Burt Reynolds dies at 82

[FfNJGTFO]

My favorite film of his was a bit more personal to him, I think. "Sharky's Machine." I think he put a lot of his soul into it. I had one question about the film, which I was able to get answered such that I didn't have to hope I'd meet him someday.

When the assassin in the film (Billy) was preparing to take out one of his female targets, he would say things like "Hello my sweet dark angel..." And then he'd say something in a different language. I discovered recently, that the language is Italian, and what he says is:

"La Testa tua esplodera..." English: "Your head will explode."

A life mystery solved. Thank you Burt.

[SteyrAUG]

My favorite film of his was a bit more personal to him, I think. "Sharky's Machine." I think he put a lot of his soul into it. I had one question about the film, which I was able to get answered such that I didn't have to hope I'd meet him someday.

When the assassin in the film (Billy) was preparing to take out one of his female targets, he would say things like "Hello my sweet dark angel..." And then he'd say something in a different language. I discovered recently, that the language is Italian, and what he says is:

"La Testa tua esplodera..." English: "Your head will explode."

A life mystery solved. Thank you Burt.

Another favorite. A little inside information, when Bruce Lee protege Dan Inosanto was auditioning for the part of one of the bad guys (he did the finger cutting scene with a balisong) Reynolds was unsure if this "little guy" could pull off the role of a heavy. So without warning Reynolds picked up a "training stick" and performed an impromptu attack on Inosanto who promptly disarmed him and knocked him on his ass.

As soon as Inosanto realized what he had done, he figured he was never going to get hired and was hoping the film star wouldn't press charges or sue. But Burt got off the ground, dusted himself off and said "Yep...that's the guy" and that is how Inosanto got hired. Reynolds in many ways really was "the guy he played on screen" and that is kind of a shame because he rarely was able to show how good of an actor he could be.

[FfNJGTFO]

My favorite film of his was a bit more personal to him, I think. "Sharky's Machine." I think he put a lot of his soul into it. I had one question about the film, which I was able to get answered such that I didn't have to hope I'd meet him someday.

When the assassin in the film (Billy) was preparing to take out one of his female targets, he would say things like "Hello my sweet dark angel..." And then he'd say something in a different language. I discovered recently, that the language is Italian, and what he says is:

"La Testa tua esplodera..." English: "Your head will explode."

A life mystery solved. Thank you Burt.

Another favorite. A little inside information, when Bruce Lee protege Dan Inosanto was auditioning for the part of one of the bad guys (he did the finger cutting scene with a balisong) Reynolds was unsure if this "little guy" could pull off the role of a heavy. So without warning Reynolds picked up a "training stick" and performed an impromptu attack on Inosanto who promptly disarmed him and knocked him on his ass.

Ah, one of the "Chins." I remember. A lot of good talent in that film. Charles Durning, Bernie Casey, Henry Silva (as Billy Score, the assassin), Darryl Hickman (brother of Dwane Hickman who was Dobie Gillis), etc. etc. Excellent performances, all! But what really made the film for me was the very liberal use of jazz music and jazz singers, etc. That was absolutely great. I could listen to Randy Crawford sing "Street Life" all day. And I did not realize that it was Doc Severensen that orchestrated it. Some true talent all around in that film.

Reynolds in many ways really was "the guy he played on screen" and that is kind of a shame because he rarely was able to show how good of an actor he could be.

And that's why I say this film seemed to be quite personal for him. Reynolds was a native of Georgia (Waycross), as was the original book author, William Diehl. And while Diehl set the book in Atlanta, I think Burt took that on and made it very personal. I love his line where "Victor" (the Vittorio Gasmann character) asks Sharky why he's going to all the trouble to ruin him (Victor believing he could never do it), and Sharky does the famous "I'm pulling the (toilet) chain on you" scene, saying something to the effect of, "Because you're F****ing up my city,,,, and you wanna know the worst part of it is.... you're from out of state!"

[Dr. Dickie]

My favorite film of his was a bit more personal to him, I think. "Sharky's Machine." I think he put a lot of his soul into it. I had one question about the film, which I was able to get answered such that I didn't have to hope I'd meet him someday.

When the assassin in the film (Billy) was preparing to take out one of his female targets, he would say things like "Hello my sweet dark angel..." And then he'd say something in a different language. I discovered recently, that the language is Italian, and what he says is:

"La Testa tua esplodera..." English: "Your head will explode."

A life mystery solved. Thank you Burt.

Great movie, one of Burt's absolute best.
Haven't seen that one on TV in a long time. I wonder why it doesn't get show that much (or I just don't watch TV that much).

[FfNJGTFO]

My favorite film of his was a bit more personal to him, I think. "Sharky's Machine." I think he put a lot of his soul into it. I had one question about the film, which I was able to get answered such that I didn't have to hope I'd meet him someday.

When the assassin in the film (Billy) was preparing to take out one of his female targets, he would say things like "Hello my sweet dark angel..." And then he'd say something in a different language. I discovered recently, that the language is Italian, and what he says is:

"La Testa tua esplodera..." English: "Your head will explode."

A life mystery solved. Thank you Burt.

Great movie, one of Burt's absolute best.
Haven't seen that one on TV in a long time. I wonder why it doesn't get show that much (or I just don't watch TV that much).

Well, there is a lot of vice and drug use and murder and all that.... but whadda I know???

[Slartibartfast]

[youtube]UuDK0xIZFTo[/youtube]

[Dr. Dickie]

My favorite film of his was a bit more personal to him, I think. "Sharky's Machine." I think he put a lot of his soul into it. I had one question about the film, which I was able to get answered such that I didn't have to hope I'd meet him someday.

When the assassin in the film (Billy) was preparing to take out one of his female targets, he would say things like "Hello my sweet dark angel..." And then he'd say something in a different language. I discovered recently, that the language is Italian, and what he says is:

"La Testa tua esplodera..." English: "Your head will explode."

A life mystery solved. Thank you Burt.

Great movie, one of Burt's absolute best.
Haven't seen that one on TV in a long time. I wonder why it doesn't get show that much (or I just don't watch TV that much).

Well, there is a lot of vice and drug use and murder and all that.... but whadda I know???

So, too much like the news? Maybe they don't want the competition.

[Slartibartfast]

[youtube]HutUkVRh6oA[/youtube]

[3green]

I'll give another head nod to Sharky's Machine.

In my humble opinion Burt's best film, and a vastly
under-rated cop flick.