I'm thinking especially about those slapstick scenes he does with Sean Connery in INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, which I've seen maybe 20 times (when he was four or five, my son wouldn't stop watching it on Paramount laser disc). I'm also a big fan of the way he reacts to a litany of his supposed shortcomings (as repeated by Kelly McGillis, having been told about them by his sister, played by Patti Lupone) in that Philadelphia diner scene in WITNESS.

He wasn't supposed to be hah-hah funny in SABRINA, but he sure made those physical comedy scenes in SIX DAYS SEVEN NIGHTS work as best they could. What am I saying here? That a guy known for an almost doleful underplayed solemnity can be funnier (with the right material) than someone like Jim Carrey, because funny isn't funny unless you believe in the reality of it, and Ford's always been expert in making that sell.

But I'm feeling a little bit sad about Ford, truth be told, because it's starting to look like his best leading-man days are behind him. That keenly alert, quietly confident, not-too-old guy he used to be (a mixture of WITNESS's John Book and Jack Ryan in CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER) is starting to fade like disappearing ink. He'll be 61 next month, and he hasn't had a real winner since AIR FORCE ONE six years ago, and...oh, hell, I don't know. I can just feel those granules of sand pouring through the hour glass.

(WHAT LIES BENEATH did very well, of course, but there's a difference between someone of Ford's calibre having "had" a hit as opposed to having acted in one.)

Earlier this week Ford told the AP's Dave Germain he's thinking about playing some more villains, as he's only played one so far (in WHAT LIES BENEATH) and he kind of liked it. Fine, except this indicates to me that Ford suspects his leading-man prospects may be drying up.

And now Ford is reportedly in talks to voice-act the character of "Bob the Builder" in a planned film version of the popular kids TV show. He's reportedly a big fan of the show and of course was a carpenter himself before his acting career kicked in, but this doesn't sound right to me. The guy's supposed to be "Harrison Ford"...you know?

Well, I guess not. I guess that's what I'm saying. "Harrison Ford' is turning into somebody else, and so am I and so is everyone else. Nothing and no one stays the same, the ground is always shifting, and there's no holding back the clock. It just hit me I said the exact same thing about Ford in a piece that ran a year or so ago. Well, a little refrain never hurts. Ask any songwriter.

Goodfella

It's sad about Gregory Peck leaving us, but then again not entirely. He got a hell of a ride out of his 87 years. He was a talented actor with elevated, sometimes exquisite taste, and the result is a creative legacy anyone would be proud of. He lived through a legendary period in filmmaking (he kept at it for over 50 years, starting in the mid '40s) and cut himself a profile early on as one of Hollywood's most courtly and dignified ambassadors.

He was always straight, polite and gentlemanly in conversation. I must have spoken with him five or six times in short bursts over the last couple of decades (always movie stuff, naturally), and I never got the feeling he was enduring my questions, or that his attention was in the least bit elsewhere.

Our longest conversation, which happened five or six years ago at some American Cinematheque shindig, was about THE BIG COUNTRY, which he produced as well as starred in, and which I'd recently re-watched on a special-edition laser disc. If anyone out there hasn't yet seen this elegant, liberal-minded, anti-violence western, please rent it on DVD. It's nicely written, has some great performances (particularly by Charles Bickford and Burl Ives), shows off Peck in one of his best liberal-icon roles, and it contains one of the most shrewdly filmed fist-fights in history.

Peck's legend was due to the combination of his always rock-solid acting style, a measured but always richly charismatic screen personality, and the power he enjoyed in choosing the best lead-male roles during his peak period from the late '40s to early '60s.

It's amazing when you review his best performances and realize what a wide range he had, and how he really covered the map and used his talents in a way that always seemed wise and well-chosen. The received wisdom is that Peck's Atticus Finch, his small-town attorney in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, was perhaps his finest role, but I always found him a bit too settled and cognizant of his character's (and to some extent, his own) ethical righteousness in that role.

I always preferred Peck in a gnarlier, less secure mode. He played anger and anxiety well, and always seemed to be tapping into something intimate when he assumed the burdens of troubled men with divided loyalties.

