Absolutely bonkers that Hackman quit acting more than 20 years ago [0] — "Welcome to Mooseport (2004)" was his last film. But his body of work in my mind feels as timelessly relevant and fresh as Clint Eastwood's and Bill Murray's. Maybe because I love rewatching Unforgiven and Crimson Tide. I haven't even seen French Connection, which earned him his first Oscar. RIP to this legend.
French connection was a great movie in its time. It feels a bit slow moving compared to today's contemporary films. But a must watch if you're a Hackman fan.
“The straw that broke the camel’s back was actually a stress test that I took in New York,” Hackman told Empire in a 2009 interview.
“The doctor advised me that my heart wasn’t in the kind of shape that I should be putting it under any stress,” he added.
He maintained his love for acting and missed it but the business had become too stressful for him.
This is a take you'd only hear on a site like Hacker News.
Software development consistently ranks among the least stressful jobs you can get and it's really out of touch to compare this profession to genuinely stressful jobs.
Looking over surveys of most stressful jobs, it looks like the common theme are those that deal directly with people like customer service, sales, nursing/health care, or working in physically demanding environments like cook, construction, fire fighter.
Software development is an incredibly stress-free job in the overwhelming majority of circumstances.
> Software development consistently ranks among the least stressful jobs you can get and it's really out of touch to compare this profession to genuinely stressful jobs.
I've worked a number of different jobs. Software development isn't the most stressful job, but it can be very stressful.
It 100% depends upon who you work for, and what you're hired to do, and how that work is performed. I've worked jobs at both ends of the "stress scale" and most everywhere in-between, and it mostly comes down to the boss bein' the main decider if it's stressful or not to work there. A good boss can turn even the most stressful tasks into a fun challenge that everyone's on-board with solving. A bad boss can make even the simplest most routine tasks a daily nightmare that must be dealt with and tolerated for the sake of the paycheck.
I just wanted to bring up the stress caused by "passive" bosses, who attempt to be everyones buddy, avoiding even the faintest whiff of having to actually "manage" employees. Especially employees unable to integrate themselves, after months, into a workflow wothout causing an equal amount of work for others to decipher and clean up.
My favorite bosses jumped in on a fairly regular basis and worked alongside their teams, and knew their business well enough to actually be useful and helpful in that regard. They also treated their employees like actual fellow human beings, and when they profited, so did their employees, so it was kinda all-around win-win scenarios for everyone involved. Sadly, those bosses were a bit of a rarity. :(
I've worked in physically demanding environments like cook and construction - there were lots of injuries in the construction job, and a few people died, of course this was when I was young and extremely physically fit, but it was not as stressful as programming can be. More stressful than programming generally is, but not anywhere near as stressful as it can be.
The difference between relatively difficult programming and a lot of jobs is that a lot of jobs have a pretty steady level of stress, whereas the programming stress level can vary incredibly.
Then consider yourself really lucky because I ended up in the hospital back in 2010 from the stress. Yes I hear there are lovely places with fat salaries, massages, and free lunches, but that's not the majority of software development or tech work.
This is fair, but I feel like HN is often an echo chamber of people who have a common experience that I'm not sure is representative of industry or society writ large.
The only part of washing dishes that was stressful was the amount of money washing dishes paid me. The job itself had great hours and I could zone out washing dishes and not worry about things except running out of dishes to wash.
>>Software development consistently ranks among the least stressful jobs you can get and it's really out of touch to compare this profession to genuinely stressful jobs.
I've done 48 hr on-call work days, and a decade back my average sleep hours were like 3 - 4 hrs/day. Needless to say, even the best case sleeping hours are/were 5-6 hrs even till date. Writing code gets as stressful, as it gets.
But I guess you are talking more on the lines of most other professions putting same effort but not getting paid anywhere near we do.
That's a different problem and has a lot more to do with overall life directions, where you started and where you are going than something to do specifically with Software development.
I believe the most stressful part of IT is that the job itself is stressful at times. I believe that in most jobs, the job itself isn't stressful, it's the people and the stresses of life due to low pay.
