 Notes from awards committee: Prior to 1975, Steven Spielberg had directed four mildly successful films; however, his fifth film, Jaws, made him a household name. This movie, a modernized version of the legendary Moby Dick, was the box office king of 1975. Jaws had a relatively low budget and the constant breaking down of the mechanical shark forced Spielberg to keep it off camera for the majority of the movie. This led to the unbearable tension for which the movie is still famous and for the final scenes, when we see the shark in all its terrible glory. Word spread quickly about the terrifying new movie, and Jaws was soon crowned the Classic Summer Blockbuster, and is the HC Best Motion Picture of the year and the Best Director award for Spielberg. It is a package deal. The World at Large
Fun Surprises - Monty Python and the Holy Grail – is a low budget masterpiece that pokes fun at the King Arthur myths, and is the funniest of the several Monty Python films. Make no mistake, the comedy is not sophisticated; it is beyond silly, with clowning off the lunatic scale, but then again, that is the real beauty of the film. An impressive barrage of hilarious sketches, and one of the most quoted movies of all time with a dedicated cult following. Top ten reasons to watch: the scientific witch trial, holy hand grenade, coconuts, air mail, Trojan rabbit, none shall pass bridge, the naughty nuns, Robin’s minstrels, the wedding speech, and white male actors who are not LGBTQ. The Man Who Would Be King - I first saw this flick in the 70’s and have liked it ever since. Simply a great adventure story, even if it is pure fiction. This is not a B movie; its credentials in terms of actors, script, direction, photography are impeccable. The great buddy chemistry between English soldiers Danny and Peachy (Sean Connery and Michael Caine) is what makes this flick so bloody entertaining. Their relationship is comic, without being clownish, and embraces the essence of courage and gallantry. The overall result is one the most memorable screen partnerships ever. The movie moves along at a brisk pace, and camera work and visuals create a beautiful, epic scope to the story. This film succeeds on many levels – it is pure entertainment. Pauline Kael wrote in her review, “Huston shares with Kipling a reveling in the unexpected twists of behavior of other [non-White] cultures, and he doesn’t convert the story into something humanistic. The ignorant natives are cruel and barbaric; if they’re given a chance, they don’t choose fair play. And Huston leaves it at that—he doesn’t pussyfoot around, trying to make them lovable. Huston has a fondness for the idiosyncrasies of the natives, and he doesn’t hate the heroes who go out to exploit them.” And that’s why this film would never be made today. Barry Lyndon - is an epic tale of fate, luck, courage, war, love and death. With ace director Stanley Kubrick behind the camera, it is not surprising that the visual impact of this film is strong - sweeping vistas of authentic European battle scenes with red-coated soldiers drawn up in formation and charging into the teeth of enemy fire, and indoor scenes of elegance with wigged nobility feasting or playing cards, bathed in soft candlelight. It transported this viewer into 18th century Europe like no other film before or since. For movie fans this is a work of art, and for fans of costume drama period pieces this is the zenith of the genre. If you enjoy classical music, the soundtrack is an extra bonus. Not to be overlooked is the fine performances by the leads, Ryan O’Neil and Marisa Berenson. Dog Day Afternoon – is one of the best New York City movies with good acting all around. The Rocky Horror Picture Show - is the world’s preeminent midnight movie, and not just for fans of glitter-rock-transvestite musicals. It’s playing somewhere this weekend in an American city near you where you’re sure to find an excitable audience dressed up in lingerie and maid outfits and ready to pop out of their seats to sing and dance and have a party in the theater aisles. No other movie has a reputation like this. It’s more famous as a phenomenon than it is as a film. Writing about it without mentioning its audience is like writing about the Arctic without mentioning ice. Also the music is fun – Let’s Do the Time Warp Again! Disappointments - One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - The Academy was charmed with this film and showered it with a grand slam of four major awards. The movie was hailed as a passionate plea for the rights and dignity of mental patients, and hammered into the public consciousness the message that our mental hospitals were doing more harm than good. The film was in tune with the anti-psychiatry crusaders and counter-culture gurus of the 1960s and 70s who questioned many of the practices, conditions, or even the existence of mental hospitals. The