COOL HAND LUKE (1967)

A DAY AT CORONA DEL MAR STATE BEACH

WITH MY FRIEND, MELANIE

Despite using sunblock, I got burnt and looked like cooked lobster. It was fun! My new digitial camera worked just fine.

GEORGE CARLIN

1937 - 2008

REST IN PEACE

KISSING TRIVIA

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From an article on MSN:

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Kissing is good for what ails you. Research shows that the act of smooching improves our skin, helps circulation, prevents tooth decay, and can even relieve headaches.

CASABLANCA TRIVIA

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Studio publicity in 1941 claimed that Ronald Reagan and Ann Sheridan were scheduled to appear in this film, and Dennis Morgan is mentioned as the third lead. This was never the case, however, and the false story was planted, either by a studio publicist or a press agent for the three other actors, to keep their names in the press. Meanwhile George Raft was angling for the part with Jack L. Warner, but Hal B. Wallis had been assigned to search for what would be Humphrey Bogart's next starring role. He wrote to Warner that he had found the next movie for Bogart and the role was perfect for him. Nobody else was ever considered for the part.

An Affair to Remember

She was 82. He was 95.

They had dementia. They fell in love.

And then they started having sex.

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Check out this story on Slate (you will have an opinion): http://www.slate.com/id/2192178/?GT1=38001

I've been watching the news about the current economic and political situation. I attempted to make some sense of it and the old World War Two acronym popped into my head:

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SNAFU

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Yep, that says it all. Situation Normal: All Fucked Up.

Sometimes it is best to remain quiet

and be thought a fool

than to open your mouth

and remove all doubt.

Hush by Deep Purple

I got a certan little girl she’s on my mind
No doubt about it she looks so fine
She’s the best girl that I ever had
Sometimes she’s gonna make me feel so bad

Hush, hush
I thought I heard her calling my name now
Hush, hush
She broke my heart but I love her just the same now
Hush, hush
Thought I heard her calling my name now
Hush, hush
I need her loving and I’m not to blame now

(love, love)
They got it early in the morning
(love, love)
They got it late in the evening
(love, love)
Well, I want that, need it
(love, love)Oh, I gotta gotta have it

She’s got loving like quicksand
Only took one touch of her hand
To blow my mind and I’m in so deep
That I can’t eat and I can’t sleep

Listen
Hush, hush
Thought I heard her calling my name now
Hush, hush
She broke my heart but I love her just the same now
Hush, hush
Thought I heard her calling my name now
Hush, hush
I need her loving and I’m not to blame now

(love, love)
They got it early in the morning
(love, love)
They got it late in the evening
(love, love)
Well, I want that, need it
(love, love)
Oh, I gotta gotta have it

77 KICK-ASS, GUY MOVIES
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Okay, first and up front, I own way too many DVDs. Still I decided to list some of my favorite action-adventure films. Some are classics; some are most definitely B-movies that have held my interest over the years. The criteria for my list is simple: the movie had to be a kick-ass flick that I’d recommend to another guy and I had to own a copy which means I’ve seen it more than once. There is no particular order. They’re listed as I thought of them. So here we go:


1) RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
The absolute coolest action-adventure movie ever made. This is the role Harrison Ford was born to play. A roller-coaster ride of thrills.
2) DIE HARD
Bad guys take-over an entire building to execute the perfect robbery. But they didn’t plan on good-guy cop Bruce Willis being among the hostages.
3) THE GODFATHER
The Coliseum of gangster movies. Period. End of discussion.
4) ALIEN
Lean, tough sci-fi horror tale with well-drawn characters, seat-jumping suspense, and one of the coolest, scariest monsters ever seen on film.
5) ALIENS
Major debate on whether this is one of the rare sequels that is better than the source film. Who cares? They’re both bitchin’ movies.
6) THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938)
Errol Flynn isn’t playing Robin Hood. He is Robin Hood. This is the oldest film on my list and it holds up well. I still want to be one of Robin’s Merry Men.
7) JAWS
The shark looks fake. Doesn’t matter. Riveting from beginning to end.
8) TOMBSTONE
One of my favorite westerns. Kurt Russell is Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer is Doc Holliday. About a hundred character actors pop up in his movie and the gunfights are only topped by the razor-sharp dialogue.
9) THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
I love Star Wars. This sequel is better than the source film. The final chapter is somewhat of a letdown and the three prequels are a waste of time.
10) BATMAN BEGINS
The best comic book (or graphic novel if you prefer) inspired movie ever. This movie rocks.
11) COOL HAND LUKE
Paul Newman sentenced to a Southern chain gang. Watch how a myth is created. Great supporting cast. “What we have here is a failure to communicate.”
12) THE WILD BUNCH
Old West outlaws attempt one last robbery. From that simple synopsis comes a great movie written and directed by Peckinpah.
13) THE LORD OF THE RINGS (all three as one)
The Tolkien classic as envisioned by Peter Jackson. Not all the storylines work but the battles are kick-butt impressive. Oh, yeah, watching all three in one sitting will take you about twelve hours.
14) SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
Spielberg and Hanks. World War II in Europe. Soft center but the opening D-Day battle and the closing battle more than make up for it.
15) PREDATOR
In the South American jungle, Arnold and his mercenaries are picked off one-by-one by an alien hunter on safari. Far-fetched? Yeah, but totally cool.
16) TREMORS
The folks in a remote town are trapped by underground creatures that consider them food. This is what a sci-fi horror film should be. Fun and scary.
17) CASINO ROYALE
A reworking of the James Bond legend starting at the beginning. Daniel Craig makes Agent 007 his own and in one of best Bond adventures.
18) ROB ROY
The Scottish legend. Tough swashbuckler. Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange shine and Tim Roth is a terrific villain. Great ending sword fight.
19) THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
A group of gunfighters defends a poor Mexican village against bandits. McQueen, Yul Brynner, Bronson, and Coburn with Eli Wallach top-notch as the bandit leader. Still my favorite western.
20) DIRTY HARRY
Eastwood’s best movie. All that stands between the people of San Francisco and a deranged killer is Detective Harry Callahan.
21) L.A. CONFIDENTIAL
Cops and the mob in 1950’s Los Angeles. Great characters, solid twists. Well-done.
22) THE UNTOUCHABLES
Kevin Costner, along with Sean Connery, form an elite squad to take on Al Capone (Robert DeNiro). Cool story.
23) SAHARA
Bogart and a rag-tag group of soldiers make a last stand at a desert waterhole against a Nazi battalion.
24) INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM
Not as good as Raiders but damn good.
25) INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE
Not as good as Raiders but Sean Connery is Indy’s dad.
26) CON AIR
Nicholas Cage is a paroled convict who gets a ride on plane filled with the toughest cons. What could go wrong?
27) SPEED
Cop Keanu Reeves attempts to disarm a moving city bus that has been rigged to explode if its speed drops below 50 mph by madman Dennis Hopper. Sandra Bullock is the spunky bus driver.
28) THE BOURNE IDENTITY
Just buckle up and enjoy the ride as spy-with-amnesia Matt Damon tries to figure out who he is and why people are trying to kill him.
29) LETHAL WEAPON 2
Better than the source movie with cop buddies Mel Gibson and Danny Glover facing a ruthless South African syndicate. Joe Pesci stands out as a mob informant.
30) UNDER SIEGE
