Joel McCrea is TCM”s Star of the Month for May 2012 and I admit I hadn’t really given him much thought. But sometimes all it takes to appreciate someone’s work is further exposure to it, and so it is with McCrea. He has a mellow, old-fashioned all-American quality that is really growing on me. He is really good in Espionage Agent (1939) as the diplomat whose wife (Brenda Marshall) has been forced into spying for the Nazis in the early part of WWII, before the US entered the war.
The film has the same producer as Casablanca, Hal Wallis, and it shares an anti-isolationist perspective with that picture and with Foreign Correspondent, which also starred McCrea. Agent is like a cross between Correspondent, Night Train to Munich and Confessions of a Nazi Spy. No wonder I really liked it.
What I also really dig about this film is the typography. It’s just really lovely. Espionage Agent isn’t available on video in any format…maybe Warner Archive will release it someday…for now we’ll have to rely on photos of my TV that I took with my phone.
UPDATE #2 – May 25: I so enjoyed everyone’s posts and enough people asked if they could contribute to FCM that I’m going to do a second round. If you wrote for the original blogathon, and want to write about another movie, please do!
Same concept…Pick a movie from 2000 or later (more than one is OK too), and write about why you think it will endure to become a Future Classic Movie. Bonus predictions could be who will be hosting on this channel and how will movies be delivered to the consumer (hologram, chip in the brain, etc.)
Email me at paula.guthat [at] gmail.com to let me know which movie you want to do (try to pick one that wasn’t done already).
New dates…Put a link to the FCM Round 2 megapost http://wp.me/p243hv-fh somewhere in the first paragraph of your post and publish it on Wednesday, June 20. Feel free to use the graphic below. Then email me the link to your post. I will then compile all the links into one mega post and publish it on Thursday, June 21. Note: you will get a 404 when you try that link, but it’s there. It’s just not public yet.
UPDATE: The call for submissions is now closed. Links to everyone’s FCM posts may be found at theFCM Blogathon Mega Post.
As a confirmed TCM addict, I’ve often wondered what movies from the 21st century would stand the test of time, like Casablanca, Gone With The Wind or Out of the Past. If there is even such a thing as TV and channels in the future. What would programming look like in 30 or 40 years from now?
And then I thought, why just think about it, when I’d love to hear other people’s ideas. And so the FUTURE CLASSIC MOVIES (FCM) BLOGATHON was born.
Everyone who wants to participate picks a movie from 2000 or later (more than one is OK too), and writes about why they think it will endure to become a Future Classic. Bonus predictions could be who will be hosting on this channel and how will movies be delivered to the consumer (hologram, chip in the brain, etc.)
Post your pick (s) to your blog on Wednesday, May 23 and email me the link to the post. Feel free to use the graphic above. I will then compile all the links into one mega post.
All I ask is that you to link to the megapost in your first paragraph somehow, using this shortlink: http://wp.me/p243hv-dT
So what do you think? If you’d like to participate, please DM me on Twitter @Paula_Guthat or email me paula.guthat [at] gmail.com with “FCM blogathon” as the subject, giving me a couple of choices of Future Classics you’d like to write about. Thanks!
Dreams Within Dreams Within Dreams…Fights in a Spinning Hotel Lobby…LEONARDO DICAPRIO!!
These are some of the many reasons why I believe that Inception will end up being a Future Classic Movie. When the movie first came out a couple of summers ago, everyone flocked to the theaters to catch it due to the super-mysterious plot at the time and mainly because of this being the first follow-up of director Chrstopher Nolan’s since this little old flick called The Dark Knight came. But once the dust settled at this film’s exciting conclusion (oh…darn you spinning top!), the conversations and endless debates on its plot details never seemed to stop.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Leonardo diCaprio in INCEPTION
Instead of being a one-note, too gimmick-ridden film, Inception proved to be a multi-layered film that still drives multiple repeat viewings (with no pun about its main dream plot intended). On top of this, its clever odes to the action, sci-fi, and psychological thriller genres help this go a long way in being a good long-term future classic movie that never seems to get old. Inception to me will definitely be one of those awesome flicks to turn on 10, 20 years from now and be a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Along with Inception playing on a future classic movie channel, the one person who I strangely see taking on hosting duties on movie marathons in the future is actor/comedian Joel McHale of The Soup and Community fame. The man may not a super well-known respected actor and is currently just really known for drawing up goofy laughs, but I see that his years of being a good steady host on Soup could one day translate to a neat little side soundtrack for a nice afternoon movie marathon.
