Movie Review # 40 - The Trial of the Catonsville Nine - The Homecoming - Rocky - Opening Night - Rocky II - Where the Lilies Bloom

A decade under the influence

Six more movies reviews, don’t worry we have more showcases coming soon, but hey let’s dive in.

Today we are doin it, ever so slightly differently.

For you dear listener it is basically nothing, but for us or me specifically it feels like great fun. We have our five prepared reviews, and then we pause the pod car, watch the 6th then come back and give our freshest review ever.

Starting off today we tackle (the Trial of the Catonsville nine 1972) Sadly this isn’t streaming and is only available on VHS, it’s probably not an accident that an extremely left movie about direct action gets buried. These 2 priest brothers and 7 others grabbed all the files of those tagged to be next in the draft to Nam and publicly burned them using homemade napalm to protest the bombings. They are well spoken and unapologetic in the trial, and we hear at D.U.I. think its an important 70’s event and film that should definitely get a re release now.

Film is based off a play written by Daniel Berrigan, one of the 9.

Movie number 2 today is (the Homecoming 1973) Oh dear this movie. I will say this, in thinking about why I didn’t love it, its actually getting more thought provoking and interesting in my head. Ian Holm is great in this, and perhaps now let us move on to something with a little more passion for life.

(Rocky 1976) I’m sorry, but I had seen this film so many times before realizing that Sly pretty much runs the whole show, and is quite underrated. He wrote most if not all the Rocky’s, and heck he wrote first blood. He did not direct this one though that’s the next movie. Our director here is John G Avildson of karate kid fame. Not sure what to say here, but we do say a lot, now this movie did very well at the box office and the oscars, is it deserved, let’s see. Personally I’d of given the best picture to 2 over one because there is simply less Paulie in it. you can just listen so let’s move on shall we.

(Opening night 1977) Our 2nd John Cassavettes film. Here have a decade under the influence favorite Gena Rowlands giving a breathtaking performance as stage and screen star Myrtle Gordan. Say what you will but she rules and this film really takes you inside of a stage production, I mean really in there. Listen and we’ll tell you if there’s issues but issues or no, this for us was really quite something to see.

Next up we have for you (Rocky II 1979). Sly IS writer and director here and this is another film that I do have a memory of seeing in the theater in 79. I was 8 and remember it as, pretty great for a non Star Wars movie. High praise indeed. I should have said before but Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith, and awesome Carl Weathers are all back again and pretty great, also Burt Young as Paulie, great actor douchee character.

Finally today we pull the pod car over and pause to watch then review

(where the lilies bloom 1974) another 70’s rated g family film that doesn’t really seem all that family or G. Is it insulting to intelligence and kids now to just give them a simple story cartoon and call it good. Wall E is pretty darn heavy actually.

I liked that I watched some pretty heavy films as a kid, now they didn’t scar me like some of my friends were by being taken to go see Alien when they were 7 just so the parents could see Alien. Our friend of the pod Eddie was even taken to see the Texas chainsaw massacre and told to NOT look at the screen. I on the other hand was taken to see heavy themed Ordinary people at 8 or 9 and shown one flew over the cuckoo’s nest as a kid and these are still 2 of my most favorite movies and I don’t feel I was scarred or that I didn’t understand the concepts as a kid, I understand them better now, but I love the journey of re watching great movies or re looking at good art or music over the years, here’s to the journey. Thanks so much for listening.