social engineers responded with mental patient liberation. While this was a feel good topic for the liberals, the long term consequences have been very, very ugly for the USA. Fast forward a few decades and now we see that our police departments are wardens for the many thousands seriously crazy people left homeless and destitute. On an even darker note, a 2024 study by Statista research (using data from 1982 – Sept 2024) found that 98 out of 151 (65%) mass killings were committed by shooters with serious mental health problems. Search a few minutes on Google, and it is easy to find studies with the conclusion that up to 87.5% of the mass shooters are suffering from major psychiatric illness (2023 study by MDs Cerfolio and Glick), and were either medically mistreated or not treated by a doctor at all. Beware of the intense gaslighting of this topic, many psych docs try hard to minimize the links between mass shooting and mental illness. Their cautionary message is that stigmatizing the mentally ill results in lack of medical treatment. The psych docs often fail to mention it is in their own economic self-interest to dismiss the link between mass shootings and mental illness. Wind and the Lion - Arab bandits swarm over the walls of a stately mansion in Tangier. A staid British gentleman calmly rises and pulls a .455 Mark I Webley pistol from his coat pocket. He drops three intruders before being killed. This griping action scene opens a movie that is loosely based on a true event in Morocco, circa 1904. The movie pretends to portray real history, but – so sorry, it does not. In real life, Ion Perdicaris, a wealthy Greek-American, was kidnapped by Raisuli, the last Barbary pirate, and held for ransom. Perdicaris was assumed to be an American, but in fact he had renounced American citizenship in 1862 to become a Greek citizen. Teddy Roosevelt slyly hushes up the fact that Perdicaris is only a Greek carpetbagger, and uses the crisis to rally political support during the Republican convention. He dispatches the Atlantic Fleet to Tangier, and declares “Perdicaris Alive or Raisuli Dead”. TR’s popularity skyrockets. In this movie version, Perdicaris apparently had a sex change operation (Candace Bergen becomes the kidnap victim), and is 100% American. So here we have the typical Hollywood romance subplot. Bergen is the type of plucky trollop who can ride around in the desert for days without getting her elaborate hair-do messed up. Needless to say, she swoons for the Raisuli, played by Sean Connery. So here lies the problem with this flick – a shoehorned romance subplot that makes no sense. In the end the pretty lady doesn't matter. And at no time is Sean anyone but a Scotsman wearing robes, waving a scimitar, and enjoying some overacting. The strength of the movie is the fine performances of the American trio - President Teddy Roosevelt (Brian Keith), Marine Captain Jerome (Steve Kanaly), and statesman John Jay (John Huston). Brian Keith delivers an altogether captivating career best effort as TR, in one of the cinema's great performances. He carries the film and makes the movie worth watching. The most interesting fact of this story is that the truth about Perdicaris remained unknown to the public until 1933. That no one gave away the secret for almost thirty years is the most astonishing detail about this tempest in a foreign teakettle. Farewell, My Lovely - Robert Mitchum is well past his “Use by date” in this Private detective story written by the master, Raymond Chandler. Charlotte Rampling is delicious as Velma, and saves the film from mediocrity. The best film version of the book was done years earlier with Dick Powell as an impressive and true-to-book Marlowe. Three Days of the Condor - A cold, rainy day in New York City...in a small, unimportant CIA research office, mild mannered Joe Turner (Robert Redford), makes the lunch run to the local deli. Fate has dealt him a lucky break; while he goes out the rear door and takes short cuts through back alleys ...death arrives at the front door – a van full of killers enter and murder every person in the building; then vanish. Turner returns with a bag of sandwiches to witness his worst nightmare... With this powerful opening scene, the stage is set for an entertaining suspense film. The tension never lets up as Turner discovers he can trust no one, and barely survives multiple assassination attempts. This movie about the dangers of powerful, lawless federal agencies is just as relevant today as it was in 1975. Maybe more so today. With tension level set on high, the film fumbles into a giant plot hole; a random kidnapping device is used to introduce an attractive female companion (Faye Dunaway) for some romance with Joe to spice up the movie. This was done in most clumsy way possible and is chauvinist beyond belief.
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