James Earl Jones

                                                             Part 2

Last week’s article dealt with the incredible, unmistakable voice of James Earl Jones. But that only scratched the surface of his film resume’. Today we begin his movie roles.

    The first Jones appearance of note is as Lt. Luther Zogg in the madcap classic Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). Jones was 33. This film is regarded as one of the greatest. A crazed general unleashes a B-52 nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. The mistake is discovered and the Russians are notified. They respond that they have a Doomsday Device that will effectively kill everyone on earth if Russia is bombed.  The attempts to stop the bombers works on all but one. Lt. Zogg is the bombardier and Slim Pickens (Major “King” Kong) is the pilot. They make it to the target. Best of many quotes “You can’t fight in here- this is the war room!” 

End Of The Road (1970) from the John Barth novel, is definitely not to all tastes. Stacy Keach carries the thing as Jake Horner, a returned Vietnam vet who has descended into catatonia. He winds up in the hospital of the demonstrably crazy Doctor D (JE Jones) and is “cured” and sent out to teach unsuspecting college kids. A summary really doesn’t tell you much about this strange film. While I can’t really recommend it, I will say that Jones is superb.

The Great White Hope (1970) brings Jones to the top. He plays Jack Jefferson, based on real life Jack Johnson. A black man struggling in the white world of championship boxing in the early 20th century, he defeats every white challenger put before him. White fans are looking for a “white hope”, a white boxer who can defeat Jefferson. Jones revealed he had never boxed before appearing in this film. He was nominated for Best Actor Oscar, but lost to George C. Scott for Patton. Jane Alexander was also nominated for her role as Jefferson’s white love affair, but also lost.

James Earl Jones is The Man (1972).This is a made-for-TV movie, but the screenplay is by Rod Serling and the cast is first-rate. As president pro tem of the Senate, he becomes president of the United States through a series of mishaps to the president and the rest of the succession. Douglas Dillman thus becomes the first black president. This is nearly forty years before Barack Obama. He encounters many problems, most of them racially motivated, but most people reluctantly agree he does a good job. He decides to run for election and strives to get his party’s nomination. 

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings (1976) is about an all black baseball team in the 1930's, most of whom are good enough to play in he Major Leagues, which are lily white. Billy Dee Williams is Bingo Long, owner of the team, and Jones is Leon Carter, star catcher and slugger. Their adventures as they barnstorm and play all comers is delightful and entertaining. 

All of the movies in this article are available for streaming somewhere. All are for grown-ups. Next time more James Earl Jones movies. 

                                                              James Earl Jones

    It took Hollywood a while, but once they caught on to his distinctive booming bass voice he was the go-to narrator guy. This famous voice first appeared in the first Star Wars movie, which is actually number IV in the Star Wars cycle. You never forgot the villainous Darth Vader and his rumbling, terrifying voice. Jones voiced Darth Vader in all the Star Wars films. He did so once again in number V. If you scroll through the credits in those two films, you will not see the name of James Earl Jones. It was him, ok, but he refused the credit, not wanting to over shine his friend David Prowse, the actor who played Vader. After that film, Jones was always credited. Strangely, the correct sequence of Star Wars movies in the order of their release is 4,5,6,1,2,3,7. That seems to bother absolutely no one. 

    The Star Wars galaxy of films is not based on a book, but on a series of screen outlines developed by George Lucas. So the very first release is titled Star Wars IV: A New Hope. The next two films follow in sequence. Then they return to number 1, which is actually a prequel. I will never forget watching the first Star Wars film in 1977. I was completely blown away, and so was most everyone else. The complete Star Wars movie package has made more than 10 billion dollars. Yoda, Princess Leah, Wookie, Luke, Hans Solo,  R2D2 and CP3O are all legends now. 

    Returning now to James Earl Jones and his unmistakable voice. Who will ever forget “Luke, I am your father” ? Jones probably made more money from his voice- overs and narrations than from his acting. And there’s another movie franchise that utilized Jones’ unique voice. The Lion King first appeared as an animated musical in 1994. Hugely popular, it went on to sire many film offspring, and a hit Broadway Musical.

    That first version contained a host of famous voices: Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Jeremy Irons, Whoppi Goldberg et al. But the one everyone remembers is James Earl Jones, voicing Mufasa, the King of the title and the leader of the pride of lions. He is killed by the treacherous Scar, who replaces Mufasa and does an expectedly terrible job as leader.  Mufasa with the Jones voice is heard once again in the real life version in 2019. And there are lots of other Lion King opportunities for Jones. 

    He was born with a debilitating stutter. He hardly spoke at all until he was 8 years old and spoke very little until high school. A high school voice teacher taught him how to deal with his problem. Jones had written poetry and the teacher convinced him to read it aloud in front of the class. He did so and didn’t stutter at all. The rest, as they say, is history.  His overcoming this condition all the way to narrating films is an inspiring story. He can also be heard in The Sandlot, Our Friend Martin, Merlin  and several other films. He has recorded the entire New Testament.

    Next time: James Earl Jones the actor. 

                                                                          Robert Blake

What a long, and strange, career Robert Blake had. To find his movie beginning you have to go back to 1939! He was a member of the Our Gang, a beloved group of mischievous little kids. He then moved on to play Red Ryder’s Indian sidekick Little Beaver, in something like 30 westerns. 

In 2005 he was indicted for murdering his wife, Bonnie. And although he was acquitted, a civil jury later found him liable for her death to the tune of 30 million dollars. 

He lived to be 89. His film resume’ as an adult is astonishing. I’m cherry picking the best ones. Many people will remember him from his popular TV show Baretta (1975-78). He made cockatoos famous! Here are his best movies:

In Cold Blood (1967) is the movie version of Truman Capote’s true crime novel about the murder of an entire family in Kansas. Blake is convincingly creepy as Perry Smith, one of the two ex-cons who walked into the Clutter home looking for a non-existent safe. They find nothing of real value, but murder the entire Clutter family, the father, mother, daughter and son. The killers were later executed and the movie takes you right to the end. Folks, this is not an upper!

Lost Highway (1997) is an incredibly weird film, even for David Lynch. I’m not going to summarize the plot; actually I can’t ! I’m including it here because the film is about a man who is convicted of murdering his wife. Something that Blake was accused of some years later. He plays the Mystery Man and I’ll leave it to people smarter than I to figure this thing out!

Pork Chop Hill (1959) is one of the best movies about the Korean War. (There aren’t really very many). Robert Blake has a nice turn as Pvt. Velie. The American troops are assigned to assault heavily defended Pork Chop Hill as peace negotiations are dragging on. They are bogged down and getting slaughtered, but the brass refuses to send reinforcements or authorize a retreat. 

Electra Glide In Blue (1973) features Robert Blake as Arizona lawman John Wintergreen, a motorcycle cop with ambition to move up to the homicide unit. When he is busted back down to patrolling the highways, he solves a murder that has baffled the other police. Later while on patrol he stops a hippie but lets him off with a warning. When the man drops his license, Wintergreen tries to return it to him. The car’s passenger shoots the officer for no apparent reason. 

