What I have been watching lately #6-- a better documentary about Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali

Ali Frazier I: One Nation Divisible is all about the first Ali-Frazier fight in March of 1971. It's much better than Thrilla in Manila.

What I have been watching lately #5- Thrilla in Manila

 This weekend I watched the 2008 HBO documentary Thrilla in Manila. The story of the third Muhammad Ali - Joe Frazier fight from the Philippines in 1975 is so compelling that it would almost be impossible to make an unwatchable documentary about the subject. Director John Dower comes close, however-- Thrilla in Manila is little more than an 86 minute hatchet job on Ali that I found incredibly difficult to watch.

As a kid, I started following boxing in the mid-1970s, and I remember not liking Muhammad Ali-- too young to understand the social and political context in which he boxed, I saw him as a loudmouth and a bragger. I knew nothing about Ali's outspoken resistance to racism and white supremacy, his conversion to Islam, or his refusal to take part in the US war against the people of Vietnam. I almost always rooted for Ali's opponents-- especially Leon Spinks (who had the added appeal of being from my hometown of St. Louis). The only thing that gave me pause in my anti-Ali feelings was the fact that my mother, who otherwise never showed much of an interest in or opinion about professional sports, sometimes expressed admiration for Ali.

 

 I was looking forward to watching this documentary, but almost from the first minute, it became obvious that Thrilla in Manila was going to be nothing but a hate-letter to Muhammad Ali. It rehashes a bizarre set of new and old accusations in an attempt to belittle Ali-- Ali as a puppet of the Nation of Islam; Ali as a supporter of the KKK; Ali as a chronic womanizer; Ali as a supporter of Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos; and, above all, Ali as a hateful bully towards Joe Frazier. Frazier is interviewed throughout the film and clearly was bitter and angry towards Ali many years later, not just for being called an "Uncle Tom" and a "gorilla" back in the seventies, but also for the wealth and prestige that Ali has continued to enjoy in his retirement. (Frazier, in contrast, lived the last years of his life in a small apartment in the same building as the gym he ran in Philadelphia.)

The movie, however, does little to put the trash-talking by Ali against Frazier in any kind of real perspective-- to some degree it was just part of the long tradition of boxers promoting up-coming fights by pretending to hate each other, and Frazier certainly participated in that along with Ali (for more on this, see videos at the end). There's no denying, however, that the war of words between the two fighters went well beyond the usual bounds in boxing, but this film doesn't tell the whole story-- for example, that Frazier continued (like many in the US who sought to belittle Ali) to refer to his opponent as Cassius Clay even almost a decade after Ali had changed his name.

The most ugly and disturbing part of the movie actually comes early on when Joe Frazier claims that Ali's current health problems with Parkinsons are some sort of divine retribution for his name calling against Frazier. After that, it was hard to take any of it seriously, which is a genuine shame. The great Ali-Frazier rivalry desperately needs a great documentary to put it in its full context-- Thrilla in Manila is absolutely not that movie.

 

 Trailer for the film

1974 appearance by Ali and Frazier on Wide World of Sports that ends in a brawl
 

What appears to be a staged phone call between Frazier and Ali
 

Ali and Frazier on the Mike Douglas Show
 

Combination book and movie review #1

Historical background: As a child growing up in the mid-to-late seventies, I was certainly aware of both the book Jaws and the movie of the same name. According to family legend, when my parents went to see Jaws in the movie theater, my father became so frightened at one point in the film that he stood up and shouted "WATCH OUT" at the screen. I also found the movie to be terrifying when I finally saw it on television, although not as terrifying as Jaws II, which I saw in the movie theater in 1978 when I was ten years old-- for some reason I slept by myself in my sister's room later that night, and I was unable to sleep because I had become convinced that the twin beds in her room were actually a pair of killer whales.

