50 for 50, The Movies: #46, "Airplane!" and "Caddyshack"

So…what happened to the “50 for 50 Summer Film Festival,” you might ask? Well, life happened. But even though we’re now in the last few days of summer, I’m determined to move forward with this project until #1 is reached. And thus, shortly this will become the “50 for 50 Fall Film Festival.” And for those who may have forgotten, this is where I’m writing about my 50 favorite movies, during the year that I turned 50. Clever, no?

But enough self-serving drivel. Let’s get back to the list. And since I’m making up the rules of this game, #46 is a tie, between two classic comedies that were released during the summer of 1980: “Airplane!,” and “Caddyshack.”

It would be hard to imagine two films more lowbrow than these two, and that is part of their appeal. Hell, that is their appeal. In one film, one of the funniest jokes involves the “inflation” of an “autopilot” that looks suspiciously like a sexual act made infamous near the end of a recent presidential term. In the other, one of the funniest jokes involves what appears to be the aftermath of someone taking a dump in the country club swimming pool. And there are plenty more where those came from, believe me.

When done badly, movies like this are horrible. But “Airplane!” and “Caddyshack” were not done badly; they were the stuff of genius. And yes, many of the jokes are incredibly stupid. But at the end of the day, these are movies where you start laughing from the opening credits, and don’t stop until the lights come back on in the theater. You can’t really ask for more than that.

The genius of “Airplane!” was its use of three veteran character actors who probably had not broken a smile in their entire careers – Peter Graves, Robert Stack, and Leslie Nielsen. They were all well known, primarily through their work on television. In “Airplane!,” they maintained their usual dour demeanor, to absolutely hilarious results. The movie made Nielsen one of the most recognizable actors in the country, one associated with silly comedy – sometimes to great effect (particularly in “The Naked Gun,” another Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker masterpiece), sometimes in garbage, and always laughing all the way to the bank.

The genius of “Caddyshack” was hiring a couple of really funny old guys – Rodney Dangerfield, and Ted Knight – and a couple of really funny young guys – Chevy Chase and Bill Murray – and basically letting them do their thing. At the time the movie came out, I would have said that Dangerfield was by far the funniest part of it. And don’t get me wrong – Dangerfield is hysterically funny. But 30 years later, it is obvious that the real genius in the movie was Bill Murray. His portrayal of Carl Spackler is not the kind of role that wins Academy Awards, but the performance will be remembered long after a lot of Oscar winners are forgotten. And the number of classic phrases in the performance is legendary. I think my favorite may be “hey Lama, how about a little something for the effort,” but you probably have your own favorite.

Virtual laugh factories, these two. Classic cinema? Perhaps not. Great movies? You’re darn tootin’.

50 for 50, The Movies: #47, "The Fugitive"

As I work my way through this list, the things that I look for in a “favorite movie” will probably become apparent, if not obvious. What you won’t find on the list is a compendium of what conventional wisdom considers “the greatest films in the history of cinema.” For example, you won’t be reading about “Citizen Kane,”, even though I like it a lot and recognize it as a cinematic landmark.

One way to describe these movies is that these are the ones, even though I own them on DVD, will still watch through the end when they show up on cable.

Another way to put it might be “intelligent entertainment.” When I go to the movies, I want to be entertained (or perhaps even learn something), but I don’t want to feel like I’ve been taken advantage of. I want the talent that went into the movie to show up on the screen. I don’t think that’s too much to ask, and I also think when you approach movies like that, you are open to a hell of a lot of good stuff. Movies as different as – to name three that I really like, but didn’t quite make the cut for this list – “Shaun of the Dead,” “Heat,” and “Casablanca.”

“The Fugitive” is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. It’s not an original idea, certainly – based on the famous TV show of the 1960s. But it is flawlessly executed, populated with interesting characters, and filled with moments of tension throughout. If you knew anything about the TV series, you knew how this movie was going to end before you even walked into the theater. So the trick was to make the journey fresh and interesting. And man, did the filmmakers succeed.

The movie starts off with a bang, to the point where you’re almost afraid to take a breath. The terrific first few minutes tell the story of the injustice suffered by Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford) is told, followed by the amazing train/bus crash which results in his escape. U.S. Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones, in his Oscar winning performance) is soon on the scene, leading to a moment of almost unbearable tension when the two face off for the first time.

And then, the movie shifts gears, and slows down as Kimble tries to solve the mystery of his wife’s murder, and Gerard follows closely behind, along the way beginning to doubt Kimble’s guilt. This is my favorite part of the movie – it shows the intelligence and resourcefulness of both men, even though they couldn’t be any more different. This section culminates with a phone call from Kimble to Gerard, which shows up at the very beginning of this video. It’s probably my favorite scene of the whole movie.



Tommy Lee Jones richly deserved his Oscar, but it’s silly to think that “The Fugitive” would have been as successful without Harrison Ford (a premise I think was proven with the “U.S. Marshals” sequel). The supporting cast is also outstanding, from Joe Pantoliano (who is good in everything he’s ever been in), Tom Wood and Daniel Roebuck as Gerard’s colleagues, Jeroen Krabbe and Andreas Katsulas as the bad guys, and even Julianne Moore in a brief role as an emergency room doctor who gets to witness Kimble’s fundamental goodness “up close and personal.”

“The Fugitive,” directed by Andrew Davis and starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones – a great example of intelligent entertainment, and #47 on my list.