In Town Without Pity (1961) Robert Blake has to pull out all his acting chops as he portrays an American GI in Germany who participates in the rape of a German teenager. Blake somehow manages to make this character at least somewhat sympathetic. He is the only one of the four defendants with any regrets and he tries to defuse the situation. 

All of the films in this article are for grown-ups. 

                                                          Robert Redford

                                                                Part 4

Well, I had to stop somewhere and this is where. Here is the last bunch of good Robert Redford movies.

    Out Of Africa (1985) won the Oscar for Best Movie. It is the sort of faithful adaptation of Isak Dinesen’ s autobiographical novel of the same name. She (Karen) journeys to Kenya with her marriage-of-convenience husband Bror. He is portrayed by Klaus Maria Brandauer and she by Meryl Streep. Robert Redford is Denys, who falls in love with Karen and their relationship on her coffee farm is idyllic. But Denys is adventerous and is later killed in a plane crash. Streep and Brandauer were nominated for Oscar. Both lost- a rare loss for Streep!

Legal Eagles (1986) with Redford, Debra Winger and Daryl Hannah is described correctly as a legal romantic comedy thriller. There’s something for everyone in a convoluted story about a stolen painting, a mysterious fire, and a cop with an odd past. Redford’ character is Tom Logan, an ambitious ADA who wants to become District Attorney. That’s not to be as his adventures with the girls doom his political career. I remember thinking this film was fun, but I can’t tell you why. 

All Is Lost (2013) Is completely Robert Redford’s film. He is the only actor in it! He is sailing in the Indian Ocean when his boat is nearly destroyed by an escaped shipping container. He also is impacted by a hurricane and various other problems. Toward the end he spots a container ship and try to signal it by starting a fire in his life raft. But the fire gets out of control and he has to abandon it. Alone in the sea he decides to drown. Then he spots boat with a searchlight coming toward the fire. 

A Walk In The Woods (2015) is taken faithfully from Bill Bryson’s book about his attempt, in middle age, to walk the entire Appalachian Trail. His wife Catherine (Emma Thompson) talks of the problems she has read about the trail, including robberies and murders. She relents if he will not go alone. He reaches out to old friend Stephen (Nick Nolte) who is game to try it. They quickly realize that it’s about ten times as hard as they thought. And they encounter Mary Ellen (Kristin Schaal) perhaps the most annoying woman in the United States. They soldier on for a while, then nearly die from a fall and decide to give it up. 

Truth (2015) is kicked around quite a bit in this film. In 2004 the CBS Sixty Minutes crew finds documents indicating George W. Bush received preferential treatment from the military. Believing they have the truth, they go with the story on the air. Robert Redford portrays Dan Rather, who was suckered in like everyone else by the “evidence”. The entire outfit is brought to task by CBS, the Washington Post, and everybody else and it is pretty well proved the documents are fake. All involved are  fired; Rather decides to retire. His producer points out that the whole nexus of the event is whether the documents were fake, not whether Bush in fact was favored.

All of the movies in this article are for grown-ups. All are available in some form or another. 

                                                         Robert Redford

                                                             Part 3

Here’s another good bunch of Robert Redford movies. 

    As the title character in The Great Waldo Pepper (1975) Robert Redford plays a daredevil pilot from the early days of airplanes. He is so disappointed about not flying in combat during World War I that he seems to think of lots of ways to risk his life in a plane. The flying sequences are really good and Redford is good as a man seemingly determined to risk everything every time he gets into the cockpit. There are lots of near misses until there is one too many. 

Three Days Of The Condor (1975) features Redford as Condor, a rather bookish CIA operative. He doesn’t realize his section is destined for taking out. When he returns from lunch everyone else is dead. This then becomes one of the best of the films about CIA operatives becoming the target instead of the instigator. Condor endures the twists and turns of the story as various thugs try to end his employment permanently. He plans to survive by having his story printed in the New York Times. 

All The President’s Men (1976) is the true story about how the Washington Post brought down the Nixon presidency. Robert Redford portrays Bob Woodward and Dustin Hoffman is Carl Bernstein. Assigned by editor Ben Bradlee (Oscar winner Jason Robards) to work together, they are reluctant partners who come to trust and play off each other. They push and push to get the story right and get it out. The rest, as they say, is history! And I must say here that Watergate is pretty mild stuff to what we’ve witnessed recently. 

Brubaker (1980) is based on the true story of a prison scandal in Arkansas. Robert Redford portrays a reformist warden who is determined to reform the prison. He has discovered unmarked graves of prisoners, graft everywhere, torturing of recalcitrant prisoners, and other horrors. He is met with a crooked prison board and many contractors and vendors who have cheated the prison and pocketed the difference. Yep, it’s a Hollywood movie but don’t look for a happy ending here. 

The Natural (1984) is a baseball fairy tale. Robert Redford portrays Roy Hobbs, a baseball super star whose past is a mystery but whose ability is legend. His career is sidelined when he is shot by a deranged fan, and he doesn’t get to the major leagues until he is 35. He lands with the Knights, a perennial last place loser. Riding his fantastic hitting ability with his personal bat Wonderboy,  the Knights surge toward the top and wind up in a one-game playoff for the pennant against the Pirates. Roy endures several attempts to have him throw the game in exchange for lots of money, but he refuses. Roy spots his true love Iris (Glenn Close) in the stands and in the bottom of the ninth hits a monstrous home run that knocks out one of the lights standards and wins the game and the pennant. 

    All of the films in this article are for adults. 

                                                          Robert Redford

                                                             Part 2

Moving along chronologically, here is another handful of excellent movies starring the one and only Robert Redford.

Jeremiah Johnson (1972) is, as they say, based on a true story. Robert Redford is the title character, a legendary mountain man. Johnson has many adventures and many encounters with the Indians in the area. Some help him, some hate him. He reluctantly leaves his wife and son alone in their cabin to guide a US Army troop to their desired location. But when he returns he discovers his entire family has been killed by the Crows.  He goes after them with a vengeance. 

The Candidate (1972) is a cautionary tale for our time. Robert Redford is the candidate of the title, Bill McKay. A very popular California Repblican senator is up for re-election and probably unbeatable. The pols rope in charismatic, attractive McKay, telling him since he will lose, he can say anything he wants. He does. But the polls are terrible and he is convinced to change tactics. He ekes out a win he doesn’t really want and asks his handlers “What do we do now?” Indeed. There are lots of Bill McKays around filling up space as governors, senators and assorted ne’er-do-wells. 

The Way We Were (1973) pairs Redford with Barbra Streisand. He is an apolitical WASP and she is a cause-oriented Jew. This unlikely couple falls in and out of love several times. When they’re together it’s just so romantic you want to eat them up. But there are ruptures and sadly they part for good. This was a hugely successful film and the song from the title hit number one on the Billboard chart. 

The Sting (1973) reunites the happy warriors Robert Redford and Paul Newman. They are consummate con men and together they decide to take down racketeer Doyle Lonnegan by means of an incredibly complicated sting. It involves setting up a dummy horse racing betting parlor and getting Lonnegan to believe that it is real and he is about to get rich. Robert Shaw as Lonnegan is wonderfully unlikeable and you can’t wait for him to be victimized. Warning: You have to stay with this movie- the plot is dense and sometimes difficult to follow. This film won 10 Oscars including Best Movie and Best Director. 

The Great Gatsby (1974) is the third of four movie renditions of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. Guess what: None of them are very good. Robert Redford is just fine as Gatsby in this one and Mia Farrow is good as the ephemeral Daisy. Her laugh “sounded like money”.  I guess blame the screenplay, but it’s still watchable for the beautiful people and the scenic locations. The 2013 version with Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby isn’t much better. Scott Fitzgerald perfectly caught a certain group of Americans in the 20's. Unfortunately, the movies cant’ seem to follow suit. 

All of the movies in this article are for adults. 

                                                 Robert Redford, Actor

He was a fine, fine actor. I’ve noted about 25 really good movies with Redford as the primary actor. Where to even start? How about at the start!

    Redford’s first appearance of note is opposite Jane Fonda in Neil Simon’s Barefoot In The Park (1967). They are the classic oil and water couple: Corey (Fonda) is a free spirit while Paul (Redford) is a buttoned-down straight arrow lawyer. Their adventures in their terrible fifth floor apartment provide plenty of fodder for Simon’s witty dialog. Their unlikely neighbors provide lots of laughs. The title comes from Paul’s refusal to go barefoot in the park with Corey because it was too cold. Well, as someone has said, all’s well that end’s well. 

    Mr. Movie is often asked to tell his number one all-time best movie. He unhesitatingly says Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). It has everything! Redford is paired with Paul Newman as the irrepressible Butch. Katherine Ross is just right as Sundance’s love. These outlaws lead the Hole In The Wall gang through many misadventures, including a memorable train robbery. The edge of the cliff scene where they’re cornered by a posse is justly famous. And who could forget the pair’s attempt to rob banks in Bolivia, though neither speaks Spanish. And it’s just one of the many delights! Alas, the film won only four “minor” Oscars. Another robbery!

    In Downhill Racer (1969) Redford is cast as David Chappellett, a selfish, arrogant athlete who cares only for himself. The iconic Gene Hackman is on board as the Olympic Men’s Ski Coach. He puts up with Chappellett’s attitude because he is the best skier on the team. Redford does a quite creditable job as the skier, and makes you dislike him just like his teammates do. When he wins the Olympic Gold, you’re really not that happy. This is not Miracle on Ice on skis. 

    Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969) stars Robert Blake as Willie, a Native American on the run after killing his girlfriend’s father in self defense. His major pursuer is Cooper (Robert Redford), a Deputy Sheriff. The chase seems unequal since Cooper has a horse and Willie doesn’t. But the crafty Indian manages to avoid capture for nearly the whole movie. Willie is finally killed by Cooper, who delivers him to his people to be cremated the Indian way. Criticized for not turning over his corpse so that the curious can see him, Cooper responds “Tell them we’re out of souvenirs”.

    In The Hot Rock (1972) Redford plays Dortmunder, the ne’er do well criminal anti-hero of many Donald Westlake novels. He is recently released from yet another prison sentence. The title is from the big diamond Dortmunder wants to steal, and he gathers some of his shady cronies to help him. The diamond proves to be as elusive as it is valuable, and the chase to cadge it is filled with laughs. George Segal, Zero Mostel and Paul Sand are the nefarious crew recruited by Dortmunder. 

    All of the movies in this article are for grown-ups.

                                           ROBERT REDFORD, DIRECTOR

Robert Redford left this old world at 89,  having left behind a storied career as an actor, director and the developer of the Sundance Film Festival. It seems unbelievable now, but back in 1980 there were mostly doubters about Redford’s ability to direct. There were many catcalls when the “too pretty” Redford was selected to direct Judith Guest’s Ordinary People. 

Ordinary People (1980) is top ten stuff, a wonderful film. Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Timothy Hutton and Judd Hirsch lead a stellar cast in the story of a family’s desolate tragedy.  Redford won the Oscar for Best Director for this superb first effort, forever squelching any idea he was just another pretty face. And the movie won for Best Picture.  Timothy Hutton won the acting Oscar as Conrad, tormented by his inability to save his older brother in a sailing accident.  Donald Sutherland as the father and Judd Hirsch as the psychologist are also excellent. But it is Mary Tyler Moore who floors us, plucked by Redford from her outstanding career as a TV comedy actor, and  just totally good as the mother in denial. 

Quiz Show (1994) is a quirky microcosm of a society that puts too much value on money and success and not enough on what matters. John Turturro as a sore-loser whistle-blower and Ralph Fiennes as the fallen saint, Charles Van Doren, lead a fine cast and  Redford gets the most from them.  Redford was again nominated for Best Director but lost out to Robert Zemeckis for Forrest Gump.  

A River Runs Through It (1992) is  Redford’s faithful and winning adaptation of the Norman Maclean novella, and introduced the charismatic Brad Pitt as one of two disparate brothers whose only real tie is now their minister-father (Tom Skerritt) and fly-fishing. The gorgeous cinematography of the Montana countryside garnered an Oscar.

The Milagro Beanfield War (1988) involves a group of dirt-poor New Mexican farmers refusing to bow down to a brutish and powerful developer. The ensemble cast of mostly Hispanic actors is quite good, and  Redford develops a tone that is so winning and enjoyable we are swept along. And once again there is gorgeous photography, a Redford trademark.

Robert. Redford took a turn at directing himself in the offbeat The Horse Whisperer (1997) based on Nicholas Evans’ story of a traumatized young girl and a cowboy who heals damaged horses. The love interest is Kirstin Scott Thomas, who is excellent, as are Chris Cooper and Diane Wiest as the brother and sister-in-law.  Two Redford specialties are readily apparent here: beautiful scenery and absolute fidelity to the story on which the film is based. 

The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000), is a well-intentioned misfire. It is worth a look for the performances of Will Smith and Matt Damon and the beautiful photographyThe story involves a golf tournament funded by a wealthy woman. Smith is the mysterious Bagger Vance who suddenly shows up to caddy for the underdog local, played by Matt Damon. But it is easily the least of Mr. Redford’s directorial efforts.

All of these films are suitable for children 12 and up.

                                                                   Val Kilmer

                                                                         Part 2

The late (RIP at 65) Val Kilmer had an outstanding movie history.. He was always busy There are over 200 appearances in his short career. Mr. Movie has tried to dig out the very best. 

    Kilmer gets the title role in The Saint (1997). This character has been portrayed in numerous movies and TV shows. You could argue that Val is the one of the best. Well, at least it’s different. In most Saint outings he is a good guy, a hero. Not here. This guy is a professional thief who uses various disguises and the names of saints to do his dirty work. But- stay tuned- perhaps his last caper results in a big payday for some charities!

    Could film noir work as a tongue-in-cheek comedy. Actually, yes. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) is exactly that with Val Kilmer as private eye Perry Van Slike and Robert Downey, Jr. As a neophyte actor being taught the ropes of crime fighting by Perry. The two observe a car going into a lake and from there things get complicated. 

    In Felon (2008) Stephen Duff plays Wade Porter, who winds up in prison after killing a burglar. He doesn’t do well in prison and is transferred to a high security, and very badly run, prison. He is paired with John Smith (Val Kilmer), a hard-bitten lifer. But the two decide to expose the nefarious prison and this goes downhill for Smith, but not so for Porter. 

    Cinema Twain (2017) is to me Val Kilmer’s best performance. He begins as this middle-aged rather handsome actor. Before your very eyes he transforms himself into American legend Mark Twain. The monologue is updated with really very little quotation from Twain himself, buy with a good bit of biographical information about the author. Val not only knocks this out of the park, he wrote the thing and is the star. The results are  really quite extraordinary.  

    Let’s make a sequel to Top Gun (1986)! Call it Top Gun Maverick (2022). Can we get Tom Cruise back as ace fighter pilot Maverick? Of course. Oh, and can we get Val Kilmer back to play Iceman Kazansky, Maverick’s friendly rival. Certainly. The word is that Cruise and Kilmer’s pressure got this thing made.  Iceman is now a Fleet Admiral, and as such arranges to get Maverick assigned to his unit. Iceman dies before the movies is half over, and this is actually Kilmer’s last film. The aerial part is very exciting. 

    Val plays the man himself in Batman Forever (1995) but this is very minor Batman and not really worth your time. 

All of the films in this article, except Cinema Twain, are available for rent or purchase. There seems to be a problem with rights for the Twain movie. All are for adults

                                                                        Val Kilmer 

    Val Kilmer, handsome and talented, died at 65 from pneumonia complications. He joins a list that is far too long of actors who died too young.  He had battled throat cancer for years, a malady which altered his voice and finally made it difficult for him to even speak. He had quite a good, if brief, movie career.    

    Kilmer’s first appearance of note came in a role he seemed born to play. In Top Gun (1986) he portrayed the laid-back fighter pilot Ice. He made a good counterpoint to Tom Cruise’s character, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. The two are rivals for the Top Gun trophy that goes to the best pilot. Later they help each other in real battles. The aerial dog fights are outstanding. And yep, you can see these guys in these same roles 36 years later. More on that later. 

    Next on the list is Willow (1988), a fairy tale with dwarves, wizards, enchanted babies and lots of magic spells. Val Kilmer had a good time playing Madmartigan, a magician able to disguise himself as needed and help the heroes prevail.

But Kilmer’s big break, and the part for which he is famous, is as Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors (1991).This rock biopic made lots of money and is maybe within shouting distance about the band’s rise to stardom. Val Kilmer does his own singing, and is so very good at it that other band members said they could not tell whether it was Kilmer or Morrison singing. What is perhaps true is the film’s portrayal of Morrison as a drug user, who sees himself as a messianic leader of the rock and roll culture. As the band members tire of Morrison’s antics, including his arrest and conviction for indecent exposure,  the band breaks up and Morrison hightails it for Paris with his wife. She finds him dead in a bathtub. He was 27.

Tombstone (1993) is one of many movies about the gunfight at the Okay Corral beween the Earp brothers and the notorious Cowboys gang, containing Johnny Ringo and the Clantons. Val Kilmer is on the side of the angels here, as Doc Holliday,  an old friend of the Earps. Though very sick with tuberculosis, which eventually kills him, he helps the Earps clear out Tombstone of the bad guys. 

It takes some guts to appear in a film with Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino, but Val Kilmer pulls it off with panache in Heat (1995). He is Chris, one of the gang of thieves  headed by Neil McCauley (DeNiro). Pacino is Lieutenant Vincent Hannah, tasked with the thankless job of tracking down and arresting the McCauley gang. There’s lots of shooting and double crosses galore and a very complicated screenplay.

All of the movies in this article are available for rent or purchase somewhere. All are for adults. 

                                                     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 for streaming somewhere.. All are for adults.

                                                      Graham Greene

    Graham Greene is a famous British author, who wrote such classics as The Ugly American. And though many of his novels were made into films, this article is not about that guy.  It is about the films of the Graham Greene who died recently at 73 and who made over 200 movie and TV appearances. Greene was a Canadian, a member of the Oneida tribe. He was the go-to guy when a casting director need an actor with his ability and ethnicity. 

    His most famous role, the one you might remember him from, is as Kicking Bird in Kevin Costner’s Dances With Wolves (1990). Costner wrote, directed and starred in a film he was avid to make. The doubters who wouldn’t help him financially had a large dish of humble pie when the film won Best Movie Oscar and grossed over 400 million dollars. As Union officer John Dunbar, Costner’s character is wounded and nearly dies. At his request he is transferred to the frontier, where he meets and is befriended by a tribe of Lakota Sioux. He and the medicine man, Kicking Bird (Greene) become quite close. Dunbar joins the tribe and marries one of the women. In much of the film the Lakota language is used with English subtitles. 

    Maverick (1994) is successfully transitioned from the hit TV series. Bret Maverick, Jr. is brought to film life by Mel Gibson, and he turns out to be a bigger con man then his infamous father. Jodie Foster is on hand as Annabelle, as good a scammer as the men. And not to be outdone by the white guys, Joseph (Graham Greene) shows that the Native Americans are also quite capable of a good hustle. All of them embark on various mildly nefarious schemes, many quite humourous. 

    Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995) is the third of the five Die Hard films and maybe the best since the first one. Bruce Willis is, of course, back on board as NYPD detective John McClane. The plot involves a series of bombs and bomb threats orchestrated by Simon (Jeremy Irons). McClane is assigned to stop him and is assisted by Detective Joe Lambert and other police officers. The wham-bang action ends with an improbable McClane shot at a helicopter containing the bad guys. 

    Wind River (2017) is a cracker jack crime drama about the murder of an Indian girl and her boyfriend in the frozen location of a Native American reservation and a drilling rig. Jeremy Renner stars as Wildlife Officer Cory Lambert, who discovers the frozen body of a Native American girl near the drilling outfit. FBI agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) is dispatched to investigate. She is convinced it is a homicide but her superiors disagree and she’s on her own. She and Lambert continued to investigate with the help of the chief of the tribal police Ben Shoyo (Greene) and his officers. The discovery of the dead girl’s boyfriend’s mangled body intensifies the story. 

    Graham Greene has good, but minor parts in The Education of Little Tree (1997), The Green Mile (1999) and The Performance (2023). All of the films in this article are for grown-ups.

                                                         Louisiana Movies

                                                                    Part 2

    Here’s another batch of good movies featuring the Pelican State, Louisiana.

