Posts filed under 'actors'
October 29th, 2009
Here, via Cinematical, is a clip of Kevin Spacey showing his surprising talent for impressions. He’s well known for nailing a dead-on Christopher Walken, but he also does a pretty solid Jimmy Stewart, a so-so Johnny Carson and a great Marlon Brando. Too bad he didn’t do his William Hurt here — he’s one of the only guys I’ve ever seen imitate Hurt, and he’s dead solid perfect.
Spacey’s new movie, THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS, opens next week.
October 28th, 2009
Have you ever dreamed of seeing Adam Sandler playing both the male and female roles in a romantic comedy?
If so, I’m happy to tell you that your sick, twisted dream is about to come true. From Variety…
Adam Sandler is climbing up the hill for Columbia Pictures. The actor will next star in the romantic comedy JACK AND JILL and produce via his Happy Madison shingle. Sandler will play Jack as well as twin sister Jill.
OK, since the characters Sandler is playing are brother and sister, we can be pretty sure they’re not the romantic couple at the center of the story ( I sure hope not!). But after admiring Sandler’s performance in PUNCH DRUNK LOVE and seeing him stretch a bit as an actor in FUNNY PEOPLE, it’s a disappointment to see him fall back into the same dopey comic ruts he’s been stuck in for years. I mean, surely the guy has enough money by now, right?
Oh well. At least it’s being produced by the same guy who brought us PAUL BLART: MALL COP. That means it has to be good, right? Right?
October 21st, 2009
The Onion AV Club has interviewed Bronson Pinchot for its “Random Roles” feature, and the actor best known as Balki has some very interesting things to say about his fellow celebs. For example, there’s this about Denzel Washington, whom he worked with on COURAGE UNDER FIRE…
That was a low point, because Denzel Washington was behind the incredibly cowardly bull— of “This is my character, not me.” He was really abusive to me and everybody on that movie, and his official explanation was that his character didn’t like me, but it was a dreadful experience.
Then, there’s this about Eddie Murphy, whom Pinchot worked with in the BEVERLY HILLS COP movies…
Eddie was going through his period at the time of doing movies that were not hits, and he was very low-spirited, low-energy. I said to him, “All anyone ever wants to know when they meet me is what you’re like.” And he said, “I bet they don’t ask that anymore.”
And finally, this bit about Tom Cruise, whom Pinchot worked with on RISKY BUSINESS, before Cruise was one of the biggest stars in the world…
We thought Tom [Cruise] was the biggest bore on the face of the Earth., … He was tense and made constant, constant unrelated homophobic comments, like, “You want some ice cream, in case there are no gay people there?” I mean, his lingo was larded with the most… There was no basis for it. It was like, “It’s a nice day, I’m glad there are no gay people standing here.” Very, very strange.
On the other hand, he has very nice things to say about nice guy Tom Hanks…
He is a wonderful and genuine and lovely and down-to-earth person. I don’t know how he does that. I first met him when he was doing his spate of not-successful movies. There was a period in the ’80s when he did THE MAN WITH ONE RED SHOW and JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO and all those movies that weren’t doing well, and that’s when I first met him, and I would run into him on and off over the years. Then two years ago, I did a play with his wife, and there he was at his absolute height. He’s always been a delightful person, so it’s not really true that big stars need to be driven and repulsive, because he’s anything but.
Like the AV Club’s interview with Teri Garr a while ago, Pinchot offers a fascinating look at life in showbiz. Read the whole thing here.
September 23rd, 2009
This is just a commercial for an investment firm, but I think any movie fan out there is bound to find it spellbinding.
September 22nd, 2009
This week’s Movie Man column takes a look at JCVD, a surprising little movie starring none other than “The Muscles from Brussels” himself, Jean-Claude Van Damme. It’s very good — mostly thanks to the astonishingly good performance by Van Damme.
