And then my father died

Well, the other shoe finally dropped - my father has passed away, well before his time. Over the past year, my family has dealt with one of the worst possible vicissitudes of life... a brain cancer diagnosis for a loved one. He was just shy of 80, survived by several siblings, his longtime spouse, and his children.

For those of you who relate better to films and tv than real-life emotions, (a) seek help soon, and (b) this is how terrified you feel when your relative has cancer.

Pop, the man in question, served in an army for Trujillo (basically, Stalin of the Caribbean), who tried to have my father killed for speaking out of turn, forcing my dad into exile (and my father outlived that dictator by 44 years, so hahaha fuck you very much, Trujillo). This same man was later dragooned by another army in the 50's. As a soldier, he saw Hiroshima survivors a decade after the bombing (his descriptions of which were horrifying). He was also a doctor who became both a successful businessman and an active community leader.

Last Spring/Summer offered ample time for fears, regrets, and introspection - even time to freak the hell out about the times I raced to the emergency room on my own behalf (as many hospital trips as in my whole life combined before 2014). But Autumn '14 was full of overnight stays in hospital rooms after working 40-60 hours, because we wouldn't let my dad sleep alone. And the past Winter was supposed to be an oasis - getting our loved one out of noisy hospitals, and continuing his rehab in a beautiful new apartment. Given the circumstances, we hoped to get him in the best possible shape for the remainder of our time together - yet, after some weeks, it didn't really work out that way. My father's condition simply deteriorated... until, finally, a good man was extinguished.

Extra Thoughts on It Follows, Most Violent, Arrow, and Nimoy

I haven't written a post like this before, but I realized that there were a few extra points that I wanted to make about the following entries that I posted recently. I'll be brief:

I really didn't spend enough time discussing the score for It Follows. I didn't even realize this until I watched Red Letter Media's review for It Follows (they also covered Furious 7). The RLM review included several clips from the movie - and I noticed that I was suddenly looking around corners as well as into dark rooms hesitantly, as if I were actually nervous and I was doing this in my own home.

Honestly, I am very aware of when a soundtrack/score doesn't quite work, or tells you what to feel too often, or becomes intrusive. It was a major mark of quality to have the IF score impact me so strongly. I was aware of its power at the time, but I don't think I expressed that appropriately in my review, so I wanted to point it out now: the music is not just a callback to 80's horror, it's insanely creepy and pulse-driving. Cheers to the filmmakers!

Meanwhile, I realize that I was being a bit harsh on Arrow. The problem is that, while it does have all of the strengths that I pointed out, the flaws are so intense and consistent now that I feel like the show is actively discouraging me from watching it. And I can't imagine why they'd start to run their show in that fashion; it makes no damn sense - just like all of their scenes involving the law...

Terry Pratchett is Gone

I would like to ask 2015 to stop killing people that I care for deeply. This is just terrible news. Terry Pratchett was a skilled writer with an incomparable wit, a vast imagination, and a work ethic that was superlative. And the world is surely less bright for his no longer being in it.

I haven't had time to write here (even to give Leonard Nimoy a proper send off), as I continue to watch one of my relatives die slowly and badly. I will try to take time soon to do some of the writing that I haven't been able to attend to.

But I should add that I am extra upset, as Terry was a brilliant person and he had been diagnosed a while back with premature Alzheimer's, which had an impact on his ability to physically write as well. As I now well know, there's nothing worse than when a person's mind is taken away from them. And, when his problem was first diagnosed, Terry had the style and good humor to break the news in a post that he titled "An Embuggerance." (I can't link to the original post, as Paul Kidby's site has likely crashed)

I love you, Terry, and I already miss you. Rest well.

Leonard Nimoy is Dead

Leonard Nimoy is gone, and all I can think is FUUUUUUCK! I said it aloud, surrounded by coworkers. He was the best.

More later.

RIP Lauren Bacall and Robin Williams

Just a quick word about the film-world tragedies that came out in the news this week:

Lauren Bacall was a beautiful and talented actress, and she passed away at age 89. I was very sad to hear of her death because Bogart and Bacall films have been a staple of my movie-watching since my childhood. I know 89 isn't exactly a young age, but I felt like she would be around forever.

I'm sure that some younger folks only know her from her brief appearance in The Sopranos, but I really hope that this inspires people to look back at her CV. They'll realize that she was every bit the powerhouse as Katharine Hepburn, and as much of a beauty Veronica Lake.

I only wrote about her three times - she came up in a "15 Questions Meme" post, when I declared Lauren and Humphrey to be my favorite film couple, and when I reviewed the excellent To Have and Have Not, which was the only one of the quartet of Bogey and Bacall movies that I hadn't seen.

Words cannot express how much I respected her.

