Barry Lyndon (1975)

Pete Rating: 8.1
Along with Full Metal Jacket, this is probably the most normal film Kubrick made after Spartacus, when he gained full control over his films. The cinematography is incredible, but the plot is just an average biography. It reminds me of Amadeus in many ways (although ironically, I think this has even more classical music) but even Amadeus sort of had a twist on the biography format. Barry Lyndon isn’t bland, but surprisingly for a Kubrick film, it’s not very full of creative or original ideas. What saves it is that it might be, along with 2001, his best-looking film.

Dad Rating: 9.0
I wasn’t sure what to expect of this movie. It was the Kubrick film I had probably heard the least about in my life. I was pleasantly surprised. The whole movie was, of course, visually beautiful, which is not at all surprising. It also featured a lush score, which is also not very surprising for Kubrick. It included both classical music plus lilting Chieftains tunes in the early scenes in Ireland. What was most surprising was that the movie displayed a rare ability of Kubrick creating a character, Redmond Barry (later Barry Lyndon, with whom we the viewers build an emotional connection. That’s so unusual for him. (I guess Spartacus would be another example, although Kubrick didn’t write that screenplay.) Credit as well goes to Ryan O’Neal, who was excellent. More so than I thought he’d be, since I had built my impression of him as an actor on his excruciatingly bad performance in 1979’s The Main Event, with Barbra Streisand, which Uncle Rick and I unwittingly watched in the Dedham Community Theater, because we assumed that all boxing-related movies would be awesome after having prior seen Rocky and Rocky II in the same theater.

 

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Pete Rating: 8.9
Both Siskel and Maltin said that the first 3 quarters of Apocalypse Now are brilliant, but when Kurtz is finally found the film gets worse. I completely disagree, and think the section with Kurtz in it is brilliant, and Brando gives the best performance of the film. The opening with The Doors is fantastic, too. It’s amazing how the song starts out slow with the images of the field on fire, and then gets faster and more intense as we see Willard go insane. I don’t love the intense combat scenes, I like the film much better with a slow pace. For me, the ending is so amazing it makes up for the more average scenes.

Dad Rating: 9.1
This is a movie of two halves, or almost-haves. The first 90 minutes are amazing, but the last hour of the movie is a little too self-important and a little too bizarrely psychedelic. But man, those first 90 minutes are something else. The movie opens with The Doors’ “The End” playing, interspersed with the distorted choppiness of helicopter rotors, setting the perfect, trippy tone. What follows is a series of legendary scenes–from Robert Duvall’s Lt. Col. Kilgore blaring Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” as a platoon of helicopters attacks a village, to the famous “smell of Napalm” line, to Lance the surfer dude water-skiing behind the patrol boat while “Satisfaction” plays on the radio. So overall, it’s a brilliant but flawed movie. But if Coppola had only shown a little more discipline in his direction, this could have been a Top-10 movie of all time.

 

Rebecca (1940)

Pete Rating: 8.4
The exact problem I had with Notorious, I felt was the same with this one. The classical score starts out nice, but soon grows old, and needs to tone down, at points. Laurence Olivier’s performance is a little off at the beginning, but all the other performances are fine, and he gets better throughout. Overall, I don’t think it matches the brilliance of Hitchcock’s later works, but you can still see its influence on them, which makes it an interesting watch.

Dad Rating: 8.7
Hitchcock’s only Best Picture Oscar came for this movie, which is ironic because Rebecca is one of the least “classically Hitchcockian” movies he ever made. It’s an excellent movie, just very conventional in its approach. The only part that’s really off kilter happens to be the best part of the movie–the super-creepiness of housekeeper Mrs. Danvers, played by Judith Andersen. She’s probably Hitchcock’s creepiest character until Norman Bates comes along 20 years later. Sir Laurence Olivier gives a decent performance but I haven’t seen enough of his movies to quite understand why so many critics think he’s one of the greatest actors of all time. Pete and I might have to check out Hamlet from 1948.

An American in Paris (1951)

Pete Rating: 7.3
Everybody says American in Paris is plotless, and they’re pretty much right. And it’s not even like all the songs they’re completely throwing out the plot for are really worth it. I couldn’t stand the last, endless number, which felt longer than the film itself. Most of the songs before that aren’t as terrible, but the only aspect above average is the choreography, which is pretty impressive.

