Golden Oldies
Now Playing: Stuff I've re-watched recently
ALTERED STATES (1980, Ken Russell) [seen on DVD]- the Chayefsky stuff is pretty interesting here, and the Ken Russell stuff is cool, but they really don't mesh very well. I've never really been a fan of either guy, particularly Chayefsky, who too often is prone to stilted dialogue like "I feel like I'm being harpooned by a raging monk in the act of finding God." Russell fares better, I think, mainly because he's been given free rein to fill the screen with his (still effective) apocalyptic visuals. Of the actors, Blair Brown comes off best in my opinion, not least because she's granted the most believable character arc, with her early disbelief fading into acceptance in conjunction with her love for her husband. William Hurt is also good here, mostly underplaying his character's oddness to good effect. Less successful are Bob Balaban, who does his usual neurotic thing here, and Charles Haid, who overplays as a cynical doctor.
Rating: **1/2.

THE COLOR OF MONEY (1986, Martin Scorsese) [seen on DVD]- almost certainly the most conventional film Scorsese has ever made, which doesn't make it bad, merely a bit of a letdown. I enjoyed this more when I saw it as a teenager, not only because I wasn't into Scorsese at the time, but also because I hadn't seen THE HUSTLER. This film is at its best when exploring the dynamic between Eddie (Paul Newman), Vincent (Tom Cruise) and Carmen (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), especially when it becomes clear that this isn't going to turn into a love triangle, despite Vincent's insecurities. Once the plot kicks in, however, it becomes something more ordinary, albeit still highly watchable, as Eddie and Vincent end up pitted against each other. Never boring (this is Scorsese, after all), and all the acting is good (Cruise seems even greener here than he did in RISKY BUSINESS, filmed three years prior), but in the end too much of a sports movie, when the original was so much more.
Rating: **1/2.

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (1977, John Badham) [seen in theatre]- having seen WHO'S THAT KNOCKING ON MY DOOR for the first time a few weeks ago, I was a little surprised by how similar the two works felt. Of course, this film is the more audience-friendly of the two, but both dealt with young working-class New York guys hanging around with their buddies, and different variations on the Madonna-whore complex. A major difference is that, while the idealized girl in the Scorsese film is fairly classy, here Stephanie (Karen Lynn Gorney) is merely upwardly mobile, a Brooklynite working in Manhattan who looks down on her old lifestyle. The characters' mundane everyday lives don't match with the rush they get dancing at 2001 Odyssey on the weekends, but that's the point really, since the film presents this as a temporary escape, the only one they have short of leaving the island. The dancing sequences are as iconic as everyone remembers, with Travolta's solo number being the showstopper (the famous dance contest is wisely treated as subpar so that we identify with Tony's frustration at winning). In short, still pretty awesome.
Rating: ***.