ANIMAL FARM (1954, GREAT BRITAIN)

Why do Boxer, Clover and Benjamin have descriptions of greater depth than the other animals?



Did the rebellion on Jones’s farm happen too soon for the animals to have a workable system in mind for when they took over?



Oh, hello. I was just doing some studying with my niece Krista. She’s entering high school and is trying to come up with questions on her assignment for George Orwell’s Animal Farm.



How much foreshadowing is there in Clover’s mentioning to Boxer that he should take it easy?



It just so happens the 1954 animated version of Animal Farm is in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book, so although I'm certainly happy to help her with her assignment, I’m also glad to get a chance to view a movie I haven’t seen in at least twenty years.



How much abuse will the animals tolerate under the dictator pig Napoleon before they rebel?



Despite its lighter moments, I find this film difficult to sit through at times. It isn’t because the film isn’t good-in fact it’s very good. It’s just that seeing bad things happen to animated animals can really be upsetting.



Do the humans begin to respect Napoleon more because he is becoming more like them or are they merely opportunists?



The DVD copy in our library is in the children’s section next to Bob the Builder and Dora the Explorer. I’ve got to think there was a cataloging mistake somewhere down the line.



If Snowball had run off Napoleon, would the outcome have been different?



If Snowball had run off Napoleon, would the outcome have been different? Hmmm.

Good question. Does absolute power corrupt absolutely? Do we have movie references to help us answer this question? Michael Corleone? Charles Foster Kane? How about well..I’m sure you can come up with other examples. Anyway, back to the books for now, cause school is about to start and I haven’t even started Old Man and the Sea yet!



Signing off for now and don’t forget, “Four legs good, two legs baaaaaaddddd!

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BLAZING SADDLES (1974), A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE (1974)

1974 revisited

When I was 11, I practically begged my dad to take me to see Blazing Saddles. (For the record, there were three movies I remember pleading with my father to take me to around that time: The Exorcist, Blazing Saddles and The Reincarnation of Peter Proud.) Well, he took me and I loved the movie, of course. What kid that saw this in 1974 didn’t love the famous “campfire farting scene?” If you don’t know the scene I’m talking about, all I can say is: What kind of film buff are you, anyway?



I do remember my dad’s favorite part was Harvey Kormann’s constant references to his name: Hedley Lamarr.



2011

History repeats itself: I’ve been talking this movie up with my 14-year-old niece Krista for about a year now. She’s looking forward to seeing what all the fuss was about. Tonight’s the night. Wait, it’s coming on now…



We’ve finally watched it. I did have to explain to her who Hedy Lamarr and Cecil B. Demille were and why Cleavon Little signing “I Get a Kick Out of You” is funny and I tried to point out as many intentional anachronisms as I could, but she seemed to get most of it and even declared it ” hilarious.” Ah! A new generation that can appreciate a good campfire farting scene. Glad to do my part for the youth of America.



Back to 1974

A lot of movies that came out in 1974 that had an impact on me. Some good-some bad. Here are a few that did not make the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die cut.



1. Airport 1975

1974 will always be to me the year of the disaster movie. The stewardess is flying the plane! If you are wondering who uttered this line, it was Sid Caesar. If you aren’t wondering, it was still Sid Caesar.



2. Big Bad Mama

I believe this is the one with Angie Dickinson equipped with big hair and an outrageous Southern accent and William Shatner being hammy (as hard as that is believe!) Not to be confused with Bloody Mama, that was Shelley Winters.



3. Dark StarPre-Halloween John Carpenter. I just wish I remembered more about it. Will put on my rewatch list.



4. Death Wish

Okay, Charlie Bronson was no master thespian, but I just happen to like Charlie Bronson, Okay!



5. Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry

Some say the weak link to the 70’s anarchist car trilogy (Two-Lane Blacktop and Vanishing Point being the others.) I prefer to call it the weak link in the Susan George trilogy (Fright and Straw Dogs being the others). So I use to kinda like Susan George! Give me a break-I was 12!



6. Earthquake

The second leg in the 1974 disaster trilogy. This one’s main appeal was the gimmick of Sensurround, which I experienced in two theaters. It seemed to consist of a lot of noise and not enough much shaking either time. But any movie with former child evangelist Marjoe Gortner as a gay psycho has at least got that going for it!



