Apocalypse Now is my favourite war film and I have owned the DVD for many years. Last night however was the first time I watched all the “extras”. Here the director Francis Ford Coppola explains the ending.

Apocalypse Now was originally issued with no credits at the start or finish, instead cinema goers were presented with a film programme. When editing the film for worldwide release Francis Ford Coppola realised handing out programmes was impractical, and so credits were included at the end.

Lists are great. You have to think of your favourite things, and then get them into some sort of order. The shorter the list, the harder it is, because you have to leave stuff out.  

Nick Hornby wrote a very funny novel called ‘High Fidelity’ about a bloke who was always making lists. He constantly rearranged his record collection, and thought about the top 10 guitarists or drummers, especially when he had girlfriend troubles.

11) “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.”  Captain Strother Martin, ‘Cool Hand Luke’ 1967
12) “I love the smell of napalm in the morning!” Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore, Robert Duvall ‘Apocalypse Now’ 1979
13) “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Jennifer Cavilleri Barrett, Ali MacGraw ‘Love Story’ 1970
14) “The stuff that dreams are made of.”  Sam Spade, Humphrey Bogart ‘The Maltese Falcon’ 1941 (Also Shakespeare)!
15) “E.T. phone home.” E.T. , Pat Welsh ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1982
16) “They call me Mister Tibbs!” Virgil Tibbs, Sidney Poitier ‘In the Heat of the Night’ 1967
17) “Rosebud.” Charles Foster Kane, Orson Welles ‘Citizen Kane’ 1941
18) “Made it, Ma! Top of the world!” Arthur “Cody” Jarrett, James Cagney ‘White Heat’ 1949
19) “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” Howard Beale, Peter Finch ‘Network’ 1976
20) “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Rick Blaine, Humphrey Bogart ‘Casablanca’ 1942

1) “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Rhett Butler, Clark Gable ‘Gone with the Wind’ 1939
2) “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.” Don Vito Corleone, Marlon Brando ‘The Godfather’ 1972
3) “You don’t understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.”  Terry Malloy, Marlon Brando ‘On the Waterfront’ 1954
4) “Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” Dorothy Gale, Judy Garland ‘The Wizard of Oz’ 1939
5) “Here’s looking at you, kid.” Rick Blaine, Humphrey Bogart ‘Casablanca’ 1942
6) “Go ahead, make my day” Harry Callahan, Clint Eastwood ‘Sudden Impact’ 1983
7)“All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.”  Norma Desmond, Gloria Swanson ‘Sunset Boulevard’ 1950
8 ) “May the Force be with you.” Han Solo, Harrison Ford ‘Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope’ 1977
9)“Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.” Margo Channing, Bette Davis ‘All About Eve’ 1950
10) “You talkin’ to me?” Travis Bickle, Robert De Niro ‘Taxi Driver’ 1976

I confess that this was prompted by my falling asleep during a new extended version of the 1926 silent film ‘Metropolis’. It’s definitely boring, but not the most boring film I have ever seen. That accolade goes to Gosford Park by Robert Altman.

For those of you lucky enough not to have seen Gosford Park, here’s what happens – nothing. That’s the whole film, nothing happens. The only entertaining part is the competition among the audience to see who falls asleep first.

The American Film Institute have named my favourite movie as the best Science Fiction film of all time;  2001 A Space Odyssey directed by Stanley Kubrick in 1968. The full list is here:
 

The film Clockwork Orange was banned in the UK because the director Stanley Kubrick feared British society could not cope with the ‘ultra-violence’ it depicted. There had been tabloid newspaper reports of ‘copycat’ violence breaking out after the film was released, and Kubrick himself had received death threats.

What made Clockwork Orange so controversial?

It was beautifully filmed and used Beethoven as the soundtrack. The violent scenes were often in slow motion with almost balletic aspects. 

Alex and his feral gang had their own uniform of white boiler suits, black braces and a bowler hat. They even had their own language. “Horror show” meant ‘good’ or ‘wicked’ in todays terms.  The overall effect was to glorify violence and make it seem trendy and fun. Not a good message for the youth of Britain.

“Shoot all the Bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a Mockingbird.” 

Atticus Finch gives this advice to his children as he defends the real Mockingbird of this pulitzer prize winning novel, Tom Robinson a black man falsely accused of raping a white girl.

As I read this book I remembered the film with Gregory Peck
who portrays one of the great heroes of literature, a lawyer whose lone struggle for justice pricks the conscience of a town steeped in prejudice and hypocrisy.

Although I’m an atheist I am interested in religious beliefs, metaphysics and philosophy. I am however a lazy atheist, so I like to explore these concepts, NOT in academic text books, but in science fiction novels.

CONTACT is a novel by the late scientist Carl Sagan about first contact with alien lifeforms. Sagan’s enthusiasm and belief in Alien Intelligences led to the establishment of SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestial Intelligence).

Contact was an excellent science fiction novel exploring themes of religious belief, science, rationality, faith and god. Contact is also a hollywood film staring Jodie Foster. The film version however, left out my favourite part of the book.

I like to read for pleasure, and Science Fiction gives me the greatest pleasure of all………..Sorry, SECOND greatest pleasure; (Thanks for reminding me Margaret).

When I choose a science fiction book I usually go for a title with ‘God’ or ‘Eternity’ or ‘Infinity’ in it. I want to travel to the furthest reaches of human imagination. I usually enjoy the book but I’m almost inevitably disappointed by the conclusion. 

I’m looking for the answer to “life, the universe and everything” (as Douglas Adams would say), but it’s obviously naive of me to think a science fiction author has got all the answers.