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8 Million Ways to Die (1986)
TELL YOU FRIENDS TO WATCH THIS MOVIE
8 Million Ways to Die should have been a Hit Movie. Jeff Bridges and Andy Garcia were particularly memorable. Why wasn't it a Hit? Chances are Politics between The Producers and The Creators had something to do with it.
My Career was in Radio. I was the Production Manager of the first Beatle Radio Documentary, the only Elvis Documentary he authorized and the 64 hour Evolution of Rock. I also specialized in 'Fixing' Music Radio Stations and always did. My Secret? Understanding that Record Companies put out a lot of Records each month but only a few of them were Promoted. What are call 'Priorities'. The Idea is to try to get all of Radio playing the same Records. Why would I want to do that? So...I would try to find Great Records that were not Record Company Priorities.
Perhaps you've heard of Meat Loaf, Kon Kan, Garth Brooks, Alanis Morissette and Jewel.
Those were only a few of what I helped to make 'happen'. My Point? Just as there are Records that 'fall between the 'cracks'....Movies do as well. 8 Million Ways to Die is one of them. Why did it fail to find An Audience? Marketing and Promotion is even more important for Movies than it is for Radio.
I'm old enough to remember when North American Radio wouldn't Play the Beatles.
I just watched 8 Million Ways to Die tonight for the first time in over 30 years. It's better now. Jeff Bridges is Fabulous. Of course he's been in some less than Great Movies, but he's never been bad. Example? Wild Bill was Good. Jeff Bridges was GREAT!.
Jeff's Wild Bill is what, I suspect, inspired him to True Grit and an Oscar.
Why are there so many Bad Reviews here on 8 Million Ways to Die? Damned if I know. But when I check out Movies on IMBb rated from 1 to 10, I know that I've just got to watch The 10 if I've seen a lot of 1s. I'm rarely disappointed.
Thank you IMDb
Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998)
THE DAWN OF ROCK & ROLL
REVIEW
WHY DO FOOLS FALL IN LOVE?
If you just came in from Outer Space and wondered what all the fuss was about at the dawn of Rock & Roll.....this is the movie that should begin your journey.
It's not, merely a Biography of singer Frankie Lyman. Rather it's a wonderful recreation of an era where, for the first time, Teenagers could say 'this is our music'.
Rock & Roll was supposed to be a 'fad'. It became an Art Form.
It also, most importantly, brought young people of many racial backgrounds together.
As the Production Manager of Radio Documentaries on The Beatles, Elvis Presley and the 64 hour Evolution of Rock (the music that made the world turn 'round) I would argue that Why Do Fools Fall in Love 'opens the door' to The Rock & Roll Era at least as well and, arguably, better than any other movie.
That 'door' closed as Elvis went into The Army and The U.S. Government began The Payola Hearings to, hopefully, wipe it out.
They failed.
That's why 'Why Do Fools Fall in Love' is such and important Movie. In effect, it depicts both The Beginning and The End of The Innocence of Rock & Roll.
Frankie Lyman and most of The Rock & Roll Pioneers, who could not or would not adjust, were left behind. They were replaced by Symphonies for The Kids by Phil Spector and Black Music for White Kids by Berry Gordy's Motown. It would be England that would 'light the fire' again, led not just by The Beatles but by American Shel Talmy. But that's Another Story and, perhaps one day, Another Movie.
Why Do Fools Fall in Love was, clearly, a Labor of Love for all involved. From a Production standpoint I can't image how it could be better. The Atmosphere, the Costuming, the Production Numbers, The Singing and, most importantly, The Spirit are spot on.
Find it and enjoy.
Official Secrets (2019)
A WINNER IN THE AGE OF TRUMP
I saw Official Secrets last night at The Windsor International Film Festival. It actually brought tears to my eyes. Such a courageous woman. She became a 'Whistle Blower', risked Everything, 'took on' The Most Powerful People in The British Government.....and won. Sort of
The Film is A Winner. In The Age of Trump it SHOULD receive wide distribution.
But given the state of The Mainstream Media in America......I doubt it. On the other hand.........as Official Secrets was ending, at first, I was tempted to applaud but then decided not to..........until, to my surprise, the entire Theatre broke into applause.
The Buddy Holly Story (1978)
DON'T MISS THE 'EXTRAS' ON THE DVD
In 1976 and 1977 I produced a 64 hour Radio Documentary called The Evolution of Rock (the music that made the world 'turn round). Trust me when I tell you...there are a lot of things wrong or missing from what actually happened during Buddy's Film Story as one of Rock & Roll's earliest and most influential performers. But they're almost beside the point, because there is so much that is wonderful about this movie, beginning with Gary Busey's portrayal of Buddy. Having personally grown up at the beginning of Rock & Roll, I also was impressed with how the Screenplay and the Production gave us a sense of how it happened and what it felt like. What is Rock & Roll? For virtually each Generation it is the music that your parents don't like or understand. To be there at the beginning as Buddy and The Crickets were must have been very special. The movie made us feel that it was and that the music was being invented right there on the screen. Buddy Holly didn't 'sound like' anybody. Many people tried to 'sound like' Buddy later. Yes, he was influenced by Elvis. But wasn't everybody at that time? As with Buddy, my friend Jack Scott sang Country Music at Bill's Barn in Utica Michigan. Until he heard Elvis. I sang with Jack onstage in 1991 at the annual Winter Dance Party Tribute in Clear Lake. Jack had his original Guitar and Bass Players. The Drummer was D.J. Fontana. When Jack Scott sang The National Anthem of Rock & Roll a song he wrote and was first heard that weekend in The Surf Ballroom, I thought the roof would fall in. I think Buddy, Ritchie and The Bopper would have loved it. Watching The Buddy Holly Story today after memorizing most everything about it, what stands out about the movie itself for me now is how 'charming' it is. Don't miss it!
ReMastered: Tricky Dick and the Man in Black (2018)
WHERE IS JOHNNY CASH WHEN AMERICA NEEDS HIM?
It's a one hour Documentary on NETFLIX. So what? It's the story of what, to me, was an under reported event at a time when, in my lifetime, America had never been so divided.
For a number of years, the Country had been at War in Viet Nam but, unlike World War Two and Korea, was rapidly becoming divided between the Pro-War and Anti-War Factions. This resulted in often violent demonstrations around America.
Meanwhile, there were further Demonstrations associated with The Civil Rights Movement that, often as well, involved division and violence.
Today, when I hear that 'America has never been so divided,' I'm puzzled.
So...what does this have to do with 'Tricky Dick and The Man in Black'?
To me...after seeing it.
Everything.
Shock and Awe (2017)
THE SHOCK & AWE CONSPIRACY?
It had a 'Limited' Release since mid July this year.
It has not, yet, been shown in Detroit Area Theatres......it fact, it's only in one theatre. In Maryland
On IMBd 1,775 give it an average score of 5.5 out of 10
64 IMBd Reviewers are virtually unanimous in rating it at or near 10 out of 10
24 Professional Reviewers are far from generous.
Everyone has an Opinion.
I ordered the Movie on dvd because it appeared to be the 'All The President's Men' of The Iraq Invasion.
It is. I loved it.
Our favouite scene in the film is when the Rob Reiner character, upon discovering that Knight-Ridder is virtually the only News gathering organization in America opposing The Iraq Invasion, calls a meeting......
"Everybody Listen Up........
We're not NBC, not ABC, we're not ABC, we're not CBS, not FOX, not CNN.
We're not the New York Times and not The Washington Post.
We are Knight-Ridder.
If every other News Organization wants to be stenographers for The Bush Administration....let them.
We don't write for people who send other people's kids to War.
We write for the people whose kids get sent to War.
Now....having written all of that......
I'm a Canadian. Our Prime Minister at the time, Jean Chretien, would not join Australia, Great Britain and others in following The Coalition led by The U.S. into Iraq without a sanction from The United Nations Security Council. After all, one of the reasons the UN had been created following World War Two was to, hopefully, prevent what Germany had done prior to The War......invade other Countries without cause.
The U.S. 'made their case'. The UN didn't 'buy it'. But The U.S. Coalition invaded Iraq anyway. Over 1 million Iraqis killed. Hundreds of thousands of American Kids killed. Trillions of dollars spent there and at home.
I call that a War Crime.
Don't miss Shock & Awe.
Wild Bill (1995)
IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT WATCH IT AGAIN. IT MAY 'GROW' ON YOU
There were two Great Westerns made in the early 1990's. One was Tombstone which I wasn't expecting to be Great. I mean....how many ways can The Gunfight at The OK Correl be told? So I ignored Tombstone until it came out in Video. Big mistake. Great Movie. Val Kilmer is the best Doc Holiday ever. As with Shane, it may never be in a theater near me again. So now Wild Bill comes out? Better see it in a Big Screen Theater. I did one weekend evening. Beautiful. The only problem was it was the first time I had seen a movie in Downtown Detroit. There weren't many of us in The Theater, but many who were there were carrying on with a narrative of their own. 'Look out behind you Wild Bill, he's got a gun....'someone said. 'Hump her Bill' said someone else! So...I went back one weekday afternoon and appreciated Wild Bill much more. Now I own it and watch it often. With Westerns, I don't look for 'factually correct', rather I look for Great Performances and Storytelling from people who clearly love Westerns as I do. Don't miss Wild Bill.
Shane (1966)
What were they thinking?
Wonderful Movie. Top 5 on any Western Fan's List. Westerns were all over TV in The '60s. Was that what they were thinking? What was I thinking? It was 1969 before I saw The Movie Shane. I was just young enough to be 'Discovering and Exploring' Creativity. Shane opened me up to so much in the way of Production Values and Subtly as I embarked on a Media Career. How did George Stevens get The Dogs to do what they did? And that was just The Beginning! There was so much to explore! I became so obsessed that I drove to Jackson Hole Wyoming, found what was left of The Set and talked to some people who were there during filming. So....of course, I had to find all things Shane, including the TV Series. What a disappointment! It's almost unwatchable. I see that they brought Jack Schaefer in, who wrote the Novel, half way through the Season. I'm going to put it aside for a month or so and check out some of the episodes Schaefer wrote but......
Muscle Shoals (2013)
A Remarkable Story and an Excellent Documentary
Fabulous.
Quite different from Standing In The Shadows of Motown and The Wrecking Crew. To me, THEIR weakness was that the person responsible for creating them was missing.
Berry Gordy created The Funk Brothers. Phil Spector created The Wrecking Crew.
Each was AWOL in the documentary about their creation.
Rick Hall created Fame Studio in Muscles Shoals Alabama. The Documentary is, essentially, about him. As it should be. And even after Jerry Wexler and Atlantic Records tried to destroy Hall by spiriting away his musicians to record in NYC and, later, building a studio for them in Muscle Shoals.......Rick Hall simply put together another group of musicians, without missing a beat......(pun intended)....and took The Legend of Muscle Shoals to The Next Level.
The good news about that? The Muscle Shoals musicians are good friends today. They appreciate that the competition made each other better and Muscle Shoals as a destination....stronger.
The Motown Documentary is about a "sound". The Wrecking Crew Documentary is about "Musicianship". Muscle Shoals is about a "Groove."
A Groove that created Aretha Franklin where others had failed. A Groove that created The Allman Brothers where others had given up. A Groove that "rebooted" the careers of The Rolling Stones and other established "superstars".
It's a remarkable story and an excellent documentary. Don't miss it.