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16
Feb 10

The Graduate is Too Funky

Until this past weekend The Graduate was a film that I only knew about through it’s famous quotes and scenes. Somehow I felt like I had already seen this entire film, heard all quotes and laughed at all the jokes, when I actually never watched it. My unfounded perception of this film as an irrelevant relic of another time discouraged me from actively pursuing this as a rental or purchase. Thank god for TCM where I am a passive participant of timeless gems from Hollywood past. This weekend I sat down and watched the entire film and to my surprise I was able to appreciate it for its cultural significance.

It is ironic when a work of art has such a strong cultural impact that its iconic status becomes a detriment to its viewership. Case and point, the scenes posted below have been played ad nauseum and as a result they have become greater than the sum of it’s parts. Most of us are aware of this film through bits and pieces. The relationship between the younger man and the cougar Anne Bancroft, the plot twist where he falls for her daughter, the chart topping soundtrack by folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. This familiarity takes away from the novelty that might otherwise draw in an unsuspecting viewer, robbing them of the experience that won over audiences when it first opened.

Upon my own viewing of The Graduate, what I found most compelling were the layers of pop-culture references that when viewed from the cultural landscape of the time were quite revolutionary. The seedy strip club scene, the references to “Agytators,” and “Plastics,” the stunning shots of the “Alfa Romeo Spider” on the freeways of California. This film directed by Mike Nichols ushered in the new wave of Hollywood directors and captured the spirit of the times. It reflected the changing of the guard in Hollywood and in society. According to Filmsite.org “two California settings (Los Angeles and Berkeley) and S. and N. California cultures (materialistic vs. intellectual), There was already a growing dissatisfaction with the status quo and middle-class values, and the breakthrough film mirrored that anarchic mood perfectly for America’s youth of the 60s during the escalation of the Vietnam War.” This quote explains why it resonated then, and why it resonated with me.

I included two popular clips from The Graduate below that I look at now with a fresh perspective. They are no longer meaningless clips from an irrelevant film, I look at them now as cinematic landmarks of a shift in American pop culture. I highly recommend renting this on Netflix or watching it whenever it plays on TCM again.

Enjoy
TrevzNewPop

I also sandwiched the 1992 George Michael video “Too Funky” where they use a sound-byte from The Graduate in the very beginning. Try to catch the soundbyte without getting too distracted by the very young Tyra Banks and Linda Evangelista.

Spoiler Alert!

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25
Jan 10

The Anatomy of Cool

It always fascinates me when something considered cool generations ago becomes vintage cool for a contemporary generation. Often the past is a great indicator of what will be cool in the future. Go back around 20 years and you will often find indicators of the trends of today. That 20 year window leaves a great un-mined resource of vintage films, fashion and music to be re-examined and re-packaged for today’s generation. I would like you to consider another film that falls out of this 20 year pattern of appreciation.

The film “Anatomy Of A Murder” (1959) is an American trial court drama directed by Otto Preminger. This film is known for being one of the best trial movies ever made. What stood out to me and most critics of the time was how it incorporated jazz in the musical score. It was the first film to extensively do this. The use of what was the alternative music of the time was a novel approach. The Jazzy opening sequence with music by Duke Ellington and artwork by Saul Bass also added to the cool aesthetic. Imagine yourself as a teenager 1959 not knowing much about what is going on in contemporary pop culture and then you see this trailer or this poster. You may say to yourself ‘This ain’t your daddy’s music,’ and suddenly you wonder about the world outside of your small middle American town. Sound familiar?

Check out the embed below, and if you get a chance to see the movie on TCM or pick it up on Netflix I do recommend.

Enjoy
TrevzNewpop

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19
Jan 10

The Naked City – Williamsburg Bridge 1948

The film “The Naked City” is a 1948 black-and-white film noir directed by Jules Dassin. The movie, shot in documentary style, was filmed on location on the streets of New York City. It is known for having one of the more famous quotes in movie history. “There are eight million stories in the Naked City; this has been one of them.” I actually watched this entire film just to hear this quote in context after hearing it out of context my entire life.

