Pophistory: music, movies, history, and life.
Voice artist Brian Hull has put together a video of him doing quick impressions of one hundred cartoon and film characters all in one take. And he does it in less than four minutes.
Hull put together the video to celebrate reaching 100,000 subscribers on YouTube. The impressions include characters from Disney, Lord of the Rings, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Jetsons, and Dirty Harry. Check it out.
Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
Burt Lancaster stars in “Lawman,” an underrated Western that veers into unexpected territory.
Lawman is an excellent underrated 1971 Western that should stand next to the better-known classics in the Western canon. The film, directed by Michael Winner, features the brutality and moral ambiguity of other more highly regarded films like The Wild Bunch (1969), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), and Unforgiven (1992). Lawman also features excellent acting from Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Lee J. Cobb, Robert Duvall, Sheree North, and many other familiar supporting actors.
Lancaster plays Jared Maddox, the lawman of the title, who comes to town seeking the cowboys who got drunk and shot up his town and accidentally killed a man, as shown in the movie’s opening scene. Lee J. Cobb is the cattle baron Vincent Bronson who employs the cowboys. And Robert Ryan plays the local marshal who basically works for Cobb.
With that setup, early on a viewer might expect a good-guy-versus-evil-cattle-baron Western.
But that is not what happens.
While some of Bronson’s men are hotheads, Bronson is a practical man who initially tries to reason with Maddox. As the movie progresses, one begins to see that Maddox is relentless in his pursuit to follow the rule of law. Thus, he begins to seem like a Western version of Inspector Javert from Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables.
Even though Maddox realizes that the wanted men will most likely face a fine if brought to justice, various encounters lead to more and more bloodshed. Ryan’s marshall and Maddox’s former lover (Sheree North) question what is happening in the town. As the film moves to a chilling climax, the viewer begins to question what is right and what is wrong. But I will not reveal any more about the plot.
The wonderful screenplay is by Gerald Wilson, and Winner does an excellent job with the direction. Winner, who would revisit themes around violence three years later in Death Wish (1974), here highlights both the beauty and loneliness of the desert landscape (filmed in Durango, Mexico), doing the same with Lancaster’s face. His Western attempts to give a realistic portrayal of violence and the difficulty of living in the West.
Conclusion? If you are looking for a Western that features twists on classic stereotypes and you like movies that challenge conventions, you will probably enjoy Lawman. While Lawman may not be on the same level as some other classic challenging Westerns — such as McCabe & Mrs. Miller from the same year, it is still worth seeking out if you are in the mood for an unusual Western.
Other Reviews Because Why Should You Trust Me? The somewhat unusual Lawman garnered mixed reviews at the time of its release, although I wonder if it is a movie better appreciated as time has passed. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an 80% critics rating and a 61% audience rating. The lower audience rating might be because some viewers were disappointed that the movie did not follow the usual Western conventions and featured a somewhat unusual resolution. Roger Ebert gave the film only two stars, calling it “a Western with a lot of sides but no center.” The New York Times found the movie “unresolved in substance” but “long on sting.” One of the few reviews of the film on the Internet is one by Dennis Schwartz, who gives the movie a B- and calls it a “wannabe thoughtful Western.” Schwartz also calls Lawman and “unofficial remake” of 1955’s A Man With a Gun, and I see some similarities in plot to that also underrated Western, which stars Robert Mitchum. Meanwhile, Jeremy Poulos on Letterboxd found the film enjoyable and noted similarities to spaghetti Westerns.
{Missed Movies is our continuing series on good films you might have missed because they did not receive the recognition they deserved when released.}
Thanks to Tony Fontane for telling me about Lawman on Twitter. Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
Slate movie critic Kevin B. Lee recently conducted an informal poll of the best movies of the decade so far. More than 260 people responded with their top ten best films, and Lee compiled the results that was made into a video of the top 25 films from the time period. While the poll is not scientific, it gives a good idea of many of the recent films most likely to be remembered after the decade’s end.
So, below is a video of the top 25 films from 2010-2014. Check it out. [Update: Unfortunately the video is no longer available.]
The Best Films of Decade So Far (2010-2014) from Fandor Keyframe on Vimeo.
There are some surprises. It was good to see Margaret (2011), a lesser known excellent movie, up at number 5. But there is plenty to argue about. For example, although I enjoyed The Master (2012), I would not put it anywhere near number 3. I understand why Tree of Life (2011) is number 1, but it was not the movie I enjoyed the most during this time period. If you prefer to read the list instead of watching the video, head over to Fandor.