Given the premise of what film and cinema may look like 40 years hence, I’ll opt for the convenience of handheld devices, flatscreen home entertainment centers and personal 3-D glasses, now that the very first, infant steps of the future Blue Sun Consortium so well-loved in Firefly has put out a bid for the AMC chain of theaters here in the U.S.
Now, as to what cinephiles, movie buffs and assorted hormonally-driven teens will want to view. The sky and its opposite end of the spectrum are the limit. Though Classics will always be present to fall back on. Be it for nostalgia sake. Or just to sit back and experience what good really is and can be. There will always be a healthy clutch of films in dust laden cans ready to be spun up on a projector. Or taken to a lab to be cleaned up, re-mastered and brought back to life in whatever form of medium is in use at the time.
To that end, allow me to prognosticate and put forth three choices for what may be viewed and enjoyed by those of all ages in the future.
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
The definition of screwball comedies of the 20th century stars Cary Grant as David Huxley, a clumsy, mild-mannered paleontologist with Harold Lloyd glasses. Deep in the Sisyphian task of assembling the skeleton of an ancient Brontosaurus, David only needs one bone to complete the task. To add to his stress, David is engaged and soon to be wed to a woman of means whose family can supply extra funding for David’s museum.
Cary Grant gets mixed up with Katharine Hepburn and her zipper in BRINGING UP BABY
Seeking surcease, David decides to play some golf the next day and meets a striking, fast-talking Katherine Hepburn as Susan Vance, madcap extraordinaire and niece of his future mother-in-law. Susan plays by her own rules and speaks her mind. The repartee between David and Susan is as over-layered, stepped-on, and Hawksian as it is flat-out hilarious! With David constantly trying to catch up when to two meet again at a resplendent, elegant restaurant and night club.
Rapid-fire banter turns into a whispered argument that segues into an accidentally ripped and torn skirt of Susan’s evening gown. Which David tries to cover as best he can with his top hat and quick turns as they seek club’s front door. For a quick trip to Susan’s family’s palatial manse and manicured grounds. Where David is introduced to kith and kin, including a leopard from Brazil named ‘Baby’ and a terrier named ‘George,’ who slyly buried the essential Brontosaurus bone the ‘intercostal clavicle’ somewhere beyond the house while ‘Baby’ ambles away into the night.
Desperately seeking George
What follows is a primer on comedic timing, quips, pratfalls and stalking through foggy woods and narrow streams. Interspersed with choruses of “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” which Baby likes, as David and Susan search high and low. Accidentally break windows while seeking assistance. Run afoul of the law and are locked up in the Constabulary’s jail. Where Susan takes on the voice, slang and body language of a gangster’s moll. An incredibly funny few moments that involve a second leopard and mistaken identities. Until a friend of the family arrives and straightens things out.
David goes his way. Susan and Baby go theirs. The intercostal clavicle is recovered and Susan takes it to a now busy David high atop the incomplete Brontosaurus on tall scaffolding to make amends. When Susan sees a nearby flimsy ladder…
Casablanca (1942)
The film that solidified Humphrey Bogart as a romantic leading man still manages to pack a heck of a lot of story and tell it well within its 102 minutes. Wondrously crowded, well designed and executed sets transport to a stylized Morocco, Casablanca, its shadowy casbahs and Rick’s Cafe Americain. The hub of all things curious and worth noting by the Vichy constabulary and its German occupiers.
Paul Henreid, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains and Humphrey Bogart in CASABLANCA
Bogart plays Rick Blaine, expatriate American cafe and casino owner with a fixed roulette wheel that pays on 22. Who drinks alone, plays chess against himself. Has few friends. Is rarely impressed. While exuding an air of supreme clever confidence. Master of his own fate in a corner of the world where suspicion runs rampant and others beg, borrow and steal for exit visas and a way out.
