Apologies, folks: I meant to get this announcement up yesterday, but it completely slipped my mind.
1975's Rollerball was a film that a good many folks had recommended to me. I hadn't seen it, and -- though I was aware of it -- I recall reading some critical blurbs about it at that time that weren't exactly favorable. As can happen in films shot, say, a decade or two before some critic or historian discovers it, there were a scene or a sequence or two that were dated to some degree, so much so that viewed later they might seem wildly out of context (or something). So I'm pretty certain I know the footage that left this curious mark on this curious critic, and -- sure -- I was inclined to agree once I sat down and screened the film on VHS (ask your parents, kids) when I did. Setting aside that little vignette, it's easy to see why the Norman Jewison effort was as highly regarded back then and remains a story of some importance even today.
As for the rest of Jewison's career?
Well, I think it's safe to say that he wasn't a genre auteur in any stretch of the imagination. It's pretty clear that he was more concerned with conventional settings and circumstances even though there might be a picture or two that wandered a little bit outside the lines. His 1967 film In The Heat Of The Night confronts racism head-on in the heart of the Deep South, and -- even though it is about as far from genre entertainment as one can get -- it's one of my personal favorites. He made a few other like-minded, socially-conscious pictures after that -- and I see a few musicals in there -- but Rollerball stands out as a curious exception to his normal body of work (so far as I'm seeing things). Maybe that reason alone is enough for readers of SciFiHistory.Net to sit down and watch it, as I think a viewing is long past due for those of you who haven't had the pleasure.
Our warmest prayers are extended to the family, friends, and fans of Mr. Jewison.
May he forever rest in peace.
-- EZ
1975's Rollerball was a film that a good many folks had recommended to me. I hadn't seen it, and -- though I was aware of it -- I recall reading some critical blurbs about it at that time that weren't exactly favorable. As can happen in films shot, say, a decade or two before some critic or historian discovers it, there were a scene or a sequence or two that were dated to some degree, so much so that viewed later they might seem wildly out of context (or something). So I'm pretty certain I know the footage that left this curious mark on this curious critic, and -- sure -- I was inclined to agree once I sat down and screened the film on VHS (ask your parents, kids) when I did. Setting aside that little vignette, it's easy to see why the Norman Jewison effort was as highly regarded back then and remains a story of some importance even today.
As for the rest of Jewison's career?
Well, I think it's safe to say that he wasn't a genre auteur in any stretch of the imagination. It's pretty clear that he was more concerned with conventional settings and circumstances even though there might be a picture or two that wandered a little bit outside the lines. His 1967 film In The Heat Of The Night confronts racism head-on in the heart of the Deep South, and -- even though it is about as far from genre entertainment as one can get -- it's one of my personal favorites. He made a few other like-minded, socially-conscious pictures after that -- and I see a few musicals in there -- but Rollerball stands out as a curious exception to his normal body of work (so far as I'm seeing things). Maybe that reason alone is enough for readers of SciFiHistory.Net to sit down and watch it, as I think a viewing is long past due for those of you who haven't had the pleasure.
Our warmest prayers are extended to the family, friends, and fans of Mr. Jewison.
May he forever rest in peace.
-- EZ
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