I’ve got problems with this list, BIG problems. That being said, however, what this list does at least do is compile an overarching docket of comedians who are currently winning at Hollywooding. I’ll let you follow the link to see the list for yourself, but some of my gripes are:
*Spoilers ahead (if you actually care about spoiling a Top 25 list)*
Mostly they have to do with placement rather than actually being put ON this list. I understand the rationale behind LISTING all of these actors, but the stack-ranking involved has left me baffled. For Instance, I have no idea why Elizabeth Banks is #14 on this list, ahead of Russell Brand, Ricky Gervais, and Ken Jeong. Granted, she was in Role Models and Zack and Miri, and has played a couple of laughs for the Apatow gang in the past, but can ANYONE give me a reason that she should be ahead of the incredibly talented and devoted people behind her who have been creating and performing in comedy for years? To further bitch, how is Anna Faris even farther up the list at #11? Funny in the Scary Movies, yes, and pretty good in Observe and Report, but how far have we ACTUALLY seen her stretch? She has adequately portrayed slapstick-ditzy and train-wreck-of-humanity, to great laughs. That’s basically it. And now that I mention it, I think I’m going to copyright both of those…
In addition to ranking wrong, I feel that this list is labelled wrong, as well. This list is compiled of strictly Film and Television actors, nowhere on this list can producers, stand-ups, or late-night personalities be found, all of which, I would argue, constitute “Funny People Working in Hollywood.” My notable ommissions would include Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Judd Apatow, Eddie Izzard, Craig Ferguson, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, Chelsea Handler, Jo Koy, Loni Love, Josh Wolf, Guy Branum, Whitney Cummings, The It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Gang of writers, producers, and actors, and the list could go ON AND ON AND ON AND ON…
To wrap up, I feel that the most egregious error comes with placing Paul Rudd at #1. I’m certain that there are some die-hards out there that will greatly take offense to that, but let’s face it, Rudd is our generation’s leading straight-man. An important position for comedy, sure, but his range is CERTAINLY no greater than that of Bill Murray, Sacha Baron Cohen, Steve Carrell, and Tina Fey, just to name some of the accompanying members of the list.
Moviefone’s Top 25 Funniest People Working in Hollywood (Right Now)
In the dazzling kaleidoscope of artistic nomenclature, it is unlikely that there is anything that even comes within an aerosol can of encapsulating the raw, unbridled cinematic talent that is Banksy. Indeed, it can only be a matter of time before this thrillingly inventive auteur produces the sort of spray-on masterpiece that will eschew the need for actors, scripts, lights, support crew, and even cameras. Indeed, this stunning advancement in film-making techniques will leave avant garde audiences staring in devoted wonderment at a screen that lesser mortals would probably just think is blank. However, the pop culture elite have forgotten more than this slovenly heathen will ever know. Therefore, by the end of such a magnum opus, they will have proclaimed Banksy to be a living deity and worship him accordingly.
Yes, in this tongue-welded-onto-cheek documentary about how a French ex-pat goes from selling alternative clothing in Los Angeles to recording the lives of the world’s best known street artists and beyond, the audience is being asked to live up to all of their prejudices about modern art having about as much value as a bowlful of other people’s nail clippings. As the enigmatic Banksy would have us believe, he decided to turn the camera on would-be documenter Thierry Guetta when he discovered that the latter had no more film-making talent than one of his wall murals did. However, it is not as if a degree of peer criticism was ever going to faze this seemingly irrepressible Frenchman. Rather, if ever there was a man to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, it is he. As a consequence, the audience just about manages to cling on to Guetta’s ridiculous mutton chops, as his providential trajectory takes him ever upwards.
As for the rest, well, you can expect pretty much everything from André the Giant to Leonard Nimoy to anarchic rodents to put in an appearance, as a humorous smorgasbord of paranoid warnings and lefty sloganeering get daubed on walls across the planet. Narrated by actor Rhys Ifans and with cuts to Banksy whenever a scarcely plausible explanation for how things kept on progressing from one thing to the next is needed (monkeys with typewriters do not stop trying just yet), one would want to believe in the tooth fairy as much as Shepard Fairey for this pseudo-documentary to seem remotely credible.