The book Jaws was also the first book that I ever read cover-to-cover that I thought I probably shouldn't be reading-- after all, it had a woman swimming naked on the cover and at least one scene in which people vomit. I can clearly remember hiding in my bedroom closet while reading Jaws, only to be caught by my father. Much to my surprise, rather than taking away the book or telling me not to read it, my dad was fine with the whole thing and even went so far as to tell me that I could read any book in the house whenever I felt like it.

Review of the book: Peter Benchley's novel has all the main elements-- the shark, the ocean, the greedy town fathers, the police chief, the young marine biologist, the crusty, old fisherman-- but it isn't very good. Despite the fact that the book is really just about a big fish that terrorizes a town, Benchley manages to also work in some marital infidelity, the specter of the mafia, and a surprising amount of horrifying sexism. 

Review of the movie: The movie, on the other hand, is still great.

The mystery of who Blake Griffin sounds like has been solved

This year, unlike many other years, I have decided to watch some of the NBA playoffs on television.  Because of this, I have gotten to see over and over again the same Kia Optima ads featuring Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers (pictured above). It struck me that Blake Griffin sounds remarkably like someone I'd heard before, and, after a little research, I was able to figure it out.

First, here is one of the commercials. Listen to grown-up version of Blake.

Second, here is the opening scene of the 1998 movie Rushmore. Listen to the math teacher (starting around 0:38).



Clearly, the two men sound almost exactly alike. The only question is-- why?

Abandoned books and/or movies #13

These are the movies that I have started and then stopped watching over the last six months or so. The ones marked with a * are movies I have seen before.

Downhill Racer-- Robert Redford, Gene Hackman, skiing-- I had wanted to see this movie for many years. However, I didn't like it.

The Americanization of Emily-- James Garner is a plus; World War II is a plus; Julie Andrews is a minus. I tried to like this one but couldn't.

Getting Straight-- I'll watch almost anything Elliott Gould does; apparently not this one, though. 

Black Cat, White Cat*-- The best romantic comedy ever made about Gypsy mobsters in the former Yugoslavia. I actually love this movie; I just wasn't in the mood for it on that particular day. I own the soundtrack as well-- it's great, too.

Hidden Fortress-- They say that this movie by Akira Kurosawa (above) inspired George Lucas to make Star Wars. It was pretty good, but I kept falling asleep.

A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy-- I was on a bit of a Woody Allen-kick at the time. This pretty much put an end to it.

What Have I Done to Deserve This?-- Directed by Pedro Almodovar; I'm not sure what I was thinking when I decided I wanted to watch this one.


Something Wild-- Boring; I stopped when they got to the high school reunion.

Up in the Air*-- I enjoyed this movie when I saw it in the movie theaters.

Salvador*-- I'm not sure you could pay me to sit through an entire Oliver Stone movie these days, not even if it has Jim Belushi in it.

Three Kings*-- In my mind, I love this movie and was really, really looking forward to watching it. It features one of my favorite living white American male actors (George Clooney) and my favorite African-American rapper/actor/director of all time (Ice Cube). For some reason, though, I just wasn't interested this time around.

The Getaway*-- I really like this movie and was quite excited to come across a very cheap DVD copy while out shopping one day. It probably just wasn't the right time to watch it.

The French Connection*-- A hard-hitting portrayal of the reality of life on the police force or neo-fascist swill? You can decide for yourself and let me know.

The Hit*-- I'm not sure why, but this movie failed to grab me this time around. 

Alphaville*-- Boy, do I remember liking this movie way back when I saw it at college.

Shaft*-- I had just watched Across 110th Street and figured I wanted to see another blaxploitation movie. It turned out that I didn't.

Go watch this movie right now.

Other than a very successful baseball team and the alleged invention of both the hot dog and the ice cream cone, there was little to be proud of about St. Louis when I was growing up there. Imagine my surprise when I grew up and discovered that, for many historians, political scientists, public policy experts, architects, and others, St. Louis's Pruitt-Igoe housing project had come to symbolize all that was wrong with public housing and government anti-poverty programs. For years, I knew little about Pruitt-Igoe other than that it was demolished in the early-1970s leaving behind an large series of completely empty blocks. This movie did a fantastic job in getting past the myths and uncovering the system of racism, oppression, and neglect that resulted in Pruitt-Igoe. Go watch this movie right now.

