Last evening I discovered that near no one had seen Scent of a Woman.
The two best actors of my lifetime were surely Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino.
Oddly Pacino did not win any Academy Awards for the Godfather, but he did for this quirky movie about an accidental Thanksgiving Weekend in New York.
A young man signs on to look after an aging blind ex military officer for the weekend, each gets more than he bargained for.
I happened to mention the movie as an example of whether one should tell what one knows, Pacino has a good bit to say about that in the movie, just when the viewer thinks the movie would end as the two part company, as Pacino says,
I'm just gettin started…this is also the movie that helped re start the tango craze
Speaking of buddy movies, and trust me this next one is not a Butch Cassidy..
1969 was not a fun year in America, this is reflected in this Academy Award winner. Part of being a great actor I think, is stretching yourself, not being the person everyone expect you to be. John Wayne re invented himself for True Grit, and won his only Academy Award.
Midnight Cowboy is as disturbing as it is unique, another unlikely story. John Voight is still delivering memorable performances this season as the heavy in 24. Dustin Hoffman certainly does not play a lovable charcter in this movie. Don't go looking for Tootsie here. But it reflects the public distress and socionomic uncertainty of the times. Adrift in Viet Nam,difficult economic times, the country torn apart by demonstrations, gee, if this sounds familiar yes that is why I put this up now. Warning, rated X even then for disturbing themes, to say the least. This is not one to watch with your 12 year old.
I have been saying that the mood of the country and the world is anger, as the markets have improved this past month, that has subsided a bit but is due to be on display right here in San Antonio April 15. As Pacino says in Scent, this is just gettin started…….
Professor Elam 
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