THE HORSE WHISPERER!

And now, the moment I have promised for week number 3 of "Friday Movie Suggestion Night". FMSN started off with a Drama featuring Paul Newman ("The Verdict"), then moved into a Drama/Comedy about a man undergoing a funny Mid-Life Crisis with the late Dudley Moore ("10"). With the most moving post I've ever done on a true life story here locally concerning a 16 year old girl who rescued a beautiful, albeit, blind Belgian horse, (see my post of 9/27/05) I decided after much thought to change what I had originally scheduled to bring you to a movie from 1998--an otherwise dull year for films released here in the United States: The Horse Whisperer, directed by Robert Redford.

It was Redruth, Cornwall, England that brought us the lovely and talented Kristin Scott-Thomas who Co-stars here. The all star cast features Sam Neill, Dianne Wiest, Kate Bosworth and a stand-out from then-newcomer Scarlett Johansson that will touch your heart boldly. Incidentally, Natalie Portman withdrew from this film to star in a Broadway production of "The Diary of Anne Frank".

The Plot: A devastating horse riding accident during the Winter season has left both a young girl and her beloved horse severely injured and emotionally traumatized. The girl's mother learns of a man called a "Horse Whisperer" and soon after, drives her daughter (with horse in tow) clear across the United States from New York to Montana. A trip that will change their lives forever. Buck Brannaman of Sheridan, Wyoming is the real-life "Horse Whisperer" who inspires Mr. Redfords portrayal in the film. Brannaman's personal life was infused with conflict and violence. What changed that? Listening to horses.

The term "Horse Whisperer" refers to the soft, gentle way one communicates with a horse. John Rarey was one of the first modern day horse-tamers who pioneered many of the principles you will see in this film (back in 1850). In an Equis magazine article, "Secrets of the Horse Tamers", Emily Kilby writes, "The man who would take up taming must have the delicacy of touch and feeling of a woman, the eye of an eagle, the courage of a lion, and the hang-on pluck of a bulldog". As many of you know, horses are most intuitive. They can help us face our fears, learn more about love, reveal self-defeating patterns and even add a spiritual dimension to our personal lives. In fact, there are equine-facilitated health programs to assist not only the physically challenged, as the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA) does. But the Equine Facilitated Mental Health Association (EFMHA) has helped a great many plagued with Autism, Schizophrenia and Attention Deficit Disorder achieve positive results!

When this movie debuted, Redford, who is sensitive about each of us being good stewards of the environment insisted that the film only debut in select US cities--fearing that an onslaught of tourists might disrupt the beauty and solitude of portions of Montana, where the filming took place. Redford read the novel by first-time author Nicholas Evans and paid a hefty $3 million (US) for the rights to make the film. This is a superb cast and a powerful motion picture event! My young cousin, who attended my 1999 college graduation ceremony owned three horses and took me as a child with her to the stables often. She had read the book and knew of the film but succumbed to Cancer before she could see the film. I dedicate this post to her.

May you settle in sometime tonight or over the weekend and enjoy it!

Have a Wonderful Weekend, All!

THE BEAUTIFUL BLIND HORSE!

Jenna McVey is a 16-year old high school junior. The local paper here did a front-page story about how she met "Nelly" a Belgium draft horse used for breeding that was not expected to live. The horses beautiful blue eyes have turned white from an infection that stole her sight two years ago. With one-year of riding lessons under her belt, Jenna came across the blind horse standing alone in a stall and noticed that no one ever paid attention to her. "She never got out, so I felt sorry for her", said Jenna. Instinctively, the horse pushed its nose against the fence where Jenna stood. "I just saw her and fell in love with her", she said. "I would go out to her stall and talk to her". The horse was mercilessly earmarked for auctioning to a rendering plant. That's when Jenna's family stepped in and adopted the horse. What happened next was nothing short of a miracle!

On September 18th, Jenna guided "Beauty" (her nickname shortened from "Blind Beauty") during a dressage event--which translated from French means training. It's actually a showcase of the horses training in an arena. Imagine this girl guiding a sightless "Beauty" over and around a course of bales of hay and across a small bridge. Mary Dorin, a judge at the dressage event was stunned. "We didn't know it was a blind horse until it was already on the course. This horse did everything this little girl wanted", she said. "I stood there with the three volunteers and we cried".

