Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 61st birthday to one of the last remaining movie stars, Tom Cruise!
While it’s tempting to celebrate this day by sharing a scene from a film like Top Gun: Maverick or one of the Mission Impossible sequels or maybe even something like Magnolia, Jerry Maguire, Edge of Tomorrow, or Risky Business, I am going to go with a clip from 2008’s Tropic Thunder. There’s a lot talent in this particular scene, with Bill Hader and Matthew McConaughey both giving good performances. But, of course, the whole thing is dominated by Tom Cruise’s wonderfully demented performance as Les Grossman.
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasionally 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 1974’s The Zebra Killer! Selected and hosted by Bunny Hero, this movie is also known as Combat Cops! They had to name it twice because it was so good!
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 The Zebra Killer on YouTube, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag! Then, at 10 pm et, switch over to Twitter and Prime, start Over the Top, and use the #MondayMuggers hashtag! The live tweet community is a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Sundays, I will be reviewing the made-for-television movies that used to be a primetime mainstay. Today’s film is 1986’s Under the Influence! It can be viewed on YouTube!
Noah Talbot (Andy Griffith) is an upstanding member of the community. He owns a hardware store. He has a large family. He’s known as a gruff but folky storyteller. He’s a deacon in his church and helps to collect the offering every Sunday.
He’s also a drunk and a bit of a bully. His family walks on eggshells around him, fearful of setting him off on one of his benders. He occasionally spends the night in jail, arrested for trying to drive drunk. Even when he gets bailed out, his first instinct is to go back to the bar. The folks at the bar love him, don’t you know. The people at the bar are always happy to see him and never bother him about whether he’s had too much. The people at the bar never let him down the way that he feels his family has left him down.
The members of his family each cope in their own individual way. Noah’s wife (Joyce Van Patten) is in denial and spends a lot of her time popping pills. His oldest daughter, Ann (Season Hubley), is driven to succeed at work and spends all of her time both hating her father and desperately hoping for his approval. (When she tells him that she got a raise at work, he berates her for only getting a 6% increase in her salary. “That’s just a cost of living increase!” he snaps at her.) His eldest son, Stephen (Paul Provenza), fled to Los Angeles and is trying to make a career as stand-up comedian. (“You’re no David Letterman,” Noah tells him.) His youngest daughter, Terri (Dana Anderson), secretly replaces Noah’s liquor with water and food-coloring. And his youngest son, Eddie (Keanu Reeves), is becoming an alcoholic himself.
Having read all that, you may be wondering just how exactly Keanu Reeves could be the son of Andy Griffith and it’s a fair question. This was one Keanu Reeves’s first acting roles and he does a pretty good job in the role of Eddie. That said, he looks so totally different from both Andy Griffith and Joyce Van Patten and the actors playing his siblings that I was half-expecting someone to mention that Eddie had been adopted. Then again, Paul Provenza doesn’t really bear much of a resemblance to the actors playing his parents either. Dana Anderson and Season Hubley do, at least, look like sisters.
Lack of family-resemblance aside, all of the actors in Under the Influence do a good job of inhabiting their characters. For those who are used to seeing Andy Griffith playing friendly Southerners in reruns of The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock, it’s shocking and a little disturbing to see him playing an abusive, alcoholic jerk in Under the Influence. Noah is someone who would not only destroy his own family to get a drink but who would then blame them for it happening in the first place. Noah may be under the influence of alcohol but the entire family is suffering because they’re under the influence of Noah. By the time Noah is spitting up blood and demanding that his youngest son sneak liquor into his hospital room, the viewer knows there is no hope for Noah but hopefully, his family will escape.
It doesn’t make for a particularly happy movie but, speaking as someone who grew up in an alcoholic household, I can attest that it does make for an honest portrayal of what addiction does not just to the addict but also to the people around the addict. I cringed in sympathy through nearly the entire film, especially as I watched three of the four children react in the same ways that I did. (Unlike Eddie, I never became much of a drinker and instead developed an aversion to alcohol in general.) It’s a film that feels real and one’s heart aches for the entire family. If it could happen to Andy Griffith, it could happen to anyone.
That was my main reaction to watching the 1984 film, Purple Rain, a few nights ago. Over the years, there have been a lot of music stars who have attempted to make the transition to acting. Some have been more successful than others. While some have stuck to playing versions of themselves, others have attempted to become actual character actors and the end results have often been mixed. Being a strong stage performer does not neccesarily mean that person is automatically going to be a convincing film actor and the history of the movies is full of famous singers whose personality seemed to evaporate as soon as they had to act for the cameras and try to sound convincing while reciting dialogue. Taylor Swift has built up a strong and incredibly loyal fanbase but you wouldn’t necessarily believe that she was one of the world’s biggest stars if you only knew her from her wan and bland performances in Cats and Amsterdam. Indeed, while watching her in Amsterdam, it’s kind of hard not to be thankful when that car drives up and brings her performance to an end.
Prince, on the other hand, could truly act.
In Purple Rain, he plays The Kid. The Kid is an enigmatic musician living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He’s the front man of a band called The Revolution and he sings songs that are, at times, almost disturbingly personal. The Kid rides a purple motorcycle and he’s one of those musicians who is driven to record almost every sound that he hears. (At one point, The Kid listens to a recording of an unidentified woman sobbing. Who exactly the woman was or why she was crying are questions that are never answered, though I think it’s possible it was supposed to be the Kid’s mother.) He performs to escape from the scars of his upbringing. His father (Clarence Williams III), a failed musician, regularly beats his mother (Olga Karlatos, who memorably lost an eye in Lucio Fulci’s Zombi 2). No one can deny The Kid’s talent but he’s also known for being a bit of a control freak and the other members of the Revolution sometimes feel that he’s not willing to give them the credit and opportunities that they deserve and….
Okay, obviously there are some similarities between The Kid and the man playing him. Purple Rain was Prince’s first film and his first acting role and it makes sense that he would want to play a character in a situation that he was familiar with. But that still doesn’t change the fact that Prince gives an excellent and charismatic performance in the lead role. Unlike so many other singers-turned-actors, he doesn’t lose his spark when he has to remember his lines. His presence doesn’t evaporate when the camera is turned on him. Instead, if anything, Price feels even more natural off-stage than on. Whether the Kid is being playful or serious, driven or defeated, Prince is never less than convincing. Yes, the audience never forgets that they’re watching Prince. But, at the same time, the Kid comes to life as an individual character with his own life and problems and personality separate of the actor who is playing him.
As for the film’s plot, it’s a fairly simple one. The Revolution is one of three bands that hold down the house band slot at the First Avenue nightclub. The Kid’s rival, Morris Day (played by Morris Day), plots to replace the Revolution by putting together an all-girl group called Apollonia Six. Apollonia Six is led by Apollonia (Apollonia Kotero), who is the Kid’s girlfriend. As Morris explains it, the Kid is too wrapped up in himself to help out Apollonia or the Revolution’s Wendy and Lisa.
And Morris Day has a point. As soon as Apollonia tells the Kid that she’s going to be working with Morris, the Kid responds by striking her. It’s a shocking scene but, as the film shows, it’s all the Kid learned at the hands of his father. It’s only after a personal tragedy that the Kid starts to realize that he does not have to be just like his father. That said, let us hope that the Kid invested in some therapy and some anger management courses after the end credits rolled.
As a character, the Kid would be unbearable if not for the strength and charm of Prince’s performance. Prince is amazing when he performs on stage and the film’s soundtrack still holds up but what makes the film work are the moments when Prince shows us the Kid’s vulnerable side. Self-loathing is not an easy feeling to play and it’s an even more difficult feeling to make sympathetic but Prince does both. The Kid knows that he’s self-destructive and immature but he’s also sincere in his desire to be better than his past. The film leaves you to wonder if he’ll succeed.
In this scene from Robert Altman’s 1975 masterpiece, Nashville, Julie Christie plays herself as a famous visitor to the city for which the film is named. She is introduced to Haven Hamilton (Henry Gibson), Haven’s lawyer, Delbert Reese (Ned Beatty), political advance man John Triplette (Michael Murphy), and country music star Connie White (Karen Black). Julie Christie may be a star in Hollywood but Connie is the star of Nashville.
Karen Black, who was born on this date in 1939, improvised her dismissive line about Julie Christine not even being able to comb her hair. It was a moment that reportedly shocked the rest of the cast and the crew but it was also a line that perfectly summed up both Connie as a character and Altman’s version of Nashville.
4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
88 years ago today, Sydney Pollack was born in Indiana. Though Pollack got his start as an actor, he soon moved into directing and was one of the key television directors of the 1960s. He eventually branched out into film, making a name for himself as a director of intelligent and sensitive comedies and dramas. Though he only directed 21 films over the course of his career, his films received a total of 48 Oscar nominations and 11 wins. 1982’s Tootsie and 1985’s Out of Africa were both nominated for Best Picture. Out of Africa won.
Pollack also returned to acting in the 90s, making a name for himself as a skilled character actor. I’ll always remember him from Eyes Wide Shut, intimidating Tom Cruise while playing pool.
When he passed away in 2008, Pollack was remembered as one of the best directors of Hollywood’s second golden age.
In honor of Sydney Pollack, here are….
4 Shots From 4 Sydney Pollack Films
Jeremiah Johnson (1972, dir by Sydney Pollack, DP: Duke Callaghan)
Three Days of Condor (1975, dir by Sydney Pollack, DP: Owen Roizman)
Out of Africa (1985, dir by Sydney Pollack, DP: David Watkin)
The Firm (1993, dir by Sydney Pollack, DP: John Seale)
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on twitter. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We tweet our way through it.
Tonight, for #ScarySocial, Deanna Dawn will be hosting 2015’s Hell House LLC!
If you want to join us on Saturday night, just hop onto twitter, start the film at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag! The film is available on Prime and Tubi. I’ll probably be there and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well. It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
Happy Wednesday all! This week #ScarySocial presents the 2015 found footage flick, Hell House LLC… a reel creeper, sure to get under your skin! Join us at 9pm est on Prime!#DontWatchAlonepic.twitter.com/gLq17yBQJV
With the year almost halfway over, the Oscar race still feels pretty fluid, though I think things will come a bit more into focus next month with the release of Oppenheimer and Barbie. Obviously, Oppenheimer feels more like an Oscar picture than Barbie but you never know what could happen. The Academy appears to really like Greta Gerwig. Of course, both of those film have received so much hype that the true test could be just living up to expectations. Killers of the Flower Moon manage to pass that test at Cannes and, as a result, it’s the current Oscar front runner.
Below are my predictions for June. Be sure to also check out my predictions for March and April and May!
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on twitter. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We tweet our way through it.
Tonight, at 10 pm et, #FridayNightFlix has got 1984’s Purple Rain!
If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #FridayNightFlix hashtag! It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
Through the Shattered Lens 