One Tin Soldier Rode Away…

I am shocked and saddened to learn that Tom Laughlin has passed away.  Even though he was 82, his death was unexpected.  For those of you who do not know who he is, I consider him to be the grandfather of the Independent Film.  He is the one who took on Warner Bros. and then distributed his own films which are still among the highest selling films of all time.  I am referring to the “Billy Jack” Trilogy.  These films inspired an entire generation to look within themselves and to try to make a difference in the world.  The release of “Billy Jack” also signaled the birth of a whole new way of marketing film–and it changed the industry whether some recognize this or not.  The world of Independent Film owes this man much more than people realize.  So it is here I will pay my tribute. I cannot think of a more fitting tribute than to close with this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qswm7lHp7oY

My thoughts and prayers go out to his friends, his wife of 60 years, Delores, and his children and grandchildren.

Here is a copy of the obituary as well:Obituary – Tom Laughlin (1)

Nana: The Baby Boomers are the “Forgotten Audience” It Seems…

Well–not to sound cliché but “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!”  I am really tired of networks cancelling good shows like “Harry’s Law“, “Memphis Beat” and “Cold Case” because of Nielsen ratings.  These ratings are no longer truly representative of what viewers want because they do not adequately get put across to households representing all age groups.

Even Warner Bros. has stated that “…baby boomers tend to not go to theaters, so that is why certain movies get marketed…” HELLO!  Dear Warner Bros: We pay the friggin’ bills half the time! Stop ignoring us all! If WE are at home in rocking chairs, it should be us you’re surveying and not those teens and ‘tweens you keep pandering movies to that aren’t fit for my dog to piss on the fire hydrant in front of the theater over. You know exactly to what I am referring.  Yes, I am mad. Yes, I’m still hormonal. Deal with it.  To you we are the forgotten audience, but like that nagging ringing you get in your ears, we are NOT going away. We don’t have one foot on the grave and another on the banana peel yet.

Think they got that, folks? Even if they see it, it will not matter much…

One of the best movies that could appeal to my age group is “The Life of Pi” and the other is “Lincoln”…There’s 12 months in a year and that is all Hollywood has to offer us?  Well, there is “Armour”, which I think is probably one of the best films of last year, so it deserved its Oscar nod as well! And it’s a French film! Not all baby boomers get into “The Avengers”–but there are those who still do.  Just for the hell of it, I will watch “Cowboys and Aliens” on dvd though.  Granted there are a few family films put out, but the best ones get put out by Pixar (“Brave”) and NOT WB.   The Expendables II is also good. Like the idea of all those actors grouping up for another hurrah!

That brings me to another topic…Why don’t you boneheads keep the older actors and actresses we love and respect working?  I’ll watch a movie that has Muse Watson, Ben Cross, Kathy Bates, Helen Mirren or Judi Dench any day of the week before I’ll watch that freaking “Twilight” you keep trying to get me to buy tickets for–which I won’t.  I’ll watch Hammer Films. At least they KNOW how to make a good horror/suspense flick!  Did any of you young whipper snappers see “The Woman in Black” yet? I suggest you watch it and learn a thing or two after subjecting this lifelong Dark Shadows fan to that abysmal movie that was made in 2012.   Hammer Studios knows how to get the job done right. That has been proven.

Bruce Willis also knows how to get the job done right.  “Red” proved that.  Watch this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFLX7Pk1Tn4

Just to note: IF Willis makes a part II for this I hope Mr. Cross gets offered a hell of a comedic role!

If you’re not going to keep us happy using the major networks, I hope some enterprising investors come up with a network JUST FOR older audience members that will keep these actors working and put food on the table!   It makes perfect sense to me!   A little innuendo and such doesn’t bother my age group either.  However constantly being bombarded with the “visioning” and “re-visioning” these screenwriters come up with really pissed off my age group in the past few years.  It has gotten to where I prefer live theater to television anymore because the networks keep putting too much trash on them.  The only good shows worth watching are the CSI’s, NCIS’s, Law and Order spin-offs, etc…I could care less about “Reality TV”. I can watch reality for free every day so I don’t want to see it on the television…

I’d rather see a good variety show than Glee any day of the week.  I think one of the best movies that is going to come out in 2013 is going to be “A Common Man” with Sir Ben Kingsley and Ben Cross starring in it.  I’d pay $30 a ticket for that one!  I’d also pay for a ticket to hear Ben Cross sing, but that’s off the subject a bit…However, that man has some pipes on him, folks!  I never knew he could sing until I saw this a few years back:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khSVOJF4S3c

I think another good movie coming out is “Monumental” which stars Gary Cairns II, who also stars in “Black Butterflies” with Brad Dourif. “Black Butterflies” is also coming out this year too.  Yes, Gary is younger but he knows how to act and he takes good scripts so I’d pay as much to see him also–and he is a down to Earth, cool guy. I can personally attest to that fact.

