#the missouri breaks 1976

[erstwhile-punk-guerito]

[davidhudson]

Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson on the set of Arthur Penn’s The Missouri Breaks (1976).

[justforbooks]

When Tina Turner, who has died aged 83, walked out on her abusive husband Ike in Dallas, Texas, she feared it would spell the end of her showbusiness career. It was 1976, and she had been performing with Ike for two decades, since she had first jumped onstage and sang with his band at the Manhattan club in East St Louis, Missouri. Yet, although she was desperate and had only 36 cents in her pocket, she was on her way to a renaissance as one of the most successful performers in popular music during the 1980s and 90s.

She had to endure several lean years, but a turning point came in 1983, when David Bowie told Capitol Records that she was his favourite singer. A version of Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together followed. Produced by the electro-poppers Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh from Heaven 17, the track went to No 6 in the UK, then cracked the US Top 30 the following year.

Turner cemented the upturn in her fortunes with the album Private Dancer (1984). Driven by the huge hit What’s Love Got to Do With It? (her first American No 1), the album became a phenomenon, lodging itself in the American Top 10 for nine months and going on to sell more than 10m copies. Suddenly Turner was one of the biggest acts in an era of stadium superstars such as Michael Jackson, Dire Straits and Phil Collins.

In 1985 she was recruited to play Aunt Entity in the film Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, for which she recorded another international chartbuster, We Don’t Need Another Hero. A second Thunderdome single, One of the Living, won her a Grammy award, and she was an automatic choice to join the Live Aid benefit concert in that year, as well as to participate in its American theme song, We Are the World.

Her follow-up album, Break Every Rule (1986), launched Turner on a global touring campaign, during which a crowd of 184,000 watched her in Rio de Janeiro. The tour spun off a double album, Tina Live in Europe (1988).

The album Foreign Affair (1989) sold 6m copies and generated another trademark anthem, The Best, which was subsequently used to add oomph to numerous TV commercials and adopted both by the tennis ace Martina Navratilova and the racing driver Ayrton Senna. The subsequent Foreign Affair tour ended in Rotterdam in 1990, after which she duetted with Rod Stewart on the old Tammi Terrell/Marvin Gaye hit It Takes Two. Designed as the theme for a Pepsi advert, the track was a chart hit across Europe.

Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, Tennessee, to Zelma Currie, a factory worker, and her husband, Floyd Bullock, a Baptist deacon. Abandoned by their father and temporarily by their mother, in 1956 Annie and her elder sister, Alline, moved to St Louis, Missouri, where they encountered Ike Turner and his band the Rhythm Kings. After Annie had talked the initially reluctant Ike into letting her sing with the band, he recruited her as one of his backing singers.

It was in 1960 that Tina – who had by then changed her name because it reminded Ike of the cartoon character Sheena, Queen of the Jungle – first sang a lead vocal with Ike’s band. A session singer failed to turn up, and Tina’s stand-in performance of A Fool in Love was a hit on both the pop and R&B charts. Ike immediately rebuilt his act around Tina, and christened it the Ike and Tina Turner Revue. They married in 1962.

Featuring nine musicians and a trio of skimpily dressed backing singers, the Ikettes, the Revue took the R&B circuit by storm. Tina rapidly developed into a mesmerising performer, radiating raw sexuality and bludgeoning audiences with the unvarnished force of her voice. They began to pepper the charts with hits, including I Idolise You, Poor Fool and Tra La La La La, and even if they only intermittently crossed over from the R&B charts to the pop mainstream, the band’s performing reputation was second to none. Evidence of their stage prowess was preserved on the 1965 album Live! The Ike and Tina Turner Show, recorded on tour in Texas.

However, the seeds of the couple’s destruction were being sown in their successful but intense lifestyle. Ike was a habitual womaniser, and also developed a destructive cocaine habit. This provoked violent outbursts against Tina, who, as she later revealed in her 1986 autobiography, I, Tina, was beaten, burned with cigarettes and scalded with hot coffee. She gained a glimpse of what life beyond Ike’s intimidating orbit might be like when she worked with the “Wall of Sound” producer Phil Spector in 1966. To Ike’s frustration, Spector refused to allow him in the studio while he worked on the single River Deep, Mountain High, which subsequently became regarded as a high point of both Spector’s and Turner’s careers.

The Turners’ work won them the admiration of many of their peers, not least the Rolling Stones, who invited them to open a UK tour for them in 1966, then to join them on their American tour in 1969. Mick Jagger was regularly spotted at the side of the stage during Tina’s performances, fascinated by her stage presence and dance routines. One of the high points of Live Aid in 1985 was Tina and Jagger performing together at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia.

Working with the Stones prompted the Turners to import a rock-orientated edge into their work, a ploy that worked most successfully when they recorded John Fogerty’s Proud Mary in 1971. It was their first million-selling single and a Top five hit on the American pop charts. In 1973 they notched up another landmark with Tina’s feisty composition Nutbush City Limits, inspired by her Tennessee origins. She took the role of the Acid Queen in Ken Russell’s film of The Who’s rock opera, Tommy (1975): her performance was one of its few critically acclaimed moments, though her spin-off solo album, The Acid Queen, made little impression on the charts.

After her split from Ike, Tina stayed with friends and was forced to survive on food stamps. When their divorce was finalised in 1978, she preferred to take no money or property from the settlement, to establish a complete break from her husband. She earned cash from TV guest appearances on the Donny & Marie and the Sonny & Cher shows, but her late-70s albums Rough and Love Explosion sold poorly.

In 1980 she signed a management deal with Roger Davies, an Australian promoter working in the US, who secured some lucrative engagements in Las Vegas. The following year the Rolling Stones galloped to the rescue once again by booking her as the opening act on their Tattoo You tour of the US, and she also appeared with Stewart in a California concert broadcast internationally by satellite.

By the time she was inducted (with Ike, though he was then in jail) into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, Turner had little left to prove. She was able to spend more time at the homes in Switzerland and the Cote d’Azur that she now shared with the German record executive Erwin Bach. A singles collection, Simply the Best (1991), reeled in more platinum discs as Turner entered the senior stateswoman phase of her career.

In 1993, as she launched her first US tour in six years, her film biography, What’s Love Got to Do With It, based on I, Tina, was released, starring Angela Bassett as Turner. The film brought forth a bestselling soundtrack album and another hit single with its opening track, I Don’t Wanna Fight.

A three-disc anthology, The Collected Recordings – Sixties to Nineties, appeared in 1994, and the following year came Turner’s recording of GoldenEye, the theme tune of the eponymous James Bond movie. The tour that accompanied her eighth studio album, Wildest Dreams (1996), became another record-breaker, grossing more than $100m in Europe alone. Twenty Four Seven (1999) teed up what Turner announced would be her last major arena and stadium tour. She had intended to tour with Elton John, but the idea was scrapped after she argued with him about the piano arrangement for Proud Mary during rehearsals for a TV special, Divas Live ’99. Her subsequent solo dates became the top-grossing tour of 2000.

A quiet period ensued, during which Turner confined herself to hand-picked events, such as a 2005 performance on the Oprah Winfrey Show. She contributed a version of Edith and the Kingpin to River: The Joni Letters (2007), a tribute album produced by Herbie Hancock. She performed alongside Beyoncé at the Grammy awards in 2008.

