White Lightning

 ( Story is about a man freed from gaol seeking revenge on the Sherriff who killed his brother)

This is a lot grittier than the serving's of  Burt's fayre  I am used to. White lighting feels older, there is a rawness and a meanness to this film. The opening scene is men being drowned- almost sacrificed to a lake. People are stopping off at wooden shacks, there are pigs and hens running freely. The bootleggers are still a concern- hell the plot revolves arround Burt turning federal evidence to catch bootleggers

The corrupt sherriff notes his staff cannot buy a washing machine or a dryer- He sends his aging secretary out of the office-before he turns the air blue . everyone smokes and cigarettes are easily and freely given. Gator's father hopes his son, will help him. People recognise Gator's surname and see his kinship 

There is a home of unmarried young mothers- all beautiful, all young. 

There will be a lot of this smoothed down, sanded and retooled into the Dukes of Hazard and the Bandit movies.. but not today. There is a mention of a rum runner's car being painted with the Stars and Bars 

The sherriffs boys are a bit free and easy with the women folk. 

Burt is different- he is clean shaven and his Gator is a man who is constantly losing his temper. He captivates women. He tries to  charm  the aging secretary of the Sherriff and comes on too strong. 

Did Ned Beatty ever look young?

I am glad I watched this, I won't rewatch this. There is a uncanny valley feeling here- it is Burt but not yet as we know him

Boogie Nights

 

I have wanted to watch this for decades. I probably didn't have the money as a teen-I have been put off for in viewing it by the content

It looks great- it could be 

A great performance by Burt Reynolds -Finally he is cast as the type of character I  I have wanted to see him play  for a while. Namely a competent, tough and seasoned leader . A Bandit who is not mugging for the camera.

OR

A deeply vain and cynical man. Who is  vampirically preying on the young and hopeless. Heather Graham is driven from school Diggler was a prostitute and assumes he is being propositioned

It is 5 dollars the price asked for. Which would be about 20 pounds  

Boogie Nights is almost a comedy- It is almost a great comedy You can see why Cheadle, Reilly, and Wahlberg all worked in comedy. 

Aside from Reynolds Horner-  There is an air of immaturity about the cast in this film. Jack Horner is a fairytale name. This is a rags to riches story  Heather Graham Roller Girl -she refuses to take her footwear off. What neurological condition does that sound like again?   Whalberg is a high school drop out who flees a wicked mother Wahlberg's Diggler wants to make a bond film-He throws kicks on the screen. Ditto Reilly who asks Diggler if he has seen Star Wars. The scene where Whalberg and Reilly first meet each other at a pool party could have been written into Stepbrothers- Diggler does to Stan Bush's The Touch what Megatron does Optimus Prime in another movie 

There is sadness here. This is an industry that destroys people- Cheadle not able to get a bank loan because of his former work. Julianne Moore-obsessed with a younger man and trying to get her son back. There is a touching scene where Moore's estranged child tries to call her at a pool party.

Though it is played for laughs at the beginning- Macey's wife constant cuckoldom of him ends in bloodshed. The same scene is intercut with a technical discussion between the lighting director and stage manager about the level of lighting. We see Horner doing admin. A discussion of the pros and cons of Film v Videotape and how it changed the adult movie market. An attempt to make a gonzo film ends badly  Oh  Horner's money man the Colonel will be arrested and imprisoned  for creating illegal material 

Diggler no longer being the big thing. Leads to his downfall.. That said the film ends mostly happily for most people  Which I think is a bit of a cop out There is a queer bashing scene. Something I hope is as much of a thing of a past as 8 Tracks. That said I think there are new horrors today 

Mean Machine (1974)

 After Deliverence, this may well be Reynolds best movie. I have not seen Boogie Nights. I am put off slightly by it content  I think this is because he is playing himself-when in most films he is playing the fool. I would note that we have Tom Selleck's opinion that Burt was very funny in person

 Here we have Reynolds as the football player he was in his Florida state days- This may be despite the premise and settings, One of the great sport movies. Remember players were often trapped in contracts -people went out to hurt other people on the playing field -due to slights or petty revenge. With the Warden we see a man using sport to make a political point. 

The film was made in the early 1970s and don't we know it. Jim Crow is not forgotten - Burt's Crew is punished by being shackled to a black man. He is sent to work in work detail clearing a swamp. The Guards use racial slurs. Boy is loaded 

I note that the Warden in one scene has a black prisoner acting as his manservant 

I recognised many of the faces if not the names of the same actors who worked with Burt in later movies. I wonder if that was preference or central casting

Burt is gaoled for drunk driving, theft after a fight with his mistress and sugar momma. On the inside he is drafter or better conscripted into the Warden's team

We have a prison secretary who is hot for the inmates. Something that HMP service is currently struggling with too

We have a story about power leading to responsibilty. Burt's crew is a drunken playboy who had a talent for playing football. He didn't really care about anything else- on the inside he bonds with the men his is to lead. Tries to protect them

Oh and dad lied about the ending. It does not end in tragedy 

Hooper

 

I enjoyed this- I think I have seen glimpses of it on occasional Saturdays. I think it was a favorite of the schedulers 

Lots of Action 

It is Burt and Sally's follow up to the Bandit movies. Burt plays older here, but less philosophical than he does in Bandit. Hooper is a smarter, older and wiser Bandit

As the James Bond Franchise dies, it is interesting to note that the movie with in a movie here is a James Bond movie. We see Burt in a white tuxedo

James Best who we will see later in The Dukes of Hazard guest stars

My God the product placement for Cours is intense here

There is a quote about faggots getting married, and a busty stripper seen just out of shot. Which probably would not make the cut today

The Dr who treats hooper smokes

Jan Michael Vincent makes an agreeable debut. 

