The Wild Bunch (1969) Re-watch
Whenever this comes on cable, I have to stop everything and watch it. This is my second favorite Sam Peckinpah movie, next to
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. But this is his action-packed epic, never boring for an instant, and filled with great characters. Pike Bishop (William Holden) is the leader of a gang of outlaws who are trying to make one last score by robbing a town's bank. With him are Dutch Engstrom (Ernest Borgnine), Lyle Gorch (Warren Oates) and his brother Tector Gorch (Ben Johnson), and their friend Angel (Jaime Sánchez), Aiding them, but not for long is Clarence 'Crazy' Lee (Bo Hopkins), who is left to stay and "guard" some hostages. The movie starts and ends with big shootouts, with innocent and guilty alike getting mowed down. Doing their share of the "mowing" are Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan, playing a former riding buddy of Holden's), Coffer and T.C. (Strother Martin and L.Q. Jones, playing their usual prairie trash). Along for the ride on the good guys' side is Freddie Sykes (Edmond O'Brien).
When they find they've been double-crossed by the bank, the "bunch" finds another "one last score" to pull, this time by robbing an army train of weapons and selling them to a Mexican general for gold. Not everything goes according to plan and the ending in particular is blood-soaked and action-filled. This film was decried as ultra-violent upon its release and panned by lots of critics, but compared to some of today's films, it's not as bad in the violence department. It is a classic in any case.
Cowboy (1958)
A Chicago hotel desk clerk Frank Harris (Jack Lemmon) dreams of being a cowboy on a cattle drive when a group of real cowboys settle in the hotel for a week. The boss is Tom Reese (Glenn Ford), and he enjoys sitting in his tub, drinking and shooting roaches off the wall. This only makes Harris even more determined to join the trail drivers. He strikes up a money deal with a cashless Reese to be a partner in the next drive. Though Harris was a starry-eyed dreamer of what cowboy life was like, he finds out fast that not everything is sunshine and roses. When a man is accidentally killed while out on the trail, he becomes angry when he sees the callous indifference of the men, especially Reese. Several instances further disillusion Harris, till he becomes almost as callous and hardened as Reese.
Good, solid Western that is more about the characters, although the action is fine. Lots of character actors along for the ride, including Dick York, Richard Jaeckel, Brian Donlevy , and in a small role, Strother Martin. Excellent acting and worth watching.
Grilled (2006)
Two meat salesman (Ray Romano and Kevin James) are in trouble with their boss for not being able to make many sales. So they take the addresses given to them by their boss and head out door-to-door, trying to make a killing. Things get out of hand when they go to the house of a woman (Sofia Vergara) who is busy on the phone with a seemingly suicidal friend, and who makes the moves on Romano. Getting off the phone, James excitedly reports that Vergara's friend is on the verge of suicide. So, they all jump in the car and go to her house to stop her. With the friend (Juliet Lewis) all is not as seems. Enter her mobster boyfriend (Kim Coates), who takes to James and his sales pitch. Incident after incident occurs, leading the boys to face danger and even worse, put their sales at jeopardy. That is what is truly funny about the movie---no matter what trouble they're in, they've still got their eyes on making sales.
I'm not much of a fan of Vergara, but in this movie she looks better than ever, mainly because of toned-down makeup and hair that sets lower on her head than the gigantic dos she's been wearing for years. And her acting is not too bad. Not a fan of James either but he does a great, low-key job in this. Lewis is fine and plays something she does best, a ditsy airhead. Coates is sufficiently menacing. Also adding to the fun are Burt Reynolds, Barry Newman, Michael Rapaport, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Jon Polito, and especially Ray Romano. This is the second movie I've seen him in and I'm impressed with his acting outside of sitcoms.
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"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."