Thursday, January 11, 2007

Sergio is Everywhere

I came across this video on Youtube, and I couldn't resist including it here. It's a funny commercial for what looks like an Italian movie channel. It features the GBU Morricone soundtrack using the sounds that surround us. You'll have to listen to it to see what I mean.





Friday, December 29, 2006

Lost Scenes from GBU

There were several scenes that were shot for "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" that have now been either stolen or lost to time. A few still photos remain though which offer a glimpse of what might have been included in the restored DVD if original film stock was still available.
Here are a few photos of screen captures I made from the Special Edition DVD.




Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Technorati test post

Just listed my blog on Technorati
Technorati Profile

Friday, December 22, 2006

Clint Eastwood interview

My original post with the Clint Eastwood interview was lagging the page and slowing down the load time for some reason. It's only a short interview and doesn't take that long to load, but I'll put the link here so you can view it in a separate page.


Thursday, December 21, 2006

You can't call his acting ugly













Eli Wallach recently celebrated his 91st birthday earlier this month. Belated Birthday wishes, Eli.
I really enjoy watching Eli Wallach in GBU. He truly brings the character of Tuco to life.
Some Tuco quotes from the movie:
whats this, one bastard goes in, another bastard comes out.
you're the son of a thousand fathers, all bastards like you.
There are two types of spurs my friend, those who come in by the door and those who come in by the window.
Revolvers!
If you work for a living, why do you kill yourself working?

There's a great interview with the actor on the BFI website. Here's part of the interview. You can read the whole interview on the BFI site.
I couldn't figure out how I was cast in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. I met Leone in California. I was introduced to him, and he said 'I just want you to see the credits.' And I saw that thing and I said 'I'll do the movie, what kind is it?' He said 'it's a spaghetti Western.' I said 'that sounds like Hawaiian pizza, what the hell...' but he said 'I want you to do it.' But I never figured out why he cast me. I thought it was from The Magnificent Seven. No, I made a film called How the West Was Won
Clint, who was my mentor, as I said, said to me 'don't show off, don't do any stunts, don't be too clever, because they don't expend a lot of money on stunts, on stunt people. They'll use you...' [laughter] So there's a scene where I'm trying to break the... what do you call it, the... handcuffs. I killed that man, lay in between the tracks... and the train is coming. Leone said to me 'I want you, when the train is coming, to turn your head this way, so the camera is there and they'll see it's not an extra, and it's not a stand-in, and it's not a stuntman, it's you.' So I turned this way and the train went by. As it went by the last step on the train was sticking out this way, and if I had raised my head I'd have been decapitated.
[1963], which was a classic movie, huge cast: Spencer Tracy, John Wayne, Henry Fonda... all of them, and the cast was all set. And at one point... I was always a bandit again... I saw George Peppard and I threatened him and he had two little boys standing next to him and as I left I went to them 'qu-whew, qu-whew.' Leone said 'I want that man to do the movie, because of what he did.' [laughter]

Leone came over to me with a cameraman and said 'Eli, we have to do it again... little thing with a...' I said 'not with me, you're not going to do it with me.' [laughter] He said 'yeah, yeah, I'll tell you what we'll do, we dig the hole a little deeper, okay?' 'All right.' The train comes, very slowly, and I turn this way and I'm way down. When the scene is over, the cameraman comes running up to Leone and says 'I couldn't see him, he was down in the hole, I didn't see him.' [laughter] But they never changed it. I never did it over again. I had to do a lot of things like falling off that train, pulling him off that train...

I said to Leone 'Clint is going to be up there and he's going to shoot.' I had the rope around my neck, like this, and I put in a little extra touch. A lot of English people settled in Almeria, Spain. It was inexpensive to live, the weather, you never had the rain you've been having, and it was very pleasant. And she's... this lady and her face is all red, and the sheriff is saying '...and Tuco Ramirez will be hanged by the neck for this crime and that crime and seduction and rape and murd...' and when he came to 'rape' I looked at this poor lady whose head was all... and I went 'grrr...' [laughter] and Leone had a fit, he said 'keep it in, keep it in.' So you never know, when you dream up a moment like that...


Friday, December 15, 2006

A New GBU book is on the way!

There is a new book about to be published that will offer in depth coverage of the GBU movie. I'm eagerly awaiting the release of this book and I'm sure that it will live up to the expectations of all fans of this classic film. From what I see on the author's webite, the book will include behind the scenes photos, some of which are never before seen shots. There will also be interviews with cast and crew. If I get any more information about this book, I'll post the info here. Stay tuned.