Seymour Cassel, the creased and weathered character actor who was born middle-aged, and is primarily known for playing multiple roles for directors John Cassevetes and Wes Anderson, has passed on at age 84. Not a tragedy as he loved a long and robust life. It’s just that the journey ended. My problem, if you will, is that I never saw Cassel’s signature Cassevetes performance in Minnie and Moskowitz. My strongest recollection, for some reason, is his barber-shop father of Jason Schwartzman‘s Max Fischer in Rushmore.

Four years ago a 14 year-old named John Smith fell through the ice of Missouri’s Lake Saint Louise. He was underwater for 15 minutes. At the hospital he was clinically “dead” — no pulse, 88 degree temperature — for 45 minutes. But then God brought him back to life after his adoptive mom, Joyce Smith, begged for divine intervention.

Friendly Atheist Hemant Mehta suggests that “the ice cold water actually slowed John’s metabolism so much that it allowed him to survive a situation that might have otherwise killed him.” I for one support this hypothesis.

Given the market for faith-based entertainment, there’s a new film called Breakthrough — directed Roxann Dawson, produced by DeVon Franklin, released by Disney — about this episode, made for rightwing types who adore the idea of God stepping in and saving the day.

Excerpt from Owen Gleiberman‘s 4.8.19 Variety review: “On the surface, there’s no reason why a tale of mystical healing should inherently belong to either the conservative or liberal camp, especially given that the current leader of American conservative politics, Donald Trump, is a rage-fueled narcissistic demagogue who, measured by his words and deeds, is no more a Christian than he is a Martian.

“Yet the aspect of Breakthrough that makes it, spiritually and culturally, a movie of the Trump age is the literal-mindedness of its faith. The movie isn’t just an affirmation of Christian belief; it’s a sentimental celebration of never doubting. It says to its audience, ‘If your faith is strong enough, then you will be protected, no matter what.’ That’s an incredible reassurance, but it’s also an excuse — for following certain leaders wherever they take you. No matter what.”

Pete Buttigieg to Mike Pence: Check your rightwing faith convictions, give them a re-think. Or fold them five ways and put them where the moon don’t shine.

Excerpt: “The struggle is not over when transgender troops, ready to put their lives on the line for their country, have their careers threatened with ruin, one tweet at a time, by a commander in chief who himself pretended to be disabled” — i.e., fictitious bone spurs — “in order to get out of serving when it was his turn.”

There’s never been a shortage of bad movie dads, or for that matter bad movie dad lists.

The top contenders for the ultimate bad-dad prize are Jack Nicholson in The Shining (abuser of wife and young son), John Huston in Chinatown (father-daughter rape), Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (emotional abuser of son), Robert Duvall in The Great Santini (ditto), John Cassavetes in Rosemary’s Baby (wife abuser by way of arranging for her to become pregnant by Satan himself), etc.

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Daryl Duke and Curtis Hanson‘s The Silent Partner (’78), which I saw brand-new but haven’t re-watched since, was an excellent variation on Strangers on a Train. It was actually a remake of Think of a Number, a 1969 Danish film written and directed by Palle Kjærulff-Schmidt, and based on a novel by Danish writer Anders Bodelsen.

It delivered Elliott Gould‘s last alluring, well-written lead role before he downshifted into character parts, and Chris Plummer played a deliciously demonic bank robber and extortionist. A new Kino Lorber Bluray pops on 6.18.19.

Here’s an enjoyable Sunset Gun appreciation (12.24.16), or more precisely a discussion of the film by Goyld and Kim Morgan.

I’m also a big fan of Duke’s Payday (’72), the drama about a country-music star shitheel (Rip Torn). No Bluray or HD streaming as we speak.

When I think of Cry Tough (’59), which is screening tonight at the American Cinematheque Egyptian, I think of this erotic moment between John Saxon and the Argentine-born Linda Cristal. What I really mean is that I think of Cristal’s see-through negligee. Admitting this makes me a sexist dog who should be hunted down, clubbed to death and hung upside down like Mussolini.

I’ve never made an effort to see this 1959 Spanish Harlem-set gang flick start to finish, largely because I’ve always felt that Saxon lacked intrigue and range — he’s a good actor but lacking X-factor magnetism. It isn’t streaming as we speak. Not on Amazon, anyway

Joe Biden’s popularity is all about name recognition and vague feelings of pre-Trump comfort — nothing more. Poll respondents are lazy as fuck. It’ll take most of them months to even become vaguely familiar with Beto O’Rourke and Mayor Pete. Biden is a decent, compassionate handsy guy and in solid with fair-minded, 60-plus, old-school, rank-and-file slowboats, but he can’t become the Democratic nominee. Not in this atmosphere. He’s out of time, yesterday’s news. In a 1960 election context, Biden is like an older Stuart Symington or, you know, a holdover from the Truman or Roosevelt administrations. Beto, Buttigieg and Kamala Harris are the JFK-like figures. Be here now.

