People in the Movie Industry I'm a Fan of #2

Vincent Price (1911-1993) - Film, stage, television and voice actor

Live-action roles: House of Wax (1953 version, Professor Henry Jarrod), The Fly (1958 version, François Delambre), The Last Man on Earth (Dr. Robert Morgan), The Abominable Dr. Phibes (Dr. Anton Phibes), Edward Scissorhands (The Inventor)
Voice roles: Michael Jackson's Thriller (The Narrator), Tim Burton's Vincent (The Narrator), The Great Mouse Detective (Professor Ratigan), The Thief and the Cobbler (Zig-Zag)

Vincent Price! What can I say, other than that he was one of the most charismatic men to ever appear in a motion picture? He was a bridging gap between the horror actors of the Universal Era and the Hammer Age, and remained in the business for almost fifty years. He had a unique voice, and the way he pronounced words was just delicious (he spends most of The Great Mouse Detective baby-talking, but it never gets annoying).

Price never did have a really iconic role that even the most ignorant layman should know, which is probably why he's best known as Vincent Price, undefined by a single fictional character. He did, however, tend to get cast in certain kinds of roles, which are best summed up by Vincent, Tim Burton's excellent stop-motion tribute, narrated by the man himself. Price considered the short film "the most gratifying thing that ever happened".

In his free time, Price was a collector of art; in 1951 he donated ninety paintings from his own collection to a community college for teaching purposes, making them the first public school in the US to own a teaching art collection. He never let fame get into his head either: he considered appearing in The Muppet Show a tremondous honour.

Random facts: He and Christopher Lee (who were friends) were both born on the 27th of May. Price played both Abraham Lincoln and Oscar Wilde on stage. His final line of dialogue in a film was "this is the end".

Instead of presenting a quote of choice, I'll embed the song "Goodbye, So Soon" from The Great Mouse Detective.

Clancy Brown - Voice and film actor
Live-action roles: Highlander (The Kurgan), The Shawshank Redemption (Guard Captain Hadley), Starship Troopers (Drill Sergeant Zim)
Voice roles: Gargoyles (Hakon, Wolf), The Spectacular Spider-Man (Rhino, Captain Stacy), Jackie Chan Adventures (Captain Black, Ratso), Sponge Bob Square Pants (Mr. Krabs), Crash Bandicoot (most of the games as Dr. Neo Cortex and Uka Uka), Lex Luthor in basically every DC cartoon to feature the character

"That dude with the smooth voice". Ironic, since his rise to fame was as The Kurgan, a role in which he growled all his dialogue. As far as fame goes, Brown may pale before Price, but unlike poor Vincent, Brown did appear in Shawshank, and thus has the license to add "I was in one of the best movies ever made" to his tombstone.

He's best known among geek circles for being the longest-standing single actor to ever play Superman's archnemesis Lex Luthor. He started in the role in Superman: The Animated Series in 1996, and he's reprised it as recently as 2009 in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, he actually stepped down on playing Luthor, only to play an alien counterpart called Rohtul (get it?). His other voice work tends to focus on the villain side, too, which is really a shame because his silky voice can work on a supporting good guy, and he makes a pretty good straight man for comedy scenes as witnessed in that Jackie Chan cartoon.

Also, is it just me or does he kind of look like Ron Perlman?

Quote of choice: "President? Do you know how much power I'd have to give to be president?"

Wright (sceptical), Frost (confused) and Pegg (aggressive)

The Cornetto Trio (Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost)
Movies: Shaun of the Dead (Wright directed, Wright and Pegg wrote, Pegg and Frost starred), Hot Fuzz (same credits as Shaun), Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Wright directed, co-produced and co-wrote), Paul (Pegg and Frost starred and wrote), The Adventures of Tintin (Wright co-wrote, Pegg and Frost appeared as Dupont and Dupond)

It's quite simple: these three dudes make great movies. Now, honestly I think Shaun of the Dead is a tad overrated (a word I dislike using): it doesn't really hold up for more than one view and some of the acting is a bit shoddy. It's got a great script, though, and it lay the foundations for what I hope to be one of the best group of careers Hollywood will see during our lives.

Hot Fuzz is one of the most tightly-written films ever: no word is ever spoken, or an object shown on screen, which isn't later brought up for a gag or a plot point. It and Scott Pilgrim also cemented Edgar Wright's trademark directing method: absolutely everything is puntuated with rapid fire editing to create mock drama. Dramatic paperwork. Dramatic ice cream shopping. Dramatic shoe lace tying. I can't wait to see Wright return to the director's chair to see whether he can keep the gag fresh in the future too.

In general, reminding myself of Wright, Pegg and Frost is a good way for me to get excited. For all the great movie stars and makers of the past, it's wonderful to know that talented people exist today, and I'm going to get to see first-hand all the stuff they make here on out. If that isn't fanning, I don't know what is.

