Category: Movies

R.I.P. – Glen Campbell

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Glen Campbell has passed on.  From his official website:

It is with the heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and legendary singer and guitarist, Glen Travis Campbell, at the age of 81, following his long and courageous battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Glen is survived by his wife, Kim Campbell of Nashville, TN; their three children, Cal, Shannon and Ashley; his children from previous marriages, Debby, Kelli, Travis, Kane, and Dillon; ten grandchildren, great- and great-great-grandchildren; sisters Barbara, Sandra, and Jane; and brothers John Wallace “Shorty” and Gerald.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Glen Campbell Memorial Fund at BrightFocus Foundation through the CareLiving.org donation page.

I was and continue to be a Glen Campbell fan.  My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans.

“Death Wish” Remake Poster, Trailer and a Few Thoughts

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By now you’ve probably seen the poster and trailer for the new Death Wish movie coming out on November 22nd.  I’ll post my thoughts after the trailer.

I’m glad to see Willis starring in a feature (especially one heading to the big screen).  I’m a long-time Bruce Willis fan.  For the last few years we’ve seen him regulated to supporting roles with top billing in limited or direct-to-video releases.  So, yeah, it’s good to see him back.

Let’s talk the remake now.  First of all, why?  The original Death Wish with Charles Bronson is a classic. Perhaps the only (or best) reason is that if successful the remake could be a hit and spawn sequels.

In the original Bronson was an architect.  Making Willis a doctor does provide more conflict for the character.  After all, he did take an oath to save lives not end them.  Other than that it seems we have the same peaceful man turned into a killing machine.  In one earlier version of the script the idea was that the Bronson/Willis character would be a peaceful man but after his family’s murder we learn that he was once a violent gang member.  THAT could have been an interesting back story.

In the original film, Bronson’s wife and daughter get raped, his wife murdered and his daughter left in a coma with little hope of recovery.  Bronson has lost everything and gained a death wish.  In the remake Willis’ daughter appears well on the road to recovery.  Willis has something to live for.  For him to just go out to kill muggers treads the line of wanting to be a hero.  That gives the film a different vibe which still can work if done correctly.

The poster is not bad.  Not great and definitely has an 80’s feel with the tagline…

“They came for his family.  Now he is coming for them.”

(“Murdock, I’m coming for you!”  Rambo, anyone?)

The jury is still out on this remake.

Forty Essential Film Noir Classics

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JEC at Classic Movie Reviews posted his choices for Forty Essential Film Noir Classics.  His list is a good one.  I’ve seen all but about 10.  Using just JEC’s list, here are three of my favorites…

4   Double Indemnity 1944   Foolish insurance man meets one of the best femme fatale in this must see drama. JEC

9 The Postman Always Rings Twice 1946 Infidelity and murder. JEC

23 The Big Heat  1953   A tough cop, played by Glenn Ford takes on a well-connected mob. Gloria Grahame is great in this film. JEC

 ‘Atomic Blonde’: How They Turned One Amazing Action Scene Into a Seven-Minute Long Take

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Atomic Blonde has some of the best action sequences in movies.  The long fight scene on the stairway appears to be done in one continuous take.

It wasn’t.

Chris O’Falt at IndieWire talked with Sam Hargrave  (Atomic Blonde second-unit director and stunt coordinator) who choreographed and filmed the fight scene.  ‘Atomic Blonde’: How They Turned One Amazing Action Scene Into a Seven-Minute Long Take is well worth a read.

Jarrod Alberich Creates Jack Carter for the Win!

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Jarrod Alberich aka The Yard Sale Artist created the Jack Carter piece above for me after I won a contest he was running (something he regularly does for his fans).    

Jarrod calls himself The Yard Sale Artist because he uses only materials that he finds at yard sales, thrift stores, dumpsters and so on.   This is my second piece by Jarrod and my guess is that there will be more to come!

21 Things We Learned from “The Fate of the Furious” Commentary

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Rob Hunter and Film School Rejects present 21 Things We Learned from The Fate of the Furious Commentary. Here are three of my favorites…

11. He has tons of footage that didn’t make the film simply of Johnson and Statham trying to one-up each other with insults. “I think something’s gonna come out of it,” he says, “we’ll see, but I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing a two-hander between Shaw and Hobbs.”

18. Letty’s (Michelle Rodriguez) fight scene at the Russian shipyard reminds Gray of the Patricia Arquette / James Gandolfini brawl in True Romance.

5. The script originally had Dom giving Raldo’s (Celestino Cornielle) keys to his cousin as the race dictated, but Gray suggested otherwise on the day of filming. “That’s what the old Dom would have done,” he says, “but I wanted to give the audience a more evolved Dom.”