tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post701541665324357940..comments2024-03-05T21:05:36.848-05:00Comments on CommentaramaFilms: Guest Review: The Parallax View (1974)AndrewPricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-22606265978785932852014-09-29T17:58:54.400-04:002014-09-29T17:58:54.400-04:00 It has been a long time since I saw either Parall... It has been a long time since I saw either Parallax or Condor. Maybe I should see Parallax again, I might like it better this time around. Faye Dunaway? - yes, she was - yow! <br /><br />I liked John Carter, but it needed some serious editing. wulfscotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01753817510942803189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-62302808119660460192014-09-29T17:23:59.450-04:002014-09-29T17:23:59.450-04:00wulf -
Definitely worth a view. I've seen Co...wulf - <br /><br />Definitely worth a view. I've seen <i>Condor</i> a couple of times but I recall the film not engaging me as much as this one did. (Man, Faye Dunaway was hot back in the day!)<br /><br />Perhaps I should see it again. It's also currently available on Amazon Prime.<br /><br />And I liked <i>John Carter</i>... it wasn't perfect, but it deserved a better fate than what it got.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-14701850442427053082014-09-29T16:47:10.806-04:002014-09-29T16:47:10.806-04:00Saw this in the theater while in college. I did n...Saw this in the theater while in college. I did not like it, although i would agree that it is a good film; the lack of answers is part of why it was a good film and why I didn't like it. obviously, I don't strongly dislike this one. That said, the paranoid atmosphere, the acting, the story - all very well done. I was a fan of Warren Beatty, he is a good actor. So I would say that , as others may have a different perspective on the film, it's probably worth a view. But i think Three Days of the Condor is better.<br /> Anyway, just because I like a film doesn't mean that it is good (or barely above the level of awful - John Carter of Mars) and recognize that a film I don't like may still be a good film. <br />Jed - I would defend my generation against the scurrilous accusations about being stoners, but at times the dorm halls had a STRONG odor of burning leaves...wulfscotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01753817510942803189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-69135603055884827152014-09-27T20:18:26.696-04:002014-09-27T20:18:26.696-04:00Kit -
You're welcome! And yeah, some movies ...Kit - <br /><br />You're welcome! And yeah, some movies can be kinda prescient in some ways.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-49126738061080027312014-09-27T18:19:42.092-04:002014-09-27T18:19:42.092-04:00Scott,
Thanks for the heads up, I might check it ...Scott,<br /><br />Thanks for the heads up, I might check it out. <br /><br />Side-note: Interestingly, the most famous conspiracy thriller, <i>The Manchurian Candidate</i>, was released about 10 years before the Watergate scandal. Kithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01453591141757808708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-10033020263954479332014-09-26T11:39:50.686-04:002014-09-26T11:39:50.686-04:00tryanmax -
If you have Amazon Prime, you can str...tryanmax - <br /><br />If you have Amazon Prime, you can stream it for free. That's how I watched it the night before I wrote this review. It also shows up on Netflix Instant now and then. The DVD is still in print but no Blu-Ray yet. (I'm hoping Criterion gets it.)<br /><br />I rarely, if ever, seek out movies just to see any one actor. But yeah, <i>Reds</i> has been on the to-watch list for a while.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-85223509542070576452014-09-26T11:36:51.758-04:002014-09-26T11:36:51.758-04:00Jed -
Now they just play video games. :-)Jed - <br /><br />Now they just play video games. :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-15005898407090379912014-09-26T11:29:26.975-04:002014-09-26T11:29:26.975-04:00Scott - only partly sarcastic, though. Many films,...Scott - only partly sarcastic, though. Many films, then and now, were/are aimed at the young adult demographic, and at that time, a significant pepcentage of the young adult crowd was tokin' up and going to the movies. One of the well known properties of that drug was a boost in the level of paranoia; perfect for a conspiracy film.Tennessee Jedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10604275115906776992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-60086818163436059192014-09-26T11:25:53.380-04:002014-09-26T11:25:53.380-04:00I’ve never heard of this, but I will try to search...I’ve never heard of this, but I will try to search it out. On Beatty, I must agree, he is a talented actor but