In any event, when it comes to Thierry Guetta, we have the most ludicrous of Gallic head-the-balls since the guy who once freaked out an entire generation of football scribes with his pronouncements on seagulls, trawlers, and sardines. From cheap gags such as spilling pink paint all over the back of his station wagon to haranguing bemused employees as he trundles about on a tricycle, this modern-day Pierrot is the perfect foil for this mischievous send-up. Equally, there are some fine glimpses into the shadowy world of these street artists, including a fine montage early on that is fittingly scored by Richard Hawley’s Tonight The Streets Are Ours. While the whole thing may feel a little like The Simpsons taking the mick out of Fox at times, art knobs are a sufficiently plump and juicy target that we will all want to chuckle along just the same!
Acaba de sair no Brasil o novo filme de Martin Scorsese, um dos mais importantes realizadores dos últimos 40 anos.
Apesar do reconhecimento monumental de hoje, sua trajetória foi mais difícil do que se imagina. Seu primeiro grande sucesso comercial veio apenas nos anos 90 com Cabo do Medo e, mesmo com todo a aclamação crítica que recebia desde os anos 70, Scorsese teve dificuldades para tocar seus projetos na década de 80.
Martin Scorsese faz parte da primeira geração de cineastas americanos oriundos de cursos de cinema em universidades. O cinema clássico já tinha pedido as contas, todos grandes aposentados ou em fim de carreira. Enquanto isso, o cinema europeu estava no auge com as cinematografias nacionais e as experimentações de linguagem.
Esta dupla influência é fundamental para entender o cinema da geração da virada dos anos 60 para os 70 que reergueu Hollywood, principalmente no caso de Scorsese, talvez aquele que materializou com mais intensidade a influência européia dentro do cinema americano.
O grande eixo de sua obra seja talvez a violência latente de seus personagens. Marcados por solidão e frustrações, a energia de vida dos personagens é deflagrada pela violência, seja no outro (Taxi Driver, Cabo do Medo, Caminhos Perigosos, Os Bons Companheiros, O Rei da Comédia), neles mesmos (A Última Tentação de Cristo, Vivendo no Limite) ou mesmo nos dois (Touro Indomável).
Robert DeNiro se tornou a grande encarnação da personagem de Scorsese. O misto de fragilidade com aspereza de sua fisionomia foi importante para que os flagelos da solidão do diretor pudessem aflorar. O ponto alto da parceria acontece em Touro Indomável onde a fragilidade violenta de DeNiro explode na tela e só amansa quando faz o movimento inverso, autoflagelando-se quando LaMotta engorda e tenta uma fracassada carreira como comediante.
O catolicismo e o submundo – principalmente a máfia – permeiam diversos de seus filmes em diferentes momentos da carreira. Muda o registro, que vai do metafórico, simbólico e chega ao mais mundano e inconseqüente nos anos 90. A máfia alcança seu ponto máximo na obra de Scorsese em Os Bons Companheiros, quando perde o glamour e vira motivo de piada escancarando a boçalidade desse tipo de criminoso. Nesse sentido, é o anti-Poderoso Chefão, ainda que sirva como complemento de representação a ele.
Outro fator importante de sua obra é a cinefilia. Scorsese talvez seja a pedra fundamental dos cineastas-cinéfilos e em menor ou maior grau, a história do cinema representa papel importante. Ela serve muitas vezes como recheio de uma segunda camada ou até uma terceira, é a instrumentalização fundamental em Scorsese, já que ele está sempre se reportando ao passado cinematográfico. Não que ele seja um pós-modernista. Contudo, Scorsese sempre mantém a história do cinema em uma das mãos como guia de referência para seu trabalho. A partir de Os Bons Companheiros, com seu final que retoma The Great Train Robbery, esse caráter cinéfilo ganha mais força e culmina, até o momento, em Os Infiltrados e no curta A Key to Reserva.