While some may argue that the decade should start with 2011, it makes a better list that it covers five years.
What is your favorite movie the decade so far? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
On January 9 in 1768, the first modern circus was staged in London. Philip Astley, a former cavalry sergeant major, made a ring and invited the public to watch him do tricks on horseback as he rode around the ring.
Because the public enjoyed the act, Astley then added other riders, a clown, and musicians, eventually putting a roof over his ring in 1770. In 1782, Astley’s Amphitheatre faced competition from a similar act down the road, with the competitor using the name “Royal Circus.” The competitor took the word “circus” from the Roman name for where chariot races were held.
Eventually, the word “circus” would become the generic name for such events. And Astley himself eventually established eighteen more such venues across Europe.
Circuses spread around the world. John Bill Ricketts created the first U.S. circus in 1792 in Philadelphia. In the late 1800s, P.S. Barnum and James Anthony Bailey went into the circus business, as did five Ringling brothers.
Since the invention of the circus, fictional stories have used the circus setting to tell stories too. In 1952, director Cecil B. DeMille and Paramount Pictures released The Greatest Show on Earth, set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
The cast included Betty Hutton, Holly Cornel Wilde, Charlton Heston, James Stewart (as Buttons the Clown), Dorothy Lamour, and Gloria Grahame. Check out the trailer below, where it is funny to hear the narrator’s voice from The Ten Commandments (DeMille) narrating this trailer about a circus.
One of my favorite stories about a circus is found in Bruce Springsteen’s song, “Wild Billy’s Circus Story,” from The Wild, The Innocent & The E-Street Shuffle
Finally, “Wild Billy’s Circus Story” concludes with an enticing question that many children have dreamed of being asked. “And the circus boss leans over, whispers in the little boy’s ear, ‘Hey son, you wanna try the big top?'”
Apparently, I am not the only fan of the somewhat unusual and obscure song. In this video below from July 2013 in Kilkenny in Ireland, Springsteen explains how a fan has been following him around trying to get him to play “Wild Billy’s Circus Story.”
And then the Boss leans over and whisper’s in his ear that the wish will be granted. Or something like that.
What is your favorite circus story? Leave your two cents in the comments. Photo of Astley’s Amphitheatre via public domain.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
Terror in a Texas Town (1958) is an odd movie starting with the first scene of a Swede carrying a harpoon down the street of a Western town. The 80-minute movie was the final feature film directed by B-movie director Joseph H. Lewis, and while far from one of the great Western movies of all time, the movie features several unconventional elements that make it worthwhile viewing.
A rough outline of the movie makes it sound like a conventional Western, including similarities to Shane. There is the traditional plot of settlers trying to hold onto their land while a rich man tries to take it away. There is a bad-guy gunslinger. There is a stranger who comes to town who inspires the scared locals to stand up against the bad guys. There is a whore with a good heart. There is the final confrontation. But, if you look deeper, the movie is not your usual Western. Here are eight reasons to see the overlooked classic.
(1) The movie itself has an odd pedigree. Terror in a Texas Town was written by Dalton Trumbo, who was one of the Hollywood screenwriters blacklisted for refusing in 1947 to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Trumbo worked on a number of famous movies, including Spartacus and Papillon, and he wrote the excellent anti-war novel, Johnny Got His Gun. Trumbo was still blacklisted when he wrote Terror in a Texas Town, and the movie also stars two actors who also were called before the Committee: Nedrick Young (who refused to testify) and Sterling Hayden (who testified but regretted it).
(2) Nedrick Young, who wrote the screenplays for Jailhouse Rock and The Defiant Ones and was also blacklisted for a period, plays the evil gunslinger Johnny Crale.
(3) Sterling Hayden, an outstanding actor in several film noir movies as well as memorable roles in The Godfather (1972) and Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), speaks with a Swedish accent throughout Terror in a Texas Town.
(4) The movie features Sebastian Cabot, who played the cuddly Mr. French on the TV series Family Affair
(5) The evil gunfighter has a solid steel hand.
(6) The supporting characters may at first appear to be classic Western stereotypes, but as the movie progresses, you realize they have depth and do not follow conventions.
(7) The soundtrack to the movie for the most part sounds like you are in a beatnik nightclub, mostly with a trumpet and drum. Sometimes a little guitar is thrown in.
(8) The final showdown is between the evil gunfighter with his guns and the good guy . . . with a whale harpoon! WTF?
What do you think of Terror in a Texas Town? Leave a comment.
(Some Related Chimesfreedom Posts)
