Film & TV

I have heard his name here and there. I was familiar only with the title and cover, 8 1/2. I thought the lead looked like Micheal Caine to me. I kept thinking it was a British film. It wasn’t until I watched an interview with Martin Scorsese where he said 8 1/2 is his favorite film. When I hear about a director I like tell me their favorite film I take notice. I have enjoyed discovering movies this way. Scorsese said that he wanted show his daughter this movie someday. However, he said he wanted her to better understand the director’s progression before she watched 8 1/2. He wanted her to learn how the director tells a story. The movies an order he would show her are. La Strada, Nights of Cabria, La Dolce Vita then 8 1/2. So that is what I did. All these films are Black and white and of course in Italian.

First I watched La Strada, 1954. This movie stars Giulietta Masina. I really fell in love with her. She was so expressive with her face and moved like a silent movie actor. It starts off she is sold off to a traveling entertainer. The background setting of Italy really shows you the ruins that where left after World War 2. This movie has a circus in it and clowns. Fellini seemed to keep making nods to the circus and clowns in his later films. Giulietta Masina is Fellini’s wife and she really is a pleasure to watch on screen.

Nights of Cabiria, 1957, is the movie I watched next. Giulietta Masina stars in this one as well. She plays a prostitute in Rome. Also Rome is still far from recovery but some signs of clean up are around. In this film, she experiences some wild nights. She is just looking for someone to rescue her from the streets and transform her into a housewife. She continues to find heartbreak.

The next film I watched was La Dolce Vita, 1960. This is another time capsule of Rome at the time still not fully recovered but nearly there. You at this point definitely see the new construction. I have to talk about Rome because it is such on display as the movie follows around Marcello. Fellini found his actor he can project himself in his films. The handsome Marcello Mastroianni was Fellini’s Robert DeNiro. This is a love letter to Rome. Marcello is a well to do older bachelor. You follow him around from party to party all through the night. This movie bends reality and fantasy more than past efforts. You can see Fellini flirting with his storytelling more. From my history of film, this reminds me of Terry Giliam’s storytelling style. He makes reality whatever he wants and mixes in dream-like sequences. This is found in movies like Brazil and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. and pretty much all his other films.

The movie I have worked up to 8 1/2, 1963. I can see why Martin Scorsese chose this movie. It is a film about a movie director working on making a movie. It is a behind the scenes look that is also a self reflection of the director’s life. This also bends reality in the scene like you would later see in a Woody Alan movie. Also in this movie it looks like Rome has recovered from World War 2. You see more contemporary architecture mix with Rome. Marcello plays Guido the director at the peak of his career struggling to workout his next film. In one scene you have Guido’s family and the movie cast and clowns walking around him like in a circus. This feels like a very personal story from Fellini. This as well as all the previous films are shot so well.0

They have all been black and white and are so beautifully shot. The kind of framing you later see in Scorsese and Spielberg. I was also getting Kubrick vibes at times. 8 1/2 and his others films mentioned here really tell a story at times like a fly on the wall. He seemed to create a personal way of telling a story. So far I am just a few in of this Director’s work. I am looking forward to continuing to watch more of his films. I plan to move forward watching them mostly in order of release date. Here we go.

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Robert Altman so far has been a wild ride watching his films. I came across him digging up old interviews with him somehow. I was fascinated by him. Pulling up different interviews tied to certain movie releases. Then I started to put together a face to the name. I had seen a few of his movies before and now I’m ting them together around this director. I had seen certain movies of his before. They include A Prairie Home Companion, Gosford Park, Cookie’s Fortune, The Player, Popeye, and M.A.S.H. Also I enjoy digging up movies from the 70’s and 80’s. While I might have been around for some of it I wasn’t the audience except for maybe Popeye. This director was so prolific in the 1970. He was Auteur cinema took a real hit in the 80’s but he worked through it. The 90s seems to be a high note in his career. I just felt compelled to visit his body of work.

One of his earliest films I saw was Countdown, 1967. This came out years before the Apollo Missions landed on the moon. This movie stars Jame Cann and Robert Duvall. The effects are very dated. The world changed after the Apollo missions and 2001: A Space Odyssey. This movie was still functioning on concept. A movie that was very of its time a hot space race with the Russians. One signature style of Altman is how he layers audio. You have at times a bunch of cross talk. This is used to create a more natural realistic setting. The Studio hated the audio on top of each other and lead to him being fired form the film.

