There's been a lot of buzz as Oliver Stone's W goes Speedy Gonzalez towards its impending October release. I'd say that it's mainly due to the kickass cast -- maybe not for being the perfect representations of today's political heads, but for being a collection of really great actors.
But still, the project makes me think back to other Dubyas in the entertainment ether. Brolin is certainly not the first. This might not be as old as some Stars in Rewind posts, but I couldn't resist adding a little Will Ferrell presidential fare to this sunny Tuesday. You know, sun and "so-called global warmings" go together. This happens to be one of my favorite blips by Ferrell, and I hope you enjoy it!
Really, who cares about a place where penguins can have an orgy? Nature needs to listen to us!
I know that Ben Foster is a really talented actor and I'm quite sure that he will go really, really far in his career. I wouldn't even be surprised if he becomes a Robert Redford type -- hugely popular and long-lasting. But still ... whether he's got wings as a mutant, or helps some creepy vampires attack a small Alaskan town, to me he's always the cute, goofy kid from Disney's Flash Forward.
Although the show was after my time, I would always stop to watch it when flipping through the channels. It was tres cute and starred Foster as Tucker and Firefly's Jewel Staite as Becca -- two best friends and neighbors who have been close since birth and are now in middle school. Above you get to check out their nervous kiss and final moment of the show. Man, they were cute kidlets.
This one is even better to check out Foster as Tucker, but embedding was disabled.
Jackie Chan has been leaning hard on cheesy American comedies and adventure flicks recently, but of course that's not how he made a name for himself. The video above won't have anything new for Chan and Hong Kong martial arts aficianados, but to everyone else it's a great reminder of what he used to be capable of. I hadn't seen many of these scenes before (and hadn't even heard of Chan playing Chun Li in a Street Fighter spoof), and while the clips are short and the voiceover is at least as annoying as informative (watch for mild foul language), it's still a really nifty best-of. If you're not intimately familiar with his filmography, this will give you some Netflix recommendations.
You know, it's common knowledge that Chan is renowned for doing his own brutal stunts, but if you haven't seen his older stuff, it's hard to conceptualize how brutal they were. I had never run across this video's pick for the #1 Chan fight scene -- the climax of Dragons Forever-- and OOOOOOW! Just watching it is painful. If you want a more detailed view of Chan hurting himself through the years, there's this older compilation of the actor's best stunts from the same YouTuber.
Truth be told, the above video is from a television show and not a film. BUT, since David Cross (one of my favorite comedians) is in, like, every other movie these days, I felt we could let this one slide by. Plus, this is one of my most favorite Cross moments ever -- and anytime I have the chance to post a video from Mr. Show, I will take it without asking any questions. For those not familiar, Mr. Show with Bob and David was a sketch-comedy program on HBO long ago, starring David Cross and Bob Odenkirk. The above video, titled The Audition, happens to be one of my personal favorite segments from the show -- so much so that my friend and I bring it up all the time. Surfing around earlier, I stumbled upon the video over at Funny or Die and, well, it was fate. So here ya go -- enjoy your afternoon!
Favorite Mr. Show sketch? Sound off below.
Warning: Foul language (f-word) used toward the end.
Have you watched the trailer for Made of Honor? Did you catch this casting bite? Yes, A Different World's Dwayne Wayne, also known as Kadeem Hardison, plays one of Patrick Dempsey's friends in the upcoming romcom. He's been showing up in a lot of the film's clips that have been circling the net, and every time I see them, I'm catapulted back in time.
But Kadeem's career was more than just the bespeckled Wayne. He had a part in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, and also in one of my old-school favorites from childhood -- the television movie of The House of Dies Drear. He played Mac, part of the jerky Darrow clan, but also a young boy trying to befriend Thomas Small, who has just moved into the haunted, Underground Railroad house of Dies Drear.
Are there any other Drear fans out there? If not, head after the jump for a taste of A Different World, where Dwayne dances with his jersey tucked into his pants. Man, he was stylin'.
With all the news bits about Cynthia Nixon successfully battling cancer a few years ago, and the fact that the movie version of Sex and the City will hit theaters soon, I can't help but think of the actress' first movie role -- playing Sunshine in Little Darlings.