I remember feeling stirred in my early teens when I first saw his psychological crack-down scene in TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH. He was excellent as a small-town sheriff who blows himself up over Tuesday Weld in I WALK THE LINE, and I've always had a liking for his performance as a revenge-obsessed widower in THE BRAVADOS, an above-average western in which he hunts down and kills some men he believes have raped and murdered his wife, only to suffer a crippling attack of conscience at the end.

I've always loved the barely-controlled fury that comes into his voice when he chews out David Niven over some ethical men-in-battle issue in THE GUNS OF NAVARONE. And I've never forgotten that scene near the ending of Hitchcock's THE PARADINE CASE in which he walks out of a British courtroom, totally shamed and professionally broken.

I can watch PORK CHOP HILL over and over for Peck's performance as the anguished and exhausted Lt. Joe Clemons, and I've always found his Jimmy Ringo in THE GUNFIGHTER an especially sad and tragic figure. I never had problems with his Captain Ahab in MOBY DICK, although most of the critics slapped him around pretty good for this. His financially strapped public-relations guy in THE MAN IN THE GREY-FLANNEL SUIT always reminded me of my own father, who commuted into New York just like Peck's character did in this 1956 film and always seemed to be carrying a heavy load around.

Peck stumbled occasionally, but in a big way only twice -- first as the emotionally-fragile, wild-eyed psychiatrist impersonator in Alfred Hitchcock's SPELLBOUND , and then as the herky-jerky, hot-tempered gunfighter in DUEL IN THE SUN. (Both films were produced by David O. Selznick, who never seemed to understand that Peck was best in a subdued, underplayed mode.)

And then there was Peck's Josef Mengele in Franklin Schaffner's THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL. Okay, that was pretty awful.

I never liked Peck much in light-hearted fare (I can't watch ROMAN HOLIDAY all the way through -- only in short segments) or in dreamy love stories, and I always felt sorry for the guy when he began appearing in occasional stinkers starting in the late '60s. I felt especially sorry when OLD GRINGO came out in '87. This isn't right, I remember saying to myself. Gregory Peck deserves better.

I don't know if A CONVERSATION WITH GREGORY PECK, Barbara Kopple's 1999 documentary that was shown at the Cannes film Festival, is available on DVD or not (the IMDB says no), but it should be. It understands who and what Peck was in old age and in his prime, and is probably the best tribute piece ever made about him. Maybe they'll show it again over the next few days on Turner Classic Movies, which provided production funds.

Cry Baby

I wrote a piece five or six years ago for my L.A. Times Syndicate column about what kind of movies make men weep. For research I talked to two or three friends, and to Owen Wilson (he wasn't too cool back then to pick up the phone), and the general answer seemed to be that guys choke up over loss. Stuff you once had in your life (a girlfriend or wife, a beloved dog, naivete) that's now gone and irretrievable.

I've said this before, but I can't watch the ghost of Gordon MacRae singing his apologies to the live Shirley Jones in CAROUSEL (1955) without clearing my throat. Talk about loss...the guy blew it when alive and now he's stuck in a kind of 20th Century Fox sound-stage purgatory, and to make matters worse his genetic code and lingering reputation are helping to screw things up for his teenage daughter....whew.

I also tear up at my idea of happy endings. Old Rose returning to her youthful form as she returns (possibly at the instant of her death) to the Titanic's grand staircase to say hello to all the people who went down with the ship. Or when Willem Dafoe's Nazarene realizes he hasn't betrayed his destiny and is suddenly back on the cross in Martin Scorsese's THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST, and rejoicing over this. And then as he slips away we hear that cosmic sound of Arab women doing that high-pitched yodeling thing as the image recedes into blinding white, like the film is running off the reel and going into the leader...man, I just fold.

Anyway, EMPIRE has this new piece in its July issue called "50 Movie Moments To Make a Grown Man Cry," and I agree with maybe four or five of them.

The voice of Jim Garrison (i.e., Kevin Costner) voice cracking during the verbal summary of his case for conspiracy in Oliver Stone's JFK...give me a f***ing break. Goose (Anthony Edwards) dies in Tom Cruise's arms in TOP GUN...good! One less asshole in a whoppingly manipulative Jerry Bruckheimer movie. Robin Williams saying "thank you, boys" at the end of DEAD POET'S SOCIETY.... well, maybe. Andy and Red reuniting in THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION -- a nice ending, but it didn't make me cry. (What are these Brits made of?) Apollo Creed croaks in ROCKY IV...is this a put-on?

