anyone there?

Yes, there are some of us here at Classics, but as you must have noticed, we're at the bottom of the totem pole. There's a lot more interest in the newer movies/new releases than the greatest films of all-time. Hey, I've seen many classics, which are in-name only. I've also seen several little-heralded older films which deserve to be considered "classic." Some newer films deserve to be called classic, but I'm of the mind that the corporate/megaworld attitude of current studio heads just doesn't nurture well-written, original scripts as much as it has in the past.

I'm getting off-topic, but whenever I feel sad about the current state of Hollywood movies, I can always go back to the classics where I can actually hear witty dialogue spoken by accomplished actors. I can actually watch directors and cinematographers who are striving to make art and entertainment go hand-in-hand. I can watch some of the silent films or even those from the 30s, where they had to reinvent the vocabulary of film with the addition of sound and spoken dialogue. Some of the camerawork in those 20s and 30s films is mind-blowingly complex.

Anyone who is interested in film as art, entertainment or a damned-fine cultural history lesson owes it to themselves to watch as many "classics" as they can. Maybe we can get a larger discussion on this topic going now.

Class dismissed.

Well, I'm here and willing to discuss ... so come with a topic, either a film you want to discuss, or a genre, director, colorizing films, actors or actresses you want to discuss, whatever and I will try to contribute.

Social Studies 204:

Looking at the two (2) films we've just seen in class this week, Ritt's Edge of the City and Kasdan's Grand Canyon, answer the following questions as concisely as you can:

1. How would you characterize race relation in each of these two films? What in your opinion has change in the time between when these two pictures were made?

2. Are these portrayals realistic? Do you find the two pair of friendships believable? Explain.

3. How important is the issue of class in either of these two pictures? Do the conflicts in the movies arise out of class or something else? If something else, what?

4. Are these pictures hopeful in the prospects for racial harmony in the United States, or not? Explain.

5. In your opinion, do you think either or both of the pictures are dated? How so? And if they are, how do they differ from attitudes today?

Extra credit essay (20 points): Address the place each film has in each director's body of work, the importance of the various themes and concerns if they recur elsewhere, and the director's importance in American film history.

(You have 55 min.)

Dear Professor wong,

I'm sorry I missed class last week. I was too busy shooting pool..umm, this is grad school, right? I mean, I was laid up in bed with several broken bones in a cabin with no electricity.

However, since I just received the assignment from the thought-to-be-extinct passenger pigeon (it must have thought it was a carrier pigeon), I would like to try to address some of the questions in the hopes of getting a make-up exam, preferably not in public, at some future date.

My memories of the two films would conclude me to answer the following:

1."Edge of the City" takes place on a 50s NYC waterfront where there's plenty of bigotry but none between the two men who become friends (played by John Cassavetes and Sidney Poitier.)"Grand Canyon" takes place in 90s LA, where segregation still seems to be practiced, but once again, the two men who become friends (Danny Glover and Kevin Kline) seem to be color-blind.
The biggest difference in the times the films were made, to me, seems to be that the 50s film isn't afraid to show the bigotry in a less PC way. It can "get away" with language and attitudes which would be frowned upon in latter-day Hollywood. This, even if deep down, some people may still harbor the attitudes of Jack Warden's character in "Edge", although they might be more inclined to "keep it to one's self" in the 90s.

