R.I.P. Henry Gibson

Henry Gibson (1935-2009)

Henry Gibson will be remembered for two major things. The first is a regular on Laugh In and the second was as the leader of the Nazi's in The Blues Brothers (1980). But for me there are three roles that really single him out as a major talent. The first two are for Robert Altman films.

His portrayal of Haven Hamilton in Nashville (1975) is great stuff. He captured all of the hypocrisy of Christianity and the entertainment world. All smiles and glad handing in public and just a royal judgmental prick in private. It's a stroke of genius in a movie that has genius at every turn.

The second was his take on Dr. Verringer in The Long Goodbye (1973). It's a tough thing to make intimidating Sterling Hayden look legit and Gibson did it with flying colors. Cold, steely eyes and the delivery of "Sign the check Roger!" You actually think he could kill Hayden with that look. Fantastic.

The third is in Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia (1999), as the snobbish barfly Thurston Howell. He takes down a crumbling William H. Macy with his one-liners and wandering eyebrows with the creepy grace and elegance of a serial killer. Plus his name is Thurston Howell, which is awesome.

There is also his work in Innerspace (1987), The Wedding Crashers (2005) and several episodes of King Of The Hill to take into account. The man worked rigorously and brought a touch of humor and ingenuity to every character he performed. It was an excellent career and one that will stand the test of time.

R.I.P. David Carradine

David Carradine (1936-2009)


Under still mysterious circumstances, David Carradine passed away in a hotel room in Bangkok today. It's being reported that he may have hung himself, but others are reporting that it was from natural causes.

The oldest of the Carradine brothers David is a part of Hollywood royalty that stretches back to the silent film era. He carved out a name for himself though and is still best known for the lead character in the TV series Kung Fu. For film geeks he's known best as Frankenstein in Death Race 2000 (1975) and Bill in the Kill Bill (2003-04) movies. But he had a very long and varried career. He was amazing in Bound For Glory (1976) and had some great cameos in films like Mean Streets (1973) and The Long Goodbye (1973).

For me though he will always be remembered for a quote that a friend said back in college while we were watching Carradine in Q: The Winged Serpent (1982) on TV.

"Fuckin' David Carradine. That guy saw more drugs and pussy in the 70's than we'll see in seven lifetimes."

That would look really good on a headstone.

R.I.P. Dom DeLuise

Dom DeLuise (1933-2009)


I grew up with Dom Deluise. He seemed to be a comedy staple in most of the movies I saw as a kid. Even today my household discuss the merits of the Jerry Reed, DeLuise classic Hot Stuff (1979). It's not a good movie, but we still remember it and sing the theme song on a regular basis. Yes, it's a troubled home.

But to me DeLuise will always be remembered as Burt Reynolds sidekick. They were only in a few movies together, but they seemed like an inseparable pair. The best part about the movies they were in were always the closing credits. They'd show outtakes and the centerpiece was Dom being abused by Burt. Dom would crack up and couldn't stop. Burt would continue to slap him. It was a little creepy, but apparently quite humorous too. Or we were glad to know more than just the audience was abused after sitting through Cannonball Run 2 (1984).

My favorite appearance of his was in the beginning of The Muppet Movie (1979). Kermit just finishes singing Rainbow Connection and the next thing you get is a scene of Kermit and DeLuise playing one liners off each other in the swamp. It's a good bit.

He was always a big guy and never apologized for it. He loved food and even has a few gourmet cookbooks. It seems like it was a good life, full of laughter, friendship and fancy food. You can't ask for much more than that.

Farewell Captain Chaos, you will be missed.

On The Boulevard: Elmo Lincoln

I had no idea who this guy was when I took the picture, I just loved the name, but apparently he's got a bit of history.

Elmo Lincoln is the silver screens first Tarzan The Ape Man. Yep, he was the first guy to wear a loin cloth and do that "Ahheeeyyaaaaaa" yell. Actually, he was in the silent movies so he may have never done the yell.

