This Week in Cinema, I Learned…Jun 16-22 2024
Written by Cameron Geiser
Welcome to This Week in Cinema, a yearlong film criticism project wherein I will be watching a new film that I haven't seen every single day.
This was a solid week of Summer films. Granted the selection of titles is pretty wide ranging, but overall it was more good than bad. Two of the films this week were somewhat disappointing, a uniquely violent revenge flick with a muted lead character and a prison escape movie that made a few too many christ-like connotations with a main character that didn't earn or want those affirmations. Two films this week were merely “good”, but not great. Richard Linklater’s high school hangout is light on plot but high on the vibes, and surprisingly Francis Ford Coppola's paycheck movie still turned out to be pretty okay! The final three films however, were excellent. I just realized this list isn’t in order of how I watched them, but in order of quality from worst to best. Anyways, these films include some teenagers learning about life in the woods, a biopic about Neil Armstrong and the trials of space travel, and an epic disaster movie starring all of the 1970s. Did I learn anything though? Well, I learned that I've made a conscious choice.
After now seeing a lot (but certainly not all) of the films of Paul Newman and Steve McQueen, I have to admit I prefer Steve McQueen in most roles and films. So far my favorite McQueen film is Papillon and as for Newman it's The Hustler for me. They're both legends of their era in Hollywood productions, but whereas Paul Newman has the movie star quality, he feels like he would be perfectly chummy on the cocktail circuit or being interviewed on a talk show. Whereas Steve McQueen appears to be effortlessly cool and more of a loner that knows his crowds and what he likes. Seeing them in a giant movie together was a real treat, but if I gotta choose, it's McQueen for me.
June 16th
The Kings of Summer (2013)
4/5
The Kings of Summer is a movie I've been wanting to watch ever since seeing the follow-up film by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Kong: Skull Island. This was a quaint surprise. Three teenagers, accordingly ranked from lead character, to supporting, and tertiary (yet no less important) are Joe (Nick Robinson), Patrick (Gabriel Basso), and Biaggio (Moises Arias) who all decide to build a house together in the woods one summer. It's the stuff every teenager dreams of doing, but never actually acts upon. The drama and conflict inherent in this collection of teens working and living together in the woods was admittedly far more charming than initially expected. Do they have awfully irresponsible, naive, and optimistic ideas of living by your own two hands? You bet they do. But, you may ask, do they learn things about themselves and their friends and families through strife, danger, and also freedom? They sure do theoretical question asker, they sure do. Also, Nick Offerman stars as the Grumpy Dad of Joe, and I couldn't imagine better casting for that role. The Kings of Summer was delightful, check it out!
June 17th
Rolling Thunder (1977)
3/5
Here's another film recommended by Quentin Tarantino in his book Cinema Speculation. Rolling Thunder is your typical revenge flick but one with several wild developments that ultimately make the watch worthwhile. This was written by Paul Schrader a year after the success of Taxi Driver, but with less refined elements in the roles of lead actor and director at the helm this time. The story follows a Vietnam Vet, Major Charles Rane (William Devane) returning home to Texas after having been a prisoner of War alongside a fellow captured soldier in Johnny Vohden (Tommy Lee Jones). Once home he's gifted $2000 in silver dollars and discovers that his wife has fallen in love with another man in the interim. Coolly working through the unexpected deviation in their love lives with a better than expected disposition on Rane's part, their growth and maturity on the subject is cut short when local thieves arrive to steal the silver coins.
The Major is tough as nails though and doesn't give up the information despite some torture, but he does get his hand stuffed into the garbage disposal and ground to dust. The family comes home at the worst time however and the bad guys get the kid to show them where the money is and they promptly shoot everyone and take the money and run. Fast forward to Major Rane hunting the attackers down with a talkative young woman he uses as a lure for the bad guys, and once he finds the last of them he recruits Vohden for a final deadly assault taking place in a brothel which was pretty entertaining. Too bad the middle portion of the movie is overlong, underdeveloped, and somewhat boring. It's a mixed bag, but worth a watch with measured expectations.
June 18th
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
3/5
As much as this film has been talked up to me over the years, I'll admit I expected a bit more than what I got. That's the dangerous game of bringing expectations into the opening credits of a movie, but I digress. Put in prison for a drunken night of illegal destruction of property, Paul Newman’s Luke just has to ride out a two year stint for his mistake. Initially he's beset by the oppressive guards and the other prisoners don't much care for him either but it is through his stubbornness and general sense of anti-authority that eventually catapults him to star status among the convicts. After a few failed escapes Luke is brought back and each time his legend grows as he attempts to chip away at this image of him that he cannot live up to. It doesn't help that one of the biggest, and loudest prisoners, called Dragline (George Kennedy), takes up Luke's mantle and becomes his hype man, furthering the myth making that Luke himself isn't all that fond of.
I think the reason this film is so fondly remembered is for the sense of ennui and non-conformity which was probably seen as something fresh and new back in 1967- of course this had already been done before, but not with Paul Newman. Every generation gets a movie star that eventually stars in a movie where the only real requirement is for their sense of cool to bleed into the screen and therefore wash over audiences. I believe Austin Butler is doing this right now with The Bikeriders, but I haven't seen it so I can't be entirely sure. If you're looking for a better prison escape movie, I highly recommend Papillon starring Steve McQueen as the titular prisoner. It's far more thrilling than Cool Hand Luke, and it's based off of a true story in which the book is way crazier than what they could fit into one movie, in fact I recommend the book as well!
