E.T. :The Extra Terrestrial

From 1977-1989, there was something in the water. to me this was the renaissance of American cinema.  from this we saw a sleuth of directorial geniuses arise including George Lucas ( in his prime), Martin Scorsese, Coppola, and none other than the man himself Steven Speilburg. we've spoken about Spielburg's work o "Schindler's List" but when talking about Speilburg it's difficult for me lump Schinder in with the rest. While it is his best stand alone work. it really does not represent his mass body of work which made him into the icon we know. for that we must go back to a magical place called the 1980's where Cindi Lauper made a music video with the World Wrestling Federation in order to promote the Goonies (Seriously, LOOK IT UP!) in the 80's Speilburg was a powerhouse director and producer. he had his hands in everything from the indana Jones series to Jaws, t the Gremlins to even he goonies!. our entire childhood was molded by a single man with big aspirations. but if there was ever a film that had more heart than the rest it was without a doubt the little known picture e"E.T. The Extra Terrestrial"

E.T. follows the story of Elliot, a young boy in suburban California. Elliot has trouble reaching out tp the rest of his family and feels like an outcast. one night An extraterrestrial ship lands o n earth and accidentally leaves one of their own behind. Elliot discovers the Alien and is finds that the two of them share a telepathic bond which makes them able to understand each other. what follows is a heartwarming adventure as Elliot fights to protect his new friend and return him home. along the way Elliot will discover the love his family has for each other as well as a dark and foreboding force in the form of the u.s. government that is on the prowl.

What can be said about this movie without first bringing up Mr. Spielburg's body of work.  Something i loved about Spielburg is his ability to recapture that feeling of being a child. watch any film during the 80's Spielburg was always able to make the audience wish they were a part of the action. to be a kid again. k remember seeing goonies and wishing i was there. i wished i was indiana jones. hell i wish i w as involved with the group of friends who helped save E.T. There is  something just so wonderful about the tone of the film while providing a greatly painful loneliness of Elliot who suffers being abandoned by his father, but at the same time we are exposed to this beautifully hopeful story about love and friendship.

i would love to take the time to talk about the E.T. himself. while he is just a puppet, the design of E.T. is incredible. thee is so much emotion and feeling put into it. the concept of having a character that can not be directly communicated with is something that hasn't been done away with. while E.t. may not have originated this plot device it is something that hs been used widely in children's films ever since. most notably in transformers with the character of bumblebee. 

another key figure in the films are the villains. The government, while this is once again nothing new to cinema E.t.'s approach to the them is what makes them extremely affective. throughout the picture the agents  our portrayed in the shadows or from a first person perspective. seldom do we see there faces if ever and when we do it is typically a character that has been humanized. the skewing of the government's image makes them sam more alien and abstract to the audience while we are forced to see E.t. head on making him more human to us. one great scene in particular  has Elliot's family being terrorized by government agents in astronaut outfits. this whole entire scene seems to be right out of a sic fi horror film all except for th fact that THESE are the humans.

and that's E.T.. Like i said before nothing will make you feel more alike a child again than the films of Spielburg. and E.t. is no accept ion. everything about this film is grand and wondrous and will provide you with a wide eyed wonder that most films don even try to make. it's a must see so please check it out. 

The Grapes of Wrath

So yeah Grapes of Wrath was always one of those films i had heard about since i was a kid. "oh you have to see it" "its a really important story"  " it's so sad" "READ THE BOOK FIRST" and let me feel when you're a kid and you have no interest in reading.  THIS

is the last thing you want to read. but okay I'm an adult now; and might a say a big fan of literature an film, so i gave the movie a shot, and is it really a surprised that i loved it? here's the Grapes of Wrath.

set during the dust bowl of the 1920's " The Grapes of Wrath tells the story of  the Joad family as they are forced to under take an exodus from their former home to migrant work in California. the events unfold through the eyes of Todd the family's older son who recently returned from a prison sentencing. along the way The family undergoes series hardships as their old run down truck drags them down Route 66. From discrimination. to living in migrant camps, to even facing death among their numbers. the Joad family must continue onward in hopes of finding their place in the sun. 