He appeared in three Tarzan movies which were, Tarzan Of The Apes (1918), The Romance Of Tarzan (1918) and finished his run with The Adventures Of Tarzan (1921). He Also appeared in a few other notables like Birth Of A Nation(1915) and Intolerance (1916).

According to his Wikipedia page he gave p acting to pursue a career as a miner. Let's face it, who wouldn't give up the backbreaking work of stardom to take it easy as a miner. But apparently his mining dreams were crushed for reasons unknown and he returned to Hollywood to pick up the laborious work of acting again.

This is the factoid that I find interesting, he ended up with minor roles in later Tarzan movies as a Net Repairing Fisherman and a Circus Roustabout. Admit it, you'd love to have Circus Roustabout on your resume.

He passed away in 1952 and in 2001 his daughter decided to answer all of those questions we'd been wondering about in the book My Father, Elmo Lincoln: The Original Tarzan. All joking aside though, if you were the first Tarzan in cinematic history, you deserve a star.

It's been nice meeting you Mr. Lincoln.

R.I.P. Marilyn Chambers

Marilyn Chambers (1952-2009)

Probably one of the most famous names, along with John Holmes, in the history of the adult film biz. Marilyn Chambers may be best known for titles like Behind The Green Door (1972) and Insatiable (1980) as well as being the Ivory Snow girl, but she holds a very respectable credit in the horror genre as well.

In 1977 Ms. Chambers starred in David Cronenberg's Rabid, where she gains a taste for human blood after a bizarre encounter with plastic surgery. Her victims, who are bled in a very...original manner, become crazed zombies and begin infecting others around them and an epidemic breaks out across the city. A really interesting entry into Cronenberg's body horror era, the film has a strong cult status though not much of a success on it's initial release. The idea of casting Chambers in the film came from the films producer Ivan Reitman, who had heard Chambers was looking to branch out into mainstream movies.

Chambers was 56 when she passed and as of this posting time, they have not released the cause.

On The Boulevard: The Dead End Kids

To call these guys the Dead End Kids is kind of a misnomer. They started that way, but would be renamed The East End Kids, The Little Tough Guys and The Bowery Boys through time for different production companies. Though the best films they were involved with came under the Dead End Kid years.

They were a young group of New York actors who had been cast in the play Dead End, hence their name, and moved to Hollywood to star in the film version in 1937. Over the next 20 years, they'd appear in films opposite Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, John Garfield and a ton of heavy hitters.

A couple of the better films they were involved with was Dead End (1937), Angels With Dirty Faces (1938) and They Made Me A Criminal (1939). Some of the funnier titles include Spooks Run Wild (1941), Junior G-Men Of The Air (1952) and Hold That Hypnotist (1957). The boys would come and go replacing members like the band Menudo, finally disbanding in 1958. Makes sense, how the hell do you fly higher than the genius that is Hold That Hypnotist?

If you've never seen Dead End, it's worth a look especially for some of the character names: Dippy, Spit and Milty. The leaders name is Tommy because no one ever wants to follow a guy named Spit.

R.I.P. Natasha Richardson

Natasha Richardson (1963-2009)

There isn't much that I can add that hasn't already been said. This is a tragic situation and just plain sad. It's best to remember that she had a loving husband and family. That she also gave birth to some incredible performances and that is what actors want, to leave something behind that can be shared by all.

For me, the two that stand out are Gothic (1986), a Ken Russell film centered around the booze and drug induced weekend that spurned imaginations to create characters like Frankenstein's Monster and the legend of the Vampire. Richardson played Mary Shelly in this sometime over the top, but very atmospheric and enjoyable film.

Next was her incredible, in my opinion best, performance in Paul Schrader's Patty Hearst (1988). This was a stylish and very subjective film and Richardson was incredible in the title role. It's one of those performances that must have left her emotionally exhausted by the end and it can be felt through every pore. This is out of print on DVD, but is available for streaming on Netflix. Well worth checking out.

