Tuesday, June 03, 2008

'Jeremiah Johnson' and other great Sydney Pollack flicks...

So I never got around to saluting Sydney Pollack, a favorite director who passed away May 26.

Pollack helmed one of my all-time favorite westerns, "Jeremiah Johnson," as well as the hilarious Dustin Hoffman comedy "Tootsie" and the mid-70s spy thriller "Three Days of the Condor." He'd often show up in his films -- somewhat to his regret, or so he said -- most memorably as Hoffman's long-suffering agent in "Tootsie."

(Hilarious line: "Nobody's going to pay $20 to see two people move next door to solid waste -- they can see that in New Jersey!")

"I do that only when I can't find the right actor for the part," he later said.

I saw Pollack a few times while watching Charlie Rose's show on nights I couldn't sleep. He seemed like the type of guy you'd like to have a beer with and talk about life. In addition to making movies, he was a world traveler, a producer, and a humanitarian in the best sense of what that means.

I've got "Jeremiah Johnson" sitting on top of the DVD shelf at home. With a little luck, it's getting watched tonight. Only thing is, I usually want to drop out of society and live in the mountains after screening it...

Oh, well. That's good movie making, I guess.

Godspeed to you, Sydney Pollack. Thanks for making some great little flicks.

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1 Comments:

Blogger R. Gabe Davis said...

Jeremiah Johnson, all time favorite movie. They will never make another movie like it. Hollywood is ok with shooting people on the big screen but they wouldn't show Robert Redford kill an animal for its hide or to feed his squaw and adopted son anymore

The Envirocapitalist.....

11:43 PM  

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