One scene that I took note of during this film was the final chase scene on the Williamsburg Bridge. The transformation of the Williamsburg Bridge from then to now is pretty fascinating. The West bound side has incoming and outgoing traffic, and the current eastbound side has a stairway that leads to the walkway. The most striking difference is how folks back then (Assuming that this portrayal was true to life.) utilized the Manhattan side walkway as a park. You can see kids rollerskating, jumping rope, playing marbles, etc. The only bridge in NY that bears any resemblance to that now is the Brooklyn Bridge. However the Williamsburg Bridge 1948 seems to have been a playground for locals as opposed to the tourists who cross the Brooklyn Bridge now. Also fascinating is how little Delancey street has changed. Haha.

Another interesting note about this film. The visual style was inspired by the New York photographer Weegee who published a book of photos of New York life entitled Naked City (1945). Weegee was known for his stark black and white street photography. Check out the embed below that has both the Williamsburg chase sequence and the famous quote. And if you get a chance see this film by all means do. It pops up on TCM every now and then or you can order it on Netflix.

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18
Jan 10

“Sweet November” 1968 Bohemian Brooklyn Hipster Love Story

Last Sunday while the Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers were playing one of the most exciting games in NFL playoff history I found myself surprisingly switching between this incredible game and the TCM airing of the film “Sweet November”. When I first stumbled on it I had no idea this was a remake of the 2001 film starring Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron bearing the same name. I fell asleep watching the remake on HBO a few weeks earlier. What drew me into the original film was it’s commentary on the beat generation and it’s 1968 beautiful portrayal of my native Brooklyn. It also had a carefree charm that drew you in only to surprise you with a more ominous plotline. Wikipedia description: “Charlie Blake is a fanatical business man. He meets Sara, a woman very different from anyone else he has ever met. She beguiles him and convinces him to spend a month with her on the promise that she will change his life around.” It’s also worth noting that Sara convinces Charlie to stay under the condition that at the end of the month he will leave no questions asked. Inevitably and quite predictably Charlie falls in love with Sara and tries everything he can to convince her to let him stay longer, even going as far as changing the dates on the calendar just to buy him a couple of extra days. After numerous failures Charlie comes up with a clever and touching plan to try and win over Sara’s heart so she will allow him to stay past his alloted time. Scene posted below:

The plot twists are quite surprising, and it gives keen insight into the bohemian “hipster” lifestyle of the time. I highly recommend watching the rest of this film if you get a chance. It doesn’t seem to be available on Netflix but you can purchase it on the TCM website. As for the remake, I would not recommend it at all. Seemingly there is a touching ending in the remake that may have changed my view had I not fallen asleep. But the point is I FELL ASLEEP! Plus It was universally panned by fans and critics alike. According to wikipedia “Due to the poor response the film received from critics it was nominated for Worst Remake or Sequel and both Reeves and Theron nominated for Worst Actor and Worst Actress at the 2001 Golden Raspberry Awards.” So save yourself the headache and enjoy the original instead.

TreVzNewPop

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11
Jan 10

Putney Swope, Corporate power and Race.

Putney Swope is a 1969 film written and directed by Robert Downey Sr. and starring Arnold Johnson as Swope. Swope is the only black man on the executive board of an advertising firm who is accidentally put in charge after the death of the chairman of the board. Renaming the business “Truth and Soul, Inc.”, Swope replaces all but one of the white employees.

I caught this on TCM the other night. According to Wikipedia “It criticizes and plays with black militant rhetoric, the portrayal of race in Hollywood films, the white power structure, and nature of corruption in any struggle for power.” What compelled me to watch this was the fact that Robert Downey Sr. directed it. Yes he is the father of actor Robert Jr. I had seen the movie “Tropic Thunder” where Downey Jr. plays a white man in blackface bringing up issues of race in Hollywood. Hearing that his father also dealt with the subject of race in this film peeked my curiosity. This film deals more with race in the corporate structure than Hollywood.