But a young death is, of course, more tragic than one that comes in old age. Robin Williams, at 63, passed on so much before his time. And it's worse because he committed suicide, leaving behind his wife and three children. For both Robin and Lauren, we can try to remember them in their best moments, but Mr. Williams' death complicates such simplistic thoughts; to that end, I hope everyone takes a long look at depression, and does whatever they can to fight it, in their own lives or the lives of others.

Depression is a terrible thing, as bad as cancer and probably as hard to treat. Please, if you or people you know are having a hard time with it, seek help. Call a friend, get therapy, calla suicide prevention line; hell you can contact me about it if you want...

I'm sorry if this interview makes you cry a bit, as it did to me:

Bill Murray Peter Pan Stage-Craftiness

As to the news of Philip Seymour Hoffman's death, I think it's only appropriate to state that I am sorry for his loved ones. He was far too young.

But I'm also not above noting that it's a loss for the art world in general, as he was quite good at his profession. He was that rare actor who had earned the complete trust of the audience... yet I can only hope everyone near this tragedy is at peace, soon.

And still we have to move on: I know that my last Bill Murray entry came out six days ago. Honestly, the next one was scheduled for Valentine's Day - the perfect day to remember our love of Mr. Murray. But I saw this fine clip on January 31st, and I simply had to get it posted as soon as possible. It represents a prime example of why Bill persists in our minds and hearts.

Youtube Free Movies Update

It's been a couple of years since I published a pair of write-ups on Youtube's selection of free movies. A lot of people - even 'Net-savvy ones - simply didn't know that the video giant offered full-length features for free. And I do so enjoy finding legal ways to check out new things...

So, the other day, I decided to review those old links and see how things had progressed. I was not thrilled by what I found. So not thrilled that I won't provide direct links to every film I've pointed out below.

Bluntly, a lot of the movies that had been available are now gone. I am not sure whether it was from a change in rights, or if Youtube always intended to rotate its offerings, but I was saddened to see that you can't follow the link I posted for Hayao Miyazaki's infectiously-energetic The Castle of Cagliostro. It and Buena Vista Social Club are listed as "Private." And Ghostbusters isn't available in my country, apparently - I sure hope The Maldives enjoy it, though!

Question for the Week of May 6-12: Leslie's Grave

Leslie Nielsen's grave. Thoughts?

Yeah, I remember hearing a lot about this when the man passed away. Leslie Nielsen chose a beautiful bench bearing the words, "Sit whenever you can" on it.



The plaque on his grave, however, is inscribed with the words "Let 'er rip!" I've looked around on various sites, but it's pretty clear that this is real and not photoshopped.

RIP Roger Ebert

I try not to post news and videos I read on The A.V. Club too often, as I use that site a lot and it's cheap to just repost other people work all the time. I get excited when I read something or find a new Gem through other sources before I find them on AVC. Screw all that - less than one day after they reported that Roger Ebert's cancer had returned (in his hip!), prompting the man to change his writing habits, the A.V. Club relayed the Chicago Sun-Times' message that Ebert passed away at 70 years old; the most notable name in film review and criticism has died, after 46 years of publication.

Like many kids from my generation, after weekend cartoons were over, I would run around and play. Other times, I would end up back in front of the TV, and this is where I got my introduction to Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert through their show, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. I would listen to their comments on pictures, their excellent, spirited banter. I took store by their "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" ratings. In my teenage years, I would buy a newspaper regularly and, quite often, go straight to the film reviews; Ebert was always my go-to reviewer, as I didn't put much stock in Jami Bernard or Jeffrey Lyons or Gene Shalit.

In college, my film student girlfriend (the one who made me half a film student in the first place) would share one of his books with me, and took great delight in showing me Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, a truly insane sexploitation flick - and then revealing that Ebert co-wrote it. I continued to follow Mr. Ebert's work until around 1998, when I became too busy with my own life to follow paper-bound film reviews. Regardless, I still remember feeling angry that a pleasant film analyst like his partner, Gene Siskel, should die from a shitty, miserable disease like cancer.

I Miss You, Brandon Lee

DJ mentioned it in my last MRQ, when I covered Showdown in Little Tokyo - Brandon Lee had a great career ahead of him. The man only made 5 films: Legacy of Rage, Laser Mission, Showdown, Rapid Fire, and The Crow (which I lovingly reviewed). His first several roles, as with most action star-actors, were in B- and C-grade material wherein he had a chance to come off well in what would probably be an unsatisfying picture.

