I felt genuine sadness to read of the death of director Sydney Pollack at the age of 73. His output was highly variable, but anybody with Castle Keep, Jeremiah Johnson, The Yakuza, Three Days Of The Condor and Tootsie to his credit obviously knew what he was doing. Particularly fine tributes can be found here and here.
On the other hand, one of my favorite actors, Christopher Lee, is still gloriously with us; he turns 86 today. His career has probably never been in better shape; after his unforgettable early work as monster in residence for Hammer Films (if you don't own a copy of Terence Fisher's The Mummy--you should, you should!), he took whatever work was available, often in Grade Z garbage (Jesus Franco's Fu Manchu epics), occasionally in big budget schlock (Airport '77)...but these days, thanks to the admiration of filmmakers like Peter Jackson and Tim Burton, he appears in only the highest-grade schlock.
I originally came to love him as a horror icon--this post could easily turn into an autobiographical account of the importance of Lee and Peter Cushing to my childhood (and if you don't own a copy of Terence Fisher's The Horror Of Dracula--you should, you should!)--but eventually admired his fine, occasionally outlandish performances in everything from Billy Wilder's The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes, Robin Hardy's magnificent The Wicker Man or Terence Fisher's The Devil Rides Out (if you don't own a copy--well, you know) to Joe Dante's hilarious Gremlins 2, Bill Persky's underrated comedy Serial and Philippe Mora's oddball, ambitious (but nearly unwatchable) The Return Of Captain Invincible. Lately he's become the Grand Old Man of lavish CGI-laden fantasy epics, with memorable bits in the Star Wars prequels and Lord Of The Rings epics, as well as The Golden Compass.
Lee's filmography may well be as long as any actor's in history, but even when appearing in the most misbegotten project (Starship Invasions, say, or Police Academy: Mission To Moscow), Lee always projected an aura of unflappable cool, his dignity always intact.
Sometimes, fortunately, he said the hell with dignity.
Happy birthday, sir.