Enter into this world skullduggery, Ilsa Lund. Spectacularly gorgeous Ingrid Bergman. Rick’s old flame from happier times in Paris, just before the Germans rolled in. Unfortunately, Ilsa has brought her husband along. Suave and elegant Victor Laszlo. Leader of the Free French movement and Public Enemy #1 of Conrad Veidt’s Major Heinrich Strasser and his minions. Who would be quite content to keep Ilsa and Victor right where they are.
Who, but director Michael Curtiz and writers Philip and Julian Epstein could wrap a deliciously moody love story around this foundation? As Rick politely reintroduces himself to Ilsa. Sparks flare to life. Aware that she and Victor are in need of a pair of exit visas that Rick possesses. The possibilities are endless as emotions sway. I’ll leave it right there for you to draw your own conclusions.
Goodfellas (1990)
The life of Henry Hill. A Brooklyn kid who says, “As far back as I can remember. I always wanted to be a gangster,” is given the full blown Martin Scorsese treatment. In full blown, lush color. From Henry’s early years hanging out on street corners and parking cars for the meetings of made men he idolized. To huge tips being taken under the wing of slow moving, always cautious ‘Paulie’ Cicero. Henry climbs up the lower tiers of organized crime. Befriending a young young Joe Pesci giving wondrous psychotic life to Tommy DeVito and his friend, Jimmy ‘The Gent’ Conway, played with low-key deliberation by Robert De Niro.
Robert De Niro and Ray Liotta in GOODFELLAS
Life is good as Henry dumps school in favor of selling hijacked cigarettes to any and all. Until he is arrested for the first of several times. Surprisingly, the pinch helps rather than hinders Henry’s slow, yet steady climb up the criminal corporate ladder. Henry, now played by a smooth faced, lean Ray Liotta is all style and flash, but not a lot of substance. Part of Jimmy’s crew, Henry learns the ins and outs of the finer points of hijacking semi tractor trailers along the New Jersey Turnpike. When not robbing Idlewild Airport of its employees’ payroll. or burning down restaurants or clubs slowly taken over by Paulie and his friends.
Henry falls in loves with, pursues and courts Karen. A stunning Lorraine Bracco with visits to famed New York nightclubs. Filmed in Steady Cam from the rear entrance. Through the kitchens and to a quickly laid out ringside table in time for Henny Youngman and complimentary champagne. Then taking the time to brutally beat a competitor close to death with a pistol who. Making Karen an accessory after the fact, by giving her the pistol to hide.
Ray Liotta and Lorraine Bracco enjoy the good times in GOODFELLAS
The good life continues. Henry marries Karen. The money rolls in and heists get bigger and bigger. Until one night when a made man runs afoul of Tommy. Is killed messily and buried somewhere Upstate. Then exhumed six months later when Jimmy finds out the land is going to be developed. The wheels start to come off. As Henry takes a mistress and Karen finds out. Threats are made and Paulie tells Henry to get back with Karen. Henry does. Then he and Jimmy go down to Florida to collect some betting markers and draw a delayed bust from the FBI.
Henry discovers drugs behind bars, though life there is better than for most. Against Paulie’s wishes, he continues in the trade as a major heist goes bad. And those involved get very sloppy and spend very conspicuously. Then pay for it rather sloppily to the strains of ‘Layla’ by Derek and the Dominoes. I’ll end it here, lest I get into Spoiler Territory.
Overall consensus
I’ve chosen three films which have stood the test of time. Masterpieces assembled by directors with the clout and ability to get superior writers, cinematographers, set designers. Then turn it all over to superior casts anxious to make their marks. Creating benchmarks that have aged well and improved with time. And will be amongst the first chosen decades from now.
What do you think of Jack’s picks? Are there other films that are already considered classics now and will remain so?
To recap really quickly, the Future Classic Movies (FCM) Blogathon involves predicting films that will still be drawing audiences on TV, or a chip in our brains, or whatever form of communication exists, 30 or 40 years from now. The vast majority of the posts involve films made during or after 2000; these will be as old then as the ones we watch on TCM now.
