Jack Nicholson leads the cast of this 1974 kickback to the noir films of the past. A private dick, Gittes, is assigned by a Mrs. Mulray to track her husband because she suspects him of an affair. As soon as Gittes turns the pictures over to Mrs. Mulray, they end up in the daily paper. That's when the REAL Mrs. Mulray shows up threatening to sue Gittes for taking the incriminating pics of her husband. Gittes sets out to discover who this fake Mrs. Mulray was and why she would want to destroy Mr. Mulray, and then Mr. Mulray ends up dead and the girlfriend disappears.
This movie gives away nothing as it curves through its clever storyline. The characters were believable and well written (you can tell that when you comment while viewing what a character will do because that's how he is). It's rare to find a film that takes you on an unpredictable ride as it unfolds instead of one where you know how it ends before it begins. Definitely a recommended watching.
Now, if only it had a better ending...
Showing posts with label 1974. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1974. Show all posts
Thursday, January 29, 2009
The Godfather Part II -- 1974 -- R
This sequel to the 1972 film follows the rise of Vito Corleone and the fall of Michael. THis film was better than the first one. It was paced better, and the two plots intertwined perfectly creating a wonerul film experience. Even though it ran nearly 4 hours, I hardly noticed the time go by as Vito traveled to America and created his circle of trust a favors to become the Corleone family crime syndicate and as Michael slowly lost everyone through his necessary actions as the reigning Don of the Corleone clan.
The only real downside was that it ended very quickly and unexpectedly when it did end. In fact, I unintentionally paused the movie in what turned out to be the final scene an came back to find a short scene that faded into the end titles. I still understood the film, but it felt like a brief denouement was in order that we didn't get.
It was definitely worthy of its best picture award for 1974 and stands as a testimony to filmmakers everywhere that sequels can outdo their own original material.
The only real downside was that it ended very quickly and unexpectedly when it did end. In fact, I unintentionally paused the movie in what turned out to be the final scene an came back to find a short scene that faded into the end titles. I still understood the film, but it felt like a brief denouement was in order that we didn't get.
It was definitely worthy of its best picture award for 1974 and stands as a testimony to filmmakers everywhere that sequels can outdo their own original material.
Friday, January 16, 2009
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre -- 1974 -- R
One of Entertainment Weekly's 25 scariest movies of all time fell rather flat in my opinion. I watch movies fo substance, character, plot, and other things beyond just the visuals. This film had a paper thin plot, which is fine, since the suspense was the point of the film, anyway.
When it comes to the characters, they were mostly cardboard cutouts, none of which showing any real character beyond their purpose in the film: get killed. They performed my number one horror pet peeve: knocking senselessly on a door asking if someone is home and then just walking in when no one answers and the door is open. Seriously, who does this? This film features no less than three of these imbecils, and being Texas, they were all killed, probably for breaking and entering. I barely knew their names, much less enough about them to care that they just got hacked to death. I know it's supposed to be the human element, and I will grant the suspense in these sections was done very well, but I already booed it because they didn't belong in that house to begin with.
The final third of the film featured the heroine and only survivor screaming in a chair she was tied to at the dining room table. I know she was sitting on a corpse, but she screamed pretty randomly, so I wasn't sure if there was something going on behind her or not. Maybe she was just screaming because of the bizarre and disturbing situation.
The draw of this film for the gore hounds of the world comes down to its severely disturbing images. When it comes to just freaky bizarre stuff, this movie has it by the truckload. Just dead things everywhere and disturbing practices by the villains, one which included "grandpa" sucking blood ou of the girl's finger. What was that all about? The fear in the last third rested around these guys being completely out of their minds and not knowing what they're going to do next.
The director did a fine job in building suspense because this film has a load of highly suspenseful sections that would rank it highly in the field of scares, but the characters were so unbelievable that it was hard to accept what was going on which served to ruin, at least for me, the wonderful suspense the director was setting up.
When it comes to the characters, they were mostly cardboard cutouts, none of which showing any real character beyond their purpose in the film: get killed. They performed my number one horror pet peeve: knocking senselessly on a door asking if someone is home and then just walking in when no one answers and the door is open. Seriously, who does this? This film features no less than three of these imbecils, and being Texas, they were all killed, probably for breaking and entering. I barely knew their names, much less enough about them to care that they just got hacked to death. I know it's supposed to be the human element, and I will grant the suspense in these sections was done very well, but I already booed it because they didn't belong in that house to begin with.
The final third of the film featured the heroine and only survivor screaming in a chair she was tied to at the dining room table. I know she was sitting on a corpse, but she screamed pretty randomly, so I wasn't sure if there was something going on behind her or not. Maybe she was just screaming because of the bizarre and disturbing situation.
The draw of this film for the gore hounds of the world comes down to its severely disturbing images. When it comes to just freaky bizarre stuff, this movie has it by the truckload. Just dead things everywhere and disturbing practices by the villains, one which included "grandpa" sucking blood ou of the girl's finger. What was that all about? The fear in the last third rested around these guys being completely out of their minds and not knowing what they're going to do next.
The director did a fine job in building suspense because this film has a load of highly suspenseful sections that would rank it highly in the field of scares, but the characters were so unbelievable that it was hard to accept what was going on which served to ruin, at least for me, the wonderful suspense the director was setting up.
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