Tag Archives: Betty Buckley

1978 Films, Amy Irving, Andrew Stevens, Betty Buckley, Brian De Palma, Carrie Snodgress, Charles Durning, Dennis Franz, Fiona Lewis, Horror, John Cassavetes, Kirk Douglas, Melody Thomas Scott, Thriller, William Finley

The Fury-1978

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The Fury-1978

Director Brian De Palma

Starring Kirk Douglas, Amy Irving, John Cassavetes

Scott’s Review #1,446

Reviewed October 15, 2024

Grade: A-

The Fury (1978) is one of Brian De Palma’s films that flies under the radar and is underappreciated. It contains many of his trademark effects like slow-motion camerawork and incorporates actors who appear in more than one of his psychological thriller films.

The story might be more complicated than it needs to be and while legendary actor Kirk Douglas gets top billing he disappears for a good part of the film before returning towards the end. He hands the reins to Amy Irving who capably carries the rest of the film.

This is a small gripe for a film that ranks pretty close to classics like Dressed to Kill (1980), Carrie (1976), and Blow Out (1981).

I’m as guilty as anyone else for underappreciating The Fury since it’s only my second time viewing it.

The all-star cast features John Cassavetes as the villain, Carrie Snodgress, Charles Durning, Douglas, and Irving. That’s enough to make cinema fans want to see it. There are also unique actors in small roles who flesh out the quirky cast in a major win.

The screenplay by John Farris was based on his 1976 novel of the same name which feels a lot like a popular Stephen King novel.

The Fury utilizes the talents of esteemed John Williams who scored such greats like Fiddler on the Roof (1971), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), and Jaws (1975), to name a few. The highly lauded composer aptly uses the music to enhance the overall product.

Events start in Israel when a plot separates CIA agent Peter Sandza (Douglas) from his son, Robin (Andrew Stevens), but the distraught father manages to see through the ruse.

He realizes that Robin is being held at an institute by Ben Childress (Cassavetes) because the teenager possesses supernatural powers that Ben intends to use as weapons.

Meanwhile, Gillian (Amy Irving), a teen with telekinesis, forms a psychic connection to Robin and teams up with Peter to find and rescue him. They are forced to endure villains intent on destroying them for their gain.

I am amazed how well the film, made in 1978, holds up tremendously decades later considering the characters play dated video games and the automobiles are very 1970s. The overindulgence of 1970s ‘stuff’ is what holds the most appeal.

Appealing is the glimpse at hundreds of extras appearing in the many exterior Chicago scenes. While Gillian and her friend La Rue (Melody Thomas Scott) stroll down the boardwalk they pass teams of regular people harkening back to a time long ago.

The unwieldy American sedans popular in the mid-1970s pepper the streets of Chicago while the sofa and carpet styles of the time are prominently featured at the Paragon Institute feeling like a nostalgic hug in authenticity.

When the character of Gillian is introduced during a high school sequence parallels to the film Carrie are immediately noticed. Carrie and Gillian are both high school students, who possess psychic powers, including telekinesis, and these powers harm people who physically touch or provoke her.

The kicker is that Irving also appeared in Carrie but not as the title character.

The best scenes are when Hester (Snodgress) is struck and killed by a car propelling her bloody body through the windshield or when Institute employee, Dr. Susan Charles (Fiona Lewis) is tortured and spun to death over a lavish dinner table setting.

The food references are plentiful, mouthwatering, and fun to track. Hester and Gillian chat and giggle over heaping hot fudge sundaes, while scrambled eggs and dinner are mentioned during other scenes.

Some plot holes or inexplicable story points like Robin’s turn into a psycho and turning on his father because another psychic will replace him aren’t as compelling as other points of the film.

During one scene Gillian has Robin’s powers transfer to her causing her body to writhe and contort in an unconvincing way and Irving looks plain silly.

Being a huge De Palma fan I’m glad I dusted The Fury (1978) off the shelf because it’s a terrific watch with an exceptional cast. It contains many of De Palma’s trademarks making it fantastic, especially for his fans.

1983 Films, Betty Buckley, Drama, Robert Duvall, Romantic Drama

Tender Mercies-1983

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Tender Mercies-1983

Director Bruce Beresford

Starring Robert Duvall, Tess Harper

Scott’s Review #1,279

Reviewed July 22, 2022

Grade: B+

Tender Mercies (1983) is a quiet, down-home film about a country musician struggling with alcohol addiction, god, and a tepid musical career. Anyone starting to elicit a yawn will have the same reaction I did when reading the premise.

It’s not the most original idea but the film works surprisingly better than I initially expected. The 1983 film is largely forgotten at this point but has a Cinderella story as its legacy.

Funding and a marketing push were limited, resulting in low box-office returns but the Academy sure took notice heaving five nominations it’s way.

It’s quite the departure for those expecting actor Robert Duvall to mirror his The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather: Part II (1974) characters.

