Posts Tagged ‘paul newman’

I typically try to write reviews for every individual Blu-ray I receive in the mail (well, the good ones), but after a crazy hectic June I came home late last week to find a stack of great movies sitting on my doorstep. All were released in the last few weeks, but the thought of tackling all of them was overwhelming. I won’t write about movies just because I receive them, but these six warrant attention:

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I am young, by cinematic standards. I didn’t grow up in the 40′s and 50′s where the film industry was still, in many ways, relatively young. I haven’t had sixty years to watch movies and say with sincerity that dozens of films from the 1940′s are masterpieces. I do see old movies and appreciate them – and sometimes love them – but not all old films are great just because other people say there are. Take Cool Hand Luke, for example. It’s ranked #118 on IMDB’s Top 250, which means that there are only 117 films that are better. In the world. I’m sorry, folks, but Cool Hand Luke isn’t that good.

Cool Hand Luke is a pretty good movie starring the late Paul Newman, but I’d have to say my reaction to the film was lukewarm at best – forgive the quasi-pun. The movie is about some cool dude named Luke who’s a bit of a troublemaker, so much so that he finds himself in a minimum security prison for two years for destruction of private property. However, the rural prison can’t hold a man like Luke, physically or mentally. Constantly beaten down, Luke refuses to give up, and often escapes – only to be dragged back in time after time. After his mother dies, though, the warden sets all sights on Luke, determined to break him.

The movie features some good and likable performances from a recognizable cast. George Kennedy delivers a great performance as Luke’s eventual sidekick, and Newman himself turns in a quality performance. Unfortunately, while Newman is good, his subtle performance – and the movie’s subtle approach – just didn’t work for me. I wouldn’t say that the movie doesn’t stand the test of time; now out on a new DVD, the film looks great, especially when the scantily clad woman is washing her car. The writing, direction and look and feel all hold up well.

It’s just that the movie is sort of boring. I like character-driven stories, but Cool Hand Luke just isn’t one of those stories. Its plot is minimal at best, and I never felt like I could connect with Luke or any of the other characters. Ultimately, Luke keeps resisting and escaping, but I don’t care.

There’s not much more to it than that. Cool Hand Luke isn’t a bad movie, but it certainly isn’t one of the world’s top 250 movies.

Legendary actor Paul Newman has died at the age of 83 after a battle with cancer. And no, to those readers who haven’t appreciated my fake articles, this is no joke.

He had most lately been attached to a project to direct Of Mice and Men in the fall, but dropped that earlier this year for “unspecified health reasons.”

I just watched Cool Hand Luke the other day (review coming soon), but Newman is known for a lot more than just that film. I have to admit that, having grown up in the 1980′s, I really haven’t seen that many Paul Newman movies for some reason, but he’s always been considered one of the classiest and most respectable actors in the world… and that guy on the salad dressing bottles.

Anyway, I won’t drag on any long emotional thoughts as that’s not my thing – but it’s a sad thing to wake up to on this Saturday morning.