Reviewer Addison Engelking continues his summer movie journal with a look at four overlooked and possibly unappreciated films from the past.
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Month: August 2014
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Tigers Top Austin Peay, 63-0
After nine straight season-opening losses, the Tigers took it all out on an undermanned Austin Peay program aiming to recover from a winless 2013 season. Frank Murtaugh has the story at Tiger Blue.
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The New “Dr. Who”
Chris McCoy wonders if Peter Capaldi can breathe new life into the venerable Dr. Who series.
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Tigers 63, Austin Peay 0
This was a game a long-suffering Memphis Tiger fan base had coming. After nine straight season-opening losses — and just three years after starting a season with a 59-14 loss — the Tigers took it all out on an undermanned Austin Peay program aiming to recover from a winless 2013 season. Playing under a steady drizzle, Memphis scored touchdowns on six of its first seven possessions to secure the game before halftime, five different Tigers reaching the end zone before the season was 30 minutes old.
The most disoriented man among the 27,361 fans at the Liberty Bowl had to be 2013 Ray Guy Award-winner Tom Hornsey, who didn’t see the home team punt until the final play of the first half. The win was thorough by every measure, Memphis accumulating 545 yards of offense on 82 plays (compared with 146 on 50 for the Governors).
“We have a lot of things we can do better,” warned a stolid Justin Fuente after the game. Said the Tiger coach, “There are a lot of things for us to coach off of. We were going to grade how we played, and at times we played well. I’m happy with the way the kids prepared.”
- Larry Kuzniewski
- Paxton Lynch
The only negatives to report from the Tiger side of things were four fumbles (three of them recovered by Memphis players) and a leg injury that sent senior defensive end Martin Ifedi to the locker room with just under nine minutes to play in the third quarter (the Tigers led 49-0 at the time). The status of Ifedi’s injury won’t be known until Sunday at the earliest.
Memphis had not shut out an opponent since 2000 and hadn’t scored 63 points since 1969. (The point total is fourth highest in the program’s history, seven shy of the record: 70 against Tampa in 1949.) Sophomore quarterback Paxton Lynch completed 20 of 27 passes for 242 yards, passing for two touchdowns and running for two more. (Lynch was relieved by junior Jason Stewart midway through the third quarter. Senior tailback Brandon Hayes ran for 59 yards on 11 carries and scored on a three-yard dash in the first quarter. It was freshman Jarvis Cooper, though, who stole the spotlight with his running in the second half. The West Memphis product galloped 101 yards on eight carries and scored the Tigers’ final touchdown with 5:53 left in the game.
Fuente mentioned a “delicate balance” his team aimed to maintain, executing an offensive game plan, allowing younger players to get playing time they might not get in a closer contest, but then not coming across as unprofessional to an opponent Fuente and his staff respect. (The Tiger staff knows a thing or two about rebuilding a program.) “You gotta take it as a whole, and see if the kids are taking what you’re emphasizing,” said Fuente.
- Larry Kuzniewski
- Justin Fuente
No fewer than 26 Tiger defensive players were credited with at least an assisted tackle, suggesting the Memphis defense is as deep as it’s been in years. One defensive starter not credited with a tackle was Bobby McCain, but the senior cornerback intercepted his first pass of the season and returned it 29 yards in the first quarter. “It was great putting a zero up there,” he said after the game. “Felt really good for the defense. It looks good on the scoreboard, but there are still things we need to work on. Some things have to be corrected. It’s gonna be fun watching the film, but we’re going to make sure, starting tomorrow, we’re game-ready for UCLA [next week].”
“We executed,” added a smiling Hayes. “We didn’t have a lot of penalties [6], and we were able to put up a lot of points. A good win. Our coaches told us not to be lackadaisical; don’t look at the scoreboard. Do what you’d do in any other game. Hopefully this was a positive look for the fans.” When asked about his understudy, Cooper, Hayes smiled even bigger: “Jarvis had a great game today.”
The Tigers travel to Southern California next week to face UCLA, who beat Virginia earlier today. The Bruins are a consensus top-10 team. Memphis has not beaten a ranked opponent since upsetting Tennessee in November 1996.
Tonight’s August edition of the Time Warp Drive In, Summer avenue’s biggest summer event, kicks off with a wedding. Kim Stanford and Coley Smith from Tupelo, Mississippi will say their vows at 7 PM, with Mike McCarthy, the Time Warp Drive-In empresario, presiding.
