"Carlito's Way" (1993)

Above, Sean Penn (left) and Al Pacino in Carlito's Way. Universal Pictures photo.

Last night, I watched a movie that I hadn't seen since it came out 27 years ago.

I was in the Flying J down the hill and was perusing the DVD bin and found a copy of Carlito's Way (1993) starring Al Pacino, Sean Penn and Penelope Ann Miller. I decided to buy it since I barely remembered a thing about it, despite the synopsis on the package.

From Rotten Tomatoes:

A free man after years in prison, Carlito Brigante (Al Pacino) intends to give up his criminal ways, but it's not long before the ex-con is sucked back into the New York City underworld. Reconnecting with his dancer girlfriend, Gail (Penelope Ann Miller), Carlito gets entangled in the shady dealings of his friend Dave Kleinfeld (Sean Penn), who also serves as his lawyer. When Carlito and Kleinfeld run afoul of shifty gangster Benny Blanco (John Alberto Leguizamo), it sets them on a dangerous path.

I watched it during dinner last night and it was like watching a new movie because I was so long since I last saw it.

Pacino gives a great performance. I didn't recognize Sean Penn at first, but he was great in his role as a sleazy lawyer. I am not a Penn fan by any means, but he did a great job in this. Brian De Palma directed.

Above, Gladstone's 4 Fish in Pacific Palisades. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It is funny that I remember the night I saw it. I went out with a former co-worker, Robyn, to dinner at Gladstone's 4 Fish in Pacific Palisades (one of my favorite seafood restaurants in L.A.) and we went to see the movie afterwards. It was around the time the Northridge Earthquake took place and Robyn was planning to move to Colorado shortly thereafter. 

One of these days, I'll pick up a copy of De Palma's/Pacino's Scarface. I don't believe I've ever seen that movie before. Carlito's Way has me curious enough to want to see it.

My grade: A.

Gusty Day

Above, near the Cibola National Forest perimeter fence. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Today was spent indoors.

It is too windy to be out Jeep driving. With the 35+ mph gusts, it would be hard on the vinyl top of the Jeep, especially the door windows, which are only held closed by strips of Velcro.

So, that being the case, I just watched The Godfather Part 2 (1974), one of the great movies of the 1970s.

I did some maintenance on the Jeep, including checking the oil and water. So it is all ready for the next jaunt once the wind dies down. The Mustang continued to start just fine today when I went down to the Flying J to check the mail.

We might be getting some snow showers tonight and tomorrow.

According to the National Weather Service:

This Afternoon

Isolated sprinkles. Partly sunny, with a high near 59. Windy, with a southwest wind around 30 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph.

Tonight

A slight chance of rain and snow showers between midnight and 3am, then scattered snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. Windy, with a southwest wind 20 to 30 mph decreasing to 10 to 20 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Friday

Scattered snow showers. Some thunder is also possible. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 40. Breezy, with a southwest wind 5 to 15 mph increasing to 15 to 25 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Friday Night

A 30 percent chance of snow showers before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 20. Breezy, with a west wind 20 to 25 mph decreasing to 10 to 15 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph.

Today In Pacific Palisades

Above, Gladstone's 4 Fish restaurant.

The day was spent working in beautiful Pacific Palisades, California.

This job assignment fell into my lap yesterday afternoon. All I can say that it involved a lot of walking. With all the walking I've done on the job this past year, it is a small wonder why I had no problem hoofing it around Tokyo and Niigata last December. When I went to Japan in 2007, I tired more easily. I am in much better physical shape.

The above photo is of a great seafood restaurant called Gladstone's 4 Fish. It is located on Pacific Coast Highway at Sunset Blvd. in Pacific Palisades. I took the photo with my cell phone from where I was working this morning. Great food and a great ocean view from either the inside or outside dining areas. I highly recommend it!

The last time I dined there was around 1994 with a former co-worker, Robyn. After dinner, we went to see Carlito's Way, starring Al Pacino. Good times!

Funny thing about Pacific Palisades, I still associate it with Ronald and Nancy Reagan, even though they haven't lived there since 1980.