Ms. Richardson was the daughter of great talents as well. Her mother is the well known actress Vanessa Redgrave and her father was the great filmmaker Tony Richardson. Both of whom have several films worth looking into.

My deepest condolences to her family and friends.

R.I.P. Ron SIlver

Ron Silver (1946-2009)


Ron Silver first entered my field of vision with a triumvirate back in the late 80's, early 90's. Blue Steel (1989), Enemies A Love Story (1989), and Reversal Of Fortune (1990). Since then, if I saw his name in the credits of a movie or TV show, it was a sign there would be one good thing going for it. He has always been an actor who added something special to anything he was in.

An excellent character actor on screen and leading man on stage, Silver excelled at playing greasy executives and politicians. For most people he's probably best known for his recurring roles in TV like, The West Wing (2001-06), the short lived but excellent Chicago Hope (1996-97) and (gulp) Veronica's Closet (1998-99). But it was films like Time Cop (1994) and The Arrival (1996) placed him securely in geek mythology.

Mr. Silver passed away after a two year battle with esophageal cancer at the age of 62. He will be missed.

Profile: Tony Leung Chiu Wai

I had the luck of watching Red Cliff (2008) recently and even though it may have moments that are uneven or at times undone by its own CGI, I was very caught up in the characters and story. Watching it, I marveled at the always incredible Tony Leung. Leung is an actors actor, he is surely one of the best working today in any language and I'm more than willing to put him amongst the top actors ever. From action to drama to comedy, Leung always delivers a performance that makes you feel there is so much more going on under the surface.

Just look at In The Mood For Love (2000). What he and equally gifted Maggie Cheung give to the audience in that film is as close to transcendental as it gets. They do so much without saying a word that the mind races and eyeballs almost explode to keep up with it. Wong Kar-Wai's camera works so beautifully with what they are displaying that it almost reaches cinematic nirvana.

So without further lamentations, here is a photo tribute to Tony Leung Chui Wai.

INFERNAL AFFAIRS (1998)

HERO (2003)

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (2000)

LUST CAUTION (2007)

2046(2004)

HARD BOILED (1992)

RED CLIFF (2008)

Do I have a bit of a man crush on the guy? Sure, but it's hard not to when someone can display such charm and a sense of ease on the screen that can be matched by very few. He is an actor who is under appreciated in this country and it is a real shame considering all of the talentless celebutards that we pay to see up on the screen.

(My apologies for the use of celebutards. It is from way to much time spent working at TMZ.)

Profile: Olmos Famous

I was watching Battlestar Gallactica the other night and marveling at Edward James Olmos. So here is a quick look at some of his career choices told in photos.

Zoot Suit 1981

Blade Runner 1982

Miami Vice 1984-1989

American Me 1992

The Road

To El Dorado 2000

BSG 2004-2009

Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2008

It's a pretty eclectic body of work. This doesn't even include Stand And Deliver (1988) which garnered him an Oscar nomination for best actor, Triumph Of The Spirit (1989), Wolfen (1981), My Family (1995), Selena (1997) or a ton of stage work as well as directing.

If there is one regret I have, it's I wished just once he'd have punched Don Johnson during the Vice years. Look at Olmos on that show. Every glance at Johnson is seething with hatred, or maybe that's just me projecting.

R.I.P. James Whitmore

James Whitmore 1921-2009


Whitmore is probably known to most oeople today as Brooks from The Shawshank Redemption (1994). It was a plumb role in a plumb film, but Whitmore contributed quite a bit over his 87 years on this planet.

For me, the killer role came early in his career as Gus in The Asphalt Jungle (1950), John Huston's slice of fried gold. He'd also play the cop Ben Peterson in the awesome Them! (1954). How many of us (not suffering from mental illness) can say we fought off giant radioactive ants? Other films of note include The Eddie Duchin Story (1956), Planet Of The Apes (1968), and Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970). He also did enough TV to make you wonder how the guy lived so long in the first place. It seems he was always appearing in something. 146 TV appearances and films alone.

