In the late 1960s and into the 70s, a lot of Hollywood films tried very hard to upend the old notions of movies. Instead of the nice old Production Code, the late 60s brought in all sorts of deliberately unsavory things--things meant to challenge traditional morality. Think about it...films like "Bonnie & Clyde" and "The Wild Bunch" brought violence to a whole new level. Additionally, films like "Sex and the Single Girl", "Midnight Cowboy" and this movie, "Klute" brought sex out of the closet and right into the audience's faces. Because of this, back in 1971 this film really had a big impact and brought Jane Fonda an Oscar for playing a prostitute. But is it good? I would say yes...but certainly not great. While Fonda's performance is very good, the story itself seems almost like an episode of "Law & Order: Special Victim's Unit". It was novel then but today it doesn't seem quite to groundbreaking. Overall, I'd score this one an 8 back in '71 and a 6 today.
1971 1080p movies
Today, The Beguiled holds as one of my absolute favorite Clint Eastwood performances. He's cold, calculating, and a bit of an asshole. On one hand, you forgive him because you feel like his survival depends on it. But then things get out of control and you see the real man behind the charming facade. Of the eras of his career, his Jon McBurney is the best of his rising star phase, with Bull Munny and Unforgiven defining his middle. For his later career, it's a tossup for me between Frankie Dunn in Million Dollar Baby and Walt Kowalski in Gran Torino. Both of those films showcased Eastwood's signature tough-guy-with-a-heart character. But then who knows, it's not like the man is done making movies! Age and a pandemic can't keep Clint from working apparently as production for Cry Macho is set to start filming soon in New Mexico! Hopefully this time next year we're all able to safely sit in a dark theater and enjoy his latest effort on the big screen.
As one of my favorite Eastwood movies, The Beguiled has had a pretty rough history on home video. The Universal DVD wasn't that impressive barely offering much improvement over VHS beyond a widescreen presentation. The Blu-ray Universal released in 2015 was practically a Greek tragedy of horrible DNR that scrubbed this impeccable production of any detail. I'm happy to report this new 2K master is a godsend! Instantly you can appreciate the work that went into bringing this film to life. Between the location shots in Louisiana to the in-studio interior sets, there's so much incredible design and costuming work for this period thriller that you can finally see and appreciate. Colors are rich and vibrant allowing for the dreary greens and browns of the school grounds to dominate the screen with terrific primary pops of blues, yellow - and especially red! Black levels are also greatly improved without the horrible crush problems of the previous disc giving this new transfer some appreciable depth. Film grain has a natural presence throughout, there are some moments where it's especially thick and noisy, but those scenes are few.
In a tumultuous era, 1971 was a year of musical innovation and rebirth fueled by the political and cultural upheaval of the time. Stars reached new heights, fresh talent exploded onto the scene and boundaries expanded like never before.
They Might Be Giants is a 1971 American comedy mystery film based on the 1961 play of the same name (both written by James Goldman) starring George C. Scott and Joanne Woodward. Sometimes mistakenly described as a Broadway play, it never in fact opened in the United States. It was directed in London by Joan Littlewood in 1961, but Goldman believed that he "never got the play right" and forbade further productions or publication of the script. To coincide with the film's release, he authorized an illustrated paperback tie-in edition of the screenplay, published by Lancer Books.[citation needed]
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