Underrated movie: John Wayne's 'The Shootist'

I know some may brand me as un-American for writing this, but I have never been much of a John Wayne fan. I really don't know why. We can't all have the same tastes, so maybe this is one of those things where I am in the minority.

However, there is one film of his that I think is excellent, and I don't often hear it talked about when discussions of his body of work take place.

The Shootist was made in 1976 and is a character study of a dying gunfighter. Wayne's character had killed a lot of people in his life and now he was having to deal with his own mortality. In a way, the film mirrored what Wayne was going through in his own life. His character, John Bernard Books, was dying of cancer just as Wayne would die from it not long after this film.

Perhaps that is why this film stands out to me. The most gripping types of art are when art imitates life and vice versa. Obviously, Wayne didn't murder a lot of people, but he was definitely facing the issues of a life that was winding down.

The film has an excellent cast. Jimmy Stewart has a small but memorable supporting role. Lauren Bacall and Ron Howard are also outstanding.

For those interested, read here for more.

Corpse-gate reaches conclusion in Ohio

Hamilton County in Ohio recently reached a settlement with 532 families and will pay them $8 million to settle a lawsuit over unauthorized photos taken of posed bodies in the county's morgue, according to the Associated Press.

Apparently, the photographer took the photos as part of an artistic project regarding the cycle of life from birth to death. He posed the bodies with props including pieces of fruit and doll house furniture, according to the story.

Doll house furniture?

When I read this, I couldn't help but think about a movie from the early 1980s called "Night Shift," which starred Michael Keaton and Henry Winkler. It was directed by Ron Howard.

In the film, Keaton and Winkler turned a morgue into a house of prostitution, and as the saying goes, wackiness ensued.

Obviously, what happened in Ohio was not quite the same thing, but I guess the moral of the story is that morgues can be unusual. Or maybe posing a dead body with fruit is more normal than I realized.