7. Emmanuelle

It’s not porn, it’s erotica!



8. The Four Musketeers

Really the second half of The Three Musketeers. I saw this one without seeing the first one and you really need to see the first one to understand what’s happening in the second one.



9. Harry and Tonto

Art Carney really won the Oscar over Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Albert Finney and Al Pacino…for Harry and Tonto?



10. Herbie Rides Again

I remember little about this one except that the original is better. Dean Jones, where art thou?



11. The Island at the Top of the World

I think I thought this movie was cool at the time. I was probably mistaken.



12. Lenny

Oh, 1001 movie book. How can you leave out Lenny? It may be brutal, but it's memorable

.

13. The Longest Yard

Oft quoted if you grew up in the 70’s. Probably Burt Reynolds’ best movie that doesn’t have the word deliverance in the title.



14. The Lords of Flatbush

Should have made Perry King a star; Made Sylvester Stallone a star instead.



15. Macon County Line

Mostly remember going to see this with my brother when he worked at a newspaper. Can you say free passes, baby! (Or was that Return to Macon County?)



16. The Man with the Golden Gun

A pretty fun James Bond flick. Though Connery purists may scoff, I’m cool with Roger Moore as J. B.



17. Murder on the Orient Express

You don’t really see these type of celebrity filled whodunits anymore.



18. The Towering Inferno

The third leg of the 1974 disaster trilogy and my favorite of the three. You know, Faye Dunaway and William Holden were in this film and Network. It’s only taken my thirty-five years to make that connection.



19. The Trial of Billy Jack I’m a Billy Jack fan, but this was one too many.



20. Zardoz People seem to have mixed feelings about this Sean Connery sci-fi flick. Though there’s seems to be no debate about Sean’s questionable wardrobe. (Below)







1974 revisited one more time

While I was stuck in 1974, I’ve decided to see one more film from that year.



I wanted to watch something completely the opposite of Blazing Saddles. I chose the John Cassavetes’ film A Woman Under the Influence. The only thing I remember about this when it came out was that it was nominated for a lot of awards and critics loved it and that I didn’t really want to see it at the time. (I was 11! I wanted to see Blazing Saddles and The Towering Inferno!)



I’ve seen it now and it was indeed a contrast, if not the polar opposite of Blazing Saddles. I had always thought it was about a woman who was an alcoholic. It isn’t, though she can drink up a storm when she wants to. I think Cassavetes’s films are interesting overall. If you aren’t use to his more naturalistic filmmaking style the results can be quite jarring. The scene that struck me the most was where the husband (Peter Falk) and a few of his co-workers are having dinner prepared by Falk’s wife (Gena Rowlands). I kept expecting some exposition in this scene and then the movie would move on. It didn’t. It stayed with the meal. And it stayed with the meal (spaghetti, by the way). Every cut just lead to something else happening at another part of the table. A co-worker began to sing. A co-worker spilled his food all over himself. Then we see Rowlands begin to talk to some of them and flirt a little bit (I think it was flirting). Finally after about a twenty-minute scene Faulk yells at Rowlands to “Sit your ass down.” The scene struck me as strange, but I it stays with you and I admit was effective.



Gena Rowlands got many accolades for her performance, including an Academy Award nomination. Peter Falk (who died recently as of this writing) is almost as good in a very dramatic role. If you just know him from Columbo or The In-Laws, you might want to check this out.



One thing Blazing Saddles and A Woman Under the Influence do have in common is that the leading character sings a version of “I Get a Kick Out of You.” Now there’s a question you’re unlikely to see on Jeopardy!



Well it’s time for me to stop playing with my pet rock and my Duncan yo-yo.

I’ve enjoyed by trip back to 1974. I’m sure I’ll return.

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THE EXORCIST (1973)

1973 film #3



The first Academy Awards presentation I can remember was the one for films released in 1973. It was an important year in my moviegoing life. I was finally old enough to go see movies of more grown-up fare. When I think back on that year in movies, the three films that stand out in my memory are: The Sting, American Graffiti and The Exorcist. All were popular. All were critically successful for the most part. All were nominated for Best Picture of 1973. And they weren’t at all alike.



The third candidate: The Exorcist.



What was the buzz on The Exorcist?: This was the movie everyone was talking about in 1973. The devil possesses the body of a twelve-year-old girl and two priests try to cast the demon out.



