What makes a movie compelling or worthy of awards, in my opinion. It shouldn’t waste time developing the story and the characters shouldn’t be too complex, interesting but not so deep that the audience loses interest in the first five minutes. And as in real estate location is everything. If the surroundings do not seem to fit the story, again the viewer begins to doubt that the situation being depicted is possible and again lose interest. Not every film needs to big a big budget extravaganza to grab me. Films like Reservoir Dogs for the most part takes place inside a single location with minimal actors and the viewer is left to use his or her imagination to fill in the blanks based on the actor’s statements and sounds. But the movie rapidly develops both in story and characters and the payoff although somewhat predictable, is still riveting. Like driving by a car accident, you shouldn’t look but you have to. With a modern average of about ninety minutes a movie has to keep, well, moving. It does not have the time to get bogged down on one particular thing. Telling a good story with a believable cast works for me.
I have to say that I have never watched either of this weeks films. Le Voyage dans la lune was pretty interesting. The director uses his time of fourteen minutes wisely. He introduces you to the cast immediately, points out who is in charge, who is dissenting and who is along for the ride all without the benefit of sound but you understand who is who none the less. Then the film moves forward with the plan to go to the moon showing the viewer the technology being built, the means to get it there and the launch. Once the characters land, sticking the missile into the moons eye, they meet some not so nice local folks and make a hasty return to earth. I think for its time it infused the viewer with a suspension of disbelieve and had to be extremely popular viewing beyond the fact that movies were a new medium. I thought the use of sets and costumes was well thought out and imaginative. If I had been seated in a theater in 1902 this film would have knocked my socks off.
The Great Train Robbery I didn’t like as much as Le Voyage dans la lune but again for 1903 this was a pretty amazing piece of film. The idea of using outdoor sets and multiple camera angles with the equipment available must have been quite the undertaking. I did like the fact that the film pointed out right away who the bad guys were and what the plan was. The take over at the telegraph station sets the stage for what coming as the train pulls in as seen through the office window. The robbers board and overthrow the train rob the mail car and passengers. The posse hunts them down and the climactic shoot out at the end and recovery of the money. All of that in twelve minutes. The closing scene of the cowboy firing his six gun has been used in documentaries and films ever since.
Two of my favorite movies that would fall into the award winning spot for me are very different in nature. The first is the 1998 Steven Spielberg film 'Saving Private Ryan'.
I loved this film as it is fast moving, starting with a short introduction in the then present day American Military Cemetery scene near Normandy France where you see a World War 2 veteran walking among the hundreds of headstones. His identity is not revealed until the end as he flashes back to the war. There are about 25 minutes of sure panic and horror as the soldiers and sailors land on the coast of France. This sequence completely sucked me into the movie with the sounds and visual effects. Tom Hanks character Captain Miller and seven other men survive the landing and are given a mission to find a soldier whose three brothers have been killed in combat and return him home. The trials and situations they encounter on this mission bring you up and down all the way. There is a "Alamo" sequence at the end of the movie and I was left sitting there with a "no way" because it ended so much differently that I had expected. The story is really well written with believable characters and situations. I came to really like all the differences in each member of the team and the very recognizable supporting cast. It had to me all the elements of a great movie, in my opinion.
My other pick is the 1948 movie 'Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House'. Yes its black and white and more than sixty years old but this film is hilarious. Based on the 1946 book of the same name it is a straight forward story about a New Yorker (Cary Grant) and his wife (Myrna Loy) who build their own home in the suburbs. The characters are simple and well acted. The story flows really well and has some really great lines. There is a subplot about Grants character trying to come up with an ad for a product his company represents and his troubles with that add to the comedy. This was not an award winner in the real sense but none the less has everything I consider to be well worth watching and do when ever I catch it on.
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