RIP Gene Hackman

Some actors are a part of your life. Gene Hackman was one of those actors. I realized he was in a lot of my favorite movies but it wasn’t until his death that I realized just how many GOOD movies he was in I saw over the years. O many I still have not seen. This week I will be watching my favorite and some I have never seen.

It was as if I grew up with him through the 80s till the early 2000s when he retired. The magnitude of good films that he did is astonishing. Lots of these films I remember him from are straight up classics. Unforgiving. I watched the movie some so so many times with my father. Some of the best quotes ever. “I don’t deserved this…. To die like this. I was building a house.” For those that know. Might be not only one of my favorite movies but also one of the best movies ever made. I think the impact of his death hits harder due to the circumstances being iffy and he having lived a peaceful retirement from the Hollywood scene for 20 years. Having been out of the light for so long was respectful. He was always on my mind but hearing he passed hit me hard because he wasn’t.

Saturday I worked on the side years. I’m trying to get it cleaned up before th spring growth kicks in. It will be future parking when it is all said and done. Later once Teegan and Yvette realized I had spent 3 hours in the sun they came and got me out. Teegan and I departed to go get drive a car he might be interested in. The vehicle was rather awesome. I had never heard of the feature which keeps the vehicle in a lane if you take your hands off the wheel. Teegan liked it and we had fun. I’m so happy he likes doing these kind of things with me. I don’t think I can portray how happy it makes me.

My first movie in honor of Gene Hackman I watched The Conversation. One I had never seen but thought that I had. A dark story be Francis Ford Coppola. It’s a little more relevant today. It’s about a surveillance guy that might have bitten off a little more than he can chew. It’s dark yet entertaining. The scary part is thinking how much more advance we are when it comes to keeping tabs. We can go to the store and buy a device that bugs a car so you know where it is at any time. Fuck that.

Sunday I woke up and cooked some bacon and made some potatoes for everyone. A little minimal cleaning and a trip to the store was in store. Yay. I turned on another Hackman movie, this time The Royal Tenenbaums. Truly Hackman swan song to cinema. He is such a likable asshole in the film and it’s amazing. I watched it with the kids who had never seen the movie and they even found it funny. I mean, how can one not. It’s hilarious.

We met my mom for some late Sunday lunch. I do mean late. It wasn’t until about 2 that we were seated and it was more like 3 before we actually ate. We went for some Japanese steakhouse hibachi. Alaya was having such a blast watching the show. She likes fire maybe a little too much.

After late lunch I worked on the side yard for about an hour before departing to Target to get a little Easter Bunny for the little girl. I really didn’t get to do a lot of errands around the town because I kept busy in the yard and Sundays late lunch ended really late. After running around I stopped by my moms and visited for a little while. I like our visits. That night I came home and grilled up some burgers, air fried some fries and made a quick slaw. We watched the new episode of The White Lotus and we went to be.

Unfortunately that night I had one of my sleep walking episodes. As I’ve stated in blogs past, I have many sleep disorders. I have been sleep walking since at least 10 years of age. Anyways, Lola found me. She came down the hall to get the baby some formula somewhere between 2-3. The foyer light was on, which threw her off a little. The fridge alarm was going off notifying that it had been opened to long. Not unusual. She came around the corner to the kitchen and the front door was standing wide open. This freaked her out. That when she saw me unresponsive but mumbling on the couch. Rightfully so, she freaked out. She went and got her mom thinking something had happened to me and she might be next. That someone was in the house. No, it was just me. For whatever reason I opened the front door and left it that way and went back to sleep in the living room. Scary because what if the dogs had gotten out or someone had let themselves in.

I felt so embarrassed by the episode. I knew it was only a matter of time before this happened with them living with me. I was terrified of that happening and it finally did. I had told Yvette that I occasionally sleep walk but in all this time together she had never been witness. I apologized to everyone. I really feel so powerless. I don’t know what I do. Usually it’s just roam aimlessly and end up laying down somewhere other than my bed. I have gone outside a few other times, once locking myself outside in my underwear. No good scenario. Lucky for me it happens few and far between. Yvette suggested we child proof the door which might deter me. It’s not a bad idea but it’s embarrassing to think about.

No Way Out. Another movie I had never seen with Hackman also staring a very young Kevin Costner. Pretty much a political thriller. Hackman once again playing a conflicted man who is clearly…. Whelp, I’ll let you watch it. It was a movie that impressed me and I’m not sure why I’d never seen it.

The week started out rather unexpected. My coworker had a family emergency so I was pulling double duty at work for the week. Kept me busy. I maxed out my university credit card last week and had to get the limit bumped. Good thing because I’m was burning money again this week.

The Replacements. This is just a fun movie. Keanu Reeves the year after he blew up with The Matrix. Gene Hackman delivers as the retired coach to work the “replacement” players into a team that can play ball. This came out while I was still just a baby so I have fond memories growing up with it. This movie has some really great moments and I struggle to believe it came out 25 years ago. Lord, I’m getting old.

Tuesday was just disgusting. We were all awoken around 2AM with our phones blowing up declaring a Tornado Warning had been issued. A funnel cloud had been spotted south of town. I looked at the radar and determined we were in no real danger. It was windy and we had a little hail but that was really about it. Well, that wind never let up it only got worse. We were expected to have 60-70mph gust throughout the day., You could see the dust in the air early on. Not a good sign. By noon we were in the middle of a full blown dust storm with visibility down and air quality just utter shit. It was a brown dense fog. I lived with this in Lubbock and it was as bad as I ever saw it. It never let up until dusk arrived. I mean, it was terrible outside.

Wednesday might have been the most beautiful day in the world. Clear blue sky with NO wind. Everyone was in an amazing mood and so happy to not have a repeat of the dust storm. I mean, the day was about as opposite as they could get. Yvette and I even had a little picnic under some trees. I enjoy having a picnic with this beautiful lady.

The Firm. This is more of a Tom Cruise vehicle from the early 90s, but Hackman was a key character. The movie I really never gave much a chance back in the day but as the years have gone I’ve grown to enjoy it. Hackman is fantastic. Once again, an unsavory character. He loved playing those types. Charming.

Unforgiven. One of my top 5 movies. I think I might have talked about it enough in my intro to this blog. Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris & Gene Hackman. Three of the best actors alive, sadly one less. The power of this movie. Amazing. A real meditation on this history of violence in America. How the foundation of the country was build on violence. How no matter how much we step away from it, we are capable of coming back to it. More straight forward is the idea of aging. Do we really change that much when we get older or are we just trying to be changed? Hackman has such menace in his eyes. Seething with the threat of violence behind every glance. When he does let it loose it is truly a horror. You watch his character and you know he believes what he is doing is the right thing when you know it is not. It is clearly why he was nominated and won the academy award that year. He is a spectacle to behold and all the while terrifying. Such an amazing actor.