No longa com Leonardo DiCaprio, Scorsese parece mover-se de encontro às grandes histórias clássicas do cinema policial, principalmente o cinema B dos anos 40 e 50, mas com grandeza da Hollywood canônica de Hawks, Ford, Wyler, Vidor, Walsh. É seu filme mais perto de John Ford, onde todos os planos são feitos para significar muito além da composição e das plásticas, são centrados, recheados, grandiosos, completos. A arte do diretor disfarçada de história codificada sob o gênero policial. Nesse sentido é seu filme que mais deve ao cinema clássico. A Key to Reserva, nessa direção, é seu filme mais de emulação, uma brincadeira com a arte do cinema clássico e com o ofício do diretor. É o cinéfilo que fala cada vez mais alto.
Checklist Martin Scorsese
Esse é apenas uma referência (até para mim mesmo) filme a filme da obra do diertor americano, indo de * a *****
Quem Bate à Minha Porta (Who’s That Knocking at my Door? – 1967) – *
Street Scenes (1970) – Não vi
Boxcar Bertha (1972) – **
Caminhos Perigosos (Mean Streets – 1973) – ****
Italianamerican (1974) – Não vi
Alice Não Mora Mais Aqui (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore – 1974) – **
Taxi Driver (1976) – *****
New York, New York (1977) – ***
O Último Concerto de Rock (The Last Waltz – 1978) – Não vi
American Boy – A Profile of Steven Prince (1978) – Não vi
Touro Indomável (Raging Bull – 1980) – *****
O Rei da Comédia (The King of Comedy – 1982) – ****
Depois de Horas (After Hours – 1985) – ****
A Cor do Dinheiro (The Color of Money – 1986) – ****
A Última Tentação de Cristo (The Last Temptation of Christ – 1988) – *****
Life Lessons (Episódio de Contos de Nova York – 1989) – ***
Os Bons Companheiros (Goodfellas – 1990) – *****
Cabo do Medo (Cape Fear – 1991) – ***
A Época de Inocência (The Age of Innocence – 1992) – Não vi
Cassino (Casino – 1995) – ****
Kundun (1997) – *
Il Mio Viaggio in Italia (1999) – Não vi
Vivendo no Limite (Bringing out the Dead – 1999) – ***
Gangues de Nova York (Gangs of New York – 2002) – ****
While not the greatest movie in the world, Be Kind Rewind is a cute heart-warming film which if suffering from anything has a little too many big name actors involved. The film tells the story of two friends Jerry (Jack Black) and Mike (Mos Def) who accidentally erase all the video tapes at the failing Be Kind Rewind Video store while the owner Mr Fletcher (Danny Glover) is away at a Fats Waller memorial service. In their desperation to hide the mistake from Mr Fletcher and satisfy the few but loyal customers Jerry and Mike attempt to remake some of the classic films the store holds. It all begins with Ghostbusters and from there business builds up as their mini-movies are a hit in the neighbourhood.
While at times Jack Black’s acting is a little like attacking, the rest of the film makes up for it. A novel concept and some solid performances from outstanding actors like Mia Farrow, Sigourney Weaver as well as the lead actors. The cringe moments in the movie were luckily few and far between. I did love the ending with the Fats Waller film and the community coming together which warmed my heart.
