Javier Bardem airs it out as Anton Chigurh in "No Country for Old Men." (Courtesy: Miramax Films)
Nice guys really do finish last in the movies:
Either washed down the gutter as sandy sludge like Texan Thomas Haden Church as Sandman in "Spider-Man 3" (2007); or in a sudden, jaw-dropping car wreck a la Javier Bardem as psychotic hit man Anton Chigurh in "No Country for Old Men" (also 2007) or even the late Heath Ledger as the Joker in the Batman saga "The Dark Knight" (2008).
Notice that we're talking about nice guys.
For some reason, and I've noticed this for a couple of decades, the really terrific men and women in real life always seem to play the most deeply disturbed villains on screen.
Heath Ledger as Joker in "The Dark Knight." (Courtesy: beyondmeasure.tv)
Here's why. Actors put on a mask when they take on a character, whether it be physical or simply mental. Sometimes they hide behind globs of horrendous-looking makeup as Ledger did in "The Dark Knight." I will never forget that grisly smeared bright red smile that ran up both sides of Ledger's face as Joker.
Yet when I had lunch with Ledger at the Four Season Hotel during the Toronto Film Festival in 2006, Ledger, who was a little edgy, was also gracious, generous with his time as he discussed his project at that time, the heroin-addiction romantic-drama "Candy."
When people ask me to name my favorite movie villain of all time, it is Anton Chigurh, the soft-spoken human killing machine portrayed by Bardem in "No Country for Old Men." Ledger's Joker is a very close second.
Armed with a deadly compressed-air weapon and sporting a Three Stooges haircut in "No Country for Old Men," though, Bardem's Chigurh sent chills up and down my spine. He still does, actually, when I think about it.
I had the pleasure of having dinner with Bardem when the Spanish Oscar winner ("No Country for Old Men," but nominations also for "Before Night Falls" in 2000 and "Biutiful" in 2010) came through Dallas promoting the outstanding bio-drama "The Sea Inside" in 2004.
It was late afternoon -- sort of between lunch and dinner in restaurant time -- when the movie studio rep arrived with Bardem for our interview. While the movie rep made sure everything was prepared in the restaurant, I had some "alone time" with Bardem at the bar.
Charming and congenial, he joked with me about how silly it looks when fancy restaurants pour the usual single serving of wine into an over-sized glass that could easily serve as a multifamily fish bowl.
When these actors and others put on that "mask," though, they are able to transform themselves into evil personified ... then laugh all the way to the bank.
So, this question: Who's your favorite movie villain of all time? I'd love to hear your opinion, and the copilation of evil cinematic dudes and dudettes just below will jar your memory and, perhaps, make it a little more difficult to sleep tonight.
No need to thank me, just click the arrow below, share with your friends and let me know which ones send shivers up your spine.
Mel Brooks as the governor and Robyn Hilton as his, uh, secretary in "Blazing Saddles." (Courtesy: Warner Bros.)
Genius is not a word I toss around freely.
Oh, I use it to describe myself three or four times a day, of course. But that's usually about it.
Not today, though. Today I want to send as many accolades as possible out to creative genius Melvin James Kaminsky of Brooklyn, New York.
We all know Mr. Kaminsky better as Mel Brooks, whose "Young Frankenstein" of 1974 still holds almost 40 years later as my favorite comedy of all time.
It is Brooks' other 1974 comedy, "Blazing Saddles," that takes center stage on this occasion, however because you can enjoy a digitally restored print of the raucous Western on the big screen as part of Cinemark Theaters' Classic Series one day and night only, Wednesday (May 15 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.), at select Cinemark Theaters across the U.S.
And yes, you read correctly. Two of the most outrageous, entertaining comedies of all time debuted the same year. From the same filmmaker. With a little help from Count Basie (whose full orchestra appears from nowhere among the sagebrush in "Blazing Saddles"), some magnificent acting talent (Madeline Kahn as the Oscar nominated saloon singer in "Blazing Saddles" who's "so tired" and the monster's semi-reluctant, shall we say, romantic partner in "Young Frankenstein"), the beans-fueled flatulance campfire scene of "Blazing Saddles" and many others.