But to give you a sense of this guy's natural charisma and potential for stardom, I can show you a great interview with Jay Leno in 1992. It's promoting Rapid Fire, his first "major" US release. Go to the 4 minute mark to hear Brandon tell a great story about a break-in at his LA home:

Mel Stuart, Director of Willy Wonka, Is Dead

Thank you, Mr. Stuart

Friends, acquaintances, random-ass people who don't care about me at all: I promised myself I wouldn't post more than 4 times a week unless something big happened or the site was suddenly getting bigtime attention. Unfortunately, it's the first, and in the worst way.

I can't imagine why anyone would not love 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. If you know someone who's a real-life Ebeneezer Scrooge (so, if you're related to Joan Rivers, Donald Trump, maybe Richie Chaney), then perhaps you've come across someone who can resist its spell; I hope they're not closely-related to ya, buddy...

Everyone falls in love with the movie, for many reasons. And it's impossible to find much fault in a perfectly-funny, perfectly-charming movie that's safe for kids and never boring for adults; very few pictures that can even compete with it, by that measure. WWatCF is an inventive ride, a great adaptation of Roald Dahl's original story, with excellent songs to boot...

And yesterday, the director of Wonka, Mel Stuart, died in his California home. He was 83 years old, with his 84th birthday just a few weeks away, but that shitty, shitty thing called cancer took him. But let's look at his life for a sec: In his life, Stuart was also known for the movies If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium and Four Days in November - a documentary about JFK's death that came out the year after his assassination.

Mel Stuart was, first and foremost, a documentary filmmaker. He directed dozens of videos, films, and tv movies in that genre - hell, his last big picture was 2000's Running on the Sun: The Badwater 135, a doc about a scorching-hot 135-mile race from Death Valley to the start of Mt. Whitney. This guy - a fellow New Yorker - did what he loved for a very long time - he directed films until 2005, and produced movies up to 2009.

Since Mel gave something so important to myself and other people, I really should take at least take a moment to mark this man's life, and to put him in your thoughts. Join me in thanking Mel, please; he gave us all something quite lovely, a happy and engaging and gentle distraction.

Donna Summer has passed on

Donna Summer has passed away, yet another victim of breast cancer. I post today quickly, just to commemorate her absence from this world. She's been in every MP3 player I've ever owned.

This news isn't off-topic, as I watched her in the movie Thank God It's Friday. The film student I dated in college (she that put me on the path to being Half a Film Student) rented the video one night. The movie wasn't perfect, but it was very entertaining, and it featured Ms. Summer singing 4 wonderful songs. It might've been the first time I heard "Last Dance."

I never followed Donna like I did the Beastie Boys. I can't feel her loss as badly as I did Adam Yauch. I was, however, completely pulled in by "I Feel Love" - it's a fantastic club song with a great beat and hypnotic vocals by Summer.

Even live, it's fantastic.

I'm not the only one that was enamored of her voice or sound, tho. Donna's music, according to IMDb, has been used over and over in film and tv. If you care to follow up, just skim the soundtrack listing I linked to - 116 titles, including video games, from 1974 to this year. That's nearly as many Jimi Hendrix, a record that speaks for itself, considering that she wasn't the greatest guitarist of all time.

Thank you very much, Donna, for your beautiful voice and the great tunes you've given me. I've listened to you once every two weeks, at least, for the last 10 years. I won't stop now.

Adam Yauch Is Gone

I love the Beastie Boys. Not "more than a friend," but still... And today, I learned that MCA, also known as Adam Yauch, is dead. This musician, film-maker, and hyper-Buddhist finally succumbed to the cancer that plagued the last years of his life.

The Beastie Boys, and Yauch individually, are very important, both to myself and the whole 20th Century. They never lost relevance in the 00's or 10's, and this day brings their importance into focus - if in the worst possible way.

I hesitated to post, because there aren't enough words to express how awful this is. What I can say is that he was a figure in independent film, part of one of the best rap/hip-hop groups ever, and an overall cool guy.

Hang your heads in sadness, think about what we've all lost, and then find a way to celebrate (life and music) that MCA would be proud of. Do, as I saw one of the Beasties do in concert, a kicking handstand off a massive speaker.

It's not their best song, by far, but "Sabotage" offers a good view of Adam's face, looks like an awesome cop film, and is a good track. If I just wrote this for myself I'd use something from Paul's Boutique.

Ok, fine, I'm a joiner

Bob doubling for Vader. So cool.

At least, I am today, and I am about this: Bob Anderson has died. He was the greatest sword-fighting choreographer in Hollywood, and he passed away at 89.

The reason I'm a joiner is that I wasn't going to post about this at all. I read this news on New Year's day, while recovering from my night of fun. I immediately knew the name (of course), and felt sad to hear of Bob's death. But I figured that the tribute I saw on AICN was good enough, and I don't like chiming in unless I have something special to do say or write.

Forget all that. Just becase AICN and AV Club put in their two cents doesn't mean that I shouldn't. His death is very much like the passing of John Barry last year, so I'll just keep it short and simple.

