E.R. Torre's Blog, page 7

Oh no…! Raquel Welch (1940-2023)

Nowadays it may be hard for people to know how iconic Raquel Welch, who it was announced today died at the age of 82, was.

There are various articles available regarding her passing, including this one by Patrick Ryan and Edward Segarra and posted on usatoday.com…

Raquel Welch dead: ‘One Million Years B.C.’ sex symbol dies at 82 (usatoday.com)

To say she was a “sex symbol” seems wildly reductive yet also is very accurate. In her most famous and productive years on the big and small screen and, frankly, even more recently, Raquel Welch was nothing short of a breathtaking woman.

Here she is in one of her earliest/first successes, the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage…

She had already appeared in various TV shows by the time this movie premiered and in the same year, 1966, she would appear in a film that presented an iconic portrait of her, One Million Years B.C.

Those who weren’t in/around that time don’t realize how ever present the iconic image of Ms. Welch in her cavewoman bikini was back then. Seemed you’d find it everywhere and, yes, I even made my own version of the famous pose…

She would appear in many other works, including two with Burt Reynolds: 100 Rifles (1969)…

…and Fuzz (1972).

Apparently, Ms. Welch and Mr. Reynolds didn’t get along all that well and after 100 Rifles and while co-starring together in Fuzz, the film proved notable in that there isn’t a single sequence in it in which they share any screen time together.

Whatever her feelings were at the time regarding Mr. Reynolds, when the actor passed Ms. Welch let bygones be bygones and wrote a very nice tribute to him (portions of which can be found here).

In 1973 Ms. Welch starred in the ensemble film The Last of Shiela, which director/writer Rian Johnson has acknowledged as one of the big influences on his Knives Out movies…

Later on, Ms. Welch would play herself in one of the funnier sequences in Naked Gun: 33 & 1/3…

I’ve noted before one of the sad things about aging is that many of the people who you know and admire eventually grow old and pass away.

And so it is we reach that point with Raquel Welch, one of the most iconic -and sexy!- women ever to grace the silver screen.

You will be missed.

So… what have I been up to of late…?

It strikes me I haven’t provided much information about what’s been on my plate -creatively, anyway- for a while now.

One of the frustrating things about being a writer is that it takes a while for something to get done. It is more likely than not whatever project I initiate goes through various permutations and what comes out often isn’t anything like what I originally conceived.

Further, I don’t want to give details up… I want the project to be released fully formed and “done”, and that means giving “updates” on a project have to be free of many story details.

At the moment, I’m working on two projects… or rather I personally am writing my next novel while a good friend of mine -an extraordinary artist- is working on another project I’ve already written.

The novel is roughly halfway done. I’ve gotten most of the details of the first half of the book in place but have yet to fully flesh out the book’s last act. I’m getting there, thought.

As for the project done in collaboration with my good friend… I saw the first few pages of it and I can’t wait to see more. Again, don’t want to give away too much but after all the shit I’ve gone through and the sadness and madness of dealing with my parents’ passing, lawyers and judges, and banks… it’s really nice to get back to creative work.

Let’s see where things go…!

Superbowl LVII

Personally, I found it an entertaining game.

There was plenty of drama and, you have to give it to the Kansas City Chiefs, they looked at halftime and after QB Patrick Mahomes reinjured his leg… that they might be done.

But Mahomes wasn’t about to let that happen and further credit where its due, their coach, Andy Reid, made some adjustments and eventually the Chiefs prevailed, 38-35.

There was controversy toward the very end on a holding call that might have been a little weak but that seems to be par for the course nowadays.

The commercials were mostly …ok… I guess, nothing that I found terribly memorable. What was intriguing, at least to me, was that almost all the car commercials (unless I’m misremembering) were focused on electric vehicles. I believe there was one commercial for a SUV (Hyndai?!) that was an ICE vehicle but otherwise the focus seemed to be on electric.