That October she went back on the road with the Tina! 50th Anniversary Tour, synchronised with the compilation album Tina: The Platinum Collection. In 2010 she became the first female artist to score top 40 hits in the UK in six consecutive decades (1960s-2010s) when The Best bounced back into the UK Top 10. Her Love Songs compilation appeared in 2014, and her remix of What’s Love Got to Do With It with the Norwegian DJ Kygo in 2020 made for a seventh decade containing UK hits.

Between 2009 and 2014 Turner appeared on four albums by Beyond, an all-woman group formed with her neighbours in Küsnacht, near Zürich. The music reflected the spiritual and religious beliefs of the participants, with Turner considering herself a Baptist-Buddhist (she was raised as a Baptist, but began practising Nichiren Buddhism in 1973).

In 2013 she married Bach and gave up her American citizenship to become a Swiss citizen. Three weeks after the marriage she suffered a stroke, and in 2016 she was diagnosed with intestinal cancer, then suffered kidney failure when “the toxins in my body had started taking over”, as she put it in her second autobiography, Tina Turner: My Love Story (2018). Her husband volunteered to give her one of his kidneys and a transplant operation was carried out successfully in 2017.

The following year, the biographical stage musical Tina opened at Aldwych theatre in London, directed by Phyllida Lloyd and starring Adrienne Warren in the title role. Turner received a Grammy lifetime achievement award, to go with her existing tally of eight Grammy awards and three Grammy Hall of Fame awards. Among her vast collection of honours, Turner also had five American Music awards, two World Music awards and three MTV Video Music awards.

In 2021 she joined the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an outright solo performer and sold the rights to her music catalogue to the publishing company BMG for an estimated $50m. Ready to retire fully, she bade farewell to her fans with the two-part HBO documentary Tina.

Alline died in 2010. Tina’s eldest son, Craig, from a relationship with the saxophonist Raymond Hill, took his own life in 2018. Ronnie, her son with Ike, died in 2022.

She is survived by Erwin and two sons, Ike Jr and Michael, from Ike’s first marriage.

🔔 Tina Turner (Anna Mae Bullock), singer and songwriter, born 26 November 1939; died 24 May 2023

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

[muspeccoll]

We wrap up this year's Black History Month posts with a tribute to Bertram Fitzgerald and the artists of the Golden Legacy comic books, a medium for educating young people on Black history. Golden Legacy was published from 1966 to 1976. Fitzgerald, a ground-breaking Black publisher, wrote, "I started publishing Golden Legacy 30 years ago on a 'shoe-string.' Golden Legacy was designed to create greater pride and self-esteem in African-American families and to dispel myths. (It) replaces feelings of hopelessness and unworthiness in black Americans ….with a sense of pride and self-esteem" (source). Artists included Joan Bacchus Maynard, Tom Feelings, Ezra Jackson, Leo Carty, Howard Darden, Don Perlin, and Tony Tallarico.

More about Golden Legacy comics from the Library of Congress

Golden Legacy comics in the University of Missouri's Special Collections

[gone2soon-rip]

FREDERIC FORREST (1936-Died June 23rd 2023,at 86).

American actor. Forrest came to public attention for his performance in When the Legends Die (1972), which earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. He went on to receive Academy and Golden Globe Award nominations in the Best Supporting Actor category for his portrayal of Huston Dyer in musical drama The Rose (1979).

Forrest portrayed Jay "Chef" Hicks in Francis Ford Coppola's epic war film Apocalypse Now (1979), and collaborated with Coppola on four other films: The Conversation (1974), One from the Heart (1982), Hammett (1982), and Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988). His other credits include The Missouri Breaks (1976), The Two Jakes (1990), and Falling Down (1993), along with the television series 21 Jump Street, Lonesome Dove, and Die Kinder.Frederic Forrest - Wikipedia

[mmm0rceauuuux]

this weekend we saw NUTS IN MAY (Mike Leigh, 1976), THE STRAIGHT STORY (David Lynch, 1999), and THE MISSOURI BREAKS (Arthur Penn, 1976)

what movies should i watch this week

[transistoradio]

Japanese poster for Arthur Penn’s “The Missouri Breaks” (1976), with art by Bob Peak.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 8.1 (after 1920)

1927 – The Nanchang Uprising marks the first significant battle in the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and Chinese Communist Party. This day is commemorated as the anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army. 1933 – Anti-Fascist activists Bruno Tesch, Walter Möller, Karl Wolff and August Lütgens are executed by the Nazi regime in Altona. 1936 – The Olympics opened in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler. 1937 – Josip Broz Tito reads the resolution "Manifesto of constitutional congress of KPH" to the constitutive congress of KPH (Croatian Communist Party) in woods near Samobor. 1943 – World War II: Operation Tidal Wave also known as "Black Sunday", was a failed American attempt to destroy Romanian oil fields. 1944 – World War II: The Warsaw Uprising against the Nazi German occupation breaks out in Warsaw, Poland. 1946 – Leaders of the Russian Liberation Army, a force of Russian prisoners of war that collaborated with Nazi Germany, are executed in Moscow, Soviet Union for treason. 1950 – Guam is organized as an unincorporated territory of the United States as the President Harry S. Truman signs the Guam Organic Act. 1957 – The United States and Canada form the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). 1960 – Dahomey (later renamed Benin) declares independence from France. 1960 – Islamabad is declared the federal capital of the Government of Pakistan. 1961 – U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara orders the creation of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the nation's first centralized military espionage organization. 1964 – The former Belgian Congo is renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 1965 – Frank Herbert's novel, Dune was published for the first time. It was named as the world's best-selling science fiction novel in 2003. 1966 – Charles Whitman kills 16 people at the University of Texas at Austin before being killed by the police. 1966 – Purges of intellectuals and imperialists becomes official China policy at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. 1968 – The coronation of Hassanal Bolkiah, the 29th Sultan of Brunei, is held. 1971 – The Concert for Bangladesh, organized by former Beatle George Harrison, is held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. 1974 – Cyprus dispute: The United Nations Security Council authorizes the UNFICYP to create the "Green Line", dividing Cyprus into two zones. 1976 – Niki Lauda has a severe accident that almost claims his life at the German Grand Prix at Nurburgring. 1980 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is elected President of Iceland and becomes the world's first democratically elected female head of state. 1980 – A train crash kills 18 people in County Cork, Ireland. 1981 – MTV begins broadcasting in the United States and airs its first video, "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles. 1984 – Commercial peat-cutters discover the preserved bog body of a man, called Lindow Man, at Lindow Moss, Cheshire, England. 1988 – A British soldier was killed in the Inglis Barracks bombing in London, England. 1990 – A plane crash in the Karabakh Range kills 46 people. 1993 – The Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993 comes to a peak. 2004 – A supermarket fire kills 396 people and injures 500 others in Asunción, Paraguay. 2007 – The I-35W Mississippi River bridge spanning the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapses during the evening rush hour, killing 13 people and injuring 145. 2008 – The Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Railway begins operation as the fastest commuter rail system in the world. 2008 – Eleven mountaineers from international expeditions died on K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth in the worst single accident in the history of K2 mountaineering. 2017 – A suicide attack on a mosque in Herat, Afghanistan kills 20 people. 2023 – Former US President Donald Trump is indicted for his role in the January 6 United States Capitol attack, his third indictment in 2023.