The next film I watched was Brewster McCloud, 1970. This one intrigued me for a few reasons. One it takes place in Houston Texas and in the Astrodome. Growing up in my early years going to AstroWorld leaves me somewhat nostalgic for the Astrodome. So this excited me to see the Astrodome in its earlier setting. Another reason for me is Shelly Duvall. I found an old interview where she talked about how she was found in Houston by Altman. Soon I found out she was in many of Altman’s films. I would see a ton of her going forward. I grew up watching old copies of Faerie Tale Theatre that and I had seen Popeye before. I saw the Shining rather young I figured at my Grandmother’s house she had HBO. Robin Williams star for me growing up. Birdcage and Mrs.Doubtfire being two of my watch anytime movies. Brewster McCloud is played by Bud Cort. Who I recognized from Harold and Maude that came out a year later. I was also surprised to see Sally Kellerman in this. I remembered her most from Back to School. After all that said this picture for me was a little disappointing at first. I enjoyed it more when I stopped trying to piece it together or make sense of it all.

I moved on to the next film Brewster McCloud, 1970. Altman was hot off the heals of M.A.SH. This movie stars Warren Beatty. His co-star is Julie Christie. This story has aged a little too well. This is one of those films that looks amazing on film. Its recent restoration makes this movie visuals sing. There is some talk that Altman was stoned all the time and Beatty took some control in making the movie. The contemporary folk music is really a big part of the movie. This movie is about McCabe goes to a tiny remote mining town in the old west. He teams up with prostitute to setup gambling and a brothel for the town. They both do well. Then big business takes notice and offers to buy him out. McCabe keep refusing them. Then Big Business decides to just take him out. The movie ends in a big shoot out in the harsh winter in the snow in the mountains. This is just treated like business as usual for large corporations at the time. In reality they are not so different today. The pacing of his films takes some getting used to. Once you do get used to it you enjoy it more.

Next up I watched Brewster McCloud, 1970. This picture stars Elliott Gould as Phillip Marlowe. This is a film adaptation of a novel series. Marlowe is a private eye in LA. This is a contemporary setting. Elliott Gould was on fire in the 70’s. At first people didn’t like the changes Altman made to the character in terms of demeanor and style. LA is a big part of this film. Marlowe drives around trying to figure out the trouble he landed in. From his friend he helped get to Mexico in the middle of the night. To my surprise Arnold Schwarzenegger makes an appearance in this film. This movie had me when it starts off Marlowe loses his cat. Marlowe pieces it all together and the ending for me came quite a shock. Being a fan of P.T. Anderson directing style I was seeing what an influence Altman had on him. This movie really holds up. Being a fan of Columbo and private eye detective films I really enjoyed seeing the different settings in the film.

After that I watch Nashville, 1975. This feels peak Altman. This is a long movie coming in at 2 hours and 40 minutes. I saw in interviews he was planning a 5 hour version for TV. I haven’t found much more on that. This is a full on ensemble film. You have all these different stories and I found myself waiting for them to all connect. They don’t so much connect but overlap and intersect with each other. I saw more P.T. Anderson in this. All the music is original. I learned from an interview that the country stars at first didn’t want anything to do with the movie. Also that the country stars wanted money and control of the movie. Altman ended up using all original music made for the film. This seemed to work best. After the movie came out the soundtrack was popular. The country stars complained that they could have sang their songs for the movie. Some things in this movie are very subtle and others right in your face. One thing Altman got very well was the nature of Nashville and the industry like a small family. This movie takes place over a few days in Nashville during a political convention. The ensemble shows you all different parts of the country music industry. The ones on their way up and the others maintaining. This movie is like if you enjoy people watching you will love this movie. This is a movie that you pickup little bit more each viewing.

This next film really took me for a loop at first. 3 Women, 1977 is about you guessed it 3 women. This movie is not so straight forward. It stars Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek and Janice Rule. This movie almost goes full Single White Female. This is one movie I didn’t quite understand what I just saw. Spacek plays Pinky a teenager just fresh out of the house. Duvall plays Millie. She starts off playing like a sister figure and roommate to Pinky. Pinky transforms dramatically. She goes from being a timid teenager to becoming a woman who knows what she wants. She isn’t afraid to take action. Going back watching more films of the 70’s I keep seeing Sissy Spacek pop up. Sure, I knew about and had seen Carrie. However, I was not so familiar with her other films of the 70’s. Janice Rule being the third woman she takes a backseat to 90% of this movie. This is a look at the human condition and the different stages of a woman’s life.

