Time for a break, eh? Here are a sample of some great openings and endings to films I've enjoyed. As you read through them, think of some opening/closing sequences YOU enjoyed!
10.) "Brubaker": Robert Redford is a reform warden of a notorious prison who is fired for uncovering corruption that runs as deep as a river. The entire prison yard claps in thunderous single-clap unison of Respect and remorse as he's being driven away at the end (true story). Powerful!
9) "The Verdict": Paul Newman is a down and out alcoholic lawyer who stumbles across one last chance to redeem himself and wins a brutal case no one thinks is winable. The system screwed him, his girfriend sells him out for $500, the Judge is corrupt. He still prevails! In the closing scene, his remorseful girlfriend (Charlotte Rampling) is drunk and phones him from her motel room. (This was filmed before Caller ID). Newman has gone "cold turkey" and is back in his office drinking coffee from a Styrofoam cup and refuses to answer the phone. He knows it's her. Self Respect and Confidence returns. He leans back in his chair to get some sleep. Pull back shot, the phone ringing. Redemption! Screen goes black at the end. He's back!
#8) "The Graduate": Dustin Hoffman rescues the lovely Kathryn Ross from a forced marriage and they escape on foot from the church in a public transit bus as Simon and Garfunkle play out "The Sound of Silence" over the closing credits as the bus disappears down the road.
#7) "Stealing Home": Mark Harmon and Jodie Foster in a GREAT flick that is fun and stays with you for days. He figures out his life, the lessons and the last wishes of his best friend.
#6) "Tom Horn": Steve McQueen's second to the last film in 1980 (he died in November of that year) and was said to have been in great physical pain (Cancer). The Opening shot of him crouched on the ground with a rifle next to his horse along with the bold music and cinematography is intense. Linda Evans, who co-starred in that film recently mentioned on "Larry King Live" that this was a great Western that few people had the chance to see. Catch it. A real actor. Not the ego-fueled junk that passes for art today. McQueen was the "real deal".
#5) "Pale Rider": Clint Eastwood as "The Preacher" takes away a horse from a friend to spare him danger as he rides into town to bring Justice to murdering thugs. The friend appears and saves Eastwood from being shot in the back. Eastwood: (pauses) "Long walk?" (smiles and rides off). What ever became of Sydney Penny? (never saw her after this flick?)
#4) "Children of a Lesser God": What can I say? William Hurt gets to kiss Marlee Matlin at the end. She picked up the Academy Award (c) for 1986. Excellent story!
#3) "Casablanca": Humphrey Bogart's razor edge decision to let the love of his life Ilsa Lund go and take the proverbial "high road" at the end was pure Class. A must-see!
#2) "Author! Author!": Al Pacino in a fun "feel-good" movie survives a roller coaster marriage with ice princess Tuesday Weld. And yet, the pieces of the puzzle for Pacino and a house full of kids ends with a pie in the face and in a dousing of whipped cream. Fun seeing Pacino in comedy without the mob. The "older son" is a trip! ("Alice doesn't live here anymore?") A riot!
#1) "Cool Runnings": You may not believe this, but a true life story of a Jamaican bobsled team in the Olympics with a sad used sled and foul play. The entire team could have been killed. They survive and carry their broken sled above their heads across the Finish Line. Not a dry eye in the movie house.
A deer is a beautiful animal to see. For the past three years, I have done "power-walking" 5 miles a day. After relocating here temporarily, condo's started going up everywhere and the deer habitat is disappearing. If I've had a busy day and can't get my walking in until dusk, I'll take a flashlight with me. And occasionally a small pack of deer will run out from between houses into the street. I respect them and keep a good safe distance so they can escape to the woods. There are usually plenty of other walkers out and we say "Hello". So, it's not as if this is a dangerous practice--to be doing the walking at dusk. During the Fall, the locals tell me the deer can become mean. If I am driving, the first fifteen minutes from my place, I really have to watch for them as they can dart out into the roadway without warning. At least the firecrackers from the 4th are over--which must have freaked them out. Urban blight. In 1998, I was asked by my friend Clive (see Road Rage With ACool Accent) to join his then-fledgling non-profit organization as an Advisory Board member. Clive's mission is to educate people about the dangers of Rainforests disappearing worldwide in about a decade or so. He is a Botanist, Horticulturist and a Tree Surgeon. Our meetings were usually held over breakfast or lunch (mentioned in the Road Rage post). But while working on a board is a great honor, I've always felt you really have to be "in the arena" and not working 4 states away by telephone, FAX and snail mail. So, to be fair, I stepped down as my focus is taking me in Media and Entertainment directions. If I've learned anything from my time on the board, it was that people with so many different personalities and backgrounds could pull together and unite towards a good cause and make a difference. Like being good stewards of the environment! Something we can all take pride in!!