[theharpermovieblog]

🎥THE COMPLETE 2023 MOVIE LIST🎥

(Without the Halloween and Christmas lists)

#HARPERSMOVIECOLLECTION

FILMS OF 2023

1. Banshees of Inisherin (2023)

2. The Visitor (1979)

3 The Hunt for Red October (1990)

4. The Four Seasons (1981)

5. The Burbs (1989)

6. The Blob (1958)

7. The Blob (1988)

8. Raging Bull (1980)

9. River's Edge (1986)

10. A Shot In The Dark (1964)

11. Violent Night (2022)

12. Pearl (2022)

13. It Happened One Night (1934)

14. Secretary (2002)

15. Dracula (1992)

16. Hard Target (1993)

17. Skinamarink (2022)

18. Head Of The Family (1996)

19. Rubber's Lover (1996)

20. Dr. No (1962)

21. Goldeneye (1995)

22. On The Silver Globe (1988)

23. Top Knot Detective (2016)

24. Fantastic Voyage (1966)

25. Crimes Of The Future (2022)

26. Get Carter (1971)

27. Dog Soldiers (2022)

28. Demon City Shinjuku (1988)

29. Death Line AKA: Raw Meat (1972)

30. Indian Jones and the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (2008)

31. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

32. Invaders From Mars (1953)

33. The Velvet Vampire (1971)

34. Cobra (1986)

35. Assault On Precinct 13 (1976)

36. Batman Returns (1992)

37. My Dinner With Andre (1981)

38. Beyond The Darkness (1979)

39. VIY (1967)

40. Communion (1989)

41. The Cable Guy (1996)

42. In The Mouth Of Madness (1994)

43. From Beyond (1986)

44. Wings Of Desire (1987)

45. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984)

46. The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue (1974)

47. The Man Who Would Be King (1975)

48. Casablanca (1942)

49. Swamp Thing (1982)

50. The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent (2022)

51. Cronos (1993)

52. Spiral (2021)

53. Boss Level (2020)

54. Kids In The Hall: Brain Candy (1996)

55. The Menu (2022)

56. Altered States (1980)

57. The Terror (1963)

58. The Sword And The Sorcerer (1982)

59. The Verdict (1982)

60. Nothing But Trouble (1991)

61. John Wick Chapter 4 (2023)

62. Maniac Cop (1988)

63. Maniac Cop 2 (1990)

64. The Thing From Another World (1951)

65. AntiChrist (2009)

66. Dungeons And Dragons Honor Among Thieves (2023)

67. Revenge Of The Ninja (1983)

68. The Raven (1963)

69. Lost Highway (1997)

70. The Devil's Rain (1975)

71. Critters (1986)

72. Jackie Brown (1997)

73. The Night Of The Werewolf (1981)

74. The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)

75. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

76. Cocaine Bear (2023)

77. After Hours (1985)

78. Batman Forever (1995)

79. The Big Lebowski (1998)

80. Things (1989)

81. Onibaba (1964)

82. Commando (1985)

83. Jacob's Ladder (1990)

84. Saint Maud (2019)

85. Fright Night (1985)

86. Fright Night Part 2 (1988)

87. Joe Versus The Volcano (1990)

88. Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

89. The Hobbit (1977)

90. The Lair Of The White Worm (1988)

91. Tango And Cash (1989)

92. Desperado (1995)

93. Puss And Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

94. The People Under The Stairs (1991)

95. Tales From The Crypt: Demon Knight (1995)

96. Robin Redbreast (1970)

97. The Missouri Breaks (1976)

98. Pumpkinhead (1988)

99. God Told Me To (1976)

100. The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (1920)

101. The Hateful Eight (2015)

102. Nowhere (1997)

103. Tommy (1975)

104. Last Shift (2014)

105. Multiple Maniacs (1970)

106. Bronson (2008)

107. Child Of God (2013)

108. Subspecies (1991)

109. Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm (1993)

110. The Hound Of The Baskervilles (1959)

111. Blood Simple (1984)

112. Bloodstone: Subspecies 2 (1993)

113. Beneath The Planet of the Apes (1970)

114. The Fly 2 (1989)

115. Berberian Sound Studio (2012)

116. Antiviral (2012)

117. Evil Dead Rise (2023)

118. Sundown: The Vampire In Retreat (1989)

119. Terrifier 2 (2022)

120. Shivers (1975)

121. The McPherson Tape (1989)

122. Moonage Daydream (2022)

123. The Saddest Music In The World (2003)

124. Masters Of Horror: Cigarette Burns (2005)

125. Lurking Fear (1994)

126. The Passion Of The Christ (2004)

127. Rambo: Last Blood (2019)

128. Fantastic Planet (1973)

129. Old Henry (2021)

130. Halloween Ends (2022)

131. The Shakiest Gun In The West (1968)

132. M3GAN (2022)

133. Smile (2022)

134. DUNE (2021)

135. High Noon (1952)

136. Hot Fuzz (2007)

137. Infinity Pool (2023)

138. Tales From The Gimli Hospital (1988)

139. Bullit (1968)

140. Jesus Shows You The Way To The Highway (2019)

141. Subspecies V: Blood Rise (2023)

142. Dario Argento's Dracula (2012)

143. Barbie (2023)

144. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

145. The Dead Zone (1983)

146. The Neon Demon (2016)

147. Krull (1983)

148. Stephen King's Graveyard Shift (1990)

149. Elliot (2017)

150. Dogville (2002)

151. Eastern Promises (2007)

152. Sorcerer (1977)

153. Dagon (2001)

154. Zatoichi (1989)

155. Equinox (1970)

156. Clash Of The Titans (1981)

157. Calvaire/The Ordeal (2004)

158. Waxwork 2: Lost In Time (1992)

159. Matinee (1993)

160. Blood For Dracula (1974)

161. Murder By Decree (1979)

162. Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

163. A Night To Remember (1958)

164. The Night Stalker (1972)

165. The Night Strangler (1973)

166. Don't Torture A Duckling (1972)

167. Fargo (1996)

168. Bloodsport (1988)

169. Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves (1991)

170. The Terminator (1984)

171. 4D Man (1959)

172. Magic (1978)

173. Trilogy Of Terror (1975)

174. Paprika (2006)

175. The Changeling (1980)

176. The Devil's Chair (2007)

177. The Omega Man (1971)

178. A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)

179. The Time Machine (1960)

180. Three Thousand Years Of Longing (2022)

181. Red Riding: 1974 (2009)

182. Red Riding: 1980 (2009)

183. Red Riding: 1983 (2009)

184. The Devil's (1971)

185. Once Upon A Time In The West (1968)

186. Lonesome Dove (1989)

187. The Never Ending Story (1984)

188. The Seventh Curse (1986)

189. Dreamland (2019)

190. Money Plane (2020)

191. Dune (1984)

192. Halloween 2 (1981)

193. Fool's Paradise (2023)

194. The Straight Story (1999)

195. A Serious Man (2009)

196. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

197. Misery (1990)

198. Forbidden Planet (1956)

199. Time Bandits (1981)

200. Escape From New York (1981)

201. Escape From L.A. (1996)

202. HEAD (1968)

203. Leptirica (1973)

204. Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny (2023)

