Category Archives: In Memoriam

In Memoriam: Ray Harryhausen

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Every movie fan is sad today at the loss of Ray Harryhausen at age 92.  Born in 1920, his first job in Hollywood was working on Mighty Joe Young for Willis O’Brien, the pioneer of stop-motion animation whose work in King Kong inspired Harryhausen to follow in his footsteps.  That successful beginning launched a decades-long career as one of the leading visual effects masters in Hollywood.

Despite never winning, or even being nominated for, a competitive Oscar, Harryhausen left a lasting mark on the visual effects industry.  His style and creativity helped inspire a generation of filmmakers, including legends like Spielberg, Lucas, Burton and Cameron.  Harryhausen’s ability started to truly blossom with The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and its two sequels in the 50s and 60s, but continued all the way until his last movie in 1981, Clash of the Titans.  By that point, fantasy films were dying out (until Lord of the Rings revived them in the 2000’s), replaced by science fiction as the popular spectacle movie genre.

Harryhausen’s last film was released before I was born, and I grew up as a member of the Jurassic Park generation of special effects, but his films are still impressive today, especially my favorite, Jason and the Argonauts. Continue reading →

In Memoriam: Roger Ebert

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Anyone who has written a film review in the last 30 or so years owes a lot to Roger Ebert, who died today at age 70, just one day after announcing his cancer had returned.  Ebert was the first person to win a Pulitzer for film reviews and popularized film criticism in a way no one else can lay claim to.  Whether in his 46 years reviewing for the Chicago Sun-Times, any of his various TV shows, his blog or even his Twitter account, Ebert brought both humor and a sense of importance to film review that few others could ever match.

I’m somewhat ashamed to say that I was never a huge Ebert fan growing up. Continue reading →

John Hughes

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Popular filmmaker John Hughes passed away today at age 59 from a heart attack while out for a morning stroll. Hughes had been absent from the film industry for a decade or more, but for a short span in the 80s, he was the king of teen films. He managed to capture a youth culture, despite being in his 30s, as if he had intimate knowledge of everything the average teen was going through in that period. Most of his successes came when I was too young to even know what a movie was, and most of my early exposure to them came through repetitive airings on TV.   Continue reading →

What he means to me…

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There are many people out there who don’t understand what the big deal is about Michael Jackson. Some acknowledge his talent, his philanthropy, and his influence on entertainment over the years, but miss the point by labeling him (singer, dancer, entertainer, etc…). Some can’t comprehend his importance because he wasn’t part of their lives, and are merely frustrated with the seemingly “excessive” coverage of his death. And some, the disgusting, vulgar, and relentlessly stupid but highly vocal few, find it fun or even the right thing to do to degrade and spit on a good man with lies and hatred, and label all those who love him as messed up, gay, or psychotic. So in the face of all those who just don’t understand, I submit this, so that it might help you see how much a part of me he is. Continue reading →

I had to post something, this is all I could come up with ::sniffs::

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 The world feels a little darker, a little colder today. A genius, a humanitarian, a revolutionary, an inspiration and an entertainer has left us. I’m completely devastated by today’s news. It’s especially hard for me with my birthday being tomorrow. Michael Jackson was 50 years old when he died today. When I was born, he was the same age I was now, “Thriller” was the number one album that year. His music has always been a part of my life, and a source of comfort, inspiration and beauty. I hope and I pray that he is remembered for his amazing contributions to this world, and not for the eccentricities of his life. The media did their best to destroy the man, and the American public cheered them on, relishing in every oddity and humiliation, and some trying to take advantage of his fame by hurting him the worst ways possible. I endured countless ridicule for defending and supporting him, but I’ve done it my whole life and will never stop. He was a good man, and so much more. I’m sure people will roll their eyes and hold on to their prejudices and their entertaining presumptions of the man, because as much as people love a hero and a success, they get more entertainment from watching the destruction of that hero, and the media is happy to oblige. Continue reading →

Lives Cut Short

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I had planned to revive my blog with a discussion of the Oscar Nominees announced today, but the news of Heath Ledger’s death changed all that.  A native Australian, he first burst onto the silver screen in 10 Things I Hate About You, which I did not see, for which he received significant praise.  I have only seen three of his films, the first of which was The Patriot eight years ago.  He struck me as having a pleasing sort of personality, and decent acting skills, and managed to hold his own with Mel Gibson in a fairly straightforward action film.  He injected humor and romance into the film, and turned a character designed solely as motivation for another (the father) into a character we genuinely cared about.  The last movie of his I saw was, of course, Brokeback Mountain.  I was not a huge fan of the film when I saw it; I felt the script was lacking and Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance was poor.  However, Heath Ledger turned what would have been a mediocre, gimmicky movie into something more.  I won’t argue that it is a great film, but his performance is absolutely phenomenal.  He injected so much soul into such a quiet character, every look, every motion, every line had meaning.  He made the character so tragic that it couldn’t help but break your heart.  The scene at the end where he goes through his love’s closet is absolutely heart wrenching.  Brokeback was the film where he finally lived up to the potential that had been seen in him since the beginning.

It is the only other film of Heath’s I’ve seen, however, which truly stuck with me.  As silly as it sounds, A Knight’s Tale has long been a favorite of mine.  It is a clever, silly film that is fun to watch, with a wonderful supporting cast, but what struck me the first time I saw it was how he could act from all directions.  There is no actor I can think of who could have played the role of William Thatcher as perfectly as he did.  Really, for me, it (and all his performances) comes down to honesty.  Anyone else would have either played it just for laughs, or stiff and dramatic.  He fully committed to the role, and the purpose of the film, and managed to bring everything to the table.  You don’t just root for the character because that’s what you’re supposed to do, you root for him because he becomes a character you really want to root for.  And that is what makes all the difference.

