William Devane – Matt Lynn Digital

Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and James Garner in the Clint Eastwood movie ‘Space Cowboys’

Movies based in space have a natural appeal to me, with the Clint Eastwood directed Space Cowboys (2000) being an appreciated representative. Adventure, action and thrills intersperse with a story more than forty-years in the making. Lines blurred at the beginnings of the United States space program’s involvement with the U.S. Air Force and NASA, a story that includes Skylab came into the story set more than twenty-years into the past of the current day.

(From left, **Courtney B. Vance** as Roger Hines, **Tommy Lee Jones** as Hawk Hawkins, **James Garner** as Tank Sullivan, **Clint Eastwood** as Frank Corvin, **Donald Sutherland** as Jerry O’Neill and **Loren Dean** as Ethan Glance in the **Clint Eastwood** movie **Space Cowboys**).

The decaying orbit of an old Soviet Union satellite using technology technology designed by Frank Corvin as portrayed by Clint Eastwood and Toby Stephens brings the past into the present day. It is Bob Gerson, as portrayed by James Cromwell and Billie Worley, who seemingly central roles in the distant past and the movie’s present helps introduce the necessary links that initiate the story of getting Frank, who had pined for space flight since the 1950s, into space.

(From left, **Marcia Gay Harden** as Sara Holland and **William Devane** as Gene Davis in the **Clint Eastwood** movie **Space Cowboys**).

Frank had friends from the beginning storyline who shared similar hopes of becoming astronauts. When the possibility to go to space is introduced to Frank, getting seats on a space shuttle for Hawk Hawkins as portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones and Eli Craig, Jerry O’Neil as portrayed by Donald Sutherland and John Asher, and Tank Sullivan as portrayed by James Garner and Matt McColm becomes job number one.

(From left, **James Cromwell** as Bob Gerson and **Rade Serbedzija** as General Vostov in the **Clint Eastwood** movie **Space Cowboys**).

The internal workings at NASA, along with the opportunity for publicity, mixes Frank, Hawk, Jerry and Tank into a mission to recover the satellite aboard fictional Space Shuttle Daedalus. Bob Gerson aims to spoil this chance at space for the elder statesmen with a younger set of astronauts poised to learn from Frank and his friends. Ethan Glance and Roger Hines, as portrayed by Loren Dean and Courtney B. Vance, respectively, ride to space with the elder statesmen as part of Team Daedalus.

(From left, **Clint Eastwood** as Frank Corvin and Barbara Babcock as Barbara Corvin in the **Clint Eastwood** movie **Space Cowboys**).

Intrigue is found on the mission in space thanks to intrigue tracing back to the KGB. Powerful ramifications are felt for the men in space as well as for people in ground control. Flight director Gene Davis along with Hawk Hawkins love interest Sara Holland, as portrayed, respectively, by William Devane and Marcia Gay Harden, gain their feet in the second half of the movie; the subterfuge of General Vostove, as portrayed by Rade Serbedzija, is paired with a surprise dance partner that knew full well, along with Ethan, the true stakes in play in space. The departing shot of the movie, accompanied by the music of Frank Sinatra, provides a surprisingly uplifting joyous note to the closing of the movie.

Writing credits for Space Cowboys rest with Ken Kaufman and Howard Klausner. I grant Space Cowboys as directed by Clint Eastwood 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Karen Black, Bruce Dern and Barbara Harris in the Alfred Hitchcock movie ‘Family Plot’

The last feature length movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock was Family Plot (1976). Based on the 1972 Victor Canning novel The Rainbird Pattern, Ernest Lehman adapted the comedy thriller for the movies. Enjoy with us this comedic look into this tale of con artists, serial kidnappers and the mystery of a missing heir set in California.

(From left, **Barbara Harris** as Blanche Tyler and **Bruce Dern** as George Lumley in the **Alfred Hitchcock** movie **Family Plot**).

The audience is introduced to fake psychic Blanche Tyler performing a fake reading with portrayal of deceased family members to wealthy, guilt-ridden matron Julia Rainbird. Rainbird has hired Tyler to locate her nephew, the illegitimate son of her deceased sister. The nephew was quietly given up for adoption, with traces of his existence, name and other relevant details lost to time. Tyler’s boyfriend, George Lumley, awaits Tyler in the driveway in the role of dutiful taxi driver in the driveway. Barbara Harris portrayed Tyler as Bruce Dern portrayed Lumley. Cathleen Nesbitt portrayed Julia Rainbird.

(**Cathleen Nesbitt** as Julia Rainbird in the **Alfred Hitchcock** movie **Family Plot**).