There were movie trailers as well and I must say of all of them, this is the one that most impressed me…

For a film that I wondered if it would ever get made to one whose main actor, Ezra Miller, has had some incredible troubles (to his credit he’s been out of the news for a while now, but I’m sure they will be dealt with either in court or through other means and may well preclude any future Flash projects), I didn’t think I’d have such a positive reaction to the movie’s trailer.

Frankly, it looks like the movie’s makers really went at it. The trailer gives off some seriously fun vibes and visuals to die for.

And Michael Keaton back as Batman?!

Yeah, I’m there.

Of course, it is a trailer and there have been trailers which made a film look far better than what it turned out to be…

I remain, however, cautiously optimistic!

Turkey…

For the past two years, it has felt like I’m locked into a version of the movie Groundhog Day.

I truly hate bringing it up (a la Groundhog Day, no?) but back in June of 2021, nearing two years now, I lost my parents in the collapse of Champlain Towers South.

Since then and in one way or another, this has been one of the major focuses of my day to day life, each day of the week, each week of the month, and now going on a little over a year.

The sadness is but one of the elements. It’s tough to put into the words not only losing one parent, but both in such a horrendous, unexplainable manner but also having almost all their possessions being wiped out as well… as if they didn’t exist at all.

Which is why I feel so very badly for those in Turkey. My personal tragedy feels almost insignificant when I see images in the news about what’s happened in Turkey.

When it happened, and because of the proliferation of cell phones and their ability to film things, I’ve seen images of buildings coming down and…

…and it instantly brings me back to the horrors of Champlain Towers South.

I can’t watch that stuff. I shut those images/film clips whenever they pop up on my computer or phone. I simply cannot stomach seeing a structure collapse.

Not anymore.

My thoughts and sympathy goes out to those living through this tragedy.

SuperBowl LVII – 2023

Yesterday came the semifinal games between the San Francisco 49ers versus the Philadelphia Eagles and the Cincinatti Bengals versus the Kansas City Chiefs.

The end result was that the Eagles beat the 49ers pretty impressively and the Chiefs outlasted the Bengals. For those counting, I predicted the Eagles win but felt the Bengals might have the edge over the Chiefs (you can read my .500 prediction here!).

However, the results of the Eagles/49ers game shows why predictions about sporting events are often the proverbial roll of the dice.

In the 49ers first series, quarterback Brock Purdy, who to that point has shown flashes of brilliance, sustained an injury to his throwing arm. Note that Mr. Purdy, who was the very last pick in the previous year’s draft (Mr. Irrelevant, as the joke goes) and who only got to be quarterback because of injuries to the other quarterbacks before him, had not lost a single game since he became QB of the 49ers.

His injury meant fourth string quarterback Josh Johnson was inserted into the game and, shortly thereafter, he fell back and apparently sustained a head injury/concussion and suddenly the 49ers had to bring Purdy back in for the bulk of the game… even though he could no longer throw the ball.

So what we had was a game where the Eagles knew each and every play would be a run and, let’s face it, the 31-7 loss they sustained could have been a lot worse given these circumstances.

Essentially any prediction about this game was null and void because of Purdy’s injury, and that, my friends, is why sports is a tough beast to predict. Had Purdy not sustained the injury, I suspect the game would have been closer but… I dunno.

Regarding the Chiefs and the Bengals, as I wrote in my prediction, I worried starting Chief QB Patrick Mahomes -easily one of the very best QBs playing the game right now- came into the game with a “high ankle sprain” and, frankly, I wondered if he would be able to win against the Bengals, who were healthier and dismantled the Buffalo Bills the week before.

Welp… it was a tight game and Mahomes gutted it out and obviously played with a lot of pain and, in the end, they managed to kick the winning field goal with only seconds left to play.

Which brings us to the SuperBowl in two weeks.

Who do I think can win?

