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Bruce Campbell: His top five hot movie picks for AMC

By Susan Leighton

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Tender Mercies

Tender Mercies – Robert Duvall – Courtesy of Antron Media Production, EMI Films

This is another Academy Award winner. Robert Duvall received the golden statue for his portrayal of washed up country singer, Mac Sledge. Written by Horton Foote who also wrote the classic film, ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ with Gregory Peck, he managed to perfectly capture the story of a man who is down on his luck but attempts to get his life in order.

Interestingly enough, this was years before Jeff Bridges turn in Crazy Heart which had a similar premise with Robert Duvall playing his pal Wayne. Another parallel is that Campbell played a similar type role to Duvall in the unreleased film, Highly Functional.

Bruce is Chili Youngfield in Highly Functional 1.0 – Courtesy of Mike Estes,Headlong Entertainment, Zed Filmworks, Eggplant Pictures

In Highly Functional, Bruce plays Chili Youngfield a has been country singer who undertakes a road trip with an autistic young man who believes his dying guardian can be restored to health by a performance from Youngfield.

The Sound of Music

The Sound of Music – Julie Andrews – Courtesy of Robert Wise Productions, Argyle Enterprises

Directed by Robert Wise (who also gave us West Side Story and the science fiction classic the Andromeda Strain and Star Trek the Motion Picture) this big screen adaptation of the successful Broadway musical, the Sound of Music tells the story of the Von Trapp family and their governess Maria (Julie Andrews).

Maria is studying to be a nun. This life choice is not working out for her since she is pretty free spirited. As a result, she gets sent away to become the governess to widower Captain Von Trapp’s children.

At first, they resent her but she eventually wins them over with her optimistic personality. She also succeeds in having the Captain fall in love with her. Alas, they are star crossed lovers at best because they cannot be together due to their personal circumstances.

Von Trapp is engaged to be wed and Maria is still technically a novice. Then life intervenes when Germany is about to take over Austria.

I have to admit I wasn’t expecting this choice from Campbell but that is part of his appeal. He is kind of surprising at times and that keeps his fans interested.

Jeremiah Johnson

Jeremiah Johnson – Courtesy of Sanford Productions (III), Warner Bros

More from Bruce Campbell

It is no secret that Bruce is quite fond of westerns. After all, he was in Brisco County, Jr. For those people that read Hail to the Chin, he mentions going to the movies with his mother to see this genre when he was a kid.

Jeremiah Johnson (Robert Redford) tells the story of a man who goes off into the woods to live after serving in the Army. Essentially, he chooses to become a hermit but ends up interacting with many different people who help him learn how to exist in the sometimes harsh environs of the mountains.

This was Dances with Wolves way before Kevin Costner even came on the scene as an actor. After an unfortunate mistake, Jeremiah finds that his peaceful ways are going to be challenged when he finds himself at odds with the Crow Indians.

In a way, Campbell basically emulated Johnson’s escape into the mountains at the end of the 90s when he left Los Angeles for the pristine beauty of the Siskiyou Mountains in Southern Oregon.

Were you surprised by Bruce Campbell’s top five film picks? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below. We want to hear from you.

Next: Ash Wednesday: Top uncharacteristic Bruce Campbell cameos

Susan Leighton can be found on Twitter and Facebook @SusanontheLedge. She is also featured on Friday Night Tights, the ultimate pop culture wrap up show at Nerdrotic Podcast every Friday night at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT. You can catch her weekly coverage on IFC’s Brockmire at TV Series Hub.

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