Posted on 10/12/2013 2:05:14 AM PDT by Kaslin
On Saturday nights at my house, I often trot out classic movies and force the urchins to watch them. There is much wailing and gnashing of teeth, but I think it's important to teach kids about American culture, and films certainly are a big part of it. Actors like John Wayne, Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn are worth seeing and remembering.
So the other night I trotted out "American Graffiti," a film released 40 years ago. The movie was directed by "Star Wars" creator George Lucas and chronicles one night in the lives of some California teenagers in the year 1962.
The first thing the kids noticed was Harrison Ford playing a young hood driving a hot rod. That got their attention. The movie features other great actors such as Richard Dreyfuss and Charles Martin Smith, along with Ron Howard and Cindy Williams, who turned the "Graffiti" success into the television hits "Happy Days" and "Laverne and Shirley."
About 20 minutes into the movie, which is heavy on dialogue and light on explosions, the urchins pulled out their iPads and began typing away. Dismay enveloped me.
"So you don't like this?" I asked the 14-year-old.
"It's OK. I'm listening."
"But you're playing with that machine!"
"I can multitask!"
A few minutes later, the 10-year-old demanded popcorn. I told him we'd get some halfway through the flick.
"Do they ever get out of the cars?" the urchin wailed.
"That's the culture in California. They cruise around in cars listening to the radio."
"But there are so many cars!"
I was losing them.
So I paused the movie and brought in snacks. I demanded they shut off the machines while eating.
"Why?" the 14-year-old asked.
"Because you can't text, eat and watch a movie at the same time."
"Yes, I can. I always do that."
"They're still in cars," the 8-year-old said.
We got through the movie, but just barely. Their interest peaked when The Pharaohs, a gang of juvenile delinquents, forced Dreyfuss to vandalize a police car. Finally, some destruction!
After "American Graffiti" concluded, I asked for their reviews. I got them while their heads were down looking at their iPads.
The consensus: It was OK. Too many cars.
These days, the machines and awful films that blow things up every 10 seconds are delivering heavy blows to American culture. The graffiti is on the wall. The attention spans of young people average about 30 seconds. Baseball? Forget it. Chess? Are you kidding me?
We live in a time where machines that deliver instant gratification rule. But I will continue to fight the cyberspace power. Coming attraction: Hitchcock's "The Birds."
Let the texting begin.
Greatness is Greatness!
Have watched many films multiple times. Two of them made in 1939. Some may have heard of them Wizard of Oz and Gone With The Wind.
One of my favorite films was, I think a French Film, on Napoleon. 5 hours shown in two sessions in Sacramento. Battle scenes in split screen and Sepia. Started with Napoleon as a child and went all the way thru.
Godfather trilogy near the top of my list. How old is that now, 40 years?
Great is great, no matter the year made.
Napoleon is a silent film.
Oh, I think you’ll like Tracy in “Bad Day At Black Rock.”
One of the funniest movies ever made. And much better than American Graffiti.
That is a cool picture of Yosemite Sam!
Brilliant. They need to pause it for a couple beats before the shadow is revealed as a duck.
“VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-LA_RAY......”
Dazed and Confused is the 70s version of American Graffiti.
Nel blu dipinto di blu
I miss the old movies from the 50s, 60s and some from the 70s. The remakes that they are doing now suck
I am with his kids. I saw it first a few years after its release and found to be ok. It improved for me a bit on further viewings but not enough to elevate it to the status a lot of critics gave it when it came out. It did establish Lucas with enough cred to get Star Wars made so it does have that history built into it. Meanwhile in the latest episode of the Big Bang theory Raiders of the Lost Ark is destroyed by a simple insight from Amy.
Volare, oh oh
E contare, oh oh oh oh
No wonder my happy heart sings
Your love has given me wings
Penso che un sogno cosi non ritorni mai piu Mi dipingevo le mani e la faccia di blu
Poi d'improvviso venivo dal vento rapito
E incominciavo a volare nel cielo infinito
Volare, oh oh
E contare, oh oh oh oh
Nel blu, dipinto di blu
Felice di stare lassu
E volavo, volavo felice piu in alto del sole ed ancora piu su
Mentre il mondo pian piano spariva lontano laggiu
Una musica dolce suonava soltanto per me
Volare, oh oh
E cantare, oh oh oh oh
No wonder my happy heart sings
Your love has given me wings
Nel blu, dipinto di blu
Felice di stare lassu
Here's a link to locations used in the filming of AG.American Graffiti Filming Locations (June - August, 1972)
In my mind I still separate the "early", 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' Beatles music (5th grade) from the "new" 'Abbey Road' Beatles music (high school). It's weird. A six-year span is like a lifetime at that age.
They’ll like Hitch’s “The Birds.” Trust me on this.
I’ve shown this movie to seniors in high school as a way to use film as text. The plot follows Campbell’s “Journey of the Hero” theory - not surprising, since Lucas was an anthropology student. (So does “Star Wars,” too.) In any case, Mr. O’Reilly’s experience does not reflect my experience with hundreds of teenagers, all of whom enjoyed the film, and some of whom loved it. My guess is that Bill spent a lot of time bloviating to the kids about what a great movie it is, and how that period of time was great to experience, and so forth, eventually sucking the life out of the enjoyment of the film... and as someone who was alive in 1962, there were good things (intact families) and awful things (segregation), and the great music in the film carefully passes over the crap music also produced at the same time.
I think the film is one of the great movies of all time, IMHO. Bill may be spinning his own projection here.
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