Being a kid of the Poison Ivy camp movie generation, I didn't hear about Little Darlings until about 2001, when an old roommate of mine was shocked at the discovery that I hadn't seen it. In no time, we were slumped in front of the television watching Tatum O'Neal and Kristy McNichol fight to lose their virginity while at camp -- it was slightly more risque than my fave camp movie, which had entrepreneurial campers, color wars, and swimming drama. In Darlings, Nixon played a tow-headed flower child, and the clip above is one of my favorites, where she skillfully stops violence with vitamins.
For an added treat -- doesn't the guy that Kristy McNichol kicks in this clip remind you of McLovin?
Last Rewind Answer: Kristin Bell tried out for the part of Chloe Sullivan on Smallville.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall is almost here, finally, and we'll get to see all of Jason Segel's "glory" as he deals with his bad breakup with Kristen Bell's Marshall. But this is just one of many diverse roles that Bell has taken on lately. She's electric and hot-headed on Heroes, dirt-digging on Gossip Girl, and sadly wrapped her investigation days as Veronica Mars last year.
But these aren't her first forays into the biz. Above, you can check out her one-episode stint in American Dreams from 2003, where she plays a young woman who has had an abortion, and now deals with the caring but judgmental opinions of Gail O'Grady's Helen Pryor.
But after the jump there's also Bell's first gig, even earlier, as an uncredited Teenage Girl in Claire Danes' 1998 film, Polish Wedding. She's just giggling and in the shadows, but you can tell it is Bell in all her tininess. From shadowy giggles to Segel's member, Bell has come a long way!
These days, thoughts of Josh Brolin bring to mind his performances in films like No Country for Old Men, or Planet Terror. Old-school Brolin fans, of course, praise all things Goonies, and his role as Brand Walsh. (Could this possibly be the precursor to Brandon Walsh?) But what about Thrashin'?
It came out a year after Goonies, and was Brolin's second film. The film focused on two ultra-cool skateboarding gangs who "battle each other for supremacy," while one particular dude falls in love with his rival's sister. Man -- this must be what inspired Under the Boardwalk and Gleaming the Cube! But while one has Richard Joseph Paul and the other has Christian Slater, this puppy's got Brolin in all his skating wonder. Check out the intro, and enjoy! Josh, you've come a long way. Next up: George W. Bush.
And if that's not enough temptation to find it at your local video store, how about the fact that it's got Sherilyn Fenn at the age of 21?
Just recently, I was able to wrap up work early and head down to my local rep theater to check out A Touch of Evil on the big screen, crackling from grainy, old film. It was my first taste of Orson Welles in a theater, one that was filled with the wonder of that jaw-dropping opening shot (which you can check out after the jump), as well as the continual amusement that Charlton Heston was supposed to be Mexican.
Throughout the entire movie, my brain was trying to rationalize a different story that would fit in the framework of the story and not seem so ludicrous. Maybe he was born to white parents in Mexico? Maybe he moved there at a young age? Nah. To think it is all because Welles changed the script. Still, while the attempts to change his race might have failed, this Heston film is so very worth the time and effort.
Rest in peace, Charlton -- I hope you're having a dandy, gun-laden afterlife.
*Last Rewind Answer: Believe it or not, it was Mick Jagger who was once considered for the role of Fletch.
For a while there, it looked like we would soon be seeing a new Fletch on the big screen, whether we liked the idea or not. However, soon enough, it looked like an all-out mess, with names popping up and disappearing over and over again, from Kevin Smith to John Krasinski. Back in June of last year, word had it that the role would be taken over by Joshua Jackson.
Surprise, surprise, the project has changed hands yet again, and Pacey is out, according to an interview with MTV. "In the way that rights are assigned in this business, when it didn't happen last summer, I think the rights went back to a different person," he said. "So the guy that offered me the job, I don't think owns it anymore, which is unfortunate."
Now, well, it could stay in development hell, or one day shock us all by finally coming together. But who needs a new Fletch when you can have a nice dose of Chevy Chase? However...