films like this truly amaze me. I've gone on before about how certain ills act as documents to import moments in history, and this one is no different. every second of this film breathes the authenticity and sheer tragedy that was the south during the great depression. you genuinely feel for this family as they struggle to just stay alive. and when one of them passes away you just want to break down for them but they keep on going and then when people treat them less than human you want to stand up for them but AGAIN they keep on going. each and every member of the Joads holds their own in the dark chapter of their lives. 

the film in a lot of ways reminds  me of Schindler's List.. not so much in the raw intensity of the story, even though it can be a very intense story. no, its similar more in the way everything is presented. the plot tends to let someone else take the wheel for a bit. and it is there that we get to see the golden moments of this film. these, sort of day in the life, moments that present what it must have been like to be there/ you see the people affected by this , you see how they are willing to fight and nearly kill for one little shred of dignity. you see what happens when all dignity is lost and they are willing to give up so much for one more day of life. 

one of the finest characters in the film is Todd himself. who after missing so much of his family is obligated to lead them to the promised land. every step of the way his past catches up with him and yet he is always determined to lead his family to better land. almost making him a Val Jean/ Moses type. he's a man in search of purpose and when he sees what has happen dot the people he loves and too other people like him he gets this intense urge to fight for the salvation of the migrant worker.  i just love character sleek this.

in truth it is a long film maybe too long for some people. but let me tell you here is a genuine charm to a movie like this is really does get to you and i assure you you will love this family as much as i have.

Some Like It Hot.

I have a question for all of you. does anyone remember when this

was considered sexy? I don't because I'm twenty four years old and this was a had a century ago but regardless when did this fall out of favor? maybe i'm getting off track this is "Some like it Hot.

Set in the 1920's, Some Like it Hot follows the lives of Joe and Jerry, two Jazz musicians who became witnesses to a mob hit and are now on the run. alone the way the two find out about an all woman jazz band bound for Florida, so of course they decide to dress up like women and tag along. Joe who is well known as a womanizer falls in love with the bands singer, Sugar. While Jerry is being stalked by a dirty millionaire. through a series of whacky  miss adventures the two ultimately must come face to face with the very thing they were running from. can they make it out alive?

i'm always skeptical when seeing a classic comedy for the first time because i'm fearful that modern humor won't allow me to understand and appreciate the old fashioned jokes and comedy. But with this one i found myself laughing more and more than i would at most comedies of today's standards. theres this rich chemistry between the characters. the two leads  develop some great bro banter in a pre bro era. Marylin in all her glory delivers a wonderful female lead role. hell even the side characters bring some unique  brands of humor to this movie. i suppose it's sup rising to see a movie about two guys dressing up as women in order to coneil themselves from a dangerous threat be successful considering… well…

yeah that's not a joke i swear to god White Chicks ripped off this film to the T. i think the cross dressing story is just something that can be hit and miss because you really have to have actors comfortable enough to play the role uncomfortably. but hey that's where this movie hits the mark spot on. you just love seeing these guys squirm with the fact that guys are all over them and that they now can't live the play boy life style sthey desired;

ohhh Marilyn. considere dby many today to be the ultimate sex symbol. Marilyn Monroe was an actress who was able to bring a level of beauty as well as talent to her craft. not to mention some of greatest instances of wisdom uttered by an individual. no seriously go check out some of her quotes they are by far the most profound things you'll read.  despite the controversy surrounding her real life. What she brought tho her work was hypnotic and endearing. 

And that's " Some Like it Hot" it's definitely one of the great slap stick movies. something worth taking a look at check it out. I liked it i hope you will.

Chinatown

Finally getting back on track with these reviews. here's a shocker. this is the first film I watched for the American Film Buff Reviews that i had not previously seen, and boy howdy was it a good one.  Chinatown is one of those films that just brings a whole lot of style to the table. everything from it's characters to it's mystery riddled story line brings about one of the best love letters to the film noir genre I've ever seen. 

