Gene Siskel on FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF

Back in 1986, I saw FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF at a sneak preview. I loved it. I was already going around telling everyone it was the funniest movie of the year before it came out.

Then, I saw this review:



Gene Siskel didn't like it, and I was shocked. How can he not love this film?

In the years since, my opinion of the film has changed. Every time I watched it, Siskel's complaint that Bueller had nothing to say when he looked in the camera stayed with me.

The final straw came when I watched the film on DVD, where John Hughes gives one of the dullest, driest commentaries you are likely to hear. By that time, I was now on the side of Gene Siskel.

Now, I no longer love FERRIS BUELLER. The character and the situations bother me.

It has taken me twenty plus years, but Gene Siskel was right.

NOTE: This post contains a YouTube clip. If you are reading from an outside site, click through to view.

Paul Newman (1925-2008)

Up until 1976, my family lived in Westport Connecticut. It was the home to one of the great actors of all time, Paul Newman. Sadly, he passed away there this weekend.

I was too young to really know about him when we lived there. My father once saw him at the supermarket. He was there campaigning for a Democrat. My Republican father didn’t go and meet him.

The film that really made me a fan was THE VERDICT. Sidney Lumet’s film of an alcoholic lawyer features one of his very best performances. This Oscar nominated performance was better than the film he eventually won for, THE COLOR OF MONEY.

When it comes to films, you really can’t get much better, than BUTCH CASSIDY, or THE STING, COOL HAND LUKE or HUD. And I almost forgot about THE HUSTLER. SLAP SHOT is a cult classic. I've been meaning to give it another shot, as I'm not in that cult.

There was Alfred Hitchcock’s TORN CURTAIN, THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN, THE HUDSUCKER PROXY, NOBODY’S FOOL, TWILIGHT, and what was his last feature film THE ROAD TO PERDITION (although his TV film EMPIRE FALLS is a fine piece of filmmaking in itself).

Not too long ago, I saw THE LONG HOT SUMMER and that got me back into watching his films again. I think I have everything of his that I haven’t seen in my Netflix queue. He was a true movie star that lived up to the hype.

He only directed a few movies, but had a genuine talent for it. RACHEL, RACHEL (starring his wife of fifty years Joanne Woodward in an excellent performance) was a well crafted character study, and THE EFFECT OF GAMMA RAYS ON MAN-IN-THE-MOON MARIGOLDS is a highly underrated film that deserves to be seen more. I saw it only once on cable and it isn't on DVD.

Not every movie he starred in was a classic. Anyone remember WHEN TIME RAN OUT, Irwin Allen's volcano movie? And films don’t get much worse than Robert Altman’s QUINTET. But Newman had a sense of humor about it. He frequently apologized for one of his first, THE SILVER CHALICE.

He had a sense of humor in other areas as well. He was responsible for two very funny TV cameos.

From the first episode of THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN in 1993, he stands up in the audience and yells “Where the hell are the singing cats?” I've always thought that was one of the funniest lines ever delivered.

And on THE SIMPSONS, in one episode Homer finds out that Marge is fantasizing about the man on the cover of the Burly Paper Towel wrapper. Trying to get back at her, Homer looks for a product he can fantasize about. He sees Paul Newman’s salad dressing, which comes to life with Paul’s voice saying “I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Redford, it ain't gonna happen.”

That “Newman’s Own” line of food was another admirable aspect of his life. I’m a big fan of his salad dressing and lemonade. With all the profits going to charity, he used his celebrity to a much greater benefit.

His last film appearance was as a voice in CARS. A fitting finale as his car racing was a big part of his life. My uncle used to travel to a lot of car races. At one, Newman liked the car my uncle was driving and struck up a conversation with him, inviting him into his trailer to talk, just like a regular guy.

Paul Newman will be missed. His films will remain classics.

GREAT MOVIE SONGS: "Young Hearts" from KARATE KID

THE KARATE KID will always be one of my favorite movies. Released in the summer of 1984, I saw it several times theatrically. When I wasn't in the theatre, I was wishing I could be back there watching it again.

You don't have that same reaction to movies as you get older.

When I wasn't watching it, I was listening to the soundtrack. One song especially.



"Young Hearts" by a band called Commuter (who I had never heard of before or since). It was played in the film when Ralph Macchio and Elisabeth Shue are at the arcade.

Even though the lyrics of the song are a bit silly (what is that "rubber plastic metal glass" line about?), the song worked in the film and when hearing it now, makes you think of the film.

The film had several other songs, but this would always be my favorite. In fact, it is even on my iPod.

80's TV: Connect Four Commercials

Who didn't have a Connect Four game in the 70's and 80's? I had one but the legs broke so it was kind of useless after that.

One of the reasons they were so popular was because of their TV commercials.



Even today, you still hear references to "Pretty sneaky, sis" on sitcoms.

While that ad played for years, it was later replaced with this one:



No "pretty sneaky, sis" line, but that song is now stuck in my head again, after not having heard it for 20 years or so.

And in case you were wondering, they still sell Connect Four. Just noticed they were on Amazon.

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO: Robert MacNaughton

E.T. was one of the biggest films of the 1980’s.

But what happened to Robert MacNaughton who played the older brother? Where did he go?

E.T. wasn’t MacNaughton’s first role. He began in a few TV movies. The most notable of these was the excellent 1980 migrant worker drama, ANGEL CITY. This was also one of the first major roles of Jennifer Jason Leigh.

He starred in a couple more TV movies, 1981’s BIG BEND COUNTRY and the Ray Bradbury adaptation THE ELECTRIC GRANDMOTHER in 1982.


Then, there was E.T. It was an instant classic both with critics and audiences. MacNaughton was very good as the older brother of Elliot and Gertie.

Drew Barrymore is now a megastar. Henry Thomas is still acting and appears regularly in films. Their mom, Dee Wallace Stone, is in a lot of commercials. Even C. Thomas Howell was an 80’s icon and just turned up on 24.



His follow up film in 1983 was playing the lead in an adaptation of the Robert Cormier novel I AM THE CHEESE. The book was republished with MacNaughton’s picture on the cover (my 5th grade classroom had a copy), but I never once saw the film play in theatres, or even on VHS. It is now on DVD.

He starred in an Afterschool Special as well as a couple TV movies. In 1987 he starred in VISITORS, a Dennis Potter scripted drama for the BBC.

His final acting role was an episode of NEWHART in 1987.

So, what ever happened to him?

MacNaughton never really saw himself as an actor. He moved to Phoenix, tried to do theatre, but moved away from that.


Today, he is a mail handler in Phoenix. Just think, for those living in the Southwest, your mail is being sorted by a film star!

Married, he has a son.

In interviews, he sounds happy with his life, and his family, far away from the Hollywood spotlight.