Being under thirteen, I begged my father to take me to see it. He thought I might regret it, but took me anyway. It’s certainly a movie experience I’ll never forget, though I had a lot of trouble sleeping with much comfort the next week.



The Music: Who can forget that scary tubular bell theme? Why it’s ringing in my head as we speak!



MAD magazine reference (the true arbiter of seventies movies value): In the name of research, I went back and read my copy of “The Ecchorcist” from my September 1974 MAD magazine. It ends with the devil agreeing to leave the body of the girl if he signs a six-picture deal. Speaking of that…



Sequel to avoid: The Exorcist II: The Heretic Upon release this highly anticipated sequel was immediately labeled a disaster of epic proportions and has been on much worst film of all-time lists. I’ve honestly never seen it, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.



But should it have won Best Picture? I’ll be honest. I was pretty much ready to call American Graffiti the Best Picture of 1973. But upon further review, I think the The Exorcist should really get some consideration.



Part of the problem in thinking about this film for me is my initial reaction to it which was that it scared the crap out of me! Forget the quality of the movie; I’m too busy hiding under by bedcovers to care! Then there were bad sequels and cheap knockoffs. Movies about possession or something similar became commonplace. There were also the parodies. I remember the memorable Saturday Night Live skit with Richard Pryor as the Priest and Larraine Newman as the possessed girl.



But looking back at the original, I can think of few movies that built suspense as well as this one. I’m not sure this would even be able to be made this way today, because some might find it gets to the more gory scenes at too slow of a pace. I would disagree. I know where the plot is going and it’s the progression of said plot that builds the story to its suspenseful conclusion.

I also really loved the character of Father Karras and his struggles with faith and life. And let’s just say I found his final moment in the film very moving.



It also strikes me as coming down clearly on the side of faith over science. The priests seem to know everything and medical science doesn't seem to know squat.



So, the final nominees for best picture of 1973 are The Sting, American Graffiti and The Exorcist



And my winner is…I’ll be damned, it’s The Exorcist!



1973 MOVIE SUPPLEMENT

Since 1973 was such an important movie-watching year for me, here is a list of some of the movies I’ve seen released from that year that didn’t make the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die cut.



Battle for the Planet of the Apes

The fifth and final leg of the original Planet of the Apes brings back memories of diminutive singer Paul Williams singing a romantic ballad on The Tonight Show decked out in full ape makeup.



Charlotte's Web

Most memorable voice: Paul Lynde as Templeton the rat.



Cinderella Liberty

It’s been so long that I’ve seen this that all I can remember about it is that Marsha Mason had long hair.



The Devil in Miss Jones

Half of the most infamous pair of films of the 70’s, Deep Throat being the other.



Godspell

May seem a little dated today, but I still think the last supper with Dixie cups is kinda groovy.



Jesus Christ Superstar

The major problem with this version of Jesus Christ Superstar is that the song performances aren’t very good. See it on stage instead.



The Last Detail

Attention 1001 movie editors: This Hal Ashby comedy with Jack Nicholson as a foul-mouthed sailor on leave might be a good addition to the next edition.



Lost Horizon

Maybe the most infamous musical of all-time. Liv Ullman and Peter Finch saw better days.



Magnum Force

Harry’s back and he’s dirtier than ever. C’mon, if you’re a movie fan, you gotta see Magnum Force. The subsequent Harrys after you have my permission to skip.



My Name is Nobody

One of those spaghetti westerns that was "sort of" directed by Sergio Leone.



O Lucky Man!

When I think of this movie, I think of my friend who took a date to this movie only to have her begin punching him after he left the theater. I guess she wasn’t looking for something different.



The Paper Chase

Though some may have more vivid memories of the series, I still really like the original movie.



Paper Moon

Another film I’m surprised isn’t in the 1001 movie book. But, like many, I haven’t seen in awhile and may not hold up as well as I think it might.



Robin Hood

My son liked this Disney cartoon version of the legend and I’ve had to watch it more than once.



Save the Tiger

All right. This one I haven’t actually seen. I just know that at the time Jack Lemmon won an Oscar for this over Al Pacion in Serpico, Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail, Robert Redford in The Stingand Marlon Brando in Last Tango in Paris. I remember saying at the time, “What the hell is Save the Tiger?” Now all these years later, I still ask, “WHAT THE HELL IS SAVE THE TIGER?”