His IMDB resume doesn't even touch the acres of stagework that he did. He played Will Rogers, Harry Truman and Theodore Roosevelt and had takne home a Tony at one point. The guy was "An actor's actor", according to longtime friend and fellow actor James Arness. I'd have to agree.

Sure, Whitmore isn't James Cagney or Bogart or even Sterling Hayden. But what he brought to the screen was always fun to watch and as almost everyone will say that his performance in Shawshank is endearing, heartfelt and heart-breaking. Even if you didn't know his name, he touched your soul.

Profile: Oh, Rita

I've always been fascinated with Rita Hayworth. An amazingly beautiful woman who had a low self esteem. It's one of those things that baffles me. It always fascinates me when beautiful people are self conscious. I think it's a thing that makes most average folks like me scratch their head. Plus, she was married at one point in time to Orson Welles and then Prince Aly Kahn. That's just nuts!

So, I was watching Affair in Trinidad (1952) earlier and was still blown away at her incredible beauty. The film itself is mediocre. It is called a rehash of Gilda (1946), but I also see quite a bit of Hitchcock's Notorious (1946) running through its veins.

Too much yacking. I just wanted to run some photos of this beautiful woman.





















She used to say, "Men fell in love with Gilda, but they wake up with me." It's funny, sad and shows that there was a very complex woman all in one small statement. She does not fail to continue to impress.

R.I.P. Sam Bottoms

Sam Bottoms (1955-2008)

There are several Bottoms brothers who act and it can get a little confusing at times, I admit. But Sam has appeared in a couple classic films including Apocalypse Now (1979) as Lance Johnson the ill fated surfer, The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) as Clint Eastwood's ill fated sidekick and The Last Picture Show (1971) as Billy the ill fated deaf kid. Hmmm, I'm sensing a trend there.

Bottoms may have never been a star, but he is what I consider a dependable actor. That isn't a slight in any way shape or form. If you see that he's in a film, it may not be a draw, but you know that role will be well delivered. Even if the film sucks, he'll be good. That means something.

Mr. Bottoms was taken way to early at the age of 53 from a brain tumor, but he leaves behind some great movies and will be missed.

On The Boulevard: Lon Chaney

There always seems to be a bit of confusion about Lon Chaney. This is because there were two of them, a senior and a junior. Lon Chaney Jr.'s real name was Creighton, but took his father's name in order to carry on the legacy of a man who was taken from us at an early age.

Lon Chaney Sr. was a master of disguise and is still considered one of the greatest character actors of all time. Chaney was a master at humanizing characters that were physically and therefore emotionally deformed. I don't think anyone today could match Chaney for the sole reason that no one today would make most of the movies that Chaney was in.

He had the popular ones which carry over to today like Phantom of the Opera (1925), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), Oliver Twist (1922), as well as cult classics like The Unholy Three (silent 1925/sound 1930), West of Zanzibar (1928) and the famous lost film London After Midnight (1927).

In each of these as most of his films Chaney created makeup that created monstrous results and would then find the humanity within the character that allowed the audience to sympathize. He would also use contortion to create physical deformities like his character of The Frog in The Miracle Man (1919) or a body rigging that restricted his movements and help establish Quasimodo's uneven walk.

Chaney would create some of his most interesting characters with the help of filmmaker Tod Browning. Films like The Blackbird (1926), The Road to Mandalay (1926) as well as the before mentioned London After Midnight and West of Zanzibar. Browning is most famous for two films that don't star Chaney though. Dracula (1931) made a star of Bela Lugosi and Browning a director with power and Freaks (1932), which would rip that power away and basically destroy his career.

