Lombard Cup mini posters

Here are a few mini-posters for my upcoming Lombard Cup event. Nothing too fancy, just an actor from a certain era with the dates.

The Morning Movie: AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)

A nostalgic trip back to 1962 by George Lucas, in what I think is his 2nd best movie, behind only Star Wars: A New Hope. American Graffiti is one awesome movie about two high school grads Steve (Ronnie Howard) and Curt (Richard Dreyfuss, beginning a remarkable run of top tier 70's films) spending one last night in Modesto, California with their buddies before heading off to college. Steve has issues with his girlfriend Laurie (Cindy Williams of soon to be Laverne & Shirley) while Curt is pursuing this mysterious blonde in a white T-bird (Suzanne Somers). Meanwhile their buddies John Milner (Paul LeMat) who has become a street racing legend with his wicked '32 Ford Coupe and Terry (Charles Martin Smith) have problems of their own. Milner has to contend with some young kid named Bob Falfa (a terrific little performance by Harrison Ford) who wants to take him down in a street race. And Terry tries to romance Debbie (Candy Clark) but runs into all kinds of trouble.

 John, Laurie and Steve hanging out at Mel's Diner

 The waitresses at Mel's Diner

 Milner's wicked ride

 The film's racing climax

Harrison Ford with two beauties by his side

Packed with rocking tunes and some awesome wickedly cars, American Graffiti is a must see. In fact I actually watched it last night after buying the DVD at Wal-Mart yesterday but am watching it again this morning. As Wolfman Jack (who appears in the movie as a cool DJ)...AAAAAHHHHHHWOOOOOO!

 

Fun Summer Movies: STAR WARS - A NEW HOPE (1977)

Summer Release Date: 25 May 1977. Starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guiness, Peter Cushing, David Prowse, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, James Earl Jones. Written and Directed by George Lucas.

The summertime blockbuster which, along with Jaws (1975) set the standard for all blockbusters that would follow. I did not see Star Wars upon it's initial release, but thanks to it's popularity I was able to see a few years later when it was released. And it was an awesome movie going experience. I had never seen anything like it before and was totally blown away. George Lucas crafted his best film ever and the entire cast was terrific. Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker was terrific and it was great seeing him progress from rebellious teen to full Jedi knight by the time Return of the Jedi came along 6 years later. Harrison Ford was iconic as Han Solo, kind of stole the movie from Hamill in this one. And just a few years later Ford would create another classic movie character, Indiana Jones. Carrie Fisher was spunky as Princess Leia, and she too would evolve as the series progressed. It was cool seeing screen legend Alec Guiness in a film like this and he was perfect. Also nice seeing horror/sci-fi legend Peter Cushing as well. Rounding out the cast was Mayhew as Chewbacca, Daniels as C3PO and Prowse as the imposing Darth Vader, with that cool deep voice of James Earl Jones supplying the vocals.

Star Wars was a phenomenon that set box office records and made science fiction films cool again. The lines at theaters for this film and all the other films in the Star Wars series were massive. Soon people would be showing up in Jedi robes and Stormtroopers outfits. Star Wars just became an out of this world thing. I know I have seen A New Hope at least 50 times and it never gets old. Actually the second film, The Empire Strikes Back is my favorite of the series, but Hope is the most fun. Escapes, laser shoot-outs, space battles, humor, cool visual effects, great heroes and villians all combine to make this a winning fun summer movie. The original trilogy is way better than the newer sequels because of the fun factor. The new ones, while awesome to look at can't recapture that same magic. A New Hope is the definitive summer extravaganza.

Notes:

Was originally scheduled for a Christmas 1976 release, but was pushed back five months as post-production (especially special effects) took longer than expected. Studio executives were concerned that the new 25th May 1977 release date would put the film's box office chances at risk as Smokey and the Bandit (1977) would come out that same week. However, by the end of its initial theatrical run in the U.S., Star Wars (1977) had grossed over twice as much as Smokey and the Bandit (1977).

The movie opened in May 1977 and by November had dethroned Jaws (1975) as the all-time box-office champ. It then was beaten by E.T. (1982), but was back on top when it was re-released in 1997. It held that position until Titanic (1997).

The first film to make over $300,000,000 million.

The lightsaber sound effect is a combination of the hum of an idling 35mm movie projector and the feedback generated by passing a stripped microphone cable by a television.

Mark Hamill held his breath for so long during the trash compactor scene that he broke a blood vessel in his face. Subsequent shots are from one side only.

Chewbacca's "voice" is a combination of several animals including bears, badgers, walrus and camels.

Stunt doubles were not used for the scene in which Luke and Leia swing to safety. Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill performed that stunt themselves, shooting it in just one take.

Harrison Ford deliberately didn't learn his lines for the intercom conversation in the cell block, so it would sound spontaneous.

Most of the crowd watching the heroes receive their medallions are cardboard cutouts.

Happy Birthday Harrison Ford

The man who brought Han Solo and Indiana Jones to life turns 68 today. Happy Birthday Harrison Ford.

