The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is another in the filmspotting Angry Young Men marathon. I dug this one more than the others, mostly because I didn't think the main guy, Tom Courtenay ("The Golden Compass"), was mean for no reason. I still did not totally understand his "sticking it to the man." I feel like I would have chosen a different method. But I liked the set-up of the film. Courtenay is in a boy's reformatory and training for the sports program. As he trains, the film flashes back to his life and how he ended up in juvie. I am hoping this marathon will get a bit more uplifting. Please?
I just rewatched The Karate Kid, one of my childhood favorites, and it totally holds up. Ralph Macchio ("Beer League") is perfectly earnest as a high schooler moving from New Jersey to California and dealing with bullies who kick his ass with karate. He falls for Elizabeth Shue ("Hamlet 2") and is taken in by Pat Morita ("Act Your Age") who trains him in the right way to to use karate. It's funny. The romance between Shue and Macchio is sweet. And the role Morita plays as father/mentor is inspirational. I still love it.
I caught Escape to Witch Mountain on TCM and was quite taken in by the story of two psychic siblings trying to find their real family. The plot follows the kids from an orphanage to the home of a scheming millionaire and then as they escape to the wilderness and are picked up by a grumpy old man. The children are adorable and the things they can do are often entertaining. Although, some of the telekinesis scenes are too long. I guess at the time, the technology was new. Still a good family watch.
Doubt is all about watching Meryl Streep ("Mamma Mia!") and Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Synecdoche, New York") go at each other. The other actors are good, but these too heavy weights are mesmerizing. Streep is the principal and head nun of a catholic school in the early 60s. Hoffman is the priest who she suspects of molesting a young boy. I love how the film never confirms anything. You're just left to think about everything. Totally enjoyed it.
Once, actually, more than once, when I was very young, my parents foolishly let me watch USA's Saturday Nightmares. And there I saw The Children. Images from the film haunted me throughout my childhood. So, finally seeing it again was a really big deal for me. And, I have to admit, it's just not as scary. But there are some freaky images that, even now, are a bit chilling. The premise has a busload of children passing through a cloud leaked from a nuclear power plant. The children become deadly and anyone they touch suffers from chemical burns. Which is gruesome. And inconvenient when the parents go to hug them. Not a bad movie, but not the scariest movie ever made either.