Though baseball season officially began last night, the season really gets underway today (and my Yanks are already in a rain delay!). So in honor of watching baseball for the next seven months, we're going to do something a little different here. Usually, these Stars in Rewind posts center on a particular actor in an old role or what have you. Today, we're celebrating an entire film. Here's where you probably expect a scene from a legendary baseball film like Eight Men Out, Bull Durham, The Natural, The Pride of the Yankees or The Benchwarmers. Oh no. Not this time. Instead, I've decided to go with a baseball flick I've seen over 30 times. One of the greatest films in the history of cinema. A classic. A gem.
The Sandlot. Oh yes. A ragtag group of neighborhood kids band together to try to save a baseball that was signed by Babe Ruth from a hidden monster behind a fence. But that's just the logline; there's so much more to love about this film -- like the friendships, the jokes, the characters and the way it brings back our own memories of what it was like to be a kid looking for some summertime trouble. Enjoy. Go Yanks!
Roger Rabbit just wants to make people laugh, not like the eye-bleary, dreary, sex-shocking Brown Bunny. Seeing the above clip from Who Framed Roger Rabbit definitely brings back memories. It's not every day that animation blends with live action, or modern movies get to use Golden Age voices, or animated characters from different studios appear together in the same film.
As an added bonus, the cast is just as tasty as the technological advancements this film made. Of course, there's Bob Hoskins, but there's also Charles Fleischer as the voice of Roger and other animated peeps, Christopher Lloyd as Judge Doom, Joanna Cassidy as Dolores, an archive recording of Frank Sinatra, Amy Irving singing for Jessica Rabbit, and Kathleen Turner taking on Jessica's speaking voice. This is the technological Robert Zemeckis I like -- forget that performance capture!
Some people like parkas, but others like pookas -- spirits from Celtic mythology who show up in a very large animal form. In 1950, the world got Harvey, the cinematic adaptation of Mary Chase's Pulitzer Prize-winning play -- a film that won co-star Josephine Hull an Oscar. James Stewart starred as Elwood P. Dowd, a strange, but thoughtful man whose best friend is a 6-foot, three and one-half inch tall pooka rabbit named Harvey.
Oh, Harvey. When Easter comes, some people think of the bwok-ing Cadbury bunny, others think of fluffy little lops, but I think of the super-tall, white friend of Elwood's. There's all sorts of strange premises these days, but modern times definitely don't have a complete hold on strange stories -- like a sweet-natured man who might get committed for his seemingly imaginary friend. And, there's not many men who could pull off a friendship with a rabbit, without having it be animated. Oh, Jimmy Stewart.
Yeah, I must admit that part of the reason for doing a handful of bunny-related Stars in Rewind posts was to go back to some of my favorite fluffy ones, AND to be able to use that Buffy musical quote. To gush about Anya is a bit of a divergence from movie themes, but luckily there is a worthy killer bunny on film to prove her point. Any talk of cinematic bunnies would be an absolute sham without Monty Python and the Holy Grail's killer bunny.
This is no ordinary rabbit. This is "the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you've ever set eyes on," and he doesn't just nibble your bum. Oh man, this scene makes me laugh every time. There's nothing quite like the beauty of the perfectly-performed ludicrous scene. Granted, the whole movie is full of them, but it's almost Easter, so this is the one that applies.
As Kim let us know last night, Patrick Swayze has pancreatic cancer. It's not a particularly easy sort of C to get over, but reports are saying that he's responding well to treatment. I hope so, as the world needs the Swayze. There have been some stinkers in his career, but there are also great gems. Like, oh, Dirty Dancing.
This is, in no way, a memorial, but rather appreciation of what makes Swayze so cool, and one of the reasons why I hope he's around for a long, long time to come. So, let's jump back in time to his special finale dance with Jennifer Grey. I'm usually not one for grandiose displays of affection, but this one I dig. It's one of the few "awh" romantic moments on screen that I think is natural -- both for the character and the situation. It's not breaking out into song randomly, but with a specific, thematic purpose. And really, it's nice to see an on-screen group dance where they all do their own thing, instead of magically falling into the same ultra-tricky dance moves.
