We Just Want To Say Two Words To You: Plastics, The Graduate
By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 29, 2012 4:00PM
Plastics.
Screening at the Music Box this week in a brand spankin' new 35mm print for its 45th anniversary, The Graduate is one of those movies that completely changed the rules when it was released. And like many other movies in that category, it's one we all tend to take for granted now. Mike Nichols, who garnered a $1 million-fee for the movie (the first ever), took what he needed from the French New Wave and applied it to Southern California. The movie made stars of Dustin Hoffman and Katharine Ross, not to mention Anne Bancroft's leg, as well as shooting Simon & Garfunkel to the top of the pop charts. Two lines from the movie (including, of course, "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?") are those rare quotes that find themselves reused in a variety of contexts.
The Graduate is one of the movies profiled in Pictures at a Revolution, by Mark Harris. The book does an amazing job of clearing the cobwebs away, and reading it has made us eager to give the movie another viewing. We admit that it's been awhile. But on such a hot weekend, doesn't relaxing by the pool with Benjamin sound like a wonderful way to spend a few hours?
The Music Box Theatre is at 3733 N. Southport Ave.