Category: Actors (Page 40 of 343)

Thursday night trailer time: “Drive Angry” (updated)

October 15, 2010 /

Aka “Just Another Wednesday Night on the 405” as Nicholas Cage gets himself a few days off from hell to rescue his baby daughter from the no-doubt Satanic cult that killed his wife.

And now we know what happened to the brutal rapist, Zed (Peter Green), after Bruce Willis dispatched him in “Pulp Fiction.” He went to hell, worked hard, networked appropriately, got promoted to an executive position of some responsibility. Nice to see a guy do well. Or, maybe that’s what happened to Green’s creepy Amway selling policeman from “Go.” UPDATE: Comment deleted due to a serious case of vaguely similar looking actor confusion between the very talented and similarly creepy Peter Green and William Fichtner, as pointed out by my colleague, Jason Zingale in comments below.

H/t Bloody Disgusting.

Action Movies, Actors, External Entertainment, External Movies, Movies, News, Trailers

“Hey, did you hear Obama’s gonna kill our grandmas?”

October 14, 2010 /

Jack Black is…Nathan Spewman, Professional Mis-Informant!

Or, at least, that’s the role he’s playing in a new series of videos that he and America Ferrera have filmed in order to show their support for HCAN (Healthcare For America NOW).

I’m very much of the “politics, schmolitics: funny is funny” mindset, so I’d laugh at these videos whether I agreed with the message it’s spreading or not, but the fact that they’re arguably the funniest thing Jack Black’s done since “Tropic Thunder” doesn’t hurt, either. Unsurprisingly, though, many are too busy grousing about the overall message of the videos to acknowledge their value as entertainment.

In an article on FoxNews.com, Patrick Dorinson, GOP communications strategist and founder/CEO of Dorinson Communications, was quoted as saying, “In 20 years, no one will remember these two ‘stars’ ever existed, but the debt we will pay for ObamaCare will still be here.” Having never really watched “Ugly Betty,” I can’t speak to Ferrara’s chances at career longevity, but given that Black has already been in the business for two decades, I think it’s fair to say that Dorison was really just scrambling to come up with something that would grab people’s attention.

Yeah, I know, there are people out there who really are stupid enough to vote for or against something just because Jack Black says they should. I’m not one of them, though. I’m just enjoying the laughs.

P.S. Don’t tell anybody, but Obama’s the Devil.

Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, Humor, News, Video

Going back to the future re: the mysteries of casting

October 13, 2010 /

There’s a clip from the upcoming “Back to the Future” trilogy anniversary Blu-Ray that’s been circulating that I think is revealing. It deals with the semi-legendary firing of Eric Stoltz after a shocking five weeks of principal photography (some films are finished in three or four weeks) and his replacement by Michael J. Fox back in 1985. It’s fairly self-explanatory.

I personally don’t think “Back to the Future” is remotely a “classic,” but it is 2/3 of a great screwball comedy. (I didn’t care for the science fiction portions of the film.) However, it really looks here like it wouldn’t have worked at all with Eric Stoltz. Obviously, we’re not seeing nearly enough, but these very brief clips were obviously selected because something is just clearly off and perhaps not only Stoltz’s unfortunate hairstyle — which might not have been his selection.

The irony is here that, as much as I like and admire Michael J. Fox as an accomplished comic actor and a public figure, in terms of sheer thespian ability, I’d say Stoltz is very likely the better actor — though being an actor and being a star are not the same gig. He’s certainly shown plenty in the way of versatility over the years and you can’t say he can’t be funny, especially given his brilliant turn as the world’s most relatable heroin pusher in “Pulp Fiction.” On the other hand, Fox clearly has something that Stoltz lacks in terms of being Marty McFly. It’s not just maybe knowing his way around a straight-up gag a bit better than Stoltz might have at the time, it’s an “everyman” quality, I guess. As the deformed Rocky in Peter Bogdanovich’s “Mask,” that very same year, Stoltz had that everyman quality, but I guess with his own face, it just evaporates and that slightly sarcastic demeanor of his can’t be entirely hidden without facial prosthetics.

Anyhow, just another reminder that “best actor” and the “right actor” are not the same thing.

h/t Michael Speier.

