Terms of Endearment

Dir: James Brooks, 1983 (8.2*)

Best Picture (AA, GG)

Major film based on the Larry McMurtry's book; many say this is even better than the book. Oscar winner Shirley McLaine is the mother, Oscar-nominated Debra Winger is the daughter she's not sure she would claim, who falls for a cheating Jeff Daniels. Meanwhile widower mom is being courted by alcoholic ex-astronaut Jack Nicholson (Oscar for supporting actor), who lives next door. Eventually, marriage and health failing, Winger realizes that she may need the love and support of her mother after all. This is an offbeat story, a drama but with a lot of humor, and James Brooks (Oscar for directing) has pulled off a heartwarming film. 11 nominations, 5 Oscars.

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The Last Picture Show

Dir: Peter Bogdanovich, 1971, bw (9.2*)

AFI Top 100

Coming of age tale of Timothy Bottoms in Larry McMurtry’s sequel to Horseman, Pass By (filmed as Hud), taking place in the town of Anarene, Texas in the 50’s. Best friend Jeff Bridges has the town’s prettiest girl, Cybil Shepherd, as his steady, to the chagrin of her mother Ellen Burstyn. Timothy's brother Sam Bottoms plays his little brother, an autistic kid who works for pool hall owner Ben Johnson, known as 'Sam the Lion', once a local ladies man, now the wise town elder. He and Cloris Leachman, as a high school coach's unloved wife to befriends Timothy, both won supporting Oscars. Larry McMurtry (Terms of Endearment, Lonesome Dove) at his best, perhaps America’s best living novelist, finally won an Oscar for adapting Brokeback Mountain from another author’s short story; now, that is irony. The title refers to the town’s only movie theater, which, like the town, seems to be dying a agonizing, slow death. 8 nominations, 2 Oscars

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Hud

Dir: Martin Ritt, 1963, bw (8.3*)
This was Larry McMurtry’s first book, called "Horseman, Pass By", which was a tribute to his grandad, last of the ‘old-style’ ranchers, who did things the right way. Oscar winner Melvyn Douglas plays the grandad in this, but the focus was shifted to the ne’er-do-well uncle Hud (just look at the poster!), played by Paul Newman, to capitalize on his box office. Patricia Neal also won an Oscar® who hit perfect tones as the family’s jaded cook, as did Jame Wong Howe’s terrific, innovative black and white cinematography. Not as artistically successful as the book but any film of a McMurtry book is going to be very good, and far above the average screen story. If you're a reader, by all means read his novels, beginning with this one; it's a small masterpiece. The nearby town of Anarene was later featured again in The Last Picture Show, a "town sequel", with none of the same characters reappearing. 7 nominations, 3 Oscars®

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Lonesome Dove

Dir: Simon Wincer, 1989, 6 hrs. (9.1*)

Larry McMurtry is our generation's best novelist (Terms of Endearment, Hud, The Last Picture Show), and here his epic, grandiose Pulitzer-winning novel is made into a worthy miniseries starring Robert Duvall and Tommie Lee Jones. The title is the small ranch on the Rio Grande they live on, but the drama of the series comes from a 2,500 mile cattle drive from Texas to Montana. Angelica Huston and Diane Lane also star, and for once they filmed a novel properly. My only complaint (hence 9*'s not 10) is that its not widescreen, shot in 35mm for TV, otherwise the perfect Western. 6 Emmys for 18 nominations.

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