Sunshine

Here’s a great pic that was posted at foxnews.com. I wasn’t able to find who took it. My apologies to the photographer:

When Peter Fonda passed away recently, I researched his career and was surprised that he directed only three films, all in the ‘70’s. Last night, courtesy of Netflix, I watched The Hired Hand (1971). As one would expect given the era in which it was made, it is iconoclastic, but in a different way than broader works such as The Wild Bunch (1969), The Missouri Breaks (1976) and There Was a Crooked Man (1970). It is minimalist, understated, grounded in realism. It moves at a slow pace and has little action. It concentrates on the relationship between characters expertly played by Fonda and Warren Oates, and Fonda and Verna Bloom. The protagonist left his wife six years before the action begins. He was 20 at the time, she 30. Weary of the life of a drifter, he goes home, accompanied by his friend. Naturally, the woman is bitter. Her husband proposes that she hire him to work her property as a sort of trial. Soon the friend, odd man out, leaves, perhaps because he is attracted to the woman. The relationship between the married couple heals. Then word comes that the friend is being held by a man looking to settle an old score against the friends. There are many arty shots along the way, scenes blending into one another, images superimposed. The cinematography was done by the legendary Vilmos Zsigmond, who passed away in 2016 at 85. Alan Sharp wrote the screenplay. Among the 31 credits listed under his name at IMDb are three movies I really enjoyed: Ulzana’s Raid (1972), starring Burt Lancaster as an expert frontier scout; Night Moves (1975), starring Gene Hackman as a private eye; and Rob Roy (1995), a rousing swashbuckler starring Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange. That’s an impressive legacy. He passed away in 2013 at 79. 2600+ users at IMDb have rated The Hired Hand, forging to a consensus of seven on a scale of ten. It runs only 90 minutes, a plus given its pace. It flopped at the box office, but has gained in stature through the decades. My guess is that its appeal is limited to cinephiles and to fans of the cast members. Bloom’s career is a mystery, limited despite her talent. From 1967 to 2003 she made less than 40 appearances on the big and small screen. She passed away earlier this year at 80. Here are Fonda, Megan Denver in her only acting credit, and Bloom in character:

Interesting fact from Yahoo Sports: The Astros have not walked a batter intentionally since 8/17/’18, 209 games counting the post season, a record. My buddy Bags and I used to play the Stratomatic board game and read Bill James’ stats books. James questioned the value of the intentional pass. Bags bought in, I used it occasionally. I don’t recall how it affected the outcome of those particular games. Another of James’ beliefs was that the more runners a team put on base, the more runs it would score. That’s why he valued on-base percentage and walks so highly. Eventually, organizations adopted his ideas.

The sun shined brightly most of this glorious fall day. My thanks to Monse`, who bought Happiness in This Life: A Passionate Meditation on Earthly Existence by Pope Francis and Oonagh Stransky, and two DVDs: 50 Shades of Grey (2015) and My Favorite Year (1982); and to the gentleman who bought David Baldacci’s No Escape; and to the one who selected a book in Russian and donated four; and to the woman who chose Wolves of Calla by Stephen King, the fifth entry in the Dark Tower series; and to the couple who left with Mr. Mercedes and Everything’s Eventual, both by the modern master of horror.

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