Tagged: Warm Climate
Tom Selleck in Quigley Down Under
Tom Selleck as Matthew Quigley in Quigley Down Under (1990)
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Tom Selleck as Matthew Quigley, taciturn sharpshooter from Wyoming
Western Australia, early 1870s
Film: Quigley Down Under
Release Date: October 17, 1990
Director: Simon Wincer
Costume Designer: Wayne A. Finkelman
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
I only recently learned that January 26 is observed as Australia Day, a national holiday that commemorates the landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 and is celebrated today by presentations of the Australian of the Year Awards and announcement of the Australia Day Honours. Since at least 1938, which was the 150th anniversary of the landing, there has been a movement led by Indigenous Australians to redefine the observance as Invasion Day or Survival Day, a Day of Mourning for the British arrival that resulted in often violent colonization.
Given the movie’s setting and themes of a protagonist who refuses to engage in violence against Aborigines, the unique 1990 Western Quigley Down Under felt like an appropriate choice to write about today.
As suggested by the latter two-thirds of its title, Quigley Down Under follows the tradition of predecessors like The Sundowners (1960) and Ned Kelly (1970) as an Australian-set Western, or “meat pie Western”. The eponymous Quigley is Matthew Quigley (Tom Selleck), a cowboy with a penchant for riflery. Continue reading
Glass Onion: Noah Segan as Derol
Noah Segan as Derol in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
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Noah Segan as Derol, carefree stoner who’s “going through some things”
Spetses, Greece, May 2020
Film: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Release Date: November 23, 2022
Director: Rian Johnson
Costume Designer: Jenny Eagan
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Derol is definitely having a moment right now! From articles in Variety to countless memes, the laidback loafer played by Noah Segan has quietly risen as a fan favorite among the star-studded cast of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery in the month since it premiered on Netflix.
Glass Onion is set in May 2020, two months into the global lockdown resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the nonchalant Derol reminds me of the vibe I had aspired to at this stage in lockdown: unbothered, staying in my lane, growing out my hair and chilling. Continue reading
Glass Onion: Benoit Blanc’s Striped Sweater
Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
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Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, “in your words, the world’s greatest detective”
Spetses, Greece, May 2020
Film: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Release Date: November 23, 2022
Director: Rian Johnson
Costume Designer: Jenny Eagan
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
As its quick ascension to the #1 movie on the service suggests, many are spending their Christmas holiday and its surrounding days watching Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which had only a one-week theatrical release earlier this year before it premiered on Netflix on December 23. My wife and I watched it last night and enjoyed yet another fun, stylish, and unorthodox mystery centered around Southern-fried investigator Benoit Blanc, reprised by Daniel Craig after his entertaining turn in Knives Out. Continue reading
Cary Grant in Father Goose
Cary Grant as Walter Eckland in Father Goose (1964)
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Cary Grant as Walter Eckland, crude and reluctant wartime coast-watcher
Pacific Islands, Spring 1942
Film: Father Goose
Release Date: December 10, 1964
Director: Ralph Nelson
Costume Designer: Ray Aghayan (uncredited)
Background
Last month, I reflected on the elegant white suit that Cary Grant wore at the start of his stylish career in the pre-Code drama Hot Saturday. More than 30 years later, Grant was firmly established as one of the most charming—and enduringly best-dressed—stars of the era, subverting his screen reputation for his penultimate movie, the World War II-set comedy Father Goose opposite Leslie Caron. Continue reading
Live By Night: Ben Affleck’s White Gangster Suit
Ben Affleck as Joe Coughlin in Live by Night (2016)
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Ben Affleck as Joe Coughlin, gangster and war veteran
Ybor City, Florida, Spring 1933
Film: Live by Night
Release Date: December 25, 2016
Director: Ben Affleck
Costume Designer: Jacqueline West
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
After years of memes picturing him in various states of Dunkin’-fueled despair, Ben Affleck seems to be doing pretty well for himself these days, recently married to Jennifer Lopez as they have evidently to put the past—including Gigli—well behind them. On Affleck’s 50th birthday, let’s explore one of his more stylish roles as the Prohibition-era protagonist in Live By Night.
