Tagged: Gun
One Battle After Another: Leonardo DiCaprio’s Revolutionary Robe
Leonardo DiCaprio in One Battle After Another (2025)
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Leonardo DiCaprio as “Ghetto Pat” Calhoun, aka Bob Ferguson, burned-out ex-revolutionary
California, Spring 2024
Film: One Battle After Another
Release Date: September 26, 2025
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Costume Designer: Colleen Atwood
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One Battle After Another has been a 2025 awards season favorite, collecting more than a few small accolades from organizations like the BAFTAs, Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes, heading into the Academy Awards this weekend with 13 nominations including Best Picture. While it was the most expensive production of Paul Thomas Anderson’s ten released features to date, it has also quickly become the director’s highest-grossing with a box office of $209 million and counting.
In his seventh Oscar-nominated performance, Leonardo DiCaprio stars as “Ghetto Pat” Calhoun, a former revolutionary in an underground militant group known as the French 75, whose expertise in explosives resulted in his reputation as the “Rocket Man”. Amidst their explosive activities, Pat and his French 75 comrade Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) raise a daughter named Charlene, only for Pat forced to go on the run with Charlene after Perfidia’s perfidy sends the surviving revolutionaries sprawling.
Justifed: Raylan’s Grayscale Plaid Shirt and Henley in “The Collection”
Timothy Olyphant as Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens on Justified (Episode 1.06: “The Collection”)
Vitals
Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, old-fashioned Deputy U.S. Marshal
Between Lexington, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio, Spring 2010
Series: Justified
Episode: “The Collection” (Episode 1.06)
Air Date: April 20, 2010
Director: Rod Holcomb
Creator: Graham Yost
Costume Designer: Ane Crabtree
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
I’ve recently been rewatching Justified with my wife—her first time seeing the series—and it renewed my interest in how Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) dresses while both on- and off-duty working the Eastern District of Kentucky.
Debuting sixteen years ago this month in March 2010, Justified‘s first season especially blended a case-of-the-week format with the series mythology revolving around how the Givens family feud with Harlan County families like the Crowders and Bennetts translated to Raylan’s crusade against arch criminal Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) as well as his ongoing drama with his ex-wife Winona (Natalie Zea).
One of the last standalone episodes outside of this format was the sixth episode, “The Collection”, revolving around crooked Cincinnati art dealer Owen Carnes (Peter Jason), whom Raylan increasingly suspects was murdered by his wife Caryn (Katherine LaNasa), despite being reminded that murder alone doesn’t necessarily fall under the U.S. Marshals Service’s investigative purview. Continue reading
Bottle Rocket: Owen Wilson’s Cabana Shirt
Owen Wilson in Bottle Rocket (1996)
Vitals
Owen Wilson as Dignan, small-time crook and big-time dreamer
Texas, Fall 1995
Film: Bottle Rocket
Release Date: February 21, 1996
Director: Wes Anderson
Costume Designer: Karen Patch
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Wes Anderson and his friend—and frequent collaborator—Owen Wilson shared their respective directorial and acting debuts thirty years ago today when Bottle Rocket premiered on February 21, 1996.
The director and brothers Owen and Luke Wilson had previously filmed the story as a 13-minute black-and-white short that was screened at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival, where it caught the attention of James L. Brooks, who agreed to finance a full-length version. Brooks’ financial involvement bumped the budget to $5 million, attracting co-star James Caan to bring experience and credibility alongside Anderson and the Wilson brothers’ freshman talent. Continue reading
Denzel Washington in Déjà Vu
Denzel Washington in Déjà Vu (2006)
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Denzel Washington as Doug Carlin, ATF agent and Marine Corps veteran
New Orleans, Spring 2006
Film: Déjà Vu
Release Date: November 22, 2006
Director: Tony Scott
Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
On this Fat Tuesday, flash back to 20 years ago when the observance set the scene for Tony Scott’s sci-fi crime thriller Déjà Vu. The movie itself is fine, but it’s a shining example of Denzel Washington’s uncanny ability to elevate any material with his considerable charisma and talent.
Déjà Vu begins with an explosion aboard the Sen. Alvin T. Stumpf passenger ferry which killed 543 people—mostly civilian families and U.S. Navy personnel en route New Orleans’ first Mardi Gras celebration following Hurricane Katrina. A task force across federal agencies and local police includes ATF Special Agent Doug Carlin, given the explosive nature of the act and the responsibilities covered by BAFTE’s final letter. Continue reading
Chuck Norris’ Safari Jacket in The Delta Force
Chuck Norris in The Delta Force (1986)
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Chuck Norris as Scott McCoy, U.S. Army Delta Force commando
Beirut, Summer 1985
Film: The Delta Force
Release Date: February 14, 1986
Director: Menahem Golan
Costume Designer: Tami Mor
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Following my latest post about air travel calamities, I’m now turning my focus to Menahem Golem’s action flick The Delta Force—released 40 years ago tomorrow on Valentine’s Day 1986. Inspired by the real-life hijacking of TWA Flight 847 the previous year, The Delta Force capitalized on Chuck Norris’ rising fame by featuring the actor as Scott McCoy, deputy commander of a U.S. Army Delta Force commando unit. Continue reading
Mark Frechette’s Revolutionary Rags in Zabriskie Point
Mark Frechette and Daria Halpern in Zabriskie Point (1970)
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Mark Frechette as Mark, revolutionary college dropout and forklift driver
Los Angeles to Death Valley, California, Summer 1968
Film: Zabriskie Point
Release Date: February 5, 1970
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Costume Designer: Ray Summers
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Michelangelo Antonioni refocused his existential “Antoni-ennui” lens onto the American campus counterculture for the offbeat drama Zabriskie Point, which premiered 56 years ago today on February 5, 1970, four days before its wider release. Poorly received by critics and audiences upon its release, Zabriskie Point earned a cult following in the decades to follow as newer audiences appreciate the raw style and performances, the deeply human story photographed by cinematographer Alfio Contini against the vast California desert, and a contemporary rock soundtrack featuring Pink Floyd, Jerry Garcia, The Rolling Stones, and The Youngbloods.