Fun Summer Movies: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)

Summer Release Date: 12 June 1981. Starring Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Denholm Elliott, John-Rhys Davies, Paul Freeman, Alfred Molina. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Produced by George Lucas. Written by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas. Released by Paramount Pictures.

Film makers Steven Spielberg and George Lucas teamed up for the very first time to create movie magic. A wonderful throwback to the Saturday afternoon cliff-hanger serials of the 30's and 40's. Harrison Ford is perfect as archaeologist/adventurer Indiana Jones, who also is a teacher. He travels the world seeking out grand artifacts. The film opens with a sensational sequence in the jungles of South America as Indiana is searching for this gold statue. He has to avoid countless booby traps and nearly gets crushed by a gigantic boulder, which is an iconic scene. Look for Alfred Molina in an early role as Indy's helper. Molina couldn't have been more than 20 years old. After that thrilling opening which features an escape by Indy from angry natives via an airplane, things settle down for a bit. He is back in the classroom, teaching about archaeology when he is recruited by the U.S government to track down the Lost Ark of the Covenant, before the Nazis find it. He takes the assignment and first has to deal with an old flame who may have information he needs about possible locations for the ark. Her name is Marion Ravenwood (played with gusto by Karen Allen), whose father and Indy had several adventures back in the day. Marion fell in love with Indy but he left and she holds resentment toward him to this day. There is a rousing fight scene in the bar she owns between Indy and the bad guys before the whole building comes down. So Marion decides to tag along with Indy to find the ark. They end up traveling to Egypt and hook up with Indy's old friend Sallah (Davies) who learns where the ark is located. Indy not only has to deal with the Nazis but also a rival French archaeologist named Belloq. The action in Egypt features the best scenes in the movie: Indy and Marion trapped in the Well of Souls with tons of snakes (which our hero is deathly afraid of); an intense slug fest between Indy and a hulk of a Nazi; and the thrilling chase by Indy on horseback after the Nazis who have procured the Ark. All this leads to a rousing finale that breathed new life into the action genre and brought a new hero into the 20th century. Ford is awesome as Indiana Jones, as he brings his considerable acting talent along with a lot of heroic derring. Karen Allen is positively engaging as Marion, a truly memorable female character that hold her own with the men amid all the action and what not.  Spielberg once again shows why he is one of the best directors of all time. Also the thrilling music score by John Williams is awesome. I was twelve when I first saw Raiders and it blew me and everyone else away. A truly iconic and fun summer movie. Just a good old fashioned thrill ride. I ended up seeing it 2 more times at the theater and looked forward every few years for the next grand adventure of Indiana Jones. Followed by three sequels: The Temple Of Doom (1984), The Last Crusade (1989) and The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skulls (2008).

Notes:

1981's biggest grossing film with $230 million in North America alone.

The original name of the lead character in the script was Indiana Smith. His name was changed to Jones on the first day of production.

Tom Selleck was Steven Spielberg's second choice for the role of Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford was his first, but George Lucas objected, since Ford had been in both American Graffiti (1973) and Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). Selleck was not able to take the role because he was committed to "Magnum, P.I." (1980). However, that series did not go into production until Raiders' filming had already wrapped. Selleck was in fact in Hawaii waiting for the series to start as the final scenes to be filmed (the opening sequence) were being shot in Hawaii. "Magnum" did an episode called "Legend of the Lost Art" that parodied "Raiders", complete with hat, whip, booby traps, etc.

The out-of-control airplane actually ran over Harrison Ford's knee, tearing his ligaments. Rather than submit to Tunisian health care, Ford had his knee wrapped in ice and carried on.


During filming in Tunisia, nearly everyone in the cast and crew got sick, except director Steven Spielberg. It is thought that he avoided illness by eating only the food he'd brought with him: cans and cans of Spaghetti-O's.

I met Karen Allen at the Dragon Convention in Atlanta in 2009 and she was awesome. Funny and so nice in person and looked great.  Check out the pic below of me and her.

A Little Movie Trivia....

So while at work today I came across an old movie magazine called Empire's Greatest Action Films. It's about 5 years old and it was in one of my desk's drawers. So while on break I flipped through it and landed on the 4 page write up on Raiders of the Lost Ark, which is one of my all time favorite films. And what caught my attention was a section called little known trivia, so I started reading it. Of course everyone knows that Tom Selleck was the original choice to play Indy, but couldn't break free from his Magnum P.I. show. And that Harrison Ford was sick as a dog when they filmed that scene with the guy twirling his sword in the middle of the street, when Indy just shoots him. The one fact I didn't know was the scene where Indy and Marion are trapped in the snake pit and snakes are everywhere. Well during one take, Karen Allen (Marion) thought there was gonna be fake snakes thrown at her or near her, but Spielberg surprised her with the real deal. So she freaked out. He wanted to get a realistic reaction out of her and boy did he ever. So I thought that was pretty interesting. You don't know what part it is in the movie because she is screaming and jumping all over the place anyway and there are tons of snakes in this scene too. Just thought it was interesting and I never knew that before. In case some of my followers don't know I met the lovely Ms. Allen at Dragon Con Atlanta this year back in September. And she was super nice and was positively radiant. I was able to get a picture with her that day which is below.