Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)

The chronicles of Brian of Nazareth, whose life parallels his better known neighbor, Jesus.

You are either a Python fan or you’re not. The second of four feature films (if you include Live at the Hollywood Bowl) under the Python banner took religious satire to a new level. Annoyed by being repeatedly asked what’s next, Eric Idle sarcastically replied “Jesus Christ: Lust for Glory”. While considering a movie about Jesus, they didn’t find much humor in it. Rather, they created Brian, born at the same time and mistaken for the messiah. Christian conservatives were not amused.

Because of the sensitive subject matter, financier EMI backed out. Private funding came from, of all people, George Harrison. When asked why he did this, his response was “I wanted to see the movie”. Terry Jones, who directed, joked it was the world’s most expensive cinema ticket.

Life of Brian faced widespread protests, and bans that lasted decades. And despite this, it was a huge commercial success, out earning The Holy Grail seven fold. The group argued quite correctly that the film does not satirize theology, but dogma. Depictions of Jesus were handled with respect. It’s everyone else that is skewered. The various anti-Roman separatist groups fighting amongst themselves rather than fighting the Romans, their propensity to endlessly debate rather than take to action, and the people following Brian not agreeing what his message actually was.

But the message, plainly stated, is that you don’t have to follow anyone. You need to make decisions for yourself. This leads to quite possibly one of funniest scenes in any film, where Brian confronts his followers with the above message and they reply in unison “Yes, we are all individuals”.

The Holy Grail may be the troop’s most accessible film, but Life of Brian exceeds it in social and political satire, and is arguably the funnier film. AMRU 5.

"I'm not"

The Godfather (1972)

Well, you see, there’s this family. And they are in business. No, not the Mafia. We don’t use the M word here. Let’s just say they take care of their friends and take care of their enemies. It doesn’t make sense for me to summarize the story as I was the last person on earth past 30 to have seen The Godfather. Goomba mobsters whacking each other? Didn’t interest me.

The Godfather takes place over many years, from the end of World War II into the 1950’s. It covers many events and does not have a consistent central character. It illustrates how characters change over time, and sometimes fail to change. It launched (or solidified) the careers of a great many actors like James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, and of course Al Pacino. Even 50 year old and victim of 2016 Abe Vigoda. But mostly it turned director Francis Ford Coppola into a directorial force to be reckoned with. He would go on to direct Part II, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, then a whole pile of shit.

Simonetta Stefanelli plays Michael’s first wife and has a delightful nude scene, if you’re into that sort of thing. If IMDb is to be believed, she was 17 when the film was released. If her scenes were done four months prior, she wouldn’t have been that. Ah, the benefits of shooting in Italy. Hey, look, there's old friend Sterling Hayden! Once again proving he's not afraid to take acting chances. The baby being baptized at the end was director daughter Sofia Coppola, who would prove to be a far better director than actress.

Make no mistake: these are not good people. They are not heroes by any measure, even if some will see them as such. But neither are their victims. It's bad on bad and one cannot feel sorry for any of the deaths. There is no pristine protagonist to rally around and you shouldn't try to find one.

At just under three hours with no singular storyline, The Godfather does not lag, never fails to keep you enthralled. I was totally wrong to ignore it for so long. It is one of those films that everyone says is great, and that is because it is great. Solid cast, great acting, great script, great cinematography, and incredible storytelling. It has crept into popular culture in so many ways, and it forever changed the genre and film making as a whole. I will never doubt a film recommendation from my wife ever again. AMRU 5.

"Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

The Monty Python comedy troupe do a series of interconnected sketches surrounding King Arthur's quest for the Holy Grail. They poke fun of medieval life as subtle commentary on modern life. They forgot to write an ending.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is one of those films. If you love it, then you love it. It's iconic within its target audience and arguably the most quotable film of all time. It's silly, clumsy, fun, flawed, but the thing that stands out is how every sketch stands up. No soft spots in the bunch.

Here are things you may not know: the face of god was that of a 19th century cricket player. The chain armor was actually wool and the cast was miserably cold during the shoot. The Enchanter's name was Tim because John Cleese forgot his line. The Terry's Jones and Gilliam directed because nobody else wanted to. They didn't get along.

It's the kind of film I should watch once a year. It's been in my personal library for years. AMRU 5.

Jaws (1975)

A NYC cop (Roy Scheider) takes the job of Chief of Police on a small island. A young girl is killed by a shark, but the townspeople are hesitant to close the beaches because the forth of July is coming and they rely on tourist dollars. After several more attacks, they hire an old salt to hunt the fish down.

Before I continue, allow me to confess that Jaws is one of my essential films. I could go on and on (and on AND ON!) about my personal history with Jaws, but that would bore even me. Just let me say that I read the book before they made the film (even did a book report on it), my parents vacationed on Martha's Vinyard during filming, and the local dive cinema played it the entire summer so I went again and again. I started seeing films at Movies on the Block and brought my family to see Jaws.

Seeing it again, and on the big screen, emphasized that every scene is a masterpiece. Nothing was included that wasn't exceptional. If anyone doubts Spielberg's genius, point to Jaws. He's not infallible, mind you, but there is no improving on this film.

Here's what I found interesting: I remembered every nuance of this film. Every turn of phrase, every meaningful glance. Everything. Ingrained permanently in my grey matter. Susan Backlinie played Chrissie, the first victim. Denise Cheshire played Chrissie when swimming. The two would team up the same way again for 1941. There is so much interesting (to me) trivia about this film that I am incapable of editing myself. Go to IMDb and read it for yourself. Better yet, watch the film, then the video included at the bottom.

