by John Walters
Star, 80
Happy birthday to film legend/sex symbol/conservationist/indie film crusader Robert Redford, who in his prime was bigger than Brad Pitt. Five essential Redford films: Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, The Sting, The Way We Were, The Great Gatsby, All The President’s Men (okay, two more: Three Days of the Condor and Jeremiah Johnson)
2. Horton Hears A “Says Who?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-Z9lTUu3e8
Just when you think the 2016 presidential election cannot get any more surreal….
There were three “Says who’s?” in there, if you’re counting. That’s CNN anchor Brianna Kellar talking to Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.
3. Lie of Ryan
Too much fodder here; just know that you should always be suspicious of a 32 year-old man who dyes his hair white.
4. High Hurdles: Trio in Rio
Castlin, Rollins and Ali took bronze, gold and silver, respectively
A dazzling night on the track in Rio, as three American female high hurdlers swept the medals. Brianna Rollins, gold, was the first American to take gold in a track (not field) event in Rio.
5. Life In Aleppo
This is five year-old Omran Daqneesh after an air raid hit his hometown in Syria. No matter what side of the aisle you are on, you must agree that little boys and girls should not be subjected to this madness. Why do adults (adult males, let’s be honest) screw everything up?
Music 101
Lonely Boy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOddagW50hY
As backup musicians for Linda Ronstadt go, Don Henley and Glenn Frey enjoyed more overall success than Andrew Gold. But in 1977, this tune dominated the air waves, spending five months on the charts and peaking at No. 7. Plus, it has been used in both Boogie Nights and The Nice Guys (<–why did I forget to go see this?). Gold denied that the song is autobiographical even though, like the song’s main character, he was born in the summer of 1951. Here he is performing the song on The Midnight Special (even though he should’ve appeared on Solid Gold, no?) (Later era)
I like the Redford list, although I might squeeze The Candidate in there somewhere.
Also, Redford played Roy Hobbs, who is on the short list of most iconic sports movie characters. That list is as follows (fictional characters only, so no Jake LaMotta):
1. Rocky Balboa
2. Roy Hobbs
3. Crash Davis
4. Norman Dale
5. Morris Buttermaker
6. Carl Spackler
7. Jimmy Dugan
8. Randy the Ram
9. Rod Tidwell
10. Ricky Vaughn
It’s hard to wrap my head around Robert Redford as an octogenarian. He also directed and narrated A River Runs Through It, which I consider one of his most important works. I enjoyed Indecent Proposal too, but a rivalrous love triangle with Woody Harrelson? That’s what I call acting.
Now that the Lochte ‘dope’ scandal has been unveiled, I have a new theory about how the Olympic pool turned a mysterious shade of green. They blamed it on copious amounts of hydrogen peroxide dumped into the pool. But if you think about it, it could as easily been caused by the chemicals in the Lochte Ness Monster’s hair dye. 🙂
Ruth, I don’t think he’s an octogenarian. I saw him eating a ribeye at the steakateria.