I was having a discussion with author Chad J. Stone @AuthorCJStone about how I wanted to do a post on my favorite John Wayne movies growing up.  He said it’d be a good idea so I’m doing it.  I won’t split it up like I did Hitchcock…

…I shouldn’t make promises like that.

We’ll see how this goes…I’d like to start off with some impressionable JW films and then I’ll leave my favorite of all time for last.  “The Cowboys” is on this list somewhere in the middle and hopefully you have already checked that post out.  One of my favorite posts in retrospect, but it was a tough one to get through.

“The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance” had one of the best cast compilations of its time.  Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Vera Miles, and of course John Ford directed.  Valance, played by the haunting Lee Marvin, is a bully of a man that terrorizes everyone in the valley.  Jimmy Stewart as Ransom Stoddard is the local would be politician that would stand up to Valance, because he doesn’t know any better.  John Wayne as Tom Doniphon is the “man’s man” (of course) that is there to help Stoddard along the way as Doniphon is the only man that Valance would not dare cross.  Would you?  It is a well told story with old western politics as the back drop for a movie about bullying and standing up for what’s right.  Great performances all around.

“The Searchers” is a very interesting performance by Wayne.  He is such a hater as Ethan Edwards in this movie that it is hard to like him, even if you think his hate stems from the “just” side of things.  This movie is daunting, ensnaring, and suspenseful, right up to the climax.  I’d like not to give anything away, other than Edwards is a man searching–for what feels like a lifetime–for his niece that has been taken by a Comanche tribe.  A must see for film buffs.

“El Dorado” is just a fun movie.  Along Wayne it stars Robert Mitchum (one of his real life drinking buddies), and a very young James Caan.  There is a story about water and land rights that gets in the way of the chemistry of Wayne, Mitchum, and Caan.  The scenes they share together are electric and I wish they had more.  It’s an entertaining Western with high comedy, action, gun fights and horse chases.

“Rio Bravo” is another entertaining Wayne film, but it is not just about the humor.  Though there is plenty humor, there is tension, drama, suspense, action, and of course, gun fights.  Get a load of this cast: Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson, and Walter Brennan to name a few that you will remember.  Quentin Tarantino has been quoted mentioning this as one of his top five favorite films of all time, along with “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” I would say it is a favorite Wayne film, but it is also one of the greatest Westerns ever made. Check it out.

“McLintock!” fits the mold of a romantic comedy that happens to be set in the old west.  That is one of the great things about it.  You won’t find any gunfights here.  Just some very well written humor of all types including sarcasm, sass, and slapstick; all of which Wayne and Maureen O’Hara find themselves at home in, as a couple that is struggling to make their complicated marriage work.  There are some great supporting performances by Chill Wills as Drago and Patrick Wayne–John Wayne’s real life son who plays the love interest of McLintock’s (Wayne’s) daughter Becky in the movie.  A mouthful I know.  Campy comedy.  Go see it.

“Red River” is probably the most well crafted Western that I have ever seen.  It centers around a cattle drive by a baron, Thomas Dunson (played by Wayne in his best acting performance that I can recall), who is a ruthless man.  During the drive, Wayne becomes so cruel that his adopted son Matt (Montgomery Clift) revolts and leaves him on his own out in the wilderness.  The cattle men on the drive are more than happy to follow Matt.  The movie takes a turn here and we follow both story lines as they are set for impact at the film’s climax.  Hands down the feature that should be rented first for film buffs.  Don’t hesitate.

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Writing this essay, I remember what a HUGE impact this movie had on me and my taste as a young child.

It is a moving picture full of plot, intrigue, interesting characters, fantasy elements, action, violence, and witty comic relief (thank you Dom).

This animated feature is the story of a mother with a dilemma.  It is “moving day” when everyone leaves their hovels for the spring as the farmers begin to plow their fields and grow their crops.  The problem, her son Timmy has a terrible case of pneumonia, and any attempt on a move from his bed could kill him.  What is a mother to do?

Did I mention mom is a mouse?

