BURT REYNOLDS
Burt Reynolds left us recently at 82. He was still charming and still working. He was a genuine football star at Florida State and some of his movies have a football motif. He was first famous (notorious?) for posing for a Cosmopolitan centerfold in 1972. It was quite a cause celebre at the time, and that issue of Cosmo quickly sold out. Reynolds greatly regretted doing this. But he had quite an interesting movie resume’ mostly in the 1970's.
Reynolds’ break-out part was the role of Lewis Medlock in the haunting Deliverance (1972). He and three friends, played by Ned Beatty, Jon Voight and Ronny Cox, decide to take a canoe trip through the northern Georgia wilderness. Things go horribly wrong, and the Beatty character is savagely raped by local hillbilly thugs. There is then murderous retribution, and a scary and fateful encounter with the river’s rapids. The lives of all the participants are forever changed (one fatally) and the fun outdoor adventure of the four city boys has become a nightmare.
In The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973) Reynolds plays Jay Grobart, widowed husband of Cat Dancing. He sets out to avenge her murder and has many adventures along the way. This includes saving Sarah Miles from her abusive husband and joining forces with Jack Warden and Lee J. Cobb to rob a train. Then it gets complicated.
Burt Reynolds plays Paul “Wrecking” Crewe, a disgraced and imprisoned NFL quarterback in the unlikely but enjoyable The Longest Yard (1974). The sadistic warden (is there any other kind in the movies?) gets up a football game between the prisoners and the guards. He orders Crewe to throw the game and the guards go ahead by 24 points. But hey, this is a Hollywood movie and the final score won’t really surprise you. There are several pallid remakes of this movie, some foreign, some domestic, none much good.
Another Reynolds football film is 1977's Semi-Tough, based on Dan Jenkins’ hilarious novel and featuring Burt and Kris Kristofferson as teammates on a fictional Miami pro team. There is a love triangle between those two and Jill Clayburgh, and a lot of satirical stuff about the self-help movement. The book is more about football and far better than the film (so what else is new?).
The Smokey And The Bandit “franchise” was custom-made for Burt Reynolds, and he played the Bandit (Bo Darville) with a wink and a grin. I’m not a big fan of these films, but I guess the best one is the first one if you like that sort of thing.
Burt Reynolds was actually nominated for an Oscar for his part in Boogie Nights (1997) a fairly rough film about the porn industry. I guess it’s good of its kind but be advised it is very graphic.
Reynolds has a cameo as himself in Mel Brooks’ very funny Silent Movie (1976). He also has a good turn in Starting Over (1979) with Jill Clayburgh.
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are for adults.
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Sunday, September 23, 2018
WAR BONDS
When I mention “war bonds” as a type of movie, I’m not talking about the bonds the government once urged us to buy. (Okay, you’re probably too young to remember that). War bonds movies are about the incredibly strong connections between men (and women) in uniform under fire. Most who have experienced this say there is nothing quite like that bond.
HBO’s exquisite Band Of Brothers (2001) is an 11-part series about one platoon of men going though World War II in Europe. There is no one in the series you’ve ever heard of, which is a strength. The men come and go, but a few are left standing at the end. The last episode consists of interviews with the living veterans who went through the experiences on which the series is based.
A superb movie about the interrelationships shared war experiences create is the little-known Big Red One (1980). Lee Marvin and Mark Hamill belong to a squadron of men who become convinced their lives are charmed and that they can make it through absolutely anything together. With one of the best screenplays ever written on this subject, Big Red One is truly a film to cherish.
We Were Soldiers (2002) is a strong entry in this category. Mel Gibson is a Harvard-educated, urbane and intuitive Colonel. Sam Elliott is a career Sergeant, tough and profane. Both are experienced professional soldiers fighting in a war (Viet Nam) that refuses to fit into any known category. The strength of the film is the connection between the soldiers. “In the end,” we’re told, “they fought for each other.”