I could go on. In fact, I would if I didn't have better evidence than words can describe to point out what I mean when I call Brooks the cinema's Crown Prince of Irreverence. Some of you may think that cutting edge, down-and-dirty comedy -- dangerously chancy, even -- began with the "The Hangover" franchise in 2009.
Nope. Mentally roll back the clock to Feb. 7, 1974 and click on the "Blazing Saddles" trailer below.
Baz Luhrmann puts Carey Mulligan and Leonardo DiCaprio through their paces in "The Great Gatsby." (Photo courtesy: Warner Bros.)
From the Hey, Don't You Think It's A Little Late For That Department:
Now that Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby" is in theaters with a boffo $51 million and change opening weekend in the books, the Australian filmmaker with a flair for, shall we say, mass-appeal-of-the-day revisionist film-making, is feigning worry that "Gatsby" novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald might not approve of a flashy mix of hip hop and period music.
“I don’t know if he would say, ‘I was really upset you didn’t put the old-fashioned music in.’ He might have,” Luhrmann tells The Hollywood Reporter. “He might have said, ‘Why did you put that immediate, now music? Why did you use this new thing called 3-D?’… I don’t really know what he would think,” an article posted on the Hollywood Reporter website said.
From this aisle seat, Luhrmann and (if you watch the video below) hip-hop artist Jay-Z, who draws an executive producer credit as Shawn "Jay Z" Carter, stars Leonardo DiCaprio (Gatsby), Carey Mulligan (Daisy) and former "Spider-Man" Tobey Maguire (Nick) all agree that fusing modern-day hip-hop into Roaring Twenties jazz is -- to split the difference decade-wise -- a groovy idea.
I'm not going to give a full explanation of how I think it worked today, since -- NEWSFLASH! -- Breaking News -- there's a good chance I may be reopening my Movie Review Jalapeño Jar soon. That might just begin with my "Great Gatsby" review.
More to come on that news soon. For now, check out the video below and see what those involved have to say about hip-hopping through F. Scott Fitzgerald territory.
April 20 was hardly a typical Saturday. That was the day the Richland College Emeritus plus 50/Movie Memories posse was formed for the semi-sole purpose of determining that Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow remain a non-threat to law-abiding citizens.
We all watched "Bonnie and Clyde," the Oscar-nominated 1967 classic starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, the night before, so we felt obligated to take action. (Click here to hear Merle Haggard sing "The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde.")
While it's true that a 79-year-old notorious crime spree might be considered the ultimate cold case by some, the Richland Emeritus plus 50 group is a determined bunch, especially if we can stop at Braum's for a refreshment break from time to time.
After returning from a rather cushy day on the trail -- not on horseback but in a comfortable Lone Star Coaches bus -- your scribe can report that both former West Dallas desperadoes of the 1930s remain buried and quite secure in separate Dallas graves.
The other purpose of the day trip was to have lunch at Bonnie & Clyde's Hideout. Not the gun-brandishing bank robber's actual hideout, you understand, but a comfortable, swanky bar and grill at the Hilton DFW Lakes Hotel in Grapevine.
Although we weren't officially deputized by Richland Emeritus plus 50 director Mitzi Werther, when the bus pulled off from under the big tree in Richland's Parking Lot D, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who felt like we were off on an important mission with snacks.
Our journey began in the direction of Irving. Destination: The CRM Studios, formerly known as The Studios at Las Colinas. Tim Eaton, senior account executive/producer, gave up his Saturday morning to show us around the star-themed dressing rooms and high-tech studios.
Tim Eaton takes us behind the scenes at the CRM Studios in Irving.
Eaton, of course, is a great friend of the Richland Emeritus plus 50 program. During last year's April movie-themed bus tour, Eaton showed us around Waxahachie, 45 minutes South of Dallas. That's where Oscar-winning movies "Places in the Heart," "Tender Mercies" and "The Trip to Bountiful" were filmed in the mid-1980s.
