Mondo Cinema

Texas revolutionaries, blocked writers and Robert Loggia are main attractions at WorldFest

Truth may be stranger than fiction, but it isn’t necessarily as funny. Which is part of the reason why Texas native Mario Kyprianou took a comedic approach to dramatizing a bizarre chapter of Lone Star State history in The Republic of Rick, his debut feature as an indie writer-director, which will have an encore presentation this weekend during the final days of the 2014 WorldFest/Houston International Film Festival.

The movie – which will screen at 7 p.m. Saturday at the AMC Studio 30 – is loosely based on the real-life misadventures of Rick McLaren, the Texas secessionist who, along with other armed members of a Republic of Texas cabal, sustained a week-long standoff with police and Texas Rangers while holding hostages inside their Fort Davis redoubt.

“I think if Texas really seceded,” Kyprianu says, “we’d be in trouble, because the rest of America has nuclear weapons. So I don’t think we could really pull it off."

In the world reimagined by Kyprianou, McLaren is rechristened Rick Launer, played – broadly yet sympathetically – by Dave Abed, and arguably more successful in pursuing his goal of Texas independence.

“I just fell in love with these characters,” Kyprianu says. “So I wanted to find the happiest ending for them.”

Not that Kyprianu started out with any intention to celebrate McLaren (who, in the real world, remains behind bars). Truth to tell, he wanted to tell a tall tale inspired partly by Don Quixote, and partly by the revolutionary freedom fighters of his parents’ native Cyprus.

It’s just that, during his formative years in Dallas, “Secession was a topic of conversation that always came up as I was growing up.” Years later, after he graduated from the UCLA school of screenwriting, “I told some friends about an idea I had for a group that wanted to fight to make Texas their own country. And that’s when they told me that, hey, something like that really did happen back in 1997.”

Intrigued, Kyprianu traveled to Fort Davis on a fact-finding mission. “When I first got to the area,” he says, “people hated me. Because, frankly, they were ready to be done with Rick. They didn’t want to hear about him ever again. But [Joe Rowe], one of the hostages, was the coolest guy in the world. He invited me over to his house, so I was over there a couple of days interviewing him. And then it kind of took off from there.”

Kyprianu later tracked down McLaren’s lawyer in Dallas. “And he gave me all these videos that had been used as evidence. He had tapes of stuff that this TV news crew had done when they went up to Fort Davis and interviewed the militia for days. It was a great way to get inside the characters, and get some idea of the texture and the feel of their conspiracy theories.

“I also became pen pals with Rick McLaren from prison. That is, until he started trying to get me to run some errands and meet different people for him. Then I kind of backed off, and started writing.”

Kyprianu admits to a certain degree of grudging admiration for McLaren, whom he views as “an idealist,” not unlike Don Quixote, with sufficient charismatic appeal to convince loyalists “to go along for the ride.” That doesn’t mean, however, that he supports McLaren’s goals.

“I think if Texas really seceded,” Kyprianu says, “we’d be in trouble, because the rest of America has nuclear weapons. So I don’t think we could really pull it off.

“Of course, we might be hiding our own nuclear weapons on someone’s ranch right now. So who knows?

Here are some other options for audiences during the final weekend of WorldFest 2014. (Unless otherwise noted, each will be offered at the AMC Studio 30.)

The M Word

Indefatigable indie filmmaker Henry Jaglom (Queen of the Lot, Hollywood Dreams) is represented once again at WorldFest/Houston, this time with an ensemble dramedy that, as its title might imply, deals with menopause. In a broader sense, however, it also deals with other life-changing events at a local TV station where an economic downturn may lead to personnel changes. The cast includes Tanya Frederick, Michael Imperioli, Frances Fisher, Corey Feldman, Mary Roberts, Gregory Harrison and longtime Jaglom collaborator Zack Norman. (7 p.m. Friday)

A Conversation with Robert Loggia

The esteemed character actor, winner of this year’s WorldFest/Houston Lifetime Achievement Award, sits down for a Q&A with yours truly for a freewheeling chat about career highlights. (His, not mine.) Don’t be surprised if titles such as Big, Scarface, Independence Day and Jagged Edge pop up during the conversation. Hey, who knows? I might even try to slip in a question about one of my all-time favorite TV shows, T.H.E. Cat. (10 a.m. Saturday at Crown Plaza Hotel, Reliant Park.)

