Movies
Now that the pro cycling seasoned is official over, I figured it would be nice to give this film a go. Turns out this isn't really a film about cycling, I even wonder if director Yates ever watched an entire cycling classic/stage. Breaking Away is really a coming-of-age drama about a boy who loves to cycle. Dave is a young kid who excelled at school. After winning a bike, Dave dreams of becoming a professional cyclist. He's a big fan of the Italian team, so when they're coming to his hometown he trains like mad to beat them. His dad isn't too happy with the cycling business though, he'd rather see his son make better use of his diploma. It's a decent enough coming-of-age drama, with likeable characters, but it's also pretty forgettable. The drama is expected, the cycling bits are poorly executed, and the styling is negligible. Throw in some basic romance and a cookie cutter sports finale, and you should have a pretty good idea of what to expect.Read all
A precursor to the cinema of the 70s. Gritty, and somewhat more intense, while also having that little dash of experimentation that made the 60s an interesting era for cinema. Bullitt isn't a typical action film, it's way too controlled and stylized, it's just that I didn't really care for Yates' choices here. A hardened detective is assigned to a key witness in a Mafia case. In no time, there's a hit on the man. Bullitt wants to track down the assassins, but he also wants to know who leaked his location, suspecting there's a mole. In order to lure the killers back to him, he has to make sure his witness stays alive. There's not much dialogue, a lot of the work is done by the cinematography and the score. I appreciate the idea, but the score was quite grating and the dull colors and static camera work weren't the most appealing. Still, it's a lot better than similar attempts from that time. Slightly better than expected.Read all