High Plains Drifter (1973)

Director: Clint Eastwood

Plot: A gunfighting stranger comes to the small town of Lago and is hired to hold off three outlaws who are on their way.

Pros: Eastwood, Direction, Black Humor
Cons: Low Production Values, Somewhat sleezy

"High Plains Drifter" is a well made, enjoyable, American 'Spaghetti Western'. Like his other 'Spaghetti Westerns', you have Eastwood playing the "The Man with No Name" along with low production values, black humor, violence, broad characters and a fantasy plot rather than real West. The only differences are: better supporting actors, a couple of rapes, and no Lee Van Cleff.

I first saw this 25 years ago and didn't like it - too mean. Today, the nasty edge doesn't bother me. So, either I've become meaner, or Pop Culture has become so toxic the causal sadism in "High Plains Drifter" seems rather quaint. I'm guessing the second is true.

Conclusion: High Plains Drifter has a hard edge and low production values, otherwise its an excellent Spaghetti Western with enough violence and black humor to keep Eastwood fans interested. Rating ***

Days of Heaven (1978) - Malick

Actors: Richard Gere, Sam Shepard, Brooke Adams
Plot: In 1916, A hot-tempered laborer (Gere) convinces the woman he loves (Adams) to marry a Wealthy but dying Farmer (Shepard) to get his fortune.
Pros: Photography, Score, Atmosphere
Cons: Story, Characters Emotionally distant, Richard Gere

Sometimes labeled "90 minutes of Wheat"; "Days of Heaven" is a beautifully shot film that's long on great images and short on story and character. Malick shoots it almost as a silent movie, with little dialogue & few close-ups. This mutes any emotional impact the story has. Having the wooden Richard Gere as the lead further distances the viewer. Too bad Malick couldn't have added more warmth or humor. Shepard does an excellent job, Adams is competent.

Conclusion: "Days of Heaven" probably has more astoundingly beautiful images than any film I've seen. Four **** for its great score and great photography - 2** for its slender, mediocre story and characters. Overall rating ***

Thieves Like Us (1974)

Director: Robert Altman
Actors: Shelly Duvall, Keith Carradine

Plot: Two convicts break out of Mississippi State Penitentiary in 1936 to join a third on a long spree of bank robbing, their only talent and claim to fame. The youngest one falls in love with a girl at their hideout.

Pros: Atmosphere, Photography

Cons: Bare bones plot, Dull Dialogue, Ordinary Characters

More of a character study then a crime/"Bonnie and Clyde" type action movie. Like many Altman movies there isn't much of a story or plot. Instead, Altman focuses on the characters (3 Bank robbers plus Duvall) . Shot in Mississippi, Altman went to great lengths to recreate the 1930s by using period clothes, vintage cars and old radio programs. Sadly, I found the characters dull and not much happens. The acting is excellent, although Keith Carradine lacks charisma and Duvall is oddly unattractive.

Conclusion: A talk heavy, somewhat drab film that never rises above its ordinary characters. Well photographed but forgettable. Rating **1/2

The Conversation (1974)

Director: Coppola

Actors: Gene Hackman, Cindy Williams, Harrison Ford

Plot A paranoid and secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that a couple he is spying on will be murdered.

Pros: Hackman, Direction

Cons: Too long, sluggish pace, Sparse dialog, Lack of good Supporting characters

"The Conversation" is interesting rather than good. Hackman plays a paranoid, introverted and lonely PI/wiretapper who stumbles upon what he thinks is a possible murder plot. But "The Conversation" isn't really a thriller but a character study and I found his character rather dull.

Which is a bad thing - since no other character is really developed. Hackman really is the entire movie. Hackman does an excellent job, but given the repressed nature of his character there's not much to express.

Other matters: The audio surveillance equipment that was so fascinating and scary in 1974 now seems quint and funny. And the 70s truly were the decade of ugly. Ugly clothes, ugly haircuts, and ugly cars.

Conclusion: Highly rated by the critics, they find it a "fascinating study of paranoia, invasion of privacy, and the problem of conscience". But I didn't find a lot of "there" there. The lack of good dialogue or characters left me cold. Rating **1/2

Serpico (1973)

Director: Sidney Lumet

Actors: Al Pacino

Plot: An honest New York narcotics detective blows the whistle on rampant police corruption only to have his fellow police officers turn against him.

Pros: Gritty New York Locations and action, Pacino, Direction

Cons: Repetitious, Dull Romantic subplot, No memorable supporting characters

New York City never looked more dangerous, dirty, and depressing then in this true of story of a policeman's fight against police corruption. Pacino is perfectly cast as the lead and the film moves at a quick pace and kept me interested. Further, Lumet directs several good, realistic, action scenes. However, there's too much focus on Serpico's private life, and those scenes (Serpico buying a puppy, acting cute, fighting with his girlfriend, visiting his Italian parents) bring the movie to a grinding halt.

"Serpico" also suffers from an intrusive and often inappropriate soundtrack and a lack of good supporting characters. Pacino dominates the film to excess. He seems to be in every scene & has most of the dialogue - so the other actors have little to work with. Finally, police corruption - although terrible -really isn't that engaging a movie subject.

