TMT: My First Bond
This is the next entry in a Theatre… a Movie… and a Time series that was begun here. My good blogging colleague Ruth over at Flixchatter was on a roll three weeks back with posts on spies and a certain British Secret Agent, so I thought it warranted a memory download in response. As well, this one will connect with friend and author/editor/blogger Patricia Abbott. Her e-recollection this month that puzzled “… in our youth, we went to a movie whenever we wanted — regardless of what time it officially began” fits like a glove with this post. Believe me, it’ll make sense to some of you.
“Choose your next witticism carefully Mr. Bond, it may be your last.”
Theatre
The Golden Gate Theater:
Movie
Time
January 1965: My experiences with film started to expand significantly after turning age 10. I mean, in ’64 my entire music and movie world turned on its head with one particular screening in a theatre, so why not here too? This time I have to credit my uncle, my mother’s younger brother, for enacting this change. It was he who took me to see my first James Bond film. There’s no way to understate this, but Goldfinger (the third film in the series that’ll reach its 50th anniversary next year) made quite the impression on the boy who was me at the time. I’m pretty sure he didn’t exactly tell my mom what flick he was taking me to, either.
No matter, the deed was done to my everlasting (“hey, is that lady naked?”) gratitude. My uncle deciding to take me to the Golden Gate Theatre in East Los Angeles (not exactly close to where my grandmother and mother were living at the time) is one of those things that will remain a lasting mystery as he passed away during the 00s. As is the fact I can’t for the life of me recall what the second feature was for the double-bill that night. All I can remember is I couldn’t wait till that B-movie finished.
You see, as Patti made clear in her post, this was during a time when people went to the movies whenever they wanted. Movie times be damned. I remember being brought in to that darkened theater and seated right in the middle of Goldfinger! The movie segment remains seared into memory — the discussion between Auric Goldfinger and OO7 concerning the tartness of the mint julep and radioactive fallout. I spent the rest of movie trying to figure it out — and waiting till the film restarted once more two hours later! Of course, when we reached that bit in the movie again, the words a few you out there (that are my age) should certainly recall:
“Come on, let’s go. This is where we came in.”
The entire TMT series can be found here.
Like this:
An Odd But Special Pair on Flixchatter
Today, my good blogging colleague Ruth, “… an ordinary girl who loves flicks” and happens to run the extraordinary movie blog Flixchatter, is hosting an updated article that reprises and highlights an unlikely two of a kind.
“The pair of animated pictures, in question, has more in common than I originally thought. They share some special properties, I believe, even though you could say The Iron Giant and WALL•E are on the flip side of each other in the sci-fi genre.”
This duo were separated by nine years on release (and centuries story-wise), but I hope I made the case that each was:
Cold of Metal, But Warm of (Animated) Heart
A Revisit: What Is It With Thanksgiving?
Note: I originally wrote this article years ago on my old blog, but found it still timely. So, I dusted it off and expanded it some for the holiday.
It’s no longer a surprise that as soon as Halloween ends, with its own gala of ghoulish scares and costume delight, we then step into the realm of a holiday that seems to grow less in importance each year. Please don’t take this wrong — I personally love this autumnal celebration. As I grew past my teen years (centuries ago…), I gravitated away from the natural, kid-friendly time of Christmas as my favorite and toward Thanksgiving. Getting together on the fourth Thursday in November at my grandmother’s home with family members, stuffing my face with the traditional food (along with our own cultural fare), remains a very sweet memory.
Is it just me, or is the Thanksgiving holiday relatively ignored outside of family units these days? Save for the retailers, that is. Needless to say, that’s only due to what comes the day after, Black Friday. The few exceptions, maybe, would be The Food Channel and grocery stores, for obvious reasons. In recent years, Halloween has grown with retail store chains for the stuff (costumes, confections, and decorations) that can be marketed and sold to the masses. We need not mention the horror movies and disc releases scheduled for maximum sale potential. You barely get past Labor Day and the All Hallows Eve trimmings are already in the store aisles. I’m okay with that, but does it have to be at the cost of what follows just because there’s less merchandising to be had? Hmm…
TMT: Watch Your Head
This is the next entry in a Theatre… a Movie… and a Time series that was begun here. Timing, once again, is everything. So, this post serves as another shout-out to my friend and author John Kenneth Muir. His year-end series, the Burton Brief, on filmmaker Tim Burton has been one more pleasurable presentation of his to follow. And it was his cult film review this week that triggered another memory download (along with a reminder of a time almost 12 years ago by my wife).