Set in the 1940's, Chinatown follows the life of private investigator Jake Gettes ( Jack Nicholson) has been hired to investigate Hollis Mullray , the chief engineer of the Los Angeles department of water and power. Jake soon discovers that not only is hollis  having an affair but that someone is emptying a reservoir into the ocean. When Jake goes public he finds out he was set up and that Hllis has been murdered.  Now Jake must dive into the darkest corners of Los Angeles along with the help of Hollis' mysterious wife in order to find out why he was murdered and what all this has to do with the Los Angeles water supply.

I found the story very unreal as i was watching it. Not so much in the storyline, how unreal can a dispute over water supplies be? It was more so in the overall atmosphere of the film that i felt this unreal almost dreamlike essence. not that this is bad thing, it actually adds to the identity of the film; giving it a 1940's film noir feel. which id you couldn't tell from the opening credits; is exactly what they were going for. Jack Nicholson's wise cracking but emotionally scarred Jake is your typical noir hero. down to that sneering anti hero look. but what is so interesting is that there is this feeling that he is desperate to break this character. He constantly refers to his dark past working for the DA in Chinatown which leads to him ultimately to the stories tragic ending. other archetypes include a love affair, the femme fatale character and a WHOLE LOT OF CORRUPTION. 

It's funny to say that this film is a typical Noir type story, when in actuality it really isn't. i was genuinely surprised at the conspiracy factor of the whole thing not to mention the dark twist involving Hollis's wife. what brings the film up to the front of the noir genre is that i shaw a late 20th century style to it that really does make it unique. the entire film gradually becomes darker and darker and what starts out as a simple "is he cheating on me plot" turns into a conspiracy that could cause thousand of californian's their lives. It's brilliantly written and one of the finer detective films I've had the privilege of viewing. 

Now i'd like to take a moment to focus on the ending. The entire time i was expecting this big old happy ending the bad guy loses,  the city is saved Jake gets the girl but this time around none of that is the case. in fact for the most part everybody loses. The villain is not only never confronted by the police on his crimes but he ultimately gets what he wants, with the death of  a major character at his expense. Jake is ultimately left alone in Chinatown never able to escape his past. that's a great ending . it not only brings about this indefinite truth that we must own up to our past because it'll never leave us but it also caters to the idea that things don't always work out. and as a detective there isn't always that "Gotcha moment.

And that's Chinatown. a very unique and stylistic take on an old and often unused genre. i personally loved and I'm sure many of you will too. so if you don't mind please see tho movie it'll be worth the viewing. 

p.s. it's on Netflix so no excuses.

On The Waterfront

Hey everybody guess who's back. after a little hiatus related to weddings and other projects. i'm returning with the American Film buff blogs. today is a siple on to get things rolling again. Here's "On the Waterfront".

The story takes place on the waterfront of a New York Harbor, of most likely Brooklyn. Longshoreman, Teddy Malloy is inadvertently responsible for for the murder of a fellow longshoreman at the hands of local mob boss Johnny friendly. Teddy is a once up and coming boxer who took a dive for Friendly and lives in shame of his decisions.

as the story progresses it becomes clear that Friendly is responsible for several murders on the dock and that The entire workforce is afraid of him. a local pastor urges the men to unionize and rid cup against Friendly. Teddy is assigned to spy on them and find out who the big players are. Along the way Teddy meats Edie, the sister of the man who's life Teddy was responsible for.  the two slowly fall in Love. and Teddy ends himself turns between the love of his life and ratting out his friends. 

Can Teddy malloy help the dockworkers liberate themselves while finding his self worth once more?

While not exactly the most complexed of films the story definitely has its weight to it. Teddy Malloy is a tragic character living up to the mistakes he made in life. theres this definite sadness to the dock workers ho all live under the fearful rule of Johnny Friendly. but what makes Teddy so great as a hero is his ability to rise up above his fears and do the right thing. There is a famous moment between Teddy and his brother, who also happens to be Johnny's right hand man. where the talks about what he could have been but chose to be nothing more than a punk for his brother. you can just feel the tragedy in his eyes and you know that there is nothing but regret to him.

All in all its a very straight foreword film on ethat i enjoyed for its significance in history. apparently its supposed to be an allegory for the red scare from the opposing side of the argument. but really the gem of the film is Marlo Brando who by god is one of the greatest actors i have ever seen. not much to it but definitely worth the watch.