205. The War Of The Worlds (1953)

206. Godzilla: Minus One (2023)

207. Horror Express (1972)

208. TÁR (2022)

209. Runaway (1984)

210. Shock Treatment (1981)

211. Apocalypse Now: Redux (1979)-(2001)

212. Barry Lyndon (1975)

[cyarsk52-20]

The 30 Sexiest Music Videos of All Time

Maura JohnstonJune 19, 2021

From the risque to the raunchy to the banned, we count down the hottest, kinkiest, most talked-about clips from Beyonce, Prince, Madonna and more

Sex and pop music have walked hand in hand since the days of Elvis’ swiveling hips. But the 1981 launch of MTV made the relationship even more explicit – eye-popping videos like Duran Duran’s “Girls on Film” got the controversy started early, while the likes of Madonna and Prince built their pop empires on their willingness to break through boundaries. These 30 videos, which range from the earliest days of MTV through the era of YouTube-enabled smartphones, turned up the heat, as well as the chatter.

[Editor’s Note: a version of this list was originally published September 2017.]

30

Cher, “If I Could Turn Back Time”

YouTube

The leave-little-to-the-imagination fishnetbodysuit Cher wore in her 1989 video for “If I Could Turn Back Time” was definitely not military regulation, but that didn’t stop the shape-shifting pop icon and director Marty Callner from shooting the clip on the U.S.S. Missouri, where she was surrounded by thrilled crew members. The Navy, however, was officially less amused, and “moral outrage” ensued once the clip saw air. “The Navy worked closely with the producer to ensure the video would be in good taste,” Lt. Cmdr. A. J. Dooley wrote in a statement that came out after the video’s launch. “However, changes during the final stages of production, including Cher’s revealing costume, were unanticipated, and led to overtones that we had sought to avoid during our pre-production planning.”

29

TLC, “Red Light Special”

Matthew Rolston, who directed TLC’s slinky video for “Creep,” was also behind the camera for this 1994 clip, which featured Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes as the matriarch of a brothel staffed by Boris Kodjoe (Brown Sugar, Real Husbands of Hollywood). “The first thing I pictured was a red strobe light flashing, and somebody doing stripper moves,” Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, who plays strip poker alongside her bandmate Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, told Vibe in 2013. “Whatever tricks there are – that’s my red-light special.”

28

FKA Twigs, “Papi Pacify”

FKA Twigs’ intense black-and-white clip for her 2013 single “Papi Pacify” is all limbs and longing, with the British electro-soul singer staring down the camera while she writhes against a lover. The scenes where he sticks his fingers in her mouth, she later told Britain’s Evening Standard, were also a callback to an “emotionally abusive” relationship she had been in; “In the relationship I couldn’t communicate. The person I was with was stopping me from explaining how I felt. So the physical manifestation is someone putting their hand in your mouth. But there’s an element, too, of liking that as well. It’s messed up. It’s addictive.”

27

Michael Jackson, “In the Closet”

This 1992 pas de deux between Michael Jackson and Naomi Campbell, directed by master of monochrome Herb Ritts and filmed at California’s Salton Sea during Jackson’s Dangerous era, smolders as the track – co-produced by Jackson and New Jack Swing architect Teddy Riley – pops and grooves, showing off new sides of the King of Pop both on screen and on record.

26

Usher, “Confessions, Pt. II”

Usher cycles through multiple stages of relationship grief in this 2004 video, which was directed by Chris Robinson and which features the singer in conflicted flagrante with two women before being shown the door by his lover. He works himself into such a state that he flings off his shirt, revealing his chiseled abs in shots that recall a much more contrite version of D’Angelo’s “Untitled (How Does It Feel).”  

25

En Vogue, “Giving Him Something He Can Feel”

The girl group En Vogue’s smoldering cover of Aretha Franklin’s 1976 seduction (written by Curtis Mayfield) received a 1992 video treatment that played off the quartet’s pure vocal power. As En Vogue, dressed in matching red gowns that paid homage to the Supremes-inspired flick Sparkle, shimmies and sighs its way through “Feel,” the men in the audience get more and more hot and bothered, casting aside their inhibitions (and, at times, their accessories) as the performance works its magic.

24

Robbie Williams, “Rock DJ”

Cheeky boy-band alum Robbie Williams decided to go way beyond baring it all in his 2000 video for the winking “Rock DJ,” in which he builds upon a striptease by unpeeling his skin to reveal muscle and then bones, giving the women surrounding him the opportunity to feast on his flesh. The video, which was banned by the UK chart show Top of the Pops for its gore, was actually (and unsurprisingly) a commentary on the grueling nature of 21st-century fame: ”We’re all keen to see what lies beneath the skin while still venting disgust at the thought of it,” said Sacha Carter, spokeswoman for the video’s effects company Carter White FX. “‘Rock DJ’ is an unusual project that allowed us to push the boundaries of flesh and blood, how we see ourselves and the whole question of fame, with everyone wanting a piece of the action.”

23

Nicki Minaj, “Anaconda”

Nicki Minaj’s 2014 ode to her posterior, which samples Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” while ticking off her bodily attributes, was accompanied by an eye-popping clip that co-stars a knocked-over Drake and a banana. “At first I’m being sexual with the banana, and then it’s like, ‘Ha-ha, no,'” she told GQ in 2014. “That was important for us to show in the kitchen scene, because it’s always about the female taking back the power, and if you want to be flirty and funny that’s fine, but always keeping the power and the control in everything.”

22

Enrique Iglesias, “Escape”

2001’s fizzy yet determined “Escape” was accompanied by a clip that allowed Iglesias and his then-girlfriend, Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova, to let viewers in on how tough dating while famous can be. Stolen moments in a ladies’ room and a parking lot are steamy, but cut short by eagle-eyed security guards – until Iglesias’ concert ends and Kournikova sticks around for a long-awaited kiss. “It was my first video and it was pretty sexy,” Kournikova told the British Mirror, “but that’s not difficult when you’re acting with Enrique.”

21

Shakira feat. Rihanna, “Can’t Remember to Forget You”

A video with Colombian pop powerhouse Shakira and Barbadian megastar Rihanna would have been sexy even if the two stood completely still, but this 2014 clip, directed by Joseph Kahn, turns up the heat in glam locales outfitted with luxe beds that allowed for side-by-side writhing. “She’s the sexiest woman on the planet,” Shakira told Glamour of her co-star. “And at the end of the day, we’re both just basically Caribbean girls. The chemistry was so good and so real.”

20

George Michael, “Freedom 90”

YouTube

George Michael’s decision to remove himself from the videos for his 1990 album Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 paid off handsomely with this clip, in which a galaxy of supermodels – Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, and Tatjana Patitz – lip-synch his liberatory dance track while lounging about their houses. The David Fincher-directed clip showed the models’ everyday sides in a playfully sensual way, with Crawford getting down to Michael’s soulful track in the bathtub and Turlington channeling a cat while crawling across a floor to its rhythm.