The next movie I saw was a bit more straight forward. Popeye, 1980 was beautiful film. This movie was the end of the 70’s film. I had already seen this movie a few times over the years. Now, I was looking at it more from the director’s style lens. I think this movies reception and talk about the climbing costs hurt this movie at its release. I wanted to like it more but it felt mid. I was not a fan of the songs.

I bounced around Altman’s films so far. I am going back and filling in the gaps of the 70’s then move on to the rest. I am pocketing M.A.S.H. for a future where I want a break from the Altman films I’m watching. Images is my next one. I hear it is a hallucination and distortion of reality. In other words a real trip of a movie. So I know I have to be in a certain state of mind to watch it. Then a few more and I’m in the 80’s output. Then I’ll get into the 90’s. Finally, I will revisit only the last two with my new Altman glasses.

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I fell into movies directed by John Cassavetes ass ended. I had seen him act in movies before. Rosemary’s Baby was one of them I recognized him from. I had also seen him on Columbo. I hadn’t really thrown his name in a search engine or IMDB before. What started this was The Killers. I had noticed all these movies called The Killer. I wanted to watch the Killers both releases. I watched the 1946 release of The Killers with Burt Lancaster. I enjoyed it. Then I watched the 1964 release staring John Cassavetes and Ronald Reagan. There are other actors just not going into them. I enjoyed this version of the film as well. Then looking up that movie in IMDB, YouTube and the web you read more about John Cassavetes.

I was looking for interviews with him talking about The Killers, 1964. I kept finding interviews him talking about directing. Then I learned more about Cassavetes being the father of Independent Films. I didn’t go in too deep for spoilers on his movies I hadn’t seen. I grew up enjoying Columbo with my mom. I had thought about watching all his movies he directed for the most part. I thought I would start with his final movie he directed Big Trouble, 1986. The cast on paper sounds amazing staring Peter Faulk, Alan Arkin and Beverly D’Angelo. I was thinking like this could be their final masterpiece. I wanted it to be good. I found it very disappointing. Thinking there is too much past work Cassavetes directed before he made Big Trouble. There has to be a better example of this director. I decided to pick another film of his and one that with a high critical rating.

I landed on Gloria, 1980. Wow!, What a movie. Gena Rowlands is giving a powerhouse performance. I will never forget this actor again after seeing this. I had also remembered her from an episode of Columbo. Turns out she was the wife of John Cassavetes. I have said before that Gloria is like Leon The Professional. Instead of hitman you have a middle aged former mistress to a local mobster. Anymore will spoil it. I was also thrilled to learn she is in most of Cassavetes films.

Cassavetes talked about how he became a director out of the need to have one to make his films. He said that he acted for others to fund making movies for himself. Cassavetes is an actors actor. He started out with a bunch of friends in New York that struggled finding acting gigs. So he rented out a place for his friends to use as a space to audition and rehearse. However no one came. So he opened it to the public and it was packed. He became a director out of necessity. He created a space where actors would come to act for the joy of acting.

After watching Gloria and watching more interviews with Cassavetes I felt energized to continue. This is the father of Independent film. I owed it to myself to watch more. I decided to watch them in chronological order with the remaining films of his for the most part. That thinking lead me to Shadows, 1960. This movie was made twice and released once. Cassavetes with canisters in hand went to local theaters to rent out space to show his movie. Shadows is a look into the scene in New York with all this young talented musicians and actors socializing. This not your typical boy meets girl movie. Well lets just say it is not Guess Who is Coming to Dinner. Well it is 7 years earlier, almost a decade earlier. Boy meets girl and finds out later that she is black. This movie dives into this and all the problems of 1960 had to deal with race relations.

Next, I watched A Child is Waiting, 1963. I had previously watched I Could Go On Singing released that same year. This movie is a studio picture that Cassavetes is directing. A Child is Waiting Stars Burt Lancaster and Judy Garland. This movie Judy Garland goes off to teach at an orphanage. The orphanage is filled with children with learning disabilities. One particular boy bonds with Judy. This movie was a tough movie to watch but only for its content. The time flew by watching it. You could feel the constraints for Cassavetes as a director. He is a professional and delivered. I am not sure how well any of his movies where financially.

