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Collector's Edition of Hondo DVD
Spent well over two hours viewing my new acquisition, the Special Collector's Edition of Hondo. Learned a lot of goodies about the making of the film, the social and technological impact of it, and heard lots of good interviews featuring Michael Pate, who played Vittorio, and Lee Aaker, who played the little boy in the film. Wonderful stuff. It's one of my favorite westerns for several reasons, and now there are more reasons to bury myself in this film.
After viewing the film and features, I went into the TV room where my husband was watching Alien: The Resurrection. When the last gruesome, disgusting and horribly written frame of that flick had faded from my brain, my neck started hurting. I think I got cultural whiplash! OUCH!
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Comment by Dave McGowan on October 11, 2011 at 9:09pm -
Hondo to Alien? Ouch!
It took one serious imagination to come up with that Alien stuff, though it seems common place in the SF world today.
I'm not upset I didn't come up with it though. Yes, I enjoyed the movie, but once was enough.
Hondo, on the other hand, is the type of thing I would be proud to write. And once isn't enough to watch Hondo.
Dave
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Comment by James Allder on October 12, 2011 at 10:27am -
man, Alien Resurrection really sux. I feel bad for both you and your husband.
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Comment by Sue Cauhape on October 12, 2011 at 6:47pm -
I think that, after a day dealing with clients in advanced tech support, Jeff needs to sit in front of something really mindless and flashy. I don't know. Alien Resurrection was so horrific that I think he must've been comatose until it was over.
Dave, I agree fully about Hondo. Seems I never get tired of watching that movie. Same with The Shootist. Both are such richly textured films, with beautiful writing and stellar acting, that I just can't get enough. Decades ago, a friend and I were watching The Shootist and she commented on the flour dispenser Lauren Bacall used in the kitchen while she kneaded bread. Then, (we're both bread makers) we had to discuss how she was kneading the bread, for Pete's sake. That's what I mean by texture. That house and its furnishing, the bar and even the streets were so beautifully authentic, I'm sometimes so busy looking at all the detail, I space our the movie itself.
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Comment by Dave McGowan on October 12, 2011 at 9:05pm
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"Opie" has recieved praise for much of his work, but not enough for "The Shootist". I don't have any idea who he hired to make the sets, nor do I know how much influence he had on that person, but he was the boss and therefore responsible.
And why is it Mr. Wayne didn't get a whole pile of posthumous awards? It was the best thing he ever did.
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Comment by anthony martin on October 12, 2011 at 11:48pm -
The Shootist combined the production design of Robert Boyle and the set design of Arthur Parker,both noted for their meticulous attention to detail,even the minutest items.I wish more movies looked that authentic and were that thoroughly well crafted and acted!
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Comment by Sue Cauhape on October 13, 2011 at 12:33pm
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The boarding house actually exists here in Carson City. It's a treat to drive by it every not and then, but I haven't seen the inside of it. There's a plaque out front, but I believe the family in residence would frown upon folks wandering around in their domain. The house and grounds look very much as they did thirty-five years ago, except there's a helluva lot of houses out behind it. The neighborhood has changed a tad, unfortunately.
Fully agree on the mystery of no awards for John Wayne. Maybe Hollywood thought it was more than enough that he became a Living Legend, but I disagree. The Man was too great to snub like that. And it was a snub!
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Comment by anthony martin on October 13, 2011 at 1:14pm
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Sue,
Hollywood has overlooked so many good actors and directors-Thelma Ritter,Glenn Close,Cary Grant.Peter O'Toole,Richard Burton,Sigourney Weaver,Vincent Price,Alfred Hitchcock to name a few.In some cases such as John Wayne it was because of his politics.Actors who are conservatives have a rough go with some Tinsletown power circles.
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Comment by Dave McGowan on October 13, 2011 at 9:14pm
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The liberalism seems to be working so well.
If the stuff your making draws 10% of the crowd the "old guys" used to draw, well, just make 10 more pieces of cr**.
Don't, for Pete's sake, give those "old farts" the satisfaction of knowing they're "old ideas" were more viable and successful.
And awards? No Way!
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Comment by Sue Cauhape on October 13, 2011 at 9:21pm
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Yeah, it seems that being conservative, even just a little bit, is poison in Hollywood. I read somewhere that Kurt Russell moved out of L.A. because of his politics. What irony! He and Goldie Hawn having to leave the Navel of the Universe because of politics. I've often wondered why Leo DiCaprio gets snubbed as well. Gee, do you think it's because of his Teutonic roots?
Such prejudices coming out of Hollywood is so ironic. Aren't artistes supposed to be free-thinking and open-minded? Obviously not.
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Comment by anthony martin on October 15, 2011 at 12:40am
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Sue,
Several years back I had a pleasant sit down with Tom Selleck and his brother and he told me how he had been thrown over the hurdles by the left wingers and related how the late Charlton Heston,Bruce Boxleitner and others had been shunned by these birds.Unfortunately a lot of western movie projects get shelved because of silly political agendas in Hollywood.The western genre of movie making has a core reference of traditional conservative values,inimical to the stance of the neo-Marxists!
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