Category: Celebs

The 50 Greatest Comedies

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Empire Magazine took a look at The 50 Greatest Comedies.  Using just their list, here are my top three with their rankings & comments as well as mine…

12. Dr Strangelove

Stanley Kubrick‘s jet black comedy famously stars Peter Sellersplaying three separate roles and wildly improvising in all of them. He’s the buttoned-down British Group Captain Lionel Mandrake; the ineffectual US President Merkin Muffley; and the mechanically-armed cartoon ex-Nazi Dr Strangelove (real name “Merkwürdigliebe”) who can’t quite get out of the habit of calling the president “Mein Fuhrer”. Sellers was also supposed to play Texan Air Force Major TJ “King” Kong, but injured himself and couldn’t work in the fighter plane’s cockpit (he was replaced by Slim Pickens). Devastatingly deadpan, this has the darkest of all imaginable endings, which is all the more impressive given that it originally climaxed with a pie fight. Kubrick, wisely, thunk again.

Dr. Strangelove is the perfect mix of comedy and drama with a strong message that will leave you laughing at the absurdity of nuclear escalation.  Dr. Strangelove is played straight which makes it all the funnier.  Some comedies aren’t as funny on repeat viewings but Dr. Strangelove offers increased pleasure with each visit. And remember, “There’s no fighting in the war room!”

35. Young Frankenstein

Slap bang in the middle of Mel Brooks‘ 1970s run of movie parodies, Young Frankenstein is obsessive in its devotion to the Universal take on Frankenstein’s monster (down to using the same props and lab equipment as the 1931 film) but also willing to go to any length for a gag. Physical humour brings the wordplay to life, and there’s even a legendary dance number in ‘Puttin’ On The Ritz’. Brooks and co had so much fun shooting that the writer-director even added scenes near the end of production just so they could keep on going, resulting in a disastrously long first cut that required a marathon editing session to bring down to the swift, 106 minute final running time.

Young Frankenstein is the perfect merging of two genres (horror and comedy) to create a classic.  Brooks was at his best with a cast in sync with his vision.  Blazing Saddles was released around the same time as Young Frankenstein, but while Blazing Saddles seems a bit dated, Young Frankenstein is timeless.

34. Step Brothers

Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly play pampered fortysomethings whose juvenile worlds collide when their single parents get married, in this classic Adam McKay comedy. Often overlooked as the difficult third album following Anchorman and Talladega Nights, it can actually hold its head high in that company, and Reilly is great Ferrell foil. The pair are currently at work on Etan Cohen’s Holmes And Watson.

I absolutely love this movie. This pairing of Ferrell and Reilly is perfect. So many laughs and stuff that would just get eye-rolls from other actors.  Sure, I’ve seen this same pairing in other comedies, and they’re ok.  Step Brothers rules.

Since we’re talking comedies, I have to give shout-outs to 3 movies that I saw in crowded theaters and the audiences (myself included) roared with laughter throughout the viewings:

  • Airplane (the original)
  • 10 (yeah, with Bo Derek and Dudley Moore)
  • Richard Pryor Live in Concert

I’ve seen them at home and without the large audience, they just weren’t quite as funny.

Sylvester Stallone’s Career Tells a Story of Going the Distance

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Illustration by Agata Marszałek

Matt Singer at The Dissolve takes a look at Sly Stallone in Sylvester Stallone’s Career Tells a Story of Going the Distance.   Here are just a couple of quotes that stuck out…

… no matter how badly the odds are stacked against him, Rocky just won’t quit. For him, survival is just as good a victory as a knockout.

The same goes for Stallone.

And if THIS next quote doesn’t get you to want to read the full piece, I’m surprised you read this far.

(Sly)’s the only man alive who’s had a No. 1 box-office hit in each of five consecutive decades. It hasn’t always been easy; after his remarkable early success and a long run as one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood, he bottomed out in the dregs of direct-to-video thrillers. But years after his action-hero peak, Stallone returned to his roots and sparked one of the most remarkable comebacks in movie history. When things looked their bleakest, he rallied for one more climb up the Art Museum steps. This is the story of how Sylvester Stallone went the distance.