Tender Mercies is an actor’s film, and it belongs squarely to Duvall who delivers a wonderful performance perfectly carved out for an Oscar nomination. He instills himself into the role of a drunken, washed-up, country star vowing to stay straight.

Duvall does more than act in it, crafting and performing his songs in a role standing side by side with his role in The Apostle (1998) as his very best.

He won the coveted Academy Award for Tender Mercies.

Though the tone is low-key, filming was anything but, and reports of disagreements and blow-ups between Duvall and director, Bruce Beresford, surfaced.

The Australian director was later made famous for Driving Miss Daisy (1989) at one point even considered quitting the production.

The story tells of alcoholic drifter Mac Sledge (Duvall), who awakens one day in the middle of rural Texas after a night of heavy drinking.

His surroundings are a run-down roadside motel and gas station.

He meets the owner, a young widow named Rosa Lee (Tess Harper), and offers to perform maintenance work at the motel in exchange for a room. Rosa, whose husband was killed in the Vietnam War, is raising her young son, Sonny (Allan Hubbard), on her own.

Mac and Rosa become smitten with one another, attending church, and forging a life of solitude together. Demons surface when it is revealed that Mac is a once-famous country singer with a currently famous ex-wife, Dixie Scott (Betty Buckley).

When the opportunity for a career comeback surfaces, Mac must choose between his new life and the life he let slip through his hands.

The story is very good for several reasons. At the forefront, Mac is a likable guy whom the audience pulls for. Instead of the tried-and-true story of a man battling his demons and being ‘saved’ by a woman, Mac is already on the road to recovery and has the desire to stay sober.

Rosa Lee and Sonny merely serve as steady influences versus the bright lights and broken hearts of the country music world.

Mac also has a chance to be a father figure to someone. The bad stuff has already transpired in the past, so the audience is spared having to endure a pile of shit in exchange for a big payoff at the end of the film.

There are a couple of negatives that keep the film from being a masterpiece.

On the wagon, Mac is tempted to down a bottle of whiskey after a tragedy, but he resists the urge choosing to pour the devil’s juice out onto the ground. Is that a big surprise?

Buckley does her best with a one-note character, clearly in existence as an obstacle to Mac’s happiness.

But, at its core, Tender Mercies is about relationships, and though a slow under texture, delicious are the low-key scenes between Mac and Rosa Lee, and Mac and Sonny. The scenes prove that good crisp dialog with grace and heart trumps car chases any day.

They discuss life!

The cinematography of remote Texas is magical in its vastness and its loneliness. Key expressions on the face of Duvall perfectly match the Western landscape.

I’m not a religious guy and I’m not a country & western guy but I enjoyed the story I was served up by Tender Mercies (1983) quite a bit.

The combination of superb acting, an emotionally charged character-driven story, and a fabulous glimpse at the dry state of Texas, made for a compelling, and relatively short viewing time of ninety minutes.

Oscar Nominations: 2 wins-Best Picture, Best Director-Bruce Beresford, Best Actor-Robert Duvall (won), Best Screenplay-Written Directly for the Screen (won), Best Original Song-“Over You”

2016 Films, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley, Bruce Willis, James McAvoy, M. Night Shyamalan, Thriller

Split-2016

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Split-2016

Director M. Night Shyamalan

Starring James McAvoy, Anya Taylor Joy

Scott’s Review #821

Reviewed October 18, 2018

Grade: B-

Split (2016) is the second part of a planned trilogy; the first is Unbreakable (2000), and the third is to debut in 2019.

This point confused me because I did not notice any correlation between the films until the final scene, which was unclear.

Split has its ups and downs, mainly because of James McAvoy’s spectacular performance, which is the highlight, but the film is sadly riddled with many plot holes and nonsense.

I do not predict the film will be remembered all too well.

Casey (Joy) is a withdrawn teenage girl with an abusive past at the hands of her uncle, who raised her after her father died. She, along with two other girls, is accosted by a man (McAvoy) who chloroforms them and takes them to a hidden basement.

The girls quickly learn that their abductor is Kevin Wendell Crumb, a man suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).

His personality ranges from that of a nine-year-old child to that of an effeminate artist, a well-dressed woman, and Kevin.

The audience (but not the girls) learns that Kevin is in therapy under the care of Doctor Karen Fletcher (Betty Buckley), an established Philadelphia psychiatrist. Fletcher is aware of Kevin’s other personalities, including an additional personality deemed “The Beast.”

She assumes this is a fantasy superhero figure.

Karen slowly pieces together the frightening depth of Kevin’s disorder and must race against time to save the girls.

McAvoy, best known for his outstanding performances in The Last King of Scotland (2006) and Atonement (2007), is also a central figure in the X-Men film franchise (2011-2019). He knocks it out of the park.

What a challenging role (or roles!) for the handsome Scottish actor.  He is as convincing as the stoic and confident Kevin and provides the perfect swagger as “Patricia” and “Dennis.” Finally, he plays nine-year-old “Hedwig” with childhood innocence and insecurities.