Black Hawk Down (2002) is about a supposedly routine American strike in Somalia gone terribly wrong. It is either a strength or weakness of the film (you pick!) that it’s often hard to tell the soldiers apart. It is a cautionary tale about often-fuzzy American intentions and often-wrong American assumptions about other places. Director Ridley Scott’s action shots are fantastic, but the movie is really about war bonds. One of the soldiers sums it up: “It’s about the man next to you. That’s all it is.”
Saving Private Ryan (1998) is Steven Spielberg’s towering war epic, one of the best movies of our time of any kind. Tom Hanks heads a stellar cast. Here the story is about a very close group of Normandy survivors whose mission is to find and rescue someone they don’t even know (Private Ryan, of course). When you are surrounded by hell on earth, the thing you cling to (and depend on) is the other guy.
The more recent Last Survivor (2014) features Mark Wahlberg as the title character in an Afghanistan mission doomed by bad luck. The title unfortunately gives too much away, but it’s still quite a trip.
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups.
When I mention “war bonds” as a type of movie, I’m not talking about the bonds the government once urged us to buy. (Okay, you’re probably too young to remember that). War bonds movies are about the incredibly strong connections between men (and women) in uniform under fire. Most who have experienced this say there is nothing quite like that bond.
HBO’s exquisite Band Of Brothers (2001) is an 11-part series about one platoon of men going though World War II in Europe. There is no one in the series you’ve ever heard of, which is a strength. The men come and go, but a few are left standing at the end. The last episode consists of interviews with the living veterans who went through the experiences on which the series is based.
A superb movie about the interrelationships shared war experiences create is the little-known Big Red One (1980). Lee Marvin and Mark Hamill belong to a squadron of men who become convinced their lives are charmed and that they can make it through absolutely anything together. With one of the best screenplays ever written on this subject, Big Red One is truly a film to cherish.
We Were Soldiers (2002) is a strong entry in this category. Mel Gibson is a Harvard-educated, urbane and intuitive Colonel. Sam Elliott is a career Sergeant, tough and profane. Both are experienced professional soldiers fighting in a war (Viet Nam) that refuses to fit into any known category. The strength of the film is the connection between the soldiers. “In the end,” we’re told, “they fought for each other.”
Black Hawk Down (2002) is about a supposedly routine American strike in Somalia gone terribly wrong. It is either a strength or weakness of the film (you pick!) that it’s often hard to tell the soldiers apart. It is a cautionary tale about often-fuzzy American intentions and often-wrong American assumptions about other places. Director Ridley Scott’s action shots are fantastic, but the movie is really about war bonds. One of the soldiers sums it up: “It’s about the man next to you. That’s all it is.”
Saving Private Ryan (1998) is Steven Spielberg’s towering war epic, one of the best movies of our time of any kind. Tom Hanks heads a stellar cast. Here the story is about a very close group of Normandy survivors whose mission is to find and rescue someone they don’t even know (Private Ryan, of course). When you are surrounded by hell on earth, the thing you cling to (and depend on) is the other guy.
The more recent Last Survivor (2014) features Mark Wahlberg as the title character in an Afghanistan mission doomed by bad luck. The title unfortunately gives too much away, but it’s still quite a trip.
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups.
Sunday, September 16, 2018
NEIL SIMON
Neil Simon, who died recently at 91, wrote one Broadway hit play after another in the 60s and 70s. He had three hits running on the Great White Way at one time! Mr. Simon cut his writing teeth working for Sid Caesar, Gary Moore and Phil Silvers. Though his plays were considered sophisticated fluff by serious critics, the public loved them. So did Hollywood. At least a dozen Simon plays made the silver screen, with varying degrees of success. The snappy one-liners that made “Doc” Simon rich are still present and still snappy. I’ve listed some of the best.
Leading the parade is the wonderful The Odd Couple (1968) with neat-freak Jack Lemmon sharing digs with sloppy Walter Matthau. The difference is the running joke, but it somehow stays funny. It is not hard to understand why both are divorced. This work led to a long-running TV series of the same name, with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman.
The Goodbye Girl (1977) stars Mr. Simon’s wife, Marsha Mason, as a recent divorcee forced to share an apartment with dancer Richard Dreyfus. It’s the standard Hollywood plot in which the couple starts out hating each other and gradually this turns to love (of course!), but the screenplay pushes this way above the usual.
