Tuesday, July 17, 2007
MORE STUFF
Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was the second half of
It is hard not to get emotional about these times.
Kennedy was President. We had national focus. The men in the space program seemed like, and were, heroes. Not the same thing.
The film conveys this very nicely and it is hard not to get a lump in the throat having lived through it.
My room mate Paul and I were driving back for the holidays when Sputnik went up.
It was eerie. Sitting in the car listening to the beeps.
But the Russia race was not the point really. Nor was the idea of sending someone into orbit in a tin can.
It was the idea of the frontier.
A lot of the film was shot out here in the high desert. I have been to Edwards AFB and Mojave. You still can get the thrill. Some of the planes used in the film are still there to look at.
And so on.
It is a good movie. It was a better book. They could have wrecked it. They did not. I think that the 'they' who made it work is Philip Kaufman who wrote and directed.
That's Sam Shepard the film Chuck Yeager with the real Chuck Yeager. The Yeager presence frames the entire story. He is the original 'right stuff' guy.
This is a 5 out of Netflix5.
Labels: best films