Regardless of what is discovered concerning the circumstances of his death, it is without a doubt a tragedy.  If he died of natural causes of some sort, it’s a life cut down too soon (he was only 5 years older than I).  If he accidentally overdosed on some sort of drug, it’s tragic because it was preventable.  And if he died by choice, that is the most tragic of all.  He leaves behind a short career, but more importantly a 2-year old daughter.  When she grows up, I’m sure she will watch his films and wonder what could have been, as we all are doing today.

(I would be remiss if I did not also mention the tragic loss of Brad Renfro, the 25 year old actor who died just a week ago of apparent drug overdose.  Renfro had several childhood and young adult roles in such films as The Client, Ghost World, Apt Pupil and Sleepers.)

Robert Altman (1925-2006)

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Last night the world lost one of the greatest and most creative filmmakers in history. Robert Altman, 81, died in a hospital in Los Angeles of undisclosed causes. Altman, a 5 time Oscar nominee for Best Director and a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, was known for ensemble pictures with overlapping subplots and dialogue. Catapulted to fame in the early seventies following the success of the film MASH, which he followed with such hits as Nashville, The Player, Short Cuts and Gosford Park, all of which earned him Oscar nominations (MASH, Nashville and Gosford Park were also nominated for Best Picture). He was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for “a career that has repeatedly reinvented the art form and inspired filmmakers and audiences alike”.

Most people know a lot about the TV show “M*A*S*H” but have never seen and know little about the movie MASH. The film, released in 1970, only has Gary Burghoff (Radar O’Reilly) as the only actor who would reprise his role on the show. The film was a huge success, and surprised many. Most in the industry thought the book on which it was based to be unfilmable, and many directors had turned it down. Altman rose to the challenge, and it became a huge hit, beating rival film Catch-22 and spawning one of the greatest shows in TV history. (As a side note, this film contained the first use of the f-word in mainstream cinema.) Altman always showed his courage in the films he chose, choosing what others would have never risked. One of my personal favorites, Popeye, was torched by critics, and audiences just didn’t get it, but I love it (it also is one of Robin Williams’ best performances). He creates a totally zany, wacky and bizarre town of colorful characters, and somehow makes it believable and realistic, and manages to tell a story amidst the craziness.

Altman’s final challenge was A Prairie Home Companion, released earlier this year, which has been the best film of the year by far. Only Altman (who directed most of the film from a wheelchair, with an alternate director by his side should disaster strike, as required by the insurance company) could create such a wonderful film from the beloved radio show. I would describe its many wonderful moments, but they fall flat without the context of the film. Perhaps that is the most important aspect of Altman’s style, making each moment in the film connected to every other. Altman, however, never really listened to the praise heaped on him, and would probably echo this bit of dialogue from A Prairie Home Companion, which takes place after one elderly character’s peaceful death:

“What if you die someday?”
“I will die.”
“Don’t you want people to remember you?”
“I don’t want them to be told to remember me.”

“Lord, we give you Jack… Try not to piss him off.”

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Today we saw the passing of the toughest man ever to grace any movie screen with his presence. Jack Palance died today at the age of 87, in his home in Montecito, CA of natural causes. Jack, a soldier awarded the Purple Heart in WWII, gained most of his fame for playing the villainous gunslinger Jack Wilson in 1953’s Shane, the greatest western ever made. Jack’s performance actually gained him his second Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in as many years. He would eventually win that award in 1992, at the age of 70, for his role as Curly in City Slickers, essentially a self-parody with as much heart as all of the performances he was mocking.

Jack was born Vladamir Palaniuk on February 18th, 1919, in Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania. The son of a coal miner, and an eventual UNC Tarheel, he had an early career as a professional boxer before joining the Army Air Corps during WWII. He was severely burned in a training accident in Tucson, AZ and was forced to undergo several surgeries before being discharged in 1944. Jack went on to pursue a career in acting, first on stage as Marlon Brando’s understudy for “A Streetcar Named Desire”, and then as the lead after he accidentally broke Brando’s nose after missing a punching bag.

Jack was known throughout his career as the perfect tough guy, and he was usually cast as a villain. In addition to numerous Westerns, he also stared in many war films. As he began to age he moved away from being an action star, and began to be a character actor in action movies. His brief, but memorable, turn as the mob boss Carl Grissom in Batman is certainly a highlight. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal as Curly in City Slickers. As the rough, old cowboy, who teaches Billy Crystal some lessons on life (and scares him senseless too), Palance won the hearts of all the moviegoers who saw his performance. His signature line from the movie, “I crap bigger than you,” has been identified by many as one of their favorite movie quotes, and the film was included in the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 funniest movies (#86). Palance would reprise the role, in a way, for City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold, playing Curly’s twin brother Duke.

Palance will always be remembered as a man who didn’t care what others thought of him. He was always very vocal with his distaste for many aspects of Hollywood, and he was never afraid to be who he was or say what he felt (he even famously fell asleep in his square on the game show Hollywood Squares). For me, however, the memory that sticks the most is his acceptance speech after winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in City Slickers. When he finally approached the microphone after his long walk to the stage, his first words were “I crap bigger than him”, pointing to Oscar host and City Slickers co-star, Billy Crystal. He then mumbled his way through a short acceptance speech. Suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he backed away from the microphone, set his award down, and began doing one-handed push-ups on the stage. He was 72 years old.

So tonight, I’m going to pop in Shane on DVD, and I’m going to follow that with City Slickers. It’s easy to watch those two bookends on Jack’s stellar career, and forget all that came between, but tonight, I’m going to celebrate the toughest guy to ever grace the screen, and be thankful for all the moments he left us with. We’ll miss you, Jack. Rest in peace.