A film I'd like to point out is The Unknown (1927), that paired Chaney and Browning and is one of the more bizarre love stories in the Chaney cannon. In it Chaney plays Alonzo the Armless, a carnival knife thrower who just happens to be, wait for it...armless. Actually, he's not. He's pretending to be armless to hide from the police since he's a killer. Alonzo falls in love with a hotter than hot Joan Crawford who plays a carnival girl. The circus strongman is also in love with her, but she has a phobia about being touched. This is good news for a guy who has no arms. But, since he does have arms, he has them surgically removed. While he's away recuperating, Crawford overcomes her fears of being touched and falls in love with the strongman. Now Alonzo has no girl and no arms... That's gotta suck. All sorts of drama takes place and Alonzo learns to sacrifice himself for love and redemption. It's a great film with an amazing performance by Chaney and a plot line that is beyond original and could never be done today.

Chaney died at the age of 47 from lung cancer.

On The Boulevard: Signe Hasso

(An ongoing look at the stars on The Hollywood Walk Of Fame)

So who is Signe Hasso? A good question, because I had no idea. Sometimes walking down the street you see a name that strikes you and this is one of those names.

Signe is an actress who hails from Sweden. Born in 1910 she was one of the youngest students accepted to the Royal Dramatic Theater. That was in 1922, so I'm guessing there has been one or two younger since then. Maybe not.

She started making movies in Sweden in 1930 and was spotted by Hollywood where she moved to in 1940. RKO signed her and they tried to work the image promoting her as, "The Next Garbo!" Since most of us know Garbo's name and scratch our head at the name Signe Hasso, I'd say it didn't pay off.

But Ms. Hasso did have a decent little career. She starred opposite Spencer Tracy in The Seventh Cross (1944), George Raft in Johnny Angel (1945), as well as the Douglas Sirk film A Scandal In Paris (1946). For those who haven't seen Scandal, I'd highly recommend it. George Sanders plays a criminal who sees the light and becomes a cop... Or does he? It is one of Sirk's more underrated films and Hasso is quite luminous.

The other title I recognized was The House on 92nd St. (1945). This was another Henry Hathaway noir special. Shot mostly on the streets of New York it deals with the FBI taking down a nazi spy ring within the states. Hasso has an accent, so guess what she plays. The film is passable and entertaining. It even has J. Edgar Hoover introducing the film. He's not wearing a dress, so the film does lose a point for betraying reality.

Hasso's Career slowed down in the late fifties. Her husband passed away in 1955 and her son died in a car accident in 1957. That is just tragic. It looks like she gave up on Hollywood and went back to Sweden to make movies. She also spent some time on the New York stage according to Wikipedia, but I can't back that up. It also says she spent her later years as a poet and translated Swedish folk songs into english, which isn't something you hear about every day.

She passed away in 2002 at the age of 91. A good run you might say.

Though not a recognizable name, she earned her star, which means she has/had her followers. I'd also say that with A Scandal In Paris and House On 92nd Street, the following is well deserved.

On The Boulevard: Ida Lupino

Ida Lupino is one of those women that, in my book, has it all. She had looks attitude and a brain. That is an awsome package. Just look at her cute as a button nose and you'd never know she could play hard ass femme fatales or even have the nerve to start her own production company and succeed as a director for the second half of her career. She's a pretty amazing woman in my book, but then again I tend to romanticize.

For me it was movies like They Drive By Night (1940) and High Sierra (1941) that showed me she could hold her own and even control scenes against the likes of Humphrey Bogart and George Raft. In Moontide (1942) she gave a layered performance of a tough girl who wanted real love and found it in Jean Gabin. In Roadhouse (1948) she made me fall in love with her singing, if it was her. If not, I'm in love with someone out there. Last but not least she tamed a savage Robert Ryan (his best performance) as a sensitive blind woman in On Dangerous Ground (1952).

According to Wikipedia, Lupino is uncredited as director for On Dangerous Ground. There is no reference to it other than that so I don't know how valid it is. But Lupino did direct several great films. She had grown tired of the fact that women’s issues were never portrayed accurately on screen, so she decided to do it herself.

