Movie Hop - Focus on Bill Paxton

March Madness is long gone, but baseball season is in full swing.

What if you're not a basketball fan or your team got knocked out early? What if baseball bores you to tears? (Hey, don't look at me. I like the game.)

Perfect time for a MOVIE HOP!  I'm all set to honor Bill Paxton who died unexpectedly this past February. I'm a big Paxton fan. He often played a supporting role but worked consistently in Hollywood and was know as an all around good guy. So hats off to Bill!

Remember: a Movie Hop is like  TV series binge watching - one day, three great movies.

Bill Harding in Storm Whisperer mode!

TWISTER (1996) 

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

In this romantic tornado adventure, Bill plays the lead for the first time in his career. His character is  Bill "The Extreme" Harding, a storm-whispering scientist who can feel when a bank of storms is about to drop a violent tornado.  Bill left storm chasing for TV meterology after his marriage with his wife Jo breaks up. They meet again during the storm season when Bill tracks Jo down in the field to get her signature on divorce papers. And the storms begin, both literally and figuratively. His leading lady is Helen Hunt who plays Jo, a scientist driven to learn all she can about storms after her father is killed by a twister when she is 8.  The cast includes Cary Elwes, Jami Gertz and an early performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman. The story goes that director Jan de Bont asked Bill if he would be intimidated by things being thrown at him. Bill said he was OK with most things -- I'll bet he didn't expect he'd be dodging scythes, tractors or barn doors! This is a Keeper movie for me, and I watch it regularly. Scientists, tornadoes and romance. What's not to love?

APOLLO 13 (1995)

 9 Oscar nominations, 2 Wins.

"Houston, we have a problem."
If you've ever heard this tag line, now you know from whence it came. This is the terse notification from the captain of the Apollo 13 flight to the moon to mission control that the spacecraft has just experienced an explosion. Based on real events, Bill Paxton plays the role of Lunar Module Pilot Fred W. Haise, Jr., one of three crewmen who are forced to fly around the moon without landing in order to reach Earth safely. For the actors, the challenges are close quarters, zero-G, and portraying professionalism battling fear,  The movie is a serious drama, and Bill is perfection. Again, the science and engineering guys bring their best to solving an array of problems. My favorite line: "This mission will show us at our best." True words for the mission and the movie. Another Keeper for me.

ALIENS (1986)

7 Oscar nominations, 2 Wins.

Bill plays Private Hudson, a marine off into space (again!) to save humanity, the world, the universe from the aliens. As several reviewers have mentioned, this may not be Paxton's best film, but it's got aliens and Bill got some of the best movie lines. Ever. Or maybe it was just the way he said them. Enjoy the mayhem!

There you have it. The Bill Paxton Movie Hop. We sure are going to miss you, Bill!