Shinzo Abe and James Caan

After former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot yesterday in Nara City, he was taken to a hospital near the school I work at. So helicopters were flying about most of the afternoon, adding to a general feeling of gloom and dread. I don't know a lot about Abe but he seemed like a good prime minister. The first thing that comes to mind is him dressing as Mario to announce Tokyo as the location of the ill-fated 2020 Olympics. So he had a sense of humour. He managed to be effectively friendly with other countries while at the same time advocating greater military autonomy for Japan, which I do think is past due.

As this is primarily a movie blog, though, I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about James Caan, who also died yesterday.

Most people will remember him from The Godfather and he is great in that movie. But The Godfather is more about Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. The great James Caan movie to see is Michael Mann's 1981 crime film Thief. Caan was front and centre doing what he did best, being a regular, yet remarkably magnetic, tough guy.

He was in a lot of other movies, too, generally in supporting roles as a gangster boss. But before The Godfather, he had the distinction of starring in the legendary Red Line 7000, a racing movie directed by none other than Howard Hawks. And he is a big part of that film's driving energy, in more ways than one.

So long, Jimmy Caan and Shinzo Abe. Hopefully we can keep the casualties down in the coming days.

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