Put away the pool noodles and hang up the wet swimsuits. Autumn is here and the nights are right for snuggling with a blanket, a little cinema, and a cozy cocktail. Or two.
This movie screams walking with your best friend, with whom you secretly want to make whoopie, in Central Park in the Fall.
Cocktail: Manhattans. Lots of cherries.
Good Will Hunting
Cambridge in the Fall. Fancy-pants college. Smart-alec, super cute, bad boy janitor that sounds all Bahs-tahn.
Cocktail: Haard Apple Cidahhhs
Rudy
Another fancy-pants college in autumn. Football and the epitome of underdog stories. You ready for this champ? Hand me my Fighting Irish hoodie. We’re tailgating! Ru-dy, Ru-dy, Ru-dy.
Cocktail: Screwdrivers
*Love Story
*Tissue alert. Sniffles come with the autumn territory, so you have a box close by anyway. Put it to good use and get your class warfare love/hate action on. You’re pouring the 70s tonight, baby.
Cocktail: Brandy Alexanders
St. Elmo’s Fire
I don’t understand everything in this movie. How does sitting in a cold apartment kill you? Jules have wet hair or some kind of immune suppression auto-immune thingie going on that wasn’t spelled out for us in the script? These crazy kids aren’t in college. They’re out and don’t have a coping skill among them. Love this one hard.
Cocktail: Light Beer or White Zinfandel
Lookit, you don’t even need a wine-opener. By DimiTalen (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Ad exec Neal Page and shower curtain ring salesman Del Griffith team up to get home to their families in time for Thanksgiving. Six bucks and Del’s right nut says they’re not landing in Chicago. This one is as painful and funny to watch as the TSA.
Cocktail: Bloody Marys. Extra-spicy. Extra Stoli.
Dead Poet’s Society
Back to school with this one. Prep school in New England. English teacher, John Keating (Robin Williams) tells you (and Ethan Hawke) to seize the day. I feel like the poets of yore drank whiskey. And so shall we.
Cocktail: Whisky Sours
Sleepless in Seattle
Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts once got into a hair-pulling fight over who was the Queen of the 90s. Kidding. This movie starts on Christmas Eve with a goal of meeting at the top of the Empire State Building on Valentine’s Day. But this is the perfect time of year to watch and get in the mood for All The Holidays.
Cocktail: Champagne
The Nightmare Before Christmas
We’ll end with another screamer. Jack Skellington, King of Halloween Town, wants to bring Christmas to his home. Not as easy as it sounds. Goulish, wicked and lots of fun. We want pumpkin everything!
Ah, the 70s. Before helicopter parenting was a thing and smoking was still cool. Yes, as a society, we have progressed. We’ve made huge advances in technology and smaller, but significant, steps toward equality–at least we’re talking about it.
Yet, as a girl who grew up middle-class with working mom and dad, eating pineapple chicken and watergate salad–the 70s loved a can of pineapple–I can’t help but feel nostalgic. Especially now that the movie stars from that beloved time are passing.
We often hear that Hollywood can no longer make movies like those from the 70s anymore. Those movies are racist, sexist and exploitative.
And so freakin’ funny.
Sorry. I’m not racist, sexist or exploitative in the least. But COME ON. Bash me in the comments* but I think we can all agree the 70s were a golden era of savagely funny movies over which the late Gene Wilder had tremendous influence. I’ve listed five of my favorites. Credit details are from IMDb.
*Comments are moderated, just so you know, and will be edited for content and to make me look fabulous. “Idiotic,” will become, “brilliant,” and “should not be allowed near a computer,” will be changed to, “queen of the keyboard.”
The Producers
Writer: Mel Brooks
Story: Producers Max Bialystok and his timid accountant, Leo Bloom, make money by producing a sure-fire flop.
Character: Leo Bloom
Best line: Leo Bloom: [reads title of play for first time] “Springtime for Hitler” a gay romp with Adolf and Eva at Berchtesgaden… Wow!
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Writer: Roald Dahl
Story: A little boy, Charlie, receives a golden ticket to a magical candy factor and finds adventure.
Character: Willy Wonka
Best lines: Wonka: I don’t understand it. The children are disappearing like rabbits. Well, we still have each other. Shall we press on?
Wonka: Well, well, well, two naughty, nasty little children gone. Three good, sweet little children left.
Mr. Salt: You sure this thing’ll float, eh, Wonka? Wonka: With your buoyancy, sir, rest assured.
Mrs. Teevee: I assume there’s an accident indemnity clause. Wonka: Never between friends.
Wonka: If the good Lord had intended us to walk, he wouldn’t have invented roller skates.
Wonka: Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker.
Charlie: Mr. Wonka, they won’t really be burned in the furnace, will they? Wonka: Hm…well, I think that furnace is only lit every other day, so they have a good sporting chance, haven’t they?
Mrs. Gloop: Don’t just stand there, do something! Wonka:[unenthusiastically] Help. Police. Murder.
Wonka: The suspense is terrible…I hope it’ll last.
Blazing Saddles
Writers: Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Alan Uger
Story: To ruin a western town, a corrupt political boss appoints a black sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary alongside with his sidekick, the alcoholic Waco Kid.
Character: Jim, The Waco Kid
Best lines: Jim:[consoling Bart] What did you expect? “Welcome, sonny”? “Make yourself at home”? “Marry my daughter”? You’ve got to remember that these are simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know…morons.
