It’s a crabby little world I inhabit.
James Gandolfini was Bear, the semi-kindhearted semi-mobbed-up stuntman in Get Shorty. I never saw him in anything else, except that submarine movie with Gene Hackman.
Get Shorty
is the best movie about the movie business I ever saw. It’s the most “Los Angeles” movie ever made. It’s the only Elmore Leonard book I ever read. I read it because I liked the movie, and wondered if the book was any good. It was alright. Get Shorty has one of the best soundtracks of any movie I’ve ever heard. Get Shorty has one of the best soundtracks of any movie I’ve ever heard. It was the last fresh sale date for about 75 percent of the cast, too.
My brother Garrett told me yesterday that he has a friend that plays saxophone, and has played with everybody. He laughed and told me his friend can claim to have played with Garrett, and with Elvis. I said I knew who Garrett was, but which Elvis was he referring to? That’s how crabby my worldview is.
James Gandofini was Bear, and he was someone because I watched Get Shorty and liked it. You could run over the rest of the cast of The Sopranos with a bus and I’d never notice. RIP big fellow.
7 Responses
Shocker. I followed the Sopranos, and loved him in that, too.
Get Shorty is one of my all-time favorites.
"It's the Cadillac of mini-vans."
The sopranos cast all contributed to the whole, worth a watch.
Gandolfini was a giant, both literally and figuratively. And his portrayal of Tony Soprano accounts for some of the best acting (TV, film or stage) I've ever seen.
I'd have to disagree about Get Shorty being the best L.A movie though. Though a completely different demographic, when "The Dude", swigs out of that open carton of milk in the opening scene of The Big Lebowski, that is Los Angeles personified. The underbelly, admittedly, but that is the real L.A. The one nobody every talks about.
I liked Get Shorty – wasn't there a comment about Bear's shirts – something about hibiscuses. Whenever I shop for a Hawaiian shirt I think hibiscus. For that I thank Mr. Gandolfini's wardrobe person.
I am about 5/8 of the way though watching The Sopranos for the second time. Gandolfini was amazing in that show. He makes you empathize with a thoroughly malevolent gangster. And, after doing some research, I finally understand the last episode.
Elmore Leonard was a good writer.
The movie Chinatown captures Los Angeles.
I never watched The Sopranos.
Memorable scene. Not sure it flatters Mr. Gandolfini, but then one remembers that he was an actor.
The Ray Charles Story had one hell of a soundtrack.