“The Secret of NIMH” is one of the first full length animated feature films that I remember watching, on HBO, for the first time while sitting in my home without getting up to go do something else. I didn’t want to look away.  There are things in my life that have stayed with me from that film to this day.  There are a lot of cool names to give your pets from this movie.  My favorite being Brutus, which I named my first dog ever.  He was a pit bull and he was my best friend.  I feel that if I ever got a dog again, I’d name it Brutus for a boy or Brisby for a girl.  The names are so cool.

Another great name, villainous as it was, is Jenner.  Our villain that shows up late in the game like all of the best of them.  I’d probably name a male cat Jenner…or a Pomeranian.

Mrs. Brisby sets out on a quest to save her youngest child Timmy, and seeks guidance from The Great Owl, who informs her of the Rats of NIMH that preside in the rosebush by the farmer’s home.  They should be able to aid her in moving her home so that Timmy can stay safely in his bed, while placing their home safe from the farmer’s reach.  Along the way she learns so much about her recently deceased husband Jonathon and why everyone seems to know how important he was…that is, everyone except her.

There are subplots of murder that arise among the politics within the Rats’ new society.  Mrs. Brisby is caught right in the middle of one of the most important periods of the Rats’ community as she seeks their aid in saving her son’s life.

I mentioned there was comic relief as well.  Jeremy the klutzy crow, voiced by the late great Dom DeLuise steals the show with very limited scenes.  He is another line of “lovable loser” that not only trips over everything, he gets used and abused by almost everyone he interacts with.

At the end of the day, the names in this movie stick with you: Nicodemus, Jenner, Brutus, Mr. Ages, Sullivan, Brisby, and who could forget–nay, who hasn’t had their very own–Auntie Shrew.

I think the name Brutus resonates with me because of the affect it had on my parents when they viewed the movie.  Brutus, in the picture, has no lines.  He is a wild eyed rat that guards the rosebush with a rather large, menacing spear.  We see him in one unforgettable scene when he terrorizes Mrs. Brisby when she tries to enter the rosebush for the first time.  After the assault, she runs into Mr. Ages who aids her in accessing the rosebush.  She makes it clear to him that she cannot go back the way she just came as a rat almost murdered her for doing so last time.

“That’s just Brutus,” said Mr. Ages as an annoyed afterthought.

My parents laughed at the name, and found it very fitting for the homicidal rat that we had just witnessed.  That experience has stuck with me all of these years, and I have always enjoyed that name ever since.

This is a great family film for all ages, with a great theme and story line that maintains a great pace.  Take the time to listen to the song through the credits.  It states clearly the “key” to unlock any door.  John, Paul, George, and Ringo concur.

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The only thing I think I like more than a movie with heart, is a movie that tricks me into believing it is just another screwball comedy; but then it develops into a film with a decent amount of heart.

That is precisely what this next feature did to me in my experience with it.

I know, two sports movies in a row, but they are completely different.

“Hoosiers” is a flat out well crafted high school basketball drama. “Major League” is about baseball, and does have a lot of screwball comedy elements, but it uplifts us in the end unexpectedly.

I loved watching comedies with my dad.  He didn’t laugh a lot.  When we had a movie that could get him to chuckle, we all enjoyed it.  He had a great laugh.  It might have been great to all of us because it was so infrequent.  I just remember loving the sound of it.  This movie made my dad laugh-out-loud frequently.

Like most comedies, the premise is quite simple.  The owner of the Cleveland Indians wants to move the team to a more pleasant city.  Her plan, fire all of the best players and managers and hire a group of “has-beens” and green “up-and-comers” so that she can pay them less money, they’ll stink, no one will come to the games–thus, it will be easier to move the team.  The General Manager doesn’t like the sound of that and helps put together a team that looks like the one the owner is trying for, but really has the ability to be great if they can pull it all together.

And we’re off.

The cast is amazing.  Tom Berenger is the lead “has-been” catcher, who is tasked with helping Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn (Charlie Sheen in an underrated performance) get his rocket arm under control.

My family and I for the most part love Tom Berenger.  I call him “Rutger Hauer” lite.  I especially like him in comedic roles, but he has the presence to be haunting as well like he was in “Platoon.”   I have to plug one of his lesser known films here, “Last of the Dogmen,” he’s great in it along with Barbara Hershey, again.  Great story.  Go see it.