 

Bruce Lee Facts You May Not Know

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In 2018, Jacob Oiler and SYFYWire presented From Bruce Lee’s Big Break to His Tragic Death: 8 Gems Gleaned from a New Biography.  Although the article is no longer available, here are three of my favorites from it…

Lee likely died from heat stroke.

While there were many, many versions of Lee’s controversial death (in the bed of his mistress, Betty Ting Pei, no less), the typical assumption that an allergic reaction to a painkiller was the cause of his “death by misadventure” ignores the recent strides medicine has made in diagnosing heat stroke. A month before his death, Lee collapsed under similar circumstances, feeling dizzy and having seizures under hot and sweaty conditions. These symptoms, along with highly elevated body temperature (which past diagnosis had erroneously categorized as feverishness) and the fact that Lee had sweat glands surgically removed from his armpits weeks before his first collapse, point to one of the leading causes of death for young athletic men. That Lee was known to overwork, lose weight, and lose sleep when making films only bolsters the case that his death on July 20, 1973 (the hottest day during that Hong Kong summer), was likely caused by heat stroke.

Roman Polanski once suspected Lee of killing Sharon Tate.

Lee was a fight choreographer for some of Hollywood’s biggest names in the ‘70s and a regular in their party scene. He hobnobbed with Steve McQueen, Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, and James Coburn. So when Charles Manson’s followers horrifically killed Tate, Sebring, and three others at a house Polanski was renting, the tragedy struck especially close to home for Lee. Tate and Polanski were clients, while Sebring was one of Lee’s closest friends in town. But when Lee mentioned to Polanski that he lost his glasses — the director knew that an unidentified pair of horn-rims were found at the house — Polanski grew suspicious and took the actor to buy a new pair. But when Lee’s prescription didn’t match that of the evidence at the scene, Polanski thankfully relented.

Batman and a hairdresser were responsible for Lee’s early Hollywood career.

Jay Sebring, Hollywood hairdresser and karate enthusiast, had seen Lee perform a controversial demonstration and speech at the 1964 Long Beach International Karate Championship. He also cut the hair of William Dozier, a TV producer looking to cast Charlie Chan’s son for a prospective James Bond-esque show titled Number One Son. Dozier loved Lee for the role and was producing the longshot Batman show at the time. The success of the campy superhero adaptation would determine whether the studio accepted his next project… and Lee. Batman was a hit and, though Number One Son was nixed, the success of Adam West’s detective meant that superheroes were hot — and The Green Hornet wasn’t far behind. That meant Lee could be Kato, who crossed over onto Batman for a few episodes. Lee and Burt Ward (Robin) even lived in the same apartment complex.

Jack Carter & John Wick by Andy Bennett!

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Last week I shared Andy Bennett’s riff on a Jack Carter and Lono from 100 Bullets.  I liked Andy’s work on it so much, I’ve ordered a Jack Carter & John Wick piece for pick-up at HeroesCon this year.  Although Heroes is still a couple weeks away, Andy shared with me the piece that will be waiting for pick-up.  Yowzers! (And don’t you just love the nod to Tango & Cash?)

If you’d like to see more art from Andy, you can by clicking here.

10 Huge Action Hollywood Action Heroes in Tiny Early Television Roles

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Heroes & Icons present 10 Huge Action Hollywood Action Heroes in Tiny Early Television Roles.  Here are three of my favorites…

SYLVESTER STALLONE ON ‘POLICE STORY’

Rocky and the Rifleman, together? Now that’s mucho macho. In “The Cutting Edge,” Chuck Connors plays veteran cop Sgt. Ed Peebles. Naturally, he is teamed with a young partner, Elmore Caddo, played by Sly Stallone in his first television role. Airing a year before Rocky hit screens, the episode included a prescient line of dialogue. “They actually call me ‘Rocky,'” his character says. “I prefer that.”

