Chuck Norris was there for me at the very beginning. When I fell in love with action movies, it was primarily because of three men, first Charles Bronson, followed by Clint Eastwood and Chuck Norris. Back in the 80’s when I was too young to drive, I couldn’t just pull a movie up on my phone or TV anytime I wanted. I had to rely on certain TV channels, like Fox 16 out of Little Rock, and the occasional trip to the video store. Chuck Norris was a megastar on Fox 16 and on the shelves of the video store. Fox 16 would have movie weeks filled with movies like SILENT RAGE, LONE WOLF MCQUADE, MISSING IN ACTION, and CODE OF SILENCE. These movies are just a part of who I am, and Chuck Norris always came across as a fundamentally decent and courageous man on screen.
Chuck may not have been a critical darling, but he had a presence and charisma about him that drew me in from the very beginning. Even today, Norris has his own unique section in my massive collection of physical media. Up to this point, only the loss of my hero Charles Bronson back in 2003 has stirred up these same kinds of feelings that I’m feeling today. I remember when my son discovered the “Chuck Norris Facts” when he was about 10 years old or so. He loved them so much and would tell me his favorites constantly. It made me happy that my own son knew who Chuck Norris was, even if it was through extreme comedic myth making! I was so happy when Norris cameo’d in THE EXPENDABLES 2 and even told one of this Chuck Norris facts. We loved it and it’s definitely my favorite EXPENDABLES movie.
A little part of me is gone tonight knowing that Norris has passed away. From this point forward, anytime I think of Norris or watch his movies, it will be from a perspective that he’s know longer alive. But one of the great things about movies is that whenever I want to see a young, vibrant Norris, I just have to go to my movie shelves and I can be watching THE DELTA FORCE in a matter of moments. I had to learn how to deal with it for Charles Bronson. Now I’ll do the same with Chuck Norris.
In honor of Kurt Russell’s birthday, I thought I would share one of my favorite podcasts with you. Most of the time Nick and Ray talk about Charles Bronson, but every so often they go outside of Bronson. Their episode on the Kurt Russell film SOLDIER is excellent. It’s a great way to celebrate one of the most popular actors of my lifetime.
When I was a teenager in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, I didn’t know a single person who loved movies like I did, not even close. I’d watch the Oscars by myself every year. The next day I’d have no one to talk to about my enjoyment of the show and my favorite winners or biggest disappointments. My family and friends loved me, but movies just weren’t their thing. As such, I couldn’t really talk to anyone about how happy I was that Sean Connery had won an Oscar, or how upset I was that GOODFELLAS didn’t win an Oscar, or then how excited I was that my hero Clint Eastwood had dominated the awards with UNFORGIVEN! This was the day and time where there was no social media so I was truly alone in my obsession. Being alone didn’t matter though, because there was just something about the world of film that I was fascinated with from the moment our family got our first VCR. Seeing my favorite stars all together in the same building was just so fun. My favorite host of my youth was Billy Crystal. He was just amazing, and I even remember him riding a horse off the stage at the 1991 show, the year I graduated high school.
I guess after heading off to college and then starting a family a few years later, the Oscars became less and less important to me over the years after that. I still didn’t know anyone who loved movies like me, but now I had a career to focus on and little league baseball games to coach. As much as I still enjoyed the cinema, I guess it’s fair to say my priorities changed. And then I got involved in the world of cinema on social media in 2021. I met people like Eric Todd, who shares my love for the actor Charles Bronson. I met people like Lisa Marie Bowman, Jeff “Who is not Joseph Cotten,” Stewart Moncure, and others on Twitter who love to watch movies together and tweet about them. This is the first time in my life that I actually know a group of people who love movies like I do. These folks take cinema seriously and don’t make fun of me for doing the same. I found my movie people. So I started watching the Oscars again. Watching OPPENHEIMER win 7 Oscars, including Best Picture, a couple of years back was especially enjoyable for me since one of my favorite actors of my youth, James Woods, served as an Executive Producer. I’m watching the Oscars again tonight. It’s just more fun knowing that there really are people out there who care about movies, and the people who make them, just as much as I do.