Along with Berenger and Sheen we have Corbin Bernsen as an overpaid “has-been” that is not playing as hard as he should.  There is also Wesley Snipes as Willie Mays Hayes, the best named character in the movie, he’s a young up-and-comer that is as fast as Rickey Henderson.

My favorite casting in this movie, however, is the gruff James Gammon as the man hired to manage the team.

Gammon is one of those actors that you are familiar with because he gets a lot of different roles in a lot of different kinds of movies, but he is never a lead.  This is the movie I will always remember him for.  His reluctance to take the job when he is first approached by the GM is one of the first laugh-out-loud moments that my father and I shared.  Well written and acted.

Add in Rene Russo, veteran Chelcie Ross, and a very young and buff Dennis Haysbert and you have a mostly undiscovered cast of future talent ready to explode onto the screen.

The written quote I listed for the title of this post doesn’t give it justice.  The delivery by my favorite play caller of all time, Bob Uecker, makes it one of the funniest situations and lines in the film.  I get excited for every scene in which he gets to make a call in this movie, and his comedic timing is priceless.

Comedies are the most impressionable movies on children.  You learn so much from them.  There are elements of comedy that are precise, calculated, and well executed; and sometimes, a baseball hits someone in the balls and we laugh.  This movie has all of these elements and doesn’t come off as too heavy on either end of the spectrum.

Back to the heart.

This is a movie that forces you to laugh given the comedic situations that the writer has created, but the climax of the film gives me goosebumps.  Every decision that writer/director David S. Ward created for the “big game” was done as well as any sports drama and to be surprised with the “plan” and not the outcome is a pure joy to experience and watch, not only for the first time, but again and again.

This is a movie my dad and I used to catch on television when we were flipping through the channels.  It always caused pause.

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In the late 80s early 90s, my dad and I started filling out March Madness Brackets and entering them into a pool where he worked at the local brotherhood of electricians bureau.

He and I never won, but we had fun filling the bracket out, talking strategy, and picking the underdogs we wanted to win.

From an NBA perspective, I remember watching the L. A. Lakers and the Boston Celtics playing in the finals throughout the 80s.

Sports was another thing that my father and I enjoyed doing together.  I don’t think he missed more than a handful of my soccer games my entire life, including college.

The same joy a father has watching his sons play or a son having his dad there at a game, is the kind of joy that exudes from every pore of David Anspaugh‘s “Hoosiers.”

There are a lot of great “sports” movies.  “Bull Durham,” “The Natural,” “Rudy” (also by Anspaugh), “The Longest Yard,” etc.  “Hoosiers” stands well above the rest of them.  I remember us (my dad, mom, me, and my little brother) watching it two days in a row when we rented it.  That’s not something that we did together consistently unless ALL of us were really excited about a movie.  “Hoosiers” was one of those movies.

The “based on a true story” element is what makes this movie so great.  If this were a made-up Hollywood script, we’d be annoyed with the cliche ending.  There is something about the underdog story that compels me to excitement, and when it can happen for real, well that just gives everyone in America hope.

We start off with a gruff coach in a small town.  The town does not want to embrace his philosophy for the local High School Basketball team.

I have talked about Alec Guinness quite possibly being my favorite actor of all time.  Gene Hackman is 1B.

I can’t think of a line that he has delivered on film that I didn’t feel he believed as the character he portrayed.  His subtleties with voice inflection and expression give us a lot of communication–while still being very small on the screen.  Making that look easy is why actors like Guinness and Hackman become film legends.  If anyone has seen themselves on tv, be it a home video or the like, it is very easy to tell how “big” your expressions become when the camera is rolling.  The camera doesn’t miss a lot.  Hackman is very controlled, even when the script requires him shouting to his team from the sideline, or when he needs to coach a kid on the bench.

I know that I have not talked about the movie that much.  I am doing that on purpose.  For those of you that read this blog and have not seen it yet, I’d jump “Hoosiers” to the top of your list.  There are great performances from Hackman (as always), Dennis Hopper (who got himself an Oscar nomination for that role), and Barbara Hershey (a woman that I feel is very underrated in terms of the roles she has portrayed on screen–check out her filmography.  She’s really good–a favorite of mine is “The Stunt Man“).

