ya ya, I know, I'm not amusing you, or myself, or anyone. Need some amusement? Read this guys yelps. He's the one that went off on Temple in that crazy rant a few months back. Most of his other reviews are similarly head-scratching. The positive reviews are just as confusing as the negative ones.
Or, listen to this episode of This American Life. Everybody knows this show rules, but this one I think is the best one I've ever heard. I was almost crying at the end. They must agree that it's a classic because they just rebroadcast it from 1998, when it was recorded.
If you care, I have watched a couple of interesting movies lately. "Black Girl" directed by Ousmane Sembene, which is notable because he was the first internationally known African director, and The Hired Hand, directed by and starring Peter Fonda, which was really only noticeable because it confirms for me that Warren Oates is a badass. He has more charisma in his moustache than Peter Fonda has in his whole body. Too bad Peter Fonda was the star of that movie. I didn't remember until today that he was in Stripes. Can anyone recommend any of his other movies besides Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia? I like that he was in a movie in '74 called "Cockfighter" with alternate titles "Born to Kill", "Gamblin' Man" and "Wild Drifter"! Wow, reading about it on IMDB I see that it's a film about a cockfighting champion who has taken a vow of silence.
Beckler writes:
ReplyDeleteCan anyone recommend any of his other movies besides Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia? I like that he was in a movie in '74 called "Cockfighter"
-------------------
Man, I love Warren Oates!
"Cockfighter" is excellent and stars Harry Dean Stanton as well (read the novel by Charles Willeford too). "Two-Lane Blacktop" is another one of his best roles; Dennis Wilson and James Taylor are the other stars. "Two-Lane" hits the big screen every once in a while (PFA and Red Vic mainly) but Criterion has a tin boxed that's worth owning. Monte Hellman directed both. Warren Oates is a regular member of Sam Peckinpah's cast so look up his filmography for other roles. Oates character in "Alfredo Garcia" is based on Peckinpah's real life persona...
Pres,
SASSF
PS I was talking about "Cockfighter" in a Yelp thread earlier today, actually...
PPS
ReplyDeleteForgot to mention that Warren Oates also gets good mention in the biography, "Peckinpah: A Portrait in Montage" by Garner Simmons...
Pres,
SASSF
Wild Bunch - the greatest Western ever made.
ReplyDelete- Jim E
I agree -- the best. Just narrowly edges out "Once Upon a Time in the West," "High Noon" and "Little Big Man" (does that last one count?)
ReplyDelete-- Patrone
He was Sissy Spacek's father in "Badlands" - a small part, but brilliant work. I see that he also played the Humphrey Bogart in a 1977 TV movie version of "The African Queen". I would like to see that.
ReplyDelete"Little Big Man" counts. Good movie. My top 5 westerns:
1) The Searchers
2) McCabe and Mrs. Miller
3) The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
4) The Westerner (1940)
5) Rio Bravo
John Wayne was a fag. He was, too, you boys. I installed two-way mirrors in his pad in Brentwood, and he come to the door in a dress.
ReplyDeleteI thought John Wayne was a nazi. He liked to play SS and kept a pic of Adolph tucked in his cowboy vest, doncha know?
ReplyDeletePres,
SASSF
Yeah, Little Big Man for sure is a Western. And don't forget Oates in "Dillinger."
ReplyDeleteAlso, One Eyed Jacks is a pretty darn good western. Would "Hud" qualify as a Western? Or Last Picture Show?
- Jim E
Hey heckabeck--
ReplyDeleteThought you'd like a little sac city council quote.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSkWN5eIxWM
I don't know sassf or the movie cockfighter, but will heartily second the book and some of willefords writing, especially for patrone. Hi patrone!!
Aaron
Warren Oates is sort of like Robert Shaw or Steve McQueen in that he was one of those 60s-70s era actors, whether as a leading or supporting man, with their passing they were just irreplacable upon on the screen.
ReplyDeleteHell, I need to weigh in with my five best westerns:
1) "Once Upon a Time in the West"
2) "The Wild Bunch"
3) "The Searchers"
4) "McCabe and Mrs. Miller"
5) "Johnny Guitar"
Ha! nice clip. the local news media is busy reporting on Delta and Dawns latest moves and other cute animal stories, so they don't have time for such things.
ReplyDeleteHud definitely qualifies as a Western, Jim. And, yeah, I'd put The Last Picture Show in that category, too.
ReplyDeleteSomeone mentioned Two-Lane Blacktop. I think my favorite existentialist Western road movie has to be Vanishing Point. Plus it has some fine Mopar in it.
Griffith
Becky that was a rad this american life, although all the girl screaming killed my ears on the walk to work.
ReplyDeleteI was just listening to the one before it called "duty calls" so good and sad.
-Natalie.
Warren Oates = the American Oliver Reed.
ReplyDelete-- Patrone
At first I thought you wanted a list of decent P Fonda flicks. Not a lot to work with. (The Limey is okay, but that's not because of P Fonda.) Gotta agree with the recommendations for Warren O flicks. He's the star even when he isn't the star.
ReplyDeleteTop five westerns in no particular order:
Bad Day At Black Rock (OMF-approved. Is it a "Western"? I think so.)
Unforgiven
Good, Bad, Ugly
High Plains Drifter
Oxbow Incident
Bonus pick:
Lonesome Dove. (due to it being a teevee miniseries, a little corny, but Duval and a post-Motley Crue Tommy Lee are excellent.)
Ed
More favorite Westerns:
ReplyDelete1. "Jerehmiah Johnson"
2. "The Long Riders"
3. "The Ballad of Cable Hogue"
4. "Ride the High Country" (another Peckinpah/Oates film)
President,
Sacramento Appreciation Society of San Francisco
Did Warren Oates ever do a buddy pic with either Paul Lynde or Charles Nelson Reilly? That would really be some Western, doncha think?
ReplyDeleteGrwffydd (Welsh spelling of Griffith)
Charles Nelson Reilly teamed up with Paul Lynde in the original comedic version of Brokeback Mountain.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Uncle Croc's Block
I was a server in a restaurant in Montana..Warren Oates and his two bratty kids came in to dine. He said he was in the area to visit Jack Nicholson who was making a movie (The Missouri Breaks..crappy movie).
ReplyDeleteHe was rude, his kids were obnoxious, and the asshole left me a dollar tip on a 30 dollar lunch tab. He's a badass alright...well, he's a dead badass.