Vivien Leigh & Gone With The Wind
Tough week as the old computer crashed and burned. Be back on track soon, but here’s a little something to chew on in the meantime.
On May 3, 1937, the novel Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. I really don’t care about the award, but why not exploit a chance to show Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara in the role for which she won an Oscar as best actress. Again, these awards couldn’t be more meaningless, but it gives the kids something to shoot for.
Anyway, here’s Ms. Leigh doing her best imitation of a modern politician with their head in the sand about the reality of our world.
Charlie Chaplin Day
He was born on April 16, 1889 and lived until Christmas Day 1977. He saw the world change from grimy cities of the horse and buggy days to men walking on the moon. His brilliant satire reflected the challenges in society all along the way. Groucho Marx called him the funniest entertainer he had ever seen.
Youtuber Lone6gn has put together the best Chaplin montage I’ve ever seen. There isn’t a comedian you enjoy today who hasn’t been influenced by the original master, Charlie Chaplin.
The Assassination of Jesse James
April 3rd is the day they finally got Jesse James. Actually, it was only one man, Robert Ford with the help of his brother Charlie. A couple of years ago Hollywood took yet another crack at the life of this infamous criminal. We just can’t get enough of these 19th century outlaws.
Here’s the opening scene to that film. Somehow the movie maintains a slow pace yet keeps tension throughout.
Fall Of The Crow
Brandon Lee was accidentally killed in North Carolina while filming The Crow on this date in 1993. He was only 28 years old and by all accounts would have been on his way to a whole lot of fame and stardom. Many strange occurences conspired to end his life. You might say it was just his time. To make the story even stranger, his father Bruce Lee had also died under bizarre conditions.
The point is that you never know. Be thankful for each day you have. This could be the last thing you ever read. Are you ready?
“What’s My Destiny Momma?”
Do you believe in destiny? In 1994, Forrest Gump asked his dying mother a powerful question: ”What’s my destiny Momma?” Did she have the answer? Do you? Is her response any good? If you believe the movie, perhaps not.
It’s been 15 years since that film came out (and in the process made nearly $700 million). Paramount’s been kicking around the idea of a sequel for years. Producers would now like to get the movie out sometime in the next couple of years, but it takes an awful lot to get such projects going and completed even though a script’s been in place for years. Some complications have held the thing up. Most of all, will Tom Hanks reclaim the role he mastered? If he doesn’t, would you be interested? Me neither probably.
You may not recognize the name of the movie’s screenwriter Eric Roth, but you’ve probably heard of a couple of his films like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Good Shepherd, Munich, Ali, and more. Yeah, he’s pretty good and has probably made more money than Gump & Co., the title of the planned sequel to his 1994 masterpiece.
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It’s almost as if Winston Groom, author of the original 1986 novel, listened to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man and then created Forrest. So much of the simple
ton’s story can be summed up in the first verse of that song.
“Take your time… dont live too fast,
Troubles will come and they will pass.
Go find a woman and you’ll find love,
And dont forget son,
There is someone up above.”
Someone said Forrest believes in God, Momma, and Jenny, and “everything else has to be filtered through those three things.”
He encounters one character after another with bigtime dreams. Jenny seeks fame; Bubba wants to run a shrimpin’ business; Lt. Dan longs to fulfill his military destiny. None of them achieve the success they long for, yet Forrest attains all those things and more without ever 
realizing what he has. He just want to make his mama proud and be loved by Jenny.
People think he’s a genius, a brave hero, an inspiration, and more. Forrest accomplished all this stuff without trying, but as far as he was concerned, he didn’t achieve much. Those things didn’t matter to him, and after Jenny left he felt so alone and empty that he literally ran for years. He thought a lot about the people who’d impacted his life, but mostly he thought about Jenny. Like many of us, he was obsessed with that one thing he couldn’t have, life’s biggest regret.
He just knew that “Momma always said you gotta put the past behind you before you can move on.” That’s what his run was all about. Everyone wants to know the reason he runs or does anything. The answer is often the simplest possible explanation.
We want to believe that we too can maintain our innocence despite all the terrible realities around us. We’re drawn to themes of heartfelt innocence and simplicity because the more we understand, the harder life is to digest. Read more »
Marvel Vs. Disney
Disney got bored last weekend and had $4 billion dollars sitting around, so the mammoth company bought Marvel. The move is sure to shake up the international entertainment industry for years to come. DC Comics maintains a healthy level of irrelevance and simply pointed to a Dark Knight movie poster when asked
for comment.
Disney artists and developers suddenly find themselves with 5,000 new characters to play with. Get your creativity hats on because the crossover possibilities are swirling. Marvel holds onto a healthy level of autonomy, but their shareholders will be cashing in. The price tag isn’t as hefty as some might expect. This year’s Ice Age film made $600 million outside of the U.S. alone. Nevertheless, I don’t care about business ramifications.
This story’s mostly interesting for all the fun mashups floating around the internet. Since it’s a holiday weekend I’m gonna go ahead and let random strangers be witty for me.
Super Punch has a ton of these artistic interpretations over at his blog. You’ll also get a kick out of The Little Amazing Spiderman by Jeremy Bernstein.
Maybe we’ve just been jaded for too long. After Joe Pesci made the jump from Goodfellas to Home Alone, everything else was just child’s play.
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The Terminator’s Garage Sale
If you’re unfamiliar with how Arnold Schwarzenegger, A.K.A. The Terminator, became the Governator you have to go back to 2003. During that tumult
uous year in the state’s history, then Governor Gray Davis faced growing opposition in the early months of his second term. The voters decided they’d had enough of Davis. He was totally recalled and the star of Twins not named Danny DeVito mo
ved in.
Maybe Gray Davis should have had a garage sale. That’s one way the current administration is addressing the economic needs of The Golden State.
Lots of folks head to the attic or garage for stuff to sell when they need to scrape up some cash. Schwarzenegger decided to get behind the sale of loads of confiscated items collecting dust in a Sacramento warehouse. As the two day sale began yesterday, bargain-hunters snatched up watches, clothes, cars, collectibles, computers and more. Granted many of these items once belonged to criminals but on the flip side bad guys often have good taste.
Schwarzenegger is getting behind this sale in a way Gray Davis, or most governors, never could. “Ahnuld” even autographed 15 car visors and 4 patrol motorcycles to up the value at auction. The goal is ambitious. With hundreds of state-owned vehicles, thousands of furniture items, electronics, and more event planners hope to raise hundreds of thousands. Not bad pocket change for a little spring cleaning.
“Welcome to our garage sale,” the Kindergarten Cop told reporters as he stroked his pet ferret and denied suggestions that perhaps his headache was a tumor. Maybe for the next sale he can dress up as Conan the Barbarian and slash, slash, slash those prices! Read more »
Dom DeLuise Dead…Darn
Comedian Dom DeLuise died last night at the age of 75. Click the link for a full obit. A whole new generation will learn about this actor’s brilliance over the next few days. Gene Wilder once said that DeLuise is the funniest man he ever met. Here’s a sampling, the last brilliant scene as far as I’m concerned.
Great Scott! It’s George McFly’s Birthday
Today is Crispin Glover’s birthday. Glover gave life to one of the greatest underdogs in Hollywood lore. George Douglas McFly is the loveable loser from Back To The Future, one of the greatest trilogies ever created.
Some people mistakenly believe that Glover played the diminishing role of Marty’s father in the Back To The Future sequels, but the role was recast and played by Jeffrey Weissman. With the help of some special effects and brilliant mimicry, the actor switch is usually undetectable even by watchful fans.
Glover ended up suing over the use of his character, and the Screen Actor’s Guild tweaked the rules for future cases. Nevertheless, Glover made the role what it is, a man who overcomes relatable fears by standing up to the prototypical bully, Biff Tannen. Here is a sampling.
Here’s another one that’s great fun. Someone combined BTTF with Barrack Obama. Very creative. Read more »
Braveheart, Weird Science, and Kevin Bacon
By now you all know that Braveheart is the greatest movie of all time. You’re welcome to disagree, but that makes you a horrible person.
Turns out, through much genealogical digging by my fellow-dorkish family, that yours truly is personally related to the real Robert the Bruce, the 14th Century Scottish noble who was really stupid to William Wallace and the commoners before wising up and deciding to lead the freedom-seeking revolutionaries of Scotland.
In Braveheart, Robert the Bruce is played by Angus MacFad
yen. The versatile actor has kept busy since that blockbuster work in 1995. He’s done a bunch of stuff from portraying Peter Lawford of the Rat Pack to many recent appearances in the dark and popular Saw movies.
Since The Bruce and I are practically cousins, I’ve given some more thought to my conflicted, old ancestor and the man who once portrayed him. That’s when I started thinking about another movie, Weird Science. Read more »
Chuck, Fletch, and Quantum Leap?
As the great Dr. Sam Beckett would say: “Oh boy.”
If you aren’t familiar with Sam Beckett, you have never watched a popular show from the 90s cal
led Quantum Leap. Why bring it up now? Because Leap star Scott Bakula is appearing tonight on that sweetest of current TV shows–Chuck.
But that’s not all.
Also joining the show’s cast tonight is comedic legend Chevy Chase, star of #8 on the movie list, the greatest comedy ever made.
This episode sounds like a radio station with the best of the 80s, 90s, and today. Chase will play some maniacal bad guy and Bakula shows up as Chuck’s long lost father.
The combo is strange since I just learned that author Gregory MacDonald, creator of Fletch, wrote 9 books in the brilliant character’s series. How did I miss this for the past thirty years? Can’t wait to read the next seven, but there’s more to this story. Read more »
Heath Ledger Birthday
Today would have been Heath Ledger’s birthday. I know his performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight would have launc
hed him to the top of the heap if he didn’t accidentally kill himself first, but the greatest movie he ever appeared in was The Patriot (#15). Follow the link to the movie page and a great scene from the film.
Are You Living In A Lie?
The world you think you live in does not exist. That’s lesson one for any student of life. While putting together the new movie page, I’ve realized that some of the most captivating stories are about characters who realize that the world in which they live is not real.
The Matrix (#9), The Truman Show (#44), and Stranger Than Fiction (#49) all tell stories about people who are jolted from their everyday reality. Each of these characters comes from a different perspective. Everyone relates to at least one of these protagonists. Which one are you?
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In The Matrix, Neo is unsettled, always sure that something is missing from life. His world is hollow; he feels empty, unsure of what needs to happen or who will ever understand.
Truman Burbank
spends his life oblivious to the false reality encapsulating every second of his existence. He is a commodity, a human for sale. Every second of his life generates ratings and income for someone else. His hopes and dreams and passions mean nothing in the real world.
Then there’s dull Harold Crick who controls every instant of his life down to the number of toothbrush strokes a
t the same time each morning. The ultimate image of control, Harold is knocked out of rhythm by the sudden enlightenment that he is about to die, and there’s nothing he can do about it.
The passions, joys, and trials of these characters pique our interest, but their search for answers and meaning captivates us. We want the same answers they seek. We want to know if our lives matter, if there’s more to existence than what we see. We want to know if there’s a higher power.
We have omniscience over Truman and Harold. We know what they do not, who is in control. For Neo, however, we must follow him down the rabbit hole in the ultimate search. Despite entirely different worlds, these three men suffer through a fundamental theme. Awakening is painful.
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Americans are haunted. We live with one eye peeking back, never sure if we’ve escaped the ghosts of our past. Read more »
Bill O’Reilly Not Drinking The (Harvey) Milk
Bil O’Reilly and Whoopi Goldberg traded visits on their shows, The Factor and The View. Here’s a brief exchange between the two over Sean Penn’s playhouse friends as Joy Behar plots the murder of the No Spin guest.
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Welcome To Here
In The Matrix, Morpheus tells Neo he can take the blue pill and go on believing whatever he wants to believe. Or he can take the red pill to stay in Wonderland and find out how deep the rabbit hole goes.
This is a red pill type site with a weekly column (and some extras in between) that provides information in an entertaining way. It’s about clear thinking and good writing. It’s about truth.
I’m a writer/speaker who teaches history and political science at a local college by day. Where is local, you say? Well, that would be Wonderland of course.
From pop culture to pop politics, this is my column.
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