19

Christina Milian, “Dip It Low”

Cycling through eye-popping outfits and booty-popping dance moves, Christina Milian puts on a master class for aspiring video vixens in her 2003 clip for the stuttering “Dip It Low.” “The song explains to a woman how to bring the flame back with your man when it goes out,” Milian told the New York Daily News, although the set piece where Milian, dipped in black paint and writhing on a white pedestal to make art out of herself, might be a bit messy.

18

Fountains of Wayne, “Stacy’s Mom”

New Jersey power-poppers Fountains of Wayne’s 2003 ode to a hot mom got a jolt from its video, which starred supermodel Rachel Hunter as the matriarch who’s “got it goin’ on.” “We somehow convinced Rachel Hunter to star in our video, which is a very good thing,” Schlesinger told The Washington Post that year, “She was a fan, she liked the song and the band, and she thought it was a good idea, and who are we to say no? She was absolutely perfect for it, she totally got the song and did the video in the right spirit.”

17

Paula Abdul, “Cold Hearted”

Paula Abdul’s videos often paid tribute to pop culture’s past, but 1988’s “Cold Hearted” took it to another level, saluting choreographer Bob Fosse’s slinky choreography for 1979’s All That Jazz with this temperature-elevating, David Fincher-directed clip. “I think more dancers injured themselves on this video shoot than any other,” Abdul told Rolling Stone in 2014. “Just a lot of things, like sliding on our knees, working with raw elements of scaffolding; nothing was very comfortable. We were working with real wood, metal, concrete. Because it had to be gritty.”

The White Stripes’ 2003 cover of this Burt Bacharach/Hal David lament made headlines for its video, which paired supermodel Kate Moss with director Sofia Coppola as she was on the verge of releasing Lost In Translation.According to The New York Times, the concept came easily to Coppola: ”I said, ‘I don’t know – how about Kate Moss doing a pole dance?’ I said that because I would like to see it. That’s the way I work: I try to imagine what I would like to see.”

Alicia Silverstone and Liv Tyler play pals on a rampage in this raucous clip for Aerosmith’s 1994 power ballad, which features cutting class, pole dancing, skinny dipping and strong hints that Liv got at least a few of her moves from her daddy, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler.

14

Ciara feat. Ludacris, “Ride”

Diane Martel directed Ciara through the mechanical bull rides and sultry gyrations that make up this 2010 clip, which was left off BET’s daily video countdown 106 & Park because of its sexual content. While initial reports claimed it had been banned, BET denied the allegation, saying that they merely were waiting on edits from Ciara and her camp. “I am definitely aware that my video has some very sensual moments in it,” Ciara told Rap-Up at the time. “I’m definitely more than willing to make an edit to make it suitable for whatever it is that would be more comfortable to the network.” Of course, by then, videos had become distributed online as well as on TV, so those who wanted to see Ciara could work around BET’s reticence.

13

Madonna, “Express Yourself”

Frank Micelotta/Getty

David Fincher’s 1989 video for Madonna’s second Like A Prayer single is an homage to Fritz Lang’s dystopian Metropolis, although the eroticism is kicked up a notch or 10; while workers in an imposing building’s nether regions grind gears and drip with sweat, Madonna engages in a bit of a costume show, playing chilly diva, gender-bent orator, and rich man’s plaything. The happy ending – in which a vulnerable Madonna gives herself up to one of the beautiful, muscular men seen toiling down below – is liberatory and pretty hot, repurposing Lang’s epigraph “Without the heart, there can be no understanding between the hand and the mind” into a call for sexual freedom.

12

Selena Gomez, “Hands to Myself”

Alek Keshishian was no stranger to pop stars who wanted to push boundaries, having directed the Madonna documentary Truth or Dare – and that’s why Selena Gomez tipped him to direct the video for her minimalist 2015 single “Hands to Myself.” In it, Gomez plays a stalker so overcome by the idea of her fantasy life with model Christopher Mason that she breaks into his house. “I wanted the idea to feel like it was two different versions of being in this fantasy,” Gomez said in a making-of clip. “I think everybody can have those moments where they’re dreaming about what their life could be, especially if they’re girls with love, being obsessed with an idea and you can’t control yourself, because that’s what you want no matter what is happening.”

11

Duran Duran, “Girls on Film”

The 1981 video for Duran Duran’s grim portrayal of the model life gave MTV’s standards and practices department an instant jolt – the clip, directed by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, features a parade of models in different outfits (cowgirl gear, nurses’ outfits, a fur coat/plastic underwear combo that seems to have limited utility outside of music videos) flaunting their stuff while also dabbling in light bondage. “Girls on Film” came together a few weeks before MTV launched in the summer of 1981, allowing both band and channel to bask in controversy.  

YouTube

When Beyoncé dropped her self-titled visual album in 2013, the video “Partition” stood out: Set in part at the Parisian cabaret Crazy Horse, where B and Jay-Z got engaged, its bored-housewife fantasy pivots on Beyoncé playing onstage seductress to Jay, undulating and staring him down as she sings about getting it on in the back of a limo. “I remember thinking, damn, these girls are fly!” Beyoncé said in the making-of documentary Self-Titled. “I thought it was the ultimate sexy show I’ve ever seen, and I was like, ‘I wish I was up there. I wish I could perform that for my man.’ So that’s what I did, for the video.”

The concept of Rihanna’s bondage-appreciating track “S&M” is pretty straightforward, but director Melina Metsoukas wanted to make the clip a little more high-concept. The brightly hued, occasionally goofy 2011 video is an allegory for the Barbadian singer’s “sadomasochist relationship with the press… it isn’t just about a bunch of whips and chains,” Matsoukas told Billboard in 2011, and while it does feature Ri in a host of latex outfits, it also shows her whipping reporters and bringing online gossip columnists to heel – a hint that she has more control over her image than reporters might think.

YouTube

A chronicle of a wood-paneled basement hang that turns into something much more charged, the 1997 video for Fiona Apple’s “Criminal” transformed the amateur-porn aesthetics ofCalvin Klein’s controversial 1995 ad campaigninto a steamy, overlit gathering of entangled bodies that matched its song’s regret-filled mood. (The uncomfortable lighting, director Mark Romanek told The New York Times, was the result of him attaching a cheap halogen lamp to his camera—”so dumb it worked,” he told the paper about the inspiration that led to “Criminal” winning the 1998 Video Music Award for Best Cinematography.)

6

D’Angelo, “Untitled (How Does it Feel)”

Any video for “Untitled (How Does It Feel),” the simmering come-on from funk auteur D’Angelo’s 2000 masterpiece Voodoo, would have been sexy – the song’s a slow-burn seduction that draws inspiration from Marvin and Al, filtered through the musical genius’s thoughtful style. But the single-shot clip, in which D wears nothing but a crucifix, gives the full-body treatment to the track, leaving little to the imagination while daring it to run wild. “D’Angelo is singing about being intimate with a woman that he loves,” Star Jones told The New York Times in 2000. “And it’s just basic voice and body, and when you’re in an intimate situation with a man, that’s really all that’s there – the voice and the body and the light hitting the body in a way that makes you know that this is your man.”

