I’m still adjusting to the change in my vision. It hasn’t been a smooth road, which is appropriate given that I live in a city as full of potholes as possibilities. I’m still nervous about navigating stairs, which will be a factor today as we’re going to see Cirque du Soleil at the Blender DBA The Smoothie King Center. I usually don’t mention sponsor names, but the nickname is to die for.
The featured image, 1938, is by the great British modernist artist Ben Nicholson. One of his works was the subject of the swell BBC show Fake Or Fortune with art detectives Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould. The episode in question is featured in our final segment, so we’ll circle back to it anon.
This week’s theme song was written in 1971 by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for the classic Rolling Stones album, Sticky Fingers. Zip.
We have four versions of Sway for your listening pleasure: the studio OG, the Stones live in 2005, Lucinda Williams, and Alejandro Escovedo.
If those three great artists didn’t sway you, let’s give the pride of New Zealand, Bic Runga, a shot at it with her song, Sway:
This week’s second act consists of a tribute to Robert Redford.
Robert Redford RIP: Redford had an unusual path to stardom. It didn’t happen for him until he was in his 30’s. That led to him being notoriously picky about scripts. One could have called him the Sundance Rewrite Kid. His method worked: he was in many fine films even before he became a superstar. He can also be seen in episodes of Perry Mason and The Untouchables.
Bob Redford was a talented and versatile man. He was an actor, producer, director, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival, which brought cineastes to Utah. He preferred not to live in the hothouse environment of Hollywood. He dug nature and fought to protect it.
In addition to Redford’s NYT obit and Jamie O’s reflection on All The President’s Men, there’s a terrific piece by New York Magazine’s Matt Zoeller Seitz, Robert Redford’s Impossible Cool. He nails Redford’s work even if we disagree on the best movie directed by Redford. You say Ordinary People, I say Quiz Show. Let’s call the whole thing off.
Repeat after me: Quiz Show is Redford’s directorial masterpiece.
That brings me to the listicle part of the post. They’re presented in order of personal preference.
I include two movies in which the pre-stardom Redford is the leading man to two great stars, Natalie Wood and Jane Fonda. How could I omit Barefoot In The Park? I’m on the record as a Neil Simon stan and Redford and Fonda have great chemistry. The movie epitomizes the rule of the two best looking people in a movie ending up together.
The Robert Redford Dozen
- All The President’s Men
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
- Three Days Of The Condor
- The Sting
- The Candidate
- The Natural
- Sneakers
- The Way We Were
- Â Inside Daisy Clover
- Out Of Africa
- Truth
- Â Barefoot In The Park
The Redford Directorial Half-Dozen
- Quiz Show
- Ordinary People
- A River Runs Through It
- The Conspirator
- Lions For Lambs
- The Milagro Beanfield War
Tomorrow’s movie post will be my take on Quiz Show.
The last word of our second act goes to The Kinks:
We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.
Separated At Birth Casting Edition: I watched part of How The West Was Won on TCM last weekend. I had forgotten that they’d cast Harry Morgan as General Grant and John Wayne as General Sherman.
Harry’s casting was good, Wayne’s was poor but they were small parts in a big, sprawling movie with an Oscar winning soundtrack by Randy Newman’s Uncle Alfred.
Your Weekly Oscar: This time, OP meets Cole Porter with a song written in 1938 in keeping with the title of the Ben Nicholson featured image.
Have I told you lately how much I love Oscar Peterson?
Best Of Cavett: Louis Armstrong and Dick Cavett. Say no more.
I considered not posting a Satchmo song but thought better of it:
Classic Movie Trailer: I still have 1938 on my mind. It was the year that George Bernard Shaw was convinced to allow his classic play Pygmalion to be adapted for the big screen. I, for one, prefer it to My Fair Lady.
Grading Time: I give Pygmalion 4 stars and an Adrastos Grade of A. Wendy Hiller is da bomb as Eliza.
Saturday GIF Horse: I’m staying on message with a GIF from the 1938 screwball comedy, Bringing Up Baby.
Holy double entendre, Batman.
Toon Time: Here’s the Guardian’s Ben Jennings on Elon Musk zooming into a right wing march in London.
Latest @theguardian.com cartoon#ElonMusk #UniteTheKingdom http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre…
— Ben Jennings (@bjennings90.bsky.social) 2025-09-15T17:41:42.893Z
I haven’t kicked former Reich Chancellor Musk around in a while. That felt good.
Let’s close down this virtual honky tonk with the dulcet tones of Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould. Is he related to rocker Bob Mould of Husker Du and Sugar fame? Beats the hell outta me.
Saturday Closer: Here’s an epic episode of Fake Or Fortune in which they investigate a Nicholsonian mystery. Ben, not Jack.
That’s all for this week. The last word goes to Raymond Burr and Robert Redford in Perry Mason:
