RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 15/4/2011 9:33:17 PM

impqueen

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quote:

ORIGINAL: rawlinson

quote:

ORIGINAL: impqueen

I quite like Six...

You know he'd like that cat...

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 16/4/2011 6:42:42 PM

elab49

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I forgot to add to the above review - I also find very amusing the rather sardonic use of 'All By Myself' in the footage of Basse Terre

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 16/4/2011 6:46:34 PM

chris_scott01

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Finally one I've seen. Good film.

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Post #: 333

RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 17/4/2011 3:44:18 PM

elab49

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The Mouse and His Child (Swenson/Wolf, 1977)

A toy mice set, father and son, is thrown out of the toy shop into the harsh real world. Joined together at the hands they encounter Manny, a rat/slave master, on their journey to become self-winding.

It's fairly clear where the allusions to Pinocchio come from, both the desire to become independent (self-winding) and within the narrative the character of Manny not entirely distinct from a cross between Stromboli and the Coachman, and it can be quite as dark as that story was. The general madness of the rats, e.g. the pinball ride, also kind of recalls the weasels et all in Wind in the Willows.

One of the most interesting aspects of the film is the weakness of the father. He isn't the source of parental strength you normally see in animated films - while the child is asking serious questions his father offers the normal meaningless platitudes that parents everywhere use as a failed form of reassurance for their growing offspring. So the little boy mouse not only seeks separation from the parent but a stronger family unit, blithely assigning mother and sister roles to stronger characters in the elephant and the seal which is quite fascinating.

It's nicely drawn with a generally jazzy soundtrack and some great voice work (including the likes of Peter Ustinov as Manny with Cloris Leachman in a smaller role) and it can get a little surreal at times. I'm not sure I'd show it to a child, but it should be looked out by anyone with an interest in fascinating pieces of animation.

It's not the highest animated feature in this list though....

< Message edited by elab49 -- 18/4/2011 3:49:52 PM >

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Post #: 334

RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 17/4/2011 3:44:21 PM

elab49

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The Black Panther (Merrick, 1977)

Based on the life of Donald Neilsen, Black Panther (a nickname given to him during his crime spree), tracks the escalation from low-key armed robbery to murder to kidnap of a former 'most wanted'. It's split between Neilsen's life in the wild, living off the land in woodlands round the areas he targeted and a frighteningly controlled homelife where his wife and daughter live in terror of him.

It's another on this list thanks to Rawlinson and it's sad that such a superb little film has dropped completely out of notice. It succeeds not only because of the way it handles the criminal side of Neilsen's world, but also because it's one of the best films on domestic abuse I've seen � the character at home is very similar to the father in Distant Voices, Still Lives. There are no hysterics or glaringly obvious melodrama on show � the initial atmosphere and the wonderful performances give you a very good idea of how the house runs with virtually nothing needing to be said.

Sumpter is one of those actors that you'd probably recognise and not really place. Recently he's been in both Sarah-Jane and Spooks, and was particularly good in the latter. But in this ignored little film he's Oscar-worthy. So much of it depends on him, with long stretches just him in the woods, killing and eating, setting up traps, or in his workroom at home planning. Compelling and convincing, he's particularly good in dealing with the kidnap victim, almost trying to persuade himself that killing her is a line he won't cross.

A few years back one of the most popular new crime books was called River of Darkness by Rennie Airth. Set after WW1, the culprit also spent a lot of time in the woods between crimes, living off the land and completely comfortable there. It reminded me a bit of this.

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 17/4/2011 5:02:40 PM

rawlinson

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Excellent choices, both.

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Post #: 336

RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 17/4/2011 5:09:57 PM

elab49

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Actually I should have given the nod to you for both - I wouldn't have looked out A Mouse and His Child if it hadn't been for your list either

I can say it now though - your ranking of Black Panther. Too low!

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 17/4/2011 5:14:47 PM

rawlinson

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Everything so far is joint 21 on my list.

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Post #: 338

RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 17/4/2011 5:16:39 PM

elab49

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I'm kind of about there as well. I already wish I'd reorded. I put in a DVD to rewatch last night, got half an hour in and though 'wait a minute, this has to be higher!' - every damn list the same damn problem. I should do them all without rewatching and just accept they are the 50 but the order is skewiff

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 17/4/2011 5:19:06 PM

rawlinson

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I'm getting that a lot when trying to put together lists for the various polls. I'm realising putting things in certain order is contradicting the way I placed them for this list. It's absolutely impossible to really rank these things in order beyond how you feel at that moment, I think.

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 17/4/2011 5:29:09 PM

elab49

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Exactly. I'm already playing about with the order of my 2000 list in the top 100 watched list for the year, now I'm comparing them against different films so the context changes.

< Message edited by elab49 -- 18/4/2011 12:35:21 AM >

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 17/4/2011 11:07:10 PM

rawlinson

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quote:

ORIGINAL: elab49

It's not the highest animated feature in this list though....

Got to be Dot and the Kangaroo.

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 18/4/2011 12:28:18 AM

Gimli The Dwarf

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That's two more animated films to try and work my way through!

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 18/4/2011 12:46:51 AM

rawlinson

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Two more?

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 18/4/2011 12:50:42 AM

elab49

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I think Gimli might be working through the Dot series too.

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 18/4/2011 12:55:32 AM

rawlinson

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Watch out for the Bunyip.

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I would plough my way through MonsterCat

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I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 18/4/2011 12:56:17 AM

rawlinson

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Your missing animated film, I'm hoping it's Wizards, but I'm fairly sure it's The Rescuers.

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I would plough my way through MonsterCat

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I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 18/4/2011 1:07:57 AM

elab49

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I've already put a review of Wizards in the top 100 thread.

