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Thursday AGAIN? This is getting crazy now.
We had a semi-accidental Charles Grodin day today. I had sort of forgotten about Grodin somehow. He was a big star in the 80s and 90s but then not so much (apparently he semi-retired to raise his kids) and the world moves on to the next thing.
But my wife put on Beethoven for the kids (I don’t think I’ve seen it before, but that’s fair enough as it came out when I was adult) and there he was. It’s a pretty good film, though creates an unfair suspicion of vets, most of whom are not trying to steal dogs for experiments. Grodin is good value. I felt bad for having nearly forgotten him.
Then this evening my wife wanted to watch “So I Married an Axe Murderer” which I don’t think I’ve seen (but I now forget all films which means I can watch most of them again as long as five years have passed and they’re brand new again). I thought it would have aged badly, but it’s actually in better shape than most of Mike Myers work. He’s a bit more straight than Wayne, but has a similar goofy dating style and a bit less offensive in Scottishness than in Austin Powers. He pretty much puts a shrek in it.
Brenda Fricker is ace in the film and again there’s an actor who had a period of working in Hollywood blockbusters until replaced by the next in vogue respected actor. Nancy Travis, underused in Three Men and a Baby is extremely good too, but again made me think how precarious movie careers are. Amanda Plummer too. Mike Myers too.
But then up pops Charles Grodin in a small but trademark role.
And seeing him for the second time in a day when I haven’t thought of him for a few years, I suddenly remembered he’s in the brilliant Midnight Run (at least I remember it being brilliant -any step backwards into the past now carries the risk of an old favourite being unpleasantly politically incorrect) so we watched 45 minutes of that before calling it a night. It’s holding up so far.
Another retro AIOTM up today. An historical document of what the evil people of a decade ago found amusing. Emma Kennedy was blacked up throughout too, even though it was just audio.
