The Horse's Head

December 30th, 2009: As we wrap up another decade, the NFR adds another 25 movies to the roster, bringing the total to 525. Here once again is the Class of 2009, as reviewed by me:

• Little Nemo (1911): “the evolutionary step needed to get Winsor McCay to ‘Gertie the Dinosaur’”
• Mabel’s Blunder (1914): “The NFR wouldn’t be complete without Mabel Normand”
• Heroes All (1920): “represents a specific time and place for this country”
• Stark Love (1927): “I’m willing to give films a slight pass with a convincing argument, but ‘Stark Love’ is testing those limits.”
• La Venganza de Pancho Villa (1930-1936): “a wholly original piece of filmmaking”
• A Study in Reds (1932): “I’ll be honest, I couldn’t get into this one.”
• Jezebel (1938): “Even the great Bette Davis can only do so much.”
• Under Western Stars (1938): “cheap and a bit contrived, but you can see Roy Rogers’ screen appeal on display.”
• The Mark of Zorro (1940): “a slight pass for the popularity of Tyrone Power, and not much else.”
• Mrs. Miniver (1942): “propaganda to be sure, but…an important document of addressing the war without the blessing of hindsight”
• The Story of G.I. Joe (1945): “a good movie, but I question its standing among the greats.”
• The Lead Shoes (1949): “leading the charge for San Francisco’s experimental art scene of the 1950s.”
• The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957): “not the first ‘50s sci-fi film that comes to mind”
• Pillow Talk (1959): “still one of filmdom’s top-notch romantic comedies.”
• The Exiles (1961): “a unique approach to a largely ignored culture”
• The Jungle (1967): “an interesting if somewhat messy examination of gang life”
• Once Upon a Time in the West (1968): “[Sergio] Leone’s contributions to the genre deserve to be preserved by anyone who can stake a legitimate claim.”
• Hot Dogs for Gauguin (1972): “Why is it on the NFR?”
• Dog Day Afternoon (1975): “definitely one of those ‘wasn’t that already on the list?’ kind of movies.” 
• Quasi at the Quackadero (1975): “a mind fuck of a film”, “a Fleischer cartoon on acid”
• The Muppet Movie (1979): “one of the biggest hearts of any quote-unquote family movie ever.”
• Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1983): “the perfect embodiment of an artist in peak form”.
• Precious Images (1986): “certainly one of the NFR’s more meta inductions”
• The Red Book (1994): “not my cup of tea”
• Scratch and Crow (1995): “ensur[es] that [Helen Hill’s] sadly silenced voice has a place to be heard.”

The Plot: “The Jungle” showcases the life of 12th and Oxford, a gang of teenage delinquents in North Philadelphia. In the style of a docudrama, “The Jungle” shows us the gang as they get into fights with rival gangs on their turf, as well as internal fights between individual members. That’s about it plot-wise, but what if I told you that this short was written and directed by the gang itself? How do you like that?

Why It Matters: What the NFR write-up lacks in superlatives for “The Jungle”, it more than makes up for with historical context.

But Does It Really?: This is a film where the story behind it is just as fascinating as what we see on the screen. On its own, “The Jungle” is an interesting if somewhat messy examination of gang life. But once you learn that the film was made by the gang itself, it becomes more fascinating. “The Jungle” makes the NFR as one of the rare “bio-documentaries” on the list, as well as for representation of independent African-American filmmaking. It’s a unique story told from a unique perspective, and that’s all the justification I need to see “The Jungle” on the NFR.

Everybody Gets One: In West Philadelphia born and raised, Harold Haskins began his professional career as a social worker at the Temple University Health Science Center. While there, Haskins was working primarily with gangs, and received a small grant to make a film about 12th and Oxford. He hired a filmmaker from a local TV station to train the gang members how to make a film on both sides of the camera, and the final film was created solely by 12th and Oxford, with Haskins serving as a “Project Consultant”.

Title Track: The Jungle is the gang’s nickname for their neighborhood, in part because of their African heritage, but also because of the neighborhood’s less-than-ideal conditions. Side note: It’s hard to Google this movie without getting results for another, much more popular film that also came out in 1967 with the words “The Jungle” in the title.

Seriously, Oscars?: “The Jungle” never received a theatrical release, so no Oscar nod for the film. Apparently “The Jungle” won a few festival prizes, but I can’t find anything official. For the record, the Documentary Short winner of 1967 was Trevor Greenwood’s “The Redwoods”.

Further Viewing: “Three Young Americans in Search of Survival”, a 1969 TV documentary narrated by Paul Newman, and one of the three young Americans is our very own Harold Haskins! The Haskins section features many behind-the-scenes moments from the making of “The Jungle”, all in color. “Three Young Americans” is available for viewing in the University of Georgia Media Archives.

