Vonetta McGee 1945-2010

Gorgeous, sultry, intelligent and highly respected Vonetta MCgee born in San Francisco, began her film career in the Italian comedy Faustina 1968. Her next film the same year was a spaghetti western The Great Silence where she teamed with Klaus Kinsky but it was her work in blaxploitation films of the 1970s that she will be best remembered.  

The blaxploitation genre was exactly that. Black casts in extremely low-budget but very entertaining films that featured interesting, edgy characters in action filled storylines. McGee said of the genre “It’s used like racism, so you don’t have to think of the individual elements, just the whole” and went further to say there was a difference between someone like Diana Ross and other potentially marketable black actresses…”she has a studio behind her and this is where a lot of us fell short. We were on our own.” Anyone who followed Ross’s movie career knows it didn’t take long for her to end up in the toilet and that McGee’s statement although true might not be as scathing as she intended but the main point is there, studio backing or not, racism thrived and is still prevalent in Hollywood. Fred Williamson, her costar in Melinda 1972 succinctly described the difficulties of black actors who did not have studio backing .”Vonetta McGee was like a lot of black actors at the time, like myself, Richard Roundtree, Billy Dee Williams and Pam Grier in that we had more talent than we were allowed to show because everything was perceived as a black project. Once they categorized you, your marketability becomes limited.”  No doubt all these actors held the same feelings about the genre and its consequences but demonstrate the core attribute that exists in every serious actor…working is working. The L.A. Times described McGee as the busiest and most beautiful black actress of her time.

McGee’s screen credits are noteworthy, Hammer and Blacula in 1972, Detroit 9000 and Shaft in Africa 1973, The Eiger Sanction with Clint Eastwood director/star in 1975, Superdome 1978, Repo Man 1984 and rounded out her film career with Johnny B. Good in 1998. She also appeared in recurring TV roles in Cagney and Lacey (where she played the role of wife to Carl Lumbly whom she later married and had one son), Bustin’ Loose and L.A. Law.

McGee who passed away from congestive heart failure in Berkeley California leaves behind her husband and son.

d. Debra Granik

c. Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Lauren Sweetser

A tour-de-force performance by Jennifer Lawrence saves this bleak and colorless film from becoming a cousin to scores of movies that depict backwoods country living in derogatory terms.

The story centers around Ree (Lawrence) whose father has used their home and property as bail bond and then flees leaving her to search for him in order to prevent the state from throwing the remainder of her family ( a mentally ill mother and 2 very young siblings) out into the brutal Ozark cold.

Ree’s determination does not go un-noticed by her extended family ( apparently everyone in the Ozarks is related in some form or another) and she finds herself in murky, dangerous situations trying to save the only home she has ever known.

Director Granik used local people and their homes to make this film giving it an authenticity that is hard to ignore or forget. The performances are honest, the women are mean and the winter cold that envelops the story and the characters radiates from the screen.

I liked it but would not want to see it again.

d. Riki Stern, Annie Sundberg

c. Joan Rivers, Melissa Rivers, Kathy Griffin

A long time ago I saw The Eyes of Tammy Faye, a documentary about a woman I loathed and by the end of this exceptional film I was totally in love with her. That is a testament to the power of film. I had hoped that Joan Rivers, A Piece of Work would provide another about-face in my opinion of this legendary comedienne but unfortunately it did not.

I still see Rivers as a garish, caustic and relentless performer who tries too hard to remain relevant. Her desire to keep working as she approaches the age of 80 after spending 50 years in the business is really kind of sad.  If you are a die-hard fan then by all means go see it but if you are looking for new insights into this self-centered, all-consuming vortex of a woman skip it because there are none. I did like her jewelry though.

Give me Margaret Cho any day…

d. Vincenzo Natali

c. Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chaneac

A freaky deaky blend of horror and Sci Fi. Routine and prosaic until about halfway through when I started to think “Oh no they are not going to go there” and they did which made this movie so much fun.

Some of the plot elements are not fully fleshed out but all is forgiven due to the main story being so sick and twisted and the questions it raises about morals and ethics.

Splice starts off dull but ends up being a WILD ride.

on DVD

d. Joe Johnston

c. Anthony Hopkins, Benicio del Toro, Emily Blunt

Starts off at a snail’s pace but by the time the Wolfman first unleashes his animal rage on the streets of London about halfway through the film it definitely takes a turn for the better. Horror beyond your imagination.

The heavy reliance on shadow and fog create a moody and stylistic look for this latest offering of  the classic horror tale. This Wolfman is terrifying and worth a look if you’ve got a strong stomach.

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Rue McClanahan    1934-2010               76

Vivacious and personable, McClanahan started her career doing off Broadway and gained noteriety in the daytime drama Another World in the early 70s as the devious and dangerous Caroline Johnson.  She later signed with Norman Lear to play Bea Arthur’s best friend Vivian in Maude, a spinoff from the wildly popular All in the Family. The latter half of the 90s she again joined Arthur along with Betty White and Estelle Getty in The Golden Girls, another widely acclaimed sitcom that won her an Emmy.

