(thanks, Cinefix!)
While many will remember the late James Horner for his work on Titanic, Avatar, Braveheart and other major Hollywood blockbusters, my own memories of the man’s work go back to his 80’s output when a few of his scores stood out and made me seek out their soundtrack albums, which back then were sometimes available weeks before a film was released. Amusingly enough, I hadn’t realized he’d done the score for the icky schlock-fest Humanoids From The Deep until I re-watched the film for a recent blogathon.
Another light goes out and if you knew the man’s rather astounding body of work it was one of the brightest lights you’d ever seen. While he was known primarily for his work in the horror genre, the late Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee was so much more than a one-note performer. Whether or not you liked some of the films he appeared in, he always gave his best even in the worst “B” flicks (Castle of Fu Manchu, anyone?). Some of us recall his films made with the late, great Peter Cushing (I’m partial to Horror Express) while younger viewers will know him from his work in The Lord of the Rings and a few Star Wars films.
I’d pick The Wicker Man (above) as my favorite Lee film because it’s a great flick that challenges viewers who come in expecting a standard horror tale. It’s a surprisingly intelligent genre film that works on a few levels and seeps into your bones for about a week or so after viewing. Go track it down (and don’t bother at all with the horrible remake) along with a few other Lee classics. I’m sure Turner Classic Movies will be running a marathon of his work shortly. But if you’re a film fan with room in your library you should think about adding a few of the man’s always re-watchable works to your collection.
The universe of stars just got a bit dimmer with the loss of Leonard Nimoy earlier today. Known primarily for his work on the Star Trek series, animated series and film series, the man was also a writer, director and producer with a body of work that showed he was more than just Mr. Spock. The character was actually a great deal more nefarious looking and fervent when the show began (as seen here), but mellowed in looks over time. Spock’s demeanor also shifted to a less intense, but still compelling presence that helped carry many an episode and helped keep him a fan favorite. His role as that character was so pivotal to his career that even when he tried to gently distance himself from it, it very likely was his role as Spock that got some Trek fans interested in his other film and TV work. Of course, he never really hated being Spock, but his sense of humor based on fan reaction made for a nice second autobiography.
Not a way I wanted to go about having a Friday, but I’m glad to have had the pleasure of enjoying his work on Star Trek and a plenty of other projects he’d worked on during his 83 years on the planet. No matter how you feel about the man and his work, it’s an absolute fact that he lived long and prospered. So long, sir – you’ll be missed by many.
While I personally haven’t taken much advantage of Club Nintendo rewards other than to nab a few downloads, the end of a relatively brief era is approaching as Nintendo winds the program down in favor of a new (and to be announced) loyalty system. Six years may be dog years in terms of the internet, but as usual, Japan got the best goodies while North America’s rewards were more along the acceptable to “Hey, that’s REALLY awesome!” set of points for stuff “freebies”.
That said, I’ll take what the company says about killing off the club and replacing it with something newer and shinier at face value as well as claim my free copy of Flipnote Studio 3D in February 2015. It’s too bad that freebie isn’t Wii U compatible, though. I could see a lot of people who don’t use a 3DS or even a 3DS XL because of the screen size maybe wanting to try out the image creation software and play around with it on a bigger screen. Ah well. RIP, Club Nintendo!
Hmmm. These TCM tributes are getting longer and harder to watch as the years zip by and we lose a few more stars. Yes, it’s not complete, but that can be rectified with a bit of creative calendar juggling. I suppose the thing about starting a new year fresh is big with too many people that changing this tribute’s air date to January would be seen as sacrilege to many. But at least this would insure they got in everyone including actors whose films would probably never be shown on the channel. Okay, I guess it’s a good thing I don’t have a job programming content for a cable channel. All you’d get would be old “B” movies you’ve never seen (or haven’t seen for decades), silly comedies from around the world, oddball random cartoons and the occasional documentary.