The only Steven Seagal movie worth seeing (except Executive Decision for different reason). Seagal is a Navy cook fighting mercenaries who have taken over a naval warship. Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey are great bad guys.
31) THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES
Eastwood’s best western as a loner who keeps picking up lost people as he flees a relentless posse.
32) THE PROFESSIONALS
Tough, leathery western as a millionaire hires four men – Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, and Woody Strode – to free kidnapped wife from a Mexican outlaw.
33) THE PATRIOT
Mel Gibson, after his son is killed, joins the rebels fighting the British Army in Colonial America. You really want to see bad guy Jason Isaacs get his.
34) SOLDIER
Kurt Russell is a man raised from birth to be a soldier in this futuristic sci-fi adventure tale. Simple but way cool storyline.
35) EXECUTIVE DECISION
Kurt Russell and a squad of soldiers sneak aboard a hijacked jetliner in flight to rescue the passengers. Far-fetched but intense. 15 minutes into the movie and you’ll know why it’s the best Steven Seagal movie.
36) FACE/OFF
John Woo directs Nicholas Cage and John Travolta in this bizarre action-packed story. Okay, it’s a little too long but it’s really fun.
37) TOMORROW NEVER DIES
Pierce Bronsan is James Bond in the only non-Sean Connery 007 movie worth seeing until Casino Royale was made.
38) LAST OF THE MOHICANS
The French-Indian Wars. The what? Open a history book. Anyway, the fights with tomahawk and flintlock rifle is totally bitchin’. Even the love story added to the old tale works.
39) PLANET OF THE APES
Astronaut Charlton Heston lands on a planet where evolution did a flip-flop. Way corny at moments but it works. One of the best endings ever.
40) THE GREAT ESCAPE
During WWII, the Germans decide to put all the Allied escape artists in one P.O.W. camp. Big mistake on their part. Based on a true story. McQueen on a motorcycle. Big smile.
41) THE DIRTY DOZEN
WWII. Before D-Day. Major Lee Marvin is assigned to train a group of military convicts for a behind-the-lines mission. The Army would never be this desperate. Or would they? In supporting roles are Bronson, Jim Brown, Telly Savalas and several other tough guys.
42) ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES
Cagney and Pat O’Brien are best boyhood pals who grow up to be a gangster and a priest respectively. No one is cooler than Cagney when playing a gangster. Add Bogart as another bad guy and a genuinely moving climax and you got a classic gangster flick from the Thirties.
43) THE TERMINATOR
Arnold is a killer cyborg sent back in time to assassinate the mother of the man who will defeat the cyborgs in the future. Did that make sense? Nevermind, it works but don’t attempt translating it.
44) HELLBOY
Graphic novel inspired. A demon baby is found by American soldiers during WWII. He is raised to be a defender of the American way. Hell, I liked it.
45) THE THING
This is one of the scariest movies ever. A group of scientists in the Artic encounter a vicious alien who can inhabit the bodies that it comes in contact with. Kurt Russell stars in this John Carpenter film.
46) FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE
The best Sean Connery as James Bond 007 adventure. Some prefer Goldfinger, others name Thunderball. I like this one.
47) STAR WARS
The best B-movie with a major studio budget ever made. I stood in line more than once to see Luke, Han, Leia, and company fight Darth Vader. While Empire is the best in the middle trilogy, this works just fine thank you.
48) IN THE LINE OF FIRE
Veteran Secret Service Agent Clint Eastwood, who failed to save JFK from assassination, protects another President from madman John Malkovich. Renee Russo is another agent.
49) HILDALGO
Viggo Mortensen, from Lord of the Rings, is a cowboy who enters his mustang in a 3000-mile race across the Arabian desert.
50) MARATHON MAN
Dustin Hoffman plays the most unlikely thriller hero as he fights Nazi Laurence Olivier. The torture scene to get Hoffman to talk using a dental drill will give you the sweats. "Is it safe?"
51) CELLULAR
Fun, action movie as kidnapped Kim Basinger’s only hope is slacker Chris Evans who she has accidentally contacted on his cell phone. Jason Statham is the main bad guy and William Macy pops up as a desk sergeant in a terrific supporting role.
52) RED EYE
Hotel manager Rachel McAdams, on an overnight flight to Miami, discovers that her seatmate Cillian Murphy, from Batman Begins, is terrorist who plans on using her to assassinate a government official staying at her hotel.
53) THE MUMMY
Dumb, wacky and non-stop fun as Brendan Fraser and company unearth the title character while searching for long-lost treasure at old ruins in the Arabian desert.
54) INDEPENDENCE DAY
