The Getaway – 1972 Peckinpah

Peckinpah trademark here with the opening credits sequence does not disappoint. Here we have a stunning freeze frame opening Lucien ballard photography is top notch as is Quincy Jones Score (in the heat of the night). Cross-referenced IMDB and sure enough the harmonica that sounds so familiar is from Toots Thielemans who also does midnight cowboy (1969)- love it The first 10 minutes from free frame credits to montage of McQueen in jail is a stunning opening 10 minutes- it’s a brilliant wordless montage…the film never lives up to that but that alone is nearly worth a top 10

The Getaway – 1972 Peckinpah2017-02-27T18:57:35+00:00

Bound For Glory – 1976 Ashby

Most notable for the first use of Steadicam- and it is an incredible shot tracking from behind through a massive crowd- great shot Almost feels like a remake of grapes of wrath The yellow glaze dustbowl photography is stunning- early precursor to cimino’s heaven’s gate and malick’s days of heaven Like all Ashby films the editing is just superb- careful dissolves The Steadicam and camerawork really is a perfect match for the breeziness of both the narrative and woody’s life and ethos Highly Recommend- HR- top 10 film of 1976 towards the back end of the top 10

Bound For Glory – 1976 Ashby2020-07-03T10:31:44+00:00

The French Connection – 1971 Friedkin

The French Connection is a clear masterpiece from Friedkin in 1971. It won best picture, director, actor (hackman), writing and editing but is still, somehow, underrated at #571 all-time on TSPDT. It’s 300 slots better than that at a minimum. It’s detailed, authentic, filled with brilliant examples of film form at its finest and some virtuoso stylistic high-water marks as well. I’ve seen the film several times over the years but it’s one of those cinematic gems that gets better with each viewing. I love the location shooting- look, feel and smell of 1971 New York City. Friedkin deserves

The French Connection – 1971 Friedkin2017-02-16T20:19:36+00:00

The Cotton Club- 1984 Francis Ford Coppola

"Coppola's most shamefully underrated movie."- san fransico examiner "Whatever it took to do it, Coppola has extracted a very special film out of the checkered history of this project."- ebert "It was the most assured film Coppola had made in a decade, full of casual wit and visual invention."- chicago reader The cotton club (1984) from Coppola is pretty stunning. You combine this with rumble fish (which I absolutely adore) from 1983 and it completely ruins my "coppola died as an artist in the jungle making apocalypse" half-brain theory. This is a high quality film. I don't want to oversell it but it's

The Cotton Club- 1984 Francis Ford Coppola2017-02-09T20:51:35+00:00

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