This film is not really well acted or well shot, In fact Robert Downey Sr. had to redub all of Arnold Johnson’s lines because Johnson could never remember them. There are some funny moments and if you are a fan of vintage movies dealing with Mod Fashion and Black Exploitation you may find this as interesting.

The two clips I added below deal with the shift in the power structure in Black and White America, a topic that is very relevant today with the election of the first Black President. I will deal with this issue in more depth in future postings. The second clip is a bit funnier to me personally because it deals with freelance artist relationships with the corp structure. And more specifically negotiating of ones rates which for the most part is completely arbitrary. If you’ve been in this situation you will take comfort in being able to laugh at it since you probably did more than enough bitching by now. The final clip is just a goofy ad from the “Truth and Soul” agency. The gimmick was that Truth and Soul, Inc were such a novelty that everyone wanted them to shoot their ads no regardless of wether they made any sense at all. The satire in this film is an accurate commentary on Madison Ave and Pop-culture today.

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11
Jan 10

Who Are You, Polly Magoo?

The 1966 French film “Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?” is a satirical art house movie spoofing the fashion world and its excesses. It stars native Brooklynite Dorothy McGowan as supermodel Polly Maggoo who is being followed by a French television crew. I caught this on TCM one night and was drawn in by how it poked fun at the cool mod style of the late 60’s. The director William Klein is a well known photographer and one of my inspirations. The asthetic beauty in this film, balanced with the cutting satire intrigues me. It draws many parallels to the world I work in today. Beautiful, inspiring and cool, while hilarious, silly and superficial. The difference with this film and a film like Zoolander, is there is a insiders perspective and reverence that acknowledges that there is something to love about this world. Zoolander tosses it all aside as fodder for laughs. Don’t get me wrong I love Zoolander, but “Polly Maggoo” deals with the dichotomy of that love hate relationship in a serious way without fishing for the big laugh.

The first clip is the opening scene from the film. It is a fashion show where the “clothes” are so outlandish and impractical that the models are cut by the material and the designer has to make modifications with a wrench. It illustrates just how silly the fashion world can be. The second is a trailer just in case you were thinking of renting or buying it. There isn’t much substance in terms of storyline, but if you are intrigued by cultural commentary about the super cool today, tomorrow, or 40 years ago, I would say go for it.

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10
Jan 10

Le Mans 1971.

Caught the movie Le Mans on TCM yesterday. The movie starring Steve McQueen is about 24 Hours of Le Mans and was filmed on the circuit during the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans race. What makes this race unique is instead of focusing on the ability of a car company to build the fastest machines of the time, the 24 Hours of Le Mans would instead concentrate on the ability of manufacturers to build sporty yet reliable cars and the endurance of the drivers. But what I found compelling about this movie was the culture of sophistication surrounding this event. How true to life this is then or now I don’t know. I am well aware of how easy it is for filmmakers to present things as they see it, but since this was filmed in part at the actual event and not entirely staged I am less cynical about it’s accuracy. The vibe felt more like a Polo match than what I have grown to expect from car racing. I suspect the European sensibility about art and culture that seems to permeate everything they do has allot to do with this. Especially when the two main cars involved were Porsche and Ferrari.

The clip I embedded below is a conversation between Mcqueens character Michael Delaney and Elga Andersen character Lisa Belgetti. After a serious accident that involved Lisa Belgetti lover she asks Michael why do men risks their lives for sport? Michael responds with the following famous movie quote. “A lot of people go through life doing things badly. Racing’s important to men who do it well. When you’re racing, it… it’s life. Anything that happens before or after… is just waiting.” This is followed by a beautiful montage that illustrates the subtle and not so subtle beauty of the sport, focusing not only on the cars, but on the faces in the crowds, and the lifestyle that surrounds this event. It is a beautiful piece of filmmaking. This all takes place in the first 4 minutes so don’t let the 9 min duration discourage you from viewing the clip. And if you ever get a chance to watch the entire movie or if you have a Netflix account, you should give this film a chance.

Trev