Tim wowed our crowd once again this year with his friendly, funny banter and knowledgeable tour of the soundstages where movies like "Silkwood," "JFK" and others were lensed and where various TV shows, the Glenn Beck radio show and corporate productions are the focus today.
From there it was off to the Barrow Gang trail. Mike, our driver, stopped the bus at the historical marker that signifies the somber site (on East Dove just off Hwy. 114 in Southlake) where Bonnie and Clyde's gang gunned down two Texas Highway Patrolmen on Easter Sunday, 1934.
Then it was off to the Bonnie and Clyde Hideout, which is -- shall we say -- in plain sight right smack dab in the center of the Hilton DFW Lakes Hotel.
A side note: I doubt very seriously that the outlaws-on-the-run ever dined at their hideout-themed bar and grill. If you do, though, I highly recommend the tomato basil soup. It's yummy.
Our tour guides: Author, memorabilia collector and Richland Emeritus plus 50 advisory board member Charles Heard, left, and author, Bonnie and Clyde historian Jonathan Davis at the historical marker in Southlake.
From there our Bonnie and Clyde tour guides, Charles Heard and Jonathan Davis, directed Mike the driver and our group to West Dallas, where stops included a site where Clyde Barrow killed a police officer in a shootout on the porch of a West Dallas home, the Barrow family plot at the Western Heights Cemetery on Fort Worth Avenue and the now-shuttered Star Service Station on Singleton Blvd., which once served as the Barrow family home.
We then journeyed north for a quick ice cream and convenience respite at Braum's before visiting Bonnie Parker's grave (see photo above), where she's buried next to her mama at Crown Hill Memorial Park on Webb Chapel Road.
As the day's shadows grew longer, Mike steered the bus back toward the big tree in Parking Lot D. We had accomplished our goal. As we suspected but felt compelled to confirm, Bonnie and Clyde remain no threat to bankers, car owners or grocery store owners.
Besides, the candy we packed for the trip had run out by then.
The Richland College Emeritus Bonnie and Clyde posse: That's Emeritus plus 50 director Mitzi Werther on the far right. (All photos courtesy Michael Pasierb, except for the shot of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow.)
As the brakes on the bus that isn't really a bus whoosh, the driver -- a calming soul with a Chicago Bulls cap pulled down low over his ears -- says, "OK, folks, just one more pick up."
The doors open and Jonathan Winters, looking to be in his mid-30s and grinning from ear to ear, bounds up the steps. "Man, this is the best I've felt my entire life," Winters blurts.
"Your entire what," a serious, but polite and slightly giddy British woman replies.
"Hey, you look like ... you are Margaret Thatcher," Winters almost shouts. "And isn't that Annette Funicello across the aisle? I remember her. She looks great, in fact young and energetic enough to put those Mickey Mouse Club ears back on. Say, what's going on here?"
"You'll understand soon, Mr. Winters. Just relax and rest assured that we're off to someplace wonderful and without prejudices of any kind. There will be no such thing as liberals or conservatives, racial tension or even pain and suffering."
(Thatcher, with a knowing smile, nods in the direction of a woman a few seats away.) "Isn't that right?"
"Right you are, ma'am."
"Please forgive me," Winters says to the other woman, "but I don't recognize you."
"Call me Casino Sue, Mr. Winters. I've been a fan of yours since I saw you do that Maude Frickert routine on 'The Tonight Show' way back when Johnny Carson was host. You were one funny lady. I mean ... well, you know what I mean."
"Of course, Sue. Thanks," Winters responds.
"Hey, Maggie. May I call you Maggie, Mrs. Thatcher?"
"If you don't mind, Mr. Winters, Margaret will do."
"Sorry, ma'am. Of course. I meant no disrespect. Hey, Maggie ... just kidding, loosen up a little, who's that guy hunched over that iPhone up in front of us?"
"That's Roger Ebert," Thatcher replies. "He's been trying to send a text message to his wife and Tweets to his thousands of followers the whole trip."
Ebert scratches out a quick note and hands it to Thatcher: "I have 600,000 online friends and fans who count on me. I can't reach them."
