Easy Rider?

The film Easy Rider (1969) is not good at capturing a viewer's attention.  The first half is quite possibly the most uneventful piece of storytelling I've ever witnessed, that is not an exaggeration.  Much of the first half, or more, of this film is just Henry Fonda and Dennis Hopper riding across the country in motorcycles.  Seriously, just scene after scene after scene of them driving down the road on their motorcycles...   can you say zzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZ???????  I personally have no interest in watching a couple of hippies profit off a drug deal and then start out on a grand journey with the goal of getting to Mardi Gras, where they just end up doing drugs.

The story doesn't really pick up until they breach the border of the deep south where the people's hatred of hippies and what they represent becomes crystal clear.  Fonda and Hopper are seen as the scum of the Earth, insects meant to be squashed, purely because they represent a freedom that others do not understand.  They have no responsibility for anything or anyone but themselves, and no obligation to a job, a family, or even a place to call home.  This is seen as a huge threat to the South's way of life, or rather, the traditional American way of life.  Anything different can not be tolerated and is seen as dangerous.

The moral of this story is that nothing good can come from hatred, and yet the world doesn't seem to be able to learn from this lesson.  Decades have passed since the era of peace and free love but today's world has new rendition's of the same story.  The ongoing argument surrounding homosexuality in this country, for instance, has caused unadulterated hatred to rear its ugly head once more.  Some of the anti-LGBT posts that are seen on the internet are not only appalling and it sickens me to think that some of these witless morons could be my neighbors or the people I work with.  And let's not forget the atrocities that go on outside this country on account of differing political views or religions!  That's my favorite of them all:  hatred based on religious differences, when the sole purpose of religion is supposed to be teaching people how to live morally.  Where did religion go wrong?  How is it that the exact opposite of the initial ideal is now occurring?  How is that history continues to repeat itself over and over again?  Why does hatred still prevail in our world?

Aside from the utterly boring beginning, these are the points that Easy Rider brings to the table, and although the film is not great as a whole, I respect it for its morals.

RATING:

Visual - 5

Acting - 8

Script/Plot - 3

Attention - 5

Emotion - 8

Total = 29/50

Groucho, Chico, Harpo!!!

A Night at the Opera was my first Marx Brothers film and I could not have been more impressed!!!  Not only do each of the brothers have an undoubtable charisma onscreen but the writing was nothing short of brilliant.  This script was by far the most clever I had ever experienced with a level of wit that no other film could possibly challenge.  George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind were true geniuses.

The Marx Brothers each brought something very specific and wonderful to the film:  Groucho is clearly the screwball comic, incorporating slapstick bits and effortlessly pulling off ongoing contradictions and comedic double-takes in his lines.  Chico puts on a miraculously realistic faux New York-Italian attitude and is one hell of a pianist.  Harpo is an absolute sweetheart, he draws his comedy from mimes with genuine goofy bits and can play harp unlike anyone I've ever seen.

This film, even though made in 1935, is one of the best examples of brilliant filmmaking in the history of the art form.  According to my own personal rating system this movie broke into my Top 5 films and definitely deserves to be there.  Everyone should see this movie.  I am so excited for Duck Soup (#60 on the list).

RATING:

Visual - 5
Acting - 10
Script/Plot - 10
Attention - 9
Emotion - 7

TOTAL = 41/50

Platoon

I watched Platoon a couple months ago and honestly, trying to recall info about the movie now is proving difficult..  Clearly this movie did not leave that much of an impression on me.  The big-name actors in this film, i.e. Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, Kevin Dillon, Dr. Cox from Scrubs (haha), Forest Whitaker, and Johnny Depp were all extremely appropriate choices for their roles, and the character development within the story is by far the best part.

One thing I will say is that Oliver Stone was not afraid to be blunt about gruesome events that occurred during the war.  What I did NOT know until writing this post was that Oliver Stone did a tour of duty in Vietnam which gives the movie much more credibility than I had initially realized.  While watching Platoon I had the same sensation as when I had watched the Hurt Locker.  After The Hurt Locker I could feel the heat and the sand on me after watching that movie.  With Platoon I felt as though I was wading through the swamps with Bravo Company, with blood-streaked faces and Agent Orange raining down upon us.  Oliver Stone made the dirt, grime, humidity, and pain come to life.

RATING:

Visual - 9

Acting - 9

Script/Plot - 7

Attention - 8

Emotion - 5

TOTAL = 38/50