Chinatown, the 1974 film directed by Roman Polanski, is a neo-noir featuring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in their prime. Often considered one of the greatest movies of all time, the Critic found it rather captivating, if a bit of a bummer. Polanski is a filmmaker I have shied away from, due to his past as a sex offender, and although there is plenty to like in his direction (this movie looks real despite being noir; the shadows and rain don't swallow everything) it is Nicholson who steals the show. I know Jack mainly from fare like Batman and The Departed where he more or less played Jack Nicholson the movie star rather than a character in a film. This is not so in Chinatown; Nicholson's Jake Gittes is a man who has been burned, and who will stop at nothing to figure out what exactly is going on with Dunaway's Evelyn Mulwray, whose husband has been found drowned. The plot concerns water rights, and while that sounds boring, the pacing and beauty of the film ensures Chinatown stays captivating. There's some graphic violence, and Nicholson spends half the movie with a huge bandage on his nose, which is perhaps an intentional commentary on Hollywood's obsession with looks. A movie worth seeing.
For a fellow of a certain age, The Blues Brothers is the ultimate good-time flick. Showcasing a who's-who of blues and rhythm greats, including James Brown, Aretha Franklin, John Lee Hooker, and Cab Calloway, Blues Brothers follows petty criminals and musicians Jake and Elwood Blues as they attempt to get their band back together for one last gig to save the orphanage that raised them. Jake and Elwood are more myths than characters, with Belushi's role played straight-faced with barely an eyebrow raised, but they move from one set-piece to the next with an almost surrealist glee. From a car chase through a shopping mall to a bad gig at a country bar, this is a movie with no fat, all killer, no filler. One has to wonder at the number of cop cars totaled--this ain't CGI, folks, they really did all this shit--and contemplate whether we've lost something in this era of greenscreens. Could you make a movie like this today? Hell no! And that's why The Blues Brothers is worthy of being considered amongst the greatest films of all time.
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