Posts Tagged ‘Edward Norton’
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Greetings to all of you who found your way back here Monday morning. I don’t feel like I say it often enough, but I’m very happy to have the following that I have and appreciate that you take time out of your day to see what I’m up to.
I know the art is a little on the light side for today’s strip, but I figured since I went to some effort trying to figure out how to draw myself lunging through a projectionist booth window WHILE strangling a guy, I deserved a break.
Truth be told, Jared is not nearly as bad at Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon as I depict him in today’s strip. Quite the contrary, he is very good. We’ve played several rounds during boring car trips or just shooting the breeze over a beer or two.
Often we have to set some ground rules when playing Six Degrees. There are certain films in the Bacon body of work that have to be excluded due to the large ensemble casts of top tier celebrities.
For example, A Few Good Men is out because of it’s ties to Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise, Kiefer Sutherland, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Demi Moore. If you were looking for a back door to Kevin Bacon, character actors J.T. Walsh and Kevin Pollak come in handy. Not only are they in this movie, but probably over another hundred films between them.
Although the cast list is less extensive, Apollo 13 is out for similar reasons as well as JFK. Actually, the cast of JFK is full of so many big names, you only need to study that one film for the key to winning any round of Six Degrees in one degree or less.
Lately, we’ve discovered that Sleepers is a handy gateway to many Six Degree wins. It features actors who have ties to old Hollywood as well as the next generation of up and coming actors. Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman and Bruno Kirby are part of the old guard while Billy Crudup, Ron Eldard, Minnie Driver, Jason Patric, Brad Pitt and Brad Renfro round out the new. Not many people know about the movie and playing that card shows you know a little more about cinema than you might let on.
If you want to know how seriously Jared and I take Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon in terms of a momentary distraction, be forewarned that Jared once took the time to illustrate a complicated diagram featuring several of the movies and actors Kevin Bacon has associated with. To my knowledge, he did it without the help of the Internet Movie Data Base. The kid’s got scary powers, I tell ya’.
On the personal front, I spent most of this weekend installing track lighting, so my arms and back are killing me. I did, however, get the opportunity to watch Back to the Future: Part III. I dunno, every time I watch any of those movies, my mind drifts and I wonder whatever happened to the actor who played Biff and all his relatives. I always thought he was really good. Spot on comedic and dramatic acting. You never see him in anything these days.
Thomas F. Wilson we hardly knew ye!
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If you’re not catching the Dudley Do-Right reference, you’re not watching enough Boomerang.
I would like to see The Italian Job this weekend, if only because F. Gary Gray is behind the lens and because I really enjoyed The Negotiator. I know going into the theater that it will not be better than the 1969 original and that the obligatory Mini car chase will feel more like a car commercial than a true action sequence benchmark.
Still, I have to see it. Anyone who can get Mos Def and Seth Green in a movie together deserves something.
I would lump Ed Norton in that group, but in several recent interviews, he’s explained that his participating in the film was a contractual obligation and not one of choice. That sours things a little for me, because I’m a big fan of Ed’s. But it bringing the whole “mustache issue” into sharper focus. No question the thing looks like an anemic caterpillar resting on his lip, but knowing Ed, it’s an “actorly touch” he integrated into the character to piss someone off. If anything, I’ll see the movie for him. Even when he’s bad, he’s better than most. I could give a damn about Mark Wahlberg or Charlize Theron.
That said, my number one priority this weekend is seeing Finding Nemo. I’m a Pixar NUT and can’t wait to see what they’ve cooked up this time. It’ll be interesting to see how close they can get to mimicking sea life with computer graphics. I imagine pretty darn close.
Expect a Nemo strip on Friday.
Say, before I forget, if you haven’t joined the forums yet, you should look into it. We already have a crew of 50 and we’re having a blast. Check it out!
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