Feb. 18, 2003 - 4:32 pm
this was a recommendation from my friend Greg at the media center whose opinion i really respect. although yesterday he mentioned that i've probably seen more movies than him. that surprises me since he's seen many classic films and modern films, and we usually can have a pretty solid conversation bringing in a lot of different film references without either one of us not having seen any films that get mentioned. plus he's probably 15 years older than me, so he's had more chance to see these things. anyway, he recommended the Paul Newman film Hud as being a good quiet film that's pretty emotionally exciting. i'd say that's a good summary actually. i had never heard of it before he brought it up, but since it was Tuesday and i had my four hour break to watch something, i decided on this one.
this was actually nominated for quite a few Oscars though and Patricia Neal won for Best Actress, Melvyn Douglas won for Best Supporting Actor, and it got Best Cinematography. this was Paul Newman's third of 10 nominations for Oscars. man, i didn't realize he had been nominated that many times. he is a really awesome actor though. will he win this year? i kind of doubt it. but he was still awesome in Road to Perdition (2002).
this film is about a cattle ranching family that consists of an aging grandfather who owns the ranch, a housekeeper who everyone is attracted to, and a 17-year-old idealistic young man who sort of idolizes his uncle Hud. the bad thing is that Hud is not at all a person to be idolized. he drinks too much, is violent, and doesn't seem to give a damn about anyone but himself. the biggest "event" that takes place in the film is that a cow turns up dead and the state vet on investigation begins to think that the cow may have had foot and mouth disease. if that were true, every animal on the ranch would have to be killed in order to prevent an outbreak in the U.S.
this is really great acting from Paul Newman. he's an interesting actor in that he can make you hate him but really like him at the same time. i can't really imagine anyone else playing this part so perfectly.
when i was talking to Greg about this later on in the evening, he mentioned that the young man who played Hud's nephew Lonnie (Brandon De Wilde) was also the little boy from Shane and that he was killed in a car accident at the age of 30. i guess he was always meant to be thought of as a young actor. he's kind of an "iffy" actor in my mind though. sometimes he's not very convincing. oh well, good movie anyway.