EMPIRE's #39 is the scene in which James Dean fails to save Sal Mineo from a cop's bullet at the end of REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE. Fuck Sal Mineo in that movie. He's a whiney little asshole and a lying nut job. I wasn't cheered by his passing in that Nicholas Ray classic, but I sure as hell didn't choke up over it. I felt a lot worse when Corey Allen's Buzz went off the cliff in that car. Now, that was sad, coming as it did only five minutes after he told Dean's Jim Stark, "You know something? I like you."

Kevin Costner finally having a catch with his old man in FIELD OF DREAMS...okay, that was good. I don't believe this...Shelley Winters dying in some kind of self-sacrificing way in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE? No question -- the EMPIRE editors are having us off. Peter O'Toole telling Omar Sharif that "nothing is written" in LAWRENCE OF ARABIA...a good scene but again, no tearjerker. Snow falling on Takashi Shimura swinging on the swing set in Kurosawa's IKIRU... naah, fuck that. Pinnochio becomes a real boy in Disney's PINNOCHIO ...well, yeah, that works.

Speaking of Disney, how about that lullaby sequence about the momma elephant missing her baby in DUMBO? And what about that bit when Frank Morgan (i.e., Profesor Marvel) sneaks a peek into Dorothy's basket in THE WIZARD OF OZ, and then, going into his act, tells Dorothy he can see Auntie Em in his crystal ball and that her face is "care-worn."?

EMPIRE's best crybaby call: "The looking Bruce Greenwood's eyes at the end of Guy Ritchie's SWEPT AWAY. As he prepares to helicopter his unfaithful, newly humbled, rich-bitch trophy wife Madonna away from her macho lover, Greenwood's millionaire stares bleakly into the distance. We feel his pain, see the turmoil in his mind. 'How did he get here? What was his agent thinking? Can he get an injunction out to stop the release? Will he ever work again?"

Miike, Blood and Tarantino

"I'm glad you mentioned Takashi Miike in regard to KILL BILL. Tarantino seems to be doing for contemporary Asian films what he tried to do for Blaxploitation features when he made JACKIE BROWN. Also note his use of Asian grind-house icon Sonny Chiba in the BILL lead (Chiba's STREET FIGHTER trilogy is referenced in Tarantino's script for TRUE ROMANCE), as well as commissioning four sequences totaling about 10 minutes from the very hot Production I.G. animation studio in Tokyo. (These are the guys who produced the influential GHOST IN THE SHELL along with the anime classic, JIN-ROH.)

"Miike seems to be getting more attention outside of Japan than in his own country. Many if not most of my Tokyo friends who consider themselves cinephiles have never seen one of his films. His movies are mostly produced for video and only a handful of 35mm prints are struck, mainly for limited domestic release and for festival screenings. Miike is also a fast worker, making four or five films per year. DEAD OR ALIVE, which you mention, has two sequels, neither of which continue the story but feature the same principal players. ICHI has also spawned an (adult) animated series, complete with the trademark violence and gore. You can find many of his films on eBay, mostly via some very handsome Hong Kong DVD releases.

"Miike's films are obviously not to everyone's taste, but he certainly is an original." -- Tim Onosko.

"You've got to see Miike's AUDITION, man." -- Sean Weitner

"You should have tied your piece about Danny Boyle's 28 DAYS LATER to your piece about KILL BILL and Takashi Miike. Though it sounds like Boyle is taking a different approach, one of his inspirations - Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD -- falls squarely into the 'violence so over the top it ceases to be disturbing' mode.

"Though dozens of films, some mainstream, have surpassed the violence in DAWN, I can still clearly remember my reaction the first time I saw it. As you recall, the opening scenes take place in a low-rent high rise that has become a breeding ground for the zombie plague. Five minutes into the film, an out-of-control SWAT guy kicks down a door and fires his shotgun point blank into a man's head (he may have been a zombie, but maybe not). KABLOOEY! The guy's head disappears in a shower of blood, brains and bone. (This may have been what forced Pauline Kael out of the theater.) The shot itself takes less than a second and a half.