"You've already reached them, Roger, and you'll always be in their hearts. Don't worry, you won't be forgotten. As for Chaz, your loving wife and helpmate will join you sooner than you can imagine," Thatcher says.
"Excuse me, Roger, but why are you writing notes anyway," Winters asks.
"I lost my voice years ago in a horrible bout with cancer," Ebert says. "I can't speak."
"Well, you just did, bub," Winters replies with his impeccable comic timing.
"I did, didn't I," Ebert beams, looking like he did in his heyday.
"You sure did, Roger," the bus driver says calmly as he turns around and removes his Bulls cap.
"Gene ... Gene Siskel! You old son-of-a-gun," Roger shouts. "Great to see you! But don't you need to keep your hands on the wheel?"
"I'm not really driving this bus, Roger. I just like to keep two thumbs up there on the wheel for old times sake."
"Say, are we there yet? How long will this trip take, anyway," Winters asks.
"Do you want to tell him or should I," Siskel asks his passengers.
In unison, Margaret Thatcher, Roger Ebert, Annette Funicello, Jack Pardee, Bonnie Franklin and Casino Sue (Taylor) say, "A blink of an eye."
Making an announcement like this on April Fools' Day probably says more about my comic t-t-timing, or semi-lack of same, than a sane man would normally care to share. But here goes.
I'm adding stand-up comedy -- a lifelong love of mine -- to my repertoire of Movie Memories presentations.
You should know I've made a fool of myself as a stand-up comedian before. So this decision does not come without precedent. It just arrives without the benefit of clear thinking.
Welcome to "We Might As Well Laugh," an hour-long comic look at the world around us. I'll talk about things that bug me, like tiny print on medicine bottles, hearing aids that whisper in our ears when we least expect it and a world divided equally but uneasily between the two titans, mayo and Miracle Whip.
It is now officially OK to laugh at me, laugh with me and, perhaps, chuckle a little at yourselves as well. After all, many of us are navigating uncharted life beyond 50 or 60, which is the new 50 and the old ... What? I've lost my train of thought again.
Oh yeah. Seniors deserve fun, too. After all, these are trying times. Meteors and asteroids are buzzing Mother Earth. Sinkholes are swallowing up houses and golfers (If you're keeping score, that's a sinkhole in one or one in sinkhole) and now giant monster mosquitoes are buzzing around Florida like Mothra. Yeah, huh.
Thus the title: "We Might As Well Laugh."
So, join the comedy-for-seniors rebellion with me, won't you? Book your group, club or facility today for some real fun that we can all identify with.
We'll laugh 'til it hurts, which won't take long for those of us with joint ailments. Let's have some fun with comedy only those 45 or 50 or with even more life experience can truly appreciate (and guffaw at).
And let's not forget that some of us remain plenty rebellious. Young people think it's hip to wear their pants way down low, for instance. That's way south of hip (or hips), if you ask me.
Perhaps in an effort to balance the universe, some senior men appear to be raising the waistline to mid-chest. Have you seen Clint Eastwood lately?
And speaking of seniors, do we really have to refer to ourselves in high school terms? As far as I can tell, there's no big homecoming game and dance looming and no senior prom coming up.
We've got something better: Memories; movie and otherwise.
You know what? I'm not taking stand-up comedy sitting down. Give me a second to get up. O-o-o-kay, I'm up.
There is no denying it. We've had some potentially tragic near-misses lately. We survived the meteor that ravaged Russia. You know, the one no scientist saw coming.
We even made it through the recent too-close-for-comfort asteroid fly-by on Feb. 15.
And, so far at least, it appears we've even passed the crisis stage in Dennis Rodman's recent visit to North Korea, where the multipierced, multitattooed former NBA elbow-slinging rebounder hammed it up with munchkin leader Kim Jong Un.
Who says spring break is only for the kids? I say it's time to party Baby Boomer style!
I'd like to personally invite you and as many friends and loved ones you can round up to join us at Richland College's Fannin Performance Hall tomorrow (Thursday, March 14) for "Music, Magic & Movies."