2.I find the two friendships believable, but remember, moi professor, the painkillers may be affecting my memory. I do remember that Cassavetes has several problems and Poitier helps him with unquestioning friendship from the start. I also remember that Kline is in danger of being mugged, or worse, when Glover rescues him. Both white men have good reason to want to be friends with their "saviors." Whether what ensues is entirely believable is a question I will leave to my cable TV or VCR, sometime in the future.
3. In "Edge" both friends are lower-class and their external problems seem to be caused by the hateful foreman (Poitier) and the unfortunate past (Cassavetes.) In "Grand Canyon", Kline is upper-class but estranged from his wife, while Glover is a tow-truck driver with concerns about the safety of his family's neighborhood. They both have family concerns, but they find a receptive ear in each other, even if it may be perhaps presented too schematically (I don't actually recall.)
4. On a personal level, I believe they are both hopeful. On the institutionalization of bigotry and segregation, I find them soberingly-unsatisfactory, at least sociologically. As I implied before, in the 50s, you just let your hatred out and that was that; let's see what happens. In the 90s, we're all "enlightened", but does anything ever really change en masse? Somebody tell me.
5. To tell you the truth, "Edge", in its over-heightened sense of realism, probably seems less dated, although someone will say let's colorize it! I can't watch black and white; it gives me a headache! I'm probably wrong, professor, but I believe that you will say that "Edge" is less-sentimental, and therefore more-believable and less-dated. As far as discussing attitudes today, professor, I'll probably lose some points because I honestly believe everyone in the past and in the present is so much more than one or two comments they make. People are full of contradictions, based on sex, race, religion, education, upbringing, past and future, that to pigeon-hole a person based on reading a sentence or a paragraph seems very short-sighted, and extremely non-liberal and non-understanding. Some people are made by their roots, which means some people may just follow along with the past, or some may rebel against that past. Oops, I forgot I was supposed to talk about the two movies. I was trying to be concise, but I think I need some more pain pills.
Extra Credit. "Edge of the City" was Martin Ritt's first theatrical film, after a succesful stint in live TV. Ritt went on to direct many films which showcased the life of a person of color, amongst them "Paris Blues", "Hombre", "The Great White Hope", "Sounder", "Conrack" and "Cross Creek." The last film is interesting in that the actress (Alfre Woodard) who played Glover's sister in "Grand Canyon" has a significant role in it. Ritt was a social documentarian whose blacklist in the 50s was partially relived in probably my favorite of his films, "The Front." I love Woody Allen's final line, followed by the Chairman of the Board reprising his song from the opening credits. (P.S.-"Hud" may be on a par with "The Front.")
Kasdan made a name for himself writing scripts for Lucas with "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "The Empire Strikes Back", and "Return of the Jedi." He found success with early films, such as "Body Heat", "The Big Chill" and "The Accidental Tourist", but has lately fallen out of favor, although he can still turn out a quirky comedy from time-to-time. "Grand Canyon" was probably the closest he ever came to addressing the problems of race relations in his.....my alarm went off (55 minutes are up.)

P.S. I'm off the clock now. Anybody else, feel free to mention anything about any films which you feel are classic. Don't let this dissuade you from jumping in; the water's fine!

mark,

Your pain medication must be affecting your time sense; this is Sophomore Year High School, Lynwood High, and Social Studies 204. And Jennifer in the next seat across is trying to look at your answers.

If this were grad school, this would be 200 level Seminar in Race Relation in Contemporary Society, looking at popular media as expression of changing mores in race consciousness and relation. At UC Irvine, this is cross-indexed with Mass Media & Communication, Film Studies 249 and Humanities, Contemporary Popular Culture 202.

Grade B+ (We will discuss your very thoughtful and insightful answers when the rest of the class turn in their exams.)

KT, you have another 5 min.

And the rest of you, stop looking over her shoulders!


Now playing: "Debbie’s Waltz" Bill Evans (final Village Vanguard recordings)

Disclaimer: Not Know-It-All, just Able-To-Channel-Ms-Effinger-With-Marginal-Noise.

quote:

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Originally posted by wong828:
mark,
Your pain medication must be affecting your time sense; this is Sophomore Year High School, Lynwood High, and Social Studies 204.

---

Well, teach, I'll take your word for it, but I was a sophomore at Lynwood High in 1970, and "Grand Canyon" came out in 1991. I guess we are in a space-time continuum!

mark,

Get with the program!

If I can channel whomever it was that did Social Studies 204 at Lynnwood High, you can damn well channel your later self at UC Irvine.

I mean you saw both films; you commented on 'em. Perhaps this legalistic bent in your makeup should've convinced you to go into the more lucrative but soulless profession of law, instead of air traffic control, which is generally known to be useful but sleep inducing in serious ways.

By the way, mark, we all live in a space-time continuum, only you could be in a space-time conundrum.

Now reading: "All You Zombies" Robert A. Heinlein

Disclaimer: Not Know-It-All, just Able-To-Channel-Robert-A-Heinlein-At-High-Bit-Rate.

(Maybe you can channel KT, so we can get on with this discussion; or do you suppose she’s at Blockbuster?)

Professor, I appreciate everything you have to say, but if you don't know by now, that I seem to have a better grip on my own and all of our place in the current scheme of things, I may have to cut you loose for a few days or so, so you can notice the difference.

Sincerely, mark (that guy who lives in the 21st century, yet has no need to channel anyone since they're all right here...I'm so friendly!)

I have a netflix account ... Blockbuster is not even in my rolodex anymore.

Alas, I haven't been able to comment as I haven't seen either of those two films. Perhaps they can take a place at the bottom of my everexpanding netflix queue and in several years I will be able to watch them.

And I am covering all my answers ... no cheating.

PS: As for law being a soulless profession, I will have to tell the attorney I clerk for that ... he spends his days helping out the disenfranchised elderly and I think one time I saw a glimmer of soul in there. We have to get rid of that right away!

You guys. You crack me, most consistently, up.

What?
Oh...!
uh.... hi.