Midnight Oil:Movies and More

“The Anderson Tapes” (1971) starring Sean Connery  is a bit of a retro trip with a great twist in conclusion that almost makes it worth staying up for the ending. Sean Connery’s character, Duke Anderson, is all about proving that he is still at the top of his larceny game after he gets out of the slammer. He engineers a complicated heist involving several luxury apartments made more complicated by multi-layered surveillance systems.

I don’t know how things will turn out in the remake of the movie scheduled for release later in 2010. They will surely have updated surveillance equipment to replace the old reel to reel tapes that were “state of the art” in 1971. Connery, while playing Duke Anderson, doesn’t get to play with all of the super spy toys that were a part of the James Bond franchise of the same era. These days you can go down to the local electronics super store and buy yourself some of the gadgets that only Bond and the boys could have way back when. I don’t know that I’ll be paying money to go and see the remake of “The Anderson Tapes” in the theatre, but at least I can say that I’ve seen the original and, yes, I do know what happens at the end of that version! 

>>More to see: Looking for more out of life?

>>Real Life Story: David found he had to stay on top in a world of petty crimes fueled by a drug addiction. It had to end somewhere. And then things got better.

See the original trailer for "The Anderson Tapes" (1971). View also three film clips with co-stars Dyan Cannon, Christopher Walken and Alan King.



“The Late Show” (1977) with Art Carney and Lily Tomlin pairs a cranky has-been detective with a kooky young woman who hasn’t quite got her life under control. The odd couple is formed when minor crimes and misdemeanours escalate to a major blackmail and murder case. Things become unexpectedly serious both on the investigation front and the personal relationship side of things. Two slightly out of step and lonely individuals find that they have something to contribute to one another’s lives. Robert Benton directs this backward glance at the hardboiled detective film noir movies of the 1940’s à la Raymond Chandler/Philip Marlowe. The film leaves behind a surprisingly touching picture of the subject of aging thanks to good acting on the part of the lead characters and the support of Benton’s direction as well as a decent script.

See the TVO video preview for the "Never Too Late" presentation with "Nobody's Fool" and "The Late Show"

The companion piece in this series, "Nobody's Fool" with Paul Newman, Jessica Tandy, Bruce Willis and Melanie Griffith was also reviewed on Midnight Oil.

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Don't miss the entire TVOntario Interview for the "Never Too Late" episode. Included is a discussion of "Nobody's Fool" and "The Late Show" in the conversation about Hollywood films and the subject of aging.

“Soylent Green” (1973) IMDb with Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson turns out to be a surprisingly effective film for a sci-fi flick. I’ve watched it a couple of times now on TVO. Quite unexpectedly, I've been moved by its stark vision of future humanity. I don’t know exactly what it is about this film that gets me, because there is lots that is unremarkable about it by today’s audience standards. Maybe it’s the “scoops” scene, or “the furniture” or the Beethoven playing over top of Edward G. Robinson’s compelling death scene. What should be written of as just kind of corny somehow gets beyond the limitations of, well, the film’s limitations, and becomes kind of haunting. It’s worth a peek in my estimation.

This film was recently screened with Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” found in the Midnight Oil video trailer archives.

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>>On to "Who's Directing Your Life?"

Catch the video trailer for "Soylent Green" (1973) here.

The Three Musketeers (1973) IMDb from the classic Alexandre Dumas novel sports an all-star cast befitting a sprawling swashbuckler that spans over two feature-length films. Included in the line-up are Michael York, Richard Chamberlain, Oliver Reed and Frank Finlay. Also on display with an abundance of frillyness and    silliness are Raquel Welch, Faye Dunnaway, Geraldine Chaplin, Christopher Lee and Charlton Heston. Saddled with a plot that doesn't matter and  awkward costumes that do (there's something to do with the Queen's honour - or was it a love affair entangled with a diamond necklace and a conniving cardinal?) the actors  work hard to offer us un grand spectacle, as Michael York reminds us in his TVO interview. If  you're into frills and spills and not too much mental work, this may be the very film for your viewing pleasure.

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Catch the TVOntario video preview of both movies for the Three and even "The Four Musketeers" here.