Banana Don’s Slice of Americana – “Out Of The Furnace”

Th new movie "Out Of The Furnace" opens nationwide this Friday. Here are three reasons to go see it:

1. An all star cast including former Batman Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Forest Whitaker and Zoe Saldana from Avatar.

2. It's written and directed by Scott Cooper, who also wrote and directed "Crazy Heart", a GREAT movie, starring Jeff Bridges.

3. One of my best friends (and he's from Michigan), Stoney (the credits will call him Charles) Richards, plays a prison chaplain in "Out Of The Furnace". He's played a lot of smaller parts in movies and TV shows for years ("Punchline, Predator 2, St. Elsewhere) Stoney and I worked together on the radio in Pittsburgh and he still does the afternoon show on the big country station there - Y108.

Below is a picture of us taken in St. Louis on a road trip Stoney and I took to Superbowl XXX, from Pittsburgh to Phoenix, AZ. That's Stoney in the middle, with another friend of mine, Guy Phillips, on the left. I used to work with Guy in St. Louis.

BTW, I've worked in radio for 36 years now, with some very funny people. These are the two funniest people I've ever worked with.

So go see the movie and help out a fellow country DJ and Michigander. Just got a text from Stoney saying the movie is "dark and gritty but very good. You'll love the hunting scenes."