Quote of choice: "I dunno... pub?"

Immortals

A few years back, the Clash of the Titans remake shook the world with its blandness and predictability. Now, a suspiciously similar film titled Immortals has arrived in the cinema near you. Do you dare risk it and go see this movie? Could it actually be better than Clash was?

As far as I'm concerned, it's not. Not only is it shit, but it's shit that tries to be something really epic, and looks doubly bad due to reaching for the skies.

Immortals is about Theseus (no relation to the Greek mythic character), played by Henry Cavill, who'll be Superman in the upcoming Man of Steel film. He's a bastard borne of rape, brought up by his mother and taught combat and ethics by the only really good thing about the film, John Hurt. Why does John Hurt teach him combat and ethics? Well, because he's Zeus (no relation to the Greek pagan god) in disguise and wants a mortal warrior who can save humanity from itself. So why does Theseus' mother let John Hurt teach her son? Theseus very aggressively declines an invitation to join the army early on in the movie, so why is he learning how to fight? I have no idea! I guess it's not important to know the basic premise of the plot very well.

Meanwhile, King Hyperion (no relation to the Greek mythic character), played by Mickey Rourke, is conquering the world, set on releasing the mythic Titans and thus reigning supreme over god and man alike. You see, when gods discovered they could kill each other, they started killing each other, and the losers were locked away in a little cage underground. Hyperion wants to free these imprisoned gods because... uhh... umm... then he'll have dozens of gods running around, killing everyone, instead of like five of them sitting in Olympus and staying out of humanity's way?

These aren't even spoilers. All these plot holes happen in the first twenty minutes of the movie.

So yeah, it's stupid and nonsensical, but is it entertaining? Yes and no. The performances are okay, the action scenes are good (really good when gods are involved), the special effects aren't half bad, and even the 3D is pretty cool when it's noticeable, but somehow the story and pacing manage to kill all of this. I was entertained for more than half of the movie's running time, but I still left out feeling disappointed (which is saying something, considering I was expecting this film to blow), because all it adds up to is nonsense. The Three Musketeers may have been dumb, but at least it never shied away from having fun. This film tries to be serious and meaningful, in denial about its own nature.

Immortals is made with a certain aesthetic vibe to it, an artistic cinematography, costuming and directing which at times gives it a feeling of otherworldly beauty. However, most of the time it just looks ridiculous. I might look at the gods' ridiculous outfits without sniggering if their "dramatic" dialogue wasn't overblown and melodramatic. I might not roll my eyes at the bright red robes and veils of the oracles if they had an actual reason for wearing those things they never wear in any other scene. I'll admit that the locations are pretty cool most of the time, but I'd have preferred to get a good look of that big city near the end, instead of just seeing it in the horizon.

By the way, if you saw the trailer for this and thought: "That magic bow looks really cool! I bet this movie will do all kinds of cool stuff with it", DO NOT BE FOOLED. Every single scene where anyone fires the magic bow is in the trailer. It's not the hero's signature weapon. It's a MacGuffin.

I can't recommend this movie for anyone. It's just no worth seeing. Simple as that.

The Adventures of Tintin

Hey! Finland got a cameo in this picture.

AT LAST! Us Europeans get a movie almost two months before the North Americans do! I feel so vindicated for having to wait half a year for Princess and the Frog to come out. I guess it figures. After all, The Adventures of Tintin is based on an European comic. In fact, this film redeems Franco-Belgian comics in Hollywood from the wake of the lame live-action Asterix films. Let us never bring those things up again.

Tintin is a reporter of ambiguous nationality who has a tendency to get into an adventure pretty much any time he opens his front door. While browsing a flea market, he buys the miniature of an old wooden ship. This causes him and his helpful dog Milou (I refuse to use translated names for these characters, by the way) to be dragged into danger's way. He eventually teams up with Captain Archibald Haddock in a race to find all the clues to a fabulous treasure before the bad guys do.

I was at first pretty sceptical about this movie. Not because it's CG (though a cartoon movie could have worked better), but because I thought they might try to alter the premise to sell it better to audiences who are used to "comic book movies" like The Dark Knight. However, I should have put my trust on Steven Spielberg; Tintin is perfectly in tune with its adventurous roots, and captures the feeling of a children's comic book almost spot-on. And as for those who are sceptical of the CGI, I think that the film looks pretty good. The characters' skins are a bit too unsmooth and blemished for my liking, but it wasn't really distacting. As far as stylished CGI goes, I prefer Tangled, but this is a not-so-close second.

