2008 SUMMER MOVIE LIST
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The temperature is heating up so open the windows and watch a flick. It's time for this year's Summer Movie list. Two of the movies are from 1969 and are noteworthy because they were pioneers in the sexualization of the entertainment industry. Others on the list will help to celebrate the Olympics and the Presidential election. Have fun.
1) COUPE DE VILLE (1990): This little charmer is a 4 star sleeper that is as good as summer movie as you will find. Three brothers who have not seen each other in awhile are asked by their father to drive a vintage Coupe De Ville Caddy from Detroit to Florida to surprise mother on her birthday. Along the way, the brothers rediscover each of their strengths and weaknesses, and make us care about them more than we really want to. The soundtrack is non-stop and appropriately nostalgic. A young Patrick Dempsey stars in pre Dr. Dreamy days, along with my favorite, Joseph Bologna. Find a hot night, open the windows, pour yourself a cream soda, and enjoy
2) NIAGARA (1953): This movie helped boost Marilyn Monroe to super stardom. George and Rose Loomis (Joseph Cotton and Monroe) take their strained relationship on vacation to Niagara Falls, where Rose fools around with her lover and plots to kill George. In the process, the couple becomes acquainted with another vacationing couple who discover Monroe’s dastardly plot. Who kills whom, where, and how makes this movie a period thriller of the highest order. I’m not sure Niagara Falls, Canada, ever looked like this, with cabins overlooking the falls. Where is Clifton Hill? But the scenery is spectacular. Two things to take from this movie: don’t get too close to the edge, and if you hear the song “Kiss” played from a Carillon tower, watch your back.
3) GOODBYE COLUMBUS (1969): What does a nice Jewish boy do in Purchase, New York? Chase a nice Jewish girl. Ali McGraw’s career jump started in this adaptation of the 1959 Philip Roth novella about mores in a Jewish family that transcend all segments of our society. Neil Klugman (Richard Benjamin) is a librarian who hooks up with Brenda Patimkin (Ali McGraw), whose father runs a successful plumbing supply business. Dad has been able to provide his family with the best of everything, although his background is humble and similar to Neil’s. That common background gets lost as the financial success of the business feeds the “its all about me” attitude of Brenda. Ali McGraw gives a foretaste of the whiny performance which almost destroyed her career in The Winds of War. The movie’s name is derived from Brenda’s brother, who has just graduated from Ohio State and is home to get married. He sits and listens to his “Columbus” record extolling his virtues as basketball player for the Buckeyes. The wedding scene is the standard by which all weddings should be judged. Several irritating factual inaccuracies pop up (Ohio State’s colors are Scarlett and Grey, not red and white; and is located on the shores of the Olentangy River, as in “gee whiz”.) The Association supplies an appropriately period soundtrack which I still listen to today. Sex and the City it’s not; but it was an R-rated movie in its time. The current DVD/VHS copies have been edited so it is now PG. This is a great period piece that holds up well today. Get a molded chicken made out of chopped liver, a knife to lop off the head, and you are in business.
4) THE STERILE CUCKOO (1969): Liza Minnelli breaks onto the silver screen as the neurotic Pookie Adams, who thinks all people are weirdos. She meets Jerry Payne (played by Wendell Burton) on a bus back to their nearby colleges and decides that Jerry is the guy for her. He is reserved and a tad anal retentive, but is anxious to explore his sexuality and shacks up with Pookie in a cabin as she aggressively pursues him. As time goes on, he is repelled by her over-the-top clinginess and finally sends her packing back to her father. This movie is noted for helping to move nudity into the mainstream, and helping to legitimize extra-marital sex. The Sterile Cuckoo, Goodbye Columbus, The Graduate, and Love Story are summer of love links to society’s modern view of sex and relationships, culminating in television shows like Friends, Two and Half Men, and Sex and the City. Come Saturday Morning is the popular theme song.
5) HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (1959): There are several versions of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic. This one is my favorite. What is that devil sound howling across the moors? Who is signaling from the window and stealing food from the kitchen? Where is Sherlock Holmes while Watson reconnoiters? Who is related to whom? This one stars Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes, and provides just enough modern technological know-how to make the movie an improvement over the 1939 Basil Rathbone version. I am a Sherlock Holmes fan, and this one is at the top of the list. Somehow none of the movies are as scary as the book, but if you need a visual, this fills the bill. Great for a rainy Saturday afternoon with a bowl of popcorn, and if the electricity goes out, light a candle and read it.
