Tag Archives: At Close Range

Song of the Day: Live to Tell (by Madonna)

Posted on by Arleigh

Jedadiah Leland wrote and very good review on the 1986 crime drama At Close Range (dir. by James Foley) that brought up some nostalgic memories growing up as a teenager during the 1980’s. Pretty much every teenage boy had a crush on Madonna when she first debut and the years following. I wasn’t immune to such a crush.

The latest “Song of the Day” is Live to Tell”, a song that Madonna co-wrote and co-produced with songwriter and film composer Patrick Leonard for At Close Range who also happened to star her-then husband Sean Penn. “Live to Tell” was a major departure for the pop-centric Madonna in that it was a bluesy, torch ballad that evoked feelings of regret and the scars of childhood tragedy.

Even Madonna’s look in the accompanying video shows her in a much more toned-down and mature image that brought to mind singers and actresses of the 1940’s and 50’s. Ironically, while the song itself was one of Madonna’s least controversial releases during her early years, her performance of the song during 2006’s Confessions Tour was seen as controversial by the Roman Catholic Church due to her hanging from a cross on stage.

Live to Tell

I have a tale to tell
Sometimes it gets so hard to hide it well
I was not ready for the fall
Too blind to see the writing on the wall

A man can tell a thousand lies
I’ve learned my lesson well
Hope I live to tell the secret I have learned till then it will burn inside of me

I know where beauty lives
I’ve seen it once
I know the warmth she gives
The light that you could never see
It shines inside you can’t take that from me…

A man can tell a thousand lies
I’ve learned my lesson well
Hope I live to tell the secret I have learned till then it will burn inside of me…

The truth is never far behind
You’ve kept it hidden well
If I live to tell the secret I knew then
Will I ever have the chance again?

If I ran away
I’d never have the strength to go very far
How would they hear the beating of my heart…?
Will it grow cold?
(will it grow cold?)
The secret that I hide
Will I grow old?
How will they hear?
When will they learn?
How will they know…?

A man can tell a thousand lies
I’ve learned my lesson well
Hope I live to tell the secret I have learned till then it will burn inside of me…

The truth is never far behind
You’ve kept it hidden well
If I live to tell the secret I knew then
Will I ever have the chance again…?
A man can tell a thousand lies
I’ve learned my lesson well
Hope I live to tell the secret I have learned till then it will burn inside of me…

At Close Range (1986, directed by James Foley)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Brad Whitewood, Sr. (Christopher Walken) is known as Big Brad, a rural crime lord who rules the backwoods of Pennsylvania.  When his son, Little Brad (Sean Penn, trying too hard to be James Dean), comes to live with him, Big Brad goes out of his way to try to bring the teenager into his criminal lifestyle.  At first, Little Brad loves being a part of the family business but witnessing a murder and falling in love with Terry (Mary Stuart Masterson) caused Little Brad to start to move away from his father.  With the FBI closing in on the Whitewood family, Brad Sr. starts to eliminate everyone who he considers to be a threat, including the members of his own family.

Based on a true story, this neo-noir features a great cast, including Chris Penn, Millie Perkins, Kiefer Sutherland, Crispin Glover, David Strathairn, Tracey Walter, and Mary Stuart Masterson.  Unfortunately, the movie itself moves at a plodding pace.  There are some good and disturbing scenes, like the montage where Big Brad starts to eliminate the members of his gang.  The film does a good job of showing how seductive Big Brad’s criminal lifestyle can be to a bunch of kids who have basically been written-off by society.  But the story itself is so bleak that most people will end up tuning out long before Little Brad finally turns against his father.

Whatever other flaws it may have, At Close Range does feature one of Christopher Walken’s best performances.  Walken is chillingly evil as Big Brad.  He’s got enough charisma to be believable as someone who could bring a gang together but he’s also frightening as he starts killing anyone who he thinks might talk to the police or the FBI.  Big Brad is a remorseless killer and Walken plays him as being a classic sociopath, someone who cannot understand why the members of his gang and family would get upset when he starts killing some of them.  To Big Brad, that just goes with the territory.  It’s a part of doing business.  With his distinct way of speaking and his trademark tics, Walken is someone who has inspired many impersonators and it can be easy to forget that he’s also a damn good actor.  Films like At Close Range remind us of just how talented Walken actually is.

Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us For Double Nickels and At Close Range!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasion ally Mastodon.  I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of Mastodon’s #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We snark our way through it.

Tonight, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 1977’s Double Nickels, a film featuring many cars and many crashes!

Then, on twitter, #MondayMuggers will be showing 1986’s At Close Range, starring  Sean Penn and Christopher Walken!  The film is on Prime and it starts at 10 pm et!

It should make for a night of fun viewing and I invite all of you to join in.  If you want to join the live tweets, just hop onto Mastodon, pull up Double Nickels on YouTube, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!  Then switch over to twitter, pull At Close Range up on Prime, and use the #MondayMuggers hashtag! 

Enjoy!