Jim: Well, it got so bad that every piss-ant prairie punk who thought he could shoot a gun would ride into town to try out the Waco Kid. I must have killed more men than Cecil B. DeMille. It got pretty gritty. I started to hear the word “draw” in my sleep. Then one day, I was just walking down the street when I heard a voice behind me say, “Reach for it, mister!” I spun around…and there I was, face to face with a six-year old kid. Well, I just threw my guns down and walked away. Little bastard shot me in the ass. So I limped to the nearest saloon, crawled inside a whiskey bottle…and I’ve been there ever since.
Bart: Are we awake? Jim: We’re not sure. Are we…black? Bart: Yes, we are. Jim: Then we’re awake…but we’re very puzzled.
Young Frankenstein
Writers: Gene Wilder, Mel Brooks, Mary Shelley
Story: An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that he is not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.
Character: Dr. Frederick Frankenstein. Pronounced FRONK-en-steen.
Best lines: [Frankenstein, Igor and Inga in front of HUGE castle doors] Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: What knockers. Inga: Oh, thank you doctor.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: For what we are about to see next, we must enter quietly into the realm of genius.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein:[singing] If you’re blue, and you don’t know where to go to, why don’t you go where fashion sits… The Monster: ‘UTTEN ON THE ‘IIIIITZ.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Well, dear, are you ready? Inga: Yes, Doctor Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Elevate me. Inga: Now? Right here? Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Yes, yes, raise the platform. Inga: Oh. Ze platform. Oh, zat, yah, yah…yes
Bonus: Best Gene Wilder scene of all time:
Stir Crazy
Writers: Bruce Jay Friedman
Story: When Skip & Harry decided they’ve had enough of New York they decide to head to the blue sky and sun of California. Taking a job as promoters in a bank they get falsely accused of bank robbery and are sent to a tough jail where they form unlikely friendships and they find themselves in the prison rodeo.
Character: Skip Donahue
Best lines: Skip Donahue: This filthy, roach-ridden reality is inspiring…what did that second policeman say to you when he grabbed you by the throat? Harry Monroe: Man, I don’t fucking believe you! Skip Donahue: “Man, I don’t fucking believe you!” Fabulous! Harry Monroe: You don’t get it do you, Skip. You think this is The Count of Monte Cristo or something. We’re in deep trouble. This is the real deal. We’re in deep shit.
Skip Donahue: Aren’t you amazed at the quality of the vegetables – in a prison.” Harry Monroe: I’m amazed at what’s crawling around in my soup!”
I’m thinking film festival really hard right now. Read this to get ideas of hosting your own Gene Wilder Film Fest and The Progression of the 70s After Discussion.
Rest in peace, Gene. The 70s couldn’t have gotten any wilder without you.
I was about 8 years old when I read Jaws. I got it from my mother’s bookshelf. I’m not sure if I read it before or after my parents took my little sister and me to see it at the drive-in.
I judge my mother.
Anyhoo, it was the mid-70s and the cover of the book had a swimming naked lady above a giant shark with a gaping mouth full of shark-y teeth. Irresistible.
The 70s loved a scantily-clad or naked woman in peril.
Cover Art
They don’t make covers like that anymore. I felt the cold New England, Atlantic water even though I had never been there. The perspective of the size of the shark contrasted to little naked Chrissie (that’s the naked lady’s name!) made me think of a school bus mowing me down. I remember thinking, “how deep was this water to allow a school bus to turn into such a position and get up to speed to eat this naked lady?” I spent a lot of time looking at this cover.
There’ve been many covers. This one is the first one:
This is the current one:
But mine was the best.
His First Novel a Blockbuster
Jaws is over 40-years old (like me). It was Peter Benchley’s first novel and he received an advance of $1000 for four chapters. Doubleday published the book in 1974. The movie, directed by Steven Spielberg, released a year later.
Google discussions about the book vs. the film and you’ll see many praising the movie above the book. But for me, the book was the best. I think the reason is that the first time I watched the movie, my eyes squeezed themselves shut under a blanket and my fingers poked themselves in my ears. So I guess I actually did not see or hear the movie until many years later.
With a little more separation from the action in the book, my mind filled in enough details to make it scary, but I could still look up and away from it.
After becoming a conservationist, Benchley said that he regretted making the shark so menacing and portraying his shark as a mindless killing machine. To the late Mr. Benchley, I say, “You can chill. Sharks are pretty menacing outside of your book. Bears, both grizzly and polar, tigers and great white sharks–they all have the same I-will-eat-you-vibe. It’s not you. It’s them. All them. They brought it on themselves because of all the people they’ve eaten.”
Jaws is still news. The sequels are coming out on Blu-ray. I’m thinking backyard film fest this summer.
But the original is always the best and the original was the book. Did you know that Mrs. Chief Brody and Hooper had an affair? YES THEY DID IN THE BOOK. You won’t get adultery in the movie.
After you read the book, there’s a great list of 21 Random Facts About Jaws. This will get you re-excited about the classic movie and inspire your own film fest. Download my Party Book for more help.
You may be wondering what got me thinking about Jaws on a snowy April day. I had a parent/teacher conference and we talked about The Boy’s advanced reading level. His teacher cautioned me about finding books for him that were on his reading level but may be too mature for him.
I thought about Jaws.
Happy summer.
There’s a lot of great classic 70s movies from books. If you have any suggestions for me, I’d love to hear them.
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