After the nuptials, the evening of motorcycle movies begins with the genre’s biggest classic, Easy Rider. Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda’s transcontinental epic captured the zeitgeist of its era like few films have before or since. But often lost amidst the Baby Boomer nostalgia is the fact that Easy Rider is a fantastic, and hugely influential, movie. Not only did it make a movie star out of Jack Nicholson, but it also has the first, and still greatest, use of “The Weight” in a film.
Time Warp Drive-In: Motorcycle Madness
The second film of the evening is 1953’s The Wild One starring Marlon Brando. Another hugely influential film, The Wild One was made at a time when Brando was one of the hottest properties in Hollywood. The same year he was playing the sensitive juvenile delinquent Johnny Strabler opposite Lee Marvin, he also played Marc Antony in Julius Caesar opposite James Mason and Sir John Gielgud. The film is the iconic template for the motorcycle movie, and nobody ever wore a Perfecto leather jacket better than Brando.
Time Warp Drive-In: Motorcycle Madness (2)
Made three years before Easy Rider, The Wild Angels was Peter Fonda’s first foray into motorcycle movies. Directed by Roger Corman, the film’s high point is a confrontation between biker gang leader Fonda and a judge, which has become one of the most sampled moments in movie history.
Time Warp Drive-In: Motorcycle Madness (3)
The evening closes out with the psychotronic exploitation drive in classic She Devils On Wheels:
Time Warp Drive-In: Motorcycle Madness (4)
Chris Davis says Stick Fly at the new Hattiloo Theatre is well worth seeing.
Mother Indicted in Child’s Death
A Memphis mother has been indicted on reckless homicide charges in the death of her four-month-old daughter.
On November 23rd, 2013, Catrina Perryman, 34, alerted paramedics that her infant daughter, Isabella Chavez, had been having difficulty breathing and was turning blue, according to the Shelby County District Attorney General’s office. Chavez succumbed to drug toxicity at her mother’s home.
Although Perryman initially informed authorities that her child was given only ibuprofen, an autopsy revealed Chavez also had a level of Benadryl in her system that was several times the amount considered to be therapeutic for an adult.
Killer on Death Row Gets Additional 21-Year Sentence
A Memphis man currently on death row for murdering his girlfriend and her parents has received an additional 21-year prison sentence for attempted murder and several other offenses.
Sedrick Clayton, 31, was convicted in June on three counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Pashea Fisher, 23, and her parents Arithio Fisher, 56, and Patricia Fisher, 46. The murders happened on January 19th, 2012, following an argument between Clayton and Pashea.
On Friday, prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to sentencing Clayton to an additional 21 years for offenses stemming from the same incident. According to the Shelby County District Attorney General’s office, Clayton received 15 years for attempted murder, six years for employment of a firearm, three years for possession of a firearm, and 11 months and 29 days for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
Clayton’s attempted murder and employment of a firearm sentences will run consecutively, while the others will be concurrent.
Flyer associate editor Bianca Phillips rescued an orphaned baby squirrel a few weeks ago, and because it eats every couple of hours, she’s been bringing Baby Herman to work daily. Here’s a slideshow of little Herman’s evolution.
Singer. Songwriter. Composer. Producer. Actor. Icon. These are some of the words that come to mind when I think about the late, great Isaac Hayes. For nearly a half-century, he provided monumental melodies to the world, many of which helped evolve the soul and funk genres.
“Walk on By” from Hayes’ Hot Buttered Soul album is a song I really enjoy. I was introduced to it while watching Dead Presidents as a kid. Years later, it’s still a pleasure to hear Hayes’ soulful voice and emotional lyrics, along with the track’s bevy of instruments. Take a listen to it below.
Check out my website: ahumblesoul.com
Follow me on Twitter: @Lou4President
Friend me on Facebook: Louis Goggans
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Cherry Gives Back
This month’s Cherry party, billed as “a lezzie shindig,” will feature a burlesque show, a charity drive, and a ghost hunt at Earnestine & Hazel’s on Saturday, August 30th.
Choices, Community HIV Network, Planned Parenthood, and Friends For Life will have tables at the event, and attendees can learn about each charity’s mission and how to donate or volunteer.
The burlesque show will feature LadyDoo Moi, Shannon Will Ryder Herrada, Requi Emma, Macc Onner, and Kitty Wompas. And as always, the party is hosted by singer/comedian Julie Wheeler. Afterward, there will be an informal ghost hunt in the famously haunted bar.
Doors open at 8:30 p.m. There will be two burlesque shows, one at 9:30 p.m. and one at 11:30 p.m. The cover charge is $10 for general admission or $20 for VIP.
