This Weekend’s Film Festival Remembers Those We Lost in 2008

With each new year, we often take time to reflect on the events that shaped the previous year. As movie fans, the artists, who will no longer grace us with their talent, are often on our minds. This Weekend's Film Festival celebrates five such performers. Four of the films feature the actors whom passed, while one celebrates the life of a notorious screen icon. We have two male screen icons. A man who became famous for needing a bigger boat. A young man who we lost too soon. These performers will be missed.

We begin with an epic. Charlton Heston was nominated only once for the Academy Award, and won. While he wasn't the first choice to star in BEN-HUR, it is hard to imagine any other actor in the role of the Jewish nobleman turned slave. As the best Biblical epic, William Wyler's tale combines endless spectacle with compelling characters and melodrama. The relationship between Heston's Ben-Hur and Jack Hawkins' Quintus not only drives a personal struggle between the former friends, but also the struggle of the Jewish people under the rule of the Romans. Heston brings a raw masculinity to his character, who suffers and turns bitter. However, through the parallel story of Christ, he finds redemption in forgiveness. From gallows to naval battles to plagues and chariot races, Ben-Hur endures. As I said in my original review, "In other Biblical epics, lessons are tacked on between actions scenes. BEN-HUR puts its lesson in its soul." Heston carries that lesson on his shoulders, in one of cinema's finest iconic performances.

Betty Page never made it as an actress the way she wanted to. She gained fame as a pin-up model, not afraid to bare it all or pose for a variety of fetish pics. Mary Harron's THE NOTORIOUS BETTY PAGE chronicles Page's life from her time as a young girl under the rule of a religious mother to a brief abusive marriage to her rise as a model. Gretchen Mol plays Page in her finest performance to date. She crafts Page as a smart, if naïve, young woman who felt God gave her the talent to pose for pictures, so she should use it. Though this is what she said, she seemed plagued with guilt her whole life, eventually becoming a born-again Christian. As I said in my original review, "The film is a slice of life both of its main character, as well as the 1950s. It’s charming and uncomplicated — just like its main subject, which is made all the more engaging by Mol’s performance that is as brave as her muse — Bettie Page."

One year ago, This Weekend's Film Festival looked at Actor's Who Died Too Young. It ran the week of Heath Ledger's death. There I looked at his remarkable performance in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. As I write this column, it seems he is destined to win the Oscar for his fiery performance as the Joker in THE DARK KNIGHT. Those are the obvious choices when talking about the highlights of his career. Less obvious is his mesmerizing performance in Catherine Hardwicke's LORDS OF DOGTOWN, where he plays Skip Engblom, the owner of the influential skate shop Zephyr. As I said in my original review, "the film… captures enough of what skating is all about — it’s a bit rebellious, it’s a bit about a ragtag family and it’s a bit about fame. For that the film is worth seeing — and watching Ledger channel the vibe of Val Kilmer in THE DOORS is worth the price of admission too." While those who know Kilmer's performance as Jim Morrison, will see the similarities, Ledger is actually doing a dead-on rendition of Engblom, who can be seen in Stacy Peralta's wonderful documentary on the same subject called DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS. Ledger plays Engblom as a hippie and skateboard innovator who wasn't equipped to become a major businessman when his ideas blew up. His story is a sad chapter in how pro skating got its start and how he got left behind as his protégés — Peralta, Jay Adams, and Tony Alva — became legends. For me, it was the performance that made me sit up and take notice of Heath Ledger.

Roy Scheider is best known for his performance as police chief Martin Brody in the first two JAWS films. Before that he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his work in THE FRENCH CONNECTION, the Oscar-winning film that rocketed his career. His finest performance, however, came in ALL THAT JAZZ, for which he received a Best Actor Oscar nomination. Scheider was sensational as director and choreographer Joe Gideon, a masked character for the film's real subject — its director and choreographer Bob Fosse. In the difficult role, Scheider made the audience understand why someone could be charmed by the womanizing drug-addict. "He presents Gideon as an aged child, who knows how he is and isn’t apologetic for it," to quote my original review. For Scheider, it's a performance like none other he would ever do — he sings, he dances, and he allows the audience to not like him. But in the end we like him nonetheless, mainly because he is upfront about who he is, so you have to either take it or leave it. Scheider embodies the self-deprecating humor that Fosse paints the entire production with. Filled an abundance of style, it stands as a unique look at the slippery slope of show business. For Scheider, it displayed his vast range, something Hollywood sadly failed to tap into more fully afterward.

In the death of Paul Newman, cinema lost one of its finest living legends, as well as one its finest gentlemen. His endless talent and wit, and his striking good looks have not been equaled. How do you pick just one performance to represent his amazing career? Look at this list — CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF; THE HUSTLER; HUD; BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID; THE STING; RACHEL, RACHEL; ABSENCE OF MALICE; THE VERDICT; THE COLOR OF MONEY; NOBODY'S FOOL; and ROAD TO PERDITION. It's like choosing your favorite child — impossible. However, one performance does stand out arguably as his most iconic — COOL HAND LUKE. As I said in my original review, "Newman gives one of his finest performances as a smart, disgruntled young man who is tired of all the chains that life puts on you. With his cocky grin, he exudes confidence and inspires those around him." Newman as Luke presented the disgruntled feelings inside the youth of his day. He challenged authority and outsmarted them at every turn — until they stopped playing fair. His vast screen presence turns scene after scene into a classic, from the egg-eating contest to the final standoff in the church. While actors might be described as their generation's Paul Newman, none of them will ever be Paul Newman.

Join the celebration by heading to the videostore, shuffling the Netflix queue, surfing Zap2It.com for TV listings, or supporting the site by buying the films on DVD at the links below.