Back when I was in college and started taking film classes I began to gain an appreciation for the classic movies of the past. I started renting older movies and while many of my friends didn’t have much interest in watching them with me, I couldn’t get enough. One of the first movies I rented during this period was The Hustler, which is now ranked way up toward the top of my all time favorite movies. The Hustler of course starred Paul Newman as Fast Eddie Felson. The movie mesmerized me. In fact, it along with a couple of other movies are what really forced me to keep going and watch as many of these old movies as possible. I had never seen anyone on the screen as cool as him. The way that he effortlessly went from owning that pool table and the room to a completely broken shell of person in one scene was astonishing. From there, I went to Hud and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, then to Cool Hand Luke. Then the two classics he did with Redford; Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting. In 1966 he starred in one of my all time favorite private eye movies Harper, where the tagline was, “This is a different kind of cat named Harper… and excitement clings to him like a dame!” These characters were cool, they were rebellious and most important they were all flawed and completely human. Writers can only write a character so well, the actor needs to bring these elements with them to the set and Newman never mailed it in. All in all, Newman has seven movies in my top 100. Read the rest of this entry »
About a month ago I TIVO’d George Carlin’s latest HBO special, It’s Bad For Ya. I didn’t get to watch it until 2 weeks ago. It was filmed on his 70th birthday. There were a couple of moments during the act where he was a bit slower than he used to be, but for the most part it was good old fashioned Carlin and a hilarious act. Even not at his very best, he was still funnier than almost any other stand-up comedian out there. He started the show off saying how much he hated Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods. Who says that? I can’t stand those guys either, but no one says that. He explained that he doesn’t want to be told who his heroes are going be by TV commercials or the media. People should choose their own heroes. George Carlin died yesterday at the age of 71. He was one of my heroes.
George Carlin didn’t compromise for anyone. He was from the old Lenny Bruce school of stand up. He was funny as all hell but he wanted you to think as much as laugh. He challenged all authority. The government, religion, education, parents; no one was left off the hook. He challenged what most people consider the norm or proper way of doing things. He was in your face, at times very crass and always funny. His comedy wasn’t always political; he could be silly and tell fart jokes too. I think that I have seen every one of his HBO specials, many of them I saw a few times. There wasn’t a bomb in the bunch. He was my favorite stand-up comic and look forward to watching HBO replay his many specials for years to come. They’ll never get old.
Goodbye Bo Diddley. One of the true all time rock and roll greats. Along with Chuck Berry and a handful of others, he created the beat that started rock music. His style is still being copied to this day. If it wasn’t for him we may not have had the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton or even The Clash. Elvis Pressley notoriously stole from him. I can’t claim to be an expert on him and his music, but I have and enjoy a few of his albums. If you are a fan or rock or the blues, you should at least grab a greatest hits album. Aside from the music being great, he is damn funny. I have never heard of anyone putting their own name in the titles of so many of their own songs such as, Diddley Daddy, Hey Bo Diddley, The Story of Bo Diddley and of course Bo Diddley among others. He is a pioneer that will be missed and hopefully will now be appreciated as much as he should be.