Sneak, sneak, sneak …
Watched Sneakers on DVD last night, and it remains a favorite film of mine, marred only by some Movie-GUI problems in a few scenes. The marvelous cast — Redford, Poitier, Kingsley, Aykroyd, Emory, Phoenix, McDonald — take a relatively light caper flick, and make it something special. Everyone gets a moment to shine, as things rollick from witty to grim and back. It’s a story of obsession, redemption, and trust in both yourself and your friends. Great, great, great fun, and definitely on my “desert island” list.
And, frankly, it’s a great RPG flick, too. You can see each of the team as player characters, each with their own foibles, talents, and personalities. Heck, there’s even a “the quest is over, how do you want to be rewarded by the gods” scene at the end.
“You won’t know who to trust …” I like it.
The film also has a memorable bit of personal trivia about it. When I was on my “three hour tour” up in Martinez, Calif., Margie and I took a trip over to the City at one point, and I made a special point of driving to the spot, by the base of the Bay Bridge, where Bishop and Crease go to make the drop-off (it’s dressed as an outdoor cafe in the movie, though it isn’t). Margie, for whom the side trip was a surprise, thought it was one of my more charmingly geeky moments, and take a lot of pride in that assessment.
Avast there …
I’ve been slowly re-reading C.S. Forrester’s Hornblower novels. These stories of a British naval officer during the Napoleonic wars are not only a lot of fun as historical recreations, but I relate a lot to the title character — driven by duty, internally deeply insecure, all that good stuff. Less so than I once did, mind you — frankly, Hornblower is an emotional wreck, and could use some good counselling and about a year’s sabbatical. But, still, the contrast between the external hero and the internal doubter is a powerful one, and makes this lengthy series of books — written out of chronological order, in the 30s-60s — a damned good read, as victory is again and again snatched out of the jaws of defeat, but all too often with only emotional ashes to savor afterward.
I didn’t much care, by the bye, for the A&E Hornblower movies a year or two back. I much prefer the 1951 Gregory Peck film, which conflates the first three (written) novels.
Ahh, Hornblower. Great stuff. The other series by O’Brian gets higher marks from folks, but Hornblower will always be a love of mine.
I’ve been tempted by a number of the Hornbloweresque books — the Aubrey-Maturin series you mention, Bolitho — but have never quite succumbed. Maybe when I’m done with this re-read.
Yes the Hornblower series is good fun. I did like the A&E series as well.
the Aubrey-Maturin series can get a bit dry at times, but after reading them you almost feel you could crew a ship. The parts that I enjoyed from the first few that I have read are the little asides. Things like Well we were ordered to leave port and X members of the crew failed to make it back. I am not at all happy about the Russell Crowe version coming out this summer (we had to change the events in the book because American’s wouldn’t want to see a movie in which the British are hunting down a couple of American ships), because the U.S. and the U.K have never fought each other in the past…
Ah, good! I am not alone in my love of “Sneakers!” A wondeful movie rife with quotable quotes. And I agree, they pull of some wonderful transitions from comedy to dark suspense and back. The ensemble cast is truly a work of casting genius.
(Sighs, shakes head.)
The IMDB listing for the A-M film can be found here.
It’s worth noting, of course, that despite plenty of opportunity for doing so, Forester, too, side-stepped putting HH up against the American Navy. The early encounters he has with them are a bit disparaging as to their neutrality against Napoleon, and during (what we call) the War of 1812, Commodore Hornblower is very distinctly off in the Baltic, assisting the Russians against France.
Of course, given that Commodore Hornblower and Lord Hornblower were published in ’45 and ’46, focusing on an Anglo-American sea battle would probably not have been high on his list.
(A Hornblower list thread on this subject can be found here.)
I’ve only read one Hornblower book (Lord Hornblower), so I may not be the best judge, but I found the A&E movies superior to the Peck vehicle. Much more depth to them.
Say, is this post’s title a Harley Quinn reference, and, if so, how many bonus points do I get for pointing it out?
You get 15 points for spotting the Harley Quinn reference.
You lose 25 points for missing the truly awful post title pun that I made in the last three days.
(Especially since it was a Star Trek pun.)
Ok….
I’ll bite…
What are the Harly Quinn and Star Trek references?
There’s at least one Batman: The Animated Series episode where Harley is tiptoe-sneaking around, saying (out loud), “Sneak, sneak, sneak …”
As to the ST:TOS ref … that’s still an open question at the moment.