The gala celebration begins at 10:20 a.m. and includes The Levee Singers, Dallas's own legendary folkies, celebrated magician David Hira and yours truly as master of ceremonies. In addition to serving up some heart-pumping movie memories to set the entertainment mood, I'll also have a few tricks up my sleeve.
And who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?
Remember, that's four hours of music, magic and movie fun for the small fee of only $15. And a box lunch is provided. Also, we plan to have you out of there by 2, so don't worry about fighting rush-hour traffic. Call 972-238-6147 to register for the event (Course No. 814388) or click on this link for more info.
And, by the way, if you have difficulty registering today because of the late date, send me an email at lrratliff@verizon.net and I'll see if I can help. See you tomorrow!
'Bonnie and Clyde' still wanted dead, thank you
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in a photo found by police at their Joplin, Mo. hideout in 1933. (Courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org)
Both members of the notorious crime duo Bonnie and Clyde are quite dead. Still, they can't get away.
Movie Memories and the Richland College Emeritus plus 50 program has a dandy day bus trip planned for April 20. We're forming a posse to retrace the famous outlaw's steps.
Once again, it is my goal to make Richland Emeritus plus 50 leader Mitzi Werther order a bigger bus. But I need your help to do that.
It's time to sign up for the "Bonnie and Clyde Bus Tour." It all kicks off with a screening of the 1967 Oscar-nominated crime-spree classic "Bonnie and Clyde" Friday evening, April 19. The next morning, we'll get on a comfortable bus and begin our tour at the CRM Studios in Las Colinas. Tim Eaton, who so eloquently guided us around Waxahachie last year, is back to show us around celebrity-themed dressing rooms at the CRM studios.
After lunch, we'll tour Dallas-area locales where notorious outlaws Bonnie and Clyde gunned down two law enforcement officers, other related sites of interest and finally visit the couple's grave sites, which are not together in case you are wondering.
Charles Heard, author, cinephile and collector of movie memorabilia, will guide us along the Bonnie and Clyde part of the tour. Sign up early, please. Once the bus is full, it's full. You can call 972-238-6147 to register for the bus tour. Here's a link with all the info: http://www.richlandcollege.edu/emeritus/trips.php
Let's face it, we've had some potentially tragic near-misses lately. We survived the meteor that ravaged Russia. You know, the one no scientist saw coming.
We even made it through the recent too-close-for-comfort asteroid fly-by on Feb. 15.
And, so far at least, it appears we've even passed the crisis stage in Dennis Rodman's recent visit to North Korea, where the multipierced, multitattooed former NBA elbow-slinging rebounder hammed it up with munchkin leader Kim Jong Un.
Who says spring break is only for the kids? I say it's time to party Baby Boomer style!
I'd like to personally invite you and as many friends and loved ones you can round up to join us at Richland College's Fannin Performance Hall on Thursday, March 14 for "Music, Magic & Movies."
The gala celebration begins at 10 a.m. and includes The Levee Singers, Dallas's own legendary folkies, celebrated magician David Hira and yours truly as master of ceremonies. In addition to serving up some heart-pumping movie memories to set the entertainment mood, I'll also have a few tricks up my sleeve.
And who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?
Remember, that's four hours of music, magic and movie fun for the small fee of only $15. And a box lunch is provided. Also, we plan to have you out of there by 2, so don't worry about fighting rush-hour traffic. Call 972-238-6147 to register for the event (Course No. 814388) or click on this link for more info.
'Bonnie and Clyde' wanted dead, thank you
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in a photo found by police at their Joplin, Mo. hideout in 1933. (Courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org)
Both members of the notorious crime duo Bonnie and Clyde are quite dead. Still, they can't get away.
Movie Memories and the Richland College Emeritus plus 50 program has a dandy day bus trip planned for April 20. We're forming a posse to retrace the famous outlaw's steps.
Once again, it is my goal to make Richland Emeritus plus 50 leader Mitzi Werther order a bigger bus. But I need your help to do that.