5

Janet Jackson, “Any Time, Any Place”

Janet Jackson’s fantasy life gets top billing in 1994’s video for “Any Time, Any Place,” although the lyrics’ ideas of getting it on in public are brought indoors, where the R&B superstar and her across-the-hall neighbor engage in erotic play that includes strawberries and steam on their terms. The clip also doubled as an ad for the ways that safe sex could be fun – “any time, any place ……be responsible,” the screen admonishes after the final lingering image of Jackson fades out.

4

Britney Spears, “I’m a Slave 4 U”

YouTube

“I think if you keep challenging yourself to do something different,” Britney Spears told the UK’s Observer in 2001, “people will see that and like that. But it’s up to me to change.” The video for “I’m A Slave 4 U” – the first single from that year’s Britney, a laser-gun pop-funk track produced by then-on-the-rise duo The Neptunes – showed how far Spears was willing to go, at least in terms of potential dehydration. It’s a sweaty romp in a dance club that looks fashioned out of a sauna, where Spears and her backup dancers fall under the spell of the song’s skeletal beat.

3

Madonna, “Justify My Love”

YouTube

YouTube

The polymorphously perverse Prince probably deserves his own “sexiest videos” list. Like Madonna, his boundary-testing clips helped push MTV’s standards and practices departments into new directions. But the video for 1986’s jittery funk come-on “Kiss” stands out, as it shows off Prince’s moves – and his midriff – alongside guitarist Wendy Melvoin and dancer Monique Manning, whose playful rapport with the singer gives the clip an extra erotic charge.

1

Chris Isaak, “Wicked Game”

YouTube

The ingredients that make up Chris Isaak’s 1990 video for his soul-plumbing ballad are pretty simple: a man, a woman, a beach. But under the guidance of director Herb Ritts, that equation added up to the steamiest video of all time, a black-and-white clip in which Isaak and supermodel Helena Christensen seductively (yet strategically – Christensen was topless, although her nudity was well-hidden by camera angles and edits) lolled about in the sand while waves lapped and Isaak sighed over a sparse guitar line inspired by the most wounded pop of the Sixties. The smoldering passion exhibited by Isaak and Christensen had a vulnerability about it that still makes the video’s simple concept eye-popping decades later.

Sent from my iPhone

[brookston]

Holidays 7.12

Holidays

Alkanet Day (French Republic)

Battle of the Boyne Day

Carver Day (Missouri)

Different Colored Eyes Day

Disco Demolition Day (Chicago, Illinois)

Divad Etep’t (Elder Scrolls)

Etch-A-Sketch Day

Fjord Day

International Cabin Crew Day

International Malala Day

Internet-Wide Day of Action for Net Neutrality

Lawyer’s Day (Mexico)

Malala Day

National Collector Car Appreciation Day

National Hair Creator’s Day

National Tyler Day

New Conversations Day

Night of Nights

Orangeman’s Day (a.k.a. “The Twelfth;” Northern Ireland, Newfoundland and Labrador)

Rainmaker Day (Salem, Oregon)

Ratha Yathra (a.k.a. King; parts of India)

Relieve Stress By Walking Outside and Calling the Hogs Day

712 Day (Iowa)

Simplicity Day

Tirana Festival (Chile)

Unification Day (England; by Athelstan of England, 927 CE)

USA Woman VP Day

Visitation Day

World Paper Bag Day

World Penis Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Eat Your Jell-O Day

International Cava Day

Michelada Day

National Pecan Pie Day

2nd Wednesday in July

National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving (Montserrat) [2nd Wednesday]

Sweetheart Days Festival begin (Minnesota) [2nd Wednesday; thru Friday]

Independence Days

Granda Aŭtista Duklando de Sophia (Declared; 2016) [unrecognized]

Kiribati (from UK, 1979)

Pacificonia (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Pibocip (Declared; 2000) [unrecognized]

Sao Tome and Principe (from Portugal, 1975)

Feast Days

Amedeo Modigliani (Artology)

Andrew Wyeth (Artology)

St. Elizabeth of Hungary (Positivist; Saint)

Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (Eastern Orthodox)

Germ (Muppetism)

Hermagoras and Fortunatus (Christian; Saints)

Jason of Thessalonica (Catholic Church)

John Gualbert (Christian; Saint)

Kronia (Kronos Festival; Ancient Greece)

Louis Martin and Marie-Azélie Guérin (Christian; Saint)

Molly Darton (Muppetism)

Naadam, Day 2 (Mongolia)

Nabor and Felix (Christian; Martyrs)

Nathan Söderblom (Lutheran, Episcopal Church (USA))

Pam Grier Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Paisios of Mount Athos (Greek Orthodox)

Solstitium VIII (Pagan)

Surrealism Day (Pastafarian)

Vardavar (Pagan Prank Festival; Armenia)

Veronica (Christian; Saint)

Viventiolus, Bishop of Lyon (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Lucky Day (Philippines) [39 of 71]

Prime Number Day: 193 [44 of 72]

Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]

Premieres

The Adventures of Sam Spade (Radio Series; 1946)

Breakfast of Champions, by Kurt Vonnegut (Novel; 1973)

The Bride Came C.O.D. (Film; 1941)

California Girls, by The Beach Boys (Song; 1965)

A Dance of Dragons, by George R.R. Martin (Novel; 2011) [A Song of Fire and Ice #5]

Explorers (Film; 1985)

Family Feud (TV Game Show; 1976)

I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke, by The New Seekers (Radio Jingle; 1971)

Last Date, by Floyd Cramer (Song; 1960)

Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League — Gotham City Breakout (Animated Film; 2016)

Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome (Film; 1985)

Monk (TV Series; 2002)

Northern Exposure (TV Series; 1990)

Oz (TV Series; 1997)

Pacific Rim (Film; 2013)

Point Break (Film; 1991)

Princess Mononoke (Animated Studio Ghibli Film; 1997)

Road to Perdition (Film; 2002)

She (Film; 1935)

Silverado (Film; 1985)

Trouble for Trumpets, by Peter Cross and Peter Dallas-Smith (Children’s Book; 1984)

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (Film; 1961)

When Harry Met Sally (Film; 1989)

Today’s Name Days

Nabor, Felix (Austria)

Fortunat, Hilarije, Mislav, Proklo, Tanja, Živko (Croatia)

Bořek (Czech Republic)

Henrik (Denmark)

Armand, Härm, Härmel, Härmo, Herman, Hermann, Hermo (Estonia)

Herkko, Herman, Hermanni (Finland)

Jason, Olivier (France)

Siegbert, Henriette, Felix, Elenore (Germany)

Veronike, Veroniki (Greece)

Dalma, Izabella (Hungary)

Ermacora, Fortunato (Italy)

Heinrichs, Henriks, Indriķis, Ints (Latvia)

Izabelė, Margiris, Vyliaudė (Lithuania)

Eldar, Elias (Norway)

Andrzej, Euzebiusz, Feliks, Henryk, Jan Gwalbert, Paweł, Piotr, Tolimir, Weronika (Poland)

Nina (Slovakia)