This is the final installment of Pranks as a kid during summer. There was a purpose to our madness: we were bored! The neighbors on my street were so cool that looking back, they could probably fill a months worth of guest appearances on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien". One owned a Mobil gas station, another was a shortwave radio operator. One was a retired baseball player who hated kids, another was a drummer on a regional television show. We had a guy who looked liked a bearded John Lennon with shoulder length hair who played 8 musical instruments, wore wire rimmed glasses, played in bands, drove a VW bus (and drove women wild). Another was a County Judge whose own kids were juvenile delinquents. One man had a paper route and another a hardware store in a small town. But one neighbor was a retired Chemist with a bad heart who took frequent vacations in his Airstream trailer. While he was away one summer day, my best buddy Alan and I decided it would be funny to stage a mock bicycle collision on his front lawn. We flipped my bicycle upside down so we could spin the tires and lay on the lawn as if we were unconscious (that would be me on my back with my mouth open--and no laughing) as cars crept by slowly. Alan merely lay under his bicycle as if he were pinned under it. But truth be told, he was the scout. "Here comes another car", he'd say. Soon we had a parade of cars jamming the street. Knowing the police would be called, we decided it would be best to jump up and take bows for our performance. We learned some new cuss words from the less than happy stream of onlookers. Next, it was onto ringing doorbells and running away to hide behind bushes to see how many times we could push our luck before we were caught. It was also a lesson to gauge which neighbors had a sense of humor. Most did. Onto the last bit of mischief. My parents car was parked along the curb with the windows rolled down. I'd lay across the front seat while Alan scaled a 30 foot tree and called out when a car would approach. At the precise moment the car passed ours, I'd lay on the horn. Bewildered drivers would stop and back up to the car seeing no one in the driver's seat. I had to bite my arm to avoid busting out laughing. Finally, a lady we regarded as our version of "Mrs. Robinson" (from the movie, "The Graduate") showed up in her bra at the screen door and laughed hysterically telling us that it was the funniest thing she had ever seen. For us, it was the first time we had seen a woman in a bra! WOW! We quit after about half an hour. Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. Disclaimer: Do not try this at home. What pranks did you pull off as a kid?
With our friends in England so much on our minds and in our hearts, I have a simple story. Clive has been one of my best friends for 9 years (the only person who jokingly calls me "Miguel" knowing I hate "Mike"). He uses his cell phone a lot in business, and until this year I served on the Advisory Board of his non-profit organization that works to raise awareness of the dangers of losing our rainforest's worldwide. He and I always had our Day Timers and filled them with topics we wanted to bring up over breakfast. One morning, he phoned me at home while driving his van. (You must read "Clive's" part with his English accent in mind. In restaurants, everyone around us would eavesdrop, they enjoyed listening to him so much. He was used to the eavesdropping. ("It's the accent. I'm used to it", he'd whisper). I found it rude that people did this, and I would start making up wild stories to shock the eavesdroppers to "get a life" and Clive was always game! Anyway: this is an actual phone conversation.
Me: Hello?
Clive: Miguel? Are you awake?
Me: Oh, yeah. After two cups of coffee I'm fine. What's going on?
Clive: Um, there was something I wanted to ask you.......and now that I have you on the phone I can't think of the bloody question. Let's see, what was it? Don't you just hate it when......OH NO! (sound of Clive frantically beeping his van's horn about 25 times). WHAT A MORON! (more frantic mashing of the horn). This IDIOT just cut across THREE lanes of traffic and nearly clipped my fender. (hanging out his window yelling in background) 'Who gave you driving lessons? Idi Amin!...Moron!'
Me: Clive, take it easy. There is such a thing as road rage ya know.
Clive: I DON'T CARE!
Me: Yeah, well some people have guns.
Clive: I DON'T CARE!
Me: Yeah? Do you have a gun?
Clive: (5 seconds of pondering): No. But I have a cell phone. And I can assure you that if I want to I can have that car surrounded by the Calvary in mere minutes!
Me: Ha! Minutes!! Man, you wouldn't even have seconds if this guy is armed.
Clive: (10 seconds of pondering and calmer): I guess you do have a point, Miguel.
Me: Well, yeah. Suppose this guy is a nut?
Clive: Or an escaped convict! Could be, you know!
Me: Jesus, Clive! Talk about a heart attack.
Clive: (long pause): I suppose......Why do people DO that? A COMPLETE MORON? No care whatsoever for life or property. If I hadn't been observant, he would have collided with the van!
Me: Well, there's morons mixed in with nice people. That's the world, ya know.
Clive: I still can't remember what I wanted to ask you, Miguel.
Me: Well, I'll be here. And when it comes back to you just give me a buzz.
Clive: You're a good man, Miguel. I didn't even ask what's going on in your world?
Me: God! Hanging out the window and screaming. That's a first!
Clive: (laughing) Idi Amin! What movie was that from?
Me: Something with Goldie Hawn.
Clive: Now, there's a diversion! Oh, NOW I remember what I wanted to ask you. When did we say we're meeting on Saturday to go over the By-Laws?
My Aunt is amazing at age 85. She and I drove downtown and walked arm-in-arm across the River on a pedestrian bridge. She was recounting a trip many years ago to Greece, Italy, France, Istanbul, Switzerland and how seven-dollars would get you a nice hotel. I felt like I was on a Travelogue! She's going to Europe with relatives at the end of the month. She keeps up with the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and loves outdoor concerts, opera, ballet, The Beatles, even Reggae music. Several weeks ago, she was attending a free outdoor concert with a Beatles cover band doing the "Revolver" album. She was with another nephew and later told me she couldn't walk back to the car after the show, so a police officer on a motorcycle said "Hop on!" and she was given a Harley ride to her car! She's just a remarkable person. If only I owned a movie camera and could have filmed that! We sauntered into a bookstore and rode the escalator to the second floor. I picked up J.D. Salinger's "Franny and Zooey" to flip through while she went after Homer's "The Odyssey". We only stayed a few minutes and left with her telling me how gory "The Davinci Code" was--not my kind of book. She has this term she uses called "Gingy-Mingy"--which basically means "junk". So I asked her if it was all "Gingy-Mingy"? She said "Well, some of it was "Gingy-Mingy" but other parts sort of weird really. I don't know". Her "leftover" meals are really gourmet to me: pizza, two types of Goulashes (sorry, I couldn't think of a better description because I'm nursing a migraine as I post this). But it was a terrific night. Very few boats on the water and when a barge passed, my Aunt was like a kid stopping at the bridge rail to take in the passing vessel. She wanted to know where the boat captain sat and so forth, so I pointed this all out. We nearly reached my car when a guy pushing a shopping cart past us said, "Hey! I found an aluminum car rim. That should bring me seven dollars easily!" "Good for you", said my Aunt. "What else have you collected there?" "Mostly aluminum cans", he replied. "A lot of people call me a bum but, hey, it's honest, man", he said. "Any honest work is honorable, good for you!", said my Aunt. A great end to a blah day. I know I'll miss her while she's overseas.
I'm so proud whenever any of my friends achieve a milestone! Jim West has spent 8 decades in the music industry. We became friends six years ago--just 4 years after he developed Parkinson's Disease (which I mentioned in a previous post claimed my father). Jim is an outstanding musician (singer, clarinet, baritone sax and string bass) producer, and a voice over professional (for Disney Malaysia). Under the G.I Bill he earned his degree in Speech and Dramatic Arts from Cal Berkeley and played in a wide variety of bands before joining the Dick Lane Quartet. He toured the hot venues of Las Vegas, Reno and Tahoe playing alongside Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Pearl Bailey, the Mills Brothers and Frank Sinatra.
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The son of a band leader and an accomplished pianist, Jim was sent to a Cleveland orphanage with his sister after their mother died of breast cancer and his father disappeared. He turned to music for solace. In 1956, he met the love of his life, Liz and today they are proud parents of two grown children Claire and Steven. Settling in Dallas, he started one of America's largest production companies and placed "The Music of Your Life"-big band music of the 30's, 40's and 50's on 400 stations from Maine to San Diego, and Seattle to Miami. Aside from his induction into the National Association of Broadcasters for a Life Achievement Award and the Texas Radio Hall of Fame, Jim won the 2004 Promax Gold Award for his animated Disney Children's stories, "Legends of the Ring of Fire". Recently, Jim accomplished his life-long dream of releasing two bookend CD's --"Unfinished Business" and "Finished Business". He is donating proceeds to further Parkinson research. You've probably heard him nationwide on radio commercials for Tony Roma's, International House of Pancakes and much more. Jim even played a private gig once for Howard Hughes! He is a dear friend who is featured in the National Parkinson Foundation's Summer magazine edition. He is an inspiring man who will touch your heart. Check out his music site at www.jimwestmusic.com. If you know anyone struggling with PD here's what Jim says:"Accept your Parkinson's. Then, work through the tangle of emotions and changes you will experience. Youwillget through the jungle, break through to the clearing and find the motivation to keep moving in as positive a direction as possible. Remember to always have hope". Most recently, Jim collaborated with a speech pathologist to create an educational videotape introducing the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT). Jim's career in voice over work continues on. We can all take a tip from Jim about overcoming life's obstacles and celebrating life with words AND music!
My previous posting referencing the late Marty Shugrue--one of the greatest airline executives that ever lived--and a wonderful friend, led me to a conversation with a colleague of mine from the magazine I write for. I was sharing the great qualities that I admired in Marty, when my colleague told me that this reminded him of his personal experience with Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Atlantic Airways. My colleague was interviewing Sir Richard in Atlanta for a magazine article. Things were going well when all of a sudden, one of Sir Richard's aides nudged him and said "We have to be at CNN for Larry King in an hour". Sir Richard, looked at my colleague and said: "Pity. I'm really enjoying this conversation. Look, why don't you join us, then we can pick this up over dinner? I'd really like to continue". So my lucky friend boarded the Limo over to One CNN Center and sat in the wings watching Larry and Sir Richard for an hour! Afterward, they headed to a restaurant for steaks and my friend reported how sincerely down to earth this entrepreneurial genius really is.
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Apart from sharing the experience of crash-landing in a hot air balloon (and surviving with a sense of humor intact), Sir Richard and I have another thing in common. We answer snail mail! Three years ago, I was part of a team assembling a fundraiser for a good cause: a benefit for the National Parkinson Foundation (http://www.parkinson.org) -the world's largest and oldest non-profit organization dedicated to uncovering a cause and cure for Parkinson's Disease (which took my father). One man I contacted directly for underwriting was Sir Richard Branson. One week later, I received a letter from Sir Richard advising me that he had just opened my letter and that either he or a member of his staff would respond within the next two weeks. But he wanted me to know that my letter had, in fact, reached him directly. Imagine a CEO doing this much today! (I know, try not to spit out whatever you happen to be drinking). Well, the following week, he graciously declined. However, I was so grateful that he even took the time to write me, that I immediately sent him a Thank You card! We were having one hell of a time getting local phone calls returned and here is one of the world's wealthiest men, who runs an empire of companies and yet, he made time to contact me! Amazingly, he wrote back again to communicate that he was "relieved" from reading my card that I understood and could only imagine how many legitimate requests his company receives in a given year for worthy causes; he couldn't possibly honor all of them. But he did want me to know that he read my materials and said the project looked sound and wished us well. One of the busiest executives on the planet was considerate enough to respond personally to a letter, accommodate a fellow journalist and all without a glint of ego!
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From starting a recording label to selling books, cell phones, cars, running airlines, setting records in hot-air balloons and sponsoring record-breaking airplane flights, this businessman enjoys a good laugh with a heart to go with it. Business men and women worldwide could learn a thing or two from Sir Richard Branson! Namely, the lost art of being conscientious and caring!
Here's a Winter-time story to help you beat the Summer heat! The house where I grew up as a kid had this weird driveway where the garage was built under the family room. To park the family car inside the garage meant driving down a slope with a stone wall to either side. Mid-West winters ran from picturesque to downright dangerous with this driveway and in between watching ABC's "Wide World of Sports", I thought it was a scream to watch my father backing his car out during countless failed Olympian attempts and burning rubber. I'd pull out a kitchen chair and kneel on it with my hands on the living room windowsill watching this spectacle. Very exciting! (Looking back, I could have used a bag of buttered pop corn) After some close calls with the wall, my father pulled what I call a "Sly Stallone" (RAMBO) and attached a garden hose to the hot water tap on the basement sink to melt the ice--and it worked! It was the "thrill of victory" over the "agony of defeat". Parked safely atop the driveway, he closed the wooden garage door and joined my two brothers and I for lunch--ham sandwiches! We watched the TV for a couple of hours when a meter reader from the City Water Department made his way around the back of our weird driveway. Dressed in rubber galoshes, corduroy pants, a winter coast and a Flap Cap that reminded me of the "Floyd R. Turbo" character from "The Tonight Show", he walked along as he called out: "Meter reader!...Water man!...Meter reader!" (This was our cue to open the garage door to give the guy access to the water meter in the basement). Realizing that the water had re-frozen on the driveway, my brothers and I looked at each other with eyes as big as saucers and yelled out "THE DRIVEWAY!" as we jumped up and scrambled to the basement stairs. The last words we heard as we reached the basement door to the garage were: "Water... METER!-METER!!-METER!!!-METER!!!!" followed by a loud crash against the garage door. Poor guy. Opening the door, we found him sprawled out on his back with his clip board ten feet away. We helped him to his feet and brought him inside for some hot chocolate. My father's fresh glaze of frozen ice would have made Donald Trump as proud as he was the day he cut the ribbon for the newly-renovated Wollman Ice Rink in New York's Central Park! Despite my mother's pleadings for years to get my father to back out the family car at the first sight of a snow storm, my father never listened. But it was never boring!
Basically, I'm a Public Relations Consultant with a background in Broadcast News. I've worked as a Reporter and Anchor with PBS, ABC, CBS & NBC affiliates and in Cable Television. I'm active in Radio & Television Commercials, Guest Speaking engagements and I enjoy writing, music and sports.
