Tommy Lee Jones

Under Siege

Criticizing him for playing the same part in "The Fugitive" and "US Marshalls" when he is, in literal point of fact, PLAYING THE SAME PART, strikes me as being kind of stupid.

I gave it to The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada since he directed it too and I adored it so. Absolutely Peckinpah-worthy. But there are many fine performances amongst the latter ten or so titles (even, I suppose, in that VERY well-loved film that I loathe with a purple passion but will say no more about).

The Betsy - Ha! I was a Harold Robbins freak at an alarmingly young age and wanted to see this for the longest time. Now I doubt I could sit through it. Anyone see it?

I saw it about 10 years ago. wow at Olivier/Katherine Ross bedroom scene (and Olivier Midwest accent). but i don't remember a thing about TLJ in it.

memo to self: remove blockbuster hits from next poll

Is it any good? Even in a you can have friends over and giggle at its badness kind of way?

Why don't we drop this poll...it's one thing to engage in badinage with these youngsters, but this sort of thing could be so easily misunderstood.

xp: It's terrible, but yeah, if you enjoy that sort of thing. "It's about THE GAR! THE GAR!"

3 Burials vs Eyes of Laura Mars.

The Betsy was a longtime perennial resident of the $5 DVD dump bin at Wal-Mart. I think that by now, most of those mangled unsold copies have hit the recycle bins.

i haven't seen Lonesome Dove. Want to read it first.

Tempted to vote The Executioner's Song

Criticizing him for playing the same part in "The Fugitive" and "US Marshalls" when he is, in literal point of fact, PLAYING THE SAME PART,
strikes me as being kind of stupid.

haha fair enough - substitute Volcano or Double Jeopardy or the Hunted or whatever for US Marshalls then. Preponderance of "I am a man with a badge tracking somebody" roles is kind of uh waht.

xxpost I love those bins! If The Betsy moves down to $1, it's mine.

are you crazy? The Fugitive is a good movie!

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

yeah, it has Harrison Ford in it, xp

the way i see it, you plug TLJ into one of those roles and you have one less thing to worry about because he's just so good at it. i think my top 5 would be the fugitive, three burials, jfk, NCFOM, and lonesome dove (which gets my vote, the dude is astonishing in that)

yeah, it has Harrison Ford in it, xp

hahaha Harrison Ford hasn't made a good movie since 1981

still haven't seen it. Do he and Robert Duvall do the Jack Twist?

(er '82)

x-post

hahaha Harrison Ford hasn't made a good movie since 1981

http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/wrlds/strwrs/pr/img/orig/Episode_3_Obi-Wan_Lightsaber.jpg

xp

Eric, again with yr ambiguous standard of "entertaining."

Did I use scare quotes?

Three Burials. I don't remember him being in Prairie Home Companion.

he was the guy who was gonna close down the theater

a lot of his worst movies being in constant rotation on cable - the Fugitive, US Marshals, MiB

you are such a dumbass

MiB is just an extraordinarily depressing enterprise.

Blown Away is one of the all-time great comedy performances.

Both MiBs are great! Tsk fun-haters.

Will Smith Smile = anti-comedic toxin

It just has neither the scope nor the comedic value to compete with Ghostbusters is all.

I'm doing a Rip Torn poll next.

Also without getting all challopsy here, I'm a Ghostbusters agnostic.

Anyway, back to TLJ and Blown Away.

In a world where Mickey Rourke did Prayer for the Dying and Connery did The Untouchables, being the most hilariously bad Irish accent of all time is some major achievement.

shakey mo, man, what is yr deal

rip torn poll here: RIP TORN POLL

(no songwriter tho ;_:)

Ah well. Larry Sanders was a foregone conclusion I guess.

my deal is that MiB doesn't appeal to me...? There aren't any funny jokes and TLJs deadpan is boring. Hadn't thought of the Ghostbusters comparison meself but now that Eric H brings it up I have to agree. Morbz otm about Will Smith as well, that guy is unwatchable.

ayo shakey i hope u get gaybashed

"meself" FUK U

MIB is pretty dumb, and I know about buttrape.

um... I am not gay...?

He shot up a whorehouse in Rolling Thunder just because his buddy asked him.

the hunted! what a weird performance.

hahaha Harrison Ford hasn't made a good movie since 1981

RONG. Blade Runner and Mosquito Coast excepted.

Voted for Howard Hughes, with Back Roads and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada as my runner-ups. TLJ can make an anonymous movie pretty watchable though (see Black Moon Rising, Under Siege, etc.)

Saw In the Valley of Elah. Pretty good movie, probably aided by TLJ's 'acting'.

I have this theory that there is something seriously wrong with people who dislike Will Smith.

Your theory is "cornyphobia"?

There is nothing wrong with people who dislike Will Smith. There is something wrong with cornyphobes.

MiB woulda been classic if they forgot all about the boring pointless evil-alien-threat-to-destroy-universe plot and concentrated on the inner workings of the Bureau, how it maintains security, surveillance on the "good" aliens, etc. That bit where Jones scans the tabloids and declares "Finest investigative journalism on the planet!" is priceless.

Anyways, "Executioner's Song".

^this man has the right ideas

I'm full of 'em.

I could have sworn this movie had its own thread.

I have a high tolerance for implausibility when it comes to junky thrillers--why fight it?--but Double Jeopardy is some kind of preposterous.

i love that movie!

I haven't gotten to Tarantino's chapter on Rolling Thunder yet--fully expect him to go overboard--but it is good, with a very unusual, almost catatonic lead performance from William Devane (who's usually at the more florid end of the acting spectrum--and does lots of celebrity-testimonial commercials nowadays). Very proud that I recognized Paul A. Partain from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Franklin), one of only seven films he ever made (one of only five that didn't have the word "chainsaw" in the title).

I find it funny that Shakey said TLJ is "awful" and could only justify this by saying he kept getting cast as hard-assed cop characters that Shakey found boring. TLJ kept getting cast in those parts because Hollywood kept making films filled with hard-assed cops and Jones did them very well, bringing an extra touch of humanity to them that worse actors couldn't achieve.

xp

Enjoying Tarantino’s podcast, but guy certainly (nothing new) enthuses over some undeniable crap. Rolling Thunder is legit pretty good though. Dig the vibe and performances. Remember watching a VHS rip of it a few times during my college years.

I bought Rolling Thunder on Blu-Ray a couple of months ago and yeah, it's pretty dark and fucked up. (Written by Paul Schrader, so...surprise, dark and fucked up!) Jones and Devane are both really good.

(xxpost) Also, even if that is your objection, you can hardly lump No Country in--a cop, yes, but far from hard-assed.

I'm finding the book useful, annoying--the way he uses italics is sometimes ridiculous--kind of random in the films that get chapters, informative (the title aside, there's lots of good making-of background on the films he writes about), and, for better and worse, true to his own films. My guess is he's a better podcaster than author.

I was surprised to see Schrader in the opening credits--don't think I knew that. Happily, was able to watch it for nothing on Tubi.

Written by Schrader for John Milius apparently. Final product not purely Schrader’s though, the other credited screenwriter did a pass on it. It’s a good script too, lot of quietly potent lines in there. Exploitation done with some gravitas.

Think I’ll rewatch it tonight if it’s streaming, been a while.

John Flynn was a cut above the usual exploitation director. He also directed The Outfit of course but also a trio of B-flicks in a row (Best Seller, Lock Up, Out For Justice) which aren’t amazing but are good genre movies.

Probably the kind of journeyman director that Tarantino loves, and the kind they don’t really make anymore to an extent.

TLJ rules.

Alfred I thought of you when I came across this recently but forgot to post it

https://www.julienslive.com/lot-details/index/catalog/167/lot/69314

Is Rolling Thunder the one where Schrader's original script had a Travis Bickle cameo?

Definitely thought of Taxi Driver while watching, especially the last 10 minutes.

My goal of watching every film beforehand that gets its own chapter will be put to the test with Paradise Alley.

Alfred I thought of you when I came across this recently but forgot to post it

https://www.julienslive.com/lot-details/index/catalog/167/lot/69314

― omar little

I hope you like squab!