Fortunato, Juan (Spain)

Herman, Hermine (Sweden)

Hilary, Ilary, Larry, Veronica (Ukraine)

Bud, Buddy, Jason, Jay, Jayla, Jaylen, Laylin, Laylon, Jayson, Oscar, Osvaldo, Oswald, Oswaldo, Ozzie, Waldo (USA)

Jace, Jacey, Jacy, Jaison, Jase, Jasen, Jason, Jayce, Jaycee, Jaycen, Jayson, Live, Olivier, Olivia, Oliver, Ollie, Olly (Universal)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 193 of 2024; 172 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of week 28 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 3 of 28]

Chinese: Month 5 (Wu-Wu), Day 25 (Xin-Wei)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 23 Tammuz 5783

Islamic: 23 Dhu al-Hijjah 1444

J Cal: 13 Lux; Sixday [13 of 30]

Julian: 29 June 2023

Moon: 23%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 25 Charlemagne (7th Month) [St. Elizabeth of Hungary]

Runic Half Month: Feoh (Wealth) [Day 14 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 22 of 94)

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 22 of 31)

[miguelmarias]

Four Friends (Arthur Penn, 1981)

El tiempo y América

Como Sauve qui peut (la vie) y Raging Bull, Four Friends es una película que devuelve la esperanza: Godard demuestra que el cine no pertenece al pasado, que no es una lengua hermosa, pero muerta; Scorsese y Penn, cada uno a su manera, que el cine americano sigue vivo. Han muerto Renoir y Hitchcock, Walsh y Dwan, se ha suicidado Eustache, pero aún quedan algunos cineastas, cada vez más solos y con menos público, capaces de seguir explorando las posibilidades del cine, sabidas ya, o todavía por descubrir, para interpretar la realidad o dar forma a la fantasía.

Tras un largo silencio reparador, Penn vuelve tras la cámara. Y ha madurado: Four Friends (Georgia, 1981) cumple las promesas de Night Moves (La noche se mueve, 1975) y desmiente la recaída en tentaciones fáciles, que supuso The Missouri Breaks (Missouri, 1976). He aquí un film hecho con entusiasmo juvenil y serena sabiduría, sin ostentación, pero con firme seguridad; sin acritud, pero con fuerza y entereza; un film que está constantemente de despedida diciendo adiós a una época y a una etapa de la vida de sus protagonistas, pero sin permitir que surja la nostalgia, pues no da tiempo a que el espectador se instale a añorar tiempos pasados mejores (para él o para los personajes). El sentimiento del paso del tiempo, que tan bien supo describir Rivette (en una crítica de Esplendor en la yerba, muy superior a la película de Kazan), tiene en Four Friends una espléndida manifestación gracias a una estructura narrativa tan original como lógica, que hace que experimentemos con los protagonistas el curso — veloz o sin huella, unas veces; más lento o memorable, otras— de los años en un tiempo mínimo de proyección: pasan muchas cosas —tristes o divertidas, banales o excepcionales, terribles y hasta melodramáticas—, pero les ocurren a personas — ficticias, sin duda; pero creíbles— que nos conciernen, y se suceden sin prisas ni confusión, sin acumularse atropelladamente, a un ritmo flexible que se remansa o acelera sin empujones de guión o de montaje. El tiempo pasa, por mucho que se haga por retener un instante o adelantar un suceso, y, porque Penn acepta eso con realismo, su película es tranquila y reposada hasta en sus momentos más febriles o dramáticos. Penn se toma su tiempo para contar o mostrar en detalle lo que más le interesa, lo que suele omitirse o descuidarse, a cambio de pasar rápidamente por hechos sobre los que se ha insistido en demasía y que pueden evocarse con una leve alusión, con una imagen o una frase. Four Friends no aspira a la exhaustividad ni ambiciona enumerar los «grandes temas» del período en que sitúa la acción; no desdeña, en contrapartida, los pequeños sucesos sin repercusión social que afectan a los individuos hasta cambiar el rumbo de sus vidas o alterar su carácter. Los personajes no son «tipos», no representan clases sociales ni actitudes generales, sino seres vivos, con personalidad, por los que Penn siente afecto, interés o simpatía, que trata de entender y hacernos comprender porque, como sujetos pasivos de la historia, le permiten atisbar la cara oculta, las raíces de una época y de unos acontecimientos que dejan sentir ahora sus consecuencias.

Four Friends es, ante todo, la historia de tres amigos y una chica extraña y atractiva, Georgia (Jodi Thelen, una revelación), de la que los tres estuvieron enamorados y que quiso a los tres, en los años 60, en el corazón de América. No es toda la historia, ni la de todos ellos; son partes de sus historias, momentos escogidos al azar relativo de sus aproximaciones y alejamientos afectivos y geográficos en el tiempo. Tal vez por el sentido atribuido por Penn a esos fragmentos me vino a la memoria, hacia la mitad de la película, una frase de Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938) en la nota «Al lector», con que da comienzo a su primera novela, Look Homeward, Angel (1929): «Somos la suma de todos los momentos de nuestras vidas, todo lo nuestro está en ellos: no podemos evitarlo ni ocultarlo.» En esa misma introducción, el joven Wolfe advierte que ha escrito «desde una distancia intermedia y sin rencor ni acritud intencionada», y recuerda, con lucidez, que, aunque no es lo mismo realidad y ficción, «la ficción es realidad seleccionada y comprendida, es lo real estructurado y cargado de sentido». Esta admisión de que no hay escapatoria (de lo real, de lo vivido), unida a la defensa de lo fragmentario estilizado, da, creo yo, una pista para entender el criterio con que Penn y su guionista Steve Tesich han escogido los instantes que componen esta especie de crónica personal y sentimental de los años 60 en América. Al contrario que otras varias que recientemente se han propuesto abarcar un período más o menos largo de la historia de su país —como la mezquina Willie and Phil—, la película que inspira estas reflexiones se deja guiar por sus personajes, pero sin someterse a ellos, más que por la estela de los acontecimientos de mayor repercusión sociológica, política o informativa, o que por el capricho de la memoria subjetiva. No es, pues, una película de los años 60, sino de los 80, por mucho que el núcleo de lo que nos cuenta suceda en aquella década. Quiero decir con eso, para empezar, que no podría haberse hecho sin perspectiva temporal, y tampoco desde la de los 70, aunque en 1981 tampoco la hubieran hecho así Kazan, Kubrick o Altman, ni —no es cuestión de estatura artística o ética— Fuller, Mulligan o Peckinpah. Si antes de verla no la esperaba de Penn, al rato de empezar era evidente que, pese a las innovaciones que supone en su obra, era plenamente consecuente con su carrera, al menos con lo mejor de ella. Explicar, como en pura justicia requeriría tal afirmación, lo que de nuevo tiene en el cine de Penn me obligaría, sin embargo, a dar mi visión de su trayectoria, y no acabaríamos nunca, aun suponiendo que a alguien pudiera interesarle, sobre todo teniendo en cuenta que me siento incapaz de garantizar no ya que mi opinión sea acertada, sino ni siquiera que fuese a pensar ahora lo mismo que la última vez que vi cada una de sus películas precedentes, varias de ellas muy contradictorias y heteróclitas, casi tan repartidas entre lo admirable y lo aborrecible como las más características de Kazan. Ni el lector ni yo tenemos tiempo, y yo, además, no tengo espacio, ni ganas de hacerlo. Así hemos llegado, como quien no quiere la cosa, a los tres factores que explican —pues con ellos está hecha, de ellos depende— Four Friends: el tiempo y el espacio, marco y materia primera de todo el cine, y las ganas, el deseo, raíz de todo drama, estímulo de toda conquista, motor de toda creación (lograda o no), razón de la comedia e impulso de la vida y su conservación. Cine y vida en simbiosis, pero no confundidos: no es un film real «como la vida misma», no juega al reconocimiento —aunque puede que algunos de sus compatriotas se vean retrospectivamente reflejados—, sino que busca la perspectiva, si no se entiende ésta como «distancia», inexistente en Penn, el menos «bretchtiano» de los cineastas americanos, y no esta vez porque filme a quemarropa (y, en ocasiones, a traición: por la espalda, de perfil, desde abajo del mentón) con varias cámaras, sino porque es una película calurosamente amiga de sus pobladores ficticios (personajes jóvenes) y reales (actores novatos), así como de sus inquilinos de paso (espectadores); Penn contempla a los primeros, guía a los segundos y se dirige a los terceros exactamente como a Gene Hackman y compañía en la primera pieza cobrada (Night Moves) desde esa madurez adquirida de la que Four Friends —tras el bache con badenes de Missouri— es la segunda y más definitiva (esperemos) prueba. Es decir, desde una cierta distancia, con respeto, con confianza, con tranquila seguridad. No es la calma del viejo, el cansado o el perezoso, sino la del que está seguro, pero no del todo; de su oficio, tal vez, y de su honradez más que de su puntería, por lo que no se atrinchera en su posición. A lo mejor no piensa con claridad, pero ve claro y sabe plasmarlo dramáticamente en imágenes, sonidos, rostros, gestos, minutos, movimientos; no hace falta ser muy inteligente —y conviene no serlo demasiado, no pasarse de listo— para hacer una película como la última de Penn, sino algo más difícil de conservar, si se tiene, y que es un rasgo, no nos precipitemos a llamarle virtud, cada vez más infrecuente: generosidad. Pero no la del buen samaritano, ni la del rico desprendido, ni la del que se deja robar hasta la dentadura postiza, ni la del que juega a benefactor, sino otra, seguramente tan inconsciente e inevitable como la respiración, aunque menos mecánica y menos imprescindible —si no es nociva, en el fondo— para seguir con vida en un planeta de las características atmosféricas de este llamado Tierra, que compartimos quien esto lee, el que lo escribe, Penn, los personajes de sus películas y un montón de gente que nada tiene en común salvo el territorio que a menudo se disputa.