Alien attack Earth. None of this storyline is believable but it doesn’t matter. When this movie shifts into high gear, it doesn’t slow down a moment for logic.
55) THE MASK OF ZORRO
Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Anthony Hopkins in a swashbuckler in Old California as the old Zorro trains a new Zorro to defeat the bad guys.
56) DEEP RISING
On the high seas, mercenaries arrive at the ocean-liner they intend to rob only to discover that a monster from deep has taken over the ship. Treat Williams is the wisecracking, cowardly hero.
57) THE DEEP BLUE SEA
At sea, a storm unleashes scientifically enhanced sharks that take over their floating lab and the research crew becomes bait. Watch Samuel L. Jackson.
58) VANISHING POINT
Car chase movie. The whole movie is a car chase. A guy bets that he can drive his Dodge muscle car from Denver to San Francisco in 15 hours. The local cops and Highway Patrol think different.
59) OPEN RANGE
Robert Duvall and Kevin Costner are cowboys who anger a big ranch owner. A little slow in the beginning but a long, cool gunfight at the climax more than makes up for it.
60) LAWMAN
Marshal Burt Lancaster arrives in the town of Sabbath to arrest a group of men who accidentally killed a man during a drunken party in his town. Lancaster won’t be bought off, scared off, or bend the rules while doing his duty. He’s scary.
61) THE FUGITIVE
Doctor Harrison Ford is wrongly convicted of murdering his wife. He escapes in a really cool bus-train crash. He searches for the real killer as lawman Tommy Lee Jones searches for him.
62) TRUE LIES
Arnold is a master super spy. Jamie Lee Curtis is his wife who doesn’t know her husband is America’s top secret agent. Fun stuff. Tom Arnold is Arnold’s sidekick buddy.
63) SOUTHERN COMFORT
Military training maneuvers in Bayou country. A squad of National Guard weekenders get lost, steal some locals’ boats then shoot blanks at them. Not a smart plan. Well-done suspenseful little film.
64) A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
Average family guy, Viggo Mortensen, takes out two vicious criminals like a hot knife going through butter. The entire town is shocked. Is Mortensen the guy everyone thinks he is? Maria Bello is the wife.
65) THE LAST SAMURAI
The only Tom Cruise movie I like. Cruise is a Civil War veteran who ends up in the middle of a war in feudal Japan.
66) WHERE EAGLES DARE
Richard Burton, Eastwood and an elite group of commandos attempt to rescue a U.S. General from a Nazi mountain stronghold. One action sequence after another. Hard to believe Eastwood plays sidekick to Burton in one of his early roles.
67) FIRST BLOOD
Vietnam vet Sylvester Stallone drifts into a town in the Pacific Northwest. He pisses off the local authorities who then proceed to piss him off.
68) HEAT
Career criminal Robert DeNiro and veteran cop Al Pacino face off in the streets of Los Angeles in this high-octane thriller.
69) AIR FORCE ONE
Terrorists take over the President’s plane but they don’t realize that the President is Harrison Ford. Kick but and take names ensues.
70) SILVERADO
This homage to the B-western is just plain fun as gunfighters Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Danny Glover, and a young Kevin Costner face the bad guys who have taken over their hometown.
71) RIO BRAVO
John Wayne is the sheriff, Dean Martin and Walter Brennan are his broken-down deputies, and Angie Dickinson is the girl. Howard Hawks directs the smooth screenplay as Wayne holds a prisoner against the bad guys who want him free. Good stuff.
72) LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD
Bruce Willis is back for a fourth time as cop John McClane. This time he must rescue his daughter from the super bad guys with the help of a young inexperienced hacker. Wild ride, with incredible stunts, from beginning to end.
73) DIE HARD 2
This time cop John McClane (Willis) faces renegade military commandos at a snowbound airport. Not nearly as good as the first or the fourth but pretty darn good.
74) SPECIES
Scientists mix alien DNA with human DNA and create a monster. Well, of course. Dumb scientists. Haven’t they ever seen a sci-fi horror flick before.
75) BANDOLERO!
Outlaw brothers James Stewart and Dean Martin ride with hostage Raquel Welch into bandit country to escape lawman George Kennedy. This movie shouldn’t be on any list but every time I turn it on, I watch it to the end.
76) ROAD HOUSE
Big time B-movie. Patrick Swayze is the ultimate bouncer who takes the job of protecting the only clean bar in a mob-controlled town. Fist city, man.
77) THEM! (1954)Giant ants, created by atomic bomb tests, come out of the desert and head for Los Angeles. Really good for a Fifties sci-fi thriller.