Outrage (1950) dealt with a woman who was raped. Hard, Fast and Beautiful (1951) dealt with a woman deciding over a career or love. She is also considered the first woman to direct a film noir with the B classic The Hitch-Hiker (1953). She also directed the young ladies classic Trouble with Angels (1966), but I've never seen it so I can't comment. She'd go on to a directing career in television where she worked on The Twilight Zone, Batman, The Untouchables and Gilligan's Island just to name a few. That alone is an impressive resume.

She'd continue to act and direct until the late seventies and passed away in 1995 at the age of 77 from a stroke. At the time she was undergoing treatment for colon cancer, so it seemed she was gonna-get-got one way or another around that time. But it was a hell of a life and career she lived the way she wanted to. That's more than most people can say.

Lupino actually has two stars on the Boulevard, one for her work in television and one for her work in film. Beat that.

POV: Some Boetticher And Scott Love

I just finished watching Decision at Sundown, a Budd Boetticher western starring Randolph Scott and I have to admit, it may be the most depressing yet uplifting western ever put to film.


It’s about Bart Allison (Scott) spending three years tracking down the man he feels is responsible for his wife’s suicide. When he catches up with Tate Kimbrough, really well acted by John Carroll, Allison comes to discover that not everything is as it seems and the price tag way too high.

Through the course of events, these really interesting psychological and sociological themes bubble to the surface. What is the price of revenge and how do we use it to mask our own denial about our lives? That is the biggie on the psychological front and on the sociological front, how do we as a society allow tyranny and injustice to rule over us when all we have to do is stand up together and reject it?

The answer to the second question is: you are pushed to the point of being unable to take it any more and you finally do something about it. This makes for a very uplifting ending where a town silently ruled by a man who uses money to control is finally cast out. The first question though ends with the destruction of the soul for our main character. Allison is broken as he rides out of town even though the town itself will praise his name for showing them how to stand up for themselves. It is very reminiscent of Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai where the real winners are the farmers not the samurai.

This is a film that plays with expectations and wears its questions on its sleeve, but never gets pretentious or soapboxy. The visual style is simple and clean, as most of Boetticher’s films are and allows for performances that carry a level of nuance while still being very upfront about the message being delivered.

Scott is solid as always and the supporting cast holds its own. As I mentioned earlier though it is John Carroll who really breaks out thanks to a well constructed character. Kimbrough is a rich scumbag, but is willing to stand up when he has to. He has a code of honor that he respects and when crunch time comes, takes care of his own business. Carroll handles it with a charisma that I wouldn’t call charming, but you feel he has earned his right to be smarmy. Noah Beery Jr, who most people will remember as Rocky in The Rockford Files, plays Scott’s reliable and full of life sidekick. Beery tries to play the voice of reason to Scott and does so with a heart and compassion that never becomes melodramatic.

This is a gem of a movie that is in the new Budd Boetticher Box Set that was recently released on DVD. So far every film in this set has been a winner and I hope it helps bring some praise to Boetticher and Scott who are long overdue for their contributions to cinema.

Review: JCVD

JCVD (2008)

starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Francois Damiens, Zinedine Soualem, Karim Belkhadra, Jean-Francois Wolff, Anne Paulicevich

dir. Mabrouk El Mechri

Jean-Claude Van Damme has feelings. Lots of them. Now, he's decided it lay them out there for everyone to see. I've watched him travel through time, do the splits on chairs and countertops, even fight a giant penguin, but  in his latest film he makes his gustiest move yet. He becomes a human being. This is not a satire as you might expect, but a "what if" scenario. What if a fading action star is thrust into a real life hostage situation? The answer is, "JCVD, dumbass!"