 

BRUCE WILLIS ON ‘MIAMI VICE’

Moonlighting made Willis an immediate star in 1985. His resume was light leading up to that breakout role. A year earlier, he earned his first television credit in a very early episode of Miami Vice, “No Exit.” With pleated pants, puffy blouses and wavy hair, he oozed ’80s style — and made a pretty sleazy arms dealer.

 

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER ON ‘STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO’

The cult film Hercules in New York introduced the Austrian strongman to American audiences in 1970, but Arnie mostly kept to flexing competitions the rest of the decade. In 1977, he bulged his way onto the boob tube making his TV debut on an episode of The Streets of San Francisco dubbed “Dead Lift.” It was not much of a stretch (though it was a significant flex) as he played a champion bodybuilder named Josef Schmidt.

Extended Clint Walker Video Interview

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Clint Walker fans will want to check out his extended Television Academy interview where Walker talks about…

…the many odd jobs he held before embarking on a film and television career. He tells how he ventured out to Hollywood and landed a role in Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments,” and how the role led to other film projects and eventually a contract with Warner Brothers. Walker then details the series for which he’s best know, Cheyenne, in which he played the title character, “Cheyenne Bodie.” He describes auditioning for the role, how he kept in shape, and the many stunts he performed on the program. He outlines the show’s production schedule, speaks about his co-stars and famous guest-stars, and explains the importance of Cheyenne as television’s first hour-long Western. He explains why he believes Westerns were so popular in the 1950s and why their popularity waned. Walker then talks of his famous contract dispute with Jack Warner, chronicles how Ty Hardin came to play the lead in Cheyenne, and gives his reasons for returning and then ultimately leaving the program. He talks about other film and television appearances, including those in “The Night of the Grizzly,” the made-for-television movie Yuma, and the series Kodiak. Stephen J. Abramson conducted the interview on September 21, 2012 in Beverly Hills, CA.

The video is broken into chapters for easy listening.

The Overlooked Second Roles of TVs Greatest Western Stars

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The fine folks at Heroes & Icons present The Overlooked Second Roles of TVs Greatest Western Stars.  Here are three of my favorites and my thoughts…

JAMES ARNESS IN ‘HOW THE WEST WAS WON’

Twenty years is a long time to play a character. And that was just the beginning. Arness kept pinning on his Marshal badge in Gunsmoke TV movies up until the mid-1990s. Audiences could not get enough of Matt Dillon for four decades. In the middle there, from 1977–79, Arness headlined How the West Was Won, a loose adaptation of the 1962 film that began as a miniseries. The veteran cowboy actor played Zebulon “Zeb” Macahan, a rugged pioneer, tracker and Army scout who moves his family from Virginia to the frontier. Bruce Boxleitner and Eva Marie Saint rounded out the stellar cast.

I was a huge fan of How the West Was Won and Zeb Machan was my favorite character.  He was a no-nonsense frontiersman who seemed so different from the heroes on tv at that time.  I’d like to see the series again to check out if it holds up to my memory of how good it was.

CHUCK CONNORS IN ‘BRANDED’

Former three-sport professional athlete Chuck Connors cut an impressive figure as a TV cowboy. His imposing presence also made him suitable as an indomitable villain, as he so often portrayed later in his career. However, two years after The Rifleman star hung up his Winchester, he slid into a new uniform, portraying unjustly disgraced cavalry captain Jason McCord on Branded. McCord was a vagabond, wandering the country like the Fugitive or Incredible Hulk, seeking to prove himself. Connor’s broad shoulders wore the massive chip in it well. Alas, kicking off in 1965, the series lasted a mere two seasons. Perhaps it was doomed to be an outlier, as the show was a rare scripted drama from Goodson-Todman Productions, a studio best known for churning out hit game shows like The Price Is Right, Family Feud, Match Game and Password.