The Plot: Preach and Cochise (Glynn Turman and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs) are best friends attending Chicago’s Cooley Vocational High School in 1964. When not in class (which is often), the two can be found hanging out in Chicago’s Near North Side, with Preach gambling what little cash he has at Martha’s and Cochise riding high off a recent basketball scholarship. “Cooley High” is the very definition of a hangout movie, as we watch these two go from one adventure to another. Highlights include Preach trying to get with classmate Brenda (Cynthia Davis), and a joyride in a stolen Cadillac. 

Why It Matters: The NFR quotes NPR, which called the film “a classic of black cinema”. The film is also praised for its “unique sensibilities”, “taut direction”, and the “incredible naturalistic acting styles” of the cast. 

But Does It Really?: It took me a minute to get this film’s hangout vibe, but ultimately I dug “Cooley High”. While the film itself is a bit meandering, you can tell it’s coming from an authentic place; far more nuanced than the blaxploitation films of the same era. Plus, if you’ve seen “Boyz n the Hood” it’s not hard to see the “Cooley” influence. A yes for “Cooley High” on the NFR; an important stepping stone in Black movie history.

Shout Outs: Not a direct reference, but the film was heavily promoted as the Black “American Graffiti”. Eric Monte did not see “Graffiti” until after “Cooley High” was in production, so any similarities are coincidental. 

Everybody Gets One: Screenwriter Eric Monte based the screenplay on his own experiences attending Cooley High and living in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green housing project. After dropping out of Cooley High his junior year, Monte moved to Hollywood and became a writer for “All in the Family” and eventually “The Jeffersons” and “Good Times”. Michael Schultz started off as a stage director, with a TV adaptation of his production of “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black” leading to more film and TV opportunities.

Title Track/Wow, That’s Dated: “Cooley High” was the nickname for Edwin Gilbert Cooley Vocational High School in Chicago’s Near North Side. Sadly, the school is one of the film’s dated qualities; it closed in 1979 and was demolished two years later.

• What is it with Chicago and car chases? The chase between our friends in the Cadillac and the police is one of those moments that’s almost “American Graffiti” but not quite. Fortunately, it turns out this car chase is actually relevant to what little plot this film has.

• Another unexpected moment for me: Godzilla! The movie everyone goes to see in the theater before the big fight is 1964’s “Mothra vs. Godzilla”. The only thing more unexpected than seeing this movie within a movie is that Godzilla took second billing in one of his own films!

• The scene where Preach and Brenda have sex for the first time highlights the dangers of making out with your glasses on. Been there. Also, flute music during a sex scene. Very tasteful.
• In the opening credits, Garrett Morris gets third billing as the strict but supportive teacher Mr. Mason, yet he doesn’t show up until about two-thirds of the way through the movie. Did he have earlier scenes that got cut? Anyway, I’m glad he shows up, the movie could use an adult figure that wasn’t one of the kids’ absent parents. Like Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Garrett Morris was just a few months away from his most iconic TV role as one of the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players on “Saturday Night Live” (or “NBC’s Saturday Night” as it was known at the time).

• [Spoilers] Goddamit, did this movie have to go tragic? The film had a fun, easy-going vibe up to this point, and Cochise’s death is a cold splash of harsh reality. In all fairness, this was based off an actual experience Eric Monte had in high school with one of his friends.
• The song playing at Cochise’s funeral is “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday”, the only song written especially for the “Cooley High” soundtrack. If it sounds familiar, you’re probably thinking of a cover that we’ll discuss in the “Legacy” section.

• Another “American Graffiti” comparison: A “What happened to everyone” epilogue text. One character apparently died during the violence at the 1968 Democratic Convention. Do you think Haskell Wexler saw it?

• As of this writing, both Glynn Turman and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs are still with us and actively working. In 2008, Glynn Turman won an Emmy for his work on the HBO drama “In Treatment”.
• “Cooley Hight” inspired two different sets of “Boyz” in 1991. As previously mentioned, John Singleton’s “Boyz n the Hood” definitely shares some DNA with this movie (mainly a major character with a scholarship and a tragic end). That same year, the singing group Boyz II Men released their debut album “Cooleyhighharmony”, which featured a cover of “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday”.

• Among other filmmakers inspired by “Cooley High” are Spike Lee and Robert Townsend, the latter of whom makes their film debut in “Cooley” as one of Preach and Cochise’s classmates.
• Eric Monte adapted “Cooley High” into a series for ABC, but after the pilot was poorly received, the show was retooled, with a new set of characters in L.A.’s Watts neighborhood, and became “What’s Happening!!” That’s right, an NFR movie is responsible for the Rerun dance.

Listen to This: Three songs from the “Cooley High” soundtrack have found their way onto the National Recording Registry: Martha and the Vandellas’ “Dancing in the Street”, The Temptations’ “My Girl”, and The Four Tops’ “Reach Out I’ll Be There”.