I was already in a lousy mood yesterday, but waking up to the news that Ralph Baer died pretty much kept me inside for the bulk of the day ruminating. I was eight years old when the Magnavox Odyssey launched, but my family didn’t buy one because we had assorted hobbies that kept us occupied. In fact, although I’d been to the arcade down at Coney Island back when I was six or seven, I was more impressed with the pinball machines I played (or tried to play). However, finding out a cousin had an Odyssey in his closet AND a color TV in his living room got me curious enough to see what was in that big box (a lot of stuff!) and what happened when it was all wired up to that big TV set… Continue reading →
A few years back, I once had to “explain” who Lauren Bacall was to a friend thanks to (of all things) a rather hilarious episode of The Sopranos where she was unceremoniously mugged by one of the main characters after an awards show:
When I said “explain” above, I didn’t do much in the way of talking at all other than to point him in the direction of Howard Hawks’ brilliant To Have and Have Not so he could see one tiny reason why she was so important. I’d say she got a lot more respect after that. And a whistle, most likely. This is turning into a kind of rotten week for falling stars, isn’t it? Still, while I’m not a believer in the afterlife, I’d bet that right about now, Bogie is sitting on a bar stool about to have a round when the doors swing open, a certain someone walks in with a cool breeze blowing behind her and without turning around, he lifts up his left hand which has two unlit cigarettes in it and says “What kept you, doll? I was getting bored here”, to which he’ll hear a smoky, purred “You were getting lonely here, you mean…”, as the lady takes both smokes and lights them then passes one back to him as he’s turning around.
I posted this on facebook earlier, but it bears repeating: Every time a great comedian dies and some dictator is still around fucking up people’s lives, it proves more and more that there is no god.
That may seem harsh to some of you, but I’d bet if we lost genocidal dictators and their armies at the same rate we do people who actually do some good in this world by sharing their assorted talents, there would indeed be a great deal more happy people all over the world. Comedy serves a huge purpose in life, as it helps you laugh through anything you’re going through or at least make you realize laughter is a great thing to have and share with others. What do you get with someone who has no sense of humor and access to an army of any size? Nothing but less people to laugh at the end of the day. Foo… closing up shop for the evening. This isn’t a way to end a Monday, that’s for sure.
And yes, while his stand-up comedy work was unstoppable and fall off something hilarious, I say catch Insomnia and One Hour Photo at some point to see two intense performances from a man who had many facets. Good Night for now – back on Tuesday…
Ach! I was up way too late this morning watching TCM and as I was fading away into sleep-land, I saw that today the channel was paying homage to James Garner. Oops. Well, I’d be camped out at home watching all of these films if I didn’t need to get some work done, but I think I’ll be back around 8-ish and ready to reminisce for a bit.
Here’s what’s on the menu this Monday:
Toward the Unknown Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend Grand Prix Cash McCall The Wheeler Dealers Darby’s Rangers Mister Buddwing The Thrill of It All The Americanization of Emily The Children’s Hour Victor/Victoria Marlowe
I can recall watching the pilot for The Rockford Files on NBC as a ten-year old kid and while not completely understanding everything that was going on, finding the show intriguing enough to come back week after week for almost the entire run of the series. Nothing lasts forever, and I was sad to see it vanish in 1980 (as far as original episodes went), but as with nearly any TV show that gains popularity and notoriety, reruns kept things going if I happened to be around to catch one. Of course, James Garner did much more memorable work in films before and since. Some of my favorite performances of his were in The Great Escape (1963), The Americanization of Emily (1964, the actor’s favorite role), Grand Prix (1966), Marlowe (1969) and Victor Victoria (1982). But, of course, since I was raised more on the tube, it’s Jim Rockford I’ll remember the best. I don’t have a favorite episode per se, but I absolutely recall rolling on the floor laughing at the episode where someone tries to bump off Rockford by sticking a canister of laughing gas in his car and hoping he’d have an accident:
This sequence makes me laugh harder today because it’s an homage of sorts to the scene in North By Northwest where a drunken Cary Grant (as Roger Thornhill) is put behind the wheel of a stolen Mercedes Benz and sent down a dark road towards certain doom off a cliff. Of course, he survives by taking the wheel and zig-zagging away from that cliff and down a highway until he brakes into the back of a patrol car. Jim got a wall tap to wake him out of his sunnier drive above. Anyway, another fallen star in another year too full of them. I’ll let TCM roll me out of this post with one of their tributes while I get ready for a slightly longer walk home tonight…
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 