Monday, December 30, 2013

Only now does it occur to me... BLUE CHIPS

Only now does it occur to me...  that BLUE CHIPS is all about setting new standards.  One is the O'Neal/O'Neill standard:  never before or since have Shaquille and Ed put aside their spelling differences and graced the screen together.
Then, there's Nick Nolte, setting a new standard for how we "storm out of a room."  Before BLUE CHIPS, we only had "slamming the door," "dropping the mic," and "throwing your drink in someone's face" at our disposal.  Nick Nolte boldly adds "wreaking havoc on a water cooler" to the list.  I know I'll never storm out of a room the same way again!


 
 
 
 


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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousDecember 31, 2013 at 12:20 AM

    Blue Chips! I remember going back to re-watch it recently while on a Friedkin binge, all excited by the opportunity for both rediscovering a potential lost classic and laughing at what were sure to be some truly awful acting performances. The latter expectation was certainly met, the former...not so much. Kinda awful, really! Side note: When Friedkin's autobiography arrived at my library, I eagerly looked for the Blue Chips section, only to find that he spent maybe one page on it. So disappointing! Just something about how he liked how the basketball scenes came out because he used real players. C'mon Friedkin, I need more juicy info on this stinkbomb! I'd usually put something here about wanting to see a full review of this someday, but really, I don't think we need it! The O'Neal/O'Neill standard is a great find, however! Happy New Year!

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  2. UnknownDecember 31, 2013 at 11:08 PM

    This is a film that for some reason I keep coming back to despite my lack of interest in basketball and that it is pretty substandard Friedkin. It is a fascinating mess of a film, I guess. Plus, I always enjoy watching Nick Nolte tearing it up on-screen, esp. channeling Bobby Knight in his performance. Gotta love that. What an odd film in his career it is.

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  3. Sean GillJanuary 1, 2014 at 1:40 PM

    Mike,

    Yeah, unfortunately BLUE CHIPS never really delivers in the "camp" arena; some part of my mind half-expected shades of KAZAAM or STEEL that were not to be. While Shaq's name is indeed "Neon," Friedkin ends up taking the material pretty seriously (despite near-endless reiterations of "Baby, Please Don't Go").

    J.D.,

    I definitely thought Nolte delivered a pretty terrific performance (as always), but it is pretty substandard Friedkin. JADE recently let me down, too. As someone who doesn't watch a lot of sports movies, it seems to tackle new ground (NCAA corruption) but there's not much to really sink your teeth into. Nice to see Lou Gossett, Jr. for a minute though!

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