Let's Talk Movies

With the Corona Virus or the COVID-19 as it is being called, I have had even more time to watch movies. I had been trying to watch movies from the 60's and 70's and a few 80's movies and anything else that seems appealing.

I had gone to the library to return some movies, but they were not accepting any movies or books back.

There are movies from the 60's that I was too young to know what they were about or had never even heard of. Back then it would have been whatever came on television and what the family may have been watching.

I finally got to see Blow Up, The Michelangelo Antonioni film about a photographer that captures a murder with his camera. The 1966 film stars David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave and Sarah Miles. The entire film is shot like a photograph. Each shot is framed perfectly. Of course it's not a film for everyone. It makes a social statement as well as an artistic one.
There are many sensual and sexual connotations throughout the movie. Sometimes I feel that is what art is about. If you are a film maker I highly recommend this film. It will definitely inspire you.

Another film that I watched was Hurry Sundown. This film was directed by Otto Preminger who put together an incredible cast including Diahann Carroll, Robert Hooks, Beah Richards, Michael Caine, Jane Fonda, John Phillip Law, Faye Dunaway. Burgess Meredith, George Kennedy, Luke Askew, Madeleine Sherwood and Frank Converse. The film is filled with race issues, money, sex, power, infidelity, trust and betrayal. Set in Georgia, the story follows several families trying to survive and keep what is rightfully theirs. It's not a film for everyone, but what movie is? Its shot very well. It's based on the novel of the same name by K.B. Gillen. It's great to see stars that I like in their earlier roles.

Another interesting film was Paris Blues from 1961, directed my Martin Ritt. The film stars Paul Newman, Sidney Poitier, Diahann Caroll, JoAnn Woodward, Sergei Reggiani and an appearance by Louis Armstrong. This film deals race, relationships. love, jazz, drugs all set to the backdrop of Paris. Shot in black and white, it's angles and movement is like a jazz song. I think I had seen this film when I was a small child, but I certainly didn't understand what was going on.

I've always been fascinated by movies. Later in life I saw a difference in the way foreigners referred to them as films or cinema. I also saw a difference in the story telling. As I got older I began to separate the two. There are movies that I feel are for a broader market and films are for artists, intellectuals, those that want to be a part of the experience of film making.

Some of the other titles included Kiss of the Spider Woman with Raul Julia and William Hurt, a film set in a prison as a film within a film. A gay prisoner tells stories to a political prisoner to pass away the time. The film sequences are beautifully done with Sonia Braga as the women in the stories. I had seen this movie a long time ago.

Another movie I watched was Spike Lee's He Got Game. I had seen it many years ago, but I only have it on VHS and I had gotten the DVD from the library. I wanted to see how I felt about it years later. I like doing that as my mood and opinions change over time. There are movies I really liked when I was younger and now I either don't find them entertaining or as funny as they were at the time.

There are many movies in my collection that I still have not ever seen. One such movie was Sextette with Mae West, Timothy Dalton, Tony Curtis, Dom Deluise, Ringo Star, Rona Barrett, Regis Philbin, Alice Cooper, Walter Pigeon and George Hamilton. This was really had to watch. Mae West wrote the farce which was a Broadway play based on her life. There were some funny moments, but most of the jokes I had heard and her singing isn't the best and I can't really say there is a whole lot of acting on her part. I just had to see it for myself.

I ordered some 80's movies from Amazon Prime that included Tuff Turf, Grandview USA, Mascarade and Under the Boardwalk. I will try to do some video of me talking about the movies of the 80's that were such a big influence on my life.

I will do more snippets of the movies and films that I am watching.

Thanks for stopping by and do come back again. Stay safe and wash your hands.