| green slime #5 |
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Attack of the Green Slime's Pick Shelf #5 What are you looking at?!? You wanna piece of the green slime?!? This time the slime brings the pain with a pick shelf of movies about fisticuffs.
Boxing movies! Flying fists of fury!!!! No Rocky or Raging Bulls here. Sure, those are both great, classic movies, but in keeping with the tradition of the Green Slime, I have choosen a few awesome movies you may not be so familiar with. Funny that they were all made in the 70's and feature the phenomenon I like to call "the 70's anti-hero". The 70's anti-hero fuckin' rules, and I'll be back with a shelf of them later, but I digress. These four movies are some tough as nails sumbitches, I tell you what.
Every Which Way But Loose (1978 D:James Fargo)
The crown jewel of this pick shelf!!!! This movie is such a peach. Clint stars as Philo Beddoe, a back-room bare-knuckle prize fighter/trucker. He lives in a junk yard with an orangutan named Clyde and his mother (played by the wonderful Ruth Gordon, best known as Maude from "Harold and Maude"). Philo is strong silent type and aspires to become the best street fighter around, but to do so he has goes on the road to fight Denver Tank Murdoch. He hangs out at country/western bars, where brawls are no big whoop. He beds down a sexy musician (played by Clint's real life love, Sondra Locke). He goes on the road to get back said woman and to fight Denver Tank, and is hounded by all sorts of comic relief, Bikers and cops. So, this movie is music to my masculine ears. It's a 70's road movie, possibly the best genre of movies around. It's got a killer 70's country/western soundtrack, possibly the best genre of music. (yah 70's!) I hope hope hope that at 48, I can look as freakin' awesome as Clint does. This movie is just plain fun. Keep an eye out for a young,super sexy Beverly D'Angelo as Echo. (what did you say?) Echo. Ruth Gordon and "that damn, dirty ape" Clyde are some scene stealers, for sure. Also good: Any Which Way You Can.
Hard Times (1975 D:Walter Hill)
Life was hard during the Depression. Charles Fucking Bronson plays a hobo named Chaney, who we will refer to as "The Fighter". This man scrapes by with his fists, drifting place to place hopping trains. He roles into a sleazy place called New Orleans and finds himself a bare-knuckle prize fight going on in a warehouse, something The Fighter knows a thing or two about. He has a little wad of money and bets on himself. After trouncing his opponent, he's approached by a hustler named "Speed", played by the incomparable James Coburn, and they go into buisness. Unbelievably, Charles Bronson is 54 years old in this movie. What a man!!! Watch this movie because it's tough, because it's set in Depression era New Orleans, because of James Coburns slick ass, or because Charles Bronson is awesome. Or watch it because you are A MAN.
Fat City (1972 D:John Huston)
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John Huston sure did make some interesting movies in his late career. Actually, John Huston just made some badass movies, period. But I've watched some of his later work recently, Wise Blood, Under the Volcano, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, and this gem of a boxing movie Fat City. This isn't your typical Hollywood boxing movie. John Huston has this way of making very unconventional stories into stellar movies. Stacy Keach plays an aging boxer named Tully that is hoping to make a comeback after a couple of years of heavy drinking and beating himself up over what might have been. He meets a young boxer exercising for fun in a gym, Ernie (played by young Jeff Bridges).Tully tells Ernie that he has the stuff, and young Ernie believes him. The movie then follows the two in seperate storylines, their respective rise and falls. It's dark and compelling. Tully takes turn getting in shape and preparing for his comeback with heavy drinking and fucking up. He wastes time with one of the best drunk perfomances I've seen, a trainwreck of a woman named Oma, played amazingly by Susan Tyrrel. Long live John Huston.
The Great White Hope (1970 D: Martin Ritt)
Who says a champion has to be a role model? This movie is pretty wonderful. It stars James Earl Jones as the first black heavyweight champion, Jack "The Galveston Giant" Johnson. The story of Jack Johnson is certainly fascinating, and after watching this, I went and watched a documentary about his life. I think that is the hallmark of a historical drama. There's been a few that have inspired me to read or learn more after watching it. Well, this is one of them. ANYWAY... Jack Johnson was a "sport" as they would say back then. The kind of man that hung out in pool halls and bars, enjoyed fancy clothes, expensive automobiles, and fast women. That included fast WHITE women, which didn't sit well with turn-of-the-century America. But he was, arguably, the greatest boxer of his generation. The world wasn't quite ready for him, though. Many notables (among them the writer Jack London, whom considered himself a progressive socialist), called for in the press for a "Great White Hope" to beat him. Well, there's not a lot of boxing in this movie. It mostly deals with the trials and tribulations of Jack Johnson. His problems with the press, women, the boxing establishment, and of course racism. James Earl Jones is perfect.
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Only pointy skin?!
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