There are films that I truly believe that people need to see before they die or before they end a challenge. I found one of those films that believe it or not I have never seen in Bullitt which is today’s film. Steve McQueen (The Magnificent Seven) plays no holds barred cop Bullitt who is really good at his job. That is until one day when a government witness who was put under his protection was killed. Now he’ll dive head first into the criminal underworld to try and catch the guys who did this especially with the DA (Robert Vaughn) breathing down his neck. The film also stars Jacqueline Bisset (Murder On The Orient Express) as Cathy, Don Gordon (Lethal Weapon) as Delgetti, Simon Oakland (West Side Story) as Captain Sam Bennett, Norman Fell (Three’s Company) as Captain Baker, Robert Duvall (The Godfather: Part II) as Weissberg, Georg Stanford Brown (Stir Crazy) as Dr. Willard, Felice Orlandi (Another 48 Hrs.) as Albert Renick, Pat Renella (Moonchild) as Johnny Ross, Vic Tayback (Papillon) as Pete Ross, Justin Tarr (The Rat Patrol) as Eddy, Carl Reindel (Tora! Tora! Tora!) as Carl Stanton, Ed Peck (Heaven Can Wait) as Westcott, John Aprea (The Game) as the killer, Paul Genge (The FBI Story) as Mike, and the film was directed by Peter Yates (Krull).
I am certainly glad that I get to cross this one off the list and one question for all of you. Why is it that San Francisco had all the bad ass cops from Bullitt to Dirty Harry? I am not complaining, but that is where they seem to come from back in the late 60’s and 70’s. One of the coolest sequences of the film is definitely the car chase scene with Bullitt’s 1968 Ford Mustang 390 GT 2+2 Fastback and the bad guy’s 1968 Dodge Charger 440 Magnum which is a slight bit faster than the stang. The chase scene really made you feel like you were in the car with McQueen and the camera angles from inside the vehicle with him. That definitely sets him part from everyone else and very cool to have in the film.The foot chase towards the end of the film was also pretty good and suspenseful, but not like the car chase (Obviously). It was great to see Jacqueline Bisset who was definitely the eye candy for the film and for the most part the film contained good acting. McQueen was the strong silent type who when he needs to, he’ll tell you like it is. Besides the car chase scene, the cinematography is pretty decent in the film and the writing was OK. The film is pretty bad ass, but it is what it is and you understand that going in. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade.
This is it people, this is the countdown to the end of the year because there are only four Sundays left in total for the year and after today only 34 days left (side note: I realize that the blog is titled 365, but there is in fact 366 days this year). For today’s Sunday At The Classics film, I was in the mood for a pirate film so I chose to watch 1952’s Blackbeard, the Pirate. The always honest Robert Maynard (Tora! Tora! Tora!‘s Keith Andes) is on a mission to go undercover to capture Sir Edward Morgan (The 7TH Voyage Of Sinbad‘s Torin Thatcher) even though Morgan claims that he is reformed and no longer a pirate. So Maynard poses as a surgeon for the most infamous Pirate of them all in Edward Teach a.k.a Blackbeard (Oliver Twist‘s Robert Newton) in hopes he can prove that Morgan still dabbles in piracy. The film also stars Linda Darnell (The Mask Of Zorro) as Edwina Mansfield, William Bendix (Detective Story) as Ben Worley, Irene Ryan (The Beverly Hillbillies) as Alvina, a lady in waiting, Alan Mowbray (The King And I) as Noll, Richard Egan (The 300 Spartans) as Briggs, Skelton Knaggs (House Of Dracula) as Gilly, and the film was directed by Raoul Walsh (White Heat).
As far as this film goes, its actually not too bad of a film because it’s fun to watch especially if you want to imitate pirates like we did when we were children. Blackbeard was one of the most infamous pirates and the film definitely portrays him as someone that no one should trust even his own crew. We never really find out if Maynard gets his guy because there is just so much going on in the film that you have to assume that he doesn’t. One part that made no sense to me is one minute he is being tied up and beaten with a whip and having salt thrown on the wounds to being right by Blackbeard’s side all over again. It bounced back and forth like that way too many times, but there is some cool action to keep you interested. There is a battle scene between Morgan and Blackbeard’s ships that I really enjoyed and then there are the sword fights which were cool as well. The acting of course was superb by everyone in the film as they had some real heavyweights of the time in the film. The cinematography was pretty good as I loved the shots of the ships while at sea. The film is actually available to watch on Youtube if you want to view it. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade.
