Doom and Batman are at last thrown together as The Dark Knight and Gotham City enter the realm of id Software’s defining FPS game, in a huge total conversion Doom mod that lets you battle the Joker as Bruce Wayne retro shooter style.
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Your phone’s lock screen is supposed to be a safeguard against the world (and accidental unlocks in your pocket). When it’s locked, your phone can’t be opened without either the passcode, a face scan, or a fingerprint. If you lose your phone or someone snatches it from you, you can rest assured they won’t be able to…
The recently released Windows 11 22H2 update has done no favours in helping the reputation of the operating system. There are reports aplenty that accuse it of impacting the performance of gaming PCs, with Microsoft now outright confirming that the latest version of its OS can cause your GPU a bit of a headache.
RELATED LINKS: Best SSD for gaming, How to build a gaming PC, Best gaming CPU
When I discovered Disney+ had a sequel miniseries in the works for the "Santa Clause" Christmas movie series, dread stirred deep in my inner being. So far, I did not have much luck with these properties: "Home Sweet Home Alone" was painfully unfunny, while the "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid" 2021 animated reboot was inconsequential and — dare I say? — boring (a fatal flaw in any kids' film). I had come to accept that Disney+ was where the 20th Century Studios franchises went to die. Thankfully (if surprisingly), that does not appear to be the case for "The Santa Clauses" miniseries — at least not based on the two episodes provided for review.
"The Santa Clauses" is a direct sequel to the beloved "Santa Clause" trilogy. Scott Calvin (Tim Allen), aka Santa Claus, is nearing his 65th birthday, and it's clear the Christmas magic is starting to wane. This leads him and his wife, Carol (Elizabeth Mitchell) — a reluctant Mrs. Claus — to consider hanging up the ol' toy sack and handing the sleigh reins to a successor, freeing them and their grown children a chance to enjoy the "real world." It's a simple premise perfectly in keeping with the original hit film's ethos and works surprisingly well — both for playing to Allen's strength as a comedian, but also for updating the tone, structure, and humor for young audiences in 2022.
Often, it feels like we're in the age of nostalgia farming, with previously successful IPs constantly getting drudged up for a cash-grab do-over. Yet, despite how popular reboots and legacy sequels have been of late, they've proven difficult to pull off. How many reboots have actually been satisfying? At best, most attempts feel like fun, if forgettable, dessert after a really satisfying meal.
I think "The Santa Clauses" might be the rare exception.
Unlike many legacy sequels (especially of the direct-to-streaming variety), "The Santa Clauses" genuinely feels like it has been updated for the next generation of families. Apart from two flashbacks to the original movie and various references (arguably, necessary for context), the miniseries isn't derivative. Creator Jack Burditt made the smart choice to center the project on Scott entering a new chapter in life, which is both ripe for comedic potential and also a natural progression for the franchise, 28 years after it began.
I'm not saying "The Santa Clauses" is better, or even as good, as the original. I'm not sure I could even be an objective critic of the 1994 Christmas movie at this point — it was such a huge part of my childhood holidays. When we weren't sipping eggnog and watching "It's a Wonderful Life" on TV, we were watching "The Santa Clause" on VHS (we switched over to the more risqué "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" when I was older). I will say though, when viewed objectively and independently on its own merit as a holiday miniseries, "The Santa Clauses" is pretty darn good.
Allen is definitely in his wheelhouse here as Scott, for better or for worse. More than once, I laughed out loud at a line that was only funny because of his delivery. Allen serves as an executive producer, alongside Burditt; Burditt was the showrunner of Allen's sitcom "Last Man Standing," and has been involved in a number of recent comedy hits — from "Modern Family," to "30 Rock," to "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," and even "Frasier" back in the day. Not everything in "The Santa Clauses" landed — the actor lets his sometimes more unsavory political leanings show, and this came through in the writing. The bits poking fun at "wokeism" in particular felt out of place and forced (more like, Kris Cringe-l, amirite?).
Thankfully, the majority of the comedy in "The Santa Clauses" is less "Last Man Standing" and more "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt." No doubt this is thanks to a diverse writing staff and cast. Episode 2 was written by Katy Colloton & Katie O'Brien (known for penning the series "Teachers"), and for me, this second outing had the bigger laughs. It helps that supporting characters like Noel (Devin Bright) and Edie (Isabella Bennett) bring a lot of energy into their scenes.