Facts about the year 1908

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I received this in an email from my cousin. Thought I'd share.

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One hundred years ago. What a difference a century makes! Here are some statistics for the Year 1908 :
************ ********* ********* ******
The average life expectancy was 47 years.
Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.
Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles
Of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!
The average wage in 1908 was 22 cents per hour.
The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year .
A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, A dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME .
Ninety percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION!
Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which
Were condemned in the press AND the government as 'substandard. '
Sugar cost four cents a pound.
Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used
Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from
Entering into their country for any reason.
Five leading causes of death were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza

2. Tuberculosis

3. Diarrhea

4. Heart disease

5. Stroke
The American flag had 45 stars.
The population of Las Vegas , Nevada, was only 30!!!!
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea
Hadn't been invented yet.
There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write.
Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, 'Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind,regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.'

Eighteen percent of households had at least
One full-time servant or domestic help.
There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE ! U.S.A. !

Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years.

SUMMER IS COMING
And that’s means the Movie Blockbusters!
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Below are the opening dates for the summer movies I think will be cool:

Iron Man ( May2)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (May 22 – this one I’ll go see in the theatre)
Sex and the City (May 30)
The Incredible Hulk (June 13)
Wall-E (June 27)
Wanted (June 27)
Hancock (July 2)
The Dark Knight (July 18 – this one and old Indy are at the top of my must-see list)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (July 11)
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D (July 11)
The X-Files: I Want to Believe (July 25 – I believe, I believe)

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It’s going to be a geek summer at the movies. :)

TOP TEN BEST BANDS

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My favorite rock bands of all time. I started thinking about that after my previous blog. What are my favorites:

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1) The Beatles

2) The Beach Boys (I grew up in Southern California ... how could they not be near the top of the list)

3) The Eagles

4) Creedence Clearwater Revival

5) Queen

6) Lynyrd Skynyrd

7) Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

8) The Doors

9) The Guess Who

10) Boston

The Beatles - The Long and Winding Road

This came on the radio today and I completely stopped to listen. One of my favorites.

WATCH ON THE RHINE

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Okay, now I've seen Watch on the Rhine. I had high expectations. The play on which it was based was written by Lillian Hellman and the screenplay was penned by Dashiell Hammett. Pretty damn good writing credentials there. It stars Bette Davis who, for my vote, is in the top ten movie actresses of all time. No, make that top five and I don't know who the other four would be at the moment. And Paul Lukas beat out Bogie in Casablanca for the Best Actor Oscar. Yep, high expectations.

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While Watch on the Rhine and Casablanca share some similar themes, Casablanca is a timeless movie (and one of my all-time favorites) and Watch is a movie of its time. Some movies retain their magic over the years while others do not. I can understand why the Academy gave the Oscar to Lukas but they blew it (they've done this before and will again in the future). Bogie should have won. Bogie wasn't an actor playing Rick Blaine. Bogie is Rick Blaine and still is.

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If you're a film history buff, most definitely seek out Watch on the Rhine. If you just like good movies, visit (or re-visit) Casablanca. Go there for the waters.

JAMIE LEE CURTIS BATHING

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I did a blog a while back with photos of Miz Curtis (I think it had to with strange Hollywood legends). I've had more hits on that particular blog than any other I've done. So here's Jamie Lee bathing in blood. While you're here, check out my links to my novels over on the right ... The Inheritance (winner of the 2003 Dream Realm Award for horror) ... Rebel Nation (alternative history-thriller) ... To the Mountain of the Beast (Alien meets Lonesome Dove sci-fi/horror set in the Old West) ... it would be easy to image Miz Curtis as Sierra Price in TI ... or as McKenna Alexander in RN ... or as Laci McCulloh in TTMOTB. Honest, I'm not kidding. After you've read one or more of my novels, you can write me here and tell me whether or not you agree. I'll listen and respond to your letter. Cool. Get to it. Order now. No lines to wait in. Go. Now. Talk to you soon. Here's a few more photos as a bonus.

(Hey, how'd Jennifer Connelly sneak in there? OK, now you have to buy two novels. Picture Ms. Curtis in one and Ms. Connelly in the other.)

FLASHBACK

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The other day I learned about Hulu (http://www.hulu.com/). It's a web-site that shows old TV programs. Some are clips but it also has full episodes of some TV series. First I watched the first episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show then I found myself watching Lou Grant. This show is still cool. It holds up well. I'll be watching more. (Note to self: You gotta get a life.)

CHARLTON HESTON

1924-2008

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Actor Charlton Heston has passed away at the age of 84. He was best known for his performances in movie blockbusters of the 1950s & 1960s. He was in The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur (for which he won the Oscar for Best Actor, The Greatest Show on Earth, and The Agony and the Ecstasy. Heston also stepped into the political arena from time-to-time. He marched with Martin Luther King for Civil Rights and was the spokesperson for the NRA. While I didn't agree with some of his political views, he was always a screen presence. Some of my personal favorites among his films are:

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Planet of the Apes (1968)

Touch of Evil

The 3 Musketeers (1973 -- and its sequel The Four Musketeers)

The Big Country

Soylent Green

Major Dundee

Will Penny

Chiefs (TV mini-series)

The Private War of Major Benson.