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 18/4/2011 1:26:55 AM

rawlinson

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But Wizards is better than The Rescuers.

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I would plough my way through MonsterCat

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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 349

RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 18/4/2011 2:39:01 AM

Gimli The Dwarf

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Does Wizards have an albatross named Orville? If not I doubt it's as good as The Rescuers.

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So, sir, we let him have it right up! And I have to report, sir, he did not like it, sir.

Fellow scientists, poindexters, geeks.

Yeah, Mr. White! Yeah, science!

Much more better!

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 18/4/2011 6:59:41 AM

elab49

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Evinrude

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 18/4/2011 1:36:20 PM

great_badir

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Jeez, Black Panther - now that's a blast from the TV past.

Christ, it's been, what...at least fifteen years since I've seen it, probably closer to twenty.

Was it any good? I really can't remember.

It's weird, though - no matter how many things I see Donald Sumpter in (and he's a busy actor), the only thing I can ever actually remember him for is shoving his, ahem, gentleman's snausage into Naveen Andrews' mouth (off-screen) in The Buddha of Suburbia.

As for The Mouse and His Child - that one appears to have completely shot over me. I've never even heard of the original book!

EDIT - forgot to mention La Soufriere. Great film. Have I said how much I love Herzog!?!? If I'd have done any better in the (sore point) Empire Thunderdome, he'd have been on my front cover of the mag. And it would have been the poorest selling edition in their history.

Anyway, always makes me giggle that here's this massively dangerous volcano that looks as if it's about to blow its top and has cleared all bar one of the island's inhabitants, yet there's Herzog and his two-man crew wandering around on the edge of it in jeans and t-shirts. You have to love that crazy bastard.

< Message edited by great_badir -- 18/4/2011 1:44:53 PM >

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 18/4/2011 3:43:21 PM

rawlinson

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From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

20.
The Mouse and His Child
(Charles Swenson, Fred Wolf)

Bizarrely attacked by critics on its initial release, The Mouse and His Child seems to have become forgotten by everyone except by those who had their fragile young minds twisted by it. The main characters, two clockwork mice, who hold hands and can only walk in a circle befriend a toy elephant and seal before they're thrown away from the toyshop. The two mice long to find their way back to this odd but loving family, and to become 'self-winding' along the way. The outside world is depicted as a terrifying, unsafe, place where characters like Manny the Rat (Peter Ustinov, brilliant as ever in his voice work) enslaves toys he can use for slave labour and destroys those who are too old to work any longer.

The Mouse and His Child could have gone for the easy option, there is a very sweet-natured streak running through the film and it would have been all too easy to embrace that and make the film sickly sentimental. Instead, it focuses on darker, more thoughtful, and more philosophical issues. The film can be incredibly distressing for children. Manny's destruction of some of the animals pushes the film well beyond the territory of Bambi's Mother. Although many claim the more insightful aspects have been blunted from the original novel, it certainly still gives you plenty to think about. In particular, the journey to become self-winding reflects a child's journey to adulthood and independent thought, where you no longer are ruled by those who turn the key in your back. A brilliant, sadly forgotten film

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I would plough my way through MonsterCat

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I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 18/4/2011 3:54:45 PM

elab49

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Yes! Another snap

I am rather glad I saw this as a grown up though - you still sound slightly traumatised

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 18/4/2011 4:01:54 PM

rawlinson

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From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

I'm amazed so many people missed it as a child.

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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 355

RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 18/4/2011 4:09:13 PM

elab49

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I have no recollection of it at all - and I'm sure if it had been shown at our local fleapit we'd have been taken as we were to all the animated and Disney stuff.

I may try for an unprecedented update of 3 this evening if I have the time. I'm still playing with the final 10 and their order, though.

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RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 18/4/2011 4:53:38 PM

rawlinson

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From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

I'm pretty happy with the order right now, but that could easily change by tomorrow.

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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 357

RE: Rawlinson & Elab's top 50s of the year 1977 - 18/4/2011 4:55:01 PM

rawlinson

Posts: 40194
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

19.
Short Eyes
(Robert M. Young)

Clark Davis (Bruce Davison) is young, white and middle-class, coming into a prison environment with a majority of black and Puerto Rican prisoners, all of whom are taught to stick to their own kind. While most prisoners are immediately adopted by their own racial groups, this isn't possible for Clark, because he's a short eyes - prison slang for a paedophile. Arrested for the suspected rape of a little girl, Clark claims he doesn't remember the event, but he makes other confessions to the only man who treats him with decency, another prisoner, Juan. Juan knows David could walk free if he doesn't report his confessions, but the other prisoners might take care of the problem for him.

Set and filmed in The Tombs, a notorious Manhattan prison, this was written as an off-broadway play by Miguel Pinero a man who was himself once an inmate of Sing Sing (he wrote the play while imprisoned). The play was a huge, Tony-nominated, success, and you can feel the film's theatrical roots all through the film, in the staging and in the soliloquies given to the prisoners. But while many a play or film of this kind can fall victim to a certain kind of self-consciousness to the dialogue, here it manages to be raw and vital, no doubt because the dialogue comes from the mind of a man who lived through his scenarios. There's also a certain languid pacing that feels more theatrical than cinematic, but it works to its advantage because the film is allowed to take the time to set up the prison world, giving us a first act that introduces us to various factions and the behaviours and politics of the prison, before introducing us to our lead and the thrust of the drama. The cast of largely non-pro former cons is excellent, with Davison giving a powerhouse performance in a role that should have made him a star. Short Eyes is an extraordinary prison film, one that puts most others in its genre to shame.

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