Scarecrow

Probably the prototype of a low-budget, early seventies, indie-type, character study picture with big stars in humble roles (Gene Hackman and Al Pacino in this case). I’ve seen this again recently and it wasn’t bad, but honestly didn’t blow my away.



Sisters Hey, this movie had me at Margot Kidder as Siamese Twins!



Soylent Green Famous for Charlton Heston’s line, “Soylent Green is people!” My favorite part of this movie is Edward G. Robinson’s somber and peaceful death scene.



A Touch of Class

Glenda Jackson won the Oscar for this, but like Save the Tiger, has anybody actually seen it?



Walking TallFor lack of a more acceptable term, I called this 70’s movie genre…redneck movies. Maybe they were a counterweight to blaxpotation movies of the same era. Burt Reynolds was in most of them, but a few of them, like Dixie Dynamite, Sixpack Annie and High-Ballin’ were Reynoldsless.



The World's Greatest Athlete One of those 70’s Disney comedies. A sports franchise is trying to recruit a Tarzan-like native to be on their sports team from what I remember without looking up a plot synopsis. The comedy highlight that I recall was someone dumping a can of trash over Howard Cosell.

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AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)

1973 film #2



The first Academy Awards presentation I can remember was the one for films released in 1973. It was an important year in my moviegoing life. I was finally old enough to go see movies of more grown-up fare. When I think back on that year in movies, the three films that stand out in my memory are: The Sting, American Graffiti and The Exorcist. All were popular. All were critically successful for the most part. All were nominated for Best Picture of 1973. And they weren’t at all alike.



The second candidate: American Graffiti



What was the buzz on American Graffiti?: The second major film of the 1973 Best Picture nominees was American Graffiti. The tagline of the movie was “Where were you in 62?” Apparently the answer for director George Lucas was cruising the streets looking for chicks or someone to race.



I remember liking the movie quite a bit when I first saw it. The montage of characters was apparently a new concept, but I didn’t know it was radical; I just liked how the puzzle pieces of characterization all fit together eventually.



I remember at the time people talking about individual scenes such as the wheels coming off the police car, underage Toad trying to buy some liquor, or just that elusive search for the blonde in the T-bird.



Though set in 1962, the film helped bring back a revival of interest in the fifties and led to a couple of popular TV series with a couple of Graffiti stars, Happy Days with Ron Howard and Laverne and Shirley with Cindy Williams. I won’t blame the movie for that, however.



The Music: American Graffiti led to a revival of music from that era in 1973 and 1974. In fact, the soundtrack album had several spin-off records if I remember correctly.



MAD magazine reference (the true arbiter of seventies movies value): MAD’s Graffiti satire was called “American Confetti” The opening frame of the satire features the cast of American Graffiti standing next to Jimmy Stewart! Stewart says he’s there just so the audience will see someone in this movie that they recognize!



Sequel to avoid: More American Graffiti. I’m sure I’m not the first to point out that in this case, more is definitely less.



But should it have won Best Picture?: Today, the movie still seems really fresh. Great characters: Candy “Has anybody ever told you you look like Connie Stevens” Clark as the bleach blonde and Charles Martin “I’d like a pint of Old Harpers” Smith as Toad (and still one of the great screen couples of all-time). Richard Dreyfus as Curt, probably the character most could identify with. Ron Howard and Cindy Williams were the couple who were trying to work out their differences. Paul Le Mat as John Milner, the cool guy with the cool car, unfortunately he’s saddled for most of the night with thirteen-year-old Mackenzie Phillips. Putting the cool guy with an underage, obnoxious girl who he can’t seem to get rid of is one of the film’s brightest ideas. And of course, let us not forget Wolfman Jack as the DJ that makes a commentary on the proceedings.



The multi-character plot fits together well. It’s funny. The characters are great and Suzanne Sommers doesn’t have any lines.



And right or wrong, when I think of ’62 teenage life, I think of American Graffiti.



So despite the case you could make for The Sting, innovative story-telling and characterizations pulls American Graffiti ahead of The Sting by the length of a yellow hot rod.



Tomorrow I will watch THE most talked about movie of 1973.

