Tag Archives: Richard Libertini

April 16, 2020 · 1:22 pm

The Set of 400: #100 – My Favorite Nude Medal Ceremony

Today! Because in order to be grounded, I’ve got to be crazy. And I must be crazy to keep flying. But if I ask to be grounded, that means I’m not crazy anymore, and I have to keep flying –

Catch-22 (1970)

Directed by Mike Nichols (x2)

Starring Alan Arkin (x5), Jon Voight (x2), Martin Balsam (x3), Buck Henry (x3), Richard Benjamin, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins (x2), Art Garfunkel, Jack Gilford (x2), Martin Sheen, Orson Welles (x2), Bob Balaban (x2), Paula Prentiss, Norman Fell (x2), Charles Grodin, Austin Pendleton, Peter Bonerz, Jack Riley (x4), Bruce Kirby, Richard Libertini (x3), Elizabeth Wilson (x2), Susanne Benton, Jon Korkes, Marcel Dalio

The Top 100! We finally made it! This is what the list always was in the past – a tight group of a hundred films I love, not this insanely bloated collection including a ton of movies I like but would probably be embarrassed to bring up to the Gallery of Sound register. And often floating near the end of those lists from days gone by is this adaptation of my favorite book, Mike Nichols’ noble experiment in bringing Joseph Heller’s unfilmmable novel to the screen. I don’t anticipate ever doing a list like this of my favorite books – come on, that would be far too difficult, as I don’t really re-read books much, so even though I remember loving The Stand, how it would compare to something I read last month is questionable. So, just for your edification and because this is all about me anyway, Catch-22 is my favorite book. I’m not sure what is ever going to supplant it, but I suppose anything’s possible. I’ve still never read The Da Vinci Code!

The movie sucked pretty loud, though, as I recall

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Tagged as Alan Arkin, Anthony Perkins, Art Garfunkel, Austin Pendleton, Bob Balaban, Bob Newhart, Bruce Kirby, Buck Henry, Catch-22, Charles Grodin, Favorite Movies Ever, Jack Gilford, Jack Riley, Jon Voight, Joseph Heller, Martin Balsam, Martin Sheen, Mike Nichols, Norman Fell, Orson Welles, Paula Prentiss, Richard Benjamin, Richard Libertini

January 21, 2020 · 2:15 pm

The Set of 400: #162 – My Favorite Soul Bowl

Today! Because now she’s thinking of dead kittens!

All of Me (1984)

Directed by Carl Reiner (x3)

Starring Steve Martin (x6), Lily Tomlin (x2), Victoria Tennant, Madolyn Smith, Richard Libertini (x2), Selma Diamond (x2), Eric Christmas (x2), Michael Ensign, Basil Hoffman (x2), Dana Elcar, Jason Bernard (x2), Gailard Sartain, Neva Patterson, Harvey Vernon

The rage of body switching style comedies of the ’80s and ’90s hit its peak with All of Me, the third, final, and best of the Carl Reiner/Steve Martin collaborations on this list. These movies had the built in appeal of seeing wildly different persons trying to inhabit each other’s bodies, and seeing how the actors involved would pull this off. Whether it’s list favorites #358 Switch or #366 Freaky Friday, or more generic fare like 18 Again and Like Father, Like Son, or the rapid-aging sub-genre of this idea like Big or 13 Going on 30, this is a tried and true formula that will seemingly never tire in audience imaginations. Congratulations! The twist with All of Me is that dying millionaire Edwina (Lily Tomlin) gets magically stuffed into lawyer Roger’s (Steve Martin) body, where they both have to inhabit it while trying to sort of the nefarious details of her heir’s schemes. Continue reading →

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Tagged as All of Me, Carl Reiner, Favorite Movies Ever, Lily Tomlin, Richard Libertini, Selma Diamond, Steve Martin, Victoria Tennant

April 11, 2019 · 1:22 pm

The Set of 400: #365 – My Favorite Octopus Punch

Today! Because this is a fight to the finish. The first man who’s dead loses –

Popeye (1980)

Directed by Robert Altman

Starring Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall, Paul L. Smith, Ray Walston, Paul Dooley, Bill Irwin, Richard Libertini, Donovan Scott, Roberta Maxwell, Allan F. Nicholls, Donald Moffat, Linda Hunt, David Arkin

A pretty roundly savaged film in its day, Popeye almost single-handedly ruined Robert Altman’s career. By the standards of the time, it was kind of a bomb, and it received a bunch of year-end Worst Movie joke nominations and wins. Yikes! And I’ll admit, it’s not a film that totally works – Altman’s style mixed with very child-friendly humor and some pretty cheap looking octopus effects does leave you a little bewildered at the aims of this movie. There are a bunch of Harry Nilsson songs that are silly but okay, but feel kinda jammed in haphazardly all over the place.

But this is a movie I watched to death as a kid, and can still get a lot of enjoyment from – Robin Williams’ sailor man is solidly funny, Paul L. Smith followed up his terrifying role in Midnight Express with a less menacing but equally imposing turn as Bluto, and the supporting group of Pappy, Wimpy, Castor Oyl, et al are solid in their roles. But come on, if there’s any one person to point to for the watch-ability of Popeye it’s Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl. She’s so perfect in the part that it not only gives the movie some much needed heart, it actually creates some genuine authenticity in the goings-on. Authenticity isn’t the right word. Believability? That’s not a word. Reality? It helps to engender an actual reality in the madness of Sweethaven.