TV & Film
How many comedic Westerns that feature Nat King Cole as a Greek chorus can you name? Not only that, but "Cat Ballou" was also an Oscar-winner for Best Actor in 1965. Lee Marvin turns in the classic performance as a washed-up gunfighter. It's an over-the-top delight that somehow managed to snatch the coveted acting prize from some other, more serious performer like, I don't know...Rod Steiger or something. Marvin was cast against type and he is clearly the greatest thing about this somewhat dated film, which was named the #10 Greatest Western of All Time by the American Film Institute. If you're thinking about watching "Cat Ballou", take a listen to this episode.You can download the podcast here by right-clicking on that link and choosing "save as", or you can use the convenient player located below:Lee Marvin as Kid Shelleen, soused as a louse.Switching gears, we turn to "Blackfish", a fascinating new documentary out in theaters now. The film explores the mystique around killer whales (orcas) as they live in the wild and how their cruel imprisonment at theme parks such as SeaWorld leads to the deaths of three trainers at the hands of an orca named Tillikum. This disturbing expose on what happens when those carefully choreographed whale tricks go awry makes compelling use of home movie footage that captures the terror when the trainers are at the mercy of their whales. "Blackfish" manages to balance itself as an indictment of the inhumanity of orca parks, a compelling aquatic thriller and an ode to beauty of these intelligent creatures in their native waters.Cruel? This documentary certainly does its part to help us think so.