Weird day today. Started great, took an unexpected turn for the melancholy. I've tried to harness my feelings, calm them down, examine them, yes, even write about them. But for now...nothing.
But hey, a clip job is better than no post at all. (Isn't it? Isn't it?!) And May 31st happens to be the birthday of three of my heroes, so it's a great time for a tribute.
The late Akira Ifukube was a well-respected symphonic composer when Toho Studios enlisted him in 1954 to score their brand-new giant monster epic. You can mock the Godzilla series all you want, but you can't deny the beauty of this composition, used in the film as a song for the dead.
Chris Elliot made his name on David Letterman's old NBC show before creating the surreal anti-sitcom Get A Life and writing and starring in the cult epic Cabin Boy. You're either on Elliot's wavelength of you're not, but if you are, you'll agree with me he's one of the greatest comic talents of his (my) generation. Here's a classic bit of weirdness from the old Letterman show.
Turning 78 today, with one movie set for release and another set to start production this summer, he's certainly one of our finest filmmakers. But as an actor, a movie star, an icon--no one could ever be as cool as Clint Eastwood.