There’s a politically potent scene towards the end of the film Green Zone (‘inspired’ by Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s ‘Imperial Life in the Emerald City’) which shows an aerial view of Iraqi oil refineries. Apt and a telling ending to a film that demolishes any belief in WMD. The film has also been dubbed, ‘Bourne in Baghdad’ (based on the Bourne series) as this is another collaboration between Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass. It is a high octane action-packed political thriller fictionalised account (and as they say the difference between documentary and fiction is with fiction you have to tell the truth) that is set at the start of the invasion of Iraq (early 2003) where US military soldier, chief warrant officer Miller, (Damon) is given the task with his unit to find WMDs. Miller discovers that he has been sent on a wild goose chase (the ‘intelligence’ just doesn’t ‘add up’) and wants to know why. Miller goes ‘rogue’ to uncover the truth about WMDs where he is continually obstructed and comes up against the lies and deceit perpetuated by Pentagon and Washington officials, one corrupt official called Poundstone (this reminded me of ‘Operation Treadstone’ in the Bourne films). Miller comes up against a weary and out-of-the-political-loop CIA agent who doesn’t believe there’s any WMDs, a duped journalist, a macho special-ops ‘baddie’ American soldier (played by Brit Jason Isaacs) and disabled war weary Iraqi ‘Freddy’ who acts as Miller’s translator. With the eventual meeting with one Saddam’s generals which is highly dramatic and fast paced, and the whole charade of WMDs unfolds and where the reality dawns of Miller.
Unlike the Hurt Locker which is a more in-depth slow-paced psychological portrait of soldiers engaged in combat in Iraq and obviously with its political colours nailed to the establishment pro-war friendly mast and therefore a safe Oscars shoo-in (Bigelow in her acceptance Oscar speech dedicated it to soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq). In saying all that, I still believe it is a well crafted film and believable characterisations of modern-day shell-shocked soldiers. While Green Zone is clearly partisan in its anti-war message, where the lacks in character development it makes up for it stating loud and clear that the Iraq war was based on a lie, with its shaky edgy hand-held camera docu-drama about it. There is another powerful scene where ‘Freddy’ eloquently states to Miller, ‘you have no right to decide what is best for us’. We witness the horrors of torture as Miller enters a camp where Iraqis are being held, abused hooded frightened men forced to their knees while soldiers stand around with barking dogs. Again, Miller faces up to the reality of the so-called ‘liberation’ of Iraq. It also brought to mind Karl Rove’s latest defence of the indefensible… waterboarding.
The battle scenes are dramatic and cinematography breath-taking (Barry Ackroyd was the cinematographer for The Hurt Locker). The acting is good especially Khalid Abdalla who plays ‘Freddy’ is very impressive and comes across as realistic in his portrayal. Greengrass is known for his social realism and bold political commentary films such as ‘The Murder of Stephen Lawrence’, ‘Bloody Sunday’, and ‘United 93′…
It is undeniably an anti-war film that honestly confronts what really happened in Iraq, which wasn’t about liberation but enslavement and expropriation though some how I doubt it will win any Oscars.
I just finished watching Where the Wild Things Are, which is easily one of the best movies that I have seen over the past year.
It is not a perfect film, but it has moments that capture an exuberant, kinetic and pure joy of a kind I’ve very rarely experienced since childhood. There are moments in the film that reach inside to your own wild thing, that make you want to move along to the wild rumpus on screen. Moments that capture an essence of youth on film both boisterously and delicately, leaving it intact so that energy can leap back out into the audience. I spent most of the film with Max where the wild things were, and the tiniest bits of it with old friends during recess at the Crow Island Woods. Even as I write this, I am remembering in first grade when we tunneled under the fence to escape the playground, how we managed to keep the project secret for what seemed like years but was really days (I would have said that it seemed like millennia, but we barely had conception of months).
But Wild Things is not content with that vivacity. It also explores the casual but harsh cruelty of childhood, the breed of fractiousness and fear that comprise an all too real aspect of early life. It’s easy to build a great fort, but it’s hard to get everyone to be inside it together; as the wild rumpus starts the sun is dying and the world is slowly grinding from rock to sand to dust. Smiles and tears are both integral to the movie, but neither overpowers the other. Wild Things is neither schmaltzy nor sad. It is beautiful, a movie about childhood that was, in the end, not really made for real children, but for inner ones.
