Last night this-TV (111 on Cablevision) ran Game of Death (1978), starring Bruce Lee, who died in 1973. According to IMDb, the film was crafted using old, unused footage and a look-alike. It’s by no means good but it's noteworthy for its odd cast. Playing a reporter, it was Gig Young’s last appearance. He committed suicide that year at 64, although not likely because of despair in having acted in such a flick. Hollywood veteran Dean Jagger played the crime boss, and he had six more credits after that and died at a ripe old age in 1991. TV’s Wyatt Earp, Hugh O’Brian, was the second villainous banana. The flick’s most memorable scene is a fight between Lee and basketball legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar, all seven feet of him! Chuck Norris also had a brief role that IMDb lists as "fighter." It is rated 5.7 out of ten. It's strictly for fans of chop-socky and those of us smitten with a lust for movie trivia.
I cruised to the Grammy’s three times last night, hoping to catch a live performance, even though I'm unfamiliar with 99% of the nominated songs. I caught only commercials. At the same time NBC, probably raising a flag of surrender to CBS, ran a sort of documentary on the Saturday Night Live of the ‘80’s, post the original crew and creator Lorne Michaels, who has long since returned. It was actually interesting. The show was on life support until Eddie Murphy was brought to the forefront. Joe Piscopo provided a significant assist. I’d completely forgotten a lot of the players, i.e. Gary Kroeger and Robert Downey Jr.. I have no idea what the quality of the show is these days. I haven’t watched it in years. It’s certainly had many great moments in its long history, including the appearance of music artists. Last night’s show aired 30 second clips of performances by the likes of Bruce Hornsby, Tom Petty, and the Cowboy Junkies.
I’ve finally heard a decent counter argument against the use of drones, offered in a letter to the editor in today’s NY Post. Although the scenario is very unlikely, the writer wonders what the reaction would be if Russia were to execute a strike in America to kill, say a Chechen, terrorist it considered a danger to its country. Nice reasoning, but it still doesn’t change my opinion. I accept that we are at war. Many people do not.
I used this rainy day to do the annual maddening task of tax filing. Despite the advantages of doing it online, and the fact that my return is fairly simply, it is an exasperating process, and I'm relieved it's done. I lose about nine bucks on the ordeal, the fee minus the return on my state and city taxes. I get zero from the feds, as expected. I wonder if I would have gotten more had I not reported my street income. I do it not out of good citizenship but because I don't want to tangle with the IRS mafia, although the odds are miniscule that such paltry earnings would ever be audited.
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