Are You a Pilgrim?

Every year, thousands of hearty souls test their endurance and express their faith on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage, an 800-kilometer trek to the burial site of Apostle St. James in Compostela, Spain. (Gosh, and I complain when my wife wakes me up early to attend Easter Sunday mass.) Gian D. Ceccato, a 71-year-old industrial engineer, made this documentary about his own experiences while on the long-distance journey of self-discovery. (5 p.m. Saturday)

Fade In

It’s tempting to surmise that this smartly funny short written and directed by former Houstonian Gail Gilchriest – a screenwriter (My Dog Skip) and TV staff writer/co-producer (TNT’s Dallas) – is just a teeny bit autobiographical. The 10-minute amusement – which will kick off a WorldFest matinee program of comic shorts – details the procrastination of a blocked writer (Julie White, Shia LaBeouf’s mom in the Transformer movies) who’s supposed to be working on a past-due script, but can’t help finding other things to do. Think of it a dramatization of Dorothy Parker’s revealing witticism: “I hate writing. I love having written.” (1 p.m. Sunday)

A Time in Quichi

The latest from acclaimed Taiwanese filmmaker Chang Tso-chi strikes echoes of Hou Hsiao Hsien’s classic A Summer at Grandpa’s (winner of a special jury award at the 1985 Houston Film Festival) with its coming-of-age story about a neglected 10-year-old boy whose soon-to-divorce parents ship him off to spend an extended holiday in the countryside with his widowed grandfather. Far away from the big city, without access to the Internet or video games, Guan Xiaobao (Yang Liang-yu) must make new friends to make life bearable in his unfamiliar surroundings. (5 p.m. Sunday)

Texas native Mario Kyprianou takes a comedic approach to dramatizing a bizarre chapter of Lone Star State history in The Republic of Rick..

TheRepublicofRick.com

Texas native Mario Kyprianou takes a comedic approach to dramatizing a bizarre chapter of Lone Star State history in The Republic of Rick..

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RIP, Chuck

Actor Chuck Norris, star of 'Walker, Texas Ranger,' dies at 86

Courtesy photo

Chuck Norris, star of "Walker, Texas Ranger," has died at 86.

Chuck Norris, the martial arts grandmaster and action star whose roles in “Walker, Texas Ranger” and other television shows and movies made him an iconic tough guy — sparking internet parodies and adoration from presidents — has died at 86.

Norris died Thursday, in what his family described as a “sudden passing.”

“While we would like to keep the circumstances private, please know that he was surrounded by his family and was at peace,” the family said in a statement posted to social media.

Before he would become a star in movies and on TV, Norris was wildly successful in competitive martial arts. He was a six-time undefeated World Professional Middleweight Karate champion. He also founded his own Korean-based American hard style of karate, known sometimes as Chun Kuk Do, and the United Fighting Arts Federation, which has awarded more than 3,300 Chuck Norris System black belts worldwide. Black Belt magazine ultimately credited Norris in its hall of fame with holding a 10th degree black belt, the highest possible honor.

Born Carlos Ray Norris in Ryan, Oklahoma, on March 10, 1940, he grew up poor. At age 12, he moved with his family to Torrance, California, and joined the U.S. Air Force after high school, in 1958. It was during a deployment to Korea that he started training in martial arts, including judo and Tang Soo Do.

“I went out for gymnastics and football at North Torrance high,” he told The Associated Press in 1982. “I played some football, but I also spent a lot of time on the bench. I was never really athletic until I was in the service in Korea.”