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THE STING (1973)

1973 film #1



The first Academy Awards presentation I can remember was the one for films released in 1973. It was an important year in my moviegoing life. I was finally old enough to go see movies of more grown-up fare. When I think back on that year in movies, the three films that stand out in my memory are: The Sting, American Graffiti and The Exorcist. All were popular. All were critically successful for the most part. All were nominated for Best Picture of 1973. And they weren’t at all alike.



The first candidate: The Sting



What was the buzz on The Sting?: When it was released, The Sting had a lot going for it. It had the sure-fire team of Paul Newman and Robert Redford playing con men, as well as the presence of their Butch Cassidy director George Roy Hill. It had a clever con story about Newman, Redford and associates pulling a major league con on big-time racketeer Robert Shaw. (I like the names in the movie too; Newman as Henry Gondorff, Redford as Johnny Hooker and Shaw’s character, Doyle Lonnigan) The setup to the con is fun to watch: I suppose my favorite scene is watching Paul Newman cheat Robert Shaw in a poker game or perhaps the one where phony bets are being placed on a non-existent horse race strictly to lure Shaw in. The supporting cast is notable too: Eileen Brennan, Ray Walston, Harold Gould and good ole Charles Durning.



The Music: But for my money, when I think of The Sting, I think of the music of Scott Joplin. The ragtime music featuring The Entertainer wasn’t even written in the era of the movie is based (1936), but it really fits it perfectly. I can’t imagine the movie without it. And I still have the original soundtrack record album on glorious vinyl!



MAD magazine reference (the true arbiter of seventies movies value): I believe the MAD magazine version was called “The Zing,” though I might be wrong. I do remember it changed the famous Newman/Redford promotional image to the image of two even bigger crooks: Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew! Yes, MAD never missed an opportunity for a good Nixon joke.



Sequel to avoid: The Sting 2. They couldn’t get Newman or Redford for any Sting sequel so instead they got…Jackie Gleason and Mac Davis? Huh?



But should it have won Best Picture? A solid, fun movie. I can see why the Academy gave it seven awards (though interestingly no acting awards). Perhaps the other two movies on my list will prove to be dated and I’ll have to stick with The Sting. I could do worse.



I'll look at American Graffiti tomorrow.

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THE KING'S SPEECH (2010, GREAT BRITAIN), THE QUEEN (2006, GREAT BRITAIN)

You know us bloody yanks are still pretty obsessed, or at least fascinated, with movies about the English monarchy. We even give our most coveted awards to these films at times. Of course, the latest is the Oscar winner for best picture The King’s Speech. If you haven't seen it, it is all about the elocution lessons of the stuttering King George the VI at around the time of World War II.



I will bend over backwards to not criticize this movie. I keep asking for films that aren’t based on comic books, video games and might instead be aimed at ‘gasp’ adults! So I’m not going to nitpick at a film that not only fills my request, but actually drew crowds as well. It was almost universally critically praised, in fact. I should be happy, right? Well, I am happy. I can’t say I’m ecstatic, but I’m happy enough. All right, already. I thought similar stories have been told on screen before, OK? That’s my only criticism. But I’m not complaining mind you. It’s well done. And I’m just grateful for any movie that wasn’t originally based on something I might have first read when I was three. Just smile and be happy.



The Queen is an interesting film. I would have thought that a movie about how the royal family deals with the death of Princess Diana, well, that there wouldn’t be a movie there. It’s to the screenwriter and filmmakers credit that there is, even though I’m guessing most of what the Royals may have said behind closed doors is pure guesswork on the screenwriter’s part.



And of course Helen Mirren(who won an Academy Award-You know us bloody yanks and our awards) and Michael Sheen as Prime Minister Tony Blair are very good in their roles. I also really liked American James Cromwell as the perpetually grumpy Prince Phillip. That’s just the way I always pictured the old boy.



Cheerio.

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RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)

It’s been thirty years since the release of Stephen Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark. It is an almost unanimously beloved film by audiences and critics alike. However, there are exceptions…

I’m on the phone with noted New York film critic Simon Johnson, who was one of the few critics who disliked this movie at its release.

Me: First of all, thank you for joining me. So has time changed or at least tempered your view of Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Simon Johnson: Is it overly succinct to just say that “No, it hasn’t.”

Me: You still haven’t come around, I see. So let’s rehash what your problem with it is.