The great John Barry is Gone!

First thing I see when I get into work on Monday: John Barry is dead. If you don't know who this person is, slap yourself now, please. Actually - go to your iPod, play the James Bond Theme (if you have it), and then slap yourself. Why? Because John Barry made that song!

That's John on the left at the Royal Albert hall.

Like many songs that I consider "timeless," the Bond theme is a track that I can't turn off after 4 seconds. Y'know - you're not in the mood for "Heard it Through the Grapevine," but even as you're reaching for the controls, you get caught up in it. Your fingers reaches towards the "skip" button, and if you don't press it in time... That's it, you've got to hear such a pretty piece of music all the way through.

Pete Postlethwaite has passed on!

Pete Postlethwaite has died today.  It's incredibly sad, both that he didn't get to enjoy more of 2011, and that he died at the yougn age of 64.  He had a long-running battle against cancer (he'd already lost one testicle to it), so this entire story is just tragic.  If you think you don't know who Pete is, you're dead wrong.  He's a very well-known and well-respected English character actor.  If you've seen more than a dozen movies, then you've seen him.  He was Kobayashi in "The Usual Suspects," the #2 to Keyser Soze.  He was also in "Inception," "In the Name of the Father," "Brassed Off," and many other pictures. Character actors are a very awkward topic, to my mind - on the one hand, no one ever calls a "star" a character actor.  However, many people understand that character actors tend to give deepest and nuanced performances; they act as the lynch pin for many films...  So, a character actor may give better performances than many stars, but they have less control and a lower salary. Here's an easy way to explain it, a quote I heard from Nicholas Meyer: an actor convinces you that they are someone else; a star convinces you that someone else is them.

Dennis Hopper RIP

Hollywood suffers again with the loss of another skilled star, Dennis Hopper. It's only those closest to him who deserve sympathy; I'd feel slimy being too soggy over someone I never knew - over someone I "enjoyed" from a distance. But I always feel sad when a talented, hard-working, member of "Old Hollywood" finds out what comes after death.

I usually ignore celebrity deaths, especially for film stars. The kind of media attention they get often has an obscene and selfish tone. The amount of coverage given also feels disrespectful to both the deceased and a world with terror, AIDS, starvation. I felt bad for Heath Ledger and his family, but I was exceptionally annoyed by the near-instant memorial DVD sales and "important breaking news" circus that occurred that day. The way it continued to dominate the media - what with wars, ethnic violence, over-fishing - was disgusting. Then I saw "fans" basically stalking his NYC flat, leaving flowers as if Marilyn Monroe had just committed suicide.

Dennis Hopper's 1965 photo of Jefferson Airplane

In that context, why should I write about Dennis Hopper? Well, I care. I care because Hopper did his job remarkably well for a long long time; because I smiled most every time he got on the screen. I care because he could bring 10 minutes of sunshine to a really bad movie, and because he showed no signs of slowing down. Even at 70+, I looked forward to his bright future, as I did with the much younger River Phoenix and Phil Hartman.

Dennis Hopper looked pretty good for a 74 year old; even in his 50's, you could see he was aging well. This is especially impressive given the extent of his drug abuse. His hair got silver more than grey, his eyes were still vividly blue. Whether his hair was slicked back, whether he wore a goatee - there was always something very approachable and relatable about him. His talents and skills made it so easy to buy whatever he was selling in any role he played.

And he always seemed like so much fun. He's featured on a Gorillaz song, on the album "Demon Days." Dennis Hopper was also a wide-ranging artist with work in poetry, sculpture, and painting. His photography has been well-received since the '60s. Long after he'd grown up, the kid from Dodge City, Kansas was hard to pin down. A regular supporter of the Republican party, he said he went with Obama when the GOP added Sarah Palin to their ticket. He was, to paraphrase his own words, "Republican, then Democrat, then Republican, then Democrat again." It all just demands my respect, and he's got it.

Hopper's photo of Paul Newman, 1964

He worked in just about every type of filmed story-telling that I can list. Mr. Hopper could pop up in awfully-executed junk like "Super Mario Bros.," "Space Truckers," and "Firestarter 2: Rekindled." You could also find him in superior B-level movies like "Red Rock West," "Basquiat," and "EdTV." Odder choices abound, like the racist lead in the surprising "Paris Trout," his self-parodic role in '80s brain drain "My Science Project," and his rampaging con in the misfire known as "Boiling Point."

Then, of course, you look at all the classics that Dennis is attached to: "Rebel Without a Cause" (his first film), "Giant," "True Grit," "Cool Hand Luke," "Apocalypse Now," "Rumble Fish." It's already quite impressive before noting that he co-wrote and directed "Easy Rider."