A new documentary short follows Jeff Dowd, the inspiration for the Jeff Bridges character in The Big Lebowski. The short documentary The Dude (Director’s Cut) (2012) is directed by Jeff Feuerzeig — who directed one of my favorite recent documentaries, The Devil and Daniel Johnston. On the video’s website, Feuerzeig explains that he met Dowd, who works on film projects and has been executive producer for some films, way back in 1986.
In the new film, Dowd recounts some of the stories that inspired the Coen Brothers. And the film follows Dowd to a Lebowski Fest, providing some insight into the Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski character. The film does not allow embedding, but you may watch the film on Vimeo.
In writing this story, for the first time I made the connection between Jeff Dowd’s last name and its similarity to “Dude.” I have never heard there is a connection, but now it seems obvious to me. Other fans, i.e., Achievers, may know whether the connection is intentional. Anyway, check out the short film and see what you think.
What do you think of The Dude (Director’s Cut)? Leave your two cents in the comments.
The Harvest Moon is the full moon that falls closest to the autumnal equinox and gained its name because in the days before electricity, the moon aided farmers harvesting when the sun was not up. What mainly distinguishes the Harvest Moon from other moons is that this time of year there is less time between successive moonrises than usual.
For more information on the Harvest Moon and its special appearance, check out the EarthSky website. If you prefer a video explanation, check out this video:
The Harvest Moon is also responsible for inspiring a classic Tin Pan Alley song from the early 1900s. There is some dispute about the song’s authors, but “Shine On, Harvest Moon” was originally credited to the couple of Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth, who were married at the time they wrote the song but later divorced. Both Bayes and Norworth had other successes, including that Norworth wrote the lyrics to “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” but during their lives they were probably most famous for “Shine On, Harvest Moon.”
The song has been performed by a number of artists on TV and in film, including an appearance in the 1944 film Shine On, Harvest Moon, as well as on an episode of The Mickey Mouse Club by a young Britney Spears. Johnny Cash sang it with Emmylou Harris on TV too. My favorite performance, though, is by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, who always lit up the screen during one of their musical performances. Check out Laurel & Hardy singing “Shine On, Harvest Moon” below from the film The Flying Deuces (1939).
Here is wishing you a good weekend as the Harvest Moon shines down on you.
Will you check out the Harvest Moon this weekend? Leave your two cents in the comments.
There seems to be a small trend of some independent films using science fiction elements, usually with little special effects, to explore universal themes. Films like Another Earth (2011), Melancholia (2011), and The Man from Earth (2007), dwell in a setting that looks normal but with a small twist. Each shows that science fiction may be used to explore the human condition without a big blockbuster budget. The latest to join this trend is Robot & Frank (2012), directed by Jake Schreier and starring Frank Langella.
Robot & Frank is set in the “near future,” so that easily explains why everything looks like today, except for fancier cell phones and some occasional robots, including the “Robot” in the title who is voiced by Peter Sarsgaard. Langella plays Frank, a former burglar who is gradually losing his memory. His son worries about him, so one day he brings him a robot to look after him. Frank is resistant to the robot but he gradually warms to the new house guest, who not only cooks and cleans but who also may be useful in some local thievery.
The film is largely a character study with some meditations on aging, changing technology, and memory. Langella is excellent as always, as is Susan Sarandon. The movie may not bowl you over, and it did not go as deep into the themes as I might have liked. But it has a little suspense and subdued humor throughout. If you are looking for a sci-fi action film, you may want to look elsewhere. But if you are just trying to find a decent entertaining movie before the big Fall movies arrive, check out Robot & Frank.
Other Reviews Because Why Should You Believe Me?Rotten Tomatoes has a respectable 89% critics rating and 87% audience rating for Robot & Frank. Jeff Meyers at MetroTimes enjoyed the film while noting, “The final act, in particular, feels rushed and formulaic, and a subplot with Frank’s daughter (Liv Tyler) goes nowhere — but it does benefit immensely from his underlying character study, which is rich, tender and artful.” Witney Seibold at CraveOnline writes “Robot & Frank is, all at once, an astute look at the near future, a chuckle-worthy heist movie, a pure exercise in science fiction, and a sweet little drama. What did you think of Robot & Frank? Leave your two cents in the comments.
For our funny video of the week, check out this send up of foreign films about an existential crisis. If you like foreign films, ennui, or cats — or even if you hate those things — you will enjoy Will Braden’s short film, Henri 2 Paw de Deux:
If you like that one, there is the original Henri film, as well as Henri 3, Le Vet. Henri, Le Chat Noir has his own Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as his own store. Next thing you know, he will be coming out with a book. Oh, he already has his own book. What is your favorite line in the film? Leave your two cents in the comments.
On September 19, 1973, singer-songwriter Gram Parsons died from too much morphine and tequila in Room 8 of a motel room in California. It was not the end for Parsons, or at least his body, which then went on an odd journey.
Parsons’ Body
Before Parsons’s death, Parsons and his road manager Phil Kaufman made a pact. They agreed that for whichever one of them died first, the other would take the friend’s body to Joshua Tree National Park, where they would cremate the body.
So, after Parsons’s death, Kaufman and Michael Martin, a roadie, then stole the body and coffin. They took the coffin while it had been en route to a burial in Louisiana.
Kaufman and Martin then drove the body to Joshua Tree National Park. There, they poured gasoline on the coffin and set it on fire with a match.
But Gasoline is not enough to cremate a body, so some of Parsons’s body survived the burning. After Kaufman and Martin were arrested, the charred remains of Parsons were buried in New Orleans.
Because at the time stealing a body was not a crime in California, Kaufman and Martin were fined for stealing property: the coffin. Today, though, one may still pay respect to Parsons at Joshua Tree.
Grand Theft Parsons
The story of the body theft was told in the movie Grand Theft Parsons (2003), starring Johnny Knoxville. It has been awhile since I saw the film, but I remember being a bit disappointed by it.
The story’s focus on the few days seemed stretched out for a movie. And maybe I was disappointed that the movie did not tell us more about the most interesting person related to the story: Gram Parsons.
Rotten Tomatoes has a 44% critics rating and 53% audience rating for Grand Theft Parsons. But I suspect other fans, like me, will still want to see the film.
“Streets of Baltimore”
I do not know whether or not Parsons would be unhappy that his remains are in New Orleans. But one of his classic songs, “Streets of Baltimore,” is about a another journey and going some place you do not want to be.
In “Streets of Baltimore,” the singer recounts leaving Tennessee on the train for Baltimore because his love wants to live in the city. He gets a factory job and walks the streets with her. But he soon realizes she loves the city lights more than she loves him.
So in the end, the singer takes the train back to Tennessee alone: “Now I’m a going back on that same train that brought me here before / While my baby walks the streets of Baltimore.”
There is little video footage of Parsons, but check out this rare grainy recording of him singing with Emmylou Harris.
It is sad that there is so little video footage of Gram Parsons. Not only did he predate the music video era, but much of his fame came after his short life ended. So, he was never a regular on television.
Even in this grainy black and white video of “Streets of Baltimore,” you can still tell he is a superstar, though. And wherever his ashes and remains are, his music resides in our souls.
What is your favorite Gram Parsons song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
A new documentary short follows Jeff Dowd, the inspiration for the Jeff Bridges character in The Big Lebowski. The short documentary The Dude (Director’s Cut) (2012) is directed by Jeff Feuerzeig — who directed one of my favorite recent documentaries, The Devil and Daniel Johnston
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