The first issue the audience notes is the introduction of comedy given the con being offered by Blanche and George, with scant clues for how to go about locating Julia Rainbird’s nephew. The promise of discretion and a nice finder’s fee keeps the couple pressing on, with George using some investigative skill to discover the boy apparently died with the name Edward Shoebridge while still young. Despite some ongoing bickering between the couple, George uncovers a lead that takes him to Joseph Maloney and his mother, as portrayed by Ed Lauter and Katherine Helmond, respectively.

(**Ed Lauter** as Joseph Maloney in the **Alfred Hitchcock** movie **Family Plot**).

Meanwhile, we in the audience are introduced to serial kidnapper and successful jeweler Arthur Adamson in San Francisco, along with his accomplice and live-in girlfriend Fran. We learn at the same time that Adamson is Shoebridge, who had murdered his adoptive parents and faked his own death. The latest scheme for Fran and Arthur involved the kidnapping of extravagantly wealthy dignitaries with a valuable and large diamond hidden in plain sight of a crystal chandelier hanging above the main staircase of the couple’s home. Karen Black portrayed Fran and William Devane portrayed Arthur Adamson aka Edward Shoebridge in Family Plot.

(From left, **William Devane** as Arthur Adamson aka Edward Shoebridge and **Karen Black** as Fran in the **Alfred Hitchcock** movie **Family Plot**).

Like any worthwhile movie offered by Alfred Hitchcock, the storylines intermingle with the required psychological tension to offer a compelling payoff for the awareness of cross purposes that one would expect. The compelling twists the bring Joseph Maloney and his mother back into the narrative brings about some cute circumstances, as does the nuanced point-of-views of many of the characters that have been traditional hallmarks for movies throughout our fair director’s career.

(From left, actor **William Devane**, actress **Karen Black**, director **Alfred Hitchcock**, actress **Barbara Harris** and actor **Bruce Dern**).

The resolution of the story comes to a naturally clever and fitting conclusion to the underlying mystery in an immensely cute, comedically satisfying, and almost unfair way that feels to me like a wink by the director who knew that this film, Family Plot, would be his final film. It is with this sense of nostalgia perhaps that I grant Family Plot as directed by Alfred Hitchcock 4-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Saturday, March 5, 2022

Top 20 Movie “Interstellar.”

Top 20 Movie Interstellar (2014) ranks 12th in Matt Lynn Digital’s Top 20 Movies in ranked order listing. This gem as directed and co-written by Christopher Nolan also holds the distinction with Calvary (2014) as the second published in the 21st century to be distinguished by a Matt Lynn Digital listing.

Beyond being a fantastic movie with complicated science and science-fiction theming aligned with overcoming environmental threats to planet Earth, we at Matt Lynn Digital are impressed with the notion that brought Christopher Nolan with “his cerebral, often nonlinear storytelling” to this project. As indicated by Michelle Lanz with Cameron Kell in The Frame:

Christopher Nolan “said it was actually the family themes in “Interstellar” that attracted him to the project, one that he hopes will bring back the glory days of the classic family blockbuster and inspire its audience to dream big.”

It’s interesting to hear Nolan frame the movie in those terms, for the movie delves into some emotionally intense themes. For one example, the movie depicts a future Earth full of dust storms and a worsening food shortage; the storytelling implies a frightening scale of human death.

Ostensibly in response to that, you see Cooper (as portrayed by Matthew McConaughey) leave his father (portrayed by John Lithgow) and kids (15-year-old Tom and 10-year-old Murph) behind to pursue a long shot attempt to save humanity by flying into a black hole. Later, the fight between Cooper and Mann (as portrayed by Matt Damon) results in one astronaut breaking the helmet visor of the other. Further, one of these two pushes the other off a cliff on a foreign planet, betraying the mental harshness of deep space.

Family is certainly at the center of the Cooper and Murph storyline. The dynamic between Brand (played by Anne Hathaway) and Professor Brand (portrayed by Michael Caine) further cement the notion that Christopher Nolan isn’t wrong in saying that family feelings are relevant to Interstellar. In fact, I think that these story lines are central to providing some emotional pull to the quality of the story here.

The truth is that in the Christopher Nolan universe of movies, Interstellar is perhaps the most family-heavy movie he has offered us. The remaining quality is the science fiction themes of invoking a very cerebral notion of applying Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity in invoking multiple notions for experiencing the passage of time. The further notion of extending the use of worm holes is intriguing. The essential resolution of the film partakes in a notion that Nolan articulated for the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), namely that (in Nolan‘s view) as shared in The Frame:

both movies have “a lot of complicated science…that you don’t need to understand when you first watch…You really need to go along with the emotions of the characters and follow the emotional story…”

Interstellar is not a family movie in the sense that Matt Lynn Digital reviewed Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or Toy Story would be, for sure. The Sci-Fi theming is particularly pleasing for me, as is the overall cinematic quality. Consider seeing, or rewatching this movie.

Matt – Thursday, March 16, 2017