I was the second developer at a startup, got a nice bundle of stock options that kept me highly motivated for 12 years but were ultimately worthless when the company sold
I've done construction, masonry, retail sales, barista, deli, a line cook, aiding the mentally challenged and Software development. Id say all those jobs can be stressful.
Did you miss the part where a multi-decade, A-list actor with millions of dollars who can call his own shots was the one saying that? It's not the work, it's the constant financial shenanigans and horse whipping from the executives.
I'd take earning a million dollars for 3 months of work and then taking the rest of the year off over what I have to put up with. Constant 24/7 unpaid support, having to work long hours because the company decided to do layoffs, having to work long hours because someone in sales promised the world for his commission that I don't see a dime of. Having to fix work of bad hires because said hire was related to the boss. Dealing with very strict government regulations that change every few years. Having to implement an absolutely horrible idea in a dead language because some boss had a bright idea. Dealing with hacker-kiddies constantly trying to compromise the system. Having to constantly learn the latest fad abstraction, on my own dime and time, that will only be relevant for a few years. Have to fix massive data issues because some executive decided to read the first chapter in a SQL book run a query in production? Having to deal with unrealistic deadlines and half ass specs. Having to deal with whatever scrum implementation some nitwit who took one online course came up with. Getting a couple weeks or three off every year, including sick days, and having to practically beg for it, and still getting calls anyway. Talk about being out of touch. What exactly do you think programmers do all day, write "Hello World," in every language ever invented?
Do you think Gene Hackman ever had to sit in a one-on-one meeting with is boss where the boss asked him to rank himself on various things, from 1-5? Getdafuqouttahere.
> Software development consistently ranks among the least stressful jobs you can get and it's really out of touch to compare this profession to genuinely stressful jobs.
Most devs already came from enough privilege to afford never having to do truly painful jobs, so they are a pampered whiney bunch. At lunch today I sneakily surveyed 13 20-something devs (all white, all male). Every single one went to college and didn't need a part-time job to pay for it. I've been at this for 30 years, and sure that was a pretty biased sample: there are plenty of Indian, Thai, Chinese women devs that I've worked with, but most everyone from overseas is already of a higher-caste.
I'd love to see your typical dev do even mildly physical labor 40 hours a week for a little over minimum wage. Lol.
"Schizo surveillance guy gets a contract that starts to derail things" is the basic premise, but there is more going on - "it has layers".
Francis Ford Coppola filmed this in between Godfather I & II.
I believe it is less famous only because the target audience is smaller, not due to its quality.
The editing is perfect, the pacing just right and the acting mostly top notch. Gene Hackman absolutely nails it.
I found the whole thing to be mesmerising and gripping until the very end. Underrated masterpiece.
He was perfect as the sherif. One of those morally ambiguous characters, that you warm to but know is really a bad guy (much like the Clint Eastwood's lead character).
(...to be honest it's a tough call between Popeye Doyle or Royal Tenenbaum too).
I second this. "Little Bill" was portrayed in such a way, that as a viewer, you are pulled between rationalizing and condemning his actions. Fantastic movie with superb acting on Hackman's (and truly, every other actor's) part.
There are a number of military surveillance technologies like GORGON STARE that got their start when some military brass saw Enemy of the State and said "I want that capability. Can we have that?"
It's not very well known or particularly well reviewed. It just clicked with me, I've watched it probably a dozen times. It's about a jewel heist and the drama surrounding it
I liked Heist and especially liked the cast (Delroy Lindo and DeVito are excellent in everything I’ve seen them in as well) - but there’s something up with Mamets direction and cinematography that makes the movies look way cheaper and older than they are. Never understood it, not in Spartan or the Spanish Prisoner (another underrated film IMO) or Heist.
This is perhaps the most random and stupid comment in this thread, but I always hear Lou Costello going "HEY MAMETTTTTTTTTT!!!!!" in my head when I see his name. (Yes, I know he's saying 'Abbott'.)
"Asshole dad reconciles with his estranged children."
