Breaking Out

Will this have liberals finally admit there is a lawlessness problem in America? Headline from nypost.com: “Former California Sen. Barbara Boxer assaulted and robbed in Oakland.”

Creepy fodder for sci-fi writers in this NYP headline: “Grieving man uses AI site to ‘chat’ with dead girlfriend.”

Par for the political course, headline from foxnews.com: “Michigan Dem spends hundreds of campaign dollars at strip club.”

I got the shots — I’m not wearing a mask outside, in store yes.

Last night Movies!, channel 5–2 on ota in NYC, ran one of the all-time great feel-good films, Breaking Away (1979). Directed by Peter Yates, who also helmed Bullitt (1968) and other fine fare, it’s the story of a teenager’s obsession with Italian bicycle racing. I was curious as to who wrote the great script. Born in Nazi-occupied Serbia in 1942, Stephen Tesich emigrated with his family to the USA when he was 14. He earned a Bachelor’s degree at Indiana University in Bloomington, where the picture was shot. He once participated in the race depicted. He began as a playwright, his work staged on and off-Broadway. Two plays made it to TV. His screenplay was his first and won him an Academy Award. He did five more, none as successful, even his adaptation of John Irving’s blockbuster novel The World According to Garp (1982). He produced a TV series of Breaking Away, which aired seven episodes, and a sitcom, Apple Pie, which did 23 episodes. He has two novels to his credit: Summer Crossing (1982) and Karoo, published posthumously in 1996 after he suffered a fatal heart attack at 53.

The four young men at the heart of Breaking Away, Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Jackie Earle Haley and Daniel Stern in his debut, have all had substantial careers and are still working.

Barbara Barrie and Paul Dooley, terrific as the parents, are also still active, she 89, he 93. She received a supporting actress Oscar nomination. He was overlooked by the Academy, a crime.

Yates was nominated, as were those behind the great score, which was compromised largely of classical standards by Italian composers. Yates, of the UK, passed away at 81 in 2010. He received four Oscars nominations in all, two each for Breaking Away and The Dresser (1983).

The toil wasn’t too taxing, as the shade eventually engulfed the floating book shop and a nice breeze was, as usual, blowing along Avenue Z. My thanks to Mike, who donated two large pictorials, and to Ira, who bought one published by Life; and to the young man who purchased a book on dogs and a dictionary; and to the two women who combined to buy eight books in Russian; and to Wolf, who took home a bootleg DVD of Angels and Demons (2009) and a music CD I burned long ago; and to Nell, who also selected two of the latter; and to the woman who chose On the Road by Jack Kerouac and a collection of 40 short stories by various authors.

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