Airport '77

Airport ’77 (yep, 1977)

Runtime: 114 minutes

Directed by: Jerry Jameson

Starring: Jack Lemmon (w/ tremendous mustache), Lee Grant, and many others I’ll list below

From: Universal

Featuring Tabletop Pong, an actual Karen & DiscoVision

My journey through the Airport sequels continued last night with this one that also was amazingly of its time. The fashion-even the duds a young boy wore screamed “late 70’s”-the soundtrack a few times sounding like it was played on a Moog, all the wood paneling and carpet in the airplane, a tabletop version of Pong being played in one scene, and an early moment where what is now known as a LaserDisc (but had a few different names originally, including DiscoVision) is presented. The movie was made about two years before MCA and Philips introduced the device to the United States & it’s obvious that MCA used its subsidiary Universal to broadcast what was then astounding technology… even if it was only shown and no one bothered to mention what its name was.

This time two other stalwarts of the 1970’s were part of the plot: airline terrorism and the Bermuda Triangle. Jimmy Stewart is a philanthropist who is so filthy rich (he’s not presented like an uber-rich A-hole like the stereotypical jerk billionaires we have now) he has his own private 747 jet which is outfitted like a ritzy lounge. He’s also transporting rare art so some thieves have an elaborate scheme to hijack the plane then steal said art. Regrettably for them, someone does something really stupid and they crash in the Bermuda Triangle. For those not in the know, back then there was an urban legend where the three points of the triangle were never even confirmed but in a roughly defined area there were allegedly a greatly increased likely of a sinking, a disappearance or other disaster. Truthfully, that was all codswallop as the purported data to prove this was either misinformation or blatant lies; that region is no more dangerous than any other. 

Anyhow, this has another noteworthy cast: Jack Lemmon w/ tremendous mustache, Lee Grant as a character named KAREN who in fact was actually a Karen, Darren McGavin, Brenda Vaccaro, Joseph Cotten, Olivia de Havilland, George Kennedy returning for a few minutes, Christopher Lee, Robert Foxworth, Kathleen Quinlan, George Furth, Gil Gerard, and what was at least the most surprising role for me, M. Emmet Walsh playing someone who was NOT a villain or otherwise a heel; instead he was a helpful doctor. That may be even more shocking than Lee in a heroic part. After the crash, the plane sinks into the ocean so yes this will remind you of The Poseidon Adventure.

Of course, this is rather silly yet there is more disaster action than in Airport 1975 and the supporting cast also has more to do after the crash than in 1975. After all, all but one of the people involved in the hijacking simply vanish after the crash; did those people conveniently all die? You see what I mean when I say “silly”… yet it was still fun.

Airport 1975

 Airport 1975 (which actually came out in 1974)

Runtime: 107 minutes

Directed by: Jack Smight

Starring: Charlton Heston, Karen Black and many others I’ll list below

From: Universal

Barring any major deaths in the film world, the plan is for me to watch the other two sequels in the Airport franchise during the weekend. After all, I watched the first one back in late February and since August of 2020 I’ve had all four in a DVD set I bought used.

As you’ll see why in a moment, it was sometimes rather difficult to take this seriously. An all-star cast is in a plane heading from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles. A mid-air collision occurs and in something I found to be less than credible, it doesn’t crash immediately but instead is able to stay in air with a giant hole in the cockpit and all the pilots dead or incapacitated. Flight attendant Karen Black now has to fly the plane with assistance from her beau Charlton Heston via radio; also, the passengers include a nun that plays the guitar and Linda Blair needs a kidney transplant… of course people will naturally be reminded of Airplane!

It is silly cheeseball entertainment which is easy to laugh at. Yet I was entertained enough to say this was fine. At least there was drama and Black did a nice job when most of the focus turned towards her. After the first half not a lot of time is spent with the rest of the cast on the airliner but alas… the impressive lineup includes a returning George Kennedy, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Helen Reddy, Dana Andrews, Roy Thinnes, Myrna Loy as an apparent alcoholic who loves drinking boilermakers, Larry Storch, Jerry Stiller, Norman Fell, Erik Estrada, Beverly Garland, Irene Tsu, Alice Nunn-best known as Large Marge from Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure-and even Gloria Swanson as herself. It was nice to see all those familiar faces even if most of them just gathered a paycheck rather than delivering a must-see performance.

In addition, of interest to me is shaking my head at all the rampant sexism, the 70’s fashion, the pink and purple décor that was emblazoned all over first class, and all the smoking done by the pilots. I’ll presume more of the same for the other two sequels.

The High And The Mighty

The High and the Mighty (1954)

Runtime: 147 minutes

Directed by: William A. Wellman

Starring: John Wayne, Robert Stack, Claire Trevor, Laraine Day, Phil Harris

From: Warner Bros. 

This is the first of two reviews to be posted here today. That noted, Robert Stack played an airline Captain more than once, believe it or not.

Last night I made a Prime rental to check out what I’ve heard of as “the granddaddy of all aerial disaster movies”, which I’ll presume is accurate. Either soon or real soon I’ll finally visit or revisit all the Airport sequels & that is because The High and the Mighty gave me enough of a push to do so.