Probably my favourite Wes Anderson film with an extremely talented cast. Gene Hackman does a great job of playing a well-meaning buy very flawed father figure.
"Dad, you were never dying."
"But I'm going to live!"
I've heard he was just wretched to deal with on set and didn't really connect with the movie (at least at the time) — but wow what a performance regardless. That movie isn't what it is without him. You could say that for many of his films.
French Connection, talk about nailing the role of a cop obsessed with getting his suspect. Even the sequel is not bad. Mississippi Burning, Hoosiers...
Didn't watch that one, seems interesting so I will check it out, thanks.
The contrast between the police eating hotdogs out in the cold while the gangsters wine and dine in the most expensive restaurant is the most memorable scene to me. I still need to watch the sequel.
The Conversation is probably my favorite as well, but I always enjoyed Enemy of the State (1998) a lot. It has the same paranoid vibes as some of his work in the 70s, but with the subtlety replaced with sensational action. He was great in that film as a retired super spook, and his chemistry with Will Smith really elevated it.
I have to go with The Birdcage. Just a silly movie, with Hackman playing a rather timeless portrayal of a politician. The meandering story about “purple mountains” always gets me for some reason.
"The Conversation" is a masterpiece of the golden age of 70s film. "The French Connection" would be on my list too, for similar reasons. Popeye Doyle is a classic 70s protagonist.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned "The Birdcage" yet. Fantastic ensemble cast, and Hackman plays his part to perfection.
"Heist" and "Royal Tenenbaums" would finish out my list.
I really love Guy Ritchie's tip of the hat in The Gentlemen from Hugh Grant's character where when talking about watching a conversation through a telephoto lens he says, "But I filmed it, had it lip-read, translated, and transcribed. Rather like the classic 1974 film The Conversation starring Gene Hackman and John Cazale. You know, Coppola slipped that one out between the Godfathers. It wasn't really for me. It's a bit boring to be honest...."
I don't know why but that makes me laugh every time. (And I agree w/ The Conversation being underrated)
Hoosiers, for sure. "My team is on the floor" was such a flex as a coach, it is still difficult for me to separate the man he played in that movie and the actor, to me they're one and the same.
+1 for The Conversation, an underated, gripping, and creepy movie that is underrated indeed and that I came to watch or even know about only last year (featuring a really young Harrison Ford btw). It's ahead of its time, yet also vaguely reminiscent of 1960's avantgarde movies like Blow Up. I also loved Hackmann's comedy performances, like in French Connection II and in The Birdcage. RIP
My favorite of his as well. Also in my top 10 movies of all time. Just a unique script, great cinematography, and a fantastic performance by Hackman. Love the sound editing. Special guests: Robert Duvall and Harrison Ford.
YES! Nice to see someone else who knows about his cameo. "I was gonna make espresso..." Hackman ad libbed that line and the reason that it immediately fades to black afterwards is because the entire crew loudly cracked up, and they couldn't reshoot that line without everyone still getting the giggles.
This is my favorite of the films I've seen him in also. It is surprising how rarely the film gets brought up, considering its quality and it having been written and directed by Coppola.
All I seen are but I'd highlight his role in the Get Shorty, because it rarely mentioned. So perfecly played small person in a big game character, an other testament to his talent.
Sometimes I randomly think of a famous person and ask myself "Are they still alive?". I remember doing it for Burt Bacharach and Dick Van Dyke (who's still alive!). This happened last month with Gene Hackman. I had just rewatched "The Conversation" and "The Firm" (so maybe not so random). So I googled him, and apparently he'd basically quit acting 20 years ago.
It was weird to see recent pictures of him. I guess our memory of a retired actor is often skewed since we constantly see them at a younger age in their movies, but rarely (or never) in a recent context. And considering his impact in cinema history, it didn't feel like he'd left the industry at all.
The 4k remaster of the conversation that came out in theatres was so good. I hadn’t seen it before and I was blown away by the end. Super recommend people go to the cinema these days they are doing lots of 4k remasters of classics like this.