6) VICTOR/VICTORIA (1982): Blake Edwards’ classy period piece about a down and out soprano in 1930’s Paris who, on the advice of her gay agent, decides to pretend to be a male female impersonator in order to give her career a boost. Critics panned the premise of a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman…but the music and production values of this light hearted musical more than compensate for its hokey premise. Julie Andrews stars as Victoria, the second rate soprano who makes a first rate female impersonator. In the process she falls in love with a Chicago nightclub owner King Marchand (played by James Garner) looking for an act for his club, and hilarity ensues. Character performances by Robert Preston as the gay agent, and Lesley Ann Warren as King Marchand’s ditsy, platinum blond girlfriend, are worth the price of the rental. It is always a joy to watch Julie Andrews and James Garner work together. The music is memorable. The production numbers are outstanding. The sets are terrific. The mood is on the mark. No, you never truly buy that Julie Andrews can pretend to be a man…but who cares? Great movie to watch late at night while drinking martinis. You will be humming tunes for a week while you book your flight to France.
2) NIAGARA (1953): This movie helped boost Marilyn Monroe to super stardom. George and Rose Loomis (Joseph Cotton and Monroe) take their strained relationship on vacation to Niagara Falls, where Rose fools around with her lover and plots to kill George. In the process, the couple becomes acquainted with another vacationing couple who discover Monroe’s dastardly plot. Who kills whom, where, and how makes this movie a period thriller of the highest order. I’m not sure Niagara Falls, Canada, ever looked like this, with cabins overlooking the falls. Where is Clifton Hill? But the scenery is spectacular. Two things to take from this movie: don’t get too close to the edge, and if you hear the song “Kiss” played from a Carillon tower, watch your back.
3) GOODBYE COLUMBUS (1969): What does a nice Jewish boy do in Purchase, New York? Chase a nice Jewish girl. Ali McGraw’s career jump started in this adaptation of the 1959 Philip Roth novella about mores in a Jewish family that transcend all segments of our society. Neil Klugman (Richard Benjamin) is a librarian who hooks up with Brenda Patimkin (Ali McGraw), whose father runs a successful plumbing supply business. Dad has been able to provide his family with the best of everything, although his background is humble and similar to Neil’s. That common background gets lost as the financial success of the business feeds the “its all about me” attitude of Brenda. Ali McGraw gives a foretaste of the whiny performance which almost destroyed her career in The Winds of War. The movie’s name is derived from Brenda’s brother, who has just graduated from Ohio State and is home to get married. He sits and listens to his “Columbus” record extolling his virtues as basketball player for the Buckeyes. The wedding scene is the standard by which all weddings should be judged. Several irritating factual inaccuracies pop up (Ohio State’s colors are Scarlett and Grey, not red and white; and is located on the shores of the Olentangy River, as in “gee whiz”.) The Association supplies an appropriately period soundtrack which I still listen to today. Sex and the City it’s not; but it was an R-rated movie in its time. The current DVD/VHS copies have been edited so it is now PG. This is a great period piece that holds up well today. Get a molded chicken made out of chopped liver, a knife to lop off the head, and you are in business.
4) THE STERILE CUCKOO (1969): Liza Minnelli breaks onto the silver screen as the neurotic Pookie Adams, who thinks all people are weirdos. She meets Jerry Payne (played by Wendell Burton) on a bus back to their nearby colleges and decides that Jerry is the guy for her. He is reserved and a tad anal retentive, but is anxious to explore his sexuality and shacks up with Pookie in a cabin as she aggressively pursues him. As time goes on, he is repelled by her over-the-top clinginess and finally sends her packing back to her father. This movie is noted for helping to move nudity into the mainstream, and helping to legitimize extra-marital sex. The Sterile Cuckoo, Goodbye Columbus, The Graduate, and Love Story are summer of love links to society’s modern view of sex and relationships, culminating in television shows like Friends, Two and Half Men, and Sex and the City. Come Saturday Morning is the popular theme song.
5) HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (1959): There are several versions of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic. This one is my favorite. What is that devil sound howling across the moors? Who is signaling from the window and stealing food from the kitchen? Where is Sherlock Holmes while Watson reconnoiters? Who is related to whom? This one stars Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes, and provides just enough modern technological know-how to make the movie an improvement over the 1939 Basil Rathbone version. I am a Sherlock Holmes fan, and this one is at the top of the list. Somehow none of the movies are as scary as the book, but if you need a visual, this fills the bill. Great for a rainy Saturday afternoon with a bowl of popcorn, and if the electricity goes out, light a candle and read it.