Dad Rating: 9.2
I’m dying to see Pete’s take on this movie. (And now that I’ve seen it, I’m sort of crushed.) I’m a little bit embarrassed by how much I enjoy American in Paris, corny as it is. Gene Kelly is insanely talented. The “I Got Rhythm” scene with the group of French kids is terrific — his dancing in that scene ranks up there with Astaire’s firecracker dance in Holiday Inn for awesomeness. Best of all is the “Love Is Here to Stay” scene on the Left Bank with Leslie Caron. That’s a Top-10 musical song in my opinion, even if Kelly’s singing ability doesn’t compare with his dancing. As good as Kelly is in the movie, though, Oscar Levant manages to steal every scene he’s in. Especially the one in the cafe where he alone realizes that his two friends sitting on either side of him are professing their love for the same girl.

 

The Shining (1980)

Pete Rating: 9.5
All the problems I had with Halloween are non-existent in this one. First of all, the acting is fantastic, and the point I had about the lack of variety in Halloween, I really think doesn’t apply here. The horror is built more around the hotel than directly about it. The most brilliant aspect is the setup to the scariest moments, where the film holds on to its eerie tone for a while. I love the psychological feel, which is especially enhanced by the more quiet moments.

Dad Rating: 7.9
This was the first time I’d ever seen this movie start to finish. There are so many incredibly beautiful visual moments that Kubrick creates in the movie. It’s definitely one of the coolest movies to watch for pure visuals. But that said, the movie is not what I’d call an enjoyable watch. To borrow Pete’s famous giraffes-and-fishes comment from last summer in this blog, when I watch a so-called scary movie, I want to be scared. There were no moments like that to be found in The Shining. Instead, we get to watch a guy descend into madness over two and a half hours. No thanks. Jack Nicholson is perfectly cast. No complaints about him. Shelly Duvall is not. She’s a disaster on screen. And Danny talking with his finger (when evil “Tony” takes over) always just makes me laugh. The best scenes are when the camera tracks Danny tooling around the hotel hallways in his Big Wheel. That’s pretty sweet.

Halloween (1978)

Pete Rating: 7.8
I was surprised Halloween had more of the corny feel of the ’30s monster movies than the much darker feel it was clearly trying to achieve. While bloody, and revolving around a man with a knife, the acting especially is just laughable. The other thing preventing it from being truly scary is the lack of variety in the horror. All the scary moments can be recognized when you see Michael Myers on screen, and the only scare the movie continually pulls is Myers killing yet another person. The score really is brilliant, though, and it does set a great dark tone for the film whenever it’s played.

Dad Rating: 9.2
Hmmm, I had this movie ranked #7 in the Pete & Dad’s Top 10 Movies of All Time post on December 24, 2017. That was based on memories of the strong impact it had on me after seeing it in the theater when I was 10 years old. I loved the movie but it also freaked me out; I kept the same T-shirt on for 4 straight days because I was terrified of what might happen during the one second the shirt covered my eyes, if I took it off. Watching it with Pete a few days before Halloween this year, I came to the conclusion that I need to move it out of my Top 10. Michael Myers is still the scariest character in movie history. And John Carpenter’s piano-based soundtrack is still as creepy as anything ever created. But overall, the movie just seemed a lot flatter, less impactful than I remember from 39 years ago. So, I’m giving it a good rating, but one that’s definitely going to sink it out of my All-Time Top 10.

 

In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Pete Rating: 8.3
While the themes of racism are still relevant, In the Heat of the Night feels a little bit outdated. That goes especially for the film’s look as a whole, which feels very late-’60s. Also, I felt the conclusion was a real letdown, as I just would have liked something that would have fit the film’s dark tone better. The great performances make up for some of the flaws, though, and it certainly was important.

Dad Rating: 8.7
Very solid movie made the year before I was born. I’m not sure it deserved to win the Best Picture Oscar that it did (considering that The Graduate, Bonnie and Clyde, and Cool Hand Luke were all released that year), but still a solid story. The movie is essentially a buddy-cop movie that doubles as important commentary on bigotry. That was especially meaningful at the time considering it was made just three years after the Civil Rights Act was passed. Sidney Poitier is fine as Virgil Tibbs, although to be honest, I’ve always thought he’s a little stiff as an actor….he reminds me of Gregory Peck in that way. He is excellent, though, in the famous scene in the greenhouse where he slaps the racist tycoon guy. The even better performance in the movie was by Rod Steiger, who never disappoints as an actor. His acting is very natural and authentic, you never get the sense that he’s acting. The last scene between the two of them is very understated but satisfying, when Steiger’s Chief Gillespie watches Tibbs board the train for home and says, “Virgil…you take care…you hear.”