“Who the hell is he?” someone asks of our protagonist in the opening scene. Indeed, the moviegoing public may have wondered the same thing. After directing the likes of Alain Delon, Richard Harris, David Hemmings, Marcello Mastroianni, and Monica Vitti, Antonioni anchored Zabriskie Point with non-professional actors Mark Frechette and Daria Halprin in its leading roles. Casting director Sally Dennison discovered Frechette at a bus stop during the 20-year-old carpenter’s shouting match with a man leaning out of a window three stories above them. “He’s twenty, and he hates,” Dennison tersely explained in her recommendation to Antonioni. Continue reading
Twin Peaks: Michael Ontkean in Khakis and Fleck Jacket as Sheriff Harry Truman
Michael Ontkean as Sheriff Harry S. Truman in Twin Peaks (Episode 1.03: “Episode 2″, aka “Zen, or the Skill to Catch a Killer”)
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Michael Ontkean as Harry S. Truman, small-town sheriff
Twin Peaks, Washington, February and March 1989
Series: Twin Peaks (Seasons 1-2)
Air Dates: April 8, 1990 to June 10, 1991
Created by: Mark Frost & David Lynch
Costume Design: Sara Markowitz (seasons 1-2) & Patricia Norris (pilot episode only)
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
For Canadian actor Michael Ontkean’s 80th birthday, today’s post continues the Twin Peaks theme started this week with series co-creator David Lynch’s appearance as FBI Deputy Director Gordon Cole. Born just four days after Lynch on January 24, 1946, Ontkean rose to fame through the 1970s on the TV series The Rookies and the 1977 sports comedy Slap Shot before he took on the role of the even-tempered Sheriff Harry S. Truman—no known relation to the president of the same name, though the sheriff does hang the 33rd president’s portrait in his office. Continue reading
Dillinger (1973): Ben Johnson’s Indigo Chalkstripe Suit as Melvin Purvis
Ben Johnson as Melvin Purvis in Dillinger (1973)
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Ben Johnson as Melvin Purvis, experienced federal agent
Northern Illinois, Winter 1933
Film: Dillinger
Release Date: July 20, 1973
Director: John Milius
Costume Designer: James M. George
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The Depression-era desperado roundup of 1934 which eventually took down the likes of John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, “Pretty Boy” Floyd, and “Baby Face” Nelson began in the last days of 1933 when a 24-man strike force of federal agents and local police surrounded the rented cottage where “Tri-State Terror” Wilbur Underhill was spending his honeymoon with his new bride Hazel Jarrett Hudson… as well as his partner-in-crime Ralph Roe and his girlfriend Eva May Nichols. The subsequent gunfight resulted in one of the women’s deaths and Underhill mortally wounded.
Despite the title character’s removal from these events, John Milius’ 1973 directorial debut Dillinger gets these general circumstances correct, though it relocates the action from outside Shawnee, Oklahoma to “northern Illinois” and places rising FBI star Melvin Purvis (Ben Johnson) onsite to single-handedly lead the counterattack against Underhill, silently portrayed by Dillinger‘s cinematographer Jules Brenner. Continue reading
The Killer Elite: Robert Duvall’s Navy Shacket and Watch Cap
Robert Duvall in The Killer Elite (1975)
Vitals
Robert Duvall as George Hansen, mercenary-for-hire
San Francisco, Spring 1975
Film: The Killer Elite
Release Date: December 19, 1975
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Costume Designer: Ray Summers
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
My post about the late James Caan’s style in The Killer Elite for the film’s 50th anniversary last month received more attention than I expected, as well as requests to cover his co-star Robert Duvall. So, ahead of Duvall’s 95th birthday tomorrow, let’s look at how he dresses as the double-crossing mercenary George Hansen across The Killer Elite‘s second act.
After betraying his partner Mike Locken (Caan) and leaving him with a crippling bullet to the knee, George has been profiting as a freelance mercenary most recently hired to assassinate a Taiwanese politician visiting the United States. Mike had been out of commission for weeks while recovering from his wound, but his old employer ComTeg finally welcomes him back into the fold—hoping he can foil his former partner’s plot. Continue reading
Three Days of the Condor: Wicks’ Leather Car Coat and Navy Suit
Michael Kane in Three Days of the Condor (1975)
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Michael Kane as S.W. Wicks, shady CIA section chief
Langley, Virginia to New York City, Winter 1975
Film: Three Days of the Condor
Release Date: September 24, 1975
Director: Sydney Pollack
Costume Designer: Joseph G. Aulisi
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Released in September 1975, the Christmas-adjacent spy thriller Three Days of the Condor celebrated its 50th anniversary earlier this year. Robert Redford stars as the titular “Condor”, the CIA’s codename for its low-level researcher Joe Turner who is the only survivor of a coordinated attack on its deep-cover office in Manhattan.
The massacre is revealed to have been part of an internal conspiracy, involving Turner’s own section chief S.W. Wicks. Though not a prominent character with just a few minutes of screen time across four scenes, Wicks is certainly a significant one and very effectively played by Michael Kane—no, not that Michael Caine—an acclaimed Canadian actor and World War II veteran who died 18 years ago last week on December 14, 2007. Continue reading
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