One of the reasons I love bloggers who write mainly about film is that (unlike in the print-world, you don't have a word count, and you don't have to focus on only the "new" or the "fresh") we can pretty much write about what we want to write about. If I want to devote 4 months out of my life to ONLY writing about Dean Stockwell, I can do that. And you know what? If you build it, people will come. Sure, you lose people along the way, but who needs those people anyway? You write about what you love - people will show up. The right kind of people. True passion has triumphed! Long live Dean Stockwell!
To my point:
Jonathan at Cinema Styles has a generous and in-depth post about Len Cariou. You may not recognize that name, but you definitely know the guy. And theatre-goers definitely know him.
I loved The Four Seasons when I was a teenager - it's been years since I've seen it but many of the scenes remain almost word for word in my head. ("Shalimarrrrrr? Thank you!" "Danny ... are you telling me that you are afraid of your underwear?" "MY WIFE'S ITALIAN!!") I think I first saw it at Mere and Jayne's house. Those were the days when you had to RENT a VCR in order to see a movie! So we would choose verrry carefully what we wanted to see. What's Up Doc was a favorite. I remember watching Fame on one of those fun sleepover-movie nights. And The Four Seasons - a great ensemble piece, with some first-rate acting.
Anyway: go read Jonathan's post. It's a great tribute to an under-rated really solid actor.
I watched Fame about a million times on cable in the early eighties. Oh the angst! I wanted that kind of angst in my pursuit of acting. It's almost as if I was watching it so I could study it as a guide since I was growing up in comfortable middle class suburbs and didn't know anything about that stuff.
I even bought the soundtrack and listened to that cafeteria song over and over. What was the name of that cafeteria song anyway? Hot Lunch? I think that was it.
Posted by: Jonathan Lapper at August 13, 2008 1:33 PMTuna fish my favorite dish ...
something something
HOOOT LUUUUUUNCH
I have it on my iPod! I know people who went to that high school and they were always like, "Yeah, so no. We did not stop traffic by doing improvisational dance." hahaha
But I do love the movie. "Ralph Garcie" in particular. He killed me!! That actor is great - his name escapes me at the moment. The one who fell/jumped off the bridge in Saturday Night Fever. Barry something??
Posted by: red at August 13, 2008 1:36 PMSheila,
I have recently developed a very dark and deep obsession with To Live and Die in L.A. (I don't know if it's the ridiculously tight pants, the awesomest car chase ever, or the soundtrack that screams "THIS MOVIE WAS MADE IN 1985!," but I'll work it out). Did you ever write about that movie in your Dean Stockwell hysteria? I tried to look through the archives, but got kind of exhausted...
"got kind of exhausted"
hahahahahahaha
I didn't write about it - but I have ALWAYS loved that movie - and yes, the awesomest car chase ever ... UNBELIEVABLE.
I also love that one shot where the character leaps off of ... a bridge, is it? But it's kind of like a bungee jump? It's all one shot - truly amazing ... you know the one I mean?
I also adore Stockwell's sleazoid fake tan, and his tucked-in Izod shirts. What a sleaze!!!
Posted by: red at August 13, 2008 2:04 PMBarry Miller. He was great in that role, and Saturday Night Fever and The Chosen.
And Paul McCrane was terrific too. I have to see it again now so that I can once again Sing the Body Electric.
Posted by: Jonathan Lapper at August 13, 2008 2:11 PMYes! It was set up to look like William Petersen's character was going to commit suicide, then *whop*. I think it must have been before bungee jumping was really big (maybe it became really big because of this movie?)...because it's horrifying. You totally think this guy's offing himself and it turns out he's just an adrenaline junkie. It totally sets up his character perfectly!
Posted by: Emily at August 13, 2008 2:22 PMStunning shot. And I wouldn't think that william friedkin could top the car chase he filmed in The French Connection - but dayum!! The one in To Live and Die in LA sure comes close!
Posted by: red at August 13, 2008 2:32 PMYep. Friedkin outdid himself. Incredible.
(BTW, I want to apologize to Jonathan for hi-jacking this thread and taking it off topic from his awesome post, which I just had the chance to read. I love people who can totally pique your interest in movies and actors you'd never given much thought to before!)
Posted by: Emily at August 13, 2008 2:48 PMI hijacked my own post by bringing up Dean Stockwell in the first place! Any chance I get!!
Posted by: red at August 13, 2008 2:51 PMI constantly hijack people's comment threads. I usually feel awful about it in the morning but I keep doing it.
Posted by: Jonathan Lapper at August 13, 2008 2:53 PMHa!! See here already we have:
Len Cariou
Fame
"Hot Lunch"
Saturday Night Fever
William Petersen
Williamk Friedkin
bungee jumping
Life is awesome!
Posted by: red at August 13, 2008 2:55 PMOh, and a little bit of Walt Whitman too.
I siiiiiing the body electric
I glory in the glow of rebirth
I wake to my own tomorrrrrowwww
So I can be one with the EAAAARTH
... or something along those lines.
Sheila - you forgot tight pants! How could you forget those? (Another aside, I was watching this movie with my friend Darren and when I joked about the pants, he said "no wonder William Petersen never had any more children.")
Jonathan - hahaha. It's like binge drinking. "My name is Emily and I'm a comment thread hijacker." Admitting the problem is the first step...
Posted by: Emily at August 13, 2008 3:00 PMI know - the pants!!!
Posted by: red at August 13, 2008 3:02 PMI know we've talked about The Four Seasons before, but let me say that as a high school junior in 1981 I coveted Bess Armstrong's wardrobe in that movie with the heat of a thousand suns. (And I still say, "Shaaaalimaarrrr!" every time I see that stink shit in the stores)
And Len Cariou was WONDERFUL in Brotherhood. WHICH YOU NEED TO SEE.
Posted by: Lisa at August 13, 2008 3:04 PMLisa - ha - Mitchell and I always say "SHAALLLLIMARRR" at each other too. So funny!!
I think it's so true what Jonathan said that if Bess Armstrong was played just as a dumb bimbo the movie wouldn't have worked at all! She really ended up being a sympathetic nice person in her own right ... I love that.
Posted by: red at August 13, 2008 3:07 PM
Also, Lisa, just judging from the Russian-doll dress you wore once upon a time in your life - of course you yearned for Bess Armstrong's outfits with the passion of a thousand suns!!
TEASING!!
I forget what she wore - flowy skirts and clogs, right? Collegiate, yet not uptight? Is the right? I need to see this movie again.
Posted by: red at August 13, 2008 5:32 PMGo Body Electric!
And I'll serenade Venus, I'll serenade Mars
And I'll burn with the fire of ten million stars
And in time, and in time, we will all be stars
So true. So true.
And there's that triumphant moment when we see that Lisa, the girl who was thrown out of the dance class for not being good enough, is the one singing the solo. So we are meant to feel hopeful - that she WILL have a career - and be a star! Now I'm way more cynical - or perhaps realistic - but I remember when i first saw it being really moved by it.
(In retrospect, I think that moment was a cop-out. Because some people just don't "have it", and that is just as big a part of the pursuit of fame as the other. Know what I mean?)
I'm probably over-thinking it, but that's kind of what I do. I can't help it.