I relish when I come across a movie that stars a character actor that I am very familiar with. I and I have heard other quote tons of times. I am writing about the actor John Marley. I know him from The Godfather. The Hollywood producer that wakes up with a horse head in his bed. It is a small part but a very quotable part. Well the next Cassavetes film I saw was Faces, 1968 starring John Marley and Gena Rowlands. This movie is also in Black and White. This movie revolves mostly around these two peoples lives. John Marley plays a cheating husband that seems to cheat with ease and experience. This movie seems to be very contemporary for its time. This normalizing infidelity is just to get such raw and emotional performances. This is a movie where is is mostly shot in apartments and inside. The conversations feel so natural and you can feel that the actors are really leaning into their roles. This is another human condition on full display.

Now for the latest Cassavetes film I have seen is, Husbands, 1970. I was really excited to watch this. Peter Faulk is in this. I know him from Columbo and Princess Bride. I saw the three men that star in Husbands on the Dick Cavett show interview promoting Husbands being all silly. This film is in color. John Cassavetes is also acting in this. The chemistry between Cassavetes and Faulk you can feel it through the screen. This movie is about 4 husbands. They are longtime friends and one of them dies and the surviving three meet up at the funeral. They keep the reunion going by pulling an all nighter. Then go off to London. They all three evaluate their life. The third husband stars Ben Gazzara. This film really takes you along with these three guys like a fly on the wall. This one really delivers for telling what feels like a really personal movie.

I am about halfway through John Cassavetes’s films. I am really loving his eye in telling stories he wants to tell. In his films you really feel like the actors are in his movies because they love acting. Cassavetes directing style seems with actors was a very relatable and gave his actors room to explore their roles. Gena Rowlands is a powerhouse performances are such a joy. I am really looking forward to watching the rest of his work. Then re-visit his interviews.

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Three Directors that I have been going back and watching. I was not really familiar with them except Altman. I had seen a few of his movies before. It has been sometime and I have seen 4 or more movies from each Director. I plan to dig into those movies in another article. There are some things I want to express with these three directors.

I grew up mostly having not really seen these movies from these directors. When I grew up, these movies were not really for kids. However, I would have watched them if it were the right place and right time. Like I mentioned earlier some Altman movies I had seen over the years. I was not really seeing them as a particular director’s body of work.

I think learning about Director’s favorite directors or their favorite movies lead me to these three. I thought I had a good understanding of film. However, I love learning about films and directors I am less familiar with. I also have been watching other movies but these three directors has been a real journey of discovery. These three are real Auteur’s. Also looking at them now I have a new perspective. One way I am looking at these as their life’s work. I have also moved slowly watching these and not just binging the movies. I have given time between movies to live with the film. Really let it hold a time in my life before I move on to the next. It has been a rewarding experience.

I have also enjoyed digging up old interviews from these directors. I have some documentaries in line to watch when I complete a directors filmography for the most part. Watching old interviews with directors has influenced what movies I look up. Fellini I came about from Martin Scorsese’s love for 8 1/2. He talked about wanting to share it with his daughter. He explained that he needed to show her some earlier works of Fellini’s first. This would help her better understand how Fellini tells a story on film. I decided to adopt this as well. I came across Altman by Paul Thomas Anderson talk about him. Also I started watching interviews with Altman first and was really intrigued.

I watched videos discussing films from the 1980’s. This led me to watch more films from the 1970’s and 80’s. What happened in the 1980’s in film related to Heaven’s Gate. Studios going bankrupt and Auteur Cinema was going away. Even Scorsese talks about this time and him scaling back on projects and went back to school. I am the kind of person that watches a documentary about film. I create a watch list to look up after the movie. DePalma, I loved this documentary film. I thought I was familiar with his movies but really dug into his earlier work after watching it.

I enjoy going down these rabbit holes in film. This is just discovery in a very organic and proactive way. When a director I really enjoy talks about another director or film they love I pay attention. Steven Spielberg has said many times that his favorite movie is Laurence of Arabia. He watches that movie every time before he goes out to film one of his films. I watched that movie Laurence of Arabia after hearing that not too long ago and loved it. If you read this far, thank you. I look forward to exploring each director in more depth. I’ll also dive into the films of theirs I have seen so far. I felt I wanted to write about it before I finish either of their filmography. I know I have said a few things on some of these movies before. I do not plan to repeat myself too much.

Here are the articles I go into each of these Directors further.