“It is truth, but truth is not always appearance.”
Theatre
Movie
Time
November 20, 1999: remember Y2K? Some of you may recall the angst associated with the dire predictions of the time. Many feared widespread, doomsday disruption to critical services as the year 1999 ticked over to 2000. It caused a number of us on staff at the job to work overtime ferreting out the legacy computer code in the systems still around we interacted with. Most vacations or time off was cut for those in IT services as the end of year approached to cover the effects of ‘the rollover’. Today, few refer to it or even want to recollect the spell since most of the predictions didn’t come to pass. I do because my daughter’s birth approached with it.
The week before she arrived, she was already late. I know a due date is just an estimate based on a calculation using the mother’s last menstrual period. It is just a guess of things we think we have control over. We don’t. Still, it plays on a parent’s mind. Didn’t help that her future brother had arrived early. Coupled with this and the Millennium Bug at work (plus the everyday), my very pregnant wife wanted to give me a break from the stress of both. And, to get me out of the house (and her hair), even if that meant she’d be home alone with our four-year old. Thus, she sent me to the movies on this day — to the nearby Century City 14 theaters, of course… along with cell phone and pager at the ready (just in case).
Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow turned out to the perfect mix of science, 19th 18th century technology and mysticism, along with the anxiety that accompanied knowing life was once again going to change. I recalled I bloody well loved it when I first took the movie all in. Then, I quickly got to the car and drove back home to my loved ones.
The entire TMT series can be found here.
The Garner Files: A Memoir Audiobook Review
mem•oir |ˈmemˌwär; -ˌwôr|
noun
a historical account or biography written from personal knowledge or special sources.
Confession time (yet, again). Though I’ve pored over a number of genres in the decades since I began reading written matter (mystery… I started out with The Hardy Boys [go figure], sci-fi, all kinds of thrillers, horror, historical fiction and non-fiction, etc.), I’m a closeted memoir reader. This is especially true for some of those personalities associated with Hollywood movies and TV. Hey, you can’t grow up in L.A. and not have the principal center of the U.S. movie industry not have an effect on you (even if you’re just a moviegoer). A number of celebrities have had their lives played out through studio promotions, across local media, and sometimes buried in courtroom transcripts through the years. In memoirs, it was always interesting to read their side of the story byway of their personal accounts (always with grain of salt, that is). So, when it was announced earlier this year that one of my all-time favorite actors was going to publish his, few were more eager than I for its arrival (the exception being a few Craisies I know and The Rap Sheet’s J. Kingston Pierce). I wasn’t disappointed.
The Book
James Garner has been that rare actor who never took celebrity, or himself, too seriously. That’s not to say he wasn’t a true professional at his chosen craft. Far from it. But in this internet-age, he’s considered a throwback from another era. That’s true, but that also means he’s a bit of fresh air compared with today’s celebs. The 84 year-old’s memoir of life and career as depicted in The Garner Files: A Memoir makes the case for all that. And even though Mr. Garner is well-known for his privacy, he’s uncommonly upfront about a great many things in his life, as he makes clear in the book’s introduction:
“I’ll also talk about my childhood, try to clear up some misconceptions, and maybe even settle a score or two.”
The actor, who has been in the limelight since his days in Maverick (and like a lot of older Garner fans, it was this one-of-kind western TV series where as a kid I first caught sight of him), with deft help of author Jon Winokur (The Portable Curmudgeon), states it plain and head-on. I think Garner, through his roles in movies and TV, exudes, for lack of a better word, integrity. While a lot of things will surprise readers and admirers, he is a “captivating, enigmatic, complicated man“, as Julie Andrews herself mentions in her intro that is in front of his in the book. Even when he’s revealing aspects like his bouts of alcohol overuse, dabs with cocaine, or the affect of marijuana in his life, it’s not so much a confession he’s making rather that he’s owning up to the things in his life. He maintains an ease and longevity that’s well-earned, I think. But, even those bits aren’t the true revelations found here. For better or worst, Garner’s not about to back down from a fight, a statement of fact, or a cause his conscience can’t walk away from. He’s his own man, and I believe it is that quality that attracts fans and comes across in the characters he’s portrayed on television and film. And it continues here.