I dare you not to have an emotional reaction to the ending of this film.

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The amount of layers with which this next film is brilliant on is what makes it a marvel.

We say that movies are “fun for ALL ages” quite often.  I honestly believe there is no better truth or way to describe this next film.  It has everything: excellent dialogue, a well crafted plot, suspense, great acting, wonderful set pieces, and cartoons…?

Yes, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” might be one of the most daring projects ever undertaken by a film company.

Now, before I go off on how amazing this movie is, I have a confession to make.  At the time of its release in ’88, I was in emotional movie limbo.  I was turning eleven and I was starting to be influenced by friends at school who were “too cool” for cartoons.  I also regrettably did not know who the late great Bob Hoskins was at the time and was not excited to see the film with him in all of the trailers.  Well, I knew who he was after this movie and I appreciated this movie for what it was about 10 years later.

It is a masterpiece.

We have a gumshoe plot set in a world where “Toons” (Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Daffy Duck, etc.) live in our world and are actors and performers just like any other in Hollywood.  They reside in Toon Town and interact with live action people all throughout Los Angeles.  This premise alone is quite an undertaking, but to have the writers Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman get the dialogue tone and the plotting as perfect as they got is another layer of remarkable.  Add in the acting of Hoskins and Christopher Lloyd (the two live action people that engage with the “Toons” the most) and you have almost everything you need as a director.  Robert Zemeckis had his hands full on this picture, but he wasn’t unfamiliar with big budget films (“Romancing the Stone” and “Back to the Future” just to name a few of his smaller big budgets…*wink, wink*).

I feel that there was also a part of my subconscious that wanted to hate this movie because Zemeckis delayed the completion and release of the “Back to the Future” sequels in order to complete this project.  In retrospect, brilliant move.  The eleven-year-old me did not think so.

The “props” department for this film also should be given accolades for adding to the performances by Hoskins and Lloyd.  They created 3-D objects that responded to the action the way the cartoons were supposed to on the page.  For example, Hoskins wore a spring-loaded metal object shaped like a rabbit that popped out of his shirt on cue like Roger was supposed to in the scene where he hides him under his trench coat.  They would later add the animation over the props in post production on Hoskins best take.

Spectacle aside, you have to tell a decent story to be remembered.  I feel that they did an excellent job.  There are murder mystery elements, characters that return from someone’s haunted past, and multiple reveals that are hard to see coming but make sense after we add it all up.

Oh, I forgot to mention Jessica Rabbit…failure on my part.  She is voiced by none other than Kathleen Turner.  You all know my infatuation with this woman at this point if you have read previous posts…not gonna lie to you, this movie helped that along.

In the end, a lot of this movie will be remembered for its animated visuals paired very well with its live action counterparts.  That is great, but this is also a movie with a lot of originality, intrigue, suspense, and above all, heart.

Where else could you see a taxi cab character open the door of a real car, get into the driver’s seat, and drive the car?

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You don’t realize until way later that you have discovered a movie star for the first time.  There were many not yet discovered in this film that would be discovered later.  The person I remember wanting to see more of, was Nic Cage.

Don’t get me wrong.  I had seen Cage perform in other movies that I loved him in (briefly in “Rumble Fish” and again briefly in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High“), but after watching “Peggy Sue Got Married” I wanted to see even more.

To boot, Kathleen Turner was in it.  My God…I loved her.

I’ll get to that, just give me a sec to talk about my man-crush on young Nic…

His voice inflection alone in this movie is worth a viewing.  He is also a key component in a “doo wop” group that features an extremely young Jim Carrey who had an opportunity (however brief) to show off his comedic talent in the limited amount of time he has on screen.  If you decide to take a viewing, watch for him.  Nic, Jim, and the other guys CAN really sing; quite impressive.  I feel that this was that early role that Nic Cage took advantage of and put himself ALL IN and showed what he “wanted” to do as opposed to what he “could” do.  It didn’t hurt that his uncle was the director.

