Posts filed under 'Celebs'
November 21st, 2008
I have no idea if anyone reading this blog is in the New York area, but if you are, you might want to stop by Manhattan’s Museum of the Moving Image Saturday night at 7 for this event, where name-dropper extraordinaire Peter Bogdanovich interviews … drumroll please… the legendary Mr. Jerry Lewis.
Tickets are $48 bucks, but I’d pay double that if I were anywhere near Manhattan. I saw Jerry Lewis speak (for free!) three years ago during the Chicago stop of his book tour for DEAN AND ME: A LOVE STORY, and it was one of the most amazing nights of my life. I won’t go into details here except to say that the event was cut short, there were angry protesters in the crowd, and Jerry flew off the handle in a way you almost never see celebrities lose control of their public persona.
I did write an extensive description of the event on my own blog right after it happened (better to capture the craziness of the evening). If you’re interested in the juicy details, you can read all about it here.
October 15th, 2008
Apparently, director Guy Ritchie and ’80s singer Madonna are getting a divorce after nearly eight years of marriage. According to reports, the couple is worth more than $500 million, and most of that comes from Madonna’s side of the bank account.
Before they hooked up, Ritchie was best known as the director of such cult hits (but not blockbusters) as LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS and SNATCH. Since their marriage, Ritchie has released 2005’s REVOLVER (which got terrible reviews and died at the box office) this year’s ROCKNROLLA (slightly better reviews, still dead at the B.O) and, of course, the 2002 “comedy” SWEPT AWAY which (a) starred his wife, (b) died at the box office, and (c) got a whopping FIVE PERCENT score over at Rotten Tomatoes. (To put this in perspective, that’s the exact same score the Paris Hilton movie THE HOTTIE & THE NOTTIE received.
So what’s my point? My point is this: Now that Ritchie and Madonna are headed for splitsville, maybe Ritchie can go back to making movies people — and by that I mean me, specifically — want to see. He’s currently filming a Sherlock Holmes movie with Robert Downey Jr., so maybe this’ll be something interesting, something that showcases his distinct talents. I’m not saying LOCK, STOCK and SNATCH are great art, but they are imaginative crime movies that put some invigorating twists on the old genre.
Just check out this card game from LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS, where our hero realizes he’s made a horrible mistake and The Stooges’ song “I Wanna Be Your Dog” kicks in on the soundtrack. The feeling of the world slipping out from under his feet is palpable, and the music is the perfect accompaniment. It’s one of the best uses of a pop song I’ve ever seen in a movie…
… and I want to see more stuff like that. C’mon, Guy — time to get back to work.
October 15th, 2008
It’s been a few weeks since Paul Newman died, but here’s one last heartfelt tribute…
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The written version, with a bit less action on the ice, can be found here.
October 6th, 2008
Not only is Jeff Bridges one of the best (and most underrated) actors working today, he’s laid-back enough to not be embarrassed by his early work. As you may remember, one of Bridges early roles was in the 1982 film TRON. Now, I love TRON as much as any movie geek who came of age in the 1980s can love a movie, but even I realize it’s essentially a kids film, and not an especially good one at that. What makes TRON special is the truly groundbreaking special effects work that went into creating a world inside a computers, way back in the days when computers were something mysterious and not that thing that’s sitting in the family room of every home in America.
Bridges played Flynn, a proto-slacker who developed the “hit” video game Space Paranoids, had it stolen away by an evil corporate type and spent his post-programming days running a popular arcade. The script is serviceable at best, but Bridges (as always) brings energy and enthusiasm to his performance. Special effects aside — and they are pretty damn special, even 26 years later — he pretty much makes the movie.
The good news? He’s coming back for the sequel, TR2N (dumb name, I agree). There’s not much info about it yet, but Bridges did talk a bit with The Guardian, and he seems to be having fun with the whole concept:
”[It’s] another unique, wild experience that was too good to turn down. Engaging in that world again feels just like it did all that time ago. Basically, I’m still a child, I love being childlike, and here was another chance to play with these crazy toys. And the cutting-edge technology makes it exciting.”
With Bridges on board, is it possible Cindy Morgan (best known as Lacey Underalls in CADDYSHACK) might return to the world of TRON as well? Stay tuned!
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September 3rd, 2008
Very interesting– if not overly cheery — profile of Alec Baldwin over at the New Yorker. Sure, these days he’s best known for his excellent comedy work on 30 ROCK, but the man has a movie resume few actors can rival. However, he’s had his rough spots, too. Here’s his own summary of his work after starring in THE MARRYING MAN with future wife (and ex wife) Kim Basinger…
“After that, I did ‘Glengarry Glen Ross,’ where I only had a very small role, regardless of how appreciative people are of it. Then I did ‘Prelude to a Kiss’ ”—based on a very successful theatrical production, in which Baldwin starred—“and that was a bomb. In 1992, I did ‘Malice,’ with Nicole Kidman. And that movie was a very cookie-cutter thriller. It did pretty well. In ’93, I did the remake of ‘The Getaway,’ with my wife. That was a bomb. I did ‘The Shadow.’ That was a bomb. In ’94, I did ‘Heaven’s Prisoners.’ That was a bomb. In ’95, I did ‘The Juror.’ That was a bomb. In ’96, I did ‘The Edge’ and ‘Ghosts of Mississippi.’ And that’s when you hear the sound of the wheels of the train screeching to a halt. “
Like every other guy my age, I love Baldwin’s performance as Mitch and Murray’s axe man in GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS, and I actually thought he was good in THE SHADOW and very good in MALICE . His speech in that movie, where he explains that, as a surgeon, he is God, is the film’s highlight. Here it is …
Trust me. It’s hilarious.
July 22nd, 2008
Most celebrity interviews are nothing but pre-packaged, pre-approved fluff, aimed solely at hyping whatever current project the celeb happens to be involved with.
But not this one.
Teri Garr, who has co-starred in such classics as YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, THE CONVERSATION and TOOTSIE dishes the dirt on everyone in this Onion AV Club interview, including Elvis Presley, John Denver, Dustin Hoffman, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and the late Sydney Pollack. It’s not exactly mean, but it is refreshingly honest. And, as a bonus, you learn that Cher’s wigmaker inspired the accent of Inga, her character in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN.
Seriously, read it.