The Academy Award-winning actor was found on the floor in the mud room, according to the search warrant. It appeared he fell suddenly, and he and his wife "showed obvious signs of death," the document said.
Arakawa was found lying on her side on the floor in a bathroom, with a space heater near her body, according to the search warrant.
Her body showed signs of decomposition, the document said. There was mummification to her hands and feet, the document said.
A German shepherd was found dead about 10 to 15 feet from Arakawa, the document said.
But two other dogs were found alive. One healthy dog was near Arakawa and the other was located outside, according to the search warrant.
The Santa Fe City Fire Department found no signs of a possible carbon monoxide leak or poisoning, the document said. If there was carbon monoxide at the scene, it could have vented out of the home through the open front door before responders arrived.
New Mexico Gas Company also responded and "as of now, there are no signs or evidence indicating there were any problems associated to the pipes in and around the residence," the document said.
Keep in mind, he was 95 and was forced into retirement by health issues over 20 years ago. If your base rate is based on two healthy people in their prime, that's a little different. It could be as simple as he found her dead or dying, tried to get help and had a heart attack from the stress or simply just fell. Reports are they weren't found for two weeks, which sadly could explain the dog.
Tragic situation all around, but I'm not ready to use a probability based argument to insist on foul play.
3 things dying in 2 weeks in the same house is just unlikely and the people must have died within minutes. This is still unlikely EVEN when you take into account age and health issues.
Maybe he dropped dead and she just decided to go too? The one dog may have just been accidential injestion. But the Medical Examiner will figure out most plausible causes. Sad no matter how it happened.
Hackman and Arakawa were found in separate rooms. The actor was found in a mudroom near his cane, appearing to have fallen, while his wife was found in an open bathroom near a space heater, with an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on the nearby countertop, according to the warrant
The dog that died was locked up and probably died without water. The two that weren’t locked up survived. It’s likely she was in some kind of danger and he had a heart attack trying to deal with it. He was found in the mud room by the door and she was in the bathroom with an open bottle of pills spilled.
It’s not so many things. It’s two people who died, one of whom was 95 and had a heart condition. With the people dead, the locked up dog died. But people like a good conspiracy.
If 3 people won the lottery and they all lived in the same place. By probability alone you know something is up. It's not loving a conspiracy it's in actuality knowing reality and knowing how reality works.
Lottery wins are supposed to be uncorrelated events. So yes, three winners in the same household means some sort of funny business is likely going on that requires explanation. Something needs to explain the correlation.
Here, there's plenty of possible explanations for why their deaths would be correlated. Especially the dog. If you lock a dog in a place for two weeks, it inevitable that it will be either dead or in serious medical distress when you come back. The one follows logically and tragically from the other. It doesn't change anything about the probability of the initiating event.
If somebody driving a car has a heart attack, and the car crashes into a tree also killing the passenger, you don't say: "what are the chances that Person A would have a heart attack at the exact same time that the Person B was in car accident? That's such an unlikely coincidence. There must be something else going on here."
Analyzing all events as statistically independent, even in situations where they clearly aren't is the opposite of "actuality knowing reality and knowing how reality works". On the contrary, it's one of the most common ways for a statistical analysis to go wrong.
> The local gas provider, the New Mexico Gas Co, was involved in the investigation alongside the Santa Fe county sheriff’s department, Associated Press reported, raising speculation that carbon monoxide poisoning lay behind the deaths
True. Newer ones will last ~10 years, and will shout an EOL warning when they near the end of their life. I've got hardwired combo smoke and CO detectors (AA battery backup) from Kidde at the house and they have this feature.
The nice part of having them hardwired is that the house is now like an office/other building: if one trips, they all trip, so the whole house is alerted. The newer ones have far fewer false alarms, too (pizza in the oven I am looking at you...).
The battery only CO monitors by Kidde, if I recall correctly, are cheaper than the price of the combined smoke/CO detector minus the price of a Kidde smoke detector. I recently bought a combined unit (ironically because I had a second wireless unit I didn’t recall purchasing that was complaining about low battery near one of the wired units and could not figure out why it was chirping an undocumented signal) and almost put it back on the shelf when I saw the price.