Simon Johnson: I believe my original article said “Unlike Lucas’s Star Wars, which at least scrapped the corpses of some decent representations of celluloid past, Raiders of the Lost Ark unearths the remains of a long discarded adventure genre and revives it as a hulking, feral pastiche that should have remained underground and forgotten.”

Me: You further stated that Raiders of the Lost Ark was the beginning of the end. Do you still believe that?

Simon Johnson: If you want to be technical, it could more accurately be described as the end of the end. Jaws threw the body in the coffin. Star Wars slammed the lid. Raiders of the Lost Ark nailed it shut.

Me: Would you embellish please.

Simon Johnson: Right. Let’s explore today’s film of choice, shall we? Spielberg-Lucas or, really I just call them Lucasberg. I can’t tell the difference really. Lucasberg loved the old Republic serials of the 30’s. But I’m sure even they would admit that they were poorly made. So what we have here is a reproduction of a copy that wasn’t all that good in the first place.

Me: But don’t you think Spielberg just used those as a blueprint and made it into something uniquely his own?

Simon Johnson: That seems to be the common view. And the common view is misguided.

Me: But what about all those iconic scenes like Indiana being chased by a giant boulder?

Simon Johnson: If that thrills you, I suggest you go to Disney World and see the Indiana Jones stunt show. I prefer to see a movie.

Me: So this is the first time you’ve seen it in thirty years. Please restate some of the specifics of your criticisms.

Simon Johnson: There’s too many to name, I’m afraid. I wouldn’t want to take up too much of your time or mine either, for that matter. Let’s take the villains, the Nazis. I saw more depth from Colonel Klink in Hogan’s Heroes. Cardboard cutouts are indeed easy to kill. What else? The introduction of the snakes. He doesn’t like snakes. And later we have the inevitable snake scene. A little foreshadowing is good. An overabundance can be fatal.

It's also interesting that the DVD release has renamed it Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Is that so the audience won’t get it confused with Pee Wee Herman and the Raiders of the Lost Ark?

What else? Oh, I like the way they plaster a map on the screen every time they change countries. Not condescending to our audience are we?

Oh, the exposition scene at the school where they go on about why they are searching for the ark in the first place. Not only is it confusing, it’s so slow, I began to nod off with its tediousness! I know you need to get the ark. Get on with it! It made me actually miss the mindless action.

Me: What about the music?

Simon Johnson: Yes, let’s not have anything of consequence happen in this movie without cranking up the theme song. Certainly the images and the character development aren’t enough to allow me to know how to think, so I can see the need for the John Williams clash of symbols every few minutes to tell me when something of significance is happening.

Me: Well, what about the scene where the guy in Cairo spins his weapon only to be disposed of with one shot by Indiana? That always gets a big laugh.

Simon Johnson: Glad you brought that scene up. Indicative of American arrogance, I’m afraid. It’s that type of behavior that has allowed the spread of Colonialism to go practically unchallenged for hundreds of years. But what the heck! Those Nepalese or Egyptians are just a bunch of towel heads who can’t do anything but jump, shout, laugh or shoot a rifle repeatedly in the air while chanting, right? Calling them one-dimensional is an insult to other one-dimensional characters.

Oh, and what about the choice of the naming the main character after an American state? Practically screams out. “I’m an American. I can do whatever I want!” It has more arrogance than a Jane Austen novel!

Me: Jane Austen?

Simon Johnson: If you aren’t sure what I’m referring to, I think you need to read some Edward Said and get back to me on that issue.

Me: Ok. Lets’ see…What about Karen Allen? You’ve got to like Karen Allen.

Simon Johnson: I do. She’s the film’s true hidden treasure. And what did they do with this valuable commodity when they made the next film?

Me: They dumped her.

Simon Johnson: They dumped her.

Me: Yes, I think I actually agree with you on that point. I do have one more question for you. It’s a general one. Why don’t film critics ever change their mind? I see things all the time I feel differently about over time or change my opinion because of my mood or maybe I just see something in second viewings that I didn’t see the first time.

Simon Johnson: I guess that is the chasm that separates someone like me from someone like you. A work of art is what it is. Andrew Sarris changed his mind once. We almost had to kick him out of the club.

Me: Thank you for joining me.

Simon Johnson: A pleasure, I’m sure. Since next year is the anniversary of Porky’s, I’m sure you’ll be dialing me up again.

Me: That was Simon Johnson, acerbic, opinionated and controversial as always.

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