1969 was a good year for movies but a bad year for bromance. In Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, our heroes went out in a blaze of glory. In Midnight Cowboy, Ratso Rizzo died on the way to paradise in Joe Buck’s arms. But the most startling offering of the year was the sudden and tragic conclusion Wyatt and Billy find at the end of Easy Rider. And while each film is remembered and revered in its own way (Butch and Sundance for its great action sequences, and Cowboy for its armada of awards) Rider is easily the most relevant of the bunch. It captures the voice of a generation—whose shouts of anger about unfulfilled promises of the American dream still resonates today.
Mon., Feb. 8, 8 p.m., 2010