50 K is enough for Hooper to buy his ranch and move on from performing stunts

There is a lot of love to the stunts performed on old Westerns, there is a nod to the Sword and Sandal epics

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

I did find much to enjoy in this motion picture. I now do however understand why the film is not well regarded.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_Little_Whorehouse_in_Texas_(film)

Burt is the local law, Dolly is Mona the Madam. Dom is the preacher- nicely swapped here to a TV 

The Chicken Ranch is a real place and it has laid  a Parson's Egg. This film has nudity, we see lots of boobs and bums during the raid of the Chicken Ranch.

Dolly shows off her assetts

 So I imagine that stopped a lot of the prospective audience from seeing it. Apparently they could not use the full name in Promos

I think there is a decent romantic comedy about the relationship between Burt and Dolly - hidden here. The scenes with the two just talking under the stars, are well done. Burt calling Dolly a whore stings. Dolly reaching for a gun, during the raid on the house. If this had been Smokey 3 I think this would have been better

The songs are not bad. I liked them, but they are jarring.  It is interesting to hear the governor of Texas describe himself as progressive though

The Dolly brings the house down with I will always love you

The Cannonball Run 2

 I can see why these films have been forgotten in a way that Airplane, and Duck Soup have not been

It is not bad, but it is off it's time.

Jackie Chan does stunts. We get Ratpack jokes. Oh and lots of drinking while in charge of motorised vehicles 

That said I still enjoyed it. Ricardo Montleban, Doug McClure, Catherine Bach- Daisy Duke to you. Richard Kiel. Who I recently saw in Simon and Simon 

My brother reminded me that Daisy Duke is the same age as my uncle. Which killed the mood

It is the last Rat Pack movie- Frank Sinatra makes a Cameo, where he is compared to American Royalty  and the last of the Reynolds and Dom Deluise films. Smokey and the Bandit 2. Cannoball Run, and Cannoball 2. Best Little Whorehouse ...

I liked the Thorn Birds joke- Which Dean Martin makes while trying to pick up a girl in bar. He is dressed as a priest

I never realised how Short Sammy Davis Jnr was- he really is tiny 

Did Tony Danza age noticeably in this before they made Who's the Boss

The Cannonball Run

 

So this viewing was inspired by a bot which constantly posts photos of the jacket worn by Burt Reynolds to social media.  I had never seen this film until now. Phoenix Nights even riffs on it 

Murdoch mentions it in the A-Team

The plot of the film is simple is the Wacky Races live action version

The Cannonball run is a race across America. The Federal Speed Limit Laws, referenced in Smokey and the Bandit applying. Means you must devise a means of making the trip faster than the prescribed 55 miles an hour. Burt or JJ here decides to use an Ambulance and have a doctor and a patient as ringers

The Doctor is funny. The Doctor is played as  supposed a howling horror. This also means he steps on Dom Deluise's feet a bit 

Farah is shanghaied for this purpose. There is some odd dialogue actually when you remember Adriane can't show her nipples 

People must have found Dom Deluise much funnier in the past- or in person. I remember seeing him in Stargate SG-1 and he irritated the hell out of me. He is a bit more tolerable here. I  cannot help but to wonder how much better Robin Williams would have been. 

Rodger Moore steals the show as Rodger Moore. Moore is  smugger more self centered version of himself A testament to how popular Bond was- that Rodger gets a lot of time in this film 

Moore as Bond never got to be the comic actor he should have been. It is a bit of pity his talents are overlooked somewhat 

Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr are great. It is interesting they are waylaid in a Southern Town where the Mayor has an Irish surname. Dean does a great joke about can you drink the sedative that the doctor uses in a brawl 

Farah Fawcett is beautiful. Simply Angelic

Burt is playing the Bandit. He flirts with the Camera and Farah 

There is a lot of drinking and driving ,and drinking while flying. It was the beginning of the 80s

There is no nudity but a plot point is Adrian Barbeau flashing her cleavage while speeding. My guest a remake would avoid that

I liked it. I won't rewatch it I may buy the T-Shirt though 

Burt Reynolds

It is with considerable sadness I note the passing of Burt Reynolds
One of my favourite actors. I grew up watching Smokey and the Bandit. Catching sneaked views of it, during bank holidays. I bought the DVD, when I was older and I understood things, like the reference to Richard petty.
How smart you sound depends on what part of the country you are in

W man who would wear feathers to a minister's funeral

 When I got older I saw Deliverance, a truly brutal film. I was pleased by the return to the spotlight with boogie nights. But he missed more then he hit. The man passed over Han Solo, and Indiana Jones

Actor. Athlete , Seminole Indian