I love film, and I love actors. Certain actors I really love - I talk about them here, I have met many of them, I go out of my way to see their work.
Today is Movie Day (every Saturday is Movie Day) and I saw, for the first time (which was surprising for such a cinephile as myself) the iconic 1971 Peter Bogdanovich The Last Picture Show. It was wildly critically acclaimed (8 Oscar nominations, a couple wins) as well as popular, and it was easy to see why: it was a masterpiece.
Anyway, one of the main actors was Jeff Bridges (a very young Jeff Bridges, only 22) and, in a smaller role, a 21-year old Randy Quaid. They were both young, and amazing, and all that - but one the fun things about seeing their performances was seeing them knowing who they were going to become, professionally, and what sorts of roles they would end up playing - Bridges, well-known for one of the most iconic roles of all time, the Dude from The Big Lebowski, and Quaid, who I just saw in Real Time, an independent gem from 2008, in which he played a multi-faceted hitman, in a movie told in - you got it - real time. My point being, it gave me the same feeling you get from looking at baby pictures of people you know, or watching a kid grow up. (I don't have kids but my partner's brother has four girls, the youngest of whom I watched from age 1; she's now 18, so I am familiar with the process).
It made me realize, there's something very *nice* about this star system we have, in some ways. It's very fun and rewarding, even, to follow someone's career, whether it be an actor, or a musician, or a writer. I buy every Douglas Coupland book as it comes out; I love to see what Ani DiFranco is up to now because I remember seeing her at a small club way back when; I'm fascinated when I see how Quentin Tarantino is behaving because I can compare it with how he was when I met him in 1992 - basically twenty years ago. I mean, I've been watching Harrison Ford age from 36 (when he played Han Solo) until now.
Side note (kind of related): Recently, I discovered - or, I guess, realized - that my father is only 2 years older than Harrison Ford. Which basically made me go back and re-asses a bunch of memories I had. You know, it's that sort of thing when you realize, my God, I'm older now than my mother was when she had me! My father has always been about the age of Harrison Ford. And now, in recent years, it turns out my dad kind of reminds me of Harrison Ford; my dad is extremely fit (Mr. Natural Universe, Grand Masters category - 60 and over - when he was 60 and 61; when he was 62, some 60-year-old whippersnapper stole the title), and they have a similar build. So whenever I see a Harrison Ford film, I can think back to that time in my life - from my high school years of the early Bladerunner 80's to my first years in San Francisco, the Air Force One and Sabrina times - and realize when I was dealing with my dad in those times, he was about that old. It really helps.
So it's nice that artists have careers - are willing to have careers - in front of us, even giving interviews and maybe meeting you in person, but certainly being free with their creative abilities. You can measure time in a lovely way. It's Movie Day and I've gotta go now, to watch one of my favorite movies, The Freshmen, which has Bruno Kirby in a prominent role. I saw this movie so many times when it came out; I loved it. Years later, I would run into Bruno Kirby at a small speciality shop in SoHo...and not too long after that, he would die pretty young, at age 57.
Life, I say, everyone gets a different one. I enjoy seeing my own life unfold....and I enjoy seeing others, from friends and friends' kids and co-workers and, yes, even actors. Just another nice thing about the movies.
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