In the middle of January, amidst many embarking upon endeavors that would inevitably fail (or as we more lovingly call them, “New Year’s Resolutions”) I decided to begin a personal journey. Inspired by one of my colleagues who was inspired by a colleague of his to take a picture for everyday of the year to recollect memories by the year’s end. I decided to do something similar and more to my taste by watching a film or documentary every day and log it into my personal journal.
I had kept up very well with this endeavor, but yesterday I realized that my journal was lost, perhaps in a library somewhere. Not wanting to go through that pain again, I decided to feed my narcissistic need for attention by creating a blog. Today is the first “official blog” that will cover the 1967 film “In the Heat of the Night”. I’ll do my best to update daily and I hope to have at least a few followers that are willing to share their experiences and opinions. And don’t worry, I will create posts for the 20+ movies that I’ve already seen.
In the Heat of the Night, 1967, Drama
Plot: This 1967 Best Picture film by Canadian director Norman Jewison is based on the novel of the same name. It stars Sindey Poitier as Virgil Tibbs, a homicide expert from Philadelphia who has conveniently been in a small Mississippi town when a murder happens. Rod Steiger (in an Oscar-winning role) plays the role of the Chief of Police Bill Gillespie who is forced to work with Detective Tibbs to solve the mystery.
Review: Overall, the film was very well done. Had I seen it during that time period, perhaps it would have hit me a little harder. But growing up in more liberal times forms a slight disconnection due to the generational gap. The infamous Tibbs slap or the risk Gillespie’s risk taking and symbolic actions would have made a stronger impact.
The Poitier-Tibbs combo is, perhaps, the beginning of the clichéd “White cop, black cop” flick. Minus the strong social/political statement and lack of comedic situations in the film, this had a similar formula to what we have seen from the mid-80s until today: Two cops from different cultures forced to work with each other to succeed in a common goal, they prove themselves to one another, have a falling out, and in the end realize that they are more alike than they would have ever guessed.
Poitier (one of the greatest actors of the 20th century) has his usual “renaissance gentleman who’ll clean your clock if you mistake him for a pansy” attitude, which works 101 times out of 100. During that same year he also starred in the films “To Sir, With Love” and “Guess Who’s coming to dinner (Both to be reviewed later, I might add).
This film shows the end of the “stage actors doubling as film actors” era and marks the beginning of the new film era with Martin Scorsese, Francis Coppola, George Lucas, etc.
This movie gets a 4.1/5.0 scale because I thoroughly enjoyed the acting, story/plot, directing, and most of all the message. Very powerful movie, I could watch it again. See it if you ever have a chance to do so.
That’s it for the first installment of my Film Journal. If I watch another film tonight, I’ll be sure to add it to this one. I look forward to receiving any comments or film suggestions.
-Brandon
Movies I have seen starting from January 16th, 2011:
Precious
The Machinist
The Men Who Stare at Goats
Death at a Funeral (2010)
TiMER
Easy Riders to Ragin’ Bulls
The Red Balloon
Copacabana
Exam
Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade
Valhalla Rising
The Cove
Triad Election
To Sir, with Love
Moon
How to Train Your Dragon
Dragons or Dinosaurs?
Treacherous Beauties
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Full Metal Jacket
Shades of Ray
Tapped
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Grown Ups
Bronson
Edit:
So I ended up watching another movie yesterday, Duck Soup by the comedic minds of the Marx brothers.
Duck Soup, 1933, Comedy
Plot: With the sudden death of an important ruler Rufus Firefly (Groucho Marx) courts the powerful and wealthy widow and ends up starting a war with a rival suitor and his nation.
Review: This movie features the 4 major Marx brothers: Groucho (The one-liner comedian) , Harpo (the master of physical comedy), Chico (The pun expert), and Zeppo (the straight man). Each one brings their particular skills to the film to make it a scene after scene and line after line comedy.
At some parts the jokes seemed a bit dated but this film was made nearly 80 years ago so who can blame them. This film was not as funny as Copacabana but it still had me laughing at jokes that were universal in the world of comedy. If given another opportunity, I would watch it again. Check it out for a good, clean laugh.
3.8/5.0.
The Film Chronicles 