You know… I’m at a loss. My head says the Eagles. They appear to be a very complete team although their QB, Jalen Hurts, is nursing a sprained sternoclavicular joint. This is where the clavicle or collarbone meets the sternum/breastbone. Sounds painful.

Still, we are talking about a team that is a very fearsome unit.

My heart, on the other hand, feels like the Chiefs -and especially QB Mahomes- really, really, really wants this, as was demonstrated in the way he played yesterday.

Does Mahomes have another -quite literally the last- gutsy game to play? Or will the Eagles continue their march?

We’ll see in two weeks, won’t we?

Black Adam (2022) a (mildly) belated review

There’s been more hoopla -it seems- about the behind the scenes stuff regarding Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam than there is about the movie itself.

You’ve had the surprise of Henry Cavill’s cameo as Superman at the movie’s end… something which delighted quite a few fans out there, even those who may not be big fans of Zack Snyder’s DC movies yet feel Cavill makes a great Superman. Then you had the disappointment -to those very same fans- when it turned out new DC Universe showrunner James Gunn stated Cavill would not return to the character after all.

There was the strange review situation, where professional reviews of the film were quite dismal yet the regular audiences were far more forgiving (at this date and on Rottentomatoes.com, the movie stands at a really, really low 39% positive among those critics and yet a very high 88% positive among audiences)

Then, when the movie was released, it seemed to do quite well in theaters but petered out relatively quickly. I suspect the film in the end did very well but not well enough for DC to push Mr. Gunn into a potential sequel or force him to use Cavill again. Mr. Johnson entered into that particular fray stating the film’s box office was quite healthy and his statements seemed rather defensive, even if I couldn’t blame him. He’s clearly someone who has pride in what he does and will defend it.

I was interested in seeing the film when it was originally released but, as is often the case for me, it was difficult to find the time to go to a theater to see the film. I also, I have to admit, had my eye on HBOMax and wondered just how long after the movie’s theatrical release I’d have to wait before it was streaming on that service.

In the end, I didn’t see the film in theaters but did catch it a few weeks back on HBOMax. I honestly don’t know if it’s still available to be seen there as of today.

So… what did I think about the film?

Was it as bad as the critics said? Did they miss something that general audiences found?

Avert your eyes, gentle reader, because what I’m about to state may cause some of you to faint…

I felt Black Adam was about as good a superhero film as Dr. Strange In The Multitude of Madness.

Yes, I said it.

Now, don’t get me wrong: Sam Raimi is a director who is in his own class and his direction of the Dr. Strange film was crisp and has his characteristic fun -and wild- elements which you cannot find in the Jaume Collet-Serra (whose previous directed films include The Shallows, Orphan, and Jungle Cruise) Black Adam.

However, I felt Dr. Strange’s story was, despite some really neat elements (particularly the alternate Marvel Universe and its heroes) quite toothless. It felt like the studio imposed the story and had Raimi tone down what could have been a truly fascinating horror/superhero hybrid. It felt to me like Raimi was in a strait jacket, making a good film when he could have made a batshit crazy great one, had he been allowed to do so.

So it was that I felt Black Adam was also one of those types of films. It wasn’t terrible IMHO, but it also felt like it was ticking off the boxes and trying to be all things to all audiences. I suppose, based on those Rottentomatoes.com scores, it achieved that much.

But it could -and more importantly should– have been more.

There were all kinds of fascinating elements in it. In Dr. Strange, as I mentioned, the highlight was seeing the alternate universe Marvel heroes. In Black Adam, the equivalent was seeing The Justice Society and, specifically, Hawkman and Dr. Fate, two characters I’ve always loved from the comics and was pleased to see come to life.

Pierce Brosnan was simply a delight as the weary Dr. Fate and seemed to have a blast in the movie. He was easily the movie’s standout.

Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam, alas, is presented as far more one note through the film. I get it: Unlike the comic books, where he was for many years an outright villain, here he’s a hero who is supposed to skirt the edge of being one. He kills, and quite a bit, but the movie -again like Dr. Strange– tries to soften the blow of his actions with humor or quick cuts which dampen what should be rougher stuff for audiences to chew on. As with Dr. Strange, I couldn’t help but wonder what a more no-holds-barred R rated version of this film might have been.

So the bottom line for me is that Black Adam is another reasonably successful superhero studio product. There are some really great effects and some of the action presented is quite wild but the film, in the end, feels like you’re having a Big Mac.

Go to any McDonalds in the United States and order a Big Mac and they’ll all taste the same even as they will help you get you past your hunger. Sure, they’re calories and they’re relatively cheap and you get served quick but it’s not necessarily a gourmet -or memorable- meal.

Recommended, with that caveat.

Lance Kerwin (1960-2023)

Time marches on as it inevitably does.

The above name may not mean much to people today, but if you’re of a certain age -like mine- you may remember actor Lance Kerwin for a couple of very good roles he had in the late 1970’s.

Perhaps the role most people will remember him for is that of Mark Petrie in the very creepy TV adaptation Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot.

He was also the star of James at 16, a show that ran between 1977-78 and which I recall rather fondly.

Anyway, Mr. Kerwin, it was reported, died yesterday at the age of (gasp) 62. While his subsequent work may not have been quite as memorable as those he was involved in during his youth, the fact that I still remember those roles after all these years later, shows he did something quite special.

My condolences.

Razzies…

Way, waaaaaay back in the 1980’s or thereabouts I found this book and thought it was hilarious…

Written by Harry and Michael Medved (yes, the same Michael Medved who has become a pretty far right wing commentator) and originally released in 1980, the book focused on terrible movies and made fun of them and the ineptitude shown within.

As I said, I found the book hilarious and, over time, making fun of films became something of a sport. Perhaps the most famous example of doing so is the delightful Mystery Science Theater 3000 show, which has existed in various iterations and with various hosts since 1988 and has branched off -with a few of the original cast members of MST3K into RiffTrax in 2006.

Back in 1981, and perhaps as a result of the success of The Golden Turkey Awards (or perhaps not, I don’t know), the Golden Raspberry Awards premiered. Known as the “Razzies”, the so-called awards are meant to be a polar opposite of the Oscars in that they “award” movies and actors whom they feel in that year did particularly bad work.

This year, they nominated actress Ryan Kiera Armstrong, all of 12 years old, for worst acting in the Firestarter film and, after a backlash, decided to remove her from the nomination. (If you’re interested, you can read the entire story, presented on CNN.com and written by Lisa Respers France, here)

I feel the backlash is appropriate. Ridiculing some misguided or poorly received work by someone who probably should know better is somewhat understandable. But blasting a 12 year old child for doing what was likely the best she could in a (from what I’ve read) poor overall production? Seems harsh.

…and yet…

I can’t help but feel the notion of blasting artists of all/any ages on very public forums for perceived poor works has become distasteful, at least to me.

The market usually dictates hits and misses and there have been times when films were released to great scorn and subsequently were viewed far differently.

The very first Razzies, for example, nominated director Stanley Kubrick and actress Shelley Duvall for their work on The Shining, a film that over the years has come to be viewed by many -including me- as one of the very best horror films ever made.

Further, Shelley Duvall’s nomination as worst actress was voided years later when it was revealed she likely had a very bad working experience (to say the least) on the set of The Shining.

Having said all this, I admit: When I was much younger I found making fun of others’ works and failures was a pretty damn fun game.

But then I became a writer and things changed.

It has been noted that “no one sets out to make a terrible movie” and I would expand that quote into music and writing as well as TV. Everyone who first puts pen to paper or picks up a guitar or sings their first note hopes -and dreams- the work they create will be successful.

