A Reel Look Back: TAPS

Earlier this week, the Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pennsylvania, announced that it would close after the 2025-2026 academic year, after 97 years in operation. The campus was the primary filming location for the 1981 drama, TAPS. Although this year is not a significant anniversary for the film, the closure makes this a good time to look back, for the film’s plot ironically resembles this week’s news.   

 

TAPS was directed by Harold Becker and was based on the 1979 novel Father Sky. It followed a group of military school students who decide to take over their school to prevent it from closing. Leading the way was a 21-year-old Timothy Hutton, who would earn a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. Behind Hutton would be Sean Penn in his first role, and Tom Cruise in his second film and first major role. Hutton, Penn, and Cruise would undergo military training to prepare for filming. Giancarlo Esposito and Evan Handler also starred, along with veteran actors Ronny Cox and George C. Scott. Filming would take place at the Academy along with locations at Valley Forge National Historical Park, with actual cadets serving as extras. Maurice Jane would provide the score. TAPS would be met with good reviews and turn a profit at the box office. 

 

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TAPS was a film that was revisited often at home growing up, as this Blogger’s dad loved a good military drama (and also a big George C. Scott fan). Similar to A FEW GOOD MEN (the best military drama of all time), TAPS explores military duty and loyalty; themes that work just as well today as they did in 1981. 

 

Through history, Valley Forge Military Academy was the stepping off point for many careers; J.D. Salinger, author of The Catcher in the Rye, was a graduate. TAPS also served as a stepping-off point for many film careers; launching the careers of Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, and future film maverick and mega-star Tom Cruise. When the Academy does close its gates, it will have a lot to be proud of. 

Robert Redford: 1936 - 2025

Robert Redford has passed away at 89. 

 

A legend of acting and directing, Charles Robert Redford, Jr. was born in Santa Monica in 1936. He started his career in television, appearing in ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS and THE TWILIGHT ZONE. 

 

He made his film debut in 1962 in WAR HUNT, before finding leading-man stardom after his roles in BAREFOOT IN THE PARK (1967), BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969), JEREMIAH JOHNSON (1972), THE CANDIDATE (1972), and the Best Picture-winning THE STING in 1973, which would earn him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. 

 

His career as an actor would continue through notable films such as THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975), ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (1976), THE ELECTRIC HORSEMAN (1979), BRUBAKER (1980), and THE NATURAL (1980). He would star in yet another Best Picture winner, OUT OF AFRICA (1985), and continued with roles in SNEAKERS (1992), INDECENT PROPOSAL (1993), SPY GAME (2001), and THE OLD MAN AND THE GUN (2018). He would join the MCU in CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER in 2014, and its follow-up, AVENGERS: ENDGAME in 2019…which would be his final on-screen role. 

 

He would have just as much success in front of the camera as he did behind it. His directorial debut, ORDINARY PEOPLE (1980), would win four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. He would also helm acclaimed films such as A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT (1992), QUIZ SHOW (1994), THE HORSE WHISPERER (1998), and THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE (2000).

His awards would include five Golden Globes, a BAFTA Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, the Kennedy Center Honors, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He would co-found the famed Sundance Film Festival in 1981. 

 

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The world “legend” gets tossed around a lot in print when recapping the life and times of a filmmaker or actor that has been around a long time, but for Robert Redford, the term is spot-on. He acted and directed in some of the best films of all time, and his name itself carried a weight to it. With his boyish good looks and sandy blonde hair, the man was simply born to be on the big screen. 

 

Off the screen, he did his best to make the world a better place, doing extensive work as a political activist where he was an advocate for the environment, and the rights for Native Americans and the LGBT community. 

 

For this Blogger, Redford was certainly a household name…with my parents big fans of THE STING and BUTCH CASSIDY. For me, my lasting memory of Redford would be his towering home run in THE NATURAL, which would ultimately be one of the greatest, stand-up-and-cheer and cry moments in all of cinema; rounding the corner amidst the lights and sparkles and that magnificent score…going home. 

A Reel 20: September of 2005

This month marks the 20^th anniversary of four notable films. 

The first to arrive in that glorious month of September 2005 was Tim Burton’s CORPSE BRIDE. 

