The Burt-a-Thon (formally known as the Burt Reynolds-a-Thon) starts today over at Welcome to L.A.. The awesome Larry Aydlette, whom some of you may know from his blog-lives as That Little Round-Headed Boy and/or The Shamus, has set himself a truly daunting, awesomely ambitious task: For the entire month of February, he will... well, let Larry explain it himself:
Obviously, Burt Reynolds didn't get the e-mail that he was supposed to go quietly away. But that's not the Burt Reynolds way. In his autobiography, "My Life," he begins with a quote from George Bernard Shaw: "I want to be thoroughly used up when I die. For the harder I work, the more I live."
So, I've decided to honor that work ethic and use his birth month for 29 straight days of Burt Reynolds coverage. This isn't a love-a-thon. In rewatching a lot of his movies, I've come to the conclusion that he didn't necessarily deserve to win the Oscar for the films that he and many critics thought he should have won them for. And he was never nominated for what seems to me to be his one indisputable masterpiece (although I doubt many critics will agree with me). But there are quite a few of his films that are very, very good, and deserve reconsideration.
I do think the breadth of his career is certainly worthy of an honorary Oscar. Let's not forget that he ruled America's box office from the late '70s to the early '80s. He is the self-proclaimed "Picasso of car pictures." He was a big, big star. Just because he hasn't chosen to be a less ubiquitous star shouldn't negate the fine and interesting work that fills his resume.That's right, it's Burt History Month at Welcome to L.A.
And, in an astonishing coincidence, Odienator has emerged from the Fortress of OdieTude and seized control of Big Media Vandalism by declaring The "It's Black History Mumf, Odienator!" Film Festival:
How exactly, and why so swiftly, did Burt Reynolds fall from grace? That, surely, is the question for the ages.
That cosmo centrefold of Burt's is going in my billfold, like a particularly hirsute Christian wallet card.
Someone just sent me a link to God (OK, iGod) at http://www.titane.ca/concordia/dfar251/igod/main.html, and I decided to take my previous query with him. Here is the transcript of my tête-à-tête with The Almighty:
Me:
Hi, I am Burt Reynolds.
God:
Good gossip: you are Burt Reynolds.
Me:
How did I fall from the public grace?
God:
Carefully.
Me:
Really?
God:
For real.
Me:
I used to have it all, and now I am a joke.
God:
What happened to it?
Me:
You tell me.
God:
What do you want me to tell you?
Me:
You tell me what happened to my career?
God:
I don't know what happened.
Me:
What sort of a God are you?
God:
Only the highest quality.
Me:
Yet you can't tell me how I, Burt Reynolds, the single greatest star in Hollywood in the late seventies, and the early eighties, turned into a parody of my former self?
God:
I can tell.
Me:
Then tell me.
God:
I don't want to talk about that.
Me:
You sure work in mysterious ways.
God:
I am capabale of self-development.
Me:
Yeah, I got that from The New Testament.
God:
Whoa. Cool. I have a friend named "E.L.V.I.S." .
Me:
Say hi to him. Bye.
God:
" hi to him". Until next time.
Me:
Freak.
God:
Oh. To you I am a hippie.
Jim, many thanks for the plug! 29 days of Burt and 29 days of Odie. The blogosphere's head might explode like Cassavettes in "The Fury."
And I wish I had though to consult iGod, that would have been one whole post right there!
The book If the Other Guy Isn't Jack Nicholson, I've Got the Part is titled after what Burt Reynolds reportedly said when he was one of the last two people being considered for the parts of Randle McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Garrett Breedlove in Terms of Endearment. Both times he lost the part, and the movies would go on to win Oscars for Jack Nicholson's performances.
Wow! My humble little hijack of Steven Boone's blog gets a mention at Scanners! I feel like Bugs Bunny in that cartoon where, after finding out that the price of a rabbit is 5 cents, he embarks on a crime spree to jack up the price of rabbits. I've hit the big time! Top of the world, Ma.
In another eerie coincidence, you have Burt's naked Cosmo pose and today, I mentioned that Jim Brown posed for Playgirl. His pictures are, um, a little less censored.
Thanks very much for the shout-out.
What happened to Burt Reynolds?
Two theories I'll posit, the first is kind of silly but will lead into the second.
Mustaches went out. Simple enough. The common man as hero was disappearing at the beginning of the eighties. Reynolds was replaced by the likes of testosterone filled lugs like Commando, Cobra and Rambo. Their reign lasted in all its glory for five or six years before Mel Gibson and Bruce Willis recreated the everyman as hero, unfortunately it was sans the mustache.
That touches upon and leads into the second theory, which is something that ruined many careers, both for directors and actors. The eighties. Plain and simple. Movies by and large started sucking. The studio heads took the studios away from the auteurs that ruled the cinemas in the 60's and 70's, and when they got all that power back they didn't know what to do with it.
So they produced crap. When they realized that they could make money off of no budget comedies with lots of nudity and sex thanks to "Meatballs" and "Stripes" (yay, Ivan Reitman?), they began to churn out t&a movies with no name actors. "Police Academy", "Porkies", or horror movies with the main character hiding behind gobs of makeup and masks while killing lots of naked chicks. Obviously they didn't need to pay actors anymore. They didn't need Burt Reynolds. And every movie he jumped into had the stench of the eighties.
Other actors met their demise during that period of time. Almost like silent film actors losing their careers because of their voices when talkies hit, these actors didn't know how to deal with the influx of crap.
A couple stars did make it. Harrison Ford being the biggest, surviving the 70's to 80's jump. Steve Martin did pretty well for himself. Tom Cruise almost lost it after "Legend" (who wasn't a relic of the 70's), instead it was Ridley Scott who disappeared for awhile. Tom Cruise, while not muscular, is the perfect example of the 80's mentality that killed the 70's superstar.
It was a bad time for everyone who had star status in the 70's. Heck, even Jack Nicholson had some really big clunkers and started to disappear, becoming a joke of himself. It wasn't until "Batman" brought him back into the public eye that everyone started taking him seriously again.
Thank God the 80's are almost two decades away now.