At times, it simply isn’t. The Shining, when the movie was first released, wasn’t all that successful. Critically, it had mixed reactions from audiences. Even to this day author Stephen King, whose novel was the basis for the movie, has had a very negative opinion about the work.

Remember way back when a few paragraphs above how I said I consider The Shining one of the all time best horror films ever made?

Welp, I saw it in theaters when it was first released (cough-old-fart-cough) and I didn’t like it.

At all.

Over time I caught bits and pieces of the film on TV when it aired and, over that time, I finally got it. The Shining was not meant to be a film that filled you with horror or slammed you with scary jumps (though it had a couple). The film was meant to seep into your psyche, to make you ill at ease and to descend, along with its small cast, into this pleasant looking -but deadly- hellscape of a Hotel.

I haven’t seen the remake of Firestarter but based on reviews I’ve seen, the film is likely dreadful.

To which I say: So what?

The filmmakers tried and possibly failed to make a good film.

Again: So what?

Many have before and many will again.

My point is: Why waste energy slamming the movie and the creators? Why not move on and find something you like and cherish rather than dwell on something you hate?

I’ve seen plenty of stuff I felt was terrible. I’ve read books that have disappointed me mightily. There are whole categories of music I simply don’t like.

But I’ve realized there’s little point in dwelling on it beyond looking at this as a learning experience.

As a writer, sometimes the stuff that doesn’t work offers lessons to me as to what not to do which, hopefully, helps me make things that are, in the end, better for those lessons.

Anyway, just a random thought (I should trademark that, no?!)

Getting to the end…

…at least the NFL is for this season!

Over the past weekend, the NFL had their divisional round, where we whittle down eight teams into four. Next Sunday we’ll have the semi-finals where those four teams will be whittled down to the two that will play in the SuperBowl.

Before getting to that, the teams that played this past weekend were the Kansas City Chiefs who beat the Jacksonville Jaguars (27-20), the Eagles beat the New York Giants (a pretty big beatdown, 38-7), the 49ers beat the Cowboys (19-12), and, finally, the Bengals beat the Buffalo Bills (27-10).

While it seems there’s a lot of talk about the Cowboys once again losing out on advancing, I find the results of the Bengals/Buffalo Bills game a little more fascinating… in the sense that I don’t quite understand why so many seemed to think the Bills would take out the Bengals.

A few weeks ago we had the very horrifying aborted game between the Bengals/Bills wherein Damar Hamlin collapses and, we found, suffered heart failure (you can read my thoughts about that here).

Mr. Hamlin would eventually be released from the hospital and he was actually present -though obviously not playing- at the game, which much have been an incredibly encouraging thing for both the Bills players and audience to see.

The game itself took place at the Bills’ stadium. Coming into this year, the Bills were viewed as a heavy possibility to make it to the Superbowl this year. Given the torrid way they came out at the start, it seemed they were indeed unstoppable.

So, yeah, I guess I can understand to some degree why many favored the Bills over the Bengals.

Yet they lost. Not only did they lose, they were dominated, IMHO, through most of the game. The final score, thought not quite as dramatic as the Giants/Eagles final score, points to a game where Buffalo lost and lost quite big. Their offense clearly was stopped. Their defense, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have answers to the Bengals offense.

So… a big surprise, no?

I dunno.

Look, I’m the last person in the world one should look for any deep insight into any sport or games. I’m a casual fan, though loyal, to the ones that are local here. Having said that, I just don’t have the time to do much more than catch a game here and there and, often, not the entire game.

Football works the best for me because there are only a limited amount of games to watch and they occur only once a week.

So, yeah, I watched most of the Miami Dolphin games.

I like the team, though they have wallowed in mediocrity for very, very long.

This year, however, they had flashes of brilliance especially in several games where quarterback Tua Tagovailoa got to shine. However, he also suffered concussions and, in their final game of the season, the first round/wildcard of the playoffs, they lost to these same Buffalo Bills, two weeks ago and at the Bills’ stadium, 34-31.

Think about that: The Dolphins, a team that suffered tremendous personnel loss to injury and who were fielding a third string quarterback, held their own against these Buffalo Bills and, if memory serves, lost the game in the last minutes by a field goal.

Yet many thought that one week later these Bills would be favorites over a much stronger, far less injured team in the Bengals?

Again: I’m not a brainiac regarding sports. I don’t pretend to be one.

Yet I felt the Bills, for whatever reason, were looking very beatable going into the playoffs if only because of the very hard time they had dealing with a Dolphin team that was coming into the game against them looking very ravaged by injury.

So… who makes it to the Superbowl?

I have to say the Eagles, what I saw of them against the Giants, looked like a pretty damn fearsome machine. They go up against the 49ers next week and while they likely will have a tougher game on their hands, I suspect they’ll emerge to be the NFC team to go to the Superbowl.

On the AFC side, we have the Bengals going up against the Kansas City Chiefs. Normally, I would give the nod to the Chiefs. However, their quarterback -and one of the very best quarterbacks playing today- Patrick Mahomes, sustained a high ankle sprain in the game against the Jaguars and it is my understanding this can hobble his mobility quite a bit, should he be able to play (he stated he will).

Given this, I have to say the Bengals may have the advantage.

For the Superbowl, if it’s Eagles versus the Bengals I would give the edge to the Eagles. If it’s Eagles versus Chiefs, Eagles again.

If it’s 49ers versus Bengals? Bengals. 49ers versus Chiefs… I would go Chiefs.

Let’s see how it goes!

Rust…

A little over a year ago cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot by Alec Baldwin on the set of the movie Rust.

It is my understanding they were filming a scene where Baldwin’s character aims his gun at the camera and fires. The gun Baldwin used had live ammunition in it and Ms. Hutchins, who was behind the camera, was shot and killed while the movie’s director, Joel Souza, was hit in the shoulder.

The event is an indisputable tragedy and, further, should never, never, never have happened.

It is abundantly clear someone on the movie’s staff was very careless with either checking the guns used on the set or HUGELY irresponsible in bringing live ammo there. Alec Baldwin was handed a gun that obviously did not have blanks in it and therefore the tragedy happened.

Yesterday, prosecutors decided to charge Alec Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the movie’s armorer, with involuntary manslaughter.

Though I don’t know the intimate details of the charges. SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ guild, came out with a response to these charges against Alec Baldwin…

SAG-AFTRA Defends Alec Baldwin Over ‘Rust’ Charges, Calls Prosecutor ‘Wrong and Uninformed’ – IndieWire

They state:

The guidelines do not make it the performer’s responsibility to check any firearm. Performers train to perform, and they are not required or expected to be experts on guns or experienced in their use. The industry assigns that responsibility to qualified professionals who oversee their use and handling in every aspect. Anyone issued a firearm on set must be given training and guidance in its safe handling and use, but all activity with firearms on a set must be under the careful supervision and control of the professional armorer and the employer.

I agree with this.

However -and I could very well be wrong here- I believe Mr. Baldwin is being charged as the producer of the movie rather than the “actor” within. As a producer, he then may have some responsibility in making sure the set is safe. However, given the way credits are doled out in movies, his “producer” role may have been in name only.

The big question, unanswered to this point, is how live rounds made their way to this movie set. I suspect we may never get an answer to that.

Ms. Reed, the armorer, has stated she thought the ammunition within the gun was “dummy” rounds.

Either way, tragedy occurred and now we have charges brought forward.

I have to wonder, given today’s technology and the use of CGI effects, why any movie set has to have a “real” gun in it, even if it is watched and checked diligently.

Why, I wonder, aren’t there studios who have warehouses full of dummy guns which realistically “kick” when fired but cannot actually be loaded with real ammunition? In post-production studios can add sound effects and CGI flashes for the gunshots and at least that way everyone is far safer, no?