|
HOME/Archive/Hubbs/Books/Obits/Shorts/Links/Contact by M.G. Wood The Spirit of 76 haunts the multiplexes of America. About this time every summer, as the studios roll out the newest 100 million dollar market-tested kid-approved piece of “entertainment”, the ghost of summer’s past sweeps down and whispers in your ear... Well, actually it doesn’t whisper anything, because it’s the ghost of Marcel Marceau from Mel Brooks’ 1976 release SILENT MOVIE. But, you get the idea. The United States Bicentennial was a months long celebration in 1976 that infiltrated all manner of pop culture. All of America was saturated in Red, White, and Blue; including advertising, magazines, storefronts (remember those?), and fashion. If you weren’t sick of the colors before 1976, you were after. Within a few months, your senses were aching for black.
Ah, but to be alive in 1976. What a glorious time. Crime, pollution, government corruption, the national energy crisis, gas lines... But, like just about every other year in the decade of the 1970s, the movies were exceptional. What better way to celebrate The Bicentennial 1976 than by celebrating the All-American Films that shined from sea to shining sea. You know what? There was a time when American films, and American audiences, didn’t need or expect “good news” to make up for the “bad news”; didn’t need resolution or closure to make it all seem worth while. We didn't need to be pampered by the filmmakers. And this is why THE BAD NEWS BEARS is a quintisentially American movie. The film directed by Michael Ritchie (SMILE) is crass, vulgar, mean-spirited, funny, touching, cynical, hopeful, and ultimately glorious. And 100% American. A bad little league baseball team consisting of an ethnically diverse group of kids that look, act and talk the way real kids act, look, and talk, warts and all. Coached by an alcoholic middle-aged man with a gambling problem played by the great Walter Matthau. Will they turn it around? Will they win the “big game”? It’s best summed up by the adorable little racist scamp Tanner Boyle, “You can take your trophy, and shove it up your ass!” To truly enjoy the following clip from MARATHON MAN, look out for the shot of the young mustached man, as he stands idly by, enjoying the action. What a guy, what an American guy. MARATHON MAN took a germ of inspiration from the running and jogging fad in the 70s when men and women all over the country took horse-pill sized vitamins, wore silky slick running outfits, and preceded to sweat out the impurities of too much cocaine and white wine spritzers. William Goldman, who wrote the screenplay based on his novel, developed a full-fledged character in Thomas Levy played by Dustin Hoffman, a professional student who is haunted by his father, a brilliant professor who apparently committed suicide when Thomas was young. Thomas runs to burn off more than calories; he’s running away from his past, and he’s running to burn off anger and bitterness. When Thomas’s brother (played by the late, great Roy Schieder) is murdered, he finds himself running for his life (pardon the made-for-poster tag-line). Anchored by a legendary character performance by Larry Olivier, MARATHON MAN encompasses everything that was good and pure about cinema in America circa 1976: political intrigue, flawed heroes, cinema verite, and perfectly calibrated pacing. ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN was not just a great political thriller, it was a masterful detective story. We follow Woodward and Bernstein as they sniff out the clues, leads, false-starts, dead-ends, and revelations that will ultimately bring down the President of the United States. It’s simply an exciting film. And how many times can you say that about a movie about journalism and politics? Okay, so before you say it, rent CAR WASH, and you’ll be surprised how funny, and fun CAR WASH really is. It’s just pure entertainment. NETWORK is quite simply the most prophetic American film ever made. TAXI DRIVER was written by Paul Schrader and directed by Martin Scorsese, consummating the most perfect marriage of artistic sensibilities since Lennon/McCartney. Not much needs to be said. You’ve seen it. You’ve seen it so many times that you may begin to worry that Travis Bickle is getting into your head and urging you to do something that maybe you shouldn’t do; leading you to think about the crime and the filth and the political impotency that has stained our lives; you may be thinking that poor innocent little teenage prostitute really deep down wants to go home... And finally, the Governor of California...
Only in America could the son of a cop from Austria come and work his way up from bodybuilder to movie star to Governor of the largest state in the country. STAY HUNGRY was Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first major role, and while his acting skills had not yet been honed, the fact that STAY HUNGRY, directed by 70s auteur Bob Rafelson, was such a strong film (not to mention immensely entertaining) gave him the step up he needed to launch a full-fledged career, for better or worse. Incidentally, Schwarzenegger has a cameo in another great 70s film, no I’m not talking about HERCULES IN NEW YORK, I mean THE LONG GOODBYE (1973) directed by Robert Altman, a film that BIG LEBOWSKI fans may want to check out for reference. Of course it’s 1976, so there is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to choosing movies to include here, but alas we only have so much time in the day to watch movies, much less read about them. Pop Quiz! What movie opened on July 4th weekend 1976? Scroll to the bottom for the answer. The shocking scene in John Carpenter's ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, when the bad guy shoots the little girl in the face, would never happen now. THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW began it’s run as a midnight movie phenomonon in April of 76. And what about CARRIE? May the pig’s blood never dry. THE OMEN. David Bowie made his film debut in THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH, staking his claim as the only rock star who should be allowed to act in movies. THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES. And who could forget ROCKY. Contrast the finale of ROCKY with any sports film made within the last 15-20 years for further proof of America’s unhealthy need for happy endings, closure, resolution, and all that other psycho-babble bullshit. *TO FLY!, a 27 minute documentary on the history of flight.
|