Most of Mr. Simon’s work is autobiographical, and none more so than Biloxi Blues (1988). Matthew Broderick stars as a Jewish kid from Brooklyn washed up on the shore of darkest Mississippi for 10 weeks of grueling boot camp. Christopher Walken is on board as the drill sergeant from Hell (was this his first maniacal role?). The first two-thirds are genuinely funny. I thought the last part faded rather badly.
Barefoot In The Park (1967) doesn’t really have a plot, but doesn’t need one. It has one of the most engaging young married couples in cinematic history, Jane Fonda and Robert Redford. They are just so cute you’ll fall in love with them. Their first apartment is a fifth-floor walk-up and they have no money. But they have each other and love. Ain’t Hollywood wonderful? It’s interesting that this same cute couple shows up as wonderful senior citizens in Our Souls At Night (2015) and they’re still super.
In Max Dugan Returns (1983) a father who ignored his children until they were grown tries to make amends, which at first is creepy but then turns nice. More and more expensive presents are showered on his struggling single-mom schoolteacher daughter. Where the money came from is part of the fun. Jason Robards is the recalcitrant dad, Marsha Mason is his daughter. Also along are Donald Sutherland and Matthew Broderick.
Some other good Neil Simon flicks include Lost In Yonkers (1973), Star Spangled Girl (1971) and The Sunshine Boys (1975).
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are okay for 10 and up.
Neil Simon, who died recently at 91, wrote one Broadway hit play after another in the 60s and 70s. He had three hits running on the Great White Way at one time! Mr. Simon cut his writing teeth working for Sid Caesar, Gary Moore and Phil Silvers. Though his plays were considered sophisticated fluff by serious critics, the public loved them. So did Hollywood. At least a dozen Simon plays made the silver screen, with varying degrees of success. The snappy one-liners that made “Doc” Simon rich are still present and still snappy. I’ve listed some of the best.
Leading the parade is the wonderful The Odd Couple (1968) with neat-freak Jack Lemmon sharing digs with sloppy Walter Matthau. The difference is the running joke, but it somehow stays funny. It is not hard to understand why both are divorced. This work led to a long-running TV series of the same name, with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman.
The Goodbye Girl (1977) stars Mr. Simon’s wife, Marsha Mason, as a recent divorcee forced to share an apartment with dancer Richard Dreyfus. It’s the standard Hollywood plot in which the couple starts out hating each other and gradually this turns to love (of course!), but the screenplay pushes this way above the usual.
Most of Mr. Simon’s work is autobiographical, and none more so than Biloxi Blues (1988). Matthew Broderick stars as a Jewish kid from Brooklyn washed up on the shore of darkest Mississippi for 10 weeks of grueling boot camp. Christopher Walken is on board as the drill sergeant from Hell (was this his first maniacal role?). The first two-thirds are genuinely funny. I thought the last part faded rather badly.
Barefoot In The Park (1967) doesn’t really have a plot, but doesn’t need one. It has one of the most engaging young married couples in cinematic history, Jane Fonda and Robert Redford. They are just so cute you’ll fall in love with them. Their first apartment is a fifth-floor walk-up and they have no money. But they have each other and love. Ain’t Hollywood wonderful? It’s interesting that this same cute couple shows up as wonderful senior citizens in Our Souls At Night (2015) and they’re still super.
In Max Dugan Returns (1983) a father who ignored his children until they were grown tries to make amends, which at first is creepy but then turns nice. More and more expensive presents are showered on his struggling single-mom schoolteacher daughter. Where the money came from is part of the fun. Jason Robards is the recalcitrant dad, Marsha Mason is his daughter. Also along are Donald Sutherland and Matthew Broderick.
Some other good Neil Simon flicks include Lost In Yonkers (1973), Star Spangled Girl (1971) and The Sunshine Boys (1975).
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are okay for 10 and up.