McClanahan who was married 5 times, was a lifelong vegetarian and an animal welfare advocate died from a massive stroke after several years of poor health.

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Gary Coleman  1968-2010     42

A bona fide TV child star, Coleman had a rude awakening as he got older and realized he was nothing more than a joke in an industry that threw him out like yesterdays trash and left him to fend for himself.

After winning a judgement against his parents who squandered his fortune that left them estranged, Coleman also dealt with serious health issues, hospitalizations, several suicide attempts, a marriage to a total skank that resulted arrests for domestic violence for both of them and a subsequent divorce all cast a giant shadow on his dark and stormy last years.  His happy childhood became a distant memory as he grew into a deeply troubled adult.

Many questions surround his death that was attributed to a cerebral hemorrhage resulting from a fall. His ex-wife was with him at the time and didn’t lift a finger to help him except call 911. Something in the milk ain’t clean…

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Art Linkletter 1912-2010     98

TV pioneer. Canadian. Left on the steps of a church when only weeks old, Linkletter was raised by the pastor and his wife and never knew his biological parents. Obtained a degree in teaching but turned to radio because the pay was better, then to TV where he became an early fixture and at one time had 5 shows running during a single season. He outlived both his children, daughter Diane who jumped to her death in 1969 and son Arthur Jack from lymphoma in 07.

 

d. Banksy

c. Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Thierry Guetta, Invader

The cast is composed entirely of street and graffiti artists in this documentary who talk about how they began painting and explain the motives behind this strong and more widely accepted art movement. Fairey is probably the most commercial and well-known out of all of them having created the Obama campaign poster.

The film chronicles the story of Guetta who began filming Bansky, Fairey and Invader as they worked with the idea of putting together a documentary. Guetta had no idea of how to make a movie and decided to become a street artist himself becoming an overnight success.

The film is about art and ideas accompanied by many arresting and provocative images,  It’s serious, light-hearted and thought-provoking and not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Dennis Hopper 1936-2010

Gifted actor/director/writer whose career spanned 5 decades Hopper became symbolic as a counter-culture hero from his first appearance on-screen in 1955 alongside his friend, mentor and muse James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause. The following year the 2 were together again in what turned out to be another film classic Giant. From then on Hopper did small roles in big films and big roles in small films until hitting it really big in 1969 as a drug pusher on a motorcycle in Easy Rider 1969.

Ambitious and driven, Hopper was not afraid to tackle any role and has left a legacy of over 100 films playing everything from cowboys to CEO’s, drunks to killers. Hard partying with Jack Nicholson, Natalie Wood, Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor further cemented his stature as a perennial “A” lister among Hollywood’s elite which gave him the opportunity to do memorable work in memorable films such as The Osterman Weekend 1983 with Rutger Hauer The Indian Runner 1991 with Viggo Mortensen and Speed 1994 with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock.

Although Hopper was saddled with a reputation of being difficult, truculent and argumentative it didn’t diminish the long line of actors, directors and producers who clamored to work with him. He appeared in some of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed films during the last half of the 20th century, Gun Fight at the O.K. Corral, Cool Hand Luke, True Grit,  Apocalypse Now and Hoosiers as well as some of  the more quirky but equally impressive movies such as Blue Velvet, Rumble Fish and Basquiat.  He also exercised his directorial and writing muscles by giving us Easy Rider, The American Dreamer and The Last Movie both in 1971 and Colors 1988.

Aside from film work Hopper also did his share of  classic television appearing in Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Petticoat Junction, a few Twilight Zone’s (one of which he took the role of a neo-Nazi), The Big Valley and recently in 24 with Kiefer Sutherland and Crash the TV series based on the film.

Hopper’s interest in art wasn’t limited to film making. He was a well-respected photographer and sculptor as well as an accomplished and painter of abstract impressionism who experimented with photo-realism. He also had a keen eye when it came to art collecting buying original Andy Warhol portraiture, once buying a Roy Lichtenstein for $1100 that he sold in recent years for a whopping 18 million.

His prolific film output has been the subject of more than a few film festivals worldwide that not only featured Hopper’s on-screen work but his artwork as well that not only were well attended but generated strong public interest and support. The recipient of many nominations and awards throughout his long and fabled career, Hopper was recognised by the Oscars, The Emmy’s, the Directors Guild of America, the L.A. and Boston Film Critics, the National Society of Film Critics, the Writers Guild, Independent Spirits, MTV, the Cannes Palmed d’Or, his proudest moment ( by his own admission) was when he was given the Legion of Honor, France’s highest award.

Married 5 times including a 1 month marriage to Michelle Phillips of The Mama’s and the Papa’s in 1970 ( I know that after the nuptials he took a look around and said OH HELL NO and who could blame him?) He also leaves behind 4 (accounted for) children and 2 grandchildren.

Hopper succumbed after a valiant battle with prostate cancer and in his wake we are left to reflect on the life of this incredible man who lived hard, played hard, worked hard and made an indelible impression for past and future generations of film lovers.

The portrait at the top was done by Andy Warhol.