"That head shot hits the audience like a bolt of lightning. But it's not even close to the topper. As the movie goes on, the deaths get progressively gorier, and linger without that whip-crack immediacy. But like Lucy Liu observes, by the end of the film you're numb to the violence and able to see past it and into the satirical content. A machete to the head becomes like Moe hitting Curly with a shovel. In fact, there's even a scene where the bikers hit a zombie with a pie before blowing his brains out with a revolver.

"I'm really interested in Boyle's take on the zombie genre, just as I'm interested to see Tarantino's take on uber-violence. As you wrote, I hope the critics take a look at Miike's work (or Romero's or Stuart Gordon's or Peter Jackson's) to try to understand what Tarantino is doing before (who knows?) dismissing it out-of-hand." -- Rich Swank

More Bunny

"Just writing to both praise and correct in part of your coverage of Gallo in Cannes. First, I'm happy that you're supporting Vincent Gallo as an artist, even without having seen his film. I caught it in Cannes and loved it -- it's a very pure and totally unmediated projection of the inside of Gallo's head that [probably] couldn't have been realized in any other way. It's unconventional in a challenging way, but nothing about the film seems intended to shock or piss people off. It's obviously how Gallo sees the world, himself, and other people -- not to mention the American landscape -- in relation to a story he clearly feels strongly about.

"The part I'd like to correct is your report of Gallo's behavior at his official press conference. He certainly didn't act in an 'abrasive' way, nor was he 'pummelled' by the attendant press. He entered (preceded by Gaspar Noe) to half-boos and half-applause and looked surprisingly humble and open as he sat down. He then, over the course of an hour, charmed the press to such an extent that he didn't get one openly hostile question during the entire session (an amazing feat, given how heated these things can become).

"There was the usual stuff about himself -- the usual mix of self-aggrandizement and self-deprecation, some sweet anecdotes about Chloe, and a hilarious (and potentially slanderous) story about Winona Ryder (which came complete with a winning impersonation). At the end he stayed behind, signing autographs, and chatting to members of the press. Those who clearly came to bury him were eating out of his hand by the end of the press conference. I was with someone who actively hated the film, but who claimed to feel much more warmly towards Gallo in general afterwards.

"I know this is all a bit pedantic but so much shit has been written about the whole BROWN BUNNY affair that it seems a shame to add to the misconceptions. What's more, I shouted a 'Congratulations!' to Gallo when I saw him walking down the Croisette on his cell-phone and he took time out from his conversation to shout back a 'Thank you, sir!'. The guy's got some style and a surprising degree of politesse -- give him that." -- David Cox, Channel 4, London.

"Why am I looking forward to seeing THE BROWN BUNNY far more than any film coming out in the near future? Because every once in a while I get the hankering to see a legendary hunk of crap. Something that gets this much notoriety as being horrid just begs to be seen. It's been a long time since we've had one of these artistic disasters. Sure, Hollywood can churn out fodder like MEN IN BLACK II and movies with Freddy Prinze Jr., but how often do we get nugget gems like the pompous art babble Vincent Gallo has supposedly produced? I don't care how bad this movie is -- I must see it. Please oh please let them release it in the United States!" -- James Kent.

Wells to Kent: Intelligent critics out of London, Paris and Berlin respect and admire it, so I'd hold off on those expectations. But otherwise I feel exactly the same -- I must see this thing.

28 Days Later

"Fast zombies are nothing new. See RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD for a great take on the idea, with zombies that are not only fast, but smart enough to pick up a microphone in the squad car of some policemen they've just eaten and call in the message, 'Send more cops.' A scary funny movie. Anyway, the previews certainly do make 28 DAYS LATER worth seeing. I certainly plan on catching it." -- Robert Stevens

"It opened here in Sweden months ago and bombed. It's now out on video and we rented it last night. It wasn't particularly good. It tried too hard to be too many different things. If the third act was the focus of the movie, rather than an ending, it might've been better. Or if they never left London. Or if they had some mission other than just going to Manchester.

