KEN WATANABE CINEMATIC SURVIVOR by Brad Balfour With Oscar-nominated Japanese actor Ken Watanabe playing General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in Letters from Iwo Jima, director Clint Eastwood assured audiences that he employed a actor equal in stature to the commander who held the island of Iwo Jima for several weeks against overwhelming odds. The Battle of Iwo Jima … Continue reading
Edward Norton Lifting the Veil by Jay S. Jacobs When you think of actor Edward Norton, chances are you think of gritty modern urban dramas – like Fight Club, American History X, The 25th Hour, The Italian Job, The People vs. Larry Flynt or Primal Fear. The always interesting actor has been looking backwards in 2006, though, doing two straight … Continue reading
John Stamos New Kid in ER by Deborah Wagner For John Stamos, a two-episode gig on ER last season has turned into somewhat of a re-birth for his career. Now a full time cast member, Stamos has breathed some new life and enthusiasm into the award-winning hospital drama; which is in its thirteenth season. Stamos … Continue reading
WILMER VALDERRAMA UNACCOMPANIED by Brad Balfour Miami-born actor Wilmer Valderrama has come a long way since his days as Fez, the quirky foreign exchange student who was often the butt of jokes on the popular TV series That ‘70s Show. The 26-year-old jovial, handsome charmer – known for gallivanting around with some of Hollywood’s hardest-partying starlets … Continue reading
THE RISE OF KAL PENN by Brad Balfour For Kal Penn, doing Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj – the spin-off of National Lampoon’s Van Wilder (which starred Ryan Reynolds) — keeps him employed and laughing. But this wasn’t what the real Kalpen Suresh Modi was doing when he started out acting. At first he played secondary characters … Continue reading
ACCEPTED (2006) Starring Justin Long, Blake Lively, Anthony Heald, Lewis Black, Jonah Hill, Mark Derwin, Adam Herschman, Columbus Short, Maria Thayer, Ann Cusack, Hannah Marks, Robin Taylor, Diora Baird and Travis Van Winkle. Screenplay by Adam Cooper, Bill Collage and Mark Perez. Directed by Steve Pink. Distributed by Universal Pictures. 93 minutes. Rated PG-13. On … Continue reading
Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Harry Shearer and Parker Posey Consider This by Jay S. Jacobs Working on the outskirts of the Hollywood movie community, actor-writer-director Christopher Guest has put together the most consistently funny troupe in films. Specializing in improvisational movies – many which are hilarious turns on documentaries – Guest has made some of the great comedies of … Continue reading
TIM ROBBINS AND DEREK LUKE THE TWO SIDES OF CATCH A FIRE BY JAY S. JACOBS In any revolution, there are many foot soldiers – normal people who are pushed too far and play a vital role in the changing world values. The people like Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Tutu may have played a larger role, … Continue reading
Toby Jones, Sandra Bullock, Sigourney Weaver & Douglas McGrath Living in Infamy by Jay S. Jacobs Imagine you have spent years of your life and incredible effort to put together a movie script. You finally get it finished, get interest for the sale of the movie and even get an all-star cast including Sandra Bullock, … Continue reading
jason segel how he got on mother by jay s. jacobs Jason Segel has gotten a bit of an odd specialty in his Hollywood career – he has become an integral part of some of the most interesting TV ensembles of recent years. His first meshing was on the cult favorite Freaks and Geeks – in which he … Continue reading
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