My FCM pick is The Artist (2011). Regular readers of this blog know that I adore this film. It is a little miracle — a silent film premiering in the 21st century. It was made by people who really love movies and stocked their film with tons of homages, tributes and shoutouts to the classics. It has romance, humor, suspense and melancholy. The acting in it is superb. It was beautifully written, art-directed, and shot. There is something about it that makes me cry every time I see it. (I’ve actually plunked money down to see this three times. Once I was actually on vacation.) It was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, and it won five: Best Director, Best Picture, Best Costume Design, Best Score and Best Actor. But none of these reasons are why I chose this film to endure into the middle of this unpredictable 21st century and beyond.
Sometimes it’s all a little too much…Jean du Jardin as George Valentin
Every day our lives get a little more complicated and a little more technological. As recently as 2006, the vast majority people had only a vague idea of what Facebook was. No one had heard the term “social media.” Phones were decidedly dumb; they made calls, and that was about it, at least in the US, where SMS hadn’t yet caught on. Now billions of people are using social media every day. Approximately 20,000 tweets go out every 10 seconds. You can watch a movie, video-chat with someone on the other side of the world, or run a business, all from a smartphone. And the pace of new technology only seems to accelerate rapidly. Economically, the upheaval of 2008 seems to have stabilized somewhat but lots of people lost their jobs and homes, and technology is ending some jobs and creating others. Everything in life is changing so quickly that the term “radical transformation” comes to mind, although nothing is happening quite that fast. I love all the technology, but sometimes even I feel a little overwhelmed, a little bit blindsided…a little bit like George Valentin. He would understand if he was here, because this is what The Artist is at least in part about: coping with change. (It’s about love, loyalty, friendship, the creative process, paying it forward, and really great shoes as well. But I digress.)
The world the characters inhabit is completely shaken with the advent of sound, and they each provide an example of a different coping strategy, from stubborn disregard (George) to grudging acceptance and pragmatism (Al Zimmer, the director played by John Goodman) to leveraging new opportunities that open up and helping others to reconcile themselves with a new reality (Peppy). We’ll all have to adapt, and since we’ll be adapting well into the foreseeable future, this film is always going to be relatable and relevant. There’s a few people out there who didn’t like this film. To those people I say, get used to it…The Artist isn’t going anywhere, and neither are the rest of these picks, all films that I believe will persevere:
Many thanks to everyone who participated in the very first blogathon I’ve ever run. I hope you had as much fun writing these as I did reading them. To paraphrase a title…there will be more 🙂
I’ve been to the movies two weekends in a row now (for The Avengers and Dark Shadows), and am definitely looking forward to three of the films I saw trailers for.
I was probably going to see Lawless anyway, due to my being a sucker for anything to do with Prohibition and the presence of Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska, all of whom I believe to be talented actors. Hardy, Shia Labeouf and Jason Clarke play “the infamous Bondurant Brothers: bootlegging siblings who made a run for the American Dream in Prohibition-era Virginia” (per the film’s site). Their livelihood is threatened when the lawmen sent in to stop them demand a piece of the action. The film is based on Matt Bondurant’s novel The Wettest County in the World, which he based on stories of his own family. The Player-style pitch: “It’s like Bonnie and Clyde with The Untouchables and some Godfather thrown in.” The trailer sets up the conflict, but, unlike a lot of trailers, it doesn’t show you how it’s going to end. I love the look of this film, the desaturated colors with lots of shadows and night shots. It took me a minute to recognize Guy Pearce as a menacing FBI agent. Hardy is always a standout for me, he transforms himself for every film, and I’m looking forward to seeing him and his Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy co-star Oldman in their scenes together. Lawless will debut at the Cannes Film Festival; its US release date is August 31.
