August 9

Happy Birthday to Amy Stiller, a girl in the family business of making people laugh (Her parents are Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, and Ben's her baby brother.) Her highest-profile gigs have been on TV (including three different characters on 'The King of Queens') but she's appeared in movies with her family as well (my favorite character of hers is the film studies teacher in The Independent.)

Chasing the fame game feels even tougher when it's a family thing, but her response was co-writing and starring in the award-winning short, Amy Stiller's Breast (her aspiring actress character discovers there's an image of the Madonna on her left boob.)

Amy just got married a few years ago. Considering her upbringing, it makes sense that she would have to find someone funny, and someone comfortable with show business. So she married this guy:

No, she's not Mrs. Amy Tentacles. She married voice actor Roger Bumpass; she's Mrs. Bumpass now.

Oh, well... at least, she doesn't have to seduce Spanish furniture movers anymore...

August 6

I'm writing about Elliot Smith because he reminds me of somebody. Elliot chose the name Elliot growing up because "Steve" sounded like a jock's name and "Steven" sounded too 'bookish' for him. After four years in college, he did odd jobs and collected unemployment, anything to support the music he played with his friends in Heatmiser:

But it's his music on his own that made Elliott Smith renowned - his music, and the melancholy of his own life. Elliott was content playing in the band; he just happened to end up with a solo career, just like he happened to end up an Oscar-nominated songwriter.

Elliott Smith released five albums in his lifetime, so there's a lot of music to discover. But the reason I'm writing about Elliott Smith - the reason he reminds me of somebody- is because he still feels gone too soon, even if he was expecting it.
I knew somebody - barely knew somebody - whose funeral is happening the day after his birthday. I don't have enough stories, good memories, to sustain me, and I can't stand it. I'm even apologizing for not knowing the right Elliott Smith song (if there even was one) to dedicate, and just picking one, because rain is rain. This one kind of feels right, though:

August 5

I'm shining a light on Adam Yauch today, who you know as MCA of the Beastie Boys. You might think of him as a rapper, or a bass player. But I want to talk about him as a filmmaker.

Beastie Boys - Shadrach (Abstract Impressionist Version)
Uploaded by EMI_Music. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

See, as Nathaniel Hornblower, Adam has also directed some of the Beastie's most memorable videos, as well as their experimental concert film, "Awesome; I... Shot That!" In fact, since 1998, he's been the exclusive videographer for the Beasties.

Beastie Boys - Body Movin'
Uploaded by EMI_Music. - Explore more music videos.
(I apologize; DailyMotion's kinda in your face, but they're record label owned.)

Besides his efforts as Nathaniel Hornblower, he also started Oscilloscope Laboratories, with its own film distribution arm - but it's not just for Beastie Boys movies. Oscilloscope's garnering a reputation as a tastemaker studio, with its collection of critically-embraced documentaries (Dear Zachary, The Garden, A Film Unfinished) and dramas (Wendy and Lucy, The Messenger, Howl...)



Adam was laid low a few years back with a cancer diagnosis, which derailed plans for the Beasties' next tour and album, a two-part release currently called "Hot Sauce Committee". Although I'm satisfied with him making videos and sharing movies he loves with the world, I certainly wouldn't mind hearing more from the Beasties (especially if it convinces the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...)

July 25

Happy Birthday to the Prince of Darkness, Peter Suschitzky. This second-generation cinematographer (his father was camera operator for the original 'Get Carter') got his nickname for pulling off scenes such as the Luke/Vader duel in 'Empire Strikes Back':


Suschitzky's the first cinematographer I learned to associate with a film, with the help of a hundred shouting fans. His first Hollywood film was the 1975 cult classic "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", and his name in the opening credits has spawned a popular callback. He also shot a good looking film:

(This is a enjoyable shot scene, fourth wall broken and all. I'd intentionally left it off the Tim Curry tribute, but didn't realize I'd get the chance to use it again...)

His "Empire" work put him on the radar of David Cronenberg, who lost his long-time cinematographer to the 80's remake of 'The Blob'. Cronenberg tapped Suschitzky for "Dead Ringers", the beginning of a collaboration that's lasted over 20 years and 8 films. Here's a scene from the underappreciated eXsistenZ (recommended Not Safe For Work... or within an hour of eating...)


Their next team-up, a sequel to Eastern Promises, is scheduled for release in 2011. Besides Cronenberg, Suschitzky's also worked with John Boorman(Where the Heart Is), Tim Burton(Mars Attacks!) and Randall Wallace(The Man in the Iron Mask).

