The French Connection

Memorial Day began and continues as a United States Holiday to honor the Women and Men who have sacrificed their lives in service to their country. Sadly, this is often forgotten or ignored.

Although parades are less common, Memorial Day is now celebrated with a 3 day weekend in May, and is often considered the “un-official start of Summer.” Cookouts and gardening are popular activities. In recent years, Memorial Day marks the “release and opening” of what often becomes the big “Hollywood Block-Buster;” movies played at the local cinemas; on the big screen.

Without notice to my own life, I am on the verge of being one of those people who state in a foggy voice “ I haven’t been out to the movies in 40 years; since I saw Go Like The Wind!”

“ Ahhhhh….Zulu, that’s “Gone With The Wind!”

“What?” 

(P.S- I haven’t seen, or want to see that movie either, but it does have some famous quotes many people know.)

Anyway, this morning for absolutely no reason whatsoever, the idea of the famous car chase from the movie, “The French Connection” popped into my head. I had seen clips here and there, but besides the complete randomness of it all, I have never actually seen the movie “The French Connection.”

As you may have guessed, I began to wonder about all the other movies I have some inclination of but have never seen. I “googled” the 5 Greatest Movies and 10 greatest movies of all time. It turns out I had only seen one from each list. That’s fine with me; I don’t feel a great void in my life for it.

So lets throw out something; I will list 5 “classic” movies that I have never seen but know something about, and how the modern world will rate it.

Let’s Go!

1. The French Connection. Suddenly, I would now like to see this movie. It seems it’s most famous for the car chase scene through New York City. A master class and bench mark in “Action Cinema.” Today viewers would think; “No big deal. My twice daily commute through Boston and Providence is way more harrowing than that. On top of it all, EVERYONE now is driving like a suicidal maniac while talking on a cell phone, curling their eyelashes, or staring at their GPS, despite the fact that they still don’t know the route to work even though they’ve been making the trip twice a day, for 4 years straight. Oh, and not one person flips “The Bird” to anyone else in this movie. Believability factor? “Diminishing.”

2. Pulp Fiction. The Dance Contest scene is truly legendary; not just because of John Travolta, but by one of Chuck Berry’s all time greatest hits; “You never can tell.” Of course, the movie involves crime and violence as the plot. The truth is; I get enough of this every single day in “real life” news. Don’t even get me started on The Godfather (which thankfully I have never seen, and it appeared on both top 5/10 lists). “Yeah, yeah, yeah….I have no cinematic taste whatsoever.” Who cares!

3. The Exorcist. Nope, I haven’t seen this one either. I am not a big fan of horror movies at all, but I have recently come to thoroughly enjoy some Stephen King projects and inspirations like the recent movie “The Life of Chuck,” and the TV show “Haven.” One of our loyal readers, Anno Domani insists I HAVE to watch “The Exorcist,” but I have held out. Oddly enough, it was Anno Domani who turned me on to the Keanu Reeves movie “Constantine;” a movie about a man who exercises demons. It was a fantastic film….well in my simple mind only. Some consider “The Exorcist” as the ultimate horror movie by which all others will be compared. I’m not sure how that thought can possibly hold true when we all know that the pinnacle of all horror movies is obviously, “Buffy, The Vampire Slayer!” Enough said

4. Casablanca. Stamp the usual….”Haven’t Seen.”  This I would like to see. The final line of this movie; “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” is also legendary; despite needing to use that word excessively in this blog. It is a line that drifts into movies, TV shows, and books in one form or another whether people know it or not. This is not quite surprising, seeing that this move was made in 1942. What amuses me about this movie are some of the people who watch it, and suddenly have the desire to go to Morocco because they want to see an ancient land filled with pottery, camels, mule- drawn carts, stone castles and ancient artifacts. Morocco does have some of these things, but they also have 5G Cell Service, Bullet Trains, McDonalds fast food, Tick Tock, and BMW’s. Sometimes the movies are “just the movies!” 

5.  As is, only fitting for Memorial Day, let’s include a new classic; “The Great Escaper.” This is a modern British Film starring Michael Caine. I haven’t seen it because the release was limited, and now it streams on “some” PBS APP that I don’t have. I keep trying to track it down; even with a DVD format that will play in the U.S. Anyway, let’s be honest; Michael Caine could read the phone book (an archaic paper device where you could look up people’s phone numbers; think of it as an analog database for old people), and He would be great. It’s about a 90 year old World War 2 Vet who slips out of his assisted living house in the United Kingdom to attend a D-Day celebration in France. In the spirit of honesty, I have never seen the last part of “Saving Private Ryan” either….I’m not sure why. I recall not being able to finish it and then having to return the videotape to the rental store. I have to get back to it. With June 6th-D Day and Memorial Day here and now, it’s a good time to remember some Veterans.

Not everything forgotten is lost….