50 for 50, The Movies: #48, "The Right Stuff"

Philip Kaufman’s epic adaptation of the famous Tom Wolfe book about test pilots and the Mercury astronauts is like two movies rolled into one. The first movie, which features Sam Shepard (looking very much like an American icon) as the most famous test pilot of all, Chuck Yeager, establishes the test pilots as an almost super-human breed. The portions of the movie that feature Yeager and his compatriots (who are sometimes competitors) are intentionally mythic and mysterious in tone. Even the most simple dialogue – such as when Yeager, before each flight, asks his buddy for a “stick of Beeman’s” – is spoken as if the words mean much more than those which appeared on the script.

The second movie, which focuses on the selection of the Mercury astronauts and their initial flights, is much lighter in tone. The astronauts are confident to the point of being arrogant, and at the beginning are presented by Kaufman in a less heroic light than the test pilots, who operate well out of the public eye and know that every flight could be their last. There’s a lot of humor in the part of the movie where the prospective astronauts are being run through a battery of tests to determine their mettle, and that humor is underscored by the fact that many of the tests plainly have very little to do with anything other than making them as uncomfortable as possible.



Over the length of the movie, the heroic nature of the astronauts develops, and near the end there is a scene when Yeager defends them in a conversation with his colleagues. But even with that, you get the sense that Kaufman wants us to leave the theater thinking that Chuck Yeager was a greater hero than any of the original 7 – Shepard, Grissom, Glenn, Slaton, Cooper, Carpenter and Schirra.

The performances are great, particularly Shepard as Yeager, Scott Glenn as Alan Shepard, Ed Harris as John Glenn, Fred Ward as Gus Grissom, and Dennis Quaid as Gordon Cooper. At first, the Mercury 7 don’t have a lot of use for each other (especially Shepard and Glenn, who are very different in demeanor and attitude), but eventually the 7 develop a bond and a sense of respect for each other that goes well beyond mere friendship.

If I recall correctly, “The Right Stuff” was not a huge hit at the box office, which is a shame. It is a great American story, and a great adventure story. #48, “The Right Stuff.”

50 for 50: The Movies: #49, "Four Weddings And A Funeral"

That my tastes in movies is wide and varied should be evident by my pick for #49, “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” I’m not sure you could find two movies less alike than “Four Weddings” and “Se7en,” but it would be difficult for me to have to choose between the two.

On the one hand, “Four Weddings” is as light as air, but on the other, it is that rare movie that accomplishes everything that it set out to do. It’s hysterically funny, it’s well-written, it’s well directed, and it features a host of excellent performances from a cast that has terrific chemistry with each other. In fact, the worst chemistry in the whole movie is probably between Hugh Grant and Andie McDowell, and the story ostensibly is about the two of them.

But it really isn’t; the story is really about friendship and the bonds that people forge as the years pass. When I watch “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” these seem like real people to me. None of them are perfect, but all of them are real.

There are any number of laugh out loud scenes in the movie – but this is probably the most famous:



But in addition to those moments, there are many great “small moments” as well, usually involving the circle of friends. Glances, quick conversations, simply the way they act around one another. The relationship between Hugh Grant and his brother is a particular highlight.

Directed by Mike Newell, and starring Hugh Grant, James Fleet, Simon Callow, John Hannah, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Charlotte Coleman and Andie McDowell.

50 for 50 - The Movies: #50, "Se7en"

“Se7en” is one of the most relentlessly dark movies ever made. Dark in subject matter, and dark on the screen. It’s also a polarizing movie – there are people whose opinions I respect and trust who can’t stand it, and in fact find it repulsive.

I’m not one of those people. Yes, there are certainly parts of it that are repulsive, but given the subject matter and the story, that would have been difficult to avoid. For those who are unfamiliar with the story, it’s pretty simple – some maniac is murdering people in ways that coincide with the seven deadly sins, and the detective duo of Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt are assigned the task of figuring out who is wreaking this havoc, and bringing him in. The two could not be less alike – Freeman plays a hardened, cynical cop in his last week on the job before retirement, and he instinctively knows from the moment that the first murder is discovered that this isn’t going to end well. Pitt is a young turk, eager and enthusiastic, and sees the case as his path to the big time. As it turns out, he’s probably right, but certainly not in the way he thought.

The movie is directed by David Fincher, who got his start filming music videos and had his major film debut with Alien3, a film that was reviewed poorly but I thought was underrated. Since then, Fincher has gone on to the big time, directing “Fight Club,” “Panic Room,” “Zodiac,” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” I suppose it could be argued that in “Se7en” he relied on style more than he did on story, what with the constant drumbeat of the rain and the never-ending dark hallways. For me, it worked, especially near the end when Freeman, Pitt and their adversary leave the urban setting for the surrounding, very dry and plain desert for the shocking denouement. At the very moment they enter the light, they are in fact descending into a greater darkness than they could have imagined.

[SPOILER ALERT]

I’m not sure if this is really a spoiler 15 years after its release, but the other great performance in the movie is turned in by an uncredited Kevin Spacey, as the serial killer John Doe. The scene below, when the three are heading towards their ultimate fate, is one of the best in this, or any movie.



And last but not least, “Se7en” was also the movie that made me change my mind about Brad Pitt. Based mostly on his pretty-boy looks and “Legends of the Fall,” a movie that I thought was ridiculous, I’d decided that I couldn’t stand Pitt, but something about his performance here turned me in the opposite direction. He’s now one of my favorites.

So there, you have it: #50 on the list of my favorite movies, and the first entry in the “50 for 50 Summer Film Festival” – Se7en.