The Breakfast Club (1985) Review

Title: The Breakfast Club
Year: 1985
Director: John Hughes
Country: US
Language: English

The Breakfast Club, released in 1985, is the middle film of the “teen trilogy” for which John Hughes is most celebrated. The two films that bookend this trilogy are Sixteen Candles (1984) and, one of my grandpa's favourite movies, Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986). Breakfast Club was a critical success when it first hit theatres and was a tremendous commercial success, gaining $51 million out of its $1 million budget. 

A brain (Anthony Michael Hall), an athlete (Emilio Estevez) , a basket case (Ally Sheedy), a princess (Molly Ringwald), and a criminal (Judd Nelson) meet in Saturday detention and discover how they have a lot more in common than they thought.

John Hughes was known for understanding the traumatic emotionally inconsistent state of an American teenager in the 1980's. He was a gifted director/screenwriter that understood adolescence down to minute details. The little things in Breakfast Club, like the nerd nervously chewing on his pencil, can be as emotionally impactful as the tear-jerking monologues. 

How did a baby-boomer in his 30's understand the mindset of a generation younger than him? In a late 90's interview he said "My generation sucked up so much attention. I see kids struggling for an identity. They are forgotten." While writing The Breakfast Club's screenplay it seems like Hughes was writing a cinematic representation of what he was observing in real life. It's a sensitive picture that depicts realistic relationships and hits its audience on a gut level. 

The Breakfast Club is a remarkable picture that does not feel as aged as some of John Hughes other works, like Sixteen Candles. Aside from issues regarding technology, I feel like this film also addresses the problems of today's millennials. My generation feels as lost as Generation X did in the 1980's. 

Young Mr.Lincoln (1939) Review

Title: Young Mr. Lincoln
Year: 1939
Director: John Ford
Country: US
Language: English

Like many of John Ford's best films, Young Mr.Lincoln dissects the point where politics and narrative (factual, fictional and mythical) intersect. It anticipates Ford's later masterpiece The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). Ford gives us a precise portrait of a person’s physical and cultural evolution. If you though Stephen Spielberg's Lincoln (2012) was an enticing picture, this should prove even more impressive. 

A fictionalized account of the early life of the American president as a young lawyer (Henry Fonda) facing his greatest court case.

Ford relies freely on anecdote, rumor, and imaginative reconstruction to fill out his portrait of Lincoln. He subverts myth by presenting a hero who has not yet become himself, though throughout the run-time shows the potential to become the great leader that he would become. The weight of a hero's destiny slowly drives Lincoln, yet Ford goes to great efforts to create a multi-dimensional character. 

At the time, movies like Triumph of the Will sought to indulge itself in political myth. During the same year Gone With the Wind romanticized the American South & Wizard of Oz sought to take us into an entirely different fantasy reality. In relation to these, Young Mr. Lincoln is fairly grounded in reality. The picture depicts the best and worst of America, attempting to avoid easy sentimentalism and easy moral messages. 

Henry Fonda's portrayal of Lincoln is quite remarkable. The cinematography is also quite good, although the writing suffers from feeling too fragmented and episodic. Young Mr. Lincoln also suffers from age, as I personally think it's one of his least accessible pictures. Compared to the majority of his filmography, this certainly feels tedious at times. 

The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960) Review

Title: The 3 Worlds of Gulliver
Year: 1960
Director: Jack Sher
Country: US
Language: English

Johnathon Swift was one of the greatest satirists hailing from the British Isles. I first learned of him when I wrote about his controversial A Modest Proposal in University several years ago. His most famous novel, Gulliver's Travels, is a scathing indictment of British society, although you'd never guess that from this heavily glamorized Hollywood version. Major movie studios had wanted to adapt this novel since the 1930's and this is the finished product. 

After being shipwrecked, a man (Kerwin Matthews) finds himself on an island inhabited by tiny people, who soon make plans for him.