The General

Here's another silent film for ya. now before you decide you want to hop on over to Cracked.com and read the"Top Ten Animals That Look Like John Belushi", but i promise you this is a good one. 

The General is set during the first year of the Civil War. A young train confederate train engineer is desperate to gain the acceptance of his girlfriends family but to no avail her father refuses to acknowledge him. One day a band of Union spies attempt steal a train with the engineers girlfriend onboard. with little time to waste  the young engineer sets out on a wild adventure beyond what the engineer could ever imagine. 

It's hard for me to to dive down deep into a film like this when it really is as straight forward as you can get in a film. it's the basic damsel in distress story, with a hero setting out to save her.  Buster Keaton plays a delightfully dim wired but kind hearted hero . All in all the action is quite clever. I always find it so surprising that a train chase sequence could be as exciting as they portray it. where the film really shines is in the action and i honestly find it hard to talk about this film because the film is entirely action. there are two major sequences n the film and both of them take up about two thirds of the film. this doesn't mean the film is bad but that it's very very simple. 

Aaaaaaaaaand yeah that's all i have to really say about this film. it's really fun and quite entertaining, but if you wanted an in depth analysis of this film there isn't much to analyze. i highly suggest it for the sake of viewing it but don't expect something on the level of Schindlers List because it's not that kind of movie.

The Graduate

I'm going to write this one as i watch the movie because frankly I have quite a lot to say about it. The Graduate is one of the most fascinating films to come out of the 60's. With all it's theme's of uncertainty and pointless rebellion and it's beautiful sound track by Simon and Garfunkel,  The Graduate is one of the first comedies to portray the bleak uncertainty of adulthood through the eyes of a graduate. it's a truly compelling and over all wonderful black comedy. Here's how it goes. 

'

Our story begins with, you guessed it; a Graduate. Benjamin Braddock is returning home from college after recently finishing his schooling. But it's not the joyous occasion you'd expect it to be. As he returns home he discovers a great emptiness in his life, the uncertainty of where he's gong deeply confuses him and pretty much turns him into a social recluse. On the night of his welcome home party Benjamin comes is asked by his neighbor Mrs. Robinson , to take her home. what he realizes is that her intentions are not exactly innocent. She attempts to seduce Benjamin and as he struggles with resisting he eventually gives in. Now under the brightly colorful veil of suburban life. Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson continue to have an affair that should never be. and still Benjamin finds the the fulfillment of it only brief. eventually Mrs. Robinson's Husband tries to set Benjamin up with their daughter and what starts out as a simple date turns into a bizarre and taboo love triangle that leads Benjamin down an even darker path of uncertainty. Is he willing to upset everything and ruin the pristine nuclear atmosphere in order to be with The robinson/s daughter? Or will he continue down the path of uncertainty that has consumed him?

So what exactly do I love about this movie? Well, for one think i absolutely appreciate it's lack of BS. this movie doesn't try to star coat anything or give us a white washed outlook on the characters. from the get go, you'll find Benjamin very frustrating and sad. you'll see Mrs. Robinson as Manipulative and selfish. you'll see her husband as a dim wit, You'll see benjamin's parent's as idealistically blind suburbanites, and you'll see Mrs. Robinson's daughter as being too naive for her own good. What these characters do when they are put together rid create  very odd view of American society in the 1960's. but what it also does is it creates a unique genre; the anti romantic comedy. Benjamin while in his world of uncertainty becomes infatuated with Mrs. Robinson, and when she becomes old news he moves on to her daughter and after that? Oh, I'll get to that in a minute. What we get from this movie is a group of characters that have made or are in th process of making bad decisions. the ultimate e of which is BEn and Mrs. RObinson both of whom are lost in the world either suffering from their past, or fearful of heir future.  

Visually the films is quite strait foreword. there's nothing special to it until you get to the musical segments of the number. The entire film is scored by Simon and Garfunkel; and the sound of Silence takes this film and just gives it that down note that really grounds the entire film. it just makes the world seem bleak and even though we know we're watching a comedy, and to some extent a parody of our modern culture, we get the idea that this isn't all the happiness it appears to be. The way in which this music adds itself to the the visuals is simple. during these segments especially the three times the sound of silence is used. we are shown Benjamin's outlook on everything. we see  via certain angles that he is completely lost in the world and that Mrs. Robinson seems to be something that brings him relief from what appears to be nothing but white noise.  Like a drug however, no matter how much he goes to her that high is all but brief and he once again feel strapped in the world around him. 

