FilmJerk Favorites

A group of unique directors and the essential works that you've got to see.

||| Francis Ford Coppola |||
Francis Ford Coppola

Coppola is an amazing talent whose inspiration and influence spans many generations. Virtually the link between the studio system of yesteryear and the independent minded filmmaker of the modern age, Coppola became the first major film director to emerge from a university degree program in filmmaking, thus legitimizing a now common route for many future filmmakers.

This Academy Award winner continues to enjoy an enormous critical and popular success due in large part to Coppola’s ability to break down an epic saga of crime and the struggle for power into the basic story of a father and his sons, punctuating the prevalent theme throughout Coppola’s oeuvre: the importance of family in today’s world. His personal portrait mixed tender moments with harsh brutality and redefined the genre of gangster films.

This intense, yet unassuming thriller has an impact that touches the viewer on a personal level and raises the question of privacy and security in a world of technology – thirty years ago! Coppola’s then virtually unknown cast is a roster of inevitable superstars, including Gene Hackman, Harrison Ford, and Robert Duvall. This Academy Award nominee for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Sound lost out to Coppola’s other great effort of the year, The Godfather: Part II.

Coppola's masterful Vietnam War-updating of Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" was the first major motion picture about the infamous “conflict”. This colossal epic was shot on location in the Philippines over the course of more than a year and contains some of the most extraordinary combat footage ever filmed. Unforgettable battle sequences and sterling performances from every cast member (including Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Laurence Fishburne, Harrison Ford, Scott Glenn, and Martin Sheen) mark this Academy Award-winning drama as a must-see for any true film fanatic.

Recommended by CarrieSpecht

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Walter Mirisch to be featured on TCM Private Screenings

By CarrieSpecht

September 27th, 2008

This Monday, September 29th, Robert Osborne will host an evening with the prolific and overwhelmingly successful produce Walter Mirisch, as the multiple Academy Award winner talks about his fascinating life and awe inspiring career in the movie business, followed by a 4-movie salute of some of the craft man's best.

Walter Mirisch to be featured on TCM Private Screenings

TCM’s salute to a well accomplished movie maker should bring a thrill to the heart of every classic movie fan. Walter Mirisch is one of those old time movie makers who lived and worked with so many talented people on numerous classics (Some LIke It Hot, The Apartment, Westside Story, Fiddler on the Roof) its a sheer joy to hear him go from one anecdote to the next, naturally dropping one iconic name after another with out pause or mock modesty. The man after all did work with these people (Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn, Jack Lemmon, Billy Wilder), often approaching them with admiration only to become a life long friend, sometimes giving said artist the most satisfying creative experience of their career (such as the case with Joel McCrea who graciously bestowed upon the then young producer a rather generous present in appreciation for work on several of McCrea’s later films).

Naturally, Robert Osborne seamlessly guides the Hollywood veteran through the highlights of his exceptional career, from the early days at a less than revered “B” movie company to the first successes and then the Oscar triumphs. The awards bestowed upon this one individual are truly enviable by any industry standard, and it can be said that it is highly unlikely we will see the likes of such a a multifaceted behind the scenes talent again.

So tune in 8pm EST Monday evening for what I believe to be one of the more fascinating Private Screenings. You’ll be treated to an inside glimpse of the world of one of Hollywood’s unseen icons and understand what it means when Mirsch quotes himself from one of his favorite stories that led to the title of his memoirs, “I thought we were making movies, not history”.

The TCM original production will be followed by the 1967 best movie Oscar winner In The Heat of The Night, an encore screening of Private Screenings, Oscar winner West Side Story, and yet another Oscar Best Picture, The Apartment - an incredible evening of fantastic films belonging to the resume of one incredible man.

My rating: A