The casting of McAvoy is a treat and a success.

How lovely to see film and television stalwart Betty Buckley back in the game with a central film role. The actress is a legend in other genres, not to mention her achievements on stage in play after play.

Eagle-eyed horror fans will undoubtedly remember Buckley’s role as the sympathetic gym teacher in Carrie (1976). In Split, she portrays another benevolent character as she is concerned for her patient’s well-being, not realizing the sinister sides he keeps hidden. The role is perfect for the warm Buckley.

Written, co-produced, and directed by the acclaimed M. Night Shyamalan, Split is no masterpiece like The Sixth Sense (1999) or even on par with The Village (2004).  Instead, the result is a peculiar and uneven effort- the fascination is with McAvoy’s twenty-three different personalities, granted we only see four or five of them.

The film misses the numerous backstory scenes of Casey and her uncle hunting in the woods. These scenes slow down the action and seem overly lengthy. She was abused and can now handle herself- we get it.

This point could have been achieved within one scene.

The relationship between the three girls is okay, but the story point of Casey being an outcast and different from the other two girls seems unnecessary and thrown in.

The final scene of Bruce Willis (as Dennis Dunn from Unbreakable) is a nice nod to the previous film but is lost on anyone who has not seen it since it premiered well over a decade ago.

More of a connection between the two stories should have been featured.

In addition to McAvoy’s impressive performance, a positive is that no male characters are designed to “save the day,” which is still typical of mainstream films.

The film’s heroes are Casey (a teenage girl) and Karen (a woman in her sixties). Despite all the story pieces not aligning, attempts to make Split a more progressive-minded film must be credited.

The film’s result is fair to middling. Split (2016) is not a great effort but a decent watch. The highlights are McAvoy, a worthy role for veteran Buckley, and some good tension and moments of good peril. The story is not the high point, and Shyamalan has made better films.

1976 Films, Amy Irving, Betty Buckley, Brian De Palma, Horror, John Travolta, Nancy Allen, P. J. Soles, Piper Laurie, Scott's Top 100 Films, Scott's Top 20 Horror Films, Sissy Spacek, Stephen King

Carrie-1976

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Carrie-1976

Director Brian De Palma

Starring Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie

Top 100 Films #37     Top 20 Horror Films #12

Scott’s Review #325

352989

Reviewed January 5, 2016

Grade: A

Carrie is a horror film from 1976 that is adapted from the Stephen King novel of the same name.

Many King adaptations have failed, but Carrie (along with The Shining) is among the best.

Going beyond the scope of horror and receiving more than one major Oscar nomination (largely unheard of in horror), Carrie influenced films and filmmakers for decades beyond release.

This is largely due to the dream-like and breathtaking direction of mood master Brian De Palma.

By this time (2016), the film and the character of Carrie White were legendary.

Carrie (Sissy Spacek) is a lonely suburban teenager, ostracized by her classmates for being “weird”. Her mother (Piper Laurie) is a devout Christian who spreads the word of god amongst the neighbors.

Carrie has a special ability to move things, usually during anger- this is called telekinesis.

After a humiliating incident in the girl’s locker room when Carrie begins menstruating, one of the nicer girls in the class, Sue Snell (Amy Irving) feels sorry for Carrie and convinces her boyfriend, Tommy Ross, to take Carrie to the prom.

When others in the class take revenge upon Carrie with a sick joke, things take a horrific turn.

Betty Buckley as the empathetic gym teacher, Miss Collins, and John Travolta and Nancy Allen, as dastardly Billy and Chris, also star and are perfectly cast.

The direction in the film is second to none. De Palma adds interesting camera work throughout the film.

During a tender, lovely prom dance between Carrie and Tommy, the camera circles the pair repeatedly, giving a spellbinding, but not dizzying quality.

The use of slow-motion in the important “pig blood” scene is immeasurably effective.

The seemingly eternal time it takes for the blood spilling to occur, and the camera (in slow motion) goes from Sue to Miss Collins to Chris to the bucket of blood is fantastic.

The list of inspired and intense scenes goes on and on- from the climactic scene between Carrie and Mrs. White to the “jump out of your seat” final scene.

The acting is also worthy of high praise. Spacek and Laurie deservedly received Oscar nominations for their work. Spacek elicits so much rooting value into her role with a shred of psychosis bubbling just beneath the surface.

Carrie wants to fit in and have a happy life so the audience is immersed in her corner and celebrates her short-lived happiness with Tommy at the prom. Spacek is just perfectly cast.

Laurie on the other hand exudes crazy in every sense, but we do feel pangs of sympathy for her. We largely believe she cares for her daughter and wants to protect her from the dangerous world.

Carrie (1976) is a masterpiece that continues to hold up well and influence generations who can relate to school bullying,  taunting, and the desire to see the nasty popular kids get their just desserts.

More than a great horror film, it is a revered classic with a dreamy, moody vibe.

One of my all-time favorites.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress-Sissy Spacek, Best Supporting Actress-Piper Laurie