June 19th
Dazed and Confused (1993)
3.5/5
Since I've been somewhat of a Richard Linklater kick this year, I figured I might as well add one of his more iconic Summertime films to the pile. Dazed and Confused is a good take on the end of the school year as a vibe, and how much has changed since 1976. Taking place on the last day
of school, Dazed and Confused follows the students of the high school in Austin, Texas as they navigate rumors of a party, avoiding the brutal hazing rituals of the senior class, and searching for the significance in life that they so yearn for without actually obtaining it. This is the epitome of the hangout movie. It follows a large cast of characters that criss-cross and intersect while sharing in community events like the rumored party getting canceled and the emergence of a new one later in the night. It's also the beginning of several oft repeated Matthew McConaughey quotes, like the infamous “alright, alright, alright..” to name just one. Dazed and Confused is a decent movie, and one that plays with the idea of memory, how events are collectively perceived, and that oh so desperate period of everyone's lives, the fleeting time of being a teenager.
June 20th
Jack (1996)
3.5/5
Knocking out another Robin Williams movie that I've missed over the years, Jack is a serviceable tale of a boy with an incredibly unfortunate disease. After a speedy one trimester pregnancy Karen (Diane Lane) and Brian Powell (Bran Kerwin) welcome their son Jack into the world. Jack’s unfortunate disease is essentially accelerated aging, but only for his body, not his mind. Thus we have a ten year old’s mind in forty year old Robin Williams’ body. The crux of the story is centered on Jack’s parents’ decision to finally allow him to go into public school, despite the obvious challenges that will entail. While the script isn't exactly the strongest part of the film, Robin Williams extreme commitment to the role makes up for it. Williams' performance is definitively the best aspect Jack has going for it. Though there are some good scenes, like the awkward stuff with Fran Drescher's character mistaking Jack for the principal of the school as Jack attempts to make friends by committing the age-old scheme, lying for your friends.
Unfortunately some of the comedy hasn't aged super well, and the less I think about Bill Cosby being a counselor for kids the better, but the film does commit to the negative consequences of his disease and they don't shy away from that, in fact they embrace it. Though admittedly, the most surprising part of Jack, for me, was that it was directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Huh… well, if this was a filmmaker just getting a paycheck, at least it was competent and generically entertaining.
June 21st
First Man (2018)
4/5
Having adored Damien Chazelle’s La La Land I've always intended to check out whatever he's been up to since then. First Man is a thoroughly entertaining Biopic about Neil Armstrong's personal journey as the first man to walk on the Moon amidst the harrowing work it took to make that moment happen. Telling the story of how we went to the Moon via the personal lens of Neil Armstrong's life was a smart move as you get to essentially tell two different yet interconnected stories. The Macro via the Micro. Chazelle’s framing, blocking, and staging were all noticeably artful and effective with an emphasis on that dichotomy between the scenes of Armstrong's personal life, like losing his young daughter to a tumor versus those fully encapsulating and immersive scenes aboard the spacecraft. The opening flight sequence alone was immediately thrilling and tactile. Besides the technical aspects of the film (which were impressive), to my great pleasure the cast rounding out the film is full of superb character actors such as Shea Whigham, Ciarán Hinds, Corey Stoll, Kyle Chandler, and Jason Clarke. If you're looking for a historical drama, this one is pretty solid!
June 22nd
The Towering Inferno (1974)
4/5
I’ve always enjoyed a good disaster movie, it’s a guilty pleasure of mine. Whether the threat of the film is weather, the folly of man, or just your good old fashioned giant asteroid hurtling towards the planet, I love watching a cast of characters getting thrown into certain doom just to see how they'll make it out alive- if at all. This has to be one of the best disaster films ever made. For a near three hour film, I was surprised with how good and efficient the pacing and storytelling is. It's a pretty simple premise, The Glass Tower, newly minted as the world's tallest building in San Francisco is about to open to the public with a large ceremony and formal ribbon cutting party. There are several factors that allow such a disaster to take place. First and foremost is arrogance by way of greed. Watching this film is very much akin to watching a masterful game of jenga where all the right pieces are pulled at the exact correct moment for the maximum level of tension and drama to be milked out of the story until everything comes tumbling down.
With safety procedures not yet installed in the building, and corner cutting due to playboy tirades and corporate shenanigans the fire starts on an empty floor while the party begins at the top of the building. As the fire expands and everyone involved catches on to the growing danger the fire department arrives and with it Steve McQueen’s Chief O'Hallorhan, the steady hand of the film. Paul Newman’s Doug Roberts, the architect of the Glass Tower, brings his calm cool far earlier in the film, but it's his palpable righteous fury that stays with us after he discovers that his plans for the building were ignored to cut costs. The film also does an incredible job at eliciting fear in regard to heights, asphyxiation, being crushed in an industrial nightmare of concrete and steel, and of course, burning to death. The cast is enormous and layered with huge names from this era and honestly I highly recommend this one. It might be nearly three hours long, but it flew by for me!
Cameron Geiser is an avid consumer of films and books about filmmakers. He'll watch any film at least once, and can usually be spotted at the annual Traverse City Film Festival in Northern Michigan. He also writes about film over at www.spacecortezwrites.com.