Posted by yours truly at the tail end of yesterday’s comment thread about Pete Buttigieg: “An NBC News poll says 68% of Americans are cool with a gay presidential candidate — a big change since 2006. 14% enthusiastic, 54% comfortable. Under 35s are overwhelmingly supportive — 75%. 56% of seniors are cool with the idea — up from 31% in 2006.

“The 32% of the general populace that doesn’t like the idea represents your bedrock Trumpster base — deep-red Bumblefucks, ultra-staunch conservative Christians, old-realm types who long for a Frank Capra-Jimmy Stewart-Bedford Falls world plus alpha-male homophobes and racists.

The irony, of course, is that if the old-realmers would open their eyes they’d realize that the left-Christian Pete Buttigieg is Frank Capra, Jimmy Stewart and Bedford Falls. He just has a husband at home rather than Donna Reed. Plus his campaign bio says he’s never succumbed to thoughts of suicide.

“You can say it’s worrying that 32% are opposed to a gay Prez, but then again only a relatively small percentage of Americans have even given Mayor Pete a cursory once-over. It takes the Average Joe months to catch up. Plus that 32% of naysayers could very possibly diminish over the course of the next 12 to 15 months.”

In response to this Spicerpalooza said, “The people who won’t vote for Pete because he’s gay would never vote for a Democrat anyway.”

I shared an Indian dinner last night with an old friend. He looked good due to (a) having just gotten a $150 haircut and (b) having dropped a few pounds. He told me he’s been on a very limited fat diet, and I decided in a flash that I need to double down on the HE cockatoo and follow his spartan regimen.

Which means (a) no meats, (b) no dairy whatsoever (c) no oils (only balsamic vinaigrette on salads), (d) back to carrots, celery and apples during work hours (e) steamed vegetables, (f) steamed potatoes with lemon juice, (g) no Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches, (h) only whole-grain breads and no sandwiches whatsoever, (i) salmon, (j) no pizza, (k) no gelato or yogurt desserts, (l) no buttered popcorn and (m) next to no pasta.

Why the concern? Cholestoral and high-blood pressure, to name two concerns. Plus I’m tallish (6′ 1/2″) and broad shouldered and have always been on the slender side, but the truth is that I’ve been looking (and more importantly feeling) a bit gutty and even paunchy over the last couple of years, especially while sitting down. The upside is that I’m 98% out of the woods with the bruised-rib-cage thing. It’s wonderful to be free of that awful, debilitating pain.

The above rules and regulations are close to what I’ve been eating anyway, so it’s not like I’m about to experience severe sticker shock. Plus I have a famous Woody Allen line to comfort me: “You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred.”

The French title of Long Shot is Seduis-moi si tu peux, which means “seduce me if you can.” Which is what Charlize Theron is presumably saying to Seth Rogen, according to French marketers. I haven’t seen the film, but the trailer and the SXSW reviews suggest that Theron, the U.S. Secretary of State, doesn’t play especially hard to get with Rogen’s character, a nervy journalist. So what the slogan is really about is the French marketing team’s inability to handle the idea of Theron and Rogen doing each other. They’re putting themselves in the mind of Theron’s character and saying, “Seth Rogen? A guy who licks his fingers while eating a burrito? No way!”

HE agrees with each and every observation made by New York‘s Andrew Sullivan about Pete Buttigieg (“Is Pete Buttigieg a Transformational Candidate?”). But Sullivan has forgotten one thing — size. Buttigieg is not a very tall guy (my guess is somewhere between 5’9″ and 5’10”) and Donald Trump is 6’2″. On a primitive gut caveman level Trump is going to look more dominant than Buttigeg if they meet on a debate stage. Which is why I feel better about Beto O’Rourke, who’s about the same as Buttigieg ideologically but is 6’5″ — three inches taller than Trump. I’m sorry but this shit matters.

Sullivan: “Donald Trump would be the oldest president in history at 74; Pete Buttigieg would be the youngest at 39. Trump landed in politics via his money and celebrity after years in the limelight; Buttigieg is the mayor of a midsize midwestern town, unknown until a few weeks ago. Trump is a pathological, malevolent narcissist from New York, breaking all sorts of norms. Buttigieg is a modest, reasonable pragmatist, and a near parody of normality. Trump thrives on a retro heterosexual persona; Buttigieg appears to be a rather conservative, married homosexual. Trump is a coward and draft dodger; Buttigieg served his country. Trump does not read; Buttigieg does. Trump’s genius is demonic demagoguery. Buttigieg’s gig is careful reasoning. Trump is a pagan; Buttigieg is a Christian. Trump vandalizes government; Buttigieg nurtures it.