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| 2016 - No. 3 www.malecek.com | |||
 
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We moved to Richfield and my favourite movies at that theatre were “The Big Country” (like it so much that I bought the soundtrack album), “The Incredible Shrinking Man”, “Ben Hur”, “The Ten Commandments” and “Good Neighbor Sam” (first real date with a girl, even). Now that we were in the suburbs the family would got to drive-in theaters, mainly the Lucky Twin and Bloomington. Most memorable is “Operation Mad Ball” in which a drunk Mickey Rooney would yell: “Skeee-bo”.  Meanwhile at home on the black and white TV I would watch the Friday or Saturday night horror classics such as “Frankenstein”, “The Mummy”, “Wolfman”, “Dracula” and “King Kong”. I put together Revel plastic models of all of them. My favourite space movie from the early days is “The Forbidden Planet” which “Star Wars” and “Lost In Space” drew heavily upon. As for science fiction back then it would be “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” that had me enthralled.
We moved out to Bloomington and I had a car of my so that meant I could go to movies anywhere. It was a long drive to Hopkins but that is where “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad World” played for three years on the semi-circular screen. I saw that movie three times, with a different girl celebrating their birthdays. “Planet of the Apes” was a good yarn and I saw it in Hilo, Hawaii. But that exotic spot was soon surpassed by Fiji films. At the remote boarding school the boys were shown a film in the dining room on Saturday nights and I would sometimes watch along with them. Staff would often show the same film or others in our houses. I also went into the various theatres in Suva (“Kremlin Letter”), Nausori (“Cool Hand Luke”) and Levuka (I actually had a pillar in front of me). It was here I observed the standing and singing “God Save the Queen” before the movie began. The viewing audience was far from silent with quite a few carrying on conversation with the characters on the screen and the levels of boisterous laughter complete with shrieks were something I won’t soon forget. Moving on to New Zealand we found the same standing and singing but these screenings always included an intermission and out came sellers of ice cream cones in a tray hung around their necks. Popcorn and fizzy drinks had yet to arrive. Back in the 70’s NZ had to wait a year or so before new movies arrived from the rest of the world. And then they would screen for a very long time in Auckland so it could be another year of or so before it would hit the rest of the country small town theatres. We were about an hour's ride via bus to get into Auckland, so we would go there a few times a year. For the really popular ones (I’m thinking “Star Wars” here) you would have to go into the theatre to buy tickets for the next open spot which might be a month’s wait. Things have really changed. Now there is world wide release on the same day and since we are the first country this side of the International Date Line NZ gets to see the movies first while others have to wait up to a whole day.  Movies in NZ: “The Godfather” had me mesmerised from start to finish – I don’t think I blinked. The aforementioned “Star Wars” lived up to the hype and was well worth the bus ride just to get the tickets. David was enthralled with it, but Ne just talked all the way through it. “Back to the Future” knocked my socks off, so much that I had to bring my friend Doug to see it, just so I could watch his expression when Michael J Fox plucked that guitar string at the beginning. Doug and I took in “Cool Runnings” - I am a big John Candy fan.
 Now in no particular order are the movies that I love. “The Pink Panther” literally had me rolling in the aisles – especially at the end with the drunk in the plaza (see it.). Both “Kill Bill”s are up there for sheer inventiveness. I like the Brendan Fraser’s “Mummy” for its humor. “American Graffiti” is my life right down to the same ’58 Malibu and it brings back such a rush of being back in the mid-60’s. “The Green Mile” is beautifully constructed and filled in richly by the actors. “Shane” encapsulated several issues of the Old West. The only thing missing was Indians. But I got my ration of those in “Little Big Man”. And “How the West Was Won” managed to actually throw everything in but the kitchen sink. I loved "The Big Country" but my favourite western has to be “The Magnificent Seven”.
Normally don't like Russell Crowe but loved "A Beautiful Mind". I liked "Rainman" because I was very much like Dustin Hoffman's character, just not as extreme. More recently I enjoyed "Half a Yellow Sun" which followed the book but left out big chunks. "Andersonville" which is an epic did manage to follow the book about a Civil War prison camp. And one that is almost word for word is "A Christmas Story" the short novel by Jean Sheperd. "1492: Conquest of Paradise" seemed to be a close to the truth rendering of history.  "Close Encounters of Third Kind" was intriguing, but not as good as "The Matrix" but better than "E.T.". "Avatar" was a beautiful color production. Another epic with a sterling performance would be "Gandhi". I wait for so many clever lines to be spoken in "Amedeus" and they never let me down. Daniel Day Lewis is certainly one of the best and he sparkled in "Gangs of New York" and demanded my complete attention in "My Left Foot".
Romcoms: "Love Actually" is worth a viewing at Christmas time. It made me a fan of Bill Nighy. And whenever I get homesick for Hawaii (lived there for 3 months) I pull out "50 First Dates". I don't like Adam Sandler but he is acceptable in this one. I am a big fan of the Julie Delpy - Ethan Hawke "Before…" series. Just people talking about nothing and everything in a span of 18 years.  My favourite Laurel and Hardy is "March of the Wooden Soldiers" aka "Babes in Toyland". "Miss Congeniality" seemed a perfect fit for Sandra Bullock. She had a small part in "Wrestling With Hemingway" which I found to be a tour de force by the great cast. "Deathtrap" had me continually guessing wrongly - so many twists.
There have been movies that I loved but then lost it the second half (they were too long?). "Strange Brew" was funny as and then petered out. New Zealand film "Came a Hot Friday" dragged in several spots. "The Blues Brothers" was funny but had way too many cars getting demolished and could have been a lot shorter. "Blazing Saddles" should have put the final reel into Boot Hill. Worst movie ever has to be Cosby's "Leonard Part 6" (I was on a plane and…). I think I might love anything with Richard Dreyfuss. In addition to the ones mentioned above I have to rave about "Mr Holland's Opus" which makes me cry, since I was once a teacher and "What About Bob?" is extremely funny - a real life Roadrunner movie. But "Cactus Jack" is the ultimate with Kirk Douglas as the dim witted Coyote. And for sheer blatantly funny rip-offs "Spaceballs" ranks as my number one. 
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Malley Muses Everyone plus the cat |
| These days movie credits roll for about 20 minutes including the name of the guy who held the ladder for the electrician. | ||
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