It's time to sign up for the "Bonnie and Clyde Bus Tour." It all kicks off with a screening of the 1967 Oscar-nominated crime-spree classic "Bonnie and Clyde" Friday evening, April 19. The next morning, we'll get on a comfortable bus and begin our tour at the CRM Studios in Las Colinas. Tim Eaton, who so eloquently guided us around Waxahachie last year, is back to show us around celebrity-themed dressing rooms at the CRM studios.
After lunch, we'll tour Dallas-area locales where notorious outlaws Bonnie and Clyde gunned down two law enforcement officers, other related sites of interest and finally visit the couple's grave sites, which are not together in case you are wondering.
Charles Heard, author, cinephile and collector of movie memorabilia, will guide us along the Bonnie and Clyde part of the tour. Sign up early, please. Once the bus is full, it's full. You can call 972-238-6147 to register for the bus tour. Here's a link with all the info: http://www.richlandcollege.edu/emeritus/trips.php
Thanks for sharing Movie Memories
Thanks to Robin for booking me, Owen for hosting me and the residents of Town Village North Dallas for listening to me for my "Rockets' Red Glare: Space Race Classics" presentation Sunday evening. Of course, "The Right Stuff" was part of the program.
FYI, the "Rockets' Red Glare: Space Race Classics" presentation is so new it's not even listed among the Movie Memories presentations yet. Be among the first to book the high-flying cinematic celebration of the U.S. -- Ruskie space race or other Movie Memories presentations (See top left side of this webpage) and call 972-599-2150 to lock in your group or organization's date and time.
Check out The Senior Voice
And I don't just mention that because my movie column, Getting Reel, appears in The Senior Voice, Carol Butler's fine bi-monthly newspaper celebrating everything senior.
In the hot-off-the-press March-April issue, for instance, you'll find Barry Rogers' interview with "Dallas" star Patrick Duffy, the result of Bo Carter's sit-down interview with Texas Rangers' second baseman Ian Kinsler and -- you knew I'd eventually get to this -- my movie memory about attending a gala movie world premiere and the reason I couldn't see much of the film itself.
Grabbing a little "Pyramid" power with Gary Kent, left, at the Dallas La Madeleine restaurant. (Courtesy: Joe O'Connell)
"We were driving into Dallas and I started getting that old feeling again," filmmaker, stuntman and all-around great guy Gary Kent said with an old familiar spark in his eye, shortly after we savored a reuniting hug that was too many years coming.
Fate, or possibly pyramid power, brought us together in the early 1970s when Gary and a band of semi-misfits -- actors, actor wannabes, a film-making crew that had amazing faith in a first-time director, scores of people simply curious and more than a few hangers-on -- summoned up all they had to make a feature film titled "The Pyramid."
I was among those mentioned above. I probably fit into several of the categories mentioned. Mostly, though, I wanted to see this beguiling guy named Gary Kent get his movie made (without allowing me to embarrass myself too horribly as one of the cast members).
Gary, his son Chris and Joe O'Connell drove up from Austin on Saturday (Feb. 16) to be part of an interview session promoting tonight's "It Came From Dallas 8 -- Behind the 8-Ball" fund-raising event put on by the Dallas Producers Association. You still have time to make the film evening extravaganza, beginning at 7:30 p.m. (doors open at 6:30) at the Studio Movie Grill -- Dallas (11170 North Central Expressway at Royal Lane).
O'Connell, a noted film writer (who's been published in The Dallas Morning News and the Austin American-Statesman, just to name a couple newspapers), is making a documentary about Gary's fascinating life and career titled "Love & Other Stunts."
How fascinating?
Consider this: The silver-haired Mr. Kent, who lost his wife Tomi (the female lead in "The Pyramid") to cancer and is now facing serious health issues himself, played toughs and bikers in glorious 1960s B-movies like "Satan's Sadists" and "Hell's Angels on Wheels." As a stuntman, Gary doubled big-name stars Jack Nicholson and Robert Vaughan.
When he first got off the bus in Hollywood in 1959, Gary wanted to be the next big movie star. At least he did until he noticed that he wasn't the only determined young new arrival with that idea. In fact, when he noticed that casting agents often tossed bios and publicity photos in the trash before eager young actors even left the room, Gary started looking around for something else to do in the movie industry.