One of the most enjoyable days of my life was spent watching Director Sean McEwen film his movie TURNBUCKLE this past summer. And the highlight of the day was getting to meet actor Terrence Howard. He was so gracious with his time and so friendly to me and my wife. I can’t wait to see the movie, and I’ll always have great memories from that magical day!
As a teenager of the late 1980’s, I’ve always been a huge fan of Chuck Norris. And my favorite Chuck Norris movie has always been CODE OF SILENCE. My wife and I are celebrating the action star’s 86 birthday by watching the classic from director Andrew Davis! Norris was never better than he is here!
I’m just reminding y’all that the John Woo / Chow Yun-fat classic A BETTER TOMORROW (1986) is playing in movie theaters this week on Sunday, March 1st, Monday, March 2nd, and Wednesday, March 4th. I will be attending the Cinemark in Little Rock, Arkansas on March 1st to watch the film myself. A BETTER TOMORROW is one of the most influential action films in history, and I happily recommend it to everyone who loves action movies. Enjoy, my friends!
Al Lettieri is one of my favorite cinematic bad guys based on his performance in MR. MAJESTYK (1974) with Charles Bronson. I’ll never forget how bad he wanted those Keys in the famous breakout sequence. Check it out!
I was lucky to be part of a recent interview with actor Jordan Rhodes on the “This Week in Charles Bronson” podcast. Jordan worked with Bronson on two separate movies almost twenty years apart, MR. MAJESTYK (1974) and THE INDIAN RUNNER (1991), so he does offer valuable insight to my favorite actor. Jordan also worked with so many great actors like Joe Don Baker, Sean Penn, Andy Griffith, Gregory Peck, etc., etc. One of the most interesting works of his career is a stage play he developed about Ernest Hemingway entitled PAPA: THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND. I’ve seen a filmed version of the play on DVD and I can confirm that it’s incredible. He toured this play for over 7 years, with the emergence of Covid in 2020 effectively ending its run. During those Covid years, Jordan did find time to write a biography entitled “The Life of a Blue Collar Actor,” which I also own and have read. It’s such an interesting take on what life is like for your basic working actor who never becomes a star, but somehow carves out a four decade career. I found it very entertaining.
If you’re interested in character actors like Jordan Rhodes, you should enjoy this. You’ll find that we do very little interviewing. He just gets to talking and it goes from there. I did want to point out that he does misspeak about a situation in Bronson’s personal life during the episode. He issued this statement on his Facebook page a few days after we recorded:
“I want to apologize for making a misstatement about the death of Charlie’s son, which I quoted as having shot himself on Charlie’s Vermont farm. I was given that misinformation by a producer prior to working with Charlie on a film, and it was incorrect. Charlie’s adopted son, Jason, died from an overdose, and I apologize for making the misstatement.“
We sincerely thank Jordan Rhodes for taking the time to speak to movie nerds like us! I hope you enjoy!
I’m one of the biggest fans of the San Francisco 49ers. In my 52 years on earth, I’ve been able to celebrate a lot of Super Bowl Sundays that have featured my team. We even won 5 of those Super Bowls. The problem is that all five of those victories came before I reached the age of 22. Over the last 30 years, we’ve reached another 3 Super Bowls and lost each one in heartbreaking fashion. I thought I’d share my main memories of each of those games today!
Super Bowl XVI — January 24, 1982
The 49ers won their first Lombardi trophy when they edged the Cincinnati Bengals 26-21 in a gritty, hard-fought battle at the Pontiac Silverdome. This kicked off the 49ers ‘80’s dynasty where the would win four Super Bowls during the decade. For an eight year old Brad, what I remember the most personally during that year was not the Super Bowl, but rather the victory over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship, when Joe Montana threw the ball and Dwight Clark made “the catch!” It has justly retained its place over the years as one of the great plays in NFL history.
