American Graffiti

American Graffiti was a very popular 1973 movie co-written and directed by George Lucas. Yes, that George Lucas. The movie was hit a with the critics as well and was nominated for Best Picture. Starring Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss and Cindy Williams the movie became a touchstone in seventies culture even as it revisited the innocent time of 1962 in the days of cruising all night, hot rods, and wholesome middle America.

The very popular television series Happy Days starring the same Ronny Howard is often seen as a successful attempt to capitalize on the nostalgia wave the movie produced.

For me the movie was simply nothing special. Told as the tale of one night, the last night before the characters played by Dreyfuss and Howard go off to college, the movie is not supposed to be high theater. My suspicion is that having seen Happy Days for ten years growing up, and seeing movies that capture my own youthful experiences this movie seems like a relic. There just is not that much for me, with my life experiences, to embrace.

One jarring thing for me was how young Dreyfuss looked and then comparing that in my mind with the look he presented in the Jaws movies.

Certainly Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused is the movie that makes me smile and often think of my high school experiences. When I look at certain characters in that movie I say" Hey, I knew that guy." I am sure for those folks that grew up in the fifties and early sixties this movie does the same thing.

The soundtrack was very strong, the cast as well, the movie, however, was just nothing special for me.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Close Encounters is the movie from that Star Wars, E T period that is often forgotten. A Stephen Spielberg movie, this movie is a sale of obsession. Early in the movie there is a blackout in a small nameless Western City. An electrical engineer is sent out by the power company and has a close encounter with a spaceship.

Played by Richard Dreyfuss he is the hero of the film if there is one. He becomes obsessed with visions, first forming mountains in his mashed potatoes. Eventually he scares his wife and children to the point of leaving as he is fired from his job, and builds a dirt mountain on the families dining room table.

Across the world a French scientist is exploring a phenomenon in India that seems to be related to alien encounters. Deciphering a musical note through some process that I never quite grasped they decipher the code to be longitude and latitude. This site is A Devils Mountain in Idaho.

The government creates a fake railroad spill of dangerous gasses to evacuate the area. Our electrical worker is living an unkempt life obsessing on a picture in his mind. Watching the news he sees his vision, the mountain area that is being evacuated by the government.

He travels to the area, sneaks through the military cordon and is there to witness what happens. We never really see the government folks put together what is to happen but clearly they have a good idea what is to happen.

The ending is neat, the first time I saw the movie I did not see what was coming but now watching it I am surprised I did not see it coming. It is a good movie, a bit dated surely but still entertaining.