Let me get to what I love most about this picture; the ending. what the ending brings to the table is one of the more fascinating punctuations to a film ever made. at a certain point in the film Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson's affair is revealed. he daughter refuses to speak to Ben and she runs off to Berkley College. Ben finally finding what he believes to be certainty in his life runs off to marry her, with no plan, or any rational  idea of whether or not she'll mary him. when he finally finds her he learns she is engaged to a medical student. On the day of her wedding, he crashes said wedding causing a riot which leads to him and her escaping on a bus, laughing as they go. But here is where the magic really happens. Normally it would be here that the film ends as our lovers go off into the sunset, but the camera keeps rolling. what we see now is the two gradually coming off of their high once again. The Sound of Silence plays as we see the realization come across their faces. They have just made a mistake. the two of them know little to nothing about each other, they have just alienated themselves from both of their families, and now here they are on a bus heading towards an uncertain future that the two of them cannot escape from. They're stuck with each other now and they have to deal with the consequences.  Thats what Truly makes this film wonderful. where a normal film would who you a sappy and false story about two kids caught up in a whacky situation that results in them defying their parents and following what they love, shows that there actually consequences to our selfish actions. and in reality these characters are selfish. they both act out of their own self indulgence with little thought of how they affect the people around them, and that's a pretty great ending to a very honest film. 

Sunset Boulevard

Sunset Boulevard, is one of those movies that is more so fascinating in what it's trying to convey than it's actual story. it was the first film to ever portray it's own industry in a fundamentally negative light. this unfortunately makes the film very much a downer, and the fact that it's presented in a Film Noir style. But that doesn't make the film bad; Fight Club proved that  even Cynicism can be entertaining. Lets get right into it here's the story.  

The story deals with the events that lead up to the murder of Joe Gills, a down on his luck screen writer.  six months earlier, while attempting to hide from repossessors, he stumbles upon the dilapidated mansion of the silent film starlet, Norma Desmond. Washed up and with little to no fan base, Norma has become a delusional recluse certain that she will have another picture to perform in soon. seeing the potential of Gill she urges him to live with her and finish a screen play she is convinced will put her back on top. what follows is a series of strange and and dream like observations of the dark side to Hollywood. as Joe falls deeper into Norma's Web Norma herself seems to fall into a darker insanity that  is willing to consume Joe in order to contain itself. 

What keeps you interested in this very strange and dark picture. Is the dream like atmosphere it makes. never once do you feel as if you're based in reality. Thats not to say that anything supernatural happens but that it's over all view of the world is a little bit of balanced, not unlike Norma Desmond. It's strange for me to say that while i don't find anything unlikeable about the characters, i can't help but find any that I identified with. by far one of the best decisions for this film was to base it in the Noir style. which even though having been founded long before this, was and is still a useful story style.  

The themes presented in this film are wildly interesting. the observation of what happens to an actress once she's fallen from popularity is not a new one at all. but the way they show the utter devastation it has on her, and how the industry bares no remotes in it's part in her insanity. the over all cynicism while uncomfortable, does feel justified. 

another element that this films brings to the table, is the relationship between the two leads. It's definitely one of the more uncomfortable relationships in cinematic history. but what really makes it just sad is Norma and Joe's udder desperation for each other and yet that knowledge that deep down they loath each other. Norma craves to keep Joe with her despite the fact he's only interested in selling  screen play. she despises his constant need to get away and even goes so far as to attempt suicide in order to keep him. Joe on the other hand feels trapped to her. He knows that she is the only thing keeping him a float, but at the same time he's completely aware that she is crippling his abilities to move foreword. Together they make a bad combination that is doomed for disaster. 

That's Sunset Boulevard. Iknow my review was brief. but really I don't have much to say about this film. it's a pretty strait foreword. definitely not one of my favorites but for you? it might be something worth checking out.