tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32685968.post8567695047638349614..comments2024-03-25T10:47:42.656-07:00Comments on Can't Explain: Midnight Cowboy (1969)Jeff Pikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17148737647138431543noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32685968.post-23969517061855920042014-07-05T12:18:14.776-07:002014-07-05T12:18:14.776-07:00Ha, classic, thanks!Ha, classic, thanks!Jeff Pikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17148737647138431543noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32685968.post-62730337373385056092014-07-05T10:43:45.969-07:002014-07-05T10:43:45.969-07:00Regrettably, it's almost impossible to come ba...Regrettably, it's almost impossible to come back to Midnight Cowboy with the right eyes after having seen SCTV's version ....<br /><br /><a href="http://youtu.be/uXevFRWMmrM?t=4m5s" rel="nofollow">Midnight Cowboy II</a>William F. Glennonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10557342274820875239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32685968.post-81758530365681461872014-07-05T09:31:39.611-07:002014-07-05T09:31:39.611-07:00Thanks Richard! Yes, I was impressed by Minnelli i...Thanks Richard! Yes, I was impressed by Minnelli in "Cuckoo" too, also always had a soft spot for that Sandpipers' theme song, "Come Saturday Morning." I didn't come back to Midnight Cowboy again until about five years ago and it really surprised me. It still feels really fresh and powerful, which I hadn't expected. Hope you like it the second time around too!Jeff Pikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17148737647138431543noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32685968.post-549829554352814722014-07-04T18:58:29.394-07:002014-07-04T18:58:29.394-07:00Richard Riegel here, Jeff. Thanks for recapitulat...Richard Riegel here, Jeff. Thanks for recapitulating "Midnight Cowboy" for us. Teresa and I saw it when it came out in '69, and were quite impressed with it, but I don't think I've seen it again since then, and you've got me very interested in catching that psychedelic party scene, as I have no memory of that segment by now. Seriocomic sequel to that primordial viewing is that I related to my parents how much we'd liked "Midnight Cowboy", so then *they* went to see it too. My-mother-the-New-Deal-liberal was open to much of the '60s rebelliousness coming from her beloved "young people," but at the same time uptight about sexual matters (Catholic girlhood), and I didn't know how she'd take Joe Buck's chosen profession and the other characters' behaviors. She reported to me later that she was initially "shocked" by some of the scenes, but came to appreciate the way Joe and Ratso cared for each other, and thought it was a good movie. One of my first successes as a practicing critic . . . <br /><br />Also very glad to see "The Sterile Cuckoo" on your Top 10 of 1969 list. Teresa and I caught that one when it was new too, and liked it. I've seen it on TV several more times in recent years, and it gets better and better for me. It really captures what American college life was like in the very middle of the '60s, just *before* all the psychedelic liberation hit us. When some tabloidizat starts tut-tutting about Liza Minnelli's current state, I think, "But have you ever seen her amazing performance in 'The Sterile Cuckoo'?" She won me for good with that one. Interestingly, I ran across a copy of John Nichols' original novel of "The Sterile Cuckoo" in an antique store a few years ago, so bought and read that. It contains the basic plot of the movie, but all kinds of extraneous subplots and weird asides as well, and seems almost surrealist compared to the movie. It made me appreciate even more how screenwriter Alvin Sargent and director Alan Pakula were able to focus the movie so intensely on the poignant discovery-and-then-loss-of-first-love heart of the story. <br /><br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com