Abandoned books and/or movies #12

These are the books that I started and then stopped reading over the summer.

Maggie the Mechanic-- Jaime Hernandez

Two Love and Rockets books was probably more than I needed to read. This one-- the third in a row-- was definitely too much.

Def Jam Recordings: The First 25 Years of the Last Great Record Label-- various authors and photographers

This is a coffee-table book about Def Jam by Def Jam. The pictures were pretty good (such as the one of LL Cool J above), but I wasn't all that interested in reading the text.

 The Clay Machine-Gun-- Victor Pelevin

I've read this one before but not recently. When I started reading it again, it seemed like a good idea to re-read a novel that mixes the Russian Revolution, Buddhism, and Arnold Schwarzenegger (among other things). After about forty pages, it didn't seem like such a good idea anymore.

Here are some of the movies that I started watching but did not finish this summer.

Repo Man

I love this movie and have seen it many, many times. This time I watched about forty-five minutes and then decided that, instead of finishing it, I would go to bed.

Continental Divide

I had heard for years about how terrible this movie is-- it's a romantic comedy starring John Belushi as a big-city newspaper reporter trapped out in the wilderness. I finally decided to find out for myself. I made it twenty-one minutes before I had to turn it off.

Six Degrees of Separation

I have seen this one a few times and always liked it. This time around I couldn't get into it, though. I'm not sure why. It did inspire me to re-read The Catcher in the Rye, however (or maybe that was the other way around).

What I have been listening to lately #45

The Chase by Giorgio Moroder from the movie Midnight Express

What I have been listening to lately #40

What I have been listening to lately #36

Jo Jo's Jacket

What I have been listening to lately #31

What I have been reading lately #39

Blood, Sweat, and Tea: Real-Life Adventures in an Inner-City Ambulance-- by Tom Reynolds

Tom Reynolds (real name-- Brian Kellett) is an emergency medical technician in London. He writes a blog about his job. Some of the posts from the blog were collected and published in this book. The book was very entertaining.

The Class-- by Francois Begaudeau

Francois Begaudeau was a teacher in Paris who wrote a novel about his experiences. The novel was then turned into a movie. I liked both the book and the movie.

What I have been watching lately #3

I just finished watching the movie Kelly's Heroes for the first time since I was a little kid. It features many of the most important twentieth-century American actors, including Telly Savalas, Stuart Margolin, Don Rickles, Gavin MacLeod, and Donald Sutherland. I do have the following questions, however:

• If they needed the combat engineers to build a bridge across the river, how did Kelly and his men get across the river before the engineers built the bridge?
• Why was the town completely deserted before and during the battle, but then afterwards all the people came out as if from nowhere?
• When the American soldier was ringing the church bell over and over again, why didn't any of the Germans go investigate?
• Has there ever been a movie that had so many tanks and other vehicles crashing through walls so many times?
• How did Kelly and his men get the stolen gold back to Allied lines, especially since they were driving in captured German vehicles?

Below-- the main soundtrack theme as performed by the Mike Curb Congregation.

Movie Preview: Looking for Eric

What I have been reading lately #25

Today I finished Charles Brandt's book "I Heard You Paint Houses": Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran & the Inside Story of the Mafia, the Teamsters, & the Last Ride of Jimmy Hoffa. This book is based upon the author's extensive interviews with Frank Sheeran, a man who worked for years for the Teamsters and certain organized crime families in eastern Pennsylvania and New York. Sheeran was very close to Jimmy Hoffa for many years in the fifties, sixties, and seventies. Sheeran is now dead, but in the book he claims to have killed Jimmy Hoffa. I won't spoil the story as to how it is supposed to have happened. You'll have to read the book. I will say this much, however-- Sheeran is the first union enforcer and Mafia hit man that I have ever heard of who moonlighted as a ballroom dance instructor.

