Just Some Stuff for Sunday: Robert Redford, Jeff Hiller, and Crystal Waters
Stuff I liked the week of September 15, 2025
Good morning, Sunday Stuffers! It’s time for me to share the stuff I read, listened to, or watched this week that brought me a little joy or comfort.
Let’s get to it:
A Walk in the Woods on Pluto TV. I was with a young 20-something when I found out Robert Redford died earlier this week. “Please tell me you know who he is,” I asked her. “He was a director, right?” she said pretty confidently. And while that’s true, her answer still made me a little sad. He was only one of the biggest and most influential movie stars ever! My first memory of Robert Redford is staying up late with my mom watching The Way We Were on TV at some point in the late ‘70s. I loved it. I remember reading in Barbra Streisand’s memoir that she desperately wanted Redford to play Hubbell, and she described working with him as “pure joy.” This week everyone has highlighted all of Redford’s great films, but I haven’t heard anyone mention 2015’s A Walk in the Woods. It’s based on an autobiographical book by Bill Bryson about his hike on the Appalachian trail with his out of shape buddy. It ain’t Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but it’s charming.
The Seduction of Joe Tynan on Netflix. I saw that Netflix was highlighting this 1979 political drama starring Alan Alda (he also wrote it), Meryl Streep, Barbara Harris, and Blanch Baker, so I checked it out. It’s a good little film about Joe Tynan, a United States senator from New York who is considered a potential contender for his party's presidential nomination. While Tynan is committed to his political career, his frequent absences place a strain on his marriage to Ellie (played by Barbara Harris who is pretty fantastic in this role). Interestingly, Blanche Baker plays the senator’s daughter Janet. You all may know Blanche as older sister Ginny Baker in Sixteen Candles. I went down a rabbit hole of Blanche’s career and discovered her mom is award-winning actress Carrol Baker (who is still alive at 94, btw).
Jeff Hiller’s Emmy Acceptance Speech. I started watching Somebody Somewhere back in Season One, and Jeff Hiller deserves all the awards. I must have watched his Emmy acceptance speech a dozen times. It’ll cure what ails you for a few moments.
Long May They Rock: Nine Trailblazing Women Who Rewrote the Rules of Music in W Magazine. I read this article thanks to a Kate Pierson profile in Oldster Magazine. It pays tribute to nine legendary performers who were instrumental in defining the sounds of today, and who paved the way for the current generation of female chart-toppers.
Here’s yet another installment in my effort to revisit songs, bands, or music videos from the ‘80s and early ‘90s that merit a closer look. One of the women the W Magazine article highlights is club icon Crystal Waters. Her 1991 hit “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless)” is apparently a big deal on Tik Tok, but I thought it was a big deal back in 1991 when I graduated from college. Crystal recently shared the story that inspired the song. La da dee la da da.
Jeff Hiller! ❤️ I loved his speech so much too!