After he was honorably discharged in 1962, he worked as a file clerk for Northrop Aircraft and applied to be a police officer, but was put on a waitlist. Meanwhile, he opened a martial arts studio, which expanded to a chain, with students including such stars as Bob Barker, Priscilla Presley, Donnie and Marie Osmond, and Steve McQueen, whom he later credited with encouraging him to get into acting.

From one studio to another
Norris made his film debut as an uncredited bodyguard in the 1968 movie “The Wrecking Crew,” which included a fight with Dean Martin. He had also crossed paths with Bruce Lee in martial arts circles. Their friendship — sometimes, as sparring partners — led to an iconic faceoff in the 1972 movie “Return of the Dragon,” in which Lee fights and kills Norris' character in Rome's Colosseum.

He went on to act in more than 20 movies, such as “Missing in Action,” “The Delta Force” and “Sidekicks.”

“I wanted to project a certain image on the screen of a hero. I had seen a lot of anti-hero movies in which the lead was neither good nor bad. There was no one to root for,” Norris said in 1982.

In 1993, he took on his most famed role, as a crime-fighting lawman in TV's “Walker, Texas Ranger.” The show ran for nine seasons, and in 2010, then-Gov. Rick Perry awarded him the title of honorary Texas Ranger. The Texas Senate later named him an honorary Texan.

“It’s not violence for violence’s sake, with no moral structure,” Norris told the AP in 1996, speaking about the show. “You try to portray the proper meaning of what it’s about — fighting injustice with justice, good vs. bad. … It’s entertaining for the whole family.”

Norris also made a surprise comedic appearance as a decisive judge in the final match of the 2004 movie “Dodgeball.” He only on occasion has taken acting roles in recent years, including 2012's “The Expendables 2” and the 2024 sci-fi action movie “Agent Recon.” He's due to appear in “Zombie Plane,” an upcoming film starring Vanilla Ice.

Chuck Norris: the man, the meme, the legend
It was around the time of “Dodgeball” that his toughman image became the stuff of legend, literally: “Chuck Norris Facts” went viral online with such wildly hyperbolic statements as, “Chuck Norris had a staring contest with the sun -- and won,” and, “They wanted to put Chuck Norris on Mt. Rushmore, but the granite wasn’t tough enough for his beard.”

Norris ultimately embraced the absurdity of the meme craze, putting together “The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book,” which combined his favorites with supposedly true stories and the codes he aimed to live by. He would also write books on martial arts instruction, a memoir, political takes, Civil War-era historical fiction and more.

“To some who know little of my martial arts or film careers but perhaps grew up with 'Walker, Texas Ranger,' it seems that I have become a somewhat mythical superhero icon,” Norris wrote in the forward to the fact book. “I am flattered and humbled.”

That book raised money for a nonprofit he founded with President George H.W. Bush that promoted martial arts instruction for kids.

The intentionally outlandish statements featured in the 2008 Republican presidential primary, when Norris endorsed Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and shot an ad playing on the “Chuck Norris facts.”

President Donald Trump's supporters later promoted Trump Facts in the same vein, and political pundits tried it as well, describing the commander-in-chief's decision to seize Venezuela's sitting president, Nicolas Maduro, as a “Chuck Norris Moment,” and its initial effect on oil prices a “Chuck Norris Premium.”

Norris was outspoken about his Christian beliefs and his support for gun rights, and backed political candidates for years — he even went skydiving with Bush for the former president's 80th birthday. As for Trump, Norris endorsed him in the 2016 general election and wrote guest columns praising him without explicitly endorsing him the in the days before the 2020 and 2024 elections.

Norris has five surviving children: stunt performers Mike and Eric with his late ex-wife Dianne Holechek, twins Dakota and Danilee with his wife Gena Norris, and Dina, the result of an early 1960s “one-night stand” revealed in his autobiography.

Norris celebrated his birthday just over a week before his death, posting a sparring video on Instagram.

“I don't age. I level up,” he wrote.

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