    The Man In The Moon (1991) is a good story of families and love in rural Louisiana. It features the debut performance of Reese Witherspoon, appearing as 14-year-old Dani. She falls hopelessly in love with Court, a 17-year-old who has moved to the farm next door. The film features various pairings and splits among the members of the two families. The locations are sumptuous Louisiana country. 

    Steel Magnolias  is such a good story that it has been made into a movie twice (1989 and 2012) and is the beloved staple of theater groups everywhere. The earlier version is hard to beat with Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Daryl Hannah, Julia Roberts and Shirley Maclaine. In a small Louisiana town, the local women gather at Truvy’s beauty parlor and share their lives and their secrets with each other. The later movie features an all black cast, including Queen Latifah and Alfre Woodard. The story is slightly different, but still features women friends in a Louisiana setting.

    Band of Angels (1957) is an extremely complicated film that starts out in Kentucky but lands for the most part in Louisiana. Yvonne DeCarlo portrays Amantha, who discovers to her dismay that she has a black ancestor and is now considered a slave. Clark Gable plays Hamish Bond a “good guy” plantation and slave owner who rescues her from the slave auction. Sidney Poitier plays a slave of Hamish. He likes him because he’s well treated but hates him because he’s still a slave.

    Robert Duvall wrote, directed and starred in The Apostle (1957) about an itenrerant preacher, Sonny, who flees after killing his wife’s young lover and winds up in the bayous of Louisiana. There he starts a new church which steadily grows until somebody spots him and calls the cops. They allow him to finish his final sermon and he tells his flock he “has to go”. Indeed. Duvall won the Oscar for his role. 

    Finally, there is A Gathering Of Old Men (1987) which started life as a TV movie. A white racist is killed by a black man on a Louisiana plantation owned by Candy Marshall (Holly Hunter). To confuse the police, a group of old black men step forward one at a time to claim credit for the killing. Candy takes a stand in support of the group and the cops don’t quite know what to make of all this. The setting is classic steamy Louisiana.

    Other films with a Louisiana connection include The Pelican Brief (1993), 12 Years A Slave (2013) and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974). 

    All of the movies in this article are for grown ups. Most of them are available for streaming somewhere. 

                                                              Louisiana movies

There were a lot of reminders that the dreadful Katrina hurricane happened 20 years ago. Made me think: wonder if I could find enough Louisiana movies to make a column? Indeed, I discovered a treasure trove! 

I’ll start with the best movie about the Katrina disaster. When The Levees Broke (2006) started life as an HBO documentary directed by none other than Spike Lee. He began filming fairly soon after Katrina struck, showing the devastation almost as it happened and interviewing victims and constricted leaders. Included here because it is the best film about Katrina and is available in several streaming sites. One of the heartbreaks about Katrina is that if the levees had held the damage would have been minimal. But they didn’t hold.

All The King’s Men, is Robert Penn Warren’s thinly disguised biographical novel about The Kingfish, Huey Long, who ruled Louisiana politics until an assassin stopped him. There are two film versions of the story, both good. The 1949, with Broderick Crawford in his top career performance, is hard to beat. Well, it won the Best Movie Oscar. But the 2006 version with Sean Penn in the lead role and Jude Law as his assistant is also very good. Both films detail how Willie Stark (Long) started out as a reformer and fairly quickly started resorting to graft and corruption to get his way. 

Blaze (1989) is another fable about Louisiana politics with Paul Newman starring as Governor Earl Long and Lolita Davidovich as Blaze Starr, the stripper who became his mistress and companion. Long is so outrageous he is hospitalized for his mental state. But he later wins an election to Congress, then dies before he gets there. Blaze is by his side throughout, to the dismay of his staff. Some of this is supposed to be “based on a true story”, whatever that means.

The Big Easy (1996) is the term used for New Orleans, and is the name of a movie about it. Dennis Quaid portrays Detective Remy who attempts to convince ADA Ann Osborne (Ellen Barkin) to understand “how things are done” in New Orleans. Various nefarious cops are played by Ned Beatty and John Goodman and some of the criminals are somehow finally caught. For once, a film was actually shot where the story happens, that is, in New Orleans. And it is well done, you can almost feel the humidity and heat. 

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) is an extremely weird film that celebrates quite another part of Louisiana, the swampy bayous. Quvenzhane Wallis stars as six-year-old Hushpuppy, childhood resident of The Bathtup, a location for several homes in the middle of the swamp. Wallis became, at 11, the youngest Oscar nominee ever. To save their homes the residents blow a hole in the levee, letting the water out from their location. This backfires and there are supernatural creatures involved in the story. This is one of those films I do not at all understand, but I liked it. 

    All of the films in this article are for grownups. Next time- more Louisiana.

                                               The French Revolution

A column about French Revolution films?  Well, sure. We had our revolution in 1776 and the French helped us. Shoot, the main street in my town is named after Lafayette. The French had their revolution in 1789 but we didn’t help them. Anyway, there is a bucket full of good movies about the French Revolution. 

The film most of us are most familiar with is the musical version of Les Miserables from 2012 with Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway and Russell Crowe. While not as good as the play (no surprise) it’s pretty good. It’s maybe a bit long at 2:38 but there’s a lot of story to cover. The 1934 version was produced by the French, and is good but probably more than you want to know at 4 hours, 41 minutes. Other good versions were made in 1978, 1998 and 2019. 

Danton (1983) produced by the French is about one of the baddest guys in the revolution, his rise to power and merciless killing of citizens. Then came his falling out with Robespierre and his turn at the guillotine. With all French actors and a Polish director, it’s a good film. But the French hate it for its historical inaccuracies. 

For really good historical accuracy, you can’t beat The French Revolution (2005), a documentary produced by the French. 

On the lighter side, there’s Marie Antoinette (2006) with Kirsten Dunst having a grand time flouncing around in fancy clothes. She is reviled by most French citizens. Perhaps she didn’t really say “let them eat cake”, nobody knows for sure. After she becomes queen, the revolution really heats up, with her facing the guillotine in 1783. The film ends with her leaving Versailles sparing us from her beheading. 

Charles Dickens’ A Tale Of Two Cities is perhaps his most serious book. It was made into a film many times. I think the best one is actually the oldest, the 1935 version with Ronald Coleman, Elizabeth Allan, Edna May Oliver and Basil Rathbone. Two men fall in love with the same woman during the early days of the French Revolution. Some of the later versions are actually TV series, but that gives the writers more time to develop the story. 

Farewell My Queen (2012) is entirely fictional but a cracking good story. Lea Sedoux plays Sidonie, a servant girl hired to read to Queen Marie. As the Bastille falls and the revolution gets rolling, she is talked into pretending to be one of the aristocracy trying to escape the country. She agrees to this ruse and actually it works and she escapes from France. Her boss, the queen, was not so fortunate. 

There are at least two versions about the fictional hero The Scarlet Pimpernel. The 1934 version is the best one, with Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon and Raymond Massey. The Pimpernel is a nobleman in disguise who frees otherwise doomed aristocrats by means both fair and foul. The whole country seems to know about him and wonder who he is. 

I think most of the films in this article are available to watch somewhere. They are all adult fare. 

                                                   Best Movie Year Ever?

                                                                     1951

Harry Truman was still in the White House, the Korean War was at its worst, and 17 films worth seeing premiered.

An American in Paris won the Oscar for best picture, and it's hard to think of a better musical.  Gene Kelly is at his gracefully athletic peak; the dancing and photography are superb and the music is by Gershwin. A joyous delight!  Only a half-step back is another wonderful musical, Show Boat. Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson and North Carolina's Ava Gardner are all fine. William Warfield's rendition of Old Man River sets the standard and raises goose bumps every time. The wonderful dancing Champions, Marge and Gower, make a rare and delightful appearance. Some of Fred Astaire's very best dancing is the attraction in Royal Wedding, including a dance with a hat rack and dancing on the ceiling. Jane Powell isn't Ginger Rogers, but is a surprisingly good partner.

Alfred Hitchcock weighed in with Strangers on a Train, a particularly menacing and creepy suspenser about two strangers who each want someone rather permanently removed and make a deal to help each other out. Robert Walker and Farley Granger are the participants, with a good supporting cast. The merry-go-round climax is justly famous. Classic Hitchcock!

Of all the many versions of Arthur Miller's American legend, Death of a Salesman, the 1951 version may be the best. Frederic March as Willy Loman is joined by Mildred Dunnock, Kevin McCarthy and Cameron Mitchell. The play won the Pulitzer Prize and defined a society. The failure of the dream and the definition of a man's worth by his job ring particularly true in our time. Another top-of-the-line version of a much produced classic is 1951's A Christmas Carol. Alastair Sim IS Scrooge. Faithful to Dickens' story and too good to only watch at Christmas.

Disney's animated Alice in Wonderland is a joy and one of that studio's finest. The bite and wit of Lewis Carroll's wacky characters are only slightly diminished; not as prettified as many Disney versions of classics.

The African Queen, about a bible-thumping spinster being rescued by a bleary-eyed souse on an old tramp steamer in World War I, has snappy dialogue, great photography and a good story. Katherine Hepburn and director John Huston were nominated for Oscars, and Humphrey Bogart won for best actor. A Streetcar Named Desire, Elia Kazan's faithful adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play, won Oscars for Vivian Leigh, Karl Malden and Kim Hunter, but it is Marlon Brando you remember. The British produced two superb Alec Guiness comedies in 1951: The Man in the White Suit has Guiness as a befuddled inventor who has developed a fabric that will never wear out and that nobody wants to market, and The Lavender Hill Mob features Guiness as a timid bank clerk who plans the funniest caper in the movies.  The Magic Box is a magical film about the invention of the movies. It is a wonder. Robert Donat and Maria Schell star in an absolutely splendid screen play. There is no better movie about movies.

                                                     Best Movie Year Ever?

                                                                1962

Jack Kennedy was in the White House, most people had never heard of a faraway place called Vietnam, and 1962 burst on the scene with a cornucopia of good movies. 

Gregory Peck had many great roles, but perhaps his best is as the dogged attorney Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird, a courtroom drama about racial injustice in the South.  This is the first movie I can remember where the kids (Mary Badham and Phillip Alford) are allowed to be kids.  Robert Duvall in his first role is virtually a walk-on. I caught this film again not long ago and it does not seem very dated, which I guess is unfortunate.

Lawrence of Arabia is that rarest of animals, a spectacular entertainment with intellect.  Peter O'Toole (in his debut) shines as the English junior officer who led the Arabs into battle. Gorgeous location cinematography; never drags despite its nearly four hour length. Won a fistful of Oscars, including Best Picture. Watch out for hatcheted versions; running time should be at least 222 minutes.

The Miracle Worker is the story of Helen Keller, blind and deaf from the age of two, and her early education. Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke repeat their Broadway roles (both won Oscars). The fight for authority scene is absolutely unforgettable; cinematic magic in the hands of two of the best. 

Herman Melville stories produced several good movies, including Bartleby the Scrivener and the titanic Moby Dick.  But the best one by far is Billy Budd, a brilliant morality tale about the letter of the law and ultimate justice. Peter Ustinov is splendid as the tortured captain, Terence Stamp mesmerizing as the saintly Billy and Robert Ruark has his best part as the satanic Starbuck. 

Requiem for a Heavyweight is arguably one of the best boxing films ever made. Jackie Gleason, Anthony Quinn and Mickey Rooney are very good in this somber story of the users and the used. Interesting note: Both this film and The Miracle Worker started out as television plays. That gives us a rather grim idea of what we're missing these days.

The late Burt Lancaster's range was amazing.  In Birdman of Alcatraz he keeps our interest alive in a film that for all intents has only one set. Birdman is the story of a convicted murderer serving a life sentence who becomes an authority on birds, and is about redemption and revelation.  

The Manchurian Candidate is such a good political thriller that it was re-released into theaters several years ago, and did a good business.  Features heart-pounding suspense and some neat plot twists.  Frank Sinatra is good as a government agent and Angela Lansbury is somewhat less loveable than we're used to. Some wag has said Lawrence Harvey was typecast as an automaton, but anyway he makes a good one. 

The Music Man is a sunny, charming musical with Robert Preston as con man become band director Harold Hill. Shirley Jones is good as Marian the Librarian and the score includes "Seventy-Six Trombones", "Till There Was You" and "Trouble in River City". This film doesn't seem to age a bit and has been deservedly loved by three generations of Americans.

 Best Films of 2024

Now that the year is way past half over,  I guess it’s about time to get off my tail and write about the best movies from last year. Most of them are- finally- available to stream somewhere, but you may have to pay. Even if you already have paid for a streaming service. No 10s this year, but some lovely 9s and a bunch of worthy 8s. Not even a good year, let’s go with C+.

1- Nickel Boys 9

2- IF 9

3- Conclave 9

4- Wicked 8

5- Fall Guy 8

6- Woman of the Hour 8

7- Hit Man 8

8- How To Rob A Bank 8

9-Wicked Little Letters 8

10- I’m Still Here 7

11- Memoir of a Snail 7

12- Inside Out 2 7

13- Blitz 7

14- Steve 7

And here endeth those with 7 or more points. I want to quickly tell why you didn’t see Anora, which won the Best Movie Oscar. This falls in the “what were they thinking” category, right there with Everything Everywhere All At Once from 2023. Both are-to me- howling dogs. I strain to give Anora a 4.

On to better news. I had read Colson Whitehead’s Nickel Boys and really liked it. But I thought it would be very difficult to make into a movie. Enter director RaMell Ross and fellow script writers Josyln Barnes and Mr. Whitehead. The actors are all unknowns which adds to the punch. It is not shown in a straight line but with perfect bits and pieces of scenes dropped in just the right places. It’s not Mr. Ross’ maiden voyage, but it sure a winner.

OK, IF is a personal pick certainly not for all tastes. When you were a kid, did you ever have an Imaginary Friend? Well this movie is about a kid who has one he can see and who hides from the lights while delighting us with his antics. Yeah, it’s animated and really a kid’s movie, but so what? I liked it.

The last high scoring film is Conclave, about the election of a new pope upon the death of the old one. Talk about ripped from the headlines! The guy who wins in the film isn’t American, like Pope Leo XIV, but is equally surprising. Great acting. 

Finally, we have Wicked, which I really liked but only gave an 8. The reason is length. It is nearly 3 hours long and has some very dead spots. The photography, special effects and music are superb. Make it 2 hours long and it’s a 10. 

                                                               Best Movie Year Ever?

                                                                           1983

Another year with more than its share of winners is the fairly recent (to me) 1983. Let’s take a look.

  Tender Mercies features Robert Duvall at his absolute best (and that's saying a lot) as a broken down country singer trying to rebuild a life on the wreckage of too much liquor and too many honky tonks.  Duvall wrote the songs in this movie.  Betty Buckley, seen briefly as another singer, is now the star of Sunset Boulevard on Broadway.

The Year of Living Dangerously is one of the best political thrillers ever made.  Sigourney Weaver is just fine as the attache who knows more than she wants to.   Helen Hunt won an Oscar for her role as a local who knows too much, but why they picked her to play a man baffles me. Since she won an Oscar, what do I know?  Mel Gibson proves here he really can act. 

Terms of Endearment features Jack Nicholson as an aging ex-astronaut with problems connecting emotionally and Shirley MacLaine as the unsainted mother of the fetchingly terminally ill Debra Winger.  An excellent screenplay by first-time director James L. Brooks from a Larry McMurtry novel keeps you interested and off balance.

The Right Stuff was the best movie about the space program until Apollo 13 came along.  Dennis Quaid, Scott Glenn, Sam Sheppard and Ed Harris play the early astronauts broadly as true American heroes.  Never boring, even though it's over three hours long, and technically stunning, it does not hook you emotionally.

Educating Rita is an absolute little gem of a film. Michael Caine is a world-weary college professor and Julie Walters (in her film debut) is the hairdresser who wants to better herself.  This is the best feminist movie ever made, but don't let that stop you from watching it.  

El Norte, about illegal immigrants, is alternately harrowing and humorous.  Featuring all unknowns, it is riveting from beginning to end.  You'll never think the same way about Latinos again.

Testament is a good end-of-the-world movie, far superior to the much-ballyhooed The Day After (made this same year).  Jane Alexander leads a stellar cast. It isn't the desperation that gets you, its the low key matter-of-factness.

Return of the Jedi was the second of the Star Wars trilogy, and, while not as dazzling as the first and third, the story is first-rate and the lovable Yoda is one of the best characters in the set.

Fanny and Alexander is one of the great Ingmar Bergman's most accessible films, and easily the most charming. One of his few color ventures, it is the story of a brother and sister whose dream lives intertwine with reality.

Ed Harris, Gene Hackman and Nick Nolte are certainly a dream team in Under Fire, a political thriller set in Latin America in which the journalists telling the story somehow become the story. The most violent scene is so offhand you're not sure you saw it at first.

Zelig is considered one of Woody Allen's lesser films, but those tend to be the ones I like the best.  This one foreshadows the neat special effects in Forest Gump  by showing Zelig on screen with long-dead celebrities. Mia Farrow is in this one, too; this was before you-know-what.

                                                   Best Movie Year Ever? 

                                                               1939

Yep, I was born in 1939. You can do the math.  Anyway it so happens that this was a great year for movies.

Many movie fans would pick 1939 as the best year in the history of motion pictures, primarily because two of the most popular movies ever made were both released in that year.  The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind are each shown on TV at least once a year and most everyone has seen and liked both.  The Wizard of Oz has been on TV so much it has been referred to as The Oz Bowl Game, but who wouldn't like Judy and Ray and Bert cavorting along the yellow brick road. (The fourth actor, the guy who played the tin man and the one nobody can ever remember, was Jack Haley).  The truth is, it holds up very well indeed and is that rare film that appeals equally to kids and grown-ups.  And, it spawned the hugely successful prequel Wicked, which is still kicking.

Gone With The Wind  is epic in sweep and the story is a winner. Never mind that it is really just an overblown soap opera and Vivien Leigh is simply dreadful.   (Do you know anyone who talks like that?)  But Gable is excellent, the photography and music are great, and it's just so darn big you have to at least be awed by it.  The Technicolor in both of these movies is just amazing, and no, they don't make them like that anymore.

Well, there aren't a whole lot of years that produce two absolute legends, and 1939 also produced the definitive Hunchback of Notre Dame, the one with Charles Laughton.  Laughton has been constantly downgraded since he died, and this is a mistake.  The man could play absolutely anything and this film proves it.  Forget all those dreary remakes and catch this one.  Director William Dieterle pulls one of the neatest tricks in Hunchback: when Quasimodo swings from a rope to rescue Desdemona, Dieterle suddenly cuts all sound: no dialogue, no crowd noise, no music. It is an unforgettable moment.

Of Mice and Men also first came out in 1939.  Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney, Jr., give career performances in the Steinbeck story of the feeble-minded Lenny and his pal and mentor Curly, who desperately want a place of their own.  (Steinbeck characters always want a place of their own and have not a prayer of ever having it.   They just don't know it.) 

Jimmy Stewart's first Everyman role appears in 1939, in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The faintly socialistic, do-good Smith would get booed off the screen by today's me-first crowd, but it's a darn good performance. Stewart also found time that same year to star in Destry Rides Again, along with the legendary Marlene Dietrich.  Destry was the philosophical godfather of Maverick, for those of you keeping score. He would rather joke than fight. 

Hollywood hadn't been quite able to decide what to do with Big John Wayne until 1939.  When Stagecoach came out, he became The American Cowboy Hero, and he always will be. This also happens to be a good western that holds up quite well.

 

                                                                Rabbits

I enjoy watching the rabbits in our urban back yard. They seem to require a column about their tribe. Well, why not? Turns out the problem is picking the best, not lack of subjects. Of course Mr. Movie can do that so here goes.

I’ll start with my personal favorite, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988). In a world where cartoon characters (toons) and real people exist side by side, Roger Rabbit is accused of murder. Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) reluctantly agrees to defend Roger. The terrible Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd) is out to see that Roger is convicted. The toons cannot be killed by the usual means, they have to be destroyed by a caustic chemical combination .It’s complicated, but things work out. The film also has the sexiest rabbit ever, Jessica Rabbit (voiced without credit by Kathleen Turner and Amy Irving).

Up high on everyone’s list of classics is the endearing Harvey (1950) with James Stewart as the charming but wacky Elwood Dowd, who is dear friends with a puka (legendary Celtic rabbit) named Harvey. However, no one but Elwood can see Harvey, including the two female relatives with whom he lives. Several attempts are made to have Elwood committed but he keeps escaping and finding his way to his favorite bars with his favorite friend. Elwood gives us Harvey’s best quote: “Harvey not only understands time and space, but any objection”.