By all means put one in your house but I think it’s a racket to have all four detectors in your house also be carbon monoxide monitors when you can just put a battery unit at the far end of the house from the combined one.
Hardwiring is good, but if retrofitting, you don't need to do it. Some of the 10 year battery powered units can wirelessly link (and thankfully not over something inconsistent like WiFi or Bluetooth).
The article I read said no gas leak or CO was found.
However I don't believe that one person being found dead near an open door is evidence of no gases. I would take it as the opposite. Something happens, one of them almost makes it out but either blacks out at the open door before getting fresh air or, like in the CO case, once exposed the damage is done.
That said, the bigger curiosity is one dead dog and two small, live ones. If you have people poisoned by food, and one animal with food anxiety, that's a recipe for one dead dog and multiple dead people and other household animals wondering what the hell just happened. If you have people and animals poisoned by a gas... Unless it was lighter than air it should have affected the small dogs as well, unless they were napping somewhere outside of the immediate danger.
(The GSD could also have died from eating the prescription pills on the ground and it's only a coincidental death rather than common cause)
>They just got through saying that foul play was not suspected. It'd be nice if you could not slander the dead.
>not suspected
lol, It's all speculation. No one knows anything at this point. Have there been cases in the past where the police initially announce no foul play was suspected and then have it turn out to be that foul play was indeed involved? We can imagine so.
And there is no slander here. None. So what on Earth are you even talking about?
That background may have informed Hackman's portrayal of a military character in ''Bat*21'', a suspenseful film set during the Vietnam War based on the real escape of USAF Lt. Col. Iceal "Ham" Hambleton after being shot down.
He was a force of nature embodying his role in Mississippi Burning. Very physical and I never realized how tall he was until you see him face down some redneck racists! He plays the in-the-trenches tough guy who makes Willem Dafoe look like a comparative dweeb.
It is strange that I thought he was dead long ago and was surprised to know that he was still alive. Sorry to know that now he passed away for real. Great actor. My favorite Lex Luthor.
As of this morning, the death is now considered "suspicious." Per local fire and police departments, there was no sign of a gas leak and only 1 of their 3 dogs died. The front door was found ajar, but there were no signs of forced entry.
That's what I thought of. "Weird Al" Yankovic's parents were both found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning about 15 years back in a very similar fashion.
CO poisoning during cold still weather is not uncommon in old/poor houses heated by gas or oil here in western Europe. What is the weather like in, I assume California, now?
Also people who warm up in idling cars, in semi confined spaces,on nights with no breeze. I've seen a couple local news stories of this. It's very sad.
Yes but people forget to check them. A new threat could be cheapo detectors from Amazon. I bought a house recently and the fire marshall had them replace all their Amazon crap detectors with the real deal.
Shitty detectors; people simply forget to check on them or don't bother to install one in the first place or don't even know they should have one; expired detectors that don't work anymore but also don't alert that they're non-functional. Plus, older people tend to get worse at maintaining out-of-the-way stuff like that, more forgetful, harder to get around, may visit entire sections of their house (like a basement) almost never so just forget about it or don't notice signs that something needs to be replaced or repaired.
Check on your parents' smoke and CO detectors next time you visit!
And even if they do have them, they degrade over time and only last around 10 years tops. It's quite possible that the ones they had failed, and failed silently. Such as loss.
I bought my parents a few CO detectors for Christmas a few years ago. I reminded them that they don't have any gas appliances, but they do heat with wood.
This is a 2 pack. There are better ones, too. If you don't have one already, don't wait another day. Hundreds of people die preventable deaths each year in the US because of this.
Local massage therapists called him Gene “Whackman.” Having grown up in Santa Fe amongst a large group of massage therapists (my mother taught massage to many decades ago), many knew about his behavior from their personal experiences but somehow never reported it. Sort of interesting.
A couple of days ago, Michelle Trachtenberg (of Buffy fame) died. Seems the liver issues she'd been clearly undergoing since over a year ago finally caught up with her. She was just 39.
