Rolling Obituary Thread: 2021

A statement from the family of Donald Rumsfeld: pic.twitter.com/AlKYxVvqgF

— Donald Rumsfeld (@RumsfeldOffice) June 30, 2021

Wow, Rumsfeld... some grave dancing is in order. History may remember him for a lot of things.

Wish Morbs were here to get a few kicks in.

hope whatever killed him was painful and drawn-out

Whenever God closes a door (Cosby released on a technicality), He opens a window (rest in shit, Rumsfeld)

jesus, I thought that piece of shit was already dead. At least now the cunt really knows the unknowns

earlier today on ILX:

i had a vivid feeling of the W years being well & truly over

― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), woensdag 30 juni 2021 14:39

He was doing a book tour not all that long ago

RIP Donald Rumsfeld, you taught me it was okay to be wired to a car battery

— Jason O. Gilbert (@gilbertjasono) June 30, 2021

He was surrounded by family, now he's surrounded by cackling demons

The obituary Rumsfeld deserves. It's not Hunter Thompson on Nixon; it's colder than that, a tallying of the bodies (to the degree that's possible).

be gone, creep

lol calzino

good obit imo.

louis andriessen, 82. composers dropping like flies these days

https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2021/07/01/960923935/louis-andriessen-influential-iconoclastic-dutch-composer-dies-at-age-82

RIP

Rick Laird, original Mahavishnu Orchestra bassist.

RIP to the guy that held the whole thing in check.

italian tv and music personality Raffaella Carrà

https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/italian-tv-icon-raffaella-carra-dead-aged-78.884494

NOOOOOOOOOOO

RIP Raffaella Carrà, after a 70-year career where she crossed paths and bared navels with Frank Sinatra and the Pope (and that’s just the sixties), but she would have been a legend for this one song alone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5y1-Ru3Jpc

guess she’ll have to present next year’s Eurovision from heaven then...

His age and manner of death are startling--and in the middle of the Stanley Cup Finals.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/05/sport/matiss-kivlenieks-death-spt-intl/index.html

https://deadline.com/2021/07/richard-donner-dead-superman-lethal-weapon-director-1234786372/

Director Richard Donner, 91

RIP. The first Superman still holds up beautifully (I last watched it when Margot Kidder passed), and there's a lot about Scrooged that still works. Haven't watched any of Lethal Weapon movies in forever, but I remember the first two fondly. For whatever reason, despite being what I imagine was exact target audience for The Goonies, it never really appealed to me.

I never saw Goonies until I was in my thirties. Liked it ok as an adult, unsure how I would've welcomed it as a child.

Directed one of the most famous Twilight Zone eps: "Nightmare At 20,000 Feet".

https://doyouremember.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/nightmare-at-20000-ft.jpg

Uber-famous--didn't realize that was Donner. (I was marking some music-video analyses from grade 6 students a couple of months ago, and I pointed out to one of them that his video--forget what it was--was probably paying homage to that episode.)

Didn't know that was him, either. Also, forgot about The Omen (I probably liked it way back when) and The Toy (ugh).

He made more movies I've enjoyed than many directors I'd consider among my favorites. Don't know what to make of that. Omen, Superman, Goonies, Lethal Weapon 1 &2, Scrooged ... I seem to recall people liking Conspiracy Theory? (Jeez, this man made six Mel Gibson movies.)

Statement from Gibson:

“Donner! My friend, my mentor. Oh, the things I learned from him! He undercut his own talent and greatness with a huge chunk of humility referring to himself as ‘merely a traffic cop.’ He left his ego at the door and required that of others. He was magnanimous of heart and soul, which he liberally gave to all who knew him. If we piled up all the good deeds he did, it would stretch to some uncharted place in the firmament. I will sorely miss him, with all his mischievous wit and wisdom."

Pauline Kael liked Conspiracy Theory--said so in an interview after she retired. Don't remember much.

Donner's best movies are light on their feet, balancing humor and action and eliciting winning, likable performances. A talented journeyman.

I guess I mostly agree with that.

Has Blame It On Rio been mentioned yet?

Wrong recently deceased director

Ha, sorry!

lovely piece on Donner here

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/richard-donner-dies-goonies-jeff-cohen-chunk-1235012107/

I still think the first Superman is scuppered by the ridiculous "fly backwards turn back time save Lois" conceit, and I'm not sure Lester's bastardised vision of Superman II isn't better than Donner's belated redux version, though his original vision may have surpassed it. But Scrooged is wonderful, and the first Lethal Weapon is as great an 80s buddy action movie as I can imagine.

I agree that the time reversal premise in Superman is nonsense, but the movie builds up so much good will in the previous 90 minutes that I’m willing to indulge it.

I mean its never been tested tbf

The 1978 Superman is still the only superhero film I've ever seen. Once I learned they could turn back time, what's the point of watching another?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgD9FyE60hs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-opxZJvIZ0

xp!

for those interested, a good recent piece on Raffaella Carrà (and her place in history):

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/nov/16/rafaella-carra-the-italian-pop-star-who-taught-europe-the-joy-of-sex

Don't like to repurpose content here, but:

Donner’s first movie, X-15 (1961), is mostly filled with melodrama, cigarettes, and aviation stock footage but kid me preferred it far more than that superhero movie. Charles Bronson, Mary Tyler Moore, Edwards AFB, and the early Mojave Desert all star. pic.twitter.com/MWGiMUQLlE

— Chris Barrus (@quartzcity) July 5, 2021

Maybe you should post that on our other thread

New Yorker cartoonist Danny Shanahan
https://michaelmaslin.com/remembering-danny-shanahan1957-2021

o_O https://www.nyspnews.com/rhinebeck-man-arrested-for-child-pornography.htm

That obit had a big gap at the bottom...