Sunday, September 9, 2018
FUNNY WESTERNS
For lack of a better term, I’ll call this category Funny Westerns, and there is no better place to start than Cat Ballou (1965) . It seems incredible to me that 53 years have passed since Jane Fonda’s wide-eyed portrayal of the naive Cat captured the nation. Cat is a schoolmarm who not so reluctantly turns outlaw. Lee Marvin earned an Oscar in a dual role as Cat’s gunfighter-protector and his evil twin who sports a metal nose. Stubby Kaye and Nat King Cole add just the right whimsical touch as strolling minstrels. This is a funny, original movie.
For outright belly laughs, few movies of any kind can top Blazing Saddles (1974). Arguably Mel Brooks’ best film, it is the story of a small frontier town tired of being pushed around by outlaws. Cleavon Little is hired as probably the only black western sheriff in history. Little’s ingenious use of whatever materials are at hand to fend off the bad guys is hysterical. Brooks stalwarts Madeleine Kahn, Harvey Korman, and Gene Wilder add to the mix. Not for the squeamish, but an absolute barrel of fun. Former Chicago Bear Alex Karras’ knockout punch on a horse is a scream.
City Slickers (1991) won Jack Palance a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as the tough old trail boss on a dude ranch. Billy Crystal is always funny and the screenplay is a gem. Lots of laughs and a little heart, too. Give the sequel a miss.
In Destry Rides Again (1939) James Stewart is a nonviolent sheriff in a wild frontier town and Marlene Dietrich is the dance hall girl with a heart of bronze. This film is now over 60 years old and is still fresh and funny and loads of fun.
The endlessly facile James Garner is the centerpiece of Support Your Local Sheriff (1969) as another nonviolent sheriff with more brains than brawn. But he has lots of help from Bruce Dern as an outlaw brat, Walter Brennan as the basic Old Man, and Joan Hackett as the ditzy heroine.
Some other genuinely funny westerns include Bronco Billy (1980) with Clint Eastwood as the owner of a small western circus; The Rounders (1965) with Glen Ford and Henry Fonda as two cowboys with a feisty horse; and Bob Hope’s best movie, Son of Paleface (1952).
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are suitable for children 12 and up.
For lack of a better term, I’ll call this category Funny Westerns, and there is no better place to start than Cat Ballou (1965) . It seems incredible to me that 53 years have passed since Jane Fonda’s wide-eyed portrayal of the naive Cat captured the nation. Cat is a schoolmarm who not so reluctantly turns outlaw. Lee Marvin earned an Oscar in a dual role as Cat’s gunfighter-protector and his evil twin who sports a metal nose. Stubby Kaye and Nat King Cole add just the right whimsical touch as strolling minstrels. This is a funny, original movie.
For outright belly laughs, few movies of any kind can top Blazing Saddles (1974). Arguably Mel Brooks’ best film, it is the story of a small frontier town tired of being pushed around by outlaws. Cleavon Little is hired as probably the only black western sheriff in history. Little’s ingenious use of whatever materials are at hand to fend off the bad guys is hysterical. Brooks stalwarts Madeleine Kahn, Harvey Korman, and Gene Wilder add to the mix. Not for the squeamish, but an absolute barrel of fun. Former Chicago Bear Alex Karras’ knockout punch on a horse is a scream.
City Slickers (1991) won Jack Palance a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as the tough old trail boss on a dude ranch. Billy Crystal is always funny and the screenplay is a gem. Lots of laughs and a little heart, too. Give the sequel a miss.
In Destry Rides Again (1939) James Stewart is a nonviolent sheriff in a wild frontier town and Marlene Dietrich is the dance hall girl with a heart of bronze. This film is now over 60 years old and is still fresh and funny and loads of fun.
The endlessly facile James Garner is the centerpiece of Support Your Local Sheriff (1969) as another nonviolent sheriff with more brains than brawn. But he has lots of help from Bruce Dern as an outlaw brat, Walter Brennan as the basic Old Man, and Joan Hackett as the ditzy heroine.
Some other genuinely funny westerns include Bronco Billy (1980) with Clint Eastwood as the owner of a small western circus; The Rounders (1965) with Glen Ford and Henry Fonda as two cowboys with a feisty horse; and Bob Hope’s best movie, Son of Paleface (1952).
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are suitable for children 12 and up.
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