July 18

When a character actor's built a good career, they become a storytelling device just by showing up. Case in point: Margo Martindale

She's one of the supporting cast members in 2010's "Secretariat" movie. Which one? You'll recognize her. Two words: 'best friend'.

She has that southern drawl and pert smile that says "Middle America".

Here's a short list of some of her higher profile roles:
*the mom in Million Dollar Baby
*the mom in Wedding Daze
*the mom in Walk Hard
*the mom in Management
*the grandma in Hanna Montana: The Movie
She's also played her share of nurses, nuns, and nosey neighbors. Over two decades, she's became a familiar face, a comfort to the audience, shorthand for her character's identity and value to the story. Sh's the epitome of a That Guy.

Presently, the closest thing she has to a cult character is Camilla Figg, from the
TV show Dexter. Another minor character role, she had a memorable send-off in the third season:


Once in a while, she might find a stretch, like her role in the Alexander Payne segment of "Paris, Je T'aime". Margo's resume will very likely continue to fill with matronly and grandmatronly roles; considering how exceptional and distinct she makes them, that's not a bad thing. She's as American as apple pie:

July 17

Director Alex Winter fulfills so many purposes for this blog. He's a successful writer/director who's been unfairly eclipsed by timing and one particular acting role.
See, if you went looking for Alex Winter in the video, you'd probably grab one of the Bill and Ted movies. If you wanted to show off, you might grab "The Lost Boys"


But it's the works you can't find so easily that make me an Alex Winter fan. Collaborating with Tom Stern and Tim Burns, Winter started working in the director's chair, making music videos for bands like Extreme and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, lensing the cult classic Freaked, and creating the psychotic MTV sketch comedy show The Idiot Box:

BTW, that's Tom Stern playing Lockjaw. Burns would become a head writer on 'Crank Yankers', while Stern would be a director on such TV comedies as 'The Man Show', 'The Andy Milonakis Show', and 'The Chimp Channel'. As for 'The Idiot Box', the show only made it to six episodes; not even enough for a DVD release, apparently...

For the rest of the 90's, he got married and directed music videos and commercials. His next movie - and his first solo directing effort - was 'Fever'; it was invited to the Director's Fortnight at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival that year.
But his directing breakthrough seems to have become the Ben 10 live-action movies.
The two movies are currently the highest rated programs ever on Cartoon Network (and unfortunately, might be why the 'CN' stopped making cartoons for a while...), and has made Alex Winter a director in demand.

As of 2010, he's working on a remake of the cult horror film The Gate (in 3-D!) and recently directed test footage for a proposed TV series based on the underappreciated comic book hero The Blue Beetle. (You can keep up with his future endeavors on his website for Trouper Productions.)

I'll end this post with a musical note, with a video he and his posse made for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 'Knock Me Down':

July 16

Graham Robertson has been a professional set dresser since 1996. He's the guy (or one of the guys, depending on the size of production) that arranges the props and furniture on the set, and makes sure everything's at their marks, for continuity's sake. He's done this for movies like Rush Hour 2, My Sister's Keeper, and Star Trek. Recently, he's been busy on the television front: Monk, The Closer, Hot in Cleveland, $#*! My Father Says... That's his Hollywood career for the last 15 years...


well, except for this one thing...

In 2000, he cut together a version of the Budweiser "Wassup?" commerical, using clip from the Superfriends cartoon series:

The video clip became a bonafide viral sensation, inspiring a glut of "Wassup?" clip parodies (and this is five years before YouTube made it easy for any 7th grader and grandmother to upload.) There was talk of the co-creators (Robertson worked with Philip Stark, screenwriter of "Dude, Where's My Car" and a producer on "That's 70's Show") turning the clip into a series for Cartoon Network, but Robertson's next move was creating what the Guiness Book of World Records recognizes as the first all-green screen feature film: Able Edwards.


Shot for $30,000, Edwards was filmed with no sets over a two-week period. While in post-production, he received a visitor in the editing suite: Steve Sodebergh. Sodebergh liked what he saw so much, he became an executive producer.
Able Edwards was released in 2004; it won the Robert Rodriguez award at the Hollywood MiniDV Festival, and then...
...nothing. His experience with Able Edwards informed his book, "Desktop Cinema: Feature Filmmaking on the Home Computer." Five years later, he's keeping busy arranging furniture on sitcoms.
This is the part of the story that fascinates me. Why no second movie? Did the film's lack of box office success dissuade him? There's no website, no sign of any current distribution; did things go sour behind the scenes? Did he, after creating an entire movie with no physical sets, being writer/producer/director/editor/one-man studio- did he find more fulfillment on movie sets? Did he tell the story he wanted to tell? Did he, in the story of Able Edwards, tell his own story and fortell his own fate? Or does he have something else in the basement, bubbling under? (and is "Land of Enchantment" that project?)

