Covid Classics: Am I Just Paranoid, or Am I Stoned?
You gotta hand it to the Nixon Administration. A truly legendary conspiracy and resignation lead to some of the greatest moviemaking over the rest of the 1970s about political thrillers and corruption. 2 decades later, Green Day released Dookie, and with it, their big hit Basket Case, which is where the title of this post comes from. Not afraid to be political, Green Day became more politically charged in the 2000s, openly critical of the Bush Administration’s invasion of Iraq and other policy follies. What better way to tie two generations and pop cultures together than pairing a Green Day song with a 70s film?
I hope you have the time to listen to me whine, about nothing and everything all at once…
Surveillance expert becomes paranoid his latest assignment has started messing with his personal privacy.
Green Day Pairing
No one’s more happily unhappy being detached than Gene Hackman’s Harry Caul, so Boulevard of Broken Dreams fits like a pair of shoes that have never left Harry’s site, so he can trust them, even if they’re a little run down.
Why’s it good?
It’s amazing to think that Francis Ford Coppola made this amazing gem between two of the greatest American Movies of all time, the first 2 Godfathers. Coppola immerses us into the mindset of Hackman’s Caul, a fascinating man who wants to love and care for people, but has seen too much at his job to truly commit to any one. Hackman is brilliant displaying Caul’s teetering psychosis as his paranoia threatens to envelop everything he does. It’s an honest, unflattering portrayal that discomfits and mesmerizes the audience in equal measure, while also entertaining the hell out of everyone with the spycraft and storytelling.
Journalist investigates killing of political candidate that may or may not have ties to corporate interests.
Green Day Pairing
American Idiot couldn’t be more apt, as a reporter tries to not create news himself and uncover media and political manipulation of the masses.
Why’s it good?
The setpieces! Oh man, in this movie there are at least 3 or 4 holy sh*t moments, opening with a straight up political assassination in Seattle’s Sky Needle that’s terrifying and grand at the same time. Alan Pakula directed this movie; it was one of his early efforts to capture the 70s essence of uneasiness due to layer upon layer of corruption and malfeasance normal men like Warren Beatty’s journalist have to unfurl and endure. The plot is pretty ridiculious by the end, but think of it this way: if Pakula doesn’t learn his lessons here, we don’t get the truly perfect, legendary All The President’s Men 2 years later. I’ll settle for fun for now.
Loner man marries his one night stand whom he got pregnant with an, um, strange looking child of some kind.
Green Day Pairing
Larry Nance’s Harry Spencer dreams of a simpler time before a child complicated his life. He probably has said Wake Me Up When September Ends once or twice after becoming a father.
Why’s it good?
While I don’t always enjoy watching a David Lynch film, there’s no denying you’re watching something made by a person thinking about things differently than everyone else. This Lynch film has a very clear story it is trying to tell about a man terrified of raising a child. Lynch makes you feel unsettled in every way possible: creepy imagery, ephemeral visual trips, industrial invasive droning sound design for example. Those offputting feelings are offset by Lynch’s visionary filmmaking, unlike anything anyone has ever seen, so even though you’re uncomfortable, you’re captivated as to where the story might go next as he tries to show you the potential horrors of child rearing.
St. Jimmy‘s a restless soul incapable of cowing to systemic pressure to stay in one place, like Clint Eastwood’s Frank Morris.
Why’s it good?
Like all the other movies, there’s paranoia and corruption at the top of the San Francisco prison. Unlike those movies, this one’s more a straightforward heist film, where the heist is the prison escape. Eastwood is superb as always, but also surprisingly so is 90s weirdo Larry Hankin, as the skiddish potential escapee. The joy of this film is the details mirroring the real life prison escape, showcasing exactly how the 3 men probably got out of an island prison and the brilliant innovation they used to pull it off, knowing that true evil punishment might await them if they get caught.
A remake of the excellent 1954 film about aliens from outer space who murder a person and replace them with a replica when they awake.
Green Day Pairing
Donald Sutherland uncovers the hollow lies and tough life being thrust upon him, a life supposedly, on Holiday from feelings.
Why’s it good?
I maintain that the Body Snatchers story is the perfect science fiction story, because of its flexibility and adaptability. Every generation should retell it using their own fears. In 1954, the story was about McCarthyism. This 70s version is about political paranoia and the PTSD from Vietnam (you’re scared but alive, you go to sleep, and get replaced, but lose all sense of feeling). Philip Kaufman really dials up the fear of being followed, as he uses lots of spy camera angles that put the audience on edge and make them feel a little dirty at what they’re watching, but also a little excited. The ending goes a little too Rambo, but the coda at the end will send a chill down your spine.
Detective Philip Marlowe gets pulled into a murder mystery after learning that a friend, who Marlowe recently helped, may have murdered his own wife.
Green Day Pairing
The drug induced chill of Elliott Gould’s Philip Marlowe results in some sedate but hard lessons learned. Unpredictable, but in the end right. Good Riddance.
Why’s it good?
Robert Altman runs hot and cold for me. Let me rephrase. His “cold” is something that’s merely entertaining and mildly interesting. His hot? Something like this gem, his fusion of a detective story with 1970s LA. What we get is something that feels more like a drug induced fever dream of a movie, as Elliott Gould goes from place to place somewhat aimlessly, finding connections along the way. A great Altman film stays with you after it’s over, as you ponder how gracefully it executes what it’s trying to say. The Long Goodbye says a lot, but it masks those things under a really fun detective story, only revealing itself as the movie is about to end in that way Altman excels at.
