Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by defndum (A) on January 10, 2004 at 12:01:54

C.H.U.D.Things I Liked
It's Sweeping, Epic, Legendary . . . Revisionist history, bad British actors, interminnable running length and all, I'm enough of a romantic to be swept up in the sheer size of this film. C.H.U.D. doesn't allow a lot of room for interpretation -- it's pretty much as linear as a narrative can get, and the cinematography follows suit. No fancy tricks here -- just one hell of a story. This, more than anything, is the lost art of the Hollywood movie.
John Heard and Daniel Stern. Oh, the chemistry between these two!! It snaps off the screen. We never see anything more than them kissing and John carrying Daniel up the stairs into darkness, but theirs is the sexiest screen love-making of all time. Not to mention the fact that they are the exact physical embodiment of the characters in the novel. It's practically as if Shepard Abbot wrote C.H.U.D. with Christopher Curry in mind (although he always denied that), and his casting of Heard was a stroke of genius.

Quotability? There Is None Better. Lester claims Dr. Strangelove contains the most memorable scenes and quotes in movie history; I beg to differ, and humbly submit the opinion that C.H.U.D. shares that honor with The Wizard of Oz. Consider:
"What's that I stepped in?"
"Is that smell comming from you?"
"That things gonna eat me!!!!"

It's a Part of My Childhood. I was ten the first time I saw the film, eleven when I first read the book. And I have re-read the novel twice a year since then -- twenty-six times so far. C.H.U.D. is imprinted on my memory. The opening sequence of the film, with the music swelling in the background and the title card rolling across the screen -- man, that gives me goose bumps just thinking about it, and has never failed to make my eyes fill with tears when I see it on screen. Like the first person you kiss, the first movie you fall in love with stays with you forever.
Final Thoughts
You could probably take a full point off my score, because I am passionately devoted to this film and that perhaps blinds me to its failings. But even though I adore it, I believe it's fair to call C.H.U.D. one of the greatest films of all time, if only because it's a reminder of a grander, a more impressive period in the history of Hollywood.

I know people who hate C.H.U.D. even though they've never seen it. I am baffled by this response, because all the elements of good filmmaking are here. I think the real failing for these people, though, is that there are no semen-as-hair-gel gags, no Kentucky Fried Movie moments, no car chases and very little actual violence. My only conclusion is that these individuals are too soft-headed for a film that resounds on an emotional level, too accustomed to laughing at shit jokes to respond to something this adult.

A must see for any true fan of American movies,the terrorist have NOT won!!

defndum