In End of Watch, Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña star as cops in south central L.A. who are as close as brothers. They are modern-day cowboys, looking for dope, money and guns …until they get on the wrong side of a scary cartel. The car chases and drug busts have documentary look, with handheld and dashboard-camera footage, giving the film a rushed, urgent quality that matches the subject matter. The film was written by David Ayer, who was also responsible for Training Day and The Fast and the Furious. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that Watch is going to do for JG what Jarhead and Prince of Persia failed to do—make him a blockbuster action star. Jarhead wasn’t actually an action picture, but it was marketed like one, which didn’t work, and Prince of Persia had too many Disney/fantasy elements for people to take it seriously (though it is one of those films that I’ll stop to watch every time I find it when I’m flipping the channels and happen upon it.) If the trailer is any indication, End of Watch is gritty, violent and riveting. US release date is September 28.
Argo, directed by Ben Affleck, is based on a covert operation detailed in recently declassified US government documents. In 1980, when Iranian revolutionaries took over the American embassy in Tehran, 66 Americans were held captive for 444 days. Apparently there were also six who managed to escape to the Canadian embassy. Knowing these six were in incredible danger, the White House took a chance on a crazy scheme…send in operatives masquerading as a film crew working on a sci-fi film. I really love Affleck’s film The Town and it looks like this will have the same adrenaline-producing suspense and true-to-life characterization, with a little more humor as it parodies Hollywood. It will be interesting to see how he blends the drama of the extraction with the comedic elements. Argo will be released on October 12.
The Avengers is a very good film. If I had a rating system, I’d give it 4.5 out of 5 stars. Yes, it is that good. If you haven’t seen it, go now…I’ll go with you. Seriously. I don’t know if the world can stand one more person waxing eloquent about this movie, but I’m going to go for it anyway. Some thoughts…
Clark Gregg is like a different person when he’s playing Agent Coulson. His whole face tightens up.
Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson; Clark Gregg as himself
I still say that if I was an actress, I would want Scarlett Johansson’s career…from child actress to indie darling to action movie star…this year it’s a big comic book franchise and a sci-fi picture, next year she’s in some indie directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. A versatile talent.
I don’t have anything snarky to say about Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow
Playing the villain is always more fun, and that’s exactly what Tom Hiddleston looks like he’s having throughout the film. His Loki is also more proof that it helps to get Genuine Thespians for these comic-book action blowout extravaganzas. There’s a lot of talent here, including a bunch of Oscar nominees and winners, and they can make even the most potentially ludicrous lines sound good.
I am Loki and I am here to mess you up…with my flawless diction
I’m throwing down the gauntlet…I’d put our Detroit shawarma (that is the correct spelling) up against any in the world. That’s right, the world.
I just can’t stay away from the topic of food
One of the themes in Joss Whedon’s work is the mismatched, bickering team that, through hardship, becomes a family, and the Avengers are a perfect example of this. Their bipolar bickering and eventual unity really reminded me of the crew from Firefly. And it is greatly to Whedon’s credit that in a 2-1/2 hour movie (as opposed to an entire season of a TV show), each major character is a three-dimensional person I cared about. The regular-person-ization starts right away with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) chatting with Coulson (he’s not just a suit, he has a girlfriend…she plays the cello!) and doesn’t end until after the credits (stay until they kick you out). Let’s put it this way, the unexpected (at least by me) death in Avengers affected me as much as the one in Captain America did.
One big happy? family
Captain America (Chris Evans) is my favorite Avenger. So sue me. If you’d been asleep for 70 years and woke up to find the world was completely changed, your girl was gone, and your favorite music/movies/food/cars/clothing had all been replaced by other stuff, you’d probably be pretty quiet too. Seriously…what do you think Captain America thinks of the sagging pants look?
You call that music?
I’ve only got two complaints overall about the film: With all the great lines Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) got, at times the film seemed like Iron Man 3. Not that RDJ doesn’t maximize them…I like him and the character…I guess I should have gotten a clue when I saw the poster. And second, the ending reminded me quite a bit of the ending of X Men: First Class. But these are minor complaints to me. Apparently there’s going to be 30 minutes of deleted scenes on the Blu-ray. That means there’s more awesomeness! I can’t wait to see.
So…what did you think of The Avengers? Leave me a comment.
Paula's Cinema Club 