At the end of the day, the story is remarkable and inventive.

At her 20 year reunion, Peggy Sue (Turner–obviously) faints and wakes up in her old life back in high school.  We know very little about her current circumstances–only that her marriage to her high school sweetheart Charlie (Cage–again, obviously) is over and ended on very heartbreaking terms–all of which we piece together with subtle bits of dialogue from conversations she has with her daughter (played by a yet to be discovered Helen Hunt–there’s more where that came from).

Peggy Sue obviously remembers everything of her future now and wants to make major changes to her life based on what she has learned.

Who the hell wouldn’t want to do this?  I have yet to meet anyone that wouldn’t…that whole, “Youth is wasted on the youth” notion.

I remember learning so much about the culture that Peggy Sue (and my mom) grew up in.  There are very many 1960s pop culture references.  Peggy Sue would say something, I’d ask mom to pause it and explain.  She did.  It was a lot of fun, not just to experience a great story, but to learn about the times that my mom grew up was interesting and exciting for me too.

Watching Cage’s Charlie do an emotional tango with Turner’s Peggy Sue is entertaining on a comedic level, while it builds into a very dramatic waltz when the stakes are at their highest toward the climax of the film.

Definitely worth a viewing, and thankfully, Charlie never took Peggy up on her offer to sing “She Loves You” for the first time.  The “Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs,” can continue to be as timeless as they are now.

That last little bit kind of dares you to watch this movie.  I hope you catch the reference.  It’s by far my favorite 1960s pop culture mention in the movie and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget it.  

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I like to call this one “Big-Lite” even if that is a little mean.

A family movie that my parents watched when they were younger and then my siblings and I watched when we were kids was the original “Freaky Friday” with Barbara Harris and a very young Jodie Foster.  This was the original.  Had this concept been made before this one, I haven’t heard about it and don’t care to.  This premise has spawned at least a dozen more other films of the like, including the recent (and terrible) “The Change-Up.”

I feel that “Vice Versa” surpasses “Freaky Friday” in the overall entertainment department.

Judge Reinhold is one of the most enjoyable comedic actors I watched growing up.  No one I know can make the large and hilarious facial expressions that he can–without saying a word–and make people laugh-out-loud like he could.  I loved him in both “Beverly Hills Cop” movies (I know there was a third one, I don’t count it), “Ruthless People” was good when he was on screen, and his guest appearance on “Seinfeld” as the boyfriend of Elaine who was obsessed with being with Jerry’s parents was one-of-a-kind (he received an Emmy nomination).

“Vice Versa” is Reinhold at his best.  I feel that “the sell” for movies like this, is having the actors create such distinct characteristics when they are in “their own skin” that when you see them portray their counter-part…it is believable.  I feel that Reinhold and Fred Savage did a great job communicating off screen about their approaches–and it shows very well on screen.

Reinhold has a child-like joy in his eye at each moment after the “change” and he never waivers from it.  Savage needs to be given credit as well for creating an “adult” child that reminds me of Spok in a way.  This comes out in a scene where he is being bullied by kids at school and tries to use “logic” as a shield.  It doesn’t work out.

I have many favorite scenes in this film, most of them involving Reinhold.  I think my favorite is when Reinhold gets his revenge on the bullies at school.  It’s not what you might expect, but the punishment exceeds their past crimes and gives us a great laugh.  Watching his elation in the hallway after doling out their penance is electric and those of us that were bullied (everyone) wishes they could do the same.

At the end of the day, this is a family movie for all ages and a father and son learn how to truly respect and enjoy each other on this journey that they take together.

I don’t know anything about Judge Reinhold the person.  We always hear stories about Tom Hanks and how wonderful a person he is and that he is friendly.  I want to believe the same about Judge Reinhold.  In the interviews that I have scene, and the film choices that he has made, he seems like a person that would have a lot of great stories to tell on “game nights” with a cold beer in his hand.  I want to keep that impression of him in my mind and “Vice Versa” has a lot to do with that.

Who knows, maybe one day we’ll be able to play horseshoes, and he can tell us about being noticed by some fans in the airport as the guy who was “jerking off.”

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