Zootopia (2016) is a fun animated film that features a wily rabbit, Judy Hopps, as the local police officer. She is conned, but then befriended by an even wilier fox, Nick Wilde. They become quite a good team and eventually ZPD (Zoo Police Department) colleagues. The movie provides the funniest sloth in the world: Flash Slothmore, the fastest clerk at the Zoo DMV. He is worth the trip!

Song of the South (1948) is, okay, unabashedly racist, so much so that for many years it was banned everywhere and you couldn’t see it. I say get beyond that pigeon hole and enjoy the story of a lonely little boy enchanted by the stories of Uncle Remus, a kind elderly black man. One of his favorite characters is the sharp-witted Brer Rabbit, who enjoys taunting and escaping from the clutches of the dense and slow Brer Bear. 

Any version of Lewis Carroll’s delightful Alice in Wonderland features the frantic White Rabbit, who is scurrying because he is always late. Alice follows him “down the rabbit hole” and has many wonderful (pun intended) adventures. For my money, the 1950 animated version is superior to the one from 2010 with live characters. 

And any version of Winnie The Pooh brings us another frantic Rabbit, who talks too fast and overruns his plans. The 2011 version is good enough, though none of the films come close to the magic of the books. Anyway, Rabbit leaves a note for Pooh:”I am scerching for owl a new house. So had you. Rabbit”. And of course Rabbit is trying to help the professorial Owl, who could spell his own name: Wol. 

There’s even a movie featuring killer rabbits- Night of the Lepus (1972). The killer bunnies gather at an abandoned gas station. Good grief! 

                                                                 Michael Madsen

                                                                       Part 2

No more Mr. Nice Guy. He made a good living doing exactly that. From the severed ear by Mr. Blonde to burying The Bride alive in Kill Bill 2 he continued to menace the other characters (and often the audience). And yet in real life he was a gentle guy, well liked by his fellow players. He was even a published poet!

In both of the Kill Bill films (2003, 2004, 2006) Madsen is Budd, also known as Sidewinder. The Bride (Uma Thurman) is a former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. She is nearly killed by Bill (David Carradine) and spends most of these movies hacking her way toward revenge against  Bill. Bodies everywhere, body parts as well. This is Quentin Tarrantino’s masterpiece and there’s nothing else quite like it. The 2006 version is actually a merger of the first two. Fans keep hoping for a Volume 3. Quentin says it is not happening. The Sidewinder becomes one of the numberless dead in the second film. 

Mulholland Falls (1996) is about a group of Los Angeles cops who grow tired of known criminals slithering out of punishment and decide to do something. That something is throwing people off the cliff on Mulholland Drive. Michael Madsen is one of the group, playing Eddie Hall. The group operates with the passive protection of the police chief (Bruce Dern). A series of murders and assorted crimes complete the movie until the equivocal finish.

Donnie Brasco (1997) is portrayed by the unlikely Johnny Depp as Joseph Pistone, an undercover FBI agent assigned to infiltrate the Mafia. Which he does, endearing himself to the fading enforcer Lefty Ruggerio (Al Pacino). Michael Madsen is Sonny Black, titular head of one group of mob members. His enemies, a rival Mob gang, makes the mistake of burning down Sonny’s night club. His revenge is unsubtle and complete. Meanwhile, Donnie’s undercover work results in over 200 indictments and he retires to an undisclosed location. 

The Hateful Eight (2015) is another Quentin Tarantino project and like most of his films it is a good story with nobody much to pull for. The title group is a mishmash of outlaws and crooked lawmen forced together by a blizzard into a clothing store. Madsen is Joe Gage, one of the cowboys in the group, by no means the worst. Samuel L.Jackson, Kurt Russell and Jennifer Jason Leigh are also present. Someone poisons the coffee and most of the group is killed. There is a hanging, an arm cut off and various other acts of blood and gore. Well, this is a Tarantino. 

Michael Madsen can also be seen to advantage in Wyatt Earp (1994) as Wyatt’s brother Virgil, and in the very weird Sin City (2005). One of his last roles of note was as Sheriff Hackett in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019). Madsen worked all the time. He logged nine films, none very good, in 2004, the year before his death. 

All of the films in this article are for adults only. 

                                                                     Michael Madsen

In the latter part of his career, he was almost always the meanest guy in the film. And he was so good at it he sort of got type cast as such. Premiere critic Roger Ebert said “He’s like a really mean Robert DeNiro. He has the kind of menacing screen presence only a few actors achieve.” Michael Madsen left us way too early at 67, leaving behind over 300 appearances in movies and TV shows. Until his turn as the psychotic Mr. Blonde, he was usually just a good middle of the road character actor. If you think these descriptions of the mature Madsen are a little strong, I direct you to his signature role.

Reservoir Dogs (1992). There are lots of bad guys in Quentin Tarantino’s rhinestone in the rough. Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi and Quentin himself are all on board for the mayhem. But Michael Madsen as Mr. Blonde tops them all. The gang sets out to rob a jewelry store but things go sideways and the police show up. They go their separate ways, winding up at an empty warehouse. They have kidnaped a policeman as a hostage, and they leave him alone with Mr.Blonde. Who promptly tortures the poor guy and cuts his ear off. Bad enough for you? I thought so. This bloodbath of a saga was Quentin’s first feature and sets the tone for his later work. It is not for the squeamish.

Madsen often said that while he made a good living as a totally bad, menacing guy, he sometimes wished for a gentler role. And he actually got one and did a good job with it in Free Willy (1993). 12-year-old Jason is an abandoned kid living on the street when he breaks into the aquarium and bonds with a feisty orca named Willy. Jason is taken in by the kind Greenwood family- Annie (Jayne Atkinson) and Glen ( yep, Michael Madsen). When Jason learns the aquarium’s owner plans to kill Willy for the insurance on him, Jason hatches a crazy plan to return Willy to the open sea. The Greenwoods help him and with Glen’s truck and a hydraulic lift give Jason hope. Finally, Willy must overcome a breakwater to get away and he manages this with Jason’s encouragement by jumping over it. This little film spawned two sequels, a TV series and several video games. None of them are, of course, up to the original. 

In Thelma and Louise (1991) Madsen is a regular guy as the boyfriend of Louise (Susan Sarandon). He tries to help the girls but they are beyond help as they shot a guy outside of a bar. And, of course, wound up driving their getaway car into the Grand Canyon. 

Madsen’s no hero in The Natural (1984) appearing as journeyman baseball player Bump Bailey, completely willing to collude with gamblers and throw a game. Roy Hobbes (Robert Redford) of course refuses and plays on despite death threats. 

In War Games (1983), Diner (1983) and Racing With The Moon (1984) Madsen has meaty, but minor, parts. 

All of the movies in this article except Free Willy are for adults only. Next time, another look at his bad guy roles, of which there are many.