I was a huge fan of Branded.  It hit at a great time for me as I was really into the whole Custer legend.  The thought that a man survived the battle and was unjustly branded a coward made for good drama.

JAMES GARNER IN ‘NICHOLS’

Nichols was a reunion between James Garner and Warner Bros., his first work for the studio since his iconic role as Maverick. The two lead characters had much in common, from their black hats to their sharp wit to their similar adventures. However, Nichols took some unexpected turns. For starters, our hero rode a motorcycle, not a horse. Then, after shaky ratings, producers killed off Nichols — only to replace him with his twin brother, Nichols. This new Nichols had a mustache. The great Margot Kidder co-starred as the love interest, yet somehow audiences just did not click.

Nicols was a different spin on the western.  It was set at the turn-of-the-century and the hero drove a motorcycle!  I loved it… but you know the series is in trouble when they kill off the star’s character… even if he returns as his twin brother.

Around this same time there was another series set in the turn-of-the-century west called The Bearcats that I liked.  It didn’t last long either.

The Secret Behind Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” Gravity-Defying Lean!

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 Nishant S. Yagnick, Manjul Tripathi and Sandeep Mohindra are three neurosurgeons (and big-time Michael Jackson fans) who’ve published an article explaining how the King of Pop was able to make his gravity-defying lean while keeping his spine straight, not just in his Smooth Criminal video, but also in live performances.

While the secret has been known for quite a while, the illustrations used by Yagnick, Tripathi and Mohindra make it clear that the shoes aren’t the only thing required to make the illusion work.  You must also have an extremely solid core.  They explain…

“Several MJ fans, including the authors, have tried to copy this move and failed, often injuring themselves in their endeavors.  Trained dancers can lean forward a maximum of 25 to 30 degrees, but even then, it can put serious strain on the Achilles tendon.”

Jackson and some of his dancers were able to hit 45 degree angles with their lean!

If you check out Michael Jackson’s Gravity-Defying Lean Continues To Fascinate by Lars Gotrich at The Record you’ll get more details plus the extended version of Smooth Criminal as well as a link to Michael Jackson’s patent for the Method and Means for Creating Anti-Gravity Illusion!

A special tip of MJ’s fedora to Nishant S. Yagnick, Manjul Tripathi and Sandeep Mohindra for writing an academic paper for neurosurgery that is fun!

“Escape Plan 2: Hades” Available for Pre-Order

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Escape Plan 2: Hades is now available for pre-order.  Escape Plan 2: Hades stars Sylvester Stallone, Dave Bautista, 50 Cent, Jaime King, and Titus Welliver.  Here are the listed special features:

  • “Making Escape Plan 2: Hades” Featurette
  • “Creating the Look of Escape Plan 2: Hades” Featurette
  • “Building the Robot of Escape Plan 2: Hades” Featurette
  • Extended Cast / Crew Interviews

If you order from Amazon consider using one of the links above or this one!

RIP – Clint Walker

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Clint Walker died yesterday at the age of 90 from congestive heart failure.

Walker was best known as Cheyenne Bodie, the star of the extremely popular Cheyenne tv series which aired on ABC from 1955-61.  Cheyenne was the first hour-long western drama.  Walker also played Cheyenne Bodie on episodes of Maverick and later Kung-Fu as well as in the tv movie The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw and the theatrical release of Maverick.  The  Cheyenne series was so popular, in some markets episodes were combined and re-edited for theatrical release.

After the series ended Walker could be found making guest appearances on tv series but his focus became making movies.   His best-known theatrical appearances included, None But the Brave; The Dirty Dozen and Grizzly.  In 1971, Walker was seriously injured in a fall from a sky lift that caused a ski pole to pierce his heart.  He was pronounced dead, but when a faint heartbeat was heard he was rushed into surgery.  Two months later Walker was back to work!

Walker went on to star in other theatrical films, as well as made-for-tv movies and the short-lived tv series Kodiak.  After voicing Nick Nitro in Small Soldiers, Clint Walker retired.