Allen isn't the only seasoned funnyman on screen: Kal Penn plays Simon Choksi, a tech guru who seems destined to follow in Scott's footsteps (no spoilers here — I'm only guessing). The first two episodes are focused on Santa Claus and the North Pole, so Penn's screen time is limited; however, I do have two observations. One, Penn's chemistry with Rupali Redd (who plays his daughter, Grace), is very sweet. Two, he has one of the funniest fop-sweat scenes in recent memory. If the subsequent episodes feature more Kal Penn awkward antics, I am here for it.
Watching "The Santa Clauses," I definitely felt affection for the original film — but more so, I felt the urge to watch the series with my kids. I have two young children, and they really do believe in the "magic" of Christmas. And it's not just about gifts for them; pre-Covid, we brought my eldest to meet the local mall Santa every year. It was always the same man, and he was every bit as sweet and gentle as "the real deal." Those are treasured memories.
The kiddos lost a lot during the pandemic. We've had to cancel family plans two years in a row now, and the "magic" of the season gets diminished among talks of vaccines and rapid tests. In that regard, "The Santa Clauses" feels like the miniseries we need right now — in parts, sharp yet sentimental, funny yet sincere. It's an age-appropriate holiday miniseries that has something for every member of the family.
And I'm looking forward to sharing it with them.
"The Santa Clauses" premieres Wednesday, November 16, 2022, on Disney+.
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The post The Santa Clauses Review: A Surprisingly Good Series That Avoids the Legacy Sequel Curse appeared first on /Film.
Do you have a picture in your mind of “healthy” eating? Does it include fruits and vegetables? You’re doing great.
AMC's "Interview with the Vampire" made it clear from the beginning that, despite his seductive, French-speaking qualities, Lestat (Sam Reid) could be dangerous and was not a good dude. In the series premiere (spoilers follow), Louis (Jacob Anderson) delivers an emotional confession to a priest, saying, "I laid down with the Devil, and he has roots in me," and it immediately becomes a "speak of the Devil, and he shall appear" moment. Lestat promptly arrives, tears the priest's throat out, and punches straight through another priest's head.
The scene takes on further Faustian overtones as Lestat gazes deep into Louis's eyes and offers him the "dark gift" of vampirism. Yet vampires in general obviously live by a different set of rules than most of us. As undead creatures that require the blood of humans or other living things for sustenance, you can't always judge them by human standards. For some viewers, this might make it easy to overlook Lestat's true nature until it's too late and he's carrying out the airborne vampire equivalent of domestic violence against Louis.
Speaking to Vanity Fair ahead of the "Interview with the Vampire" season 1 finale, Anderson acknowledged the appeal of Louis and Lestat's romance, despite how toxic it is ultimately. As he put it:
"They're connected to spend eternity together, and they have this connection, which is kind of a very difficult connection to articulate. Louis says it: There's no human equivalent to vampire bond. It's very difficult to rationalize it. 'Well, he was awful. How could you go back to him?' Because, it's like, there was this other thing. There was just this thing that was holding us together. You can parallel that with a domestic setting—people can't quite explain why they're so drawn to somebody who is bad for them."
Unlike Lestat, Louis tries to be a vegetarian vampire of sorts, subsisting off animal blood rather than human blood à la "Twilight." He means well, but he's also shown a pattern of denial, something his interviewer, Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian), calls him out on in the season finale. In his own (non-vampire) interview with Vanity Fair, Anderson continued to underline the moral complexity of the vampire world, and how that relates back to the real world, saying:
"These vampires do some awful things in those books. Some truly awful things, including Louis. But it's really difficult to moralize them or to look at them in the same way that you'd look at a human. It's one of the reasons why I think this show really fits into the place we're in right now as a society. I think we really want to moralize the world—we need to put it into boxes. We need to say, 'This is good and this is bad and this is right and this is wrong.' And you need to pick a side, you need to pick a lane. But we live in a very complex world and human beings are very complex. There are nuances that contextualize all behavior and it doesn't mean that you have to agree with any of it. But you have to acknowledge the nuance in human behavior, and therefore, vampire behavior."
"Interview with the Vampire" season 1 foregrounded Louis and Lestat's relationship, and both the finale and Anne Rice's literary source material suggest season 2 will be shifting focus to Louise and the new vampire "love of [his] life," Armand. Suffice it to say, that relationship looks to be no less complex.
