| |  | DVD Cool Hand Luke |  | | | | | | | | | | Rating:  - What we have here is a failure to communicate! (And hard-boiled eggs!)
"Oh Lucille, Lucille! Any girl with legs and a body like that has got to be named Lucille!"
*Includes roadwork, digging, a carwash, a cardgame, a egg eating, three escapes, and lots of Paul Newman smiles.
The best prison movie to date, better than Stephen King's Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. One of the best movies of all time. My favorite movie right up there with Fight Club.
Clawed - The Legend of Sasquatch
Rating: - Near Perfection
Over the years, this film has become one of the most poular and widely viewed films of all time.It is one of those rare films that is both immensely entertaining and accessible, and also takes on the "big" questions of life in an effective way.If anything, it has been underappreciated by critics.
Released in 1967, this film could almost be seen as the first example of "70's" cinema, a film that succeeds in being artistic in all of the best senses of the word.It famously addresses both the question of the place of the individual in modern society, and humanity's relationship to God, and does so in a deeply intelligent and endlessly thought-provoking way.And yet, it never comes off as even remotely pretentious and can be enjoyed by just about anyone as simply a good piece of entertainment.
The character of Luke is very much like the character R.P. McMurphy as portrayed by Jack Nicholson in Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.Both are decorated war heroes and rebels who have their freedom taken away by the system over petty offenses against society.Both are fun-loving jokers who possess incredible levels of inner strength and determination.Both decide to take on the system in a deadly battle of wills with sinister, repressive authority figures.And both end up as Christ figures, giving up their own lives, but inspiring the men around them, giving them back a sense of hope and meaning in life."Cuckoo's Nest" swept the Oscars in 1976, but "Cool Hand Luke" didn't receive its due in 1967, and its genius continues to get short shrift.Newman's portrayal of Luke as envisioned by director Stuart Rosenberg is actually more interesting than Nicholson's portrayal of McMurphy in "Cuckoo's Nest".McMurphy is a comic, charismatic force of nature, but he has little inner life.Luke, however, is fascinating as an individual who has so many gifts, but whose life is caught in a downward spiral of self-destruction.He is an individual who can do anything that he wants to do, and yet can't find it in himself to care about anything enough to do anything other than laugh and rebel, because he can see no ultimate meaning in life.He is conflicted to the very end, searching for God and for meaning but unable to find either.The best that he can do is find what peace he can through resignation and detachment, "laughing it up" the best that he can.Luke is one of the most philosophical characters in one of the most philosophical films ever brought to the screen.You learn something about life just by watching it, if you look for it.
In addition to all of this, the direction and cinematography of this film are both original and flawless.The cast is one of the best ever assembled on film.The music is a perfect fit for the storyline.The script contains some of the most quoted and quotable dialogue ever written, and a collection of unforgettable scenes.The new, deluxe edition is highly recommeded even for fans who already have the film, as it contains a very entertaining documentary piece about the making of the film, and a very interesting and thought-provoking "commentary" study of it as well.
It simply doesn't get any better than this.
Rating: - cool hand luke
i love this movie, it is an american classic. so many great small actors that get little recignition from the main stream HOLLYWOOD. SO MANY great lines that we remember as kids growing up. this movie was made on a modest budget, but looks very complex on the big screen. you will enjoy this movie if you like a vision of the old south, a big piece of americana.
Rating: - Rebel With A Cause
I don't view "Cool Hand Luke" as an indictment of our penal system.Rather, it's an allegory about senseless systemic control over a compliant underclass.Most of the prisoners in the work prison are there for such minor offenses such as passing bad checks or in the case of Luke(Paul Newman) destroying parking meters while in a drunken state. The keepers at the prison resort their charges to demeaning degradation like having them ask permission to swat a fly otherwise it's a night in the sweatbox.Along comes Luke to flaunt the authority and become a folk hero to the other inmates.However, once his mother passes Luke's anti-authoritarian streak developes a purpose and the system becomes more sadistic to set an example to the other inmates about crossing the line.This is one of Newman's many landmark performances.The look on his face when he delivers his final line says volumes.George Kennedy deservedly took home the Oscar as Luke's initial adversary and finally his acolyte.Though his screen time is short Strother Martin as the Captain leaves an indelible impact on the film.His fey delivery of his now renowned failure to communicate line leaves a chill in your bones.Lot's of good actors on hand here though, oddly enough, Dennis Hopper doesn't leave much of a mark.An unqualified classic.
Rating:  - Still shakin' the bush, boss.
Paul Newman shines (and sweats buckets) in his iconic role as the title character of this 1967 film, a ne'er do well from a southern burg who ends up on a chain gang. He's busted for cutting the "heads" off of parking meters while on a drunken spree, but by the end of this sly allegory, astute viewers will glean what his real crime is: being a non-conformist. Stuart Rosenberg's direction is assured; as is the script by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson ("Dog Day Afternoon") The highlights include Strother Martin's "failure to communicate" speech, Harry Dean Stanton singing "The Midnight Special", the, um, car wash scene and of course George Kennedy's Academy Award-winning supporting role. The cast also includes Ralph Waite, Dennis Hopper, Wayne Rogers, Anthony Zerbe (Dog Boy!), and Joy Harmon as the, um, car wash girl. Did I mention the car wash scene? It's great news to hear about a deluxe edition due in September '08, as the current DVD release is somewhat dodgy.
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