December 30th, 2008: The NFR reaches 500 movies (and 20 years) with the Class of 2008. As always, here’s my retrospective on those 25 films:

• White Fawn’s Devotion (1910): “barely passes by my standards for preservation, but hey, so do a lot of movies on this list.”
• The Perils of Pauline (1914): “the film serial that started it all”
• One Week (1920): “you can see how much of [Buster Keaton’s] comic genius was already on display”
• Foolish Wives (1922): “excess for the sake of excess…this one may just be for the film buffs.”
• So’s Your Old Man (1926): “[W.C.] Fields’ best work was in the sound era”, “this spot could have gone to someone else.”
• Hallelujah (1929): “‘Hallelujah’ crawled so that other, better movies could run.”
• The Invisible Man (1933): “certainly holds up better than most other monster films of the era.”
• Sergeant York (1941): “a memorial to a real-life American hero”
• George Stevens’ World War II Footage (1943-1946): “as close as we’ll ever get to seeing the war as it actually was.”
• The Killers (1946): “a great noir film with a well-crafted mystery”
• The Asphalt Jungle (1950): “quite possibly the best ensemble of ‘50s character actors in one film”
• Johnny Guitar (1954): “What the hell was that?”
• Disneyland Dream (1956): “a home movie that commands repeat viewings”.
• On the Bowery (1956): “a capsule of a long-forgotten American life, told in a unique, enticing format.” 
• A Face in the Crowd (1957): “ahead of its time, and just keeps getting more and more accurate.”
• The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958): “on this list by virtue of its kick-ass stop-motion technology”
• Free Radicals (1958/1979): “hits by trifecta for NFR experimental entries: It’s engaging, it’s representative of an important artist…and above all, it’s short.”
• Flower Drum Song (1961): “a second-rate film adaptation of a second-rate Rodgers and Hammerstein musical”
• The March (1964): “a succinct film that gives you a healthy sample of what that day was like.”
• The Pawnbroker (1964): “successfully translates the novel’s themes of isolation and grief into a visual medium”
• In Cold Blood (1967): “more-or-less invent[ed] the true crime film genre.”
• Deliverance (1972): “a strong movie with an equally strong legacy…complete with iconic banjo music!”
• …No Lies (1973): “a pass for NFR inclusion for its strong emotional resonance”
• The Terminator (1984): “The film’s lasting influence cannot be denied.”
• Water and Power (1989): “I just wish I knew what it all meant.”

You can currently watch “Water and Power” here.

The Plot: How the hell do I describe “Water and Power”? Well, it’s about 55 minutes long, and it centers around Owens Valley, L.A.’s primary water source, and how the area around it has become a mini-desert. It was directed by legendary experimental filmmaker Pat O’Neill, who describes it “a landscape film that became animated by the beginnings of human stories”. There’s plenty of timelapse photography and photoscopic effects conveying the valley’s overall decay and…yeah that’s about it.

Why It Matters: The NFR praises the film as “a brilliant examination of water in all its forms”.

But Does It Really?: As you’ve probably already guessed, I don’t have much to say about “Water and Power”. There’s some beautiful compositions throughout, and the whole thing gave me “Koyaanisqatsi” vibes, I just wish I knew what it all meant. It’s not so much a “Staring at Water” movie as it is a “Staring at a Lack of Water” movie. “Water and Power” is the kind of experimental film that should be playing on a loop in a museum somewhere, where the film can be given proper context and O’Neill can be given his due as an artist, but watching it as a standalone feature was a confusing experience for me, especially given my lack of knowledge of Los Angeles. I’ll give “Water and Power” a pass as another NFR entry that shines a light on L.A., but that’s about as generous as I’m feeling.

Shout Outs: There’s a handful of silent film clips interspersed throughout the film, and I’m pretty sure one of them is from “The Last Command”.

Everybody Gets One: Raised in Inglewood, Pat O’Neill became interested in filmmaking while studying photography in art school. Allmost all of Pat O’Neill’s films center around Los Angeles, starting with his 1963 short “By the Sea”, filmed on location at Muscle Beach. Although O’Neill has talked at length about making “Water and Power”, he’s not quite sure where the initial idea for the film came from: “I grabbed it, wherever I got it.” Oh, and in keeping with a longtime NFR tradition, Pat O’Neill is a UCLA graduate.

Seriously, Oscars?: No Oscar nomination, though “Water and Power” did win the Sundance Grand Jury prize in 1990. 1989’s Oscar winner for Best Documentary Feature was fellow NFR entry “Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt”.

I realized while writing this post that I’ve never actually compiled a list of the “Staring at Water” movies that I reference every so often on this blog, and after almost 10 years it’s time to do something about that. Here are the NFR entries that are either fully or in part lingering shots of water with little narration or context: