Passages

[mfunk9786]

Sally Menke, Tarantino's longtime editor.

[colinr0380]

Sally Menke, Tarantino's longtime editor.

A tribute from Edgar Wright.

[LQ]

Arthur Penn.

[mfunk9786]

Director of one of the most purely entertaining films of its era.

[Matt]

It was seeing Mickey One relegated to a barebones DVD-R release that did it.

[Richard]

Bonnie and Clyde changed everything. This news makes me truly sad.

[ianungstad]

It's unfortunate that Criterion hasn't released anything by Arthur Penn. It would have been nice to see his involvement in a Criterion release of one of his films.

Mickey One or The Miracle Worker would have been great.

[petevoelker]

Don't forget Night Moves. Roger Ebert fawns over it, as do I.

[mfunk9786]

No link yet, but Twitter is blowing up: Greg Giraldo has passed away.

[swo17]

Damn, I always really liked him on Tough Crowd. Apparently it was an accidental overdose of prescription pills.

[mfunk9786]

Jim Norton just confirmed on his Twitter as well. I had heard he was breathing on his own but I guess he took a turn for the worse.

He was a really funny guy and one of the few reasons to tune into those disposable Comedy Central roasts. I've got a feeling that he'll be more famous in death than he was in life: his stand-up comedy is very funny.

[Matt]

Comedy Central can start by issuing a Best of Tough Crowd DVD, which is easily 6 years overdue. I never really liked Giraldo's actual stand-up material or his appearances on other shows, but he was a stand-out presence on this show filled with talented bullshitters and wisecrackers.

[Tom Hagen]

I remember watching Tough Crowd as religiously as The Daily Show during those dark months in 2003 when we decided to go to war because, well, why the hell not. Those guys were all great; they brought some real humor to some dark times.

[MichaelB]

Tony Curtis.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Tony Curtis.

The boy with the ice cream face...I guess it just melted.

[Perkins Cobb]

Joe Mantell, sidekick to Marty and Jake Gittes.

[Props55]

Joe Mantell..... and memorably incinerated in the parking lot of Bodega Bay's only diner in THE BIRDS.

[Roger Ryan]

Joe Mantell..... and memorably incinerated in the parking lot of Bodega Bay's only diner in THE BIRDS.

...and a terrific "two"-man performance in THE TWILIGHT ZONE's "Nervous Man In A Four Dollar Room".

[Robert de la Cheyniest]

What a terrible week, jesus

[swo17]

I'm kind of surprised by the lack of reaction to Tony Curtis passing. I will say this: the scene where he seduces Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot was one of the first moments where I really got a classic film.

[knives]

I always assumed Curtis would pull a Borgnine, at least he lived fully though.

[Highway 61]

Indeed, Tony Curtis is the real star of Some Like It Hot. His Cary Grant imitation never fails to crack me up.

[Finch]

This brings back memories of when Bergman and Antonioni both died within days of each other. Have to say that I'm much fonder of Curtis' Grant imitation than Some Like It Hot itself - perhaps it's overexposure but I used to like the film more. Looking forward to Sweet Smell of Success from Criterion though, perhaps they'll include a short remembrance featurette in the new release.

As for Penn: the man is one of my director heroes just for Bonnie and Clyde, and I just ordered a copy of Night Moves. Reckon I got doubly lucky as it was actually available and sold for under £10 (someone had it on Amazon Marketplace Germany). By comparison, the only copy on Marketplace UK goes for £36. If you haven't gotten the film yet and find it for a reasonable price online, act quickly.

[Napier]

I used to work for Arlo Guthrie and had the opportunity to meet Arthur Penn several times when we went down to NYC to play Carnegie Hall. A really nice guy. Now that I think about it, Criterion should release Alice's Restaurant.

[colinr0380]

I think Boston Strangler was Curtis's greatest 'performance', and he certainly manages to anchor the film in the final section when it focuses down into a psychological study (with a similar final shot that seems to recall Psycho, but blanker). But that's not to cast aspersions on Some Like It Hot (though that's a great example of a rather thin premise for a comedy being completely elevated by all of the cast on their absolute best form), The Great Race and Sweet Smell of Success, all of which he enriches with his presence and wouldn't have been the same without him (and I even like his slightly clunky accented roles in Spartacus/The Vikings, Taras Bulba and The Black Shield of Falworth when the mood takes me!)

And that's without mentioning Roeg's Insignificance, The Manitou, The Defiant Ones, The Last Tycoon and Trapeze.