RIP Burt Reynolds

He hadn't been in good health for a long time but this is still sad. There was no bigger star in the period of 77-83... His work was always a lot more interesting than he got credit for (he'd done Broadway, hosted talk shows, turned director)... he'd often be a hilarious interview subject... no one was funnier or more self deprecating about himself... Then in 1983 he decided to do "Stroker Ace" instead of "Terms of Endearment" and it was like the movie gods cursed him... he had a run of bad luck like few other stars - "Man Who Loved Women", "City Heat", "Stick", "Cannonball Run 2", "Heat", "Malone", "Rent a Cop"... at least he came back for "Boogie Nights" and was never out of work... RIP Burt

A Top Ten

1) Boogie Nights (1997)

2) The Longest yard (1974)

3) Hustle (1975)

4) Deliverance (1972)

5) Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

6) Hooper (1978)

7) The Cannonball Run (1981)

8 ) Striptease(1996)

9) Sam Whiskey (1968)

10) Sharky's Machine (1981)

The troublesome production top ten

1) City heat (1984) - Eastwood fires director Blake Edwards

2) The Man who Loved Cat Dancing (1973) - Sarah Miles’ lover killed himself for a time Reynolds was suspected of murder

3) Heat (1986) - the 1986 William Goldman one not the Michael Mann - five directors one of whom Reynolds punched out

4) Stick (1985) - Reynolds directed and Universal made him refilm half

5) At Long Last Love (1975) - musical which got worst reviews of any Reynolds film til then (actually isn’t that bad)

6) Shark! (1968) - Sam fuller took his name off as director

7) 100 Rifles (1969) - weird sexual tension and fighting on set between Jim brown and Raquel Welch

8 ) Boogie Nights (1997) - Reynolds fights with PT Anderson so badly he refuses to be in Magnolia

9) The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) - Burt fights with Dolly and insists on singing

10) Switching Channels (1989) - should’ve been a comeback for Burt (we’d say this every few years in the 90s) - he fought badly with Kathleen Turner