Swift's scornful message has been interpreted as a lighthearted fable. The original tone has vanished without a trace, albeit this abridged adaptation does remain somewhat faithful in terms of following the story. The 3 Worlds of Gulliver was clearly made with a very young audience in mind; retaining social criticism was probably not a high priority. Granted, much of Swift's anti-militarism does shine through. 

Much of the special effects, Gulliver being much bigger and much smaller than the other people onscreen, a matter of forced perspective and matte effects. While famed special effects Ray Harryhausen handles those beautifully, there's very little in this that somebody else couldn't have done. His famous stop-motion animation, although quite impressive, is used sparingly throughout the film. 

Despite my criticisms, I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed The 3 Worlds of Gulliver. It has a great sense of imagination that isn't often present in contemporary pictures. The story, although straying from Swift's political context, is still engaging and was certainly a breeze to sit through. 

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) Review

Title: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Year: 1967
Director: Stanley Kramer
Country: US
Language: English

Filming was completed just seventeen days before the death of film legend Spencer Tracy. He received a post-humous Oscar nomination for this role because of how difficult acting would have been considering his failing health. Thankfully he had his longtime lover Katherine Hepburn monitoring him and deciding when he was too tired to work. In order for the studios to be confident enough to let Tracy act in this film, Hepburn had to use her salary as backing. 

A couple's attitudes (Spencer Tracy & Katherine Hepburn) are challenged when their daughter (Katharine Houghton) introduces them to her African American fiancé (Sidney Poitier).

The subject matter highlighted in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner may not be shocking in 2018, but in 1967 it was groundbreaking in its depiction of interracial romance. At the time it was a rarity to see a picture discuss interracial relations positively and free of exploitation, mainly because it was still illegal in 17 states. The film also expands outwardly to be about the rise of the youth generation and their ability to eradicate social barriers far better than their parents. 

Spencer Tracy, performing his role in such a dire time in his life, was quite brave. Sidney Poitier is the true scene stealer however; he brings grace, elegance and charm to this role and during an intense speech with his father, you truly believe everything Poitier says. He has a subtle comedic timing that improves the atmosphere of every scene he is in. 

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is greatly helped by veteran director Stanley Kramer (It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World) and the remarkable screenwriting of William Rose. The film's controversial premise could have only had legs if it had impeccable writing alongside legendary actors like Hepburn and Tracy. Overall it's quite an enticing picture that, while dated, is still thoroughly entertaining. 

Get Out (2017) Review

Title: Get Out
Year: 2017
Director: Jordan Peele
Country: US
Language: English

If you've seen Key & Peele (2012-2015), a Mad TV-esque sketch show that ran for five seasons, then you'll know that Director/Writer Jordan Peele is a great lover of genre films. His sketches frequently satire movie cliches and offer hilarious social commentary about cinema's effect on the public. Peele's debut feature Get Out acts as both homage to horror and socio-political commentary about the racist state of America. 

Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) go upstate to visit her parents for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, things become more disturbing. 

Nominated for three Academy Awards (Picture, Director and Screenplay) Get Out is a surprising critical and commercial success, having grossed over $200 million worldwide. The film works as both comedy and horror, as there is a clever mix of both throughout the picture. Peele loads the film with a creepy atmosphere, full of secrets and twists that are revealed in quite disturbing ways. This is a picture in which paranoia pays off. 

Commenting on social and economic divisions between races, Jordan Peele's debut has arrived at the right time in American culture. In the last year, race has come to the forefront of most political discussions: a racist president has been voted into the White House and Black Lives Matter has continued to demand for awareness. 

Peele makes smart choices in regards to shadows and camerawork. Cinematographer Toby Oliver clearly knows how to frame horror. Chilling music, particularly the old song “Run Rabbit Run” by Flanagan and Allen, put us on the edge of our seat. Get Out is a great contemporary horror flick that deserves to be seen decades from now.