Beauty (Nelly) has a strawberry coat and blond locks. Jenna guides the horse using pressure with her legs. Judge Mary Dorin said, "This horse knows, "I've got her on my back;I've got to take care of her". The 16-year old has plans to attend an equine college and later teach riding lessons. She rides "Beauty" five days a week for an hour or two. "Nelly is my favorite thing", she said. "I'd rather come out here and sit with her in a stall than have a million dollars". If you haven't already guessed, Jenna and her beautiful horse won the dressage event! Each rider donated $10 (US) or more to help horses recovered from Hurricane Katrina to participate in the event.

IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT!

In 1967, director Norman Jewison took a daring risk to bring to cinema screens In the Heat of the Night, a tense whodunit detective story that was so controversial, it couldn't be filmed in the Deep South. So, sets were constructed in Belleville, Freeburg and Sparta, Illinois and Dyensburg, Tennesee. The film was nominated for 7 Academy Awards and received five Oscars [Best Actor-(Rod Steiger), Screenplay, Sound, Film Editing and Picture]. The story itself involves a black police detective from Philadelphia named Virgil Tibbs (Sydney Poitier) and an overweight, gum-chewing bigot in the character of Sheriff Bill Gillespie (Rod Stieger). The two work through an atmosphere of hatred and antagonism to mutual respect and admiration for each other by the end of the film.

Twenty-one years later in 1988--actor Carroll O'Connor reprised the role of Sheriff Bill Gillespie, joined by real-life son Hugh O'Connor; Harold Rollins reprised the role of Virgil Tibbs (all three men sadly deceased) and an amiable man with a genuine Southern drawl and the body of a football player by the name of Alan Autry portrayed Captain Bubba Skinner on the television series of the same name. Carroll O'Connor often said that of all his film roles and television work (including "All In the Family") he was most proud of his work on In the Heat of the Night. The show ran for 7 seasons. Alan Autry is an interesting and positive guy.

He was born in Shreveport, Louisiana and grew up working with his mother and step-father planting and harvesting crops in California's San Joaquin Valley. They settled in Riverdale, California where Alan was star quarterback for the Riverdale Cowboys and earned an athletic scholarship to the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. In 1975, the Greenbay Packers drafted him to play second string for two years and in 1978 he came to Hollywood to star in Remember My Name.

On a late night Christian Talk Show, while channel surfing, I swore that I saw Alan Autry in the Guest Chair. And as it turned out, I was right! I learned that Alan was elected Mayor of Fresno, California in 2000. His term was about to expire in 2004. But residents loved how well he turned that city around and by a 72 percent majority they would not let him go! So, Mayor Autry will be leading the city until 2009. I always liked Alan's character on In the Heat of the Night, and when I learned he was married with three children and actively involved in real life issues of keeping kids out of trouble, I submitted a cable project to him for his review. As busy as he was, he viewed it twice and "loved it". I put my project (called "When Dreams Come True") on the shelf as an "avail" (open for future development). But to have Alan personally view it was an honor! Here is a down to earth man of Integrity.

Alan works with charitable causes and once each week, residents can sign up for "open-door" meetings with the Mayor to discuss city issues for 15 minutes. His Dirt Road Productions was begun in 1997 and produced The Legend of Jake Kincaid, a western based on a story Alan wrote starred in and directed.

It's nice to start the week out reading about a man who may be a "star", but whose feet are firmly planted on the ground. That is rare. So, when you see a re-run of the television series In the Heat of the Night (the original is a must-see for any film student), at least you'll know a little more about the current Mayor of Fresno, who is making a positive difference in the world.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

AND NOW...SOME UPCHEER!

My laptop computer now has it's 4th keyboard in almost two years. It feels like a Ferrari now instead of a VW Bug! The repair center guy asked, "Man what are you a writer or something? This thing's shot!" I laughed and told him that yes, that was part of what I do. It's was a 65 mile round-trip to the repair center, so that gave me a chance to play Bud Buckley's CD, "Feel My Love". Some of you may not know that Bud's a singer/songwriter/musician who has recently launched a fund raising campaign to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. Visit him and tell him I sent you at Budbuckley.com! He's also a good guy!