There are so many big names attached to this picture, and most of their individual little touches can be felt throughout. Tintin is a Spielberg producation throughout, complete with music by John Williams. I might be bold enough to call it Indiana Jones 5. Peter Jackson is the producer, will direct the sequel if one is made, and brought along Andy Serkis (Gollum from The Lord of the Rings trilogy) to play Haddock. Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) co-wrote the script, and his BFFs Simon Pegg and Nick Frost voice bumbling detectives Dupont and Dupond. I can't help but get this funny image of Spielberg inviting people to the pre-production table and yelling: "And bring your friends too!"

The action scenes in Tintin are great, with really imaginative scenarios and a damn good balance of serious and silly to them. They get a little cluttered at times, but never descend to incomprehensibility. I think that near the end, the action focuses too much on Haddock and too little on Tintin, but it's all well and good because Haddock is damn entertaining. He's like that character we've all seen a million times, the one who always screws everything up, but he still manages to be endearing and funny when he messes around. However, one thing that I really didn't expect to amuse me so much as the slapstick. I don't think I've ever seen such well-executed physical humour in a motion picture. This isn't your Disney movie where for every punchline the comedy foil says he also has to get hit in the head once, so that audience members with no sense of humour can also find something to laugh at. Here, the slapstick is an end to itself, and the hurt is set up and handled with excellence.

I'm not going to criticise Tintin for having an overly convoluted plot and contrived action scenes. It's an adventure story: people in these things can't file taxes without having to solve five riddles. fight off eight henchmen and escape three death traps. What I am going to criticise it for is having a weak pacing. This is probably a result of the comic adaptation, but that's not an excuse. There's too little rest between action scenes, and at times the plot is unveiled too quick for my taste. At one hour and fifty minutes, this is already a pretty long animated movie, but I think the script needed some work to make it more balanced and less exhausting.

That's... pretty much it. It's a solid adventure film with good humour, and lots of talented people behind the scenes. I didn't really read Tintin as a kid, but I read Uncle Scrooge comics, and the feeling of adventure in this movie makes me tingle with nostalgia.

People in the movie indstury I'm a fan of #1

Tintin premiered today in Finland. I'm seeing it soon with my dad, who's a fan of Franco-Belgian comics in general (and Lucky Luke in particular). I'm going to pretend the short delay is a big deal. Have a non-review post to hold you over!

I was going to make a list of ten movie people I'm a fan of, but when I started writing I realised that the finished article would be uncomfortably long. I decided to stop a little less than halfway through, and see if people like it before writing more. I may make this a continuing sub-series here at Imamobi.

I'm trying to focus on people who aren't exactly household names. Bruce Willis is definitely awesome, and a great actor too, but I think he's gotten enough lauds without my humble blog joining in on the choir too.

Without further ado, I give you...

People in the movie industry I'm a fan of, part 1:

If eyebrows could kill...

Michael Ironside - Film and voice actor
Live-action roles: Total Recall (Richter), Scanners (Darryl Revok), Starship Troopers (Lieutenant Rasczak), Highlander II: The Quickening (General Katana)
Voice roles: Splinter Cell (Sam Fisher), Superman: the Animated Series and Justice League (Darkseid)

Michael Ironside was born to play villains. His distinctive, vicious-looking face and his deep, growly voice make him perfect for any director's B-actor needs. In Scanners, his character uses telepathy to blow up another man's head five minutes into the movie. That's pretty much all you need to know, but I'm going to keep going anyhow.

Aside from his villain roles, Ironside has played military officers in like fifty films. Check out his filmography on IMDB some time, and you'll see at least half his characters have names along the lines of General Badass or Lieutenant Mofo. Heck, he was in both Terminator Salvation and X-Men: First Class as a random navy officer with no personality, just because by this poiny Hollywood knows him as "that guy who looks really authorative in a uniform".

The dude's a decent actor too, aside from his general awesomeness. Watch Scanners some time, and check out how convincing his rage at being compared to his father is.

Quote of choice: I am many things, Kal-El, but here... I am God.


David Cronenberg - Director and writer

His appearance fits his filmography.

Movies: The Fly (1986 version, director and co-writer), Scanners (director and writer), Naked Lunch (director and co-writer), Dead Ringers (director and co-writer), Spider (director and producer), Eastern Promises (director)

And speaking of Scanners! David Cronenberg. The undisputed master of body horror in cinema. That scene where Michael Ironside blows up a man's head? That was my first impression of The Terror of Toronto. I was something like ten when I saw that film. Good times.

Cronenberg's 70s and 80s production is a testament to two things: he knows creepy, and he wants to share creepy with you. The Fly is all about making Jeff Goldblum even uglier than he normally is. The effects for that movie are still phenomenal today, and the resraint shown in utilising them is damn near ingenius.

When he isn't doing something that involves a person physically becoming a monster, Cronenberg does a break by making a movie about someone becoming a monster in their mind. Dead Ringers and Spider are great psychological thrillers and character studies, and the lead performances by Jeremy Irons and Ralph Fiennes respectively are damn near perfect.