My Journey through the films of John Cassavetes part 1

My Journey through the films of Robert Altman part 1

My Journey through the films of Federico Fellini part 1

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I have been exploring older films. Here are some real heavy hitters. In no particular order. Well that is not true. This is a list for me that tells a story. If you went straight down the list This would be a wild ride. Only really one comedy. There are some real tough guy films. Then you have some real emotional roller coasters, These are not family films. They range from late 60’s to early 80’s.

• The Swimmer (1968) – Burt Lancaster great film had a limited release and since got remastered. Powerful film. The premise is simple. A man at a friend’s house decides to walk home. He cuts through the neighborhood, swimming in all their pools along the way.

• The Silent Partner (1978) – Elliot Gould, Christopher Plummer. An exciting film about a bank heist and the fallout. This is an exciting caper film that really takes off after the heist. I don’t want to give much away. It is filmed takes place in Canada and has an early cameo of John Candy.

• Local Hero (1983) – Burt Lancaster sends a man to Ireland to buy land. You can enjoy this one even on mute great sights. This is a movie you could watch on mute the sights are so nice. A young Dr.Who is in this as well.

• The Long Goodbye (1973) – Elliot Gould. A contemporary look at a classic California private detective this Inherent Vice before Inherent Vice. This is a Robert Altman directed classic.

• Get Carter (1971) – Micheal Caine. It’s a classic British gangster film. Micheal Caine’s brother dies, and he is going to cause trouble to find out who did it.

• The Long Good Friday (1980) – Bob Hoskins another British gangster film Helen Mirren also in this. Hoskins performance put him on the map and sent him to Hollywood. This movie kind of works backwards. Bob Hoskins plays a head gangster. Someone is making a run at him. He tries to figure out who before they get to him.

• The Hit (1984) – John Hurt, Tim Roth in his first movie. Another British gangster film. A road film. Quinton Tarantino hired Tim Roth from seeing this movie. This cast is mostly 4 people in a car where one person is certain they will not walk away.

• Rolling Thunder (1977) – William Devance plays a former POW who returns home. It turns out to be a revenge film. Tommy Lee Jones plays his bad ass I will walk into hell for you friend. Real tough guy movie. You see this movie a 70’s style hardcore revenge film that others used as blueprint.

• Gloria (1980) – Gena Rowlands stars in this. It is like a reverse Leon the Professional. Except she not a hired hitman. She a middle aged woman that can be real tough when she needs to. Strong female lead great time. John Cassavetes is the independent film director knocked this one out of the park.

• The Driver (1978) – Ryan O’Neal This is the version you haven’t seen maybe. Great car chase scenes. They had to do it all in camera and it looks great. Aged so well. Exciting The cinematography is top notch and acting is solid.

• The Deep (1977) – Robert Shaw, Nick Noltie and Jacqueline Bisset in a white T-shirt you will never forget. From the author of Jaws. A couple on vacation find sunken treasure and drama begins. This is Into the Blue before Into the Blue.

• Murder by Death (1976) – Capote, Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith, and Peter Falk. This is a comedy parodying all the different murder mystery films before. It is Clue before Clue. If you haven’t seen Clue, see it and also see this. You might think you would have to be familiar with the movies this parodies but that is not true. The humor is delivered straight like Airplane and Naked Gun.

• The Late Show (1977) – Art Carney and Lily Tomlin in a great detective murder mystery. They pair up to solve a murder of a friend. Great duo the over the hill PI and the young energetic intern. Art Carney plays a role of a lifetime. Also a young Lily Tomlin plays a great partner. This is the unlikely duo that really gel.

• The Sorcerer (1977) – Roy Sheider. This gem had the bad luck of releasing in theaters at the same time as Star Wars. Also the title is confusing. It is a name of a truck. This is a road trip movie. Four men in South America are hiding from the world. They get pulled into a near suicide mission. They transport old and temperamental dynamite 300 miles through the jungle. This is to help put out a raging oil well fire. This is amazing film. A real nail biter. I had to go with the screenshot above to help sell this intense film. This film suffered in the theater because it was up against Star Wars.

Those are some great but some lesser known today. I understand to some these are not hidden just older films. Hidden only to those that are not in the know. These movies are very much worth a watch or re-watch if you haven’t seen in a long while. I hope you enjoyed this As I plan to list more films that are deserving of viewing. These movies are not ranked. I would say if you want to group some in here to watch one after another. I recommend watching 3 British Gangster films in this order. Start with Get Carter. Continue with The Long Good Friday. End with the Hit.

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