Super Bowl XIX — January 20, 1985
San Francisco kicked the Miami Dolphins butts, 38–16, in their own backyard, showcasing a team firing on all cylinders and carving their name into NFL lore. My brother Donnie was a huge fan of the Dolphins back at this time. I was eleven years old and he was twelve, and I remember I didn’t want to rub it in, because I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. When I think of that game, I think of Montana throwing TD passes to recent Hall of Fame inductee Roger Craig!
Super Bowl XXIII — January 22, 1989
In a classic showdown in Miami, the 49ers rallied late to beat the Bengals 20–16, a game punctuated by clutch plays and a finish that echoed their championship pedigree. I had reached the age of 15 when the Niners beat the Bengals for a 2nd time in the decade. When I think of this game, I think of Jerry Rice being unstoppable, John Taylor catching the winning TD pass from Montana with 34 seconds to play, and I think of the story Montana told about John Candy as the last drive was about to start. It was awesome stuff!
Super Bowl XXIV — January 28, 1990
San Francisco exploded in New Orleans, routing the Denver Broncos 55–10 in one of the most dominant performances in Super Bowl history… a statement that this franchise was at its peak. I was 16 years old when this game was played. I honestly don’t remember that much of the game itself, because I was making out with my girlfriend for most of the game. I do remember paying enough attention to know that we were kicking butt. Once our dominance was firmly established, most of my focus was elsewhere!
Super Bowl XXIX — January 29, 1995
In Miami, the 49ers put the exclamation point on their ‘90s success with a 49–26 victory over the San Diego Chargers, racking up points in every quarter and leaving no doubt who ruled that season. This was one of my favorite Super Bowls and my favorite team’s last win. I was 21 years old and had been married for less than a month. We had a Super Bowl party with friends, and Steve Young threw six TD passes, a record that still stands, as the Niners routed the Chargers. The grilled hamburgers tasted great that night as Young got the Montana legacy “monkey off of his back” and wrote his own Canton story.
Super Bowl XLVII — February 3, 2013
After years away from football’s biggest stage, San Francisco returned but fell just short, losing a tight 31–34 to the Baltimore Ravens in a game defined by momentum swings and near misses. Eighteen years after the 49ers last Super Bowl, we finally made it back. Colin Kaepernick, Frank Gore, Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis seemed unstoppable going into the Super Bowl, but Joe Flacco and the Ravens had other plans. After falling way behind, a stadium power outage wasn’t enough to save my team as we fell just short in the “Har-Bowl.” The youth group from our church was at our house that night, so I tried to be on my best behavior, but it wasn’t easy when the refs didn’t call a clear holding penalty on the Ravens near the end. This was also my first Super Bowl with my son who was 13 at the time.
Super Bowl LIV — February 2, 2020
In Miami Gardens, the Chiefs outpaced the 49ers 31–20, capping a back-and-forth affair that saw San Francisco’s defense bend and an explosive Kansas City offense take control in the second half. Recently divorced, I watched this game with my 13 year old daughter at Buffalo Wild Wings. It was another heartbreaking loss, where we were ahead by 10 points in the fourth quarter before falling apart. I was trying to enjoy the time with my daughter, and for the most part I was successful, but it still hurt as we lost again.
Super Bowl LVIII — February 11, 2024
In a heartbreaker at Allegiant Stadium, the 49ers fought Kansas City to the wire but fell 25–22 in overtime… a testament to grit even in defeat on football’s grandest stage. As a 50 year old man, this Super Bowl meant something different to me than any Super Bowl before. My wife and I went to my mom and dad’s house and watched the game. My son also joined us. I really just wanted to watch the 49ers win a Super Bowl with my dad and my son. My son, also a huge 49ers fan, had never seen them win the ultimate championship. I thought it would be the perfect night to celebrate. Unfortunately, Brock Purdy and the Niners came up just short against Patrick Mahomes again in overtime. It was another punch to the gut.
With that said, however, and with a little time, that Super Bowl in 2024 is so meaningful to me. My dad, my son and I watched every play together in complete unison as we pulled for the Niners. The night may not have ended the way we wanted it to, but it was still a wonderful and special night. The picture I share here was from that night as the game was about to get started. Nothing that’s meaningful comes without a little bit of pain, and that night was one of the most meaningful of my last few years!
Tonight, I’ll watch the Super Bowl, but I won’t be with my Dad or my son. Either the Seahawks or Patriots will win, but in a few days I won’t ever care again. It does give me some peace knowing that out there somewhere, Dads and sons will be living and dying on every play. That won’t be us tonight, but it wasn’t that long ago that it was!
Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) owns a children’s bookstore in New York City named “The Shop Around the Corner.” It’s a small, cozy store that she inherited from her dear mother, and it’s part of the lifeblood of who she is as a person, as well as the community itself. Joe Fox (Tom Hanks), on the other hand, is the heir to a major bookstore chain, Fox Books (think Barnes & Noble), that threatens to wipe places like Kathleen’s off the map. As fate would have it, the two meet anonymously online where they trade their hopes, dreams and insecurities through daily e-mails, with both excitedly opening their computers each night hoping to hear those three little words, “You’ve Got Mail.” Things begin to get interesting when Joe plans to open up a Fox Books Superstore just around the corner from Kathleen’s place with neither knowing that they’re real-life business adversaries. When will they find out that they’re enemies in the business world? Can true love find a way in the most difficult of circumstances? And isn’t that why we watch these kinds of movies in the first place?!
I’ll start off by saying that Meg Ryan is operating at the top of her “America’s sweetheart” phase here… she’s cute, sincere, nostalgic, slightly neurotic, and ultimately quite believable as a person who romanticizes her world and truly believes there will always be a place for her small store and the gigantic superstores! I grew up and still live in the state where Wal-Mart started so I definitely know how hard it is for the “mom and pop” stores to compete. Tom Hanks walks a bit more of a tightrope as Joe Fox. He’s likable enough that you want him to be able to win her heart, but he’s also just arrogant enough that you understand why Kathleen resents everything he stands for. Ultimately, Hanks is able to pull it off with enough charm that you still root for him even when he can be a little bit of a jerk at times.
What’s really strange about revisiting YOU’VE GOT MAIL at this point in my life is the fact that it takes me back to the late 90’s when the internet was something new to me and it seemed like something magical. In this movie, the internet connects two souls, and when we hear “you’ve got mail” as they fire up their computers, the movie expects you to feel genuine excitement, without a hint of irony. Compare that with where the world is today with almost any kind of online activity, especially social media. While there are still a lot of positives to be found, it’s sad that going online now is often exhausting, hateful, and stressful! In 1998, though, it was still possible to believe that logging on could lead to something incredible!
Nora Ephron, who directed the film and co-wrote the screenplay, does a good job of presenting a sad reality of the real world underneath this romantic comedy’s love story. “Progress” can be cruel, and it seems like it just can’t be stopped no matter what! I spend a lot of time talking about the wonderful hours I spent in the video stores of my youth. Those stores are all gone now and have been for decades. The stores that replaced them are mostly gone now, and almost all of my movie viewing is now done through online streaming. In YOU’VE GOT MAIL, Fox Books certainly isn’t better than Kathleen’s Shop Around the Corner. As a matter of fact, it’s not nearly as educational or personal. What it is, however, is bigger, cheaper, and more efficient, and that’s what seems to win in the end, just like it did with the local video stores and Wal-Mart. This is where Ephron does her strongest balancing act. Joe Fox and Kathleen Kelly still fall in love despite the fact that the realities of the world around them take their realistic and natural course. A true human connection is made in the most difficult and painful of circumstances, and that ultimately means more than anything else in the film.
Revisiting YOU’VE GOT MAIL now doesn’t feel that much different than revisiting the film that inspired it, 1940’s THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER, starring Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan. Both films are time capsules of a world that no longer really exists. However, both films ultimately realize the time-tested truth that it’s our relationships with other people that provides the most meaning to our lives. That’s a truth that won’t change whether we’re writing letters, sending e-mails, exchanging texts or whatever “progress” the human race achieves in communication in the future! I find some comfort in that.
Through the Shattered Lens 