Nowadays Cronenberg has moved to a more artsy medium, starting with Spider. I've yet to check out most of his 2000s production, but I'm sure to get to it when I've got the time.

While checking the wikipedia article for Cronenberg during the writing of this article, I discovered that he was at one point directing a sequel to Total Recall. I bet it would have starred Michael Ironside as an armless zombie-Richter with psychic powers.


Jeremy Irons - Film, TV, stage and voice actor

Live-action roles: Dead Ringers (Beverly and Elliot Mantle), Lolita (1997 version, Humbert Humbert), Reversal of Fortune (Claus von Bürlow, Oscar for Best Actor), The Kingdom of Heaven (Tiberias), Die Hard 3 (Simon Gruber)
Voice roles: The Lion King (Scar)

So yeah, once again I find myself mentioning the next item on the list in the previous entry. Jeremy Irons' portrayal of the identical Mantle twins in Cronenberg's Dead Ringers was insanely good. Not only do the fantastic special effects make it hard to remember that Irons doesn't have a real-life dobbelgänger, but he plays them as fundamentally different people in a very convincing way. A big point of the film is that Elliot and Beverly sometimes switch places and act as each other, and Irons manages to play Elliot who's playing Beverly, and vice versa, without it being obvious or too unnoticeable.

Most people of my generation will know Irons as Scar from The Liong King, though. Such irony in casting a Shakespearean actor in a cartoon adaptation of Hamlet. Aside from being a honestly good dramatic actor, he makes a helluva good hammy villain. Scar is such a complete and utter drama queen, and belongs to that list of classic villains. I don't have much to say about that particular role, but I do have on Die Hard With a Vengeance.

Die Hard 3 (or as I like to call it: Jeremy Irons acts like the smarmiest, most self-satisfied asshole Brit ever for two hours) is my personal favourite in the franchise. Aside from Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson having great chemistry with each other, Jeremy Irons plays one of the best villains ever as Simon Gruber. Die Hard 1 started the craze with intelligent, suave villains, but in my opinion Die Hard 3 perfected it. Simon perfectly balances the elements of being really smart and manipulative, but too sure of himself and underestimating of his enemies. Charismatic, but evil.

I'm seriously considering checking out the fairly recent TV series The Borgias, where Jeremy Irons plays the freaking pope.

Quote of choice: Go back to your room and never... NEVER come back until I call you!


Keith David - Actor and voice actor

Nice suit.

Live-action roles: John Carpenter's The Thing (Childs), They Live! (Frank Armitage), Platoon (King), Men at Work (Louis Fedders)
Voice roles: Gargoyles (Goliath, Thailog), Coraline (the cat), The Princess and the Frog (Dr. Facilier), Dissidia: Final Fantasy (Chaos), Mass Effect (Captain Anderson)

The man with the second-deepest voice I've ever heard (number one on that regard may yet feature in a future installment of this listing), Keith David sounds like the most badass motherfucker you've ever heard. He mostly works as a voice actor in video games and cartoons nowadays, but being in two John Carpenter movies definitely qualifies him as a Hollywood personality worth knowing of.

They Live! is a movie which is only really memorable for two things. One is the hilarious, adlibbed catch phrase "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum." The other is a scene where the main hero (Roddy Piper), wants his friend Frank (Keith David), to put on a special pair of sunglasses. Frank doesn't want to put them on, so the two end up fighting. The original script called for a brawl of one to two minutes, but Piper and David coreographed five minutes of fighting on their own and acted it out. The scene that ended up in the film is insanely hilarious due to its many fake endings and completely unnecessary premise. These two guys are beating the shit out of each other, never giving up, because they disagree about whether Frank should try the sunglasses or not.

David's most notable voice role was his starring role in Disney's animted series Gargoyles (one of my favourite children's cartoons ever, despite the fact that I first heard of it when I was eighteen), which gained a huge cult following and made him a nerd cult icon. For a guy in his fifties, he seems to be a real sport about a bunch of sweaty teenagers worshipping him for voicing a blue adonis, since he has attended Gargoyles conventions and mingled with the fans.

My favourite role by David is definitely in The Princess and the Frog, though. Not only does he play a slimy, conniving witch doctor really well, but he sings "Friends on the Other Side", one of the best villain songs out there. The short featurette Disney released shows how David's physical performance while recording was used for his character's facial moves. They totally copied the gap between his teeth too.

Yeah, he can sing. Can he ever sing!

Quote of choice: "There are several sacred things in this world that you don't ever mess with. One of them happens to be another man's fries. Now you remember that, and you'll live a long and healthy life."
 

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Leave a comment, tell me what you thought of the experimentation. I rather liked writing it, and I'll add more people to my list if I get positive feedback.