The Last Picture Show

I feel like every post is prefaced by me whining about how tired I am and how short my post is going to be. Today I really mean it, though - I'm actually almost falling asleep writing this. I don't really know why I feel so run down - I think I got way too little sleep last night so I really need to hurry up and head to bed. I really loved this movie, though, and I want to write about it!

Today I watched The Last Picture Show, directed by Peter Boganovich in 1971. It stars a young Jeff Bridges, which is pretty fun. It's a great movie, focused on kids growing up in a small town in Texas. I loved their relationships and interactions. It was hard to believe most of these actors were pretty much unknown when the film was cast, because they were so great in it! I actually got this movie as part of Criterion's BBS box set, and although I never heard of it until now, I'm so glad that I own a copy.

Easy Rider

 So ready to Friday tomorrow! I really need a long weekend so I can rest, relax, and finally clean up from my vacation. I still have suitcases laying around and things to unpack and clean up - not even joking. It felt like it was so hard to get back to work that I feel like I really, really need a break. Plus, it's not like the end of my vacation was really relaxing, since I had to wake up at all sorts of early hours so that I could drive home and stuff. Whine whine whine. Sick and tired, tired and sick. Poor me. (not really)

I have seriously just been staring at the screen for a half hour or more, trying to think of what I could possibly say about a movie as famous and influential as Easy Rider. It was written by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper, and directed by Hopper in 1969. Even if you haven't seen it, if you know film, you know Easy Rider. It's the movie that started the New Hollywood movement in America, and the film that made Jack Nicholson famous. So why can't I think of how I feel about it?

Five Easy Pieces

I think I'm actually sunburned from being outside so long yesterday. That's crazy! I really had such a nice day, just relaxing with my extended family. I always feel so lucky that we all live so close together and have such easy, nice relationships. Love you guys <3

Today's movie is Five Easy Pieces, directed in 1970 by Bob Rafelson. I really loved this movie. It's one of the movies that was part of New Hollywood, when American cinema changed greatly. I've written about it before, and this is such a great example of it. I have a hard time believing that I never really heard about this up until now, who knows. I'm so glad a got a chance to watch it. It has all those great characteristics that I love about this period - the focus on a blue collar hero dealing with everyday problems, a character that viewers can personally relate to. This was pretty out of the norm for so long. Movies were about epic stories or fantastical people, not guys like you and me. I know a lot of people I know will be interested in this movie because of Jack Nicholson, and hey, he's actually incredible in it! You've got to see this movie if you haven't.

Bonnie and Clyde

I'm not feeling so well today, I feel like I'm fighting off a cold, which is a possibility. My boyfriend is sickly, so I blame him. Or maybe I just had a bit too much fun last night - my friend and I watched Furry Vengeance followed by The Human Centipede, which explains what sort of mood we were in. Either way, with a hot mug of throat coat tea (surprisingly delicious) next me to me, I want to keep this a little short and easy, so I can get back to relaxing.

Today I watched Bonnie and Clyde, directed by Arthur Penn in 1967. It was, if I remember anything from college, the first film from the "New Hollywood" movement. This was an American film movement that includes movies like The Graduate, Easy Rider, Taxi Driver, Chinatown, and Midnight Cowboy. These movies were unlike anything that had existed in Hollywood previously. Audiences were growing bored of historical epics and musicals, and younger people were watching more foreign movies to quench their thirsts. It was shocking when Bonnie and Clyde came out - it got a lot of negative critical reviews. But younger audiences loved it. It spoke to them - they liked the shocking violence and disaffected characters that they could relate to.