Conclusion: A solid crime film and an excellent star vehicle for Pacino but somewhat depressing. Rating ***

Mamma Roma (1962)

Director: Pasolini
Stars: Anna Magnani

Plot: Mamma Roma is a middle-aged whore of Roma who can now quit and become a fruit seller. She re-unites with her 16-year-old son, Ettore & dreams of getting him a good position But it is too late for Ettore?

Pros: Direction, Magnani
Cons: Teenage Son is a bit of a bore

Shot in Neo-realistic fashion, 'Mamma Roma' focuses in on the prostitutes and low lifes of lower class Rome and Magnini relationship with her son. Magnani dominates the picture and it comes alive whenever she's on screen. She makes Mamma Roma's struggles quite interesting. Unfortunately, the teenage son is a sullen bore and his scenes without Magnani are somewhat dull. The story itself is simple and direct.

Conclusion: Good Magnini but a cut below "The Bicycle Thief" and the other Italian NeoRealistic masterpieces. Rating ***

Easy Rider (1969) - Hopper

Stars: Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda

Plot: Two drug dealers score big and journey from SF to New Orleans on motorcycles.

Pros: Cinematography, Soundtrack, Nicholson

Cons: Pretty Much everything else.

A fairly short movie (95 minutes) that's pretty good when Fonda & Hopper -our "heroes"- are racing down the open highway, the soundtrack booming, and beautiful pictures of America flashing by. The "Born to be Wild" sequence has become famous. Its also interesting when Jack Nicholson shows up. Sadly, this represents only half the movie. The other half consists of our dull leads doing acid and pot, visiting a hippie commune, being hassled by rednecks, seeing Mardi Gras and having far too many "Like wow man" druggie conversations. Neither of the two leads is given much character or personality. To call their characters "underdeveloped" is an understatement.

The acting, outside of Nicholson, ranges from adequate to amateurish. Fonda is wooden while Hopper does his usual paranoid ranter shtick. Many of the supporting characters - including the Southern locals that insult Fonda/Nicholson/Hopper at a cafe - were real people hired on location and vary in quality.

Morally the film is reprehensible. It promotes drug use and the absurd idea that if only the Rednecks in 'Amerika' would let us smoke pot, wear long hair, practice free love, and ride around on motorcycles everything would be groovy. Its all about Freedom, man. BTW, another name for "Freedom" is "Selfishness".

Looking back, the hippies/Easy rider types were nothing more than social parasites made possible by the hard work & patriotism of previous Generations. They were riding the crest of the post WWII economic boom (including cheap oil) - a boom that would soon come to an end.

Summary: Good in spots, but nowhere near the masterpiece some make it out to be. Rating **1/2

Nashville (1975) - Altman

Stars: Lilly Tomlin, Kieth Carradine, Ronee Blakely, Henry Gibson

Plot: Set in Nashville, the Country and Western music capital, we follow 24 characters through 5 days.
Pros: Good acting, a few good songs, Ronne Blakely
Cons: Too long, weak script, mediocre songs, dull characters
Best Quote: Opal: [In an automobile junkyard] I'm wandering in a graveyard. The dead here have no crosses, nor tombstones, nor wreaths to sing of their past glory, but lie in rotting, decaying, rusty heaps, their innards ripped out by greedy, vulturous hands. Their vast, vacant skeletons... sadly sighing to the sky. The rust on their bodies... is the color of dried blood. Dried blood. I'm reminded of... of an elephant's secret burial ground. Yes. Cette aire de mystère. Cette essence de I'irréel. These cars are trying to communicate. O cars, are you trying to tell me something? Are you trying to convey to me some secret...

Hysterically praised by the critics in 1975, "Nashville" hasn't aged well and its difficult to understand its supposed "greatness". A dated satire of C&W music, the movie is 200 minutes long with 60 minutes of C&W song set pieces, most of which are either mediocre or badly sung . Rather than use good, existing C&W songs, or hire some good C&W songwriters, Altman used songs written/co-written by the actors.

We get a lot of boring and mostly unlikable characters
Other characters are meaningless, as they only show up for a few scenes and then disappear. Equally meaningless is a 3rd Party populist candidate whose speeches are broadcast throughout the movie. And like most Altman films, the dialogue seems improvised and is completely forgettable. Finally, although most of the acting is good - some actors (Gibson in particular) are miscast.  They're more Malibu than Nashville. They reek of Manhattan/Hollywood & aren't the least bit "country".

Its not all bad of course
Lilly Tomlin and Ronee Blakely both shine in their roles, there's a BBC reporter who's funny plus a few good songs (cf: "I'm easy"). Too bad the movie didn't focus more on Tomlin and Blakely.

So why all the praise?
Probably because (i) Altman was trying to do something original, (ii) critics love 'slice of life' movies (iii) its a satire on Nashville, C&W music, and by extension "middle America" (iv) there's some good acting, and (v) Altman is considered a "great" director.

Summary: Interesting rather than good. Altman fans and fans of mediocre C&W will like it more. Rating **1/2