Even more so than the 70’s disaster movies, the focus is on the characters & their interactions rather than any disaster spectacle or destruction. That ended up being OK as it was still interesting to follow these folks as they are on an airline from Honolulu to San Francisco and boom, an incident happens which puts the entire plane in jeopardy of not making it to California. The characters are about what you’d expect: a variety of different folks that range from a young boy and a scientist who has a crisis of conscience as he’s in the field of making nuclear weapons to a faded starlet, newlyweds returning from a honeymoon and even an older couple that are the “obnoxious tourists” stereotype.

This is a hair under 2 ½ hours and some scenes felt rather lengthy due to them being stuffed w/ dialogue. That noted, there was still enough where I’ll proclaim that this is fine. William A. Wellman as the director definitely was an asset; so was the score from Dimitri Tiomkin. The cast also has some noteworthy names, some of whom have been forgotten to time but still are quality talents: this includes Claire Trevor, Laraine Day, Regis Toomey, Phil Harris and Robert Newton. The pilots are John Wayne-a veteran who is seen as washed-up due to a tragic incident in the past-and… Robert Stack. Yes, Stack did not only portray that kind of role in Airplane!... while not exactly Rex Kramer, that character has his own issues.

While definitely melodramatic & cheesy, there was enough intense drama and suspense to entertain me; the CinemaScope cinematography was another bonus. For a movie where Wayne is not around for long stretches, that may disappoint those who are still big fans of his despite some of his real life beliefs that have aged very poorly… otherwise this may be enjoyed by the 70’s disaster fans as long as you pay heed to what I said about this not being a spectacle.

Sasquatch: The Legend Of Bigfoot

 Sasquatch: The Legend of Bigfoot (1976)

Runtime: 95 minutes

Directed by: Ed Ragozzino

Starring: A bunch of no-name people

From: North American Film Enterprises

Even if you go into this expecting a legit documentary, that is dispelled about 10 minutes in.

This is a different reason for checking out a movie: because of a recent follower although it was not a request on their part. A new mutual liked one of my old reviews for a Bigfoot movie and not only did it remind me that I have an entire list of Sasquatch films-whether fictional or not-but one hadn’t been viewed in months. Thus, I went with something that this new follower had just reviewed themselves.

Turns out, this is a faux documentary (I won’t say mockmunetary as it’s not comedic in nature) about an expedition-lasting months!-where various characters (some of them wacky) try to find Bigfoot. The titular cryptozoological critter was not seen often but other things fill up the time: POV shots with the expected intense orchestral music, stock footage of animals, staged attacks from the likes of cougars, a flashback of what is known in those circles as the Ape Canyon incident where allegedly some miners were harassed in a cabin all night by rock-throwing Sasquatch, music and narration.

It's all silly yet still this is a relaxing watch due to its vibe & languid pace. At least that’s how it was for me; some may find it a substitute for Somas but I was still entertained due to its quaint simple nature. To utter an oft-heard phrase from myself: this was a nice change of pace.

 

Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage (1933)

Runtime: 96 minutes

Directed by: John Ford

Starring: Henrietta Crosman, Heather Angel, Norman Foster, Lucille La Verne, Maurice Murphy

From: Fox Film Corporation

As many of the films that the Criterion Channel have of John Ford will be leaving the service at the end of the month, this won’t be the last time in June I’ll be talking about something from the legendary director. Among all the choices, this was selected due to its relatively high rating.

What a plot it has: as World War I begins, the focus is on a small Arkansas farm, ran by a grumpy old woman and her son. Her cantankerous behavior does garner laughs… however, she is so possessive of her son, she might as well be known as Mrs. Bates and her son might as well be poor Norman. The level of vitriol she has for a woman named Mary that her son John is looking to marry: it’s to the point of hysteria. In fact, she signs up her son for the military so he’ll fight in Europe instead of shacking up with a woman she thinks is a harlot taking her son away for good… when the “worst” thing that can be attached to Mary is that her grandpappy loves the moonshine. Otherwise, from what is shown, she seems like a nice gal.

As expected, John doesn’t make it back home so mom is even more bitter; finally, 10 years later she is asked to go to France w/ other mothers that lost their sons in battle-that is the titular pilgrimage. Note that the death of John happens in the first act of the movie; if you’re wondering what material there is to fill up the other hour of Pilgrimage, I’ll explain. They attempt to soften mom’s image and that does happen, along that takes a LONG while before she finally learns that important life lesson. Some of the other matriarchs are seen, including an even Earthier woman who smokes from a pipe. A rather unexpected event happens in the third act which eats up some time and I dare not spoil.

Of course Pilgrimage is rather melodramatic & sentimental. At least there are some laughs to lighten the mood. Another of course is that Ford directs this unusual movie rather well. A big benefit is that this has some veterans of both the stage & screen who have long since been forgotten but definitely were talents. I am mainly referring to Henrietta Crosman as the grumpy old woman Hannah Jessop and Lucille La Verne (her voice at least is most famous as it was used for both the Queen and the witch in Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs) as the aforementioned even Earthier lady. That helped made this at time methodically paced tale always engrossing; the rewarding ending did make this journey worthwhile for me.