In JCVD (his initials for the slow folks out there), he plays himself. Not just himself, but a warts and all self. He's broke, stuck making bad movies to pay bills, fighting for the custody of his child and has a sketchy track record with drugs and women. This is not the invincible high kicking hero that we've seen in the past.

To shake off his woes, he's decided to go home to Brussels to get his act together. Almost instantly, he accidentally gets involved in a post office/bank robbery, taken hostage and mistaken by police as the criminal . It hasn't been a good day for Van Damme.

This is where it becomes a fascinating character study of the Muscles from Brussels. By using a tried and true formula, we are given an opportunity to witness a human being whose screen persona would solve this type of problem with a few high kicks. JCVD rips away the layers of the action hero to expose a man who has worked hard, been successful, made mistakes and been ridiculed by the same people who built him up in the first place. 

What really makes me appreciate this film is how gutsy Van Damme is. JCVD is a project that could have easily been laughably bad. At times it almost treads into territory of Van Damme asking to be taken seriously as an actor, but saved by the fact that he is so good. It is tough to portray emotional truth on screen. It's tougher to play an emotional truth that exposes yourself and not a character. Van Damme not only shows us who he is, but brings it back into the framework of the plot so we understand why he is confessing these feelings to us.

The films structure is solid as well, using non linear storytelling helps build tension as well as fill in all the missing pieces and points of view to create a cohesive narrative and helps us to understand the trials and tribulations that Van Damme deals with on a daily basis. Sure it does have some visual flaws that creates confusion at times, but in the end it is about looking at a man that we have already washed our hands of.

This is an art house film with an action star. Odds are, people who are not fans of his previous work will enjoy this much more than folks walking in hoping to see Bloodsport Redux. But everyone should give it a chance and let Jean-Claude Van Damme state his case.

7.75 out of 10

R.I.P. Ken Ogata

Ken Ogata (1937-2008)

I missed this, so it's a week late.

Ken Ogata a great Japanese actor passed away last week from cancer.

He was in some great films and even portrayed author Yukio Mishima in the biopic Mishima. Go figure. It is one of those biopics that goes outside the box and examines the man's life through recreations of his work as well as his last days before committing public suicide. It's a really interesting film and a great performance by Ogata.

He also starred in two films by Shohei Imamura who I'd written about when he passed away about a year or so ago. Vengeance is Mine and The Ballad of Narayama. I've only seen Vengence, which is a must. Both are available on DVD and now I have even more reason to sit down and watch Ballad.

All in all he had been in about seventy movies and he is one of those actors who was great to watch and every time you'd see his name in the credits, you knew there would be something solid going on.

My condolences to his family and his work has not gone unnoticed.

R.I.P. John Phillip Law

John Phillip Law (1937-2008)

I feel compelled to write a little something about Mr. Law who passed away yesterday at the age of 70.


I saw Mr. Law in person about a month ago at the Egyptian. There was a screening of the cult classic Danger Diabolik and he spoke after the film. Other then mentioning he was tired a lot more often than he used to be, he was in good spirits was grateful for such a fun career, enjoyed the variety of films he was in and the attractive women that he got to make out with. All in all, He seemed to be very happy that people still remembered him and was more than congenial when it came to discussing his career. He also beamed of pride for a young boy who was either his son or grandson. It was really warming and the kid seemed happy to be recognized.


For those who do not know much about John Phillip Law, he not only starred in Danger Diabolik, but also played Pygar the Angel in Barbarella as well as appearing in Skidoo, the Otto Preminger bomb made for the acid tripper in all of us. All three of these films were released in 1968. Not a bad trifecta on the cult movie circuit.

All in all he acted in 81 projects (I can't forget Death Rides a Horse) over his career and though he may not be remembered in the way a Cary Grant, or James Stewart might be, he still has his geek followers. I am one of them. FGP offers condolences to Mr. Law's family and friends. He will be missed, but not forgotten.

(Side note: Music fans will recognize Danger Diabolik as the inspiration for the Beastie Boys video Body Movin'.)