The Big Sleep

Well, this is odd. A few years later, Mitchum had success with the Chandler adaptation Farewell, My Lovely, so it makes sense to do another one. But this one is set in England? In the countryside? I don’t think that’s the original setting?

See? Very English.

Hey, it’s her.

It’s probably just me, but I’ve never seen an explanation about what happened to British movies in the 70s. They had a really good thing going on until the 60s — lots of classics. And then in the 60s there were a bunch of interesting experimental stuff.

But this is basically filmed like a Carry On movie.

So… what happened to the British film industry in the 70s? Why did it die off? This is just so badly done — I mean, on a technical level. Echoey sound, boring set designs, actors that just stand there spouting off lines at each other.

Heh, there were several years where every British TV crime-related TV series and movie had this exact shot. It went out of style? Or did they get a new sign?

It’s such a frustrating movie. Above you have a car chase, and you’d think they’d use the opportunity to show some interesting sights, but it’s just this — driving around in nondescript environs. So it doesn’t even work on the “well, I’d like to see the UK in the 70s” level.

So, it’s totally what I’d expect of an 70s British movie — a bit inept.

I’m waiting for the movie to stabilise at some level… but it just gets worse and worse!

Shots like this… is this meant to be a joke? Is this entire movie a send-up of noir movies? Did they try to make a “camp” movie? Or is it just really stupid?

I have no idea! But Captain Ockham says “it’s really stupid”.

Well, you can’t say that this movie doesn’t have big names.

Rude!

That is some hairdo.

Should have gotten an Oscar for Best Light Reflector Usage, though.

It’s a really, really bad movie, but I’m upping the die because it’s a well lit movie. And because of this interview with Sarah Miles in the extras:

She really didn’t like the movie at all, and I love the way she goes (at the end) “And Michael Winner went on to do lots of movies! Good for him”. It’s the snarkiest actor interview I’ve ever seen on a disc.

The Big Sleep. Michael Winner. 1978. ⚁

Farewell, My Lovely

This is another one of those 70s neo noir movies? I think I’ve actually seen this before, on VHS in the early 80s, but I remember nothing…

This movie is kinda weird — I mean, in a technical sense. While they’re dancing, they obviously had problems with a pickup mic in her bra, so you can hear the chafing. But they kept it instead of flying in a new audio?

The director had a short career…

Man, the performances here are strictly amateur hour.

Even Mitchum is delivering his lines like he’s reading it off a card.

OK, it’s picking up now.

But it’s so weird for a neo noir movie! I mean… look at the lighting here? Could be from a 70s documentary.

And now there’s so much room echo — like they only had one mic several metres away…

Isn’t that… yes, it is.

Comics: It’s what all the prostitutes are reading.

I see signs.

OK, there’s technical problems here, and some iffy performances, but it does really nail the noir thing plot in many ways. It’s satisfyingly confusing. The only problem is the resolution, which should come as a shocking twist — but is so obvious that anybody who’s read a mystery before will call it ahead of time. I mean, there were no other candidates for who Velma was, were there?

But still — very entertaining.

Farewell My Lovely. Dick Richards. 1975. ⚄

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

EMI!? Huh?

Oh man… I think I saw this in a cinema when I was like 11? Can that be correct? And then I saw it again on VHS in the mid 80s.

But more than anything, all I remember from this movie is probably from the Mad Magazine parody of the movie, which I remember reading a bunch of times… like, the guy making the replica of the mountain in mashed potatoes? That was in there… I remember… the movie being really slow? And… the little ditty at the end?

I’m not really a Spielberg fan, but I’m looking forward to watching this again.

Business the modern movie making mind can’t comprehend. So many great details…

This movie just looks so good… the mix of models and matte paintings and practical effects… and the colours! You can’t imagine something looking this good could be made today.

They’d just CGI in all the chairs.

This had a $20M budget, which apparently is $110M in 2026 money… so, I mean, it’s a huge budget, but why can’t they make movies that look this good today with a $300M budget?

(It grossed $300M in 1977, which I guess made it one of the highest grossing movies ever? It’s like $1.5B in 2026 money?) Oh, there’s always Gone With the Wind with $4.5B inflation adjusted bucks.

Here’s the scene! “Mashed potatoes”! That’s the gloopiest, most horrible-looking mashed potatoes I’ve ever seen, though.

Total sausage fest.

It’s such a zeitgeisty movie. Sure, the gummint here is overbearing and overprotective, but it’s basically competent and well-meaning. And everybody’s working together and there’s no nazis using the UFOs to talk about chemtrails. I.e., total science fiction.

But more than that, it’s an odd movie — there’s no real villain here, and there’s very few of familiar plot threads — instead it’s just this situation that’s presented to us an lasts for over two hours. And it’s not boring! It’s very exciting!

How did Spielberg convince the studio to give him All The Money? Had Star Wars already been released? This is kinda the opposite of that, but…

Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Steven Spielberg. 1977. ⚄

(The version I watched was the 1998 “Director’s Cut” version.)