The Deep: Robert Shaw’s Striped Shirt and Cargo Pants
Robert Shaw as Romer Treece in The Deep (1977)
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Robert Shaw as Romer Treece, adventurous treasure hunter and lighthouse-keeper
Off the Bermuda coast, Summer 1976
Film: The Deep
Release Date: June 17, 1977
Director: Peter Yates
Costume Designer: Ron Talsky
Background
Following the record-setting blockbuster success of Jaws, adapted from Peter Benchley’s debut novel of the same name, Columbia Pictures quickly purchased the rights to Benchley’s next novel before it was even published. The Deep proved to be another box-office hit, if not as critically acclaimed as its predecessor, with much of its success attributed to an effective marketing campaign centered around Jacqueline Bisset’s white T-shirt.
Another casting decision that worked in The Deep‘s favor was Robert Shaw, born 95 years ago today on August 9, 1927. Continue reading
Key Largo: Dan Seymour’s Guayabera
Dan Seymour as Angel Garcia in Key Largo (1948)
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Dan Seymour as Angel Garcia, gangland gofer
Key Largo, Florida, Summer 1948
Film: Key Largo
Release Date: July 16, 1948
Director: John Huston
Wardrobe Credit: Leah Rhodes
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One of the most familiar—if under-credited—faces of the 1940s, the distinctive-looking character actor Dan Seymour was often cast as a sinister local in an “exotic” setting. Seymour’s most prominent movies starred his friend Humphrey Bogart, including his performance as Moroccan doorman Abdul in Casablanca, a corrupt Martinican official in To Have and Have Not, and mob lackey Angel Garcia in Key Largo, John Huston’s moody noir set in a storm-isolated tropical hotel. Continue reading
The Talented Mr. Ripley: Dickie’s Black and White at Sea
Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
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Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf, narcissistic profligate playboy
Italy, Summer 1958
Film: The Talented Mr. Ripley
Release Date: December 25, 1999
Director: Anthony Minghella
Costume Design: Ann Roth & Gary Jones
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Last year around this time, I finally read Patricia Highsmith’s thriller novel The Talented Mr. Ripley that provided the source material for two stylish adaptations: the lush French production Purple Noon (Plein soleil) released in 1960 and Anthony Minghella’s more faithful The Talented Mr. Ripley released on Christmas 1999.
The central drama follows a trio of American jet-setters cavorting on Italy’s scenic Amalfi Coast: spendthrift playboy Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law), his charming on-and-off girlfriend Marge Sherwood (Gwyneth Paltrow), and their mysterious companion Tom Ripley (Matt Damon), who seems to have taken an obsessive interest in Dickie. Continue reading
Licence to Kill: Bond’s Tropical Navy Casual Jacket
Timothy Dalton as James Bond in Licence to Kill (1989). Photo sourced from thunderballs007.org archive.
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Timothy Dalton as James Bond, rogue British government agent
From Key West, Florida to Bimini, Bahamas, Summer 1989
Film: Licence to Kill
Release Date: July 14, 1989
Director: John Glen
Costume Designer: Jodie Lynn Tillen
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Timothy Dalton’s second James Bond movie, Licence to Kill, was released today in 1989, exactly a week before I was born. Dalton was still comfortably settling into the role, establishing a more serious characterization that echoed Ian Fleming’s literary creation more than Roger Moore’s witty romantic, but a series of legal disputes and cultural shifts resulted in Licence to Kill unexpectedly becoming Dalton’s swan song as 007. Continue reading
The Guns of Navarone: Anthony Quinn’s Seersucker Suit
Anthony Quinn as Andrea Stavros in The Guns of Navarone (1961)
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Anthony Quinn as Colonel Andrea Stavros, tough Greek officer
Middle East, Fall 1943
Film: The Guns of Navarone
Release Date: April 27, 1961
Director: J. Lee Thompson
Wardrobe Credit: Monty M. Berman & Olga Lehmann
Background
Seersucker Thursday may be one of the few remaining bipartisan aspects of American politics. Inspired by the practice of early 20th century congressmen donning their tailored seersucker suits, Mississippi Senator Trent Lott reinstated the tradition in 1996, to be observed by men and women of the Senate on the second or third Thursday in June to coincide with National Seersucker Day, a standing celebration of the cool-wearing cloth.
There have certainly been more elegant showcases of seersucker suits in cinematic history, but one of the toughest examples can be seen with The Guns of Navarone‘s introduction of Colonel Andrea Stavros, the pipe-smoking officer of the Hellenic Army’s 19th Motorized Division. Continue reading