Clint Walker was one of my first childhood heroes.  I loved him in Cheyenne and still do.  The series is still one of my favorites and can be seen on various cable channels daily.

Walker is survived by his daughter, Valerie and his wife Susan Cavallari Walker.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to Clint Walker’s family, friends and fans.

 

 

 

30 Movies That Stopped Filming and Started Over

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Max Evry and ComingSoon.net took a look at 30 Movies That Stopped Filming and Started Over.   This is an interesting article.  It’s amazing how quickly directors can fall behind schedule and over budget to the tune of millions and millions of dollars.  Then there’s always the possibility of “creative differences” causing stars to clash with each other or the director.  Most of these films that started over still failed at the box office… but not always.  Here are three of my favorites from Evry’s list…

Back to the Future (1985)

Without question, the most famous case of a movie stopping and starting over again (as well as the most successful) was when director Robert Zemeckis and producer Steven Spielberg made the unthinkable decision to fire Eric Stoltz as lead character Marty McFly well into the shoot at a cost of $3 million dollars. Apparently Stoltz’s performance was deemed too dramatic and not light enough for the comedic film, as well as his being uncomfortable on a skateboard. Five weeks into the shoot, they let Stoltz go and hired Michael J. Fox, who was the original choice, and the rest was history. The film became a SMASH success and is now considered a classic, spawning two beloved sequels. Film stills and a small amount of footage has been released of Stoltz in the part, and while the actor went on to have a fine career afterwards, his version of those scenes is one of the most sought-after holy grails of geekdom.

Tombstone (1993)

The late screenwriter Kevin Jarre (Glory) was the original director on this story of Wyatt Earp, but he reportedly was in over his head on set, demanding a level of authenticity and length that proved unwieldy, falling behind on the shooting schedule. A month into filming, producer Andrew Vajna replaced Jarre with George P. Cosmatos, for whom he had ironically written the script for Rambo II. All of Jarre’s footage was scrapped with the exception of all scenes with Charlton Heston, who was unavailable to return. The script was parred down to make the shoot more manageable, and Kurt Russell acted as a kind of ghost director on set. The film was a surprise box office success, bringing in $56 million and besting Kevin Costner’s more expensive rival Wyatt Earp film.

Rambo III (1988)

Russell Mulcahy of Highlander fame was originally hired to helm this third installment of the Rambo franchise, with Sylvester Stallone at his physical (and egotistical) peak. Unfortunately, Mulcahy and Stallone clashed and after three weeks the director and much of his crew were sacked. One reason given was an incident where the director was supposed to hire vicious Russian troops but according to the actor hired “pretty boys.” Another reason was three weeks into production they were already two weeks behind schedule. Stallone promoted veteran second unit director Peter MacDonald, who had worked on Rambo II as well, to capable first-time director. The sequel became the most expensive movie ever made up to that time, but was unfortunately released after the Russians had already left Afghanistan and suffered at the box office.

I was surprised to learn that Spartacus and Phantom of the Opera started over.  Usually, when this happens it is pretty big news.

I always wanted to see footage from Rambo III directed by Russell Mulcahy.  I am a huge fan of the original Highlander and was interested in what he’d bring to Rambo… although “pretty boy” Russian troops wasn’t in the thought process.

A New (Old) “Cobra” Watercolor by Thomas Boatwright!

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This is the first Cobra piece I ever received from Thomas Boatwright .  He did it for me several years ago, but somehow I missed scanning and getting it posted.

Over the years I’ve gotten several Stallone pieces from Thomas.  Click on the link to see what has been posted so far… there are more to come.

If you’d like to see more of Thomas Boatwright’s art check out his blog and his DA site. Send him some love.

If you get commissions, you should consider a piece from Thomas. He keeps you totally in the loop on his progress, finishes his commissions on or ahead of schedule, has very reasonable prices, is a fantastic artist and always gives you more than you’re expecting!   – Craig