Publicado en el nº 15 de Casablanca (marzo de 1982)

[tonkiflo]

Grid iron wars 2000s college teams

Not much opportunity for the home crowd to perform the war chant.Ĭollier rushed for 150 yards, threw for two touchdowns, and set back FSU football so far the 'Noles would not return to the Orange Bowl for 11 years. USM went on to shock the Seminoles, 58-14. The clock showed 8:33 remaining in the third quarter when Reggie Collier left the game. The powerful 'Noles were coming off two straight Orange Bowl seasons and so far in 1981 had beaten Ohio State in Columbus, Notre Dame in South Bend, and LSU in Baton Rouge. Southern Miss rolled into Tallahassee, Florida to take on Bobby Bowden's Seminoles of Florida State in the Eagles' ninth game of the year. The tie was from a contest played in Birmingham against Alabama, Paul Bryant's Alabama, who would lose only one regular season game in '81. In 1981, after the first eight games of the year, the Golden Eagles' record stood at 7 wins, no losses, and one tie. With his size he could also bowl over tacklers.Ĭollier was a realtively local fellow from Biloxi, Mississippi who became the first quarterback in NCAA history to rush for over a thousand yards and pass for over a thousand yards in the same season. Reggie Collier stood 6'3" and weighed 210, he could cut on a dime and outrun any player on the field. Sit back while we discuss the performance of quarterback Reggie Collier and his Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles in the 1981 and '82 seasons. The 1980s saw the coming of the super-athlete, players who were gifted physically beyond anything seen previously. Look at the size of his hands, check out those biceps, care to guess how big around are his thighs? Can you imagine those knees hitting you on the chin? See the player in the picture? Can you name him? Robinson gathered and inspired his troops, resulting in USC winning every game they played during the rest of the season. It was the worst opening game home loss for the Trojans since 1888.īut the grit in people is not to be measured by one instance for there is no snapshot into the soul, other than measuring how one can meet and overcome adversity in life. The LA Coliseum crowd watched in horror, and then in stunned silence, as Missouri rushed for 315 yards and passed for 171 in manhandling the Trojans, 46-25. To open the 1976 season the Trojans hosted the Missouri Tigers, a so-so outfit from the Big 8 Conference, and USC was favored, favored to end this affair by halftime. When Coach McKay left for the NFL in the state of Florida, Oakland Raiders assistant coach John Robinson was given the responsibility to oversee the fortunes of Troy. Some questioned the need for athletic contact sports, various groups contested the racial make up of coaching staffs, and still others attempted to break through the glass ceiling of accepted behavior by "jocks."įor whatever reason, the 1975 season saw the end of one of the greatest relationships in football history, the longtime presence of the brilliant John McKay on the sideline at the University of Southern California. The 1970's produced conflict both on the field and in the hallowed halls of college administrators. The 1970s were a time of turmoil for coaches who were used to telling their players what to do and not having to explain why they wanted it done that way.Ĭollege players in the 1960s kept their hair cut during the season, chuckled under their breath at the ways of "the old men", and committed their mischief in the summertime when no one was watching. Who said you couldn't combine Woody Hayes with Simon and Garfunkel in a college football article? When the gun sounded the crowd was eerily quiet as they gazed at the unbelievable result on the scoreboard, Penn State 27 Ohio State 0. With an overflow house in attendance, Penn State held the Buckeyes without a first down until five minutes remained in the third quarter and snuffed out Woody's vaunted ground game, holding Ohio State to 33 yards rushing. Penn State was coached by Rip Engle, one of the most crafty men to ever walk the sidelines, but the season had started terribly for the blue and white as they lost four of their first five games. On the first Saturday in November the Buckeyes of Woody Hayes (see pictured) took the field for a home game with an independent school from the East, the Penn State Nittany Lions. Going into November the Ohio State Buckeyes were ranked No.1 or 2 in all the polls, sported a 6-0 record, and had given up only 39 total points during the year. It took another year for the subsequent recording of "The Sounds of Silence" to achieve fame for Simon and his friend Art Garfunkel, but the college football season of 1964 needed no delay in providing one of the biggest surprises in college football history. "Hello darkness my old friend, I've come to talk with you again" were the words written by Paul Simon in 1964.

[giant1956]

jack nicholson and marlon brando on the set of the missouri breaks, ‘76.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

wish i could say this made sense in context

[blackros78]

Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson on set of The Missouri Breaks in 1976.