Wonderful visual storytelling, pitch perfect dialog, incredible acting, and perfect editing. The only thing that could have made it better would be if the two jack-asses didn't get into a fist fight right at Ben Gardner's big scene. AMRU 5.

"Here's to swimmin' with bow-legged women!"

 

The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)

Ya know, I'm sick of crappy horror movies. Without a decent one at my disposal, I popped in last year's Christmas gift.

Michael Rennie was ill The Day the Earth Stood Still, but he told us where we stand. Actually, while he was shot, he had gotten better by the time he made the earth stand still. And by the time he got around to letting us know where we stand, well, let's not get into that ...

A space ship lands in Washington DC. Out comes Klaatu bearing gifts. The military shoots him, then takes him prisoner. He has a message to give to the world, but he must speak to all leaders, not just some. This proves impossible. So, he goes out on the town.

He rents a room at a boarding house and meets a single mom and her son (Patricia Neal and Billy Gray). Stuff happens, they tour DC, he meets a scientist, Neal's douche bag boyfriend tries to turn Klaatu in, Gort goes berserk, then Klaatu makes his grand speech.

Of all the B Sci-Fi movies, this one is my favorite. When I spoke earlier how dark and light can be used as effective elements in a black and white film, here is the evidence. Klaatu/Mr. Carpenter (Jesus reference!) stands in darkness at the boarding house. The others, transfixed by the news story of the saucer landing, suddenly notice him. Slowly he enters the light and inquires about a room. The scene is close to perfection.

Later in the film, Neal and Rennie are driving through DC and the military is at every corner. The actors were filmed in California and were spliced into Washington DC footage. Not only do the scenes match, the route driven (I am told) actually makes sense. The attention to detail and level of craftsmanship is unparalleled in B movies.

Say what you will about the preachy ending, this movie is a gem. Not flawless, but truly excellent. I'll sign off with my favorite line from the movie.

"You'll feel different when you see my picture in the paper."
"I feel different right now."

AMRU 5. You thought I'd say "Klaatu, barada, nikto", didn't you

Casablanca (1942)

I've seen this film once or twice before, so I knew I loved it. I got it on DVD last Christmas. Yesterday, I watched it again.

Rick (Humphrey Bogart) is the owner of a saloon with a mysterious past. The leader of the Czech underground and Nazi thorn Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) arrives with his unbelievably hot wife, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) trying to find passage to America. The local authorities, Captain Renault (Caude Rains) and the Nazis want to keep them in Casablanca. Rick can help, but will he?

It seems back in Paris (Flashback! - Doo doo doo, Doo doo doo, Doo doo doo), Ilsa and Rick met up just before the Nazis rolled into town. Ilsa thought Victor was dead, so she made plans to run off with Rick. At the last minute, she learns Victor was only MOSTLY dead, so she leaves Rick at the alter/train station. Poor Rick.

Back in Casablanca, Rick has a choice to make. Help Victor because he sympathizes with his cause or set him up and take his unbelievably hot wife?

Here are a couple of my observations after this viewing:

Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre had very small roles, smaller than I remember. Ingrid Bergman was unbelievably hot. Had I mentioned that before? Claude Rains has many great lines. Clearly a womanizer, but look at these:

"Well, Rick is the kind of man that... well, if I were a woman, and I were not around, I should be in love with Rick."

and

"She was asking about you earlier in a way that made me very jealous."

I know he was supposed to be French, but come on! What's going on here? Discuss ...

Casablanca is an all time great film. Great acting, writing, and atmosphere. It's even better than it's reputation. And Ingrid Bergman was unbelievably hot. AMRU 5. I hope to convince my sons to watch it.

King Kong (1933)

Forth movie mentioned in the song Science Fiction/Double Feature. The classic gorilla finds girl, gorilla loses girl, girl's friends drug and kidnap gorilla to use in a New York side show story. It's the classic tale.

Robert Armstrong plays Carl Denham, a risk-taking movie director who learns of an uncharted island off Africa's coast (Google Earth was in pre-beta back then). He needs a lead actress so at the last minute he nabs the homeless waif Ann Darrow (Fay Wray). Every damsel needs a hero, and Fay's is Seaman John Driscol, played by Bruce Cabot, who apparently was a robot in real life. Oh, and by the way, Fay Wray was HOT! 

Many of the models of the dinosaurs and the animation techniques came from the 1925 silent film The Lost World, taken from the Arthur Conan Doyle story. Guess which movie I do next. Silent films are weird. 

But, let's touch on the silly, shall we? All this has been pointed out before, but what the hell. If you are going to build a giant wall to keep giant monsters out, WHY BUILD A GIANT DOOR FOR THEM TO GET THROUGH? If a giant ape can scale the Empire State Building, WHY CAN'T IT SCALE A WALL BARELY TALLER THAN ITSELF? And while we are bringing logic into the conversation, why live on a tiny part of a giant island populated by monsters? That was fun, wasn't it? Seriously, it wasn't? Not even a little? Oh, bother. 

This movie is great. I watched it on an old VCR tape and I'm dying to see it fully restored in high-def. The action is intense, the story interesting, the pacing great, and Fay Wray's wardrobe pre-code. 

King Kong held the record at the time for the biggest opening in history and is credited with saving RKO from bankruptcy. AFI lists it as the forth best film in the category of Fantasy and it's ranked 11th in IMDB's list in the category of Horror. In my ranking, it's higher. I love this movie. AMRU 5.0.