I would never seek out a film just because he’s in it. For me, <i>Dick Tracy</i> will always be his premier role. You should really see <i>Reds</i>, it’s an interesting case-study. The history surrounding the film suggests it was a love note to John Reed (<i>Ten Days that Shook the World</i>), and Beatty certainly fleshes out a sympathetic character, but at the same time, it reveals a man blinded by his own idealism. A strange homage, to say the least. That said, Beatty plays fair with the history. It’s no propaganda piece, though I suppose it is subject to very different interpretations. <br />tryanmaxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09881154741574720094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-62789072873065595722014-09-26T10:50:24.051-04:002014-09-26T10:50:24.051-04:00Jed -
I'm sure it was, and I'm probably ...Jed - <br /><br />I'm sure it was, and I'm probably giving too much benefit of the doubt, but it is less overtly political/partisan than the other ones. And Pakula may have made some political films, but he wasn't exactly Oliver Stone. (I didn't want to make politics the point of the review, but you can't review a movie like this without mentioning it, even from a somewhat naive point of view.)<br /><br />And I know you're being sarcastic but there were plenty of movies aimed at stoners back then - I doubt this one qualifies. :-D<br /><br />I enjoyed <i>Seven Days in May</i>... I haven't watched the original <i>Manchurian Candidate</i> in years... and I've never seen <i>Z</i>. In fact, I've never seen any of Costa-Gavras' films. <i>Missing</i> is another one I need to see one day.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-45647646578086883342014-09-26T10:37:17.802-04:002014-09-26T10:37:17.802-04:00Scott - having lived through the whole 60's Ke...Scott - having lived through the whole 60's Kennedy assassination, Vietnam era, and decade spanning Watergate scandal, I think you may be a bit naive vis-a-vis the political ramifications. Perhaps this film was not quite as overtly political as some of them, but at the time it was certainly perceived as another big government corrupted by the military industrial complex. It is, afterall, Hollywood, and Warren Beatty was the Redford of his day. (This notwithstanding his early start in the first season of "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.)<br /><br />I think the reason this one didn't get noticed more is that it was, like many in the genre, a quiet film in many parts. The stoner audience for whom it was intended may have fallen asleep at the dreaded 10:00 p.m. showings. Personally, I thought Seven Days in May, the original Manchurian Candidate, and "Z" were more memorable, at least to me.Tennessee Jedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10604275115906776992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-86158712676373225602014-09-26T09:41:59.351-04:002014-09-26T09:41:59.351-04:00Andrew -
Re: Beatty, I've actually never seen...Andrew -<br /><br />Re: Beatty, I've actually never seen <i>Bonnie and Clyde</i>, <i>Reds</i>, <i>Shampoo</i>, or <i>Heaven Can Wait</i>. I imagine those films will help me fill the gap.<br /><br />I'll agree with the suspension of disbelief part and now I'm wondering why I didn't use that particular phrase!<br /><br />Some of this is explained in the album liner notes I used for reference:<br /><br /><i>Pakula chose a deliberately elliptical style of storytelling for The Parallax View, leaving narrative gaps and allowing the audience to fill them in, much in the same way a conspiracy theorist has to connect the dots between facts: apart from the two assassinations that bracket the story, the main deaths (a framed busboy, Lee, the sheriff, Tucker, Frady) occur off camera. For Pakula, the film “depended on a certain kind of hypnosis to work. And if you stop and explain it to such an extent that you break the hypnotic rhythm of the film, you make it more believable on an intellectual level, (but) the thing that may pull that audience emotionally can fall apart.”</i>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-72659484269329285012014-09-26T00:54:18.654-04:002014-09-26T00:54:18.654-04:00Scott, Thanks for the review! I always enjoyed th...Scott, Thanks for the review! I always enjoyed this one. And you are right, it is very minimalist and very paranoid. I think Beatty does a good job here. I don't think he's a bad actor at all, though I don't find him to be as charismatic as so many boomers do.<br /><br />One thing I would say by comparison to <i>Three Days of the Condor</i> and the others, is that this one requires much more suspension of disbelief. The others are close enough to reality that you never doubt this could really be going on. Here, it feels a little more fantastic.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.com