Sometime in the early '60s, Gary Kent got the opening he had been waiting for.
"I was having lunch with someone and they said, 'Jack Nicholson, this young actor, is getting ready to do two Westerns up in Utah, and they're looking for a stuntman.' I said, 'I'm a stuntman,' although I wasn't, of course, but I was going to fake it," Gary said during the Dallas interview on Saturday.
He first met Nicholson in a small room, that Gary said appeared to be a paper supply room.
"He had a bologna sandwich and he was sitting there. He didn't know anything. I didn't know anything, so we just lied to each other. He said, "We're going up to Utah. Can you take a horse and have it get sick, slow down, fall down and die?' And I said, 'Sure, that's no problem. I can do that,' having no idea what I was going to do."
The Westerns, both directed by Monte Hellman, turned out to be "Ride in the Whirlwind" in 1965 and "The Shooting," which hit silver screens a year later.
That launched Gary's varied career as a stuntman, filmmaker and actor that would bring him to Dallas in the early 1970s. After another film-maker's project failed to make it to that wonderful shout of "Action!," Gary decided to write and direct his own film. That project became "The Pyramid," a pyramid-powered, stream-of-consciousness drama about a TV newsman sick of covering tragic news and looking to find his true center with positive stories.
If "The Pyramid" were released today, it would probably be classified as "realistic fiction," a term that applies to Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," Ben Affleck's "Argo" and Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty." That's to say a project based on or inspired by real experiences or events, but Hollywooded-up, so to speak, for the movie-going masses.
A year or so before "The Pyramid" began production in Dallas in the early '70s, I remember seeing Gary's face light up as I told my new friend from Hollywood stories of my own experiences as a television news reporter in the Dallas-Fort Worth market.
Gary -- as all feature filmmakers do -- expanded on what I told him about growing weary of ambulance chasing and reporting on tragedies and scratched out enough funding to add director to his long list of acting and behind-the-scenes credits. He was kind enough to cast me in "The Pyramid," not as the lead TV news reporter (played by the late Charley Brown), but as a television news anchorman.
If you watch the trailer below, you won't see me. But in the frenzied end moments of the trailer, you'll hear me say, "Ladies and gentlemen, please stand by."
At this moment, "Love & Other Stunts" is 90 percent funded. Gary, Joe O'Connell and yours truly would appreciate even a small donation to make this worthy project happen. As it turns out, there's a deadline looming (just a few days left) to secure final funding. If you can help, go to indiegogo.com/projects/love-other-stunts.
Forgive me for referring back to an earlier line:
Ladies and gentlemen, please stand by Gary Kent.
Join us for 'Music, Magic & Movies' fun
Please take a second to mark your calendars for March 14.
That will be a day you won't soon forget, especially if you remember The Levee Singers, Dallas' own music legends. Or if you're familiar with magician, entertainer and motivational speaker David Hira. Or if you enjoy the shenanigans I bring with Movie Memories presentations.
All three of us will take the stage Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Richland College Fannin Performance Hall. The Levee Singers will sing, David Hira will amaze you and I'll be emceeing the Richland College Emeritus plus 50 event and providing some surprises of my own.
That's four hours of fun for the small fee of $15. And a box lunch is provided. Call 972-238-6147 to register for the fun-filled event (Course No. 814388) or click on this link for more info.
We're forming a 'Bonnie and Clyde' posse
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in a photo found by police at their Joplin, Mo. hideout in 1933. (Courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org)
Thanks again to all of you who joined us for the Richland College Emeritus plus 50 Program/Movie Memories bus trip to cinematicly historic Waxahachie last April.
We've got a dandy day bus trip follow-up planned for this April, and, once again, it is my goal to make Richland Emeritus plus 50 leader Mitzi Werther order a bigger bus. That's where you come in.