Can you believe that after today there are only five more Sundays left in the whole entire year of 2016. For today’s Sunday at the Classics, I wanted to choose a film that was so iconic, I am even surprised I never watched it. The film I am talking about is the world famous Breakfast At Tiffani’s which was released in 1961. Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) is a New York socialite who just love to be wild and free and able to do whatever she wants. She quickly becomes interested in a writer name Paul Varjak (The A-Team’s George Peppard) who has just moved into her building. Quickly the two become friends and get very close, but Paul will soon begin to discover that Holly is a little more complicated than he expected. The film also stars Martin Balsam (Tora! Tora! Tora!) as O.J. Berman, Alan Reed (Lady And The Tramp) as Sally Tomato, Mickey Rooney (The Fox And The Hound) as Mr. Yunioshi, José Luis de Vilallonga (Juliet Of The Spirits) as José da Silva Pereira, Stanley Adams (Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex* But Were Afraid To Ask) as Rusty Trawler, Buddy Ebsen (The Beverly Hillbillies) as Doc Golightly, and the film was directed by Blake Edwards (Revenge Of The Pink Panther).
At first I was trying hard to figure out what exactly the film was about because it just seemed that it was about a girl who was pretending to be something she’s not because she’s running away from her past. At times, you feel that Audrey Hepburns character has no idea exactly who she is, but she is kind of a snob or a gold digger. Throughout the whole film, she won’t commit to Paul because he’s not rich and she constantly called him by another name. That is until she is confronted finally by Paul that she comes to her senses because she finally figures out where she belongs. The thing I loved about this film are the cool romantic moments of the film like when they are challenging each other to do things that they had never done before. The thing that I didn’t like was how xenophobic Hollywood was back in 1961 in a time where Caucasian men played Native Americans and Asians. I don’t blame Mickey Rooney for taking the role, but Hollywood was notorious for that. They made Mr. Yunioshi a bumbling idiot and it is kind of offensive, but that is where the comedy is in the film. Nevertheless, this is an iconic film that I think everyone should check out. One of my favorite moments in the film as well was the scene where Paul hear’s Holly playing a song on her window sill. That is definitely a cool moment for the film that I will always remember from the beautiful Audrey Hepburn. I am going to give the film an A for a final grade because it was amazing and it’s a Hollywood classic.
I have already used Netflix, HBOGO, Redbox, Showtime Anytime, Encore Play, MAXGO, and so many other services to watch my films for this challenge except for an app. It is most certainly not Sunday, but I couldn’t resist trying my TCM App on my phone to watch a film for this week. The film I chose for today is the crime/drama, Film Noir classic The Postman Always Rings Twice. For Nick Smith (Cecil Kellaway) it seems like he has it all from a burger/restaurant/gas station and the perfect beautiful wife named Cora (Lana Turner). It’s perfect until a drifter by the name of Frank Chambers (John Garfield) shows up on his restaurant doorstep looking for a job. Frank is a very hard worker and that pleases Nick, but then Frank and Cora will begin a tumultuous relationship with each other. It gets so serious between the two that they will soon begin to plot his murder so that they can start over in love with each other. The question is though, can they see it through and will they get away with it. The film also stars Hume Cronyn (The Pelican Brief) as Arthur Keats, Leon Ames (Tora! Tora! Tora!) as Kyle Sackett, Audrey Totter (Lady in the Lake) as Madge Gorland, and the film was directed by Tay Garnett (Bataan).
Throughout the film, Frank is the one narrating the story so you automatically know he had to survive this ordeal, but how? That you will have to find out for yourself, but as far as Film Noirs are concerned, this was a very good one. It runs a little too long for my liking and at one point I thought they could have ended the film, but it’s justified after you see it if you know what I mean. The acting in the film was the strong part of the film as each of the main three delivered spectacular performances that had me intrigued to continue. The only thing is that the writing needed a bit of a touch up as Lana Turner’s character flip flops on you many times during the critical hours, but its not too big of a deal (you end up understanding why). I am also not complaining about Lana Turner because as I said, the acting was amazing. This film was considered her best work of her whole career. In fact, the film’s success opened up the doors for the genre as MGM head Louis B Mayer hated the genre. The film also set a fashion trend in post-World War II America as Lana’s swim gear became a hit among women. The film is legendary even all the way to today (check out Kill Bill 2 and what David Carradine’s character says). If you get a chance to see this movie, I definitely would. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 