Thursday, November 23, 2023
The Parallax View
- Commentary: Under construction.
I've seen this movie before, several years ago, I mean several. I remember being intrigued and confused by it at the same time. Maybe, now that I have the entire paranoia trilogy (all of which I've previously seen), watching the three, back to back, in the order in which they were released, all three movies will make some different, more enlightened sense to me.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Warren Beatty Joseph Frady Paula Prentiss Lee Carter Hume Cronyn Bill Rintels William Daniels Austin Tucker Kenneth Mars Will Turner Walter McGinn Jack Younger Kelly Thordsen Sheriff L. D. Wicker Jim Davis Sntr George Hammond Bill McKinney Parallax assassin Stacy Keach Sr. Commission Spokesman #1 Anthony Zerbe Prof Nelson Schwartzkopf William Jordan Tucker's aide Edward Winter Senator Jameson Earl Hindman Deputy Red Jo Ann Harris Chrissy Doria Cook-Nelson Gale from Salmontail
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1974
Directed by Alan J. Pakula.
Labels: alan-j-pakula, Criterion7, hume-cronyn, journalism, paranoia-trilogy
All the President's Men
- Commentary: Under construction.
My father and I actually read the book together from which this movie was created, out loud, and discussed it at length. This is an activity my mother and I usually did, so it was a special treat for me (and my father, as well, I have good reason to assume). I still remember bits of our discussions. We never went to see the movie, together, but my father never much appreciated movies, well, except for a few. A very few.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Dustin Hoffman Carl Bernstein Robert Redford Bob Woodward Jack Warden Harry M. Rosenfeld Martin Balsam Howard Simons Hal Holbrook Deep Throat Jane Alexander The Bookkeeper Stephen Collins Hugh W. Sloan Jr. Ned Beatty Martin Dardis Meredith Baxter Deborah Murray Sloan Lindsay Crouse Kay Eddy Robert Walden Donald Segretti F. Murray Abraham Sgt. Paul Leeper Polly Holliday Dardis' Secretary Frank Wills Himself, Security Guard Nicolas Coster Markham John Randolph John Mitchell's Voice
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1976
Directed by Alan J. Pakula.
Labels: alan-j-pakula, f-murray-abraham, jack-warden, journalism, ned-beatty, paranoia-trilogy
Tuesday, November 05, 2019
Klute
- Commentary: I love, love, love this movie! I did not see it originally in the theater, although I was certainly old enough to see it (on Guam, where I was living at the time, age restrictions on adult material were rigorously enforced). I don't remember it even playing on Guam, which isn't surprising because, frankly, movies were a few-and-far-between entertainment for our family when I was growing up. It was probably shown on Guam. One of my sisters and I saw Midnight Cowboy and I am Curious (Yellow) on Guam. For some reason, though, I wasn't aware of Klute coming out.
I don't really remember when I first saw it, but it's been a staple of my movie diet since. I don't think Mom ever saw it. I think I may have "hidden" it from her when I checked it out while she was alive. I was probably being too cautious, but, then again ... well, you just never know, when you're dealing with a "pure spirit". Still, thinking about it, now, I don't think she would have liked it, or even been interested in following it.
I have several reasons for loving this movie. The acting is spot on. The atmospherics are spot on. The cinematography is spot on. It isn't a surface movie, one of the reasons I appended the tag "economic" to this movie ... it is a movie about the economics of women, which is the reason I also appended the tag "women's-movie" to it. It's definitely a multilayered drama. I'm glad I own the Criterion edition of this movie. The special features are interesting and well thought out.
For my money, though, it's one of my favorite creepy thrillers, if not my most favorite (and, I'm not really sure what my favorite creepy thriller is).
For your information, for fun (movie mavens find our "fun" in strange ways) the 3rd tier of the Actor/Role table below is later famous actors who played bit parts in this movie. All but Jean Stapleton are uncredited. I think you'll find it as interesting as I did.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Jane Fonda Bree Daniels Donald Sutherland John Klute Charles Cioffi Peter Cable Roy Scheider Frank Ligourin Dorothy Tristan Arlyn Page Rita Gam Trina Nathan George Trask Vivian Nathan Psychiatrist Jean Stapleton Goldfarb's Secretary Veronica Hamel Model Kevin Dobson Man at Bar Sylvester Stallone Club Patron
Release Date: 1971
Directed by Alan J. Pakula.
Labels: alan-j-pakula, Criterion1, detective1, donald-sutherland, drama2, economic, neo-noirA, paranoia-trilogy, suspense1, thriller1, women's-movie1
Thursday, August 08, 2019
The Pelican Brief
- Commentary: So, considering how much I love movies, I had not watched this movie, anywhere, before receiving it in the aforementioned set. I don't know why. I was familiar with the name, with the stars, knew it was a legal thriller, and I'm a fan of this genre. But, it just had never appeared on my movie-going plate, so to speak. And, it's an enjoyable film. The "thrill" is involving enough. I wouldn't give it a top ranking, though. I like the way both actors, Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts, strut their stuff in this film. It was made in 1993. Roberts had not yet entered her "god, I'm great" phase (a good example of Roberts in this phase as an actor is Mona Lisa Smile, a movie which I love, anyway), so she and Washington play well together and the story is interesting. Still, I'd sooner watch Fallen again, just for the astonished giggling it provokes, before I'd watch this movie again. It's ho-hum-good. Just.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Denzel Washington Gray Grantham Julia Roberts Darby Shaw Sam Shepard Thomas Callahan John Heard Gavin Verheek Tony Goldwyn Fletcher Coal James Sikking FBI Dir. Denton Voyles John Finn Matthew Barr William Atherton Bob Gminski Robert Culp President Stanley Tucci Khamel Hume Cronyn Justice Rosenberg John Lithgow Smith Keen Anthony Heald Marty Velmano Cynthia Nixon Alex Stark Jake Weber Curtis Morgan/Garcia Ralph Cosham Justice Jensen
The Wikipedia write-up for this movie is here.
Release Date: 1993
Directed by Alan J. Pakula.
Labels: alan-j-pakula, cynthia-nixon, denzel-washington, drama3, hume-cronyn, john-heard, john-lithgow, journalism, julia-roberts, legal, political1, sam-shepard, thriller1
