I’ve watched three movies since Renee and I instituted Movie Night a few weeks ago – Out of Africa, A Streetcar named Desire, and Cool Hand Luke.  At the end of each viewing, Renee and I score the film 1 through 5 (5 being best).

Out of Africa = 4, Streetcar = 3, and Luke = 4.5

They are all worth seeing, but my first “editorial” will be on Cool Hand Luke (1967, starring Paul Newman).

CHL is a classic “rebel” film that can easily be associated with films such as Rebel without a cause, The Wild One, The Graduate, One flew over the cuckoo’s nest, and Easy Rider – specifically one from the late 60’s early 70’s – themed with taking on society/establishment.  The film is written and directed in the form of telling the story of a character (not so much an action or event).  You follow Luke (Newman) throughout the movie and relate, hate, love, and admire the person. 

The story tells of a war hero who, after a drunken night, ends up having to serve in a chain gang in the south.  At first, Luke appears to be a quiet outsider who doesn’t flow with society, or even his fellow inmates, without a care.  As the story continues, and specifically after a famous scene where Luke has a boxing match with a fellow inmate, you begin to grab hold of Luke’s persona and, much like the inmates, he wins you over.  It is clear in the movie, much like many westerns and rebel movies, that Luke actually doesn’t “hate” prison because, being such a loner outside without the ability to “fit in”, he is comfortable there and with his friends.  Like has to serve two years, but he doesn’t seem bothered at all – until, of course, he gets word of his mothers death and the warden/”Captain” decides to keep him in confinement to insure Luke doesn’t think of breaking out to go to the funeral.  This is the turning point in the film because Luke now views the prison guards, who he early seemed to bond with, as the “establishment” and immediately begins to “stick it to the man”!  Luke then proceeds to break out on a couple of instances, further justifying his idolism by his fellow inmates.  His spirit gets stronger than even before (which seems hard to fathom) as he creatively out smarts everyone time and again.  The most critical scene of the film follows his second break, when the Captain and guards test Luke’s spirit with an incredible display of labor which results in a scene of Luke finally succumbing to the guards and “getting his head on straight”.  In doing so, he inadvertently loses all faith from his former idolizers.  The scene, as Luke falls and no-one is there to pick him up, reminded me of the Gary Cooper Western “High Noon”.

Once again, however, Luke outsmarts the guards and is off again. 

In the end of the movie, as I won’t give the details away, Luke’s spirit lives on forever as a “hope” that his spirit will continue to drive people to stand-up and fight against “the Man”.

Overall, Paul Newman’s acting was incredible, as was George Kennedy’s.  The story is a classic that probably set the stage for movies like Shawshank or shows like Prison Break.  Great story, great acting, and a great scene featuring a smoking hot blonde washing a car!

My degree from Central Michigan University states that I have majored in Broadcast and Cinematic Arts.  To the majority of the audience I have announced that to in the past, the degree is a cause for a good old laugh as all assume it was selected solely for the purpose of easy classes; in some cases, I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed the day to pick your classes and got to chose “History of Westerns”.  The reality though is I always hoped to be a Director and make movies.  I aimed towards a different career, however, when I realized being a Director meant moving to New York or LA.  Enough with the background, lets get to the point of this blog: I initiated “Movie Night” with me and Renee. 

Definition of “Movie Night”:  each week, we look ahead at our schedules and pick which day will be “Movie Night” and take turns picking a flick to view while knocking back a bottle of wine, popcorn, or some other snack.   

Why initiate this “night”?  Well, with our toddler we are pretty much locked to our house in the evenings, and over the past year or so, we’ve been married to our DVR system and way too many TV shows.  Movies, for us at least, have been last minute decisions and have led to horrible picks consistently thanks to On Demand’s junk box and recent garbage offered at your local Star or Loews Theater.  We never plan ahead with movies, they just simply happen when there isn’t a TV show or we get someone to offer to baby sit.  Moving forward, however, we get to look ahead to each week in angst waiting to discover what each other has selected for this week’s Movie Night pick.

I’ve spent 40 minutes combining a long list of 1) Oscar Best Pictures 1939 to 2006, 2) select group of Best Picture Nominees from 1939 to 2006, 3) Time Inc.’s top 100 films, and 4) AFI’s Top 100 Films of all time.  We now have a library list of films to choose from and also will consistently add movies that either of us think of as the day’s pass (I’ve already added “Hurricane” starring Denzel Washington and “Strangers on a Train” by Hitchcock). 

What’s next?  Each week, I’ll blog with my editorial review of that week’s “Movie Night” pick and offer some thoughts on if any of you might enjoy it.  Stay tuned…