Below: Jimmy Hoffa (left) and Frank Sheeran

There is also word that this book may be made into a movie directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro.

What I have been reading lately #22

Earlier today I finished Where The Money Is: True Tales From the Bank Robbery Capital of the World. This book is written by former FBI agent William J. Rehder (along with Gordon Dillow). For those of you who don't know, the bank robbery capital of the world is apparently Los Angeles, California.

This book was highly informative and entertaining- the author worked for over 30 years in Los Angeles catching bank robbers. The book focuses on just a few of the most interesting cases, including the "Yankee Bandit" (about whom a movie is being produced), LA gangs who took up bank robbing, "The Hole in the Ground Gang" who tunneled under and into bank vaults and were never caught, David Mack (an LA police officer who went bad), and, of course, the two men involved in the North Hollywood Shootout, whose robberies resembled something out of a bad action movie.

The book reminded me of when I worked for Gold Shield Security Services in Connecticut as an unarmed bank guard. I believe I made $6.50 an hour (early 1990s money) and spent most of my time worrying about getting shot at. Hartford, CT is far away from Los Angeles, however, so I did not have to undergo any robbery attempts.

Below: A photo from a random bank robbery - I believe it is from Colorado.

What I have been reading lately #21

I just finished reading P.D. James' novel The Children of Men.  It was like the recent movie in many ways (the world is slowly coming to an end because no one can have babies anymore, England is a police-state, etc.).  It was also different from the movie in many ways (really too many to mention).  I found the ending of the book to be creepy (in a good way, though).

The copy I read did not have the same cover as the edition I posted here.  I like the above-cover much better.  The version I read was a movie tie-in edition and had a picture of Clive Owen looking through a broken window.

Abandoned Books and/or Movies #1

Below is a list of movies and/or books that I have given up on/walked out on/refused to finish lately.

Movies:

1. Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal.  I think was about an all-Indian football (soccer) team in London trying to keep from going under.  I also think it was a musical.  I made it through about an hour before turning off the DVD player.

2. Gomorrah.  A gritty, realistic look at modern-day gangsters in Naples, Italy.  It was really quite boring, actually.  I walked out of the theater after about thirty minutes.  This movie got rave reviews, but not from me.

3. Shanghai Knights.  Having sat through Shanghai Noon and The Big Bounce, I thought I could watch anything with Owen Wilson in it.  This movie proves me wrong.

Books:

1.  The Dream of Heroes by Adolfo Bioy Casares.  I've read this at least two or three times before, and it's great, but I couldn't quite manage another attempt.  It's an Argentinian novel set in the 1920s about a young man who has a mysterious vision on the third night of carnival in 1927 and sets out to discover the vision's meaning.  I highly recommend this book.

Best sports books, movies, and television programs of all time - reader input needed!

Ape Canyon News Service is pleased to announce that at the end of December 2008 we will be publishing our own list of the greatest sports-related books, movies, and television shows of all time. (Actually, it will be three separate lists.) If any of our readers would like to suggest works to be considered for our list, please leave us a message in the comments section of this posting. Be sure to clearly indicated the title, author, and whether the work is a book, movie, or television show. We look forward to your comments.

Jerry Reed RIP

Word has just reached Ape Canyon News Service about the passing of legendary American musician/actor Jerry Reed. While much of the coverage of his life has focused on his fine singing, guitar playing, and acting in the Smokey and the Bandit movies, we would just like to take the time to point out some of his other outstanding work, specifically the great job he did in the movie Survivors with Walter Matthau (and Robin Williams). We would also like to highlight his excellent cover of Bob Dylan's greatest song, "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," and, for those cartoon fans, his work on Scooby Doo. RIP, Jerry.