It's time to sign up for the "Bonnie and Clyde Bus Tour." It all kicks off with a screening of the 1967 Oscar-nominated crime-spree classic "Bonnie and Clyde" Friday evening, April 19. The next morning, we'll get on a comfortable bus and begin our tour at the CRM Studios in Las Colinas. Tim Eaton, who so eloquently guided us around Waxahachie last year, is back to show up around celebrity-themed dressing rooms at the CRM studios.
After lunch, we'll tour Dallas-area locales where notorious outlaws Bonnie and Clyde gunned down two law enforcement officers, other related sites of interest and finally visit the couple's grave sites, which are not together in case you are wondering.
Charles Heard, author, cinephile and collector of movie memorabilia, will guide us along the Bonnie and Clyde part of the tour. Sign up early, please. Once the bus is full, it's full. You can call 972-238-6147 to register for the bus tour. Here's a link with all the info: http://www.richlandcollege.edu/emeritus/trips.php
I can't believe it's been 20 years since the almost-perfect Bill Murray comic vehicle "Groundhog Day" debuted, mostly because my face still stings a little from the slap Andie MacDowell gave me during an interview for the outrageous comedy.
Those familiar with the 1993 comic gem directed by Harold Ramis will recall that Murray plays Phil Connors, a cantankerous TV weatherman tired of covering Groundhog Day ceremonies in Punxsutawney, Pa. and grumbling about covering a "rat" for the fourth year in a row.
Instead of waking up on Feb. 3 after being snowed in, however, Phil -- the human one portrayed by Murray (right down to rodent-like teeth) -- discovers to his horror that it's Feb. 2 (Groundhog Day) all over again. And so it goes. Every time Phil wakes up to Sonny and Cher's "I Got You, Babe" on the clock radio, it's Feb. 2.
That means that since Rita (MacDowell as Phil's producer) slaps Phil on Feb. 2, she will slap him on all the Feb. 2nds to come. That's 10 by some counts, but I remember more.
The common way to slap someone when acting in a movie is not to really slap them at all. The hand swings at the face, but either misses completely or barely strikes the other actor. The actual sound of a brutal slap is edited in and, generally, that's enough to convince an audience that a real slap took place.
That's what I expected MacDowell to explain to me during our TV interview for "Groundhog Day" back in 1993. It went something like this:
Me (TV guy, trying to be so cute and witty): "You know, Andie, you had to slap Bill over and over making 'Groundhog Day.' How did you guys manage to fake it and make it appear so real?"
Andie MacDowell: "I'll show you. Lean over this way. Closer ... a little closer ..."
WHAAAAAAP!
That's the day I learned two important things: When interviewing playful movie stars, phrase the question very carefully and Ow, that hurt!
Let's fill the Richland/Movie Memories bus again
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in a photo found by police at their Joplin, Mo. hideout in 1933. (Courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org)
Thanks again to all of you who joined us for the Richland College Emeritus plus 50 Program/Movie Memories bus trip to cinematically historic Waxahachie last April.
We've got a dandy day bus trip follow-up planned for this April, and, once again, it is my goal to make Richland Emeritus plus 50 leader Mitzi Werther order a bigger bus. That's where you come in.
It's time to sign up for the "Bonnie and Clyde Bus Tour." It all kicks off with a screening of the 1967 Oscar-nominated crime-spree classic "Bonnie and Clyde" Friday evening, April 19. The next morning, we'll get on a comfortable bus and begin our tour at the CRM Studios in Las Colinas. Tim Eaton, who so eloquently guided us around Waxahachie last year, is back to show up around celebrity-themed dressing rooms at the CRM studios.
After lunch, we'll tour Dallas-area locales where notorious outlaws Bonnie and Clyde gunned down two law enforcement officers, other related sites of interest and finally visit the couple's grave sites, which are not together in case you are wondering.
Charles Heard, author, cinephile and collector of movie memorabilia, will guide us along the Bonnie and Clyde part of the tour. Sign up early, please. Once the bus is full, it's full. You can call 972-238-6147 to register for the bus tour. Here's a link with all the info: http://www.richlandcollege.edu/emeritus/trips.php
("Groundhog Day" cover and photo courtesy: Columbia Pictures)