“You take this back to your leader, Mr. Wong. Tell him you met the last of a dying dynasty, King of the Fools. Unassailably virtuous, invariably broke.” ~ James Garner as Philip Marlowe speaking to Bruce Lee (Winslow Wong), Marlowe (1969)
Yes, the juicy parts in the memoir are the actors, movie moguls, and studio execs who’ve run afoul of our man Rockford (even his friend, neighbor, and fellow celebrity racer, the icon of 60s cool Steve McQueen doesn’t come off well). Still, you don’t get a sense Garner’s being mean-spirited or saying things just to sell a book. Far from it. He’s covering his career and those who’ve been a part of it. Most of the time, in fact, the actor/producer makes the case that he wouldn’t be where he was but for the generosity of others through the years (especially family and friends). Loyal as he is ornery, but always a team player, he wouldn’t change a thing (and that’s fine by me). The best portions of the book capture Garner’s speaking manner, fond and painful remembrances, and earnest beliefs (whether you agree with him or not), particularly his loving expressions to his long-time spouse, Lois. It’s not that he doesn’t suffer fools well, it is that he doesn’t take kindly to those who lie to him or just want not to pay him what he’s worth (his legal wrangles with studios and executives are the stuff of legend). But, he was always in the corner of the little guy (anytime, anywhere) and the writers of the spoken word on the shows he’s starred in and/or produced (Stephen J. Cannell and The Sorpranos’ David Chase among them).
“My friends have overlooked my shortcomings, seen me through some dark days, and brightened up the rest of them. I’m glad to have them; I’m honored to have them; I’m lucky to have them.” ~ James Garner as Murphy Jones, Murphy’s Romance (1985)
Overall, waiting for and finally reading (and listening to) James Garner’s memoir was very much worth it. The man involved in two seminal genre deconstructions on TV (Maverick and The Rockford Files) made it so. The loving detail he gives his car racing exploits and exasperations on the golf course through the years will certainly finds fans among his male followers (maybe less with others). But, his remembrances of his work in film and TV are extraordinary, and surprising. I mean, who knew his long-time friend Clint Eastwood could get him to do a nude scene? The last section of the book offers an interesting highlight. Garner rates and notes on the motion pictures, series, and TV movies he done since the 50s. The Americanization of Emily (no surprise if you’ve seen it) and The Notebook (I need to look at that one again) are his clear favorites with five-star ratings, while the childhood favorites of mine — Up Periscope (one star) and A Man Could Get Killed (two ½-stars… and Tony Franciosa could be a prick) — fared worse than I expected. No matter. This was a memoir that stands with the best I’ve read over the years — David Niven’s Bring on the Empty Horses, Errol Flynn’s Wicked, Wicked Ways, Charlton Heston’s Actor’s Life (who is also called out by the plain-spoken man from Norman, Oklahoma).
The Audiobook
Tantor Media’s audiobook was more than a pleasurable experience for this devotee. That’s saying something since memoirs can be tricky in audio format. This type of work, sometimes, is better served by the author themself giving it a go (one of the few exceptions I make to groaning as a vet of this medium when a professional narrator isn’t deployed on an audiobook). Hell, its their life they’re recounting, and it can work very well (Adrienne Barbeau’s reading of There Are Worst Things I Could Do being a prime example of where it does). Plus, James Garner is well-known among his fans for his easy-going manner and humor. Yet, the respected and talented Michael Kramer made the experience work for me as an audiobook listener (and as a long-time Garner fan). I swear the parts I chuckled at (and there were more than a few), those I imagine the actor actually saying, came out of the narrator’s mouth and I didn’t think it was anyone else voicing it but Garner. He utterly nailed the actor’s delivery and timing. No small feat. As the James Garner would say, “That’s ACT-ING!” Kudos. A sample of the work can be found on Tantor Audio’s The Garner Files: A Memoir webpage.
