I always try to stay up to date on my favorite action movie guys. I accept them as human beings who age and deteriorate like all of us do (not including Prince), and I am very interested in their later works. But alot of people don’t, they turn on their stars if the oxygen ever hits their skin or if their metabolism betrays their bellies. That Australian beer commercial with Steven Seagal that came out recently, I saw comments on other sights it was posted and everybody fixated on his weight, obviously not having seen any of the 26 movies or two seasons of reality TV he’s done in the past 10 years. Same thing with Stallone, every time he comes out with a new one people start gagging about him being old, like it’s the most appalling thing they’ve ever seen. This is just the people reinforcing Hollywood’s obsession with young pretty people, but look at Clint. He’s older, greyer, more withered and hoarse than either of those guys, and I don’t think I’ve heard anybody feelin lucky enough to make fun of him for it.
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Posts Tagged ‘William Devane’
Space Cowboys
Friday, December 10th, 2010
Tribute to Filmmaker John Flynn
Monday, April 9th, 2007Last night I was reading Harry’s GRINDHOUSE review and was taken off guard by his reference to John Flynn having died this week. I can’t find any news articles or obituaries, but the source of this news seems to be the people at The Grindhouse Film Festival who have reported that Mr. Flynn died in his sleep on Wednesday.
Flynn is not a director that has been intensely studied, you’re not gonna find a whole lot of information on him (although Shock Cinema did an interview with him a couple years ago.) I really know nothing about John Flynn the man, but since I’m very fond of three of his movies in particular Moriarty asked me to write up a little something.
Mr. Flynn’s most famous movie, the one every one of you should see, and my number one “FOR GOD’S SAKE WOULD YOU PEOPLE PLEASE PUT THIS OUT ON DVD?” pick since POINT BLANK came out is ROLLING THUNDER. Written by Paul Schrader, this movie is in the vein of TAXI DRIVER if it was a little more of a straight ahead revenge movie. William Devane plays a Vietnam vet who comes home to a hero’s welcome, but becomes very distant and feels nobody understands him. Things get worse when he gets robbed and loses his hand to a garbage disposal. He definitely has more to complain about than John Rambo in FIRST BLOOD. So later there is revenge.
I don’t really know a way to describe the plot without making it sound cheaper and dumber than it really is. This was one of the first movies to deal with Vietnam vets coming home to find that things just aren’t the same anymore, a theme that is unfortunately still pretty potent today. But that’s just one level. More importantly, it works as pure badass cinema. And that’s just about my favorite thing in movies: a real effective tough guy film that underneath also has something to say about the world. (more…)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Tuesday, May 16th, 2006As part of my striving for excellence I’m trying to strengthen my background in the filmatic arts. I’m always trying to catch up on the Badass Cinema that I’ve missed, but it’s also important to watch some of the regular folk movies that are considered classics. MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER is no THE GODFATHER or nothin but if you talk to film buffs alot of times they have a boner for Robert Altman, and this is one of the movies they all mention. Before POPEYE.
I was honestly able to watch it without having a clue what it was even about, which is always good. It turns out it’s kind of a hippie western. Not in a psychedelic EL TOPO kind of way but in the way that
- alot of the cowboys seem like these hairy hippie types and
- they got some guy (Leonard Cohen) strumming a guitar and singing ’70s style folk songs on the soundtrack every five minutes. Like it’s HAROLD AND MAUDE or something.
The style is the usual Altman style, alot of the dialogue seems improvised and very naturalistic and the people talk over each other and mumble sometimes. There’s one scene where Warren Beatty sits and burps and mumbles to himself for about 3 or 4 minutes, I betchya that scene was improv.
The movie takes place in the Old Pacific Northwest and basically is the story of It’s Hard Out West For a Pimp. It’s funny because at one point McCabe (Beatty) puts on a giant fur coat and he’s wearing a bowler hat and I said, “ha ha, he looks like a pimp.” And it was the same scene where you find out that yes, in fact, he is buying some hoes which he is using to set up a brothel. (more…)
