Bonnie and Clyde. The criminal road trip movie is a tough one. I think I respect and appreciate this one more than I enjoy it. Those birds at the end, though. What a moment! I’ll take Badlands over this one, given the choice.
Tag: genehackman
Night Moves
Night Moves. This was great. So much despair in sunny places. Gene Hackman has a crazy amount of charisma. (The more recent and unrelated movie called Night Moves is good, too.)
No Way Out
No Way Out. Really fun, really twisty, really ’80s. I like this version of Costner – slick as hell, and in deep shit. I wish Sean Young’s character had a bit more going for her. Gene Hackman is one of those actors who does so well playing gross people I have to remember that and counteract it.
Absolute Power
Absolute Power. A jewel thief witnesses the President murdering his mistress. I’d put this in the upper middle-class of movies Eastwood has directed.
Unforgiven
Unforgiven. My second viewing. This time around I got to see it on the big screen and it’s glorious. Previously.
Deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it.
Filed under: Clint Eastwood.
The Firm
The Firm. Better than I remember! I like that the early parts stay upbeat while maintaining the foreshadowing. You can be ominous without being dark. Good momentum through the whole thing. An even better Sydney Pollack film is Three Days of the Condor.
The French Connection
The French Connection. It’s a great “mean cop” flick. Gene Hackman’s “Popeye” Doyle is pretty unlikeable, but you still find yourself on his side despite all the recklessness and disregard for, y’know, the law. I love the attention to detective details here, the surveillance stuff with all the stake-outs, and the car tails, and the cat-and-mouse following on foot with a switching team. Also: that final chase is legit.
The Conversation
The Conversation. Great, great flick. The scale is so small and focused, and the protagonist is a perfect tragic character, in turns expert and inept. Themes: Surveillance and paranoia. Temptation vs. dull professionalism. Signal, noise, interpretation, expertise. I love how the movie’s opening and closing mirror each other, or maybe I should say echo each other. Gene Hackman is fantastic. Harrison Ford has one of the best scowls in the game. Fun fact: Coppola released both this and The Godfather Part II in 1974. That’s a good year, huh?
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Royal Tenenbaums. Film #3 in my Wes Anderson self-education program. I’d rank this one below The Darjeeling Limited, above Rushmore. Anderson can start a movie with the best of them, but I’m not sure he’s a good finisher. But I can appreciate how he rides the edge between comedy and tragedy. I’m not sure I understand the soundtracks, though. I don’t think it’s simply a bald move for hip points – “Hey, listen to how cool my music collection is. Pretty good taste, eh?” – but I can’t help but find it somewhat annoying.
Mark Larson 