6) VICTOR/VICTORIA (1982): Blake Edwards’ classy period piece about a down and out soprano in 1930’s Paris who, on the advice of her gay agent, decides to pretend to be a male female impersonator in order to give her career a boost. Critics panned the premise of a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman…but the music and production values of this light hearted musical more than compensate for its hokey premise. Julie Andrews stars as Victoria, the second rate soprano who makes a first rate female impersonator. In the process she falls in love with a Chicago nightclub owner King Marchand (played by James Garner) looking for an act for his club, and hilarity ensues. Character performances by Robert Preston as the gay agent, and Lesley Ann Warren as King Marchand’s ditsy, platinum blond girlfriend, are worth the price of the rental. It is always a joy to watch Julie Andrews and James Garner work together. The music is memorable. The production numbers are outstanding. The sets are terrific. The mood is on the mark. No, you never truly buy that Julie Andrews can pretend to be a man…but who cares? Great movie to watch late at night while drinking martinis. You will be humming tunes for a week while you book your flight to France.
7) CHARIOTS OF FIRE (1981): Are you ready to run on the beach? This Best Picture Oscar winner makes you want to kick up some sand as Vangelis plays its Oscar winning score. Honor and achievement, two virtues in short supply these days, are themes that will inspire you as you watch this true story of two sprinters in the 1924 Olympics. Ben Cross plays Harold Abrahams, a Jew who sprints his way into Cambridge and on to the British Olympic team, along with Eric Liddell (played by Ian Charleson), a Scottish Christian missionary who seems to be unduly influenced by his whiny sister. Nonetheless, he stands by his principles and refuses to run on a Sunday. Both men go on to achieve great things in life in their respective endeavors. Music lifts you up with some of my favorite Anglican hymns with some Gilbert and Sullivan thrown in for good measure. It tends to be a bit moody, but will make you wax nostalgic for a time when principles and beliefs stood for something, and people knew how to dress. On your mark! Get set! Go!!!!!!
8) ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976): For the Democrats among us, the movie adaptation of the Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward treatise on Watergate and the Nixon Presidency. Even though the outcome is known from the get go, including now the name of the infamous Deep Throat (who was the subject of my first blog ever), you are on the edge of your seat as the two crack reporters struggle to come to grips with what they perceive to be the political crime of the century. Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford ham it up as the intrepid reporters fighting the good fight against bureaucracy of the Washington Post and stonewalling by the politicos around them. Jason Robards and Hal Holbrook adequately round the cast. Whether you consider Watergate to be a political witch hunt or a stunning expose, it is fun movie viewing.
9) PRIMARY COLORS (1998): For the Republicans among us!!! Gee, doesn't this remind you of Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign for the Presidency? Do ya think? John Travolta stars in the movie version of the book written by the Democrats' own Deep Throat, Anonymous. Turns out dirty tricks aren't the sole province of dastardly Republicans as John Travolta stars as the Clintonesque Jack Stanton, and the wonderful Emma Thompson as the Hillary-like Susan Stanton. But Kathy Bates steals the show as Libby Holden who idealistically believes in the promise of Stanton's candidacy, but is then dashed as her own moral code is challenged by Stanton exposing his opponent's drug habit, and Stanton's numerous sexual conquests, including a 17 year old girl. Libby didn't have a price, but everyone else around Stanton did. What price tag would you put on your principles?
10) ANIMAL HOUSE (1978): Don't cheat and watch the watered down version on AMC. Rent or buy the original version so you can enjoy how totally tasteless and funny this movie is. John Belushi, as Bluto Blutarsky, camps it up in his defining movie role as the ultimate slob, working his way to a 0.00 accum at Faber College. The movie is a classic in every sense of the word, with many of its scenes and dialogue now part of Hollywood legend. From "major league yabbos" to "humping her brains out", if this is what college was supposed to be, where did I miss out? "Fat, drunk and stupid" may not be how to go through life, but it sure looked like fun to me. Tim Matheson, as Eric "Otter" Stratton, is appropriately faux preppy as he compares cucumbers with Mrs. Wormer, while Tom Hulce struts his stuff in his pre-Amadeus days with the mayor's under age daughter. "You f____d up. You trusted us." is one of my all time favorite movie lines. As a lawyer, I find myself using it all the time. So put on your toga and pour yourself a brew. It's time to party.
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