Here’s a link to the written review…
And, if you prefer your movie commentary with moving images and sound, here’s the video version…
September 17th, 2009
Henry Gibson, who died earlier this week at the age of 73, had what can safely be called a wide-ranging career. He was a regular on the TV show LAUGH-IN, made memorable appearances in Robert Altman’s NASHVILLE and THE LONG GOODBYE, and played an ominous barfly in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 Altmanesque drama, MAGNOLIA. He guest-starred on dozens of TV shows, from THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW to QUINCY to BOSTON LEGAL, and even had a role in Jerry Lewis’ THE NUTTY PROFESSOR, where he played a student named “Gibson.”
But here in Illinois, he’ll always be best known for this scene from THE BLUES BROTHERS…
August 26th, 2009
Via a link on Hollywood Elsewhere, here’s a short clip of Ben Stiller explaining the concept of Twitter to Mickey Rooney.
I have to say, I pretty much agree with the Mick on this one — except for that bizarre “don’t hit ‘er, twitter” gag at the end. What’s up with that, Mick?
August 18th, 2009
Over at his News from Me blog, Mark Evanier brings news that Sammy Petrillo died Saturday at the age of 75.
Now, unless you’re a huge Jerry Lewis nerd (like me), you’ve probably never heard of Sammy Petrillo. But believe it or not, during the height of Jerry and Dean’s popularity in the 1950s, Petrillo made a living acting as a Jerry Lewis imitator. He worked with a number of Dean Martin-esque crooner/actors, most notably a guy named Duke Mitchell, and starred in a genuinely terrible (yet somehow fascinating) bit of low budget schlock called — believe it or not — BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA. Here’s the trailer, which should give you a taste of Sammy’s uncanny resemblance to a young Jerry Lewis.
Sammy didn’t have much of a career after splitting with Mitchell, but I find it amazing that Jerry Lewis was once so popular that someone would steal his schtick, lock stock and barrel, and use it in nightclubs and low-budget movies. Duke Mitchell, in a way, had an even stranger career. Aside from BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA, one of the only other movies on his imdb.com resume is the 1978 cult crime classic MASSACRE MAFIA STYLE, which he wrote, produced, directed and starred in — and composed the music for.
August 12th, 2009
… In the New York Times. And she has some interesting things to say.
Among them, there’s this…
Most everyone knows that John retreated from Hollywood and became a sort of J.D. Salinger for Generation X. But really, sometime before then, he had retreated from us and from the kinds of movies that he had made with us. I still believe that the Hughes films of which both Michael and I were a part (specifically SIXTEEN CANDLES and THE BREAKFAST CLUB) were the most deeply personal expressions of John’s. In retrospect, I feel that we were sort of avatars for him, acting out the different parts of his life — improving upon it, perhaps. In those movies, he always got the last word. He always got the girl.
She’s right. John Hughes made other fine films — PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES, for example, and the underrated SHE’S HAVING A BABY. But even his other famous high school film, FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF, doesn’t have the same emotional kick that SIXTEEN CANDLES and THE BREAKFAST CLUB do. They just seem more serious and thoughtful, somehow, even though they both have some moments of (very) broad comedy.
In fact, looking at those movies objectively, I’d say PLANES and FERRIS are better movies — sharper, smarter and directed with more style and snap. They’re a lot more focused and seem more aware of what they want to be. But SIXTEEN CANDLES and BREAKFAST CLUB, like Ringwald says, are more personal. They’re sloppier, less focused and, as often as not, they fall on their faces. But that’s why they still work, and still connect with high schoolers and people who haven’t been in high school a long, long time (I graduated in 1985, the same year THE BREAKFAST CLUB hit theaters). On some level, they feel like they were made not only for high schoolers, but by a high schooler.
And judging by what Ringwald says in her perceptive piece, maybe they were.
Read the rest here.
July 28th, 2009
Ten years ago, Jake Lloyd played a young Darth Vader in the first of the STAR WARS prequels, THE PHANTOM MENACE. Ever wonder what happened to him?
Well, here he is to catch you up on what he’s been doing. Take it away, Jake….
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