Actors and Their Legacies

[silverscreenselect]

Today, I went to see Strange Wilderness. It is a very bad movie from Adam Sandler's production company, which is so bad that Sandler and his usual pals Rob Schneider and David Spade can't even be bothered to put in a cameo appearance. The major "comic" set piece of the movie involves a turkey which winds up stuck when it tries to bite off a certain part of Steve Zahn's anatomy. I wouldn't think about it again other than one thing.

Ernest Borgnine is in the movie. Borgnine is the best thing in the movie. He just turned 91 years old, and it's great that he is still active in movies. He is still the usual chipper Borgnine, and shows a lot of vigor when he's onscreen. But, and there's no other way to phrase it, any time he appears in a movie, there's a good chance it could be his last. And why in the world would he want to go out in such a dreadful disaster as this one.

Eli Wallach is 92. A couple of months ago, I saw him in Mama's Boy, another dreadful film in which he was by far the best thing about the movie. I felt the exact same way. That movie would be a horrible note on which to end a distinguished career.

I would hope that these men don't need the money, but are working because they want to, and it's great they can still turn in effective performances at their age. If I make it to 90, I hope I can still be cognizant of my surroundings. But surely, there must be producers and directors out there with better projects who could use veterans like them.

Because I hope that a few years from now, when I see the last movie that actors like this make, that I can remember them and their careers fondly the whole time I watch instead of shaking my head about how they wound up in a mess like these last two movies.

[ne1410s]

Edward G Robinson's last movie was "Soylent Green" which I thought was worse than awful. I'm too young to remember his heyday in movies but I hated to see him end up in that turd.

[Bob Juch]

Well that's $10 and about an hour and a half of your life that you won't get back again!

[silverscreenselect]

Well that's $10 and about an hour and a half of your life that you won't get back again!

Hour and a half of my life -- Yes

$10-- No

I have a pass that gets me into all the theaters in town for free. There's no way I pay $10 to see Strange Wilderness.

[elwoodblues]

Speaking of legacies, Bela Lugosi's last movie was Plan 9 From Outer Space. Ouch.

[earendel]

I would hope that these men don't need the money, but are working because they want to, and it's great they can still turn in effective performances at their age. If I make it to 90, I hope I can still be cognizant of my surroundings. But surely, there must be producers and directors out there with better projects who could use veterans like them.

I suspect that they did these movies because they were asked and still want to be active in their chosen craft. They probably don't get very many offers, however, because of their age.