Coming Home...

The film Coming Home by Hal Ashby had an amazing soundtrack. Period. Not only was the music from all the big names during the late 60s and 70s but they also all had a message. A message about what was happening within our country, the Vietnam War, and the rest of the world. Not only did it have its message about the war but also Mr. Ashby; who I now consider a genius, was able to fit these message-infested songs into the context of the story. He applied the songs to fit with what was going on in the story and not necessarily with the war (although still a driving factor within the story). He was able to take songs that had a message of their own, continue that message but also create his own message with what was happening immediately within the story and the characters.

It was good to see Jon Voight in a good role, and doing a great job at it (and driving a hella-tight Stang) Although I can’t help but to think on how he got injured in “Nam” was from a 50ft Anaconda swallowing him whole, spitting him back out, and crushing the hell out of his spine leaving him paralyzed. That whole shrapnel story is a cover up….

**Funn fact: in 1998 Jon Voight not only received a Razzie Award (whatever the hell that is) for worst actor in Anaconda, but also received Worst Screen Couple, which was him and the Animatronic Anaconda….

The Long Goodbye

I have to say this film was awesome and I would love to watch it again, good dry humor and not truly plot driven (not saying the whole time I was trying to figure out who had killed his friend) and mysterious characters. I can be a stickler sometimes when a movie's plot and the events that unfold to create and solve the plot aren't very clear. But it wasn't about the murder or straight facts that you were looking to solve the crime, it was the characters' and their nature. Their current situations they were in and how they were introduced and conducted themselves throughout the movie is what drove the story. It wasn't about the cold hard facts, it was the personalities that drove themselves and lead the story of solving the crime.

In comparison to the 50s Phillip Marlowe, you couldn't talk more about water and oil. Although both fairly cunning and smooth, their approach, lifestyle, and presentation of themselves were polar opposites. the 50s Marlow was dressed to impress, while 70s Marlowe would be nicely dressed but would have cheap clothes to pull it off. And he also let people call him out on it, but still wore that JC Penny tie with pride. Like I said one was suave with his words, the other was dry, still smooth, but much more sarcastic. Both smart, but one was more of a smart-ass. I couldn't imagine while watching the 50s version of Phillip Marlow, having a slight amount of doubt that this P.I. is going to solve this crime.

I don't know if this applies, but it definitely did not go along with the "police drama formula" in which most shows or movies about police follow. Such as the movie Seven which is a prime example of this "formula".

5 easy pieces..?

Did Robert head off to Alaska..? How long did Ray stay at that gas station till she realized she had herself a new car? Did you find Spicer, sexy...? All unanswered questions aside, I find the movie Five Easy Pieces by Bob Rafelson to be most revealing. Upon my first time viewing of this film, I felt that within all the dialogue and character build, there wasn't much background or certainty as to why Robert was a flustered and unhappy man. After looking at imdb.com, I made an interesting discovery of Robert's middle name...Eroica...which most likely referencing Beethoven's 3rd symphony (respectively in E flat Major). Eroica is Italian for Heroic, how ironic...and even better is that this piece of music is noted as the end of the Classical era, and the start of the Romanticism...

Mhmmm..much deeper than one would expect, so deep I don't even think it was mentioned within the movie(him having a middle name that is). But how funny an end of an era and the start of a new, could this be the "revolution" the end of a "classic" and "traditional" lifestyle that was created during the 50s, tested in the 60s and now questioned in the 70s. And Romanticism, do I have to mention sex in the 70s...