Actors, External Entertainment, External Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies, Sci-Fi Movies

A roundtable chat with Luke Evans and Dominic Cooper

October 12, 2010 /

“Tamara Drewe,” the latest from the brilliantly versatile non-auteur directing genius Stephen Frears, is a relationship comedy with tragic overtones based on Posy Simmonds’ graphic novel of the same name, in turn inspired by Thomas Hardy’s 18th century novel, Far From the Madding Crowd. The film pits three not-quite-alpha males against each other for the attention of its mercurial and not always lovable title character, played by the beautiful Gemma Arterton. Two of them, fast rising up-and-comers Luke Evans and Dominic Cooper, were set to meet at L.A.’s Four Seasons with a dozen or so entertainment journalists.

It was therefore more than a little bit amusing when the two fictionally competitive actors entered wearing near identical high-end v-neck fashion undershirts and tight-fitting low-rise pants. It was an apparent complete coincidence or perhaps not so random given the popularity of this ultra-casual look among today’s mod set. In any case, Cooper compared their combined look to “a boy band.”

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Dominic Cooper made his first big splash in Alan Bennett’s Tony winning, “The History Boys,” starring in both the London and Broadway productions in 2004 and 2005. His film career, however, goes as far back as a bit part in another adaptation of a British graphic novel: the Hughes Brothers’ 2001 version of Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s “From Hell.” Other key parts include a memorable role as disreputable Peter Saarsgard’s business partner/buddy in “An Education” and the lovestruck movie fiance to former real-life girlfriend Amanda Seyfried in “Mamma Mia!” Notable upcoming roles include playing the part of Howard Stark (Tony’s future dad) in the largely World War II-set “Captain America: The First Avenger.” In “Tamara Drewe,” Cooper plays self-involved rock drummer Ben Sergeant of the band Swipe, with whom the gorgeous protagonist dallies for large portions of the film.

With a background in such musicals as “Avenue Q” and the “remixed” “Rent” on the London stage, Luke Evans, who plays all-around good guy and potential once-and-future Tamara Drewe paramour Andy Cobb, has found his way into a number of big budget films, including playing Apollo in “Clash of the Titans” and an upcoming role as no-less than Zeus in Tarsem Singh’s “Immortals.” He also recently completed the role of Aramis in Paul W.S. Anderson’s 3-D version of the oft-filmed “The Three Musketeers.”

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Action Movies, Actors, Celebrities, External Entertainment, External Movies, Interviews, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies

A roundtable chat with Gemma Arterton of “Tamara Drewe”

October 10, 2010 /

There’s no getting around it. Gemma Arterton is extremely attractive and also striking, and even more so in person. That’s especially so if you’ve found yourself seated right next to her at a roundtable with about 11 or 12 other writers and the prior two males you’ve sat next to at that table (no names) seemed as if they might have recently rolled out of bed and thrown on a gallon of expensive aftershave/cologne. The utterly tasteful Ms. Arterton, however, was appropriately dressed and scented, though she did remove her huge and apparently uncomfortable pumps to reveal perfectly painted toenails.

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“Tamara Drewe,” a romantic farce with tragic overtones that opened this week for its initial run in four theaters in L.A. and New York, stars Arterton as an autobiographical newspaper columnist whose recent plastic surgery has transformed her from large-nosed semi-ugly duckling to tiny-nosed brunette bombshell. It’s a comedy with tragic overtones drawn from the the graphic novel of the same name by cartoonist Posy Simmonds, which is itself a sort of homage to Thomas Hardy’s “Far from the Madding Crowd.” The film was directed by Stephen Frears, a director noted for tremendous versatility who confuses us critics by changing his style with just about every film. His output has ranged from from such recently enjoyable, grandma-friendly arthouse fare as “The Queen” and “Mrs. Henderson Presents,” to low down tales of crime and skullduggery like my personal favorite, 1984’s “The Hit.”

I was not blown away by much about this particular movie, however, including parts of Arterton’s performance, but that’s me. It has fared reasonably well over at Rotten Tomatoes and may well please other fans of this sort of English countryside comedy, which I usually enjoy myself. Ms. Arterton has also generated good reviews in “The Disappearance of Alice Creed,” as well as co-starring in “Clash of the Titans,” “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” and as Strawberry Fields in “Quantum of Solace” alongside Daniel Craig’s 007, forever tagging herself with the sobriquet “Bond girl.” Still, at 24, she has a maturity and self-possession about her that, at the very least, makes her more of a Bond woman. Or maybe it’s just that she’s tall.

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Actors, Actresses, Celebrities, External Entertainment, External Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies

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