Last night (and I suppose tonight) will become "British Pub Night"--someting to look forward to! That will be fun to run over to the other side of town. In this city, one must be creative if they are single. The Pub is cool and the manager's know me (and read this BLOG)-so it's really cool when you walk in and smiles are exchanged all around. They are a super group and I enjoy them all! Time for a funny story now that's also true!

When I lived in the Southwest (to no one's surprise) I flew Southwest Airlines a lot. The colorful Chairman and founder Herb Kelleher is a hoot and a half. He's a chain smoker and loves Wild Turkey Whiskey so much that he has a Wild Turkey pull handle in his office. I dropped off a pint once with a resume years ago to get an interview. When that didn't work, I polished a dress shoe and delivered it with a letter that said, "Now that I have my foot in the door" (Hey! I was desperate, okay?). But my best coup was taking an empty wine bottle and creating a label (I drew my own artwork) with a byline that read "Your Best Media Relations Candidate" and delivered it to their headquarters with my resume rolled up inside the bottle with dry flowers from a florist. THAT one got me an interview and my shoe was finally returned (with the wooden shoe tree still inside!). No job, but I guess everything happens for a reason. I interpret all of this as "the best is yet to come!"(Yes, Tony Bennett's version, please!).

Once during a Press Conference I attended, Herb was asked how his prostate Cancer treatment was coming along. He stood at the podium with a beer mug in one hand and a burning cigarette in the other. "Fine", he replied. "That's only because I don't smoke with my prostate". One of the funnier stories he told was the morning he had to meet with bankers to convince them to loan the then-fledgling carrier millions of dollars. He put his sports jacket in the back seat of his car and opened the drivers door, sat in the seat with a cup of coffee and started the car. He set the shift lever and turned his head to look over his right shoulder to back up when the car leaped Forward! He hit the brakes and the coffee spilled all over his white starched shirt, tie and gray slacks!! Knowing there was no time to change clothes, he went to the bankers meeting soaking wet and explained during his presentation why he looked the way he did. (CAN YOU IMAGINE?!!!) Herb's a hoot with a big heart. He makes fun of his bad teeth, but each year he supports the children of Ronald McDonald House! Anyway, the bankers had a good laugh and gave him his loan!! Now you know where the philosophy comes from when Southwest says "We take our jobs seriously, but not ourselves". After ongoing media events of this week, I thought this story would cheer everyone up a bit. BTW: Those of you in Europe who fly Ryanair are privy to this same philosophy, as their executives studied Southwest's business model with Herb for weeks. Having said all of this...

Have a Great Weekend!

ROBERT REDFORD!

Yesterday, a good friend of mine who lives on South Beach in Miami called me to discuss a future magazine project. He shot me an e-mail that said "fone me". When I did, he hesitated and asked, "Where's the voice?" That's always been a compliment for an ex-radio guy. But for someone who is sneezing with air conditioning in summer and blowing his nose with Ragweed everywhere I must have sounded like it was mid-December!

Last night, I took myself out for a meal and came back to the pad and clicked on cable. There was Robert Redford narratiing his film work with a lady I think we men have fallen in love with many times--the late Natalie Wood. Bob is my kind of an actor--very intuitive, he picks up on the slightest nuances. Such as the way Natalie used to look at an actor and sort of cock her head and give you that mischievous expression--so coy and intelligent. The more footage they showed of her, the more I ached. Love that lady! Then, a surprise!

On Bravo, "Inside The Actors Studio", host Jim Lipton had Bob as a Guest! Redford is one guy I can say never made a film I disliked. He's just that damned good! But his last comment to the young audience was powerful. He shared how his family couldn't afford 35 cents for a movie long ago when he was a kid. Back then, you were treated to a newsreel about WWII, maybe two cartoons and then the Feature Presentation. He said that when he created The Sundance Institute in Utah, it was after he looked around and realized how commercialized theaters had become. He's right! Today we have Movieplexes showing 20 films with a screen between theaters where the sound often waffles through from another movie, people are herded like cattle in and out and the object is to get everyone to the Concession Stand as fast as possible to make big bucks. He ended by saying that he's afraid we've lost a part of the experience in America he had as a kid going to the movie theater that none of us will ever get to see in the same way. I agree completely. What are your thoughts?