his health. He's right.

-Frank really did need to switch up the act. 

-Susie should have been better trained for their first gig, but she pulled it together brilliantly. 

-It is shocking at how many of the audition singers were just not good. 

Minari (2020)

 This was a simple, quiet yet brilliant film.

The Yi family moves to Arkansas because while Jacob (Steven Yeun) is quiet and keeps his head down, he has dreams as big as the moon: he wishes to be a successful farmer. His wife, Monica (Han Ye-Ri) is less optimistic, fretting that she's not good at her job (separating baby chicks by gender) and worried about her son, David (Alan Kim) who has a heart condition. 

And the struggles are real: the homemade well runs dry, the gusty and unconventional Grandam (the Oscar-winning Youn Yuh-jung) suffers a wretched stroke which leaves half of her body paralyzed and then, just when things get better, the barn full of crops burns down. 

While the plot may be simple, the acting is great, with multiple dimensional characters, with flaws that you both sympathize with and scold them for the actions at the same time, such as Jacob adores his son, but still threatens him with a stick. And David starts out with hating his grandma, then likes her and after the stroke, starts to hate her again. The children want desperately to fit in while there is thinly veiled racism all around them. And Monica and Jacob are a real couple as they love each other but want different things; however they can't live without each other. When the barn burns, Monica is the one who sobs even though it is Jacob's dream going up in smoke. It's something subtle that other screen plays lack. And though the film isn't perfect (do the kids ever go to school?), it is brilliant nevertheless. Grade: A-

Side Notes:

-Will Patton is great as Paul, the oddly religious farmhand who carries a cross as his church.

-The Grandma, Soonja, is hilarious, and certainly not the traditional, cookie cutter grandmother as she doesn't bake cookies and fees David some weird tea so he won't wet the bed anymore. 

-Soonja also steals from the offering dish at the church, yet she believes that a spirit resides in her dresser. 

-Sexing chickens has got to be one of the worst jobs. And apparently, the male chickens are burned because they are useless, which is just so sad. 

-Minari is a plant that Soonja plants in the creek so everyone can have access to it.

-While the ending might be up in the air, I hope the Yis get every happiness they deserve. 

They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)

 The plot of this film was excellent though the character development was beyond weak.

Jane Fonda earns her first Oscar nomination for her indefatigable Gloria Beatty, hellbent on winning a dance marathon. Focusing on the dance marathons that apparently swept the country during the Great Depression, these pushed people to the limits forcing them to move until they dropped (quite literally). How the amount of couples survived as long as they did is beyond me as it appears that you only got a ten minute break every two hours but still the marathon continued for at least a month and a half. 

Now of course Gloria has a dance partner and that is last minute fill-in, Robert Syverton (the attractive Michael Sarrazin) and in what appear to be flashbacks, he's served time in prison (this twist shook me) but you barely get to know either of them, literally nothing more than their hometowns and Gloria's dashed dreams of being an actress. We don't know what Robert did for a living. Some of the supporting characters are even more developed. 

Gloria goes through three different partners over the course of the film, one of whom literally dies on her during the wretched and inhumane sprints, and then she finds out that everything's a lie. If you win, they  deduct the expenses from the winning total. And that must be some total as the contestants are fed seven times a day, and there is the music to consider, almost always a live band is on hand. Still, it makes no sense as the contestants get sponsorships and tickets and concessions are sold daily. So Gloria quits the contest and I don't blame her as the whole thing is rigged and when she asks Robert to shoot her, he obliges. So the scenes I thought were flashbacks are actually flash forwards which gave the film some much needed spark. 

While this film had a great premise and excellent acting and though I hate remakes, I feel that this would have worked better as a mini series so we could truly know the characters and get tons more development as the film suffered mightily because of it. However, the set (the dance floor) was great and the twist clever. Grade: B+

Side Notes:

-There are two excellent supporting characters: Gig Young as the MC with whom Gloria has a checkered (albeit unknown) past. He also tries to liven up the marathon unnecessarily and asks Robert and Gloria to get married so the crowd has something else to root for. Susannah York is great as the British actress who has a breakdown after Red Button's sailor suffers a fatal heart attack though the MC refuses to admit it to the fellow dancers or the audience but it's obvious.

-Another great supporting couple is Bruce Dern and Bonnie Bedelia as married couple James and Ruby. She's pregnant but powers through everything. She's also far more naïve and doesn't even know how pregnant she is when asked. 

-Crazy as it seems, some of the dancers get discovered by Hollywood and actually get a true career out of the whole thing. 

-I have no idea how it is possible for these dancers to sleep standing up.