 

The Kid

The Kid (1921)

Runtime: 53 minutes

Directed by: Charlie Chaplin

Starring: Chaplin, Jackie Coogan, Edna Purviance, Carl Miller, Tom Wilson

From: Charles Chaplin Productions

A needed change of pace after my last two reviews. Mainly, they were rather lengthy pieces on movies from this year and I didn’t care for either. I went with something that was likely to have a normal length-by my standards-or shorter opinion from moi. This was selected in particular not only due to its popularity in all senses of the world but more Chaplin needs to be seen by me anyhow. Historically, it was the first feature length movie starring, written, produced, and made by Old Charlie.

It mixes what you expect from something starring The Tramp-laughs and slapstick-along with the melodrama of an infant being abandoned by its mother in the opening and it was found by Tramp. He isn’t interested at first in raising an infant boy but as he’s literally unable to give the kid away or hand it off to anyone else, he has to become a single dad. As sometimes happens in real life, the mom regrets her decision which becomes a plot point later on. A 5 year time jump happens and we see the baby as a toddler, played by Jackie Coogan of all people. For me it’s wild to see him as a toddler here and know four decades later he would Uncle Fester in The Addams Family.

The mix of heartwarming sentimentality and humor manages to be a success, both genres working on their own & together. Whether it’s father and son trying to run money-making scams or mom’s hopes for her son back, it’s not a surprise this feature length picture was a huge hit in 1921. Note that it was re-edited by Chaplin in ’72 into a 53 minute presentation, which was watched on the Criterion Channel. The movie also works 101 years later due to its basic themes and how well they were presented. Watching two children brawl w/ each other or a giant brute: timeless.

 

Jurassic World Dominion

Jurassic World Dominion (2022)

30% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 310 reviews)

Runtime: 147 minutes

Directed by: Colin Trevorrow

Starring: The main cast from Jurassic World plus the most beloved faces from the OG Jurassic Park

From: Universal

A review containing opinions that aren’t as controversial as the last time I did one of these.

It was not until a few days ago that I actually made my mind up to see Jurassic World Dominion… and by the way, as someone I follow here noted, why is there not a colon between World and Dominion? Actually, that was the least of its problems but I only saw this so I could use my AMC A-List pass often enough for the monthly fee, because I’ve watched all the others and unlike me, my late mothers dug the first two Jurassic World films and I know she would have loved to have seen Dominion. Unlike many, I thought the first JW was quite bad but at least far more agree with me that Fallen Kingdom was quite the disaster, a bizarre entry involving clone girls, dinosaur auctions in a giant mansion where their prices were preposterously low, and it had an all-time terrible ending where an inexplicable moment was done just so we had a gimmick in Dominion with dinosaurs roaming the world... which Dominion barely did anything with!

Thank heavens I had forgotten most of Fallen Kingdom in the past four years—to the point that Clone Girl speaking with a British accent was startling. I’m just presuming she DID have one in Fallen Kingdom and I’d rather not go back to confirm it myself. The entire JW universe is so stupid-Lord were there moments in Dominion that made me shake my head-that such basic assumptions can’t be made. I was not delighted that my two least favorite characters from Fallen Kingdom (Tumblr Feminist and Feckless Computer Nerd) returned here, but their roles were basically cameos so that was a relief.

While this wasn’t as infuriating as the last two entries, what I saw on Saturday night was still stump-dumb and instead of all the fun that COULD be had with dinos all around the world Raising Cain, instead they decided to dump on a Monsanto-like corporation (no comment will be coming from me concerning my thoughts on Monsanto; nothing good can come from that!) that has a rather wimpy, dopey elderly guy as a leader. Some have criticized the actor for that performance; perhaps, but I don’t know Anthony Hopkins could have made that goofball character work… what a decision to have a villain be nothing more than an elderly dips***.

It's never a good sign when several of the most popular reviews on Letterboxd have compared this to The Rise of Skywalker in the most pejorative of ways. If I ever mustered the courage to see Skywalker again I know it’d be rated far lower than I did the first time; that movie was such a mess due to how stupid The Last Jedi was and nothing could fix that but the decisions they made exacerbated the issue. Dominion did not offend me as much; it was mindless BS where not all the action was great and the same goes for the CG… even if I’ve forgotten a decent amount of it already, it did not make me as irritated as the first two JW pictures so that’s a plus. It was nice to see Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum one more time, even if “blatant nostalgia grab” is the most noteworthy aspect of those characters returning. Plus, talk about recycling moments from their past, or the JW characters also recycling moments from their past.

It is a shame that the first two sequels to Jurassic Park were only OK and the subsequent entries ranged from bad to rancid putrid garbage; yet that’s not the only franchise to recently have had a similar trajectory. I’m not the first to note that the sequels to Mission Impossible and now Top Gun made most of the others look especially bad, but it’s true. I’d like to think this is truly the end of the franchise-that’d be naïve of me, especially after seeing the box office returns. If there’s any solace for me, the few others movies I’ll likely see theatrically the rest of the summer should all be better than the ones I saw during the weekend; my choices for cinema visits should be better.