“Posey” is another film that everyone who has had Alzheimer’s touch their family or has elderly family members they love dearly should watch this year.  Sally Kirkland is a wonderful actress and she recently snagged the Best Actress Award at the Idyllwild CinemaFest for her role.  Billy DaMota is a man with an excellent heart to put such a film together and I fully support it.  Also having Christopher Pennock in the cast peeks my interest as well!  I’d love to see him get more work this year too! Here is the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWMTBV7sIl0

Alright now…Her majesty “Nana” has spoken.  Have a great week!

Dear Hollywood: This is My First Rant of 2013–Signed Nana

Psssst!  The baby boomers are not going away…Did you hear that?!  They make the money, they buy the movie tickets, they buy the CD‘s and, in short, they can literally pull the plug on the recording industry and on the film industry by NOT giving the kids and grand kids money to see and hear the crap being marketed to them.

This generation doesn’t ask for much, but it does ask for logical script-writing and not this re-visioning crap.

It ask for music that means something other than getting messed up or laid at the next party…There is more to life than that during the work-week.

It asks for innovation and originality–not the rehashing of old ideas in order to debase them publicly like Warner Bros. did in 2012 with the Dark Shadows film.  If you’re going to redo a classic, stick to the real story line.  Believe it or not, it was logical and would have worked.  The baby boomers are not interested in you projecting your political thinking into a script either. It was like watching “Occupy Collinwood” and it sucked.

In short, you have bitten the hand that has fed you for the past 20 years and this generation is about to say, “Enough!”

Your networks cancel good shows like “Memphis Beat” and “Harry’s Law“…What’s with that shit?

You give us tripe like “Jersey Shore” and “Sixteen and Pregnant”–or still worse “I Didn’t Know I was Pregnant”…Really? Come on! Get a life! If it weren’t for TiVo the kids would probably be in school and never see that crap anyway.  Thank God I got rid of cable after it became clear that crap is all we’re going to get. I’m not paying $130 a month to watch tripe.

There is enough drama and bull crap in life that Reality TV is not a necessity. You’re better off bringing back the variety show–and I don’t mean shows with nothing but rap and such. Different musical genres should be represented.  God! I miss “Laugh-In”…Seriously and I was a kid when that was cancelled.

New Year’s Rockin’ Eve was a travesty…Not the same without Dick Clark so please change the name of it.

You discard the older actors with real talent and change them for pretty faces that cannot act their way out of a paper bag–even with a good director, which is rare because the good directors, producers and actors are also from the boomer generation, but we’re older than most of you newer CEO’s so we don’t know jack-shit, right? WRONG!  I know most of what people consider “bad acting” lies more at the feet of the director than the actor who has to portray the part as they are told to do…Go figure. The crap the actors get should trickle UP the ladder–not down it.

There are some young actors out there that know their craft too…  I suggest you take a good look at Gary Cairns II. I said a year and a half ago that this young man is going places, and he’s proving me right with every project he gets hired for.  That man has range, and even as young as he is, he lets those characters breathe through him–and that is what I watch for in any actor’s performance. Zachary Quinto is right up there with him! Thank God he got his break!

2013 should be the year you make amends to this generation.  You can start by putting some of the older actors and actresses back to work with quality scripts.  NBC or CBS should take “Memphis Beat” and “Harry’s Law” and re-market them.  They would work just like Hawaii 5-0 did!  Note: The only good shows on right now are Law and Order SVU, H5-0 and NCIS in my book.  I’m beginning to mull the idea that maybe there should be a network created for my generation that will take up the mantle since the ball keeps getting fumbled out in Hollywood.

Anyone listening out there? I doubt it…I will end by saying this:  There are plenty of older actors and actresses out there that would draw us back into theaters and to the TV set  if you would get over your case of posterior cranial rectumitis and put them to WORK!  Kathy Bates, Michael Caine, Wayne Rogers, Ben Cross and Helen Mirren to name a few…Thank God “Banshee” airs on 1/11 on Cinemax…Since I killed the cable, I will find out who can TiVo that for me because I’ll personally watch ANYTHING that Ben Cross appears in.  The man knows his craft and he doesn’t take junk scripts.   Oh and by the way, Robin Williams can also act…You do know that, right?

Funny how you keep ignoring the generation that REALLY holds the purse/wallet.  This may be the year you get a wake up call. One can only hope, but the year does end in “…13” so we’ll have to wait and see, won’t we?  I’ll try not to rant much until mid-year since we’ve only just begun, but it is time you stopped hitting the snooze button in the studios and actually wake up!  By the way, why is it the only way we can watch a decent flick or a good old-fashioned romance is to watch AMC or TCM–or the Hallmark Channel? Do you really think we’re that far gone?  Man, you people in the studios have a lot to learn…Maybe this will be the year–and since I am paying for tickets when I do think something good is coming out, I expect to be listened to.