The 70′s (Sci-Fi and creepy old men)
May 27th – June 1st
Silent Running – This is the first of a few movies that Sarah and I are watching in conjunction with Filmspotting’s 70′s Sci-Fi Marathon. This one is by Douglas Trumbull, the special effect guru behind 2001 and Close Encounters. The special effects are quite good. The drone robots, which are actually paraplegics in costume, are very nice. And the ships and eco-domes look great. Bruce Dern’s acting, in many ways, is a special effect in and of itself. It’s not so bad as it’s way over the top. But, it works if only in a campy sort of way to illustrate his madness and/or passion. As such, the movie acts both as a champion for the environment and a warning as to the zealotry of some of its proponents.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – Julian Schnabel’s film about Jean-Dominique Bauby’s struggle with locked-in syndrome. Beautifully shot and directed. It’s the second film I’ve seen in a week photographed by Janusz Kaminski (also Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). The film was so beautifully crafted that I felt a bit of locked-in myself in relationship to the speech therapist Marie-Josee Croze). She was quite enchanting and I felt a bit trapped behind my TV set.
On The Beach – Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Anthony Perkins, Fred Astaire. Quite a cast. And, it certainly lived up to it. For whatever reason, I’m a little surprised when I see an older movie (this one was released in 1959) and find it to be so emotionally and topically relevant. It’s as if I expect anything over 40 years old to be nothing but quaint and old-fashioned. I understand that it was remade for a 2000 made-for-TV movie. I have no desire to see the updated version. I might, however, check out the book.
Logan’s Run – I struggled through this one. At one point, we switched off the DVD player and turned to the local news to find out what was going on with the lightning bursting outside our windows. I wasn’t exactly itching to finish the movie. It was just too long. And, I’m not quite sure why we should be rooting for Logan 5 (Michael York) to escape in the first place. I didn’t really care either way if he made it out.
Venus – While I have the utmost respect for Peter O’Toole, I just didn’t care too much for this film. And, I didn’t think O’Toole was all that great in the leading role. He was okay, but I don’t think he deserved an Academy Award nomination for it. The old male’s gaze. I get it. Moving on…
Is your reason for not caring if Logan made it because of the character or because the movie didn’t make why he needed to make it out clear?
To be fair, there was something (I don’t know what) in the movie or my day that doomed it from the start. So, I’m sure I didn’t give it a fair trial. That being said, I think it was probably the fact that he was one of “them,” a Sandman, that presented the problem. He killed people and he was part of the establishment. I suppose I wasn’t entirely convinced by his conversion. Or, just as likely, I missed something that would have otherwise convinced me. I blame Farrah Fawcett.
Re: Logan’s Run-
They didn’t really do much of anything with his “conversion.” I got the sense that it was supposed to be up-in-the-air about whether or not he was sincerely trying to run, or simply going undercover to bust the other runners, but I felt like they started that idea and never really followed through on it. Therefore, I found myself not terribly interested in the outcome.
One of my biggest problems with this movie (and I had several) was that I would’ve liked to have known who the hell was in charge of this place. The computers? Or was there some hidden group of people controlling everything?
And the special effects were horrible, especially when you compare it to Silent Running, another film from the same time period.
The only thing I really enjoyed about this one was Peter Ustinov’s performance, with all of his half-crazed T.S. Eliot references. That’s just not something you see every day.
Re: On the Beach-
I’m thinking about doing a post on this one. I loved this movie so, so much.
Valid points, I can see that. It’s been a few years since I have seen it, probably my childhood/geeky nostalgia is making me remember it was cooler than it was. The idea certainly is still cool though.
Sarah, maybe some of your problems will be addressed in the remake. Yes, they are remaking that one, too.