"Interview with the Vampire" season 1 is now streaming on AMC+.
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The post Jacob Anderson Knows Why Interview With The Vampire Fans Want To See Louis And Lestat Together appeared first on /Film.
The lifecycle of Paul Verhoeven's 1995 film "Showgirls" is fascinating. It was to be the widest release ever given to a film rated NC-17, a rating that caused a great deal of chatter. Its star, Elizabeth Berkley, was best known at the time for playing the straightlaced Jessie on the kid-friendly sitcom "Saved by the Bell," so her presence in an all-nude, sex-soaked Las Vegas melodrama raised a few eyebrows. A tie-in coffee table book was authored, selling "Showgirls" as upscale, big-budget adult entertainment for a new age. Upon its release, however, the $45 million bonanza immediately drew negative reviews, with critics bristling at its dumb dialogue and male-gaze/onanism perspective. It currently holds a 23% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film eked out a mere $20 million before flopping down completely. "Showgirls" immediately became a joke.
"Showgirls" was nominated for 13 Golden Raspberries, "winning" six. People started quoting its idiotic dialogue ironically ("Everybody got AIDS and s***!") and MGM, perhaps a little too eager, immediately declared that their box office bomb was, in fact, a camp classic in the making. In 1996, "Showgirls" was re-released on the midnight movie circuit. It was, however, far too soon for audiences to accept it as a camp classic, and it bombed a second time. This was a pattern that recently repeated itself with "Morbius." Years later, the cult for "Showgirls" did eventually emerge, and by the late '00s, "Showgirls" was indeed playing at midnight shows in earnest. After about 15 years of camp glory, "Showgirls" has gently drifted off to become trashy, once-beloved comfort food.
In 2015, upon the film's 20th anniversary, Verhoeven was interviewed by Rolling Stone about his oddball sex flick. Regrets? He's had a few.
Verhoeven already had a reputation as a provocateur for his 1992 thriller "Basic Instinct." In that film, Sharon Stone plays a bisexual crime novelist named Catherine Tramell who is being investigated for the icepick murder of a former rock star. The detective on Catherine's case is Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) and he becomes increasingly drawn to her aggressive sexuality over the course of the film.
"Basic Instinct" features several notable sex scenes and a great deal of nudity. The film banked on cliché, the dialogue was clunky, but it has a lurid appeal that made the film into a hit.
20 years after "Showgirls," Verhoeven looked at his use of sex in both films and found that only one used sex to add to the film's dramatic power. He said:
"In 'Basic Instinct,' there are very, very long sex scenes, which aren't there in 'Showgirls.' Because it was a thriller, the idea that Sharon Stone could kill him during sex was always an element of protection. So we could show sex and nudity much longer than normal, because there was another element there — the element of threat."
Verhoeven felt that American audiences are more comfortable with nudity on film if it comes cloaked in the trapping of violence. While "Showgirls" features two notably grim scenes of extreme violence, it was, overall, a movie about ambition and glitz and the stage. He added that, by adding violence, "it would have been easier for audiences to go to a movie where there was abundant nudity — which was probably too difficult, in general, for the American public."
Because "Basic Instinct" is about the relationship between a man and a woman, the sexual tension became a natural outcropping of the story. Sex, in other words, was a central part of the plot.
For "Showgirls," the story is about Nomi Malone's career. Nomi (Berkley) arrives penniless in Las Vegas, clearly on the run from something, aiming to headline a Vegas strip stage spectacular. She starts by stripping at Cheetah's, catches the eye of the vulpine Cristal Connors (Gina Gershon), catches a break, and rises through the ranks of the showgirl world. Nomi will also attract the eye of Zack (Kyle MacLachlan) and they will briefly date. Nomi's sex life is but a small part of the story. Nudity comes naturally to a story about a nude dancer, but sex does not.
Verhoeven acknowledges this, and credits it as one of the gaffes he made while making "Showgirls," saying:
"[T]he sexual elements of 'Showgirls' are extremely limited; it's more about the nudity. If you make a story about a lap-dancer who becomes a showgirl, I think nudity is obligatory. It followed the storyline. But I wouldn't call that sexual. I would say 'Showgirls' is more anti-erotic than erotic."
Still, Verhoeven knew that he had to include what he considered vital to both films. