RIP David Soul, Glynis Johns

I'm saddened by the news today that David Soul has passed on.  We all have favorite actors, of course, but we also have some actors who mean a bit more to us.  David Soul was one of those.  I'll be watching some Starsky & Hutch tonight.

And I just heard Glynis Johns too???  Adding The Court Jester to my list of watching for the day.  It's my favorite movie of hers.  How I wanted to be her in that role when I was young!

 RIP to both.  You made my life richer for your movies, shows, and singing.

Renata Scotto - 1934-2023

I have just heard that one of my favorite sopranos, the great Renata Scotto, has passed away.  She was a staple of my growing up, and there are some operas (Suor Angelica, Otello, Manon Lescaut, among others) that I just can't imagine without her voice.

Thank you for a legacy of fantastic opera performances and recordings.  R.I.P.

Sean Connery (1930-2020)

I am deeply saddened by the news this morning that Sir Sean Connery has passed away.  He has given the pubic so many great roles and movies over his career.  The Untouchables, The Wind and the Lion, The Hunt for Red October, Outland, Darby O'Gill and the Little People, and, of course, his James Bond films are all much loved movies I will never tire of watching.  My thoughts go out to his family and friends.  RIP, and thank you for leaving such a legacy behind.

Kate Wilhelm

I just heard from a writer friend that author Kate Wilhelm passed away on March 8th.  To lose Ursula K. Le Guin and Kate Wilhelm...

Kate Wilhelm was the bigger influence on me.  Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang should be required reading for everyone.  That book is so good.  I preferred her science fiction stories to her mysteries, though I love Death Qualified, which is sort of both.  My all-time favorite stories of hers are two novellas:  The Plastic Abyss and Naming the Flowers.  I re-read those two quite frequently and will probably re-read Naming the Flowers today.  I have several collections of her short stories, and find those inspiring to read as well.  There is a short story of hers called "The Funeral" that I loved long before I ever knew who she was.  It wasn't until years later that I realized she was the author, then I just nodded to myself and said "of course!"

Two big losses to the writing world this year. 

RIP.

Ursula K. le Guin

Very sad news.  I just read that Ursula K. le Guin has passed away.  I have a shelf of her books I wouldn't trade for anything.  I have a few authors I revisit frequently, and she's one of them.  She is one of the best writers ever, in any genre.  I have always been in awe of what she could do with the written word.  Her collection of novellas, Four Ways to Forgiveness, and The Earthsea Trilogy are among my favorite books.  RIP.

RIP Dmitri Hvorostovsky (1962-2017)

It was great sadness I heard of Dmitri Hvorostovsky's passing.  It is not entirely unexpected, as he has been battling brain cancer, but it is devastating news.  We were still hoping he'd find a way to beat it.  He was a delightful baritone to watch in the Met broadcasts.  The last performance I saw him in was in Il Trovatore, and he was great in that.  My condolences to his family, colleagues, and opera fans around the world who will sorely miss him.

RIP Roger Moore

So sad to hear about the passing of Roger Moore.  He isn't my favorite James Bond, but he was still MY Bond.  The first Bond movie I saw in the movie theater was The Spy Who Loved Me, and I saw every one after that.  James Bond movies are a huge part of my life, and Roger Moore is integral to that.  Of course, he also did so many other things beyond Bond.  My favorite role of his is Ffolkes, in the 1980 movie ffolkes.  Very entertaining film, and Moore was fabulous as the cat-loving, knitting, cranky counter-terrorism expert in it.  That movie had a great cast, but Moore is the one that made it great.  I've always wanted three cats named Esther, Ruth, and Jennifer, just because of this movie.  I also have always loved him in The Wild Geese (1978). 

One of my favorite exchanges from The Wild Geese:
 

(Roger Moore) - Allen!  What, not even a hearty handshake, a Shawn my boy how are you, nothing?

(Richard Burton) - Clown

(Roger Moore) - Oh, "clown."  At least it's a start.  Now, would you mind telling me what you're doing here, thank god.

(Richard Burton) - If we live, I'll tell you about it.  Idiot.

(Roger Moore) - Clown and idiot.  You always were a flatterer.

Bill Paxton (1955-2017)

Damn it all, my sister let me know that the news broke that Bill Paxton has died.  He was only 61.  I have no words, only tears right now.  Bill Paxton is in the top five on my list of favorite actors who are not only extremely important to me, but whose characters and movies matter at a deeply emotionally level as well.

Aliens, Titanic, Agents of SHIELD, U-571, Vertical Limit, Twister, Navy Seals, Terminator... I own all those on DVD.  I may be one of the only people who watches Titantic for Bill Paxton's bookends more than for the rest of the movie.  And he's the only reason to sit through "we got cows" Twister.

I've adored him since the first time I saw Aliens and Hudson opened his smart-ass mouth.  He's an actor I would watch in anything, just because it's Bill Paxton, and he has never disappointed me.

I'm so sad and crushed by this news.  My deepest condolences to his family, friends, and co-workers, and to the fans like me whose world was always brightened by his movies.

And now Debbie Reynolds

My heart grieves so much for their family.  Crying all over again.  She was also an important figure in my early life, in a different way from her daughter but right now, I just don't even know what to say or how to express that.  Rest in peace, Debbie Reynolds.

R.I.P. Carrie Fisher

Crying as I write this.  I knew it was coming after the news of her heart attack before Christmas, but knowing that, anticipating that finality, somehow didn't lessen the blow of truly losing her.  I've talked before about how important and life-impacting Star Wars was to me (and my family) in 1977, and how the universe and films continued to shape and fill my life after that.  Princess Leia has been a huge part of that.  If anything, I loved her more in Force Awakens than I had in the original trilogy.  I'd follow Princess Leia into any battle for the Rebellion, anywhere, anytime.  As Max Von Sydow's character said in Force Awakens, "To me, she's royalty."

This is a very sad day.

Rest in Peace.

Good-bye Alan Rickman

Thanks for all the memorable roles, Mr. Rickman, from Die Hard to Harry Potter, to Sense & Sensibility to Sweeney Todd, to Quigley Down Under and the spectactular Galaxy Quest. You will be greatly missed.  Rest in peace.

Coping

There are losses that leave you sad, and then there are losses that tear holes in the fabric of your daily life.  Losses where nothing will be the same after that loss occurs.  The older I get, the more holes I accumulate (No duh. Age, you know.).  Nothing ever fills them, you just skirt around them thereafter, and the edges remain sharp and painful.  The ache in your chest that's so hard to breathe around eases with time, but the holes stay.

I turned to a comfort movie... Aliens.  Comfort??  Yes, very much so.  Aliens is one of my top favorite movies, and it's one I'd probably take to a desert island because I never tire of it, and because it's that good.  It is also a comfort movie in that I shared this movie in the past with very good friends who loved it as much as I did, who could quote it as freely.  And who also loved the score as much as I did.  I miss those times.  There's another painful hole there, that I skirt the edges of.

I didn't see Aliens when it came out originally in the theater, I saw it about a year later on video, when a friend of the family couldn't believe we hadn't seen Alien and Aliens and lent them to us to watch.  I loved them both.  Alien is creepier and more suspenseful; Aliens is neither, though I suppose that might depend on what you find creepy and suspenseful.  Let's just say, for me, watching Alien alone at night can make me jumpy, but I have no problem watching Aliens by myself in the dark.  It is just exciting, action-filled, satisfying entertainment that hits so many items on my Sweet Spot map.  It remains my favorite James Cameron movie.

Why? Because I love the characters.  Man, do I love the characters.  Every single one of them.  Ripley, of course, is amazing, but those Colonial Marines are also awesome and fun.  I've watched quite a few large cast movies, particularly newer films, and come away not knowing the names of any of the characters.  Cameron doesn't let that happen.  Even the first time I saw the movie... Hicks, Hudson, Vasquez, Drake, Apone, Ferro, Spunkmeyer, Bishop, Dietrich, etc.... I could name them all.  That doesn't seem to happen that often anymore.  And this movie spends time with them, lets you get to know them.  Let's you invest and become friends with them.  Sure we get to know some better than others, but almost all of them have distinct personalities.  It's so rare to have a movie with so many characters that manage to all feel real, not just cardboard cannon fodder.  Even the ones without much screen time still feel like they have a life when the camera cuts away.  I love that.  I can't tell you how much I love that.

And then there's Newt.  Newt's far and away my favorite movie kid ever.  Newt's smart, brave, wary, and intelligent.  "Why don't you put her in charge?" Hudson says, and he's not half wrong.  It's Newt who knows how to get out of the complex through the air ducts.  But she is still very much a young girl. As resourceful as she is, the movie never loses sight that she's still just a child.  I love that about the movie too.  She's not some miniature adult.  She's just a girl who figured out how to hide and survive.

And I love the plot.  The plot pleases me greatly, as things go from bad to worse to terrible, and the characters constantly work to think up solutions and a way out.  They never give up, and they never lose hope that they will make it out somehow.  People do a lot of thinking and planning in this movie trying to stay alive, and it just all works so perfectly.  It's the kind of plot I'd write... Of course I love it.

And I even love the aliens. They're fascinating.  (Or as Bishop says about one, "Magnificent, isn't it?")  They're intelligent.  They're deadly.  "They cut the power."  "What do you  mean 'they cut the power'? How could they cut the power, man?  They're animals!"  The facehuggers are far, far creepier than the adults.   I'd far rather face a room full of adults then just a single facehugger. They're nightmare-worthy.

Aliens was the first James Horner score I personally owned.  Star Trek II and III, Cocoon... my parents owned those on record, and I made tapes of them, but Aliens, I bought on LP myself.  Which I promptly recorded onto tape so I could listen to it in my walkman (watching out for Sublevel 3's stab, so I didn't jump). Then I got it on CD.  Then the deluxe edition...  One can't own too many versions.  It still gets plenty of play time, all these years later.  (And I still remember seeing Die Hard in the theater when it premiered, and going "What the????" at the end, when the start of the "Resolution and Hyperspace" cue kicked in.... which music isn't actually used in Aliens, oddly enough, but I knew it all too well from the album.)

Favorite scene:  the robot sentries! The sheer speed at which those guns go empty.  Not even 35 seconds for A and B guns to expend 500 rounds each.  (Yes, I timed it once.)  "They're wall-to-wall in there!"  And then, the sound of the aliens attacking the pressure door.  Makes me grin just thinking about it.  Also, Ripley's rescue of Newt, for so many reasons, not the least of which is because that whole end and the station's countdown is filmed in real-time.

Favorite character:  Ripley.  I want to be just like her when I grow up. 

Favorite marine:  Well, Hicks, Hudson, and Vasquez all tie.  Kind of hard to choose which flavor of awesome I like better.  I love that Vasquez gets to take point.  I love that Hicks looks out for Ripley.  I love Hudson always mouthing off.  (Although Ferro was always the marine I related to the most. I love her.)

Favorite cue: "Ripley's Rescue"

Favorite quote:  Oh man, don't get me started.  The whole movie is quotable.   Anytime Hudson opens his mouth is quotable.  "Yeah, man, but it's a dry heat" is my all-time favorite, just because it gets said or thought constantly.  And "Game over, man, game over!"  But I'm extremely fond of Ripley's, "Did IQs just drop sharply while I was away?"

Devastated

I decided to check the news before I went to bed, and I found out James Horner died today in a plane crash. You know how there's some things you just can't process? This was one of them. I can't say it's fully sunk in yet, but I've been crying now for a half hour, so, I guess this is real. He is gone too soon, too young. Damn it, this hurts.

After Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner is the next most influential film score composer on my life. His music has been part of my life since Star Trek II came out in the theater, and it has never gone away. There isn't a week that goes by where I don't listen to something of his. These past couple weeks, it's been his wonderful score to The Wolf Totem, a score I haven't been able to get enough of.

My heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, and all my fellow fans and listeners. Farewell and RIP, James Horner. Your music meant more to me than you can know.

I can't listen to a film score yet, this is too raw of a hurt, but this piece feels right.



I can't fathom this. It's too heartbreaking. And I can't stop crying.

Sir Christopher Lee

Very sad news today.  Thanks for so many fabulous roles over the years. From the famous ones -- James Bond, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Dracula -- to the lesser known movies... I haven't seen a film his presence didn't improve.  Rest in peace.

January goodbyes

Yesterday, I found about the passing of two actors who played formative characters from my youth.

Terry Becker, who played Chief Sharkey on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.  And Rod Taylor.

Voyage was my favorite show growing up, and Sharkey was a big part of that.  He also got most of the quotable dialogue.  "Don't just stand there with your teeth in your mouth, jump!"  "You missed a spot over there."  The show would not have been the same without him.  RIP, Terry Becker.

 (his lucky shirt!)

The Time Machine has been part of my life as long as I can remember.  It was one of my parents' three favorite movies, and we watched it whenever we could.  I've seen it in the theater more than I've seen quite a few newer movies, because, fortunately, revival theaters used to play it a lot.  Usually as a double feature with Forbidden Planet, or This Island Earth, or various other movies.  Rod Taylor played George, the time traveler, and he was one of my first movie heroes and role models.  I wanted to be like George.  Build my own time machine, go off adventuring into the future, fight Morlocks, protect the Eloi.  Choose three books.

I loved Rod Taylor in other movies as well, like The Liquidator, 36 Hours, The Glass Bottom Boat, The Birds.  Even the short-lived television series Masquerade, which my family watched just for him.  But The Time Machine was the first and most loved.  RIP Mr. Taylor.

One Little Indian (1973)

This is not a review.  I actually haven't even seen this movie yet.  But I own the score, of course, as it's composed by Jerry Goldsmith, and it has always gotten a lot of play time in my house.  I've been listening to it a lot the last couple of days, since hearing James Garner passed away.  I'm surprised how melancholy his death has made me, considering how little of his work I've seen.  But after my recent viewing of Hour of the Gun and how much I loved him in it, I was starting to look for more of his work, and his death felt all the more sad.

I've never watched Maverick or Rockford Files, or any of the standard James Garner fare, it seems.  But even so, he still made an strong impression on me in just the few things I have watched.

But the first thing I always think of, when I think of James Garner is not The Great Escape, or even his wonderful portrayal of Wyatt Earp.  It's the score to One Little Indian.  This music always gives me an image of him.  RIP, Mr. Garner.

Ernest Borgnine

It was with great sadness that I pulled up my blog reading list this morning and saw in the first subject line, Ernest Borgnine (January 24, 1917 - July 8, 2012). Took a half second for that to sink in. Then I burst into tears.  I haven't really stopped crying.

Sometimes it's not the actors we name our favorites who affect us the most.  Sometimes it's the other guys, the ones who star with our favorite actors, the ones without whom, the entire movie would fall apart.  They're so good, you almost take them for granted.  They make any movie they're in better.  Ernest Borgnine is one of those guys.  I've been watching him as long as William Holden, longer perhaps.  And it's not William Holden who has three movies in my top ten films of all time list -- two in my top five.  It's Ernest Borgnine.  Add in his appearances in so many of my other beloved movies, and I'm pretty sure his name would come out on top if you added up how many appearances he makes in movies I love.

I had the privilege of meeting him last year, and I'm sure that memory only adds to be heartbreak now.  He was so full of life, so full of laughter.

RIP, Mr. Borgnine, and thank you for so many years of amazing, wonderful, awesome performances.  You will be sorely missed.

Del Monroe (1936-2009)

I am deeply saddened by the loss of one of my childhood icons. Del Monroe, who played Seaman Kowalski on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea passed away on Friday. Voyage was the show I spent more hours watching in my youth than any other. It (and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) started my enduring love of submarines and sent me applying to Annapolis -- except they wouldn't let women on submarines back then (they still might not) which derailed my intended career as a submarine captain (much to my dad's relief).

While I loved every character on the show, Captain Crane and Kowalski were my two original favorites, and I can't honestly say which one I liked better. One was an officer, the other a crewman, and they got to do different things on the show. Kowalski got in on plenty of adventures and action, from piloting the flying sub, to being taken over by aliens, to being nearly blinded, to simply manning his station. Kowalski was always cheerful, always enthusiastic, and always looked like he was having a blast, no matter whether he was facing spies or mad scientists or crazy alien monsters. Watching the show, he made me feel that excitement too. It was part of the joy of watching the show. Sure, there were some bad cheesy eps, but they were almost always still fun. And the good episodes just stood out even more. Or the episodes that were so outrageous they're good (I'm thinking "Deadly Dolls" here... Vincent Price, the opening puppet show, and the Nelson puppet's absolutely hilarious dialog and one-liners put this ep easily on my top ten list... yeah, I'm serious. I think my family quotes that doll's lines more often than any other character's dialog from the show, period! Back before VCRs, we used to sit beside the tv with a tape recorder and my mom would hold it up beside the tv's speaker and record our favorite parts so we could replay them when we wanted. We also recorded our entire favorite eps that way. Ahhh, the good ol' days.)

I even had a red jumpsuit and white sailor's hat I used to wear. Wore it quite a bit too. Yes, I am a dork.

Del Monroe guested on various tv shows and movies throughout his career, and I was always excited to see him whenever he appeared, but his work on Voyage is what I will always remember him for. Even though I've never met him, the world is an emptier place knowing he isn't around any longer.