Marathon of the Lost: Week 2
It’s been another week, which means that I watched another
week’s worth of movies featuring contributions of some people we lost in
2013. This week has led me to watch some
good movies that I had never seen before.
It gave me appreciation for some great people that I took for granted
over the years. Do you want to know
which movies, and which people? I think
you do. Here are this week’s movies.
Snatch.
This is one of two movies this week that weren’t originally
in the schedule for the month. It is one
of two movies where I was reminded of the death during the first week of the
marathon. That fact makes me sad because
both movies are people that I respected.
I’m not sure how their deaths had slipped my mind. It’s as painful as the deaths themselves. Why did I choose Snatch.? I chose it because of the death of Dennis
Farina, and how this movie features my favourite performance of his.
Dennis Farina passed away on July 22nd, 2013 at
the age of 69. He suffered a pulmonary
embolism, which is a blockage of an artery in the lung. His career spanned decades and included work
in movies like Get Shorty and Midnight Run, as well as on television shows such
as Law and Order, Luck, and New Girl.
He’s done a lot of work, but my favourite performance I’ve seen
from him is his performance in Snatch.
Farina perfectly embodies the character that he is playing, and I
couldn’t imagine anyone else in the role.
The brashness of the character is excellently portrayed by Dennis
Farina. On top of that, the movie is a
fun little tale of interwoven stories and chains of events. Everything interlocks in certain ways to make
it feel more than a simple caper gone wrong.
It’s a comedy of errors of sorts.
It’s a good movie made better through some great performances. Dennis Farina gave one of them.
Clash of the Titans
This is the other movie featuring the work of someone who I
forgot had died in 2013. This time, the
death was that of Ray Harryhausen. I
hadn’t seen any of his work previously, but I owned Clash of the Titans. I thought that now was the perfect time to
watch it. I mean, it’s one of
Harryhausen’s most popular films. His
effects work is showcased throughout the film.
It’s a wonder I hadn’t seen any of his work before. I’m not sure how I had missed out on this
creative genius’s filmography.
Ray Harryhausen died on May 7th, 2013 at age
92. That’s a pretty long life, if I do
say so myself. He was a pioneer in
effects work and influenced many of the filmmakers who came after him. His stop motion work is among some of the
most famous and popular stop motion animation to ever exist. The film Pacific Rim was dedicated to him.
Like I said, his work is in the foreground of Clash of the
Titans throughout the runtime. The
monsters, creatures, and mythical beings that exist within the film couldn’t
exist without the mind of Ray Harryhausen.
The guy did work on levels that other people couldn’t. He was a pioneer in effects work and his
contribution to film will forever be remembered. He helped to make a fun mythological
adventure movie that inspired a remake, a sequel to the remake, and many other
adventure flicks of the same kind. His
legacy will last.
Where the Wild Things Are
I have appreciated James Gandolfini’s work in whatever I
have seen him in. His presence helps to
lift a film in a way that some actors can.
Because of this I decided that for this marathon I would choose a movie
that highlights his presence without actually showing him. I wanted to go with a voice performance and
see if it lifted the film in the same way that seeing him would. Where the Wild Things Are seemed like the
right choice for this.
James Gandolfini passed away on June 19th of 2013
at the age of 51. It was confirmed
through an autopsy that he died of a heart attack. A lot of celebrities came out to say great
things about the man. I’m not going to
list them here because that would be twenty blog posts worth of material. Let’s just say that he was greatly respected
and loved by others in the business.
The right choice was made by picking Where the Wild Things
are for this marathon. Instead of
focusing on seeing James Gandolfini, I got an emotional performance given
through his voice work. It worked in a
way that I couldn’t have anticipated.
His voice portrayed the internal struggle that the character had. It brought personality to the character. Voice work is something that is difficult to
accomplish in a satisfying manner. Many
actors cannot pull off emotional voice work.
The fact that Gandolfini was able to do it in this movie only goes to
show how good of an actor he was.
Rebecca
I never knew Joan Fontaine’s work. She was someone that completely passed me
by. This retrospective marathon of the
many filmmakers that we lost in 2013 was the perfect way to introduce me to a
respected actress and one of her most popular works. I made my entrance into her career by
watching a movie from Alfred Hitchcock, a director whose movies I tend to
enjoy. Hell, she earned an Oscar
nomination for her work in this movie.
That’s got to be a good way to be introduced to her work.
Joan Fontaine passed away on December 15th, 2013
at the old age of 96. She went in her
sleep of natural causes. I’d say that’s
the best way to go, really. She left
behind a legacy that included the aforementioned Oscar nomination, as well as a
win for Suspicion the year after.
Rebecca is a pretty good movie. It definitely wouldn’t have been as good as
it is without Fontaine’s performance.
She is the central role to the whole movie. She’s the character that the audience is
supposed to relate to, and she is the entry into the mystery behind Rebecca. Without Joan Fontaine and her performance,
the whole movie would fall apart. It’s a
crucial performance that allows Rebecca to be as entertaining as it is. I can understand why people loved Joan
Fontaine. This movie has me on the path
to loving her as well.
The Rocketeer
This is one of those movies that I’ve always heard about,
and most of the time it was good things I was hearing. Joe Johnston, director of Captain America,
directed it. It lays the groundwork for
that movie. Johnston is directing a movie
about a superhero of sorts. It’s a
period piece. You can see how he got
from one to the other. But when you look
at The Rocketeer, it would be nothing without the performances of the actors
within it. One of the actors passed away
in 2013. His name was Ed Lauter.
Ed Lauter died on October 15th, 2013 of
mesothelioma. He was 74, and he was
still making films up to his death. He
has a few films to still come out, so we haven’t seen the last of this
recognizable character actor who appeared in over 200 movies and television shows.
Lauter doesn’t have a huge role in The Rocketeer, but it is
an important one all the same. He’s one
of the lead FBI agents, hunting down the mob and other bad guys in the
movie. He shows up every once in a while
and is an enjoyable presence when he does pop up. That is much like The Rocketeer itself. It’s an enjoyable movie that I’m happy to
have finally watched. It’s something
that I’ve been interested in seeing for a long time, and this seemed like the
perfect chance to seek it out. Lauter
didn’t make the movie, but he supported it well and his presence in movies will
be sorely missed.
That’s it for this week of looking back at different film
involved people who died in 2013. There
were a lot of greats that are now gone.
There are a lot of holes in the hearts of movie lovers around the world
because of these losses. Next week, I’ll
take on a few more of the filmmakers who are no longer with us. I’ll be sad to see them gone, and I’ll be
happy to see you along for the ride with me.
See you next week.
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