 

It was a fantasy-musical that followed a groom-to-be that falls into the underworld and becomes engaged to a dead bride. Co-directed by Mike Johnson, CORPSE BRIDE was a return to stop-motion animation for Burton, and also re-united Burton with his regulars: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter, and Christopher Lee. With mixed-to-good reviews, CORPSE BRIDE would be a moderate hit, and earn an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature. 

 

Next up would be the action thriller A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE. 

Directed by David Cronenberg, VIOLENCE was an adaptation of the 1997 graphic novel, and had Viggo Mortensen playing a mob assassin in hiding. Co-starring Ed Harris, William Hurt, and Maria Bello, VIOLENCE was quickly regarded as one of Cronenberg’s best films and one of the best films of the year, and earned two Oscar nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay and Supporting Actor for Hurt. 

 

The drama would continue with the biopic drama, CAPOTE. 

The late great Phillip Seymour Hoffman would play famed writer Truman Capote during his efforts to write and publish one of his most famous works, In Cold Blood. Directed by Bennett Miller, CAPOTE would earn five Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actress (Catherine Keener), Adapted Screenplay, with Hoffman winning for Best Actor. 

 

The drama would ease up a little towards the end of the month with Joss Whedon’s SERENITY. 

A space-western, SERENITY was the finale to Whedon’s cancelled-yet extremely popular TV series, FIREFLY, and followed his collection of smugglers and outlaws evading the law while protecting one of their own. The cast of FIREFLY returned (Nathon Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau, Sean Maher, Morena Baccarin, Ron Glass, and Jewel Staite), and they were joined by the always-excellent Chiwetel Ejiofor. Reviews were good and the film would win the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.

 

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September of 2005 was in that period of time before things really started to change. Only two years before, THE LORD OF THE RINGS had kickstarted a new era of big-budget, high-profile franchises, and studios were gearing up for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But the MCU was still three years away, and although HARRY POTTER was in the middle of its run in 2005, theatres were not jammed with franchises. This left the door wide-open for smaller films to come in and make an impact. 

 

September of 2005 had an excellent collection of films that hit every cinematic note; action, drama, sci-fi, animation, horror, and Oscar-winners and nominees. It was a month full of options, and a far-cry from today’s slim-pickings at the theatre. This month stands as a snapshot of the good-ol-days. 

 

 

 

 

 

A Reel Preview: The Year in Film 2025 - Episode IX

The fun of the Summer Movie Season is over, and the glorious winds of Fall sweep in with serious dramas. This month also brings in re-releases for significant anniversaries: TOY STORY (30 years), THE SOUND OF MUSIC (60 years), and APOLLO 13 (30 years). Here now is a preview for everything else coming to the big screen: 

 

 

 

THE CONJURING: LAST RITES – The ninth and final (ha), installment of the CONJURING horror franchise. This time, the paranormal investigators (Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga), take on the real-life supposed haunting of the Smurl family. 

 

 

 

DOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE – The third and final (ha), film in the DOWNTON franchise, which began as a TV series in 2010. This time, the Crawley family enters the 1930’s and battles a scandal.

 

 

 

THE LONG WALK – In this adaptation of the 1979 Stephen King novel, a group of young men enter a walking contest where they must maintain a certain speed or face execution. 

 

 

 

WALTZING WITH BRANDO – Billy Zane (TOMBSTONE, TITANIC), undergoes a stunning-looking transformation into famed actor Marlon Brando in this biopic. Richard Dreyfuss and Jon Heder (NAPOLEON DYNAMITE) co-star. 

 

 

 

SPINAL TAP II: THE END CONTINUES – Rob Reiner returns behind the camera to helm this legacy sequel to his definitive mockumentary about a rock band. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer reprise their roles. 

 

 

A BIG BOLD BEAUTIFUL JOURNEY – This romantic fantasy film stars Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie as two strangers on an amazing journey. 

 

 

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER – Master director Paul Thomas Anderson (THERE WILL BE BLOOD), returns with this action thriller about a group of ex-revolutionaries re-uniting to rescue one of their own’s daughter. The cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, and Alana Haim. 

 

 

 

THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 2 – The fourth film in the STRANGERS horror franchise, and the second installment of a new trilogy that re-launched last year. 

 

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Next month, Reel Speak previews the massive month of October.