"Anyway, I'm the biggest TRAINSPOTTING fan there is and I actually liked THE BEACH, but this one left me cold." -- Michael Weintraub,

"I recently saw an overseas DVD of 28 DAYS LATER at a friend's home on a player with a multi-format capacity (he's a serious 'phile), and from reel one I was hooked. I totally agree with your prediction about CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE probably being brain-dead-on-arrival, especially compared to the Boyle. I was struck by the relentless pacing, tight and consistent unfolding of the story (all rules set forth are built upon, never violated), allegory (there's a lot there), and the really underrated and always terrific Christopher Eccleston.

"Here's a guy making a living off of playing bad guys, or at least characters whose arcs lie in the gray. He always exudes a discomfiting presence, or certainly one where it's hard to give him your full trust....and yet he can get it out of you. I think if he were American, he would be in the ranks of major character actors, right up there with Christopher Cooper and Malkovich (can I still apply nationality to JM?).

"Anyway, 28 DAYS LATER is a really engrossing and not-so-brutal-that-I-needed-to-dull-myself-with-bourbon-afterwards kinda film (although that's always an option). Danny Boyle is back on track and I'm happy for that. I can't imagine this not scoring as a sleeper this summer as long as it's not abandoned by its distributors. A smart marketing campaign cashing in on good reviews and word of mouth could push this into the same territory as THE OTHERS or even THE SIXTH SENSE." -- George Bolanis, Pittsburgh, PA.

Wells to Bolanis: It'll be lucky if it does modest business. Forget about any mass-market acceptance -- it'll be seen as too grim, downbeat, despairing, whatever. The moviegoing majority wants to see Cameron shake that booty.

"In your review of 28 DAYS LATER you asked if DAWN OF THE DEAD was available on DVD. One version has gone out of print but Anchor Bay is scheduled to release another version in February 2004. It'll feature a "newly re-mastered widescreen transfer, (16x9 enhanced), new DTS & Dolby EX Surround Sound, all-new cast & crew interviews, all-new audio commentary tracks, trailers, posters, still galleries and more! Available separately will be the original theatrical version and the extended (Director's Cut) version. Also available will be a special multi-disc box set including an exclusive presentation of the ZOMBI version of the film from Europe." -- John Brock

"Interesting article, as always, but dude...'Cillian Murphy, who has a very small dick, by the way'? Come on, throw him a little slack." -- A.H.

Wells to A.H.: "Anything a director shoots and puts into a film is fair game. And I don't know why, exactly, but little weenies have always vaguely bothered me. I resent their display on some level. Anyway, you're watching the movie and there it is. The first time you see Murphy he's lying nude on a hospital bed, and you can't help but look at his anatomy, and I'm sorry but he's hung like a cashew. If Boyle didn't want guys like me commenting on his star's dick size, he should have told him to wank off a bit before the cameras rolled so he'd look a bit heftier.

Matrix Remedies

"I came across this in reader-opinion chatroom devoted to reactions to the THE MATRIX RELOADED, on THE GUARDIAN's website. I thought that after your comments, which, having seen the movie last night, I thought were pretty much on the money; these responses might amuse you:

"'The best scene of the film is when Neo bursts in on a man in a locked room, surrounded by thousands of keys and cutting a key on a grinder, and he says, 'Are you the Keymaker?' Party on, dude.

"'It's a shockingly bad film, but forget all that for the moment. The Wachowskis can redeem themselves in REVOLUTIONS by incorporating the following story elements: (1) Neo punches the Oracle, just to see what happens; (2). The Architect (a.k.a. Colonel Sanders) tells Neo he can unravel the Matrix by naming all 11 secret herbs and spices; (3). Agent Smith reveals that he is actually Neo's father; (4) The residents of Zion all grab shovels and just dig deeper; (5) Winnie Mandela gets voted new leader of Zion; (6) The French Guy mysteriously receives an award for 'Best Acting by the most totally irrelevant character in film history'; (7) Trinity has a baby that is all green and covered in numbers. (Please note: There shall be only 7, because that is the way it must be, and I would have done it that way even if I had a choice.)"

"By the way was it you or someone else who mentioned the CGI in 'the Burly Brawl' is a long way from photo realism? 'A long way' is an understatement -- more like the distance between France and L.A.!" -- Rupert Lally, London.