The Dead is my favorite John Huston movie

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Why is The Dead my favorite John Huston film? Well, I could direct you to my original review of Huston's adaptation of the classic James Joyce story. Or I could just show you the final scene. Back in the day: I cried so hard at the end of this movie, two colleagues had to help me out of the theater. No kidding.

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Celebrating Ward Bond’s birthday with... Hitler — Dead or Alive

On this date in 1903, actor Ward Bond was born in Benkelman, Nebraska. And I think it would be a nifty idea to celebrate the occasion by watching Hitler — Dead or Alive, an ultra-low-budget 1942 B-movie starring Bond as an ex-con who tries to collect a bounty on Adolf Hitler. No, I'm not making that up.

Back when I taught a college course focused on war movies, I often screened the final minutes of this obscure oddity, to give students an inkling of American attitudes during the early days of US involvement in World War II. Because even though the movie was an unabashedly cheesy Poverty Row production --  it dared to be a fantasy-fulfilling slice of cheese: At the end of the flick, Hitler is shot by Nazis who don't recognize him after Bond and his buddies shave off Der Führer's  mustache. Again: I'm not making that up. Start looking around the 1:04 point in this video, and you'll see what I mean.

When I saw Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, and marveled at the movie's climactic killing of  Der Führer, I couldn't help thinking of Hitler -- Dead or Alive. But I swear: I didn't know Tarantino actually was a fan the '42 film until he spilled the beans to Playboy in a 2003 interview:

When it came to Inglourious Basterds, there was a movie done in 1942, Hitler —Dead or Alive. It was just as America had entered the war. A rich guy offers a million-dollar bounty on Hitler’s life. Three gangsters come up with a plan to kill Hitler. They parachute into Berlin and work their way to where Hitler is. It’s a wacky movie that goes from being serious to very funny. The gangsters get Hitler, and when they start beating the fuck out of him, it is just so enjoyable. They shave his mustache off, cut off that lock of hair and take his shit off so he looks like a regular guy. The Nazis show up, and Hitler, who doesn’t look like Hitler anymore, is like, “Hey, it’s me!” And they beat the shit out of him. I thought, Wow, this is fucking hysterical.

Yes, it is. Who would have guessed that a hardline conservative like Ward Bond actually was Antifa? 

Flashback: Ethan Hawke and Me at 2011 Houston Cinema Arts Festival

I honest to God did not know until just a few minutes ago that a complete version of this existed on video: My 2011 Q&A with Ethan Hawke at the Houston Cinema Arts Festival, where he received a lifetime achievement award. At first, Hawke is introduced by Richard Linklater, and graciously accepts the prize, in concert with a screening of "The Woman in the Fifth." We start chatting around the 11:25 mark. He's very funny, and very forthcoming. And I have a lot more hair than I do now. (Sorry: You will have to click the link, because I am unable to embed.)

Let the Revels Begin: Houston Film Critics Society Announces Nominations for Annual Awards

 

The Houston Film Critics Society — of which I am a founding/voting member — has released the list of nominations for the annual HFCS Awards. Winners will be announced Feb. 18 at the Midtown Arts & Theater Center Houston (MATCH).

 And yes: I am very happy to see so many nominations for RRR.  

 

Best Picture

The Banshees of Inisherin

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

RRR

Tár

Till

Top Gun: Maverick

Women Talking

 

Best Director

The Banshees of Inisherin

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

Tár

Women Talking

 

Best Actor – Leading Role

Austin Butler, Elvis

Tom Cruise, Top Gun: Maverick

Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin

Brendan Fraser, The Whale

Jeremy Pope, The Inspection

 

Best Actress – Leading Role

Cate Blanchett, Tár

Viola Davis, The Woman King

Danielle Deadwyler, Till

Emma Thompson, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande

Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

 

Best Actor – Supporting Role

Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin

Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin

Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Mark Rylance, Bones and All

Ben Whishaw, Women Talking

 

Best Actress – Supporting Role

Jesse Buckley, Women Talking

Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin

Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Janelle Monáe, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

 

Best Screenplay

The Banshees of Inisherin

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

Tár

Women Talking

 

Best Animated Feature

Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Turning Red

 

Best Cinematography

Avatar: The Way of Water

Babylon

Nope

The Fabelmans

Top Gun: Maverick

 

Best Documentary

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Bad Axe

Fire of Love

Good Night Oppy

Navalny

 

Best Foreign Language Feature

All Quiet on the Western Front

Argentina, 1985

Close

Decision to Leave

RRR

 

Best Original Score

Babylon

The Banshees of Inisherin

Empire of Light

The Fabelmans

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Women Talking

 

Best Original Song

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, “Lift Me Up”

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, “Ciao Papa”

RRR, “Naatu Naatu”

Till, “Stand Up”

Top Gun: Maverick, “Hold My Hand”

 

Best Visual Effects

Avatar: The Way of Water

The Batman

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

RRR

Top Gun: Maverick

 

Best Stunt Coordination Team

The Batman

Everything Everywhere All at Once

RRR

Top Gun: Maverick

The Woman King

 

Best Ensemble Cast

The Banshees of Inisherin

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Women Talking

 

Texas Independent Film Award

Acid Test

Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood

Conception

Deep in the Heart: A Texas Wildlife Story

Facing Nolan