Does Graham Robertson have a second act?

July 12

They say the other half of a movie is sound. Somebody who would agree is Ben Burtt, who has made some of the most memorable sounds in movies.

Those sounds include: R2-D2, the lightsaber, ET, Wall-E, and the Darth Vader breathing apparatus.
Here he is, explaining the history of the lightsaber hum:


He also returned the "Wilhelm Scream" to popularity. Here's a retrospective:


I know I haven't written a lot for Mr Burtt; I figured his work can speak for itself...

July 11

Today, we tell the story of Tab Hunter, ex-teen heartthrob. His second film, 1952's "Island of Desire" made him a box-office draw, and the 1955 war film "Battle Cry" (where he was cast over James Dean) made him the box office king for the rest of the 50's. This period includes his most enduring role, in the film version of the Broadway smash "Damn Yankees"

Like any respectable 50's teen idol, Hunter began a music career: his first single "Young Love" hit number 1 in 1957. Hunter was such a cash cow for Warner Brothers, they blocked Hunter's recording contract and started Warner Bros Records, just so they could release his records. In 1960, he got his own sitcom, The Tab Hunter Show.
Five years later, he was on the dinner theater circuit. So, what happened?

Well, there's the whole 'growing up' thing, which usually ends a teen idol career all by itself. Then, there's the whole 'acting range of Paul Walker/Megan Fox' thing. His homosexuality may have also been a factor (Henry Wilson, the agent that named him, sold him out to the tabloids to buy silence about another Wilson client - Rock Hudson.) While it was never entirely out (until 2005), his other life was a persistent rumor, even at his career's height.
On the other hand, his reputation may have led to his resurgance.

He returned to the big screen in the 80's, starting in John Waters' "Polyester", then in such films as "Lust in the Dust", "Grease 2", and "Cameron's Closet". While he hasn't returned to A-list status, he seems to have become something else: a genuine actor.

July 10

Today is Ellen Kuras Day, a cinematographer with a unique distinction: she's the only person to win the Cinematography Award at Sundance three times. Her experimental eyes have also served Spike Lee (Bamboozled, He Got Game), Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine, Be Kind Rewind), Rebecca Miller (Ballad of Jack and Rose, Swoon) and Sam Mendes (Away We Go).
So let's get a sense of her aesthetic with a mini-retrospective of her work, starting with a trailer for the award-winning Swoon:

Swoon was the first of Kuras' Sundance winners. Besides 1995's Angela, Kuras also won for Personal Velocity:

In 2008, she sat in the director's chair for the first time, for the documentary "Nerakhoon" (translation: "The Betrayal"), about a Laotian family's struggle to emigrate - and then survive - America.

July 3

Happy Birthday to the Chinese Hercules, Yang Sze, known to English-speaking action fans as Bolo Yeung. Bolo has been one of the most menacing villains ever onscreen, often without saying a word:

That's him in Double Impact; he's around 50 years old.

I'm still trying to verify his age; several sources say he was born in 1938, but his personal website says he was born in 1946. His story goes, he was already a renowned weightlifter in the 60's when he swam from the Mainland to Hong Kong to escape communism. He won the Mr Hong Kong weightlifting title for several years by the time he was discovered by the Shaw Brothers, and his acting career began en force.

Western audiences were introduced to Bolo in Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon", where Bolo plays the mastermind's main goon. Bruce and Bolo had been friends for some time, and Bruce even promised they would have a fight scene together in "Game of Death", but that scene was never to be.
The closest to an on-screen spar between the two are these between-takes photos from the set of "Dragon."

sparring w/ Bruce Lee


"Enter the Dragon" was enough to make him a big star in the East. (He even had a doppelganger, Lee Chun-Wa, who tussles with the like of Jackie Chan in 'Drunken Master.') Bolo's next breakthrough was in 1988's "Bloodsport", as Jean Claude Van Damme's nemesis. He became an action-star mainstay, starring alongside Van Damme, Cynthia Rothrock, Billy Blanks...

He even played a good guy in Shootfighter, cast as the sensei forced to fight for his students' honor. The movie has the bonus of pitting Bolo against the evil sensai from the Karate Kid, That Guy Martin Kove:


Now long since AARP eligible, he lives in California as a fitness and martial arts instructor. He announced his retirement from acting in 2008; with nearly 100 films under his belt, that's plenty for fans to discover...

June 28

Now that the Karate Kid has been successfully re-invented for another generation, it's a good time to remember Pat Morita. After all, it was his Oscar-nominated performance that elevated a teen movie into a signpost for a decade, and cemented his title as the most popular Japanese-American actor in history.
He managed quite a few firsts in his career. Morita was the Arnold that ran Arnold's on "Happy Days". He became the first Asian-American sitcom lead in "Mr T and Tina"; the cancellation of that show and "Blansky's Beauties" would make him one of the few actors to lose two shows in one season. In the wake of "Karate Kid", he got his own cop show, "Ohara":

Yup, that's Catherine Kenner,from "Being John Malkovich", as a junior detective. "Ohara", the first drama with an Asian-American lead, didn't do much better in the ratings; it lasted two seasons.
Morita's enthnicity was a double-edged sword, but he used it adeptly through the decades. He played at least as many roles in his native California drawl as he did laying on his Migayi-think accent. He was just as comfortable lampooning his iconic sensai character as he was reprising or ripping it off. Whether he was earning an Emmy nod (for the Kirk Douglas TV-movie Amos) or starring in a buddy cop movie with Jay Leno:

[Take THAT, Prince Humperdink!]
Morita schooled us all. Happy Birthday, Sensai...

June 22

I've got a category called "Japan" that I don't use very much. It's a designation I cribbed from other blogsites to signify those things that come off as so mind-bogglingly weird, something must have been lost in translation... Basically, it's another way to say "WTF?"
I haven't used it as much because:
1) it's kinda racist
2) a lot of the Japanese stuff I end up finding isn't that weird.
3) the Koreans have been much weirder, but who's gonna say "That's So Korea..."?

I've kept the label, because it's a flaw of mine worth learning from. Case in point: Emmanuelle Seigner, the current Mrs Polanski. Polanski's only directed her in 3 of her 29 films; she's been nominated for France's version of the Oscar, and best known to American audiences for The Diving Bell and The Butterfly.

Seigner also sings in the band Ultra Orange and Emmanuelle, which sounds like Nico singing shoegazer music:


But the 'Japan' moment for me was her starring role in the Death in Vegas video "Hands Around My Throat":

Because who knows "WTF" better than the French, right?

Maybe I haven't learned anything...

June 9

I'm working a twofer in here: first, let's throw out a Happy Birthday to Johnny Depp, who is probably the best paid character actor today. Between his collaborations with Tim Burton and his turn as Captain Jack Sparrow, he's making A-list money while being allowed to play unpredictable roles, which is an anomaly. Million-dollar actors don't get millions of dollars to deliver unpredictable product. You know who Ben Stiller's character is the moment you see his face in a movie; same with Will Smith or Robin Williams. The further the actor wanders away from that type, the more confused the audience tends to get. Johnny Depp appears to be that exception; he's developed his taste and talent over the years that enough moviegoers trust wherever he's taking them. Plus, he's got genetics on his side.
Here's one fan's top 20 Depp movies list:


While I'm at it, let's throw in a trailer for a Johnny Depp movie, directed by fellow birthday boy David Koepp (I think that rhymes!):


While I'm at it, let me shine a light on Mr Koepp, the guy I wanted to feature today. He's not a movie star, I know - he's just written some big movies (the Jurassic Park films, the first entries in the Spiderman and Mission Impossible franchises, Angels and Demons, Panic Room, Carlito's Way,...) I'm in a scriptwriting mode this month, so I'm really digesting stuff like these tidbits Koepp offers about the process.

If you've made it this far, you're probably a writer, too. So I'll tell you what I'd want someone to tell me - get back to staring at that page!

May 29

It's easier to let the music of Danny Elfman speak for him, but I wouldn't be doing my job then, would I? Danny first made the world sit up and notice him as part of the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. The band formed from the afterbirth of "Forbidden Zone", which also happened to be Danny's first film score. The band lasted until the mid-90's.

Paul Reubens introduced Danny to Tim Burton, who was set to direct Paul in "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure." In that time, all the way to Alice in Wonderland, Elfman has composed all but two of Burton's films.
I can't believe that for all the films he's written for, Elfman's been nominated for an Oscar a mere 4 times - and only one nomination is for a Burton film (Big Fish). Here's a great retrospective of his music libray so far:

May 25

Happy Birthday, Sir Ian McKellen; your Shakespearean pedigree has elevated two of the geekiest cults into the pop culture stratosphere. You make everything sound sophisticated and haughty.

Observe these tributes:

May 14

I showcase a larger proportion of singers and actors than I like in this column; it's easier to find videos, easier to give you something else to look at beside my bumbling testimonials and second-hand research. The people that are really shaping our world to come - the doctors, scientists, and philosophers that our children will study about - these are the kind of people I want to recognize and imbue, in some small way, some distinction in our pop culture-saturated attention spans.
A great example is Professor Frederik Kruger, world expert in particle discharge and DC current systems. Since the early 60's, he's invented several high voltage containment systems and components that have become global standards. His laboratory in Delft, Holland is considered the centre of knowledge in direct current research. He wrote the textbook on particle discharge, literally.
That's not all Professor Krueger writes about, however. He's published several studies of a fellow local boy done good, 17th century painter Johannes Vermeer, and the painter's use of pre-photographic technology in his art. He also identified several presumed Vermeers as forgeries, particularly by the expert forger Han Van Meegeren.
Krueger became an expert on Van Meegeren himself, writing several novels and biographies about Van Meegeren's work, his frustration as a legitimate artist, and his abilities to fool the critics and the Nazis. (You can read some of Kruger's research at this Van Meegeren website.)
When he's not playing with high voltage or identifying great art forgeries, Krueger plays out with his band, the Siperkov Ensemble, who keep alive the traditional sounds of Romany (Gypsy) music.

Of course, he's written a book about Romany music, too.

But who am I kidding? If I say it's Fred Krueger's birthday, you're probably expecting something like this:


I'm sorry, Professor...

May 13

Today was a scary day to research, but I found Koji Suzuki, the Japanese author who gave us the novel that began the Ring (Ringu) phenomenon. I first saw Ringu online, in the days of Kazaa; after watching the story about a movie that kills you, I kept my computer online for seven days, just to make sure somebody - anybody - would upload it and assume the curse for himself.
The story's become more supernatural as it's been re-interpreted from movie to movie; the South Korean adaptation, titled "Ring Virus", might be closer than any version yet to the original text. I might have to revisit the film; there may be a lot more to the story I'm missing, if this trailer is any indication:

May 11

Time to write about an unappreciated gem of a film, called "The Last Action Hero". Beyond its action film trappings, "Hero" is a meta-film, a movie about the collision of movies and reality (see: Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Purple Rose of Cairo.) Schwartzeneggar assumes the role of one of his characters; while he's doing all the action hero things (catching bad guys, property damage), he deals with the absurdity of his existence alongside one of his fans. The movie was too pretentious for some action fans, too pedestrian for some critics; even though it made $200 million worldwide, it's considered a blemish on Schwarteneggar's career (I disagree; that honor goes to Jingle All The Way.)

I'm talking about 'Hero' because of co-star Austin O'Brien, a child actor that didn't tank a Schwartzeneggar film (again, Jingle All The Way.) As Danny Madigan, O'Brien was the perfect audience liason; after all, who was really worshipping Schwarzeneggar's R-rated spectacles at the time?
O'Brien had several choice roles as a child actor: Lawnmower Man, My Girl 2, the 3-season "Promised Land"... Now, he's transitioning out of ChildActorland. Next stop: bad guy in an indie film...

Helix Trailer from Windward Entertainment on Vimeo.

Here's hoping he's back in the big leagues soon...

April 22

Here's somebody I hope to discover today: Johnnie To. I've actually seen one of his early films, The Heroic Trio, but I couldn't tell you what makes his films his.

My filmmaking friend, on the other hand, swears by the guy; when most of the hot Hong Kong Directors of the 90's (Wong Kar Wai, Ringo Lam, John Woo, etc...)started using their visas, To hunkered down and kept making movies in his hometown. Ten years later, he practically was the Hong Kong movement.

He's recognized as proficient in a multitude of genres, from gangster films to romantic comedies, and he's won a couple dozen awards for his efforts.
I found this Veoh page assembled by a Johnnie To fan, with a few subtitled films of his; you can find more on the internet, if you're up on your Cantonese. Meanwhile, here's the R-rated (and potentially NSFW) "Mad Detective":

Watch Mad Detective in Entertainment  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com