It saddens me to report that we've lost another one of the greats. While he was known to most for his booming voice, cast-iron stare, and pants-shittingly terrifying performances (like DEADWOOD, U TURN,
EXTREME PREJUDICE,
TOMBSTONE, NIXON, SUDDEN DEATH, etc.), I always personally enjoyed Powers Boothe as the good guy, whether he was assisting high school guerrillas in
RED DAWN, surviving the bayou in
SOUTHERN COMFORT, handing out helpful handkerchief tips in
CRUISING, or solving crimes as PHILIP MARLOWE, PRIVATE EYE. I also was happy to see his late career, post-DEADWOOD resurgence, where he seemed to pop up in everything from 24 to
THE AVENGERS to SIN CITY. Suffice it to say, he's the only reason I will ever watch MACGRUBER.
It certainly takes a special breed, not only to be named "Powers," but then to actually
live up to the name. So load your VHS of EXTREME PREJUDICE, pour one out for Powers, bite a scorpion or whatever, and bid farewell to an inimitable character-acting powerhouse... you will be missed.
I remembered he's also in Bill Paxton's film Frailty.
ReplyDeleteGoddamn, this is a bad year for badasses.
ReplyDeleteGweeps,
ReplyDeleteYeah, I remember he's quite good in that––I'll need to rewatch in Memoriam for Powers and Bill.
Guy,
Indeed, it's a tough one.
Paxton, Parks and now Boothe. Seriously, stop. At least Kurt Russell is currently making the most of his end.
ReplyDeleteBut, yeah, Boothe was the ultimate whiskey-marinated dude. A swarthy credibility of nigh 100%. Indeed, Extreme Prejudice is the got-to paragon for such; likewise with Nolte. So let me then recommend his Marlowesque performance John Boorman's jungle-mad The Emerald Forest. And I'm convinced he's the voice of God who christens the proceedings of Con Air.
But I honestly think I've enjoyed Boothe for his part in just about every movie he ever did. He even made the best of a stock villain role taking hostage a hockey game in Sudden Death. Another one of a kind actor to the great beyond. RIP.
Cannon,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the tribute. I really need to see THE EMERALD FOREST, and I'm pretty certain that's him in CON AIR as well. He certainly made the most of every role, and he made his characters distinctively his own.
EXTREME PREJUDICE is a classic and it just reminded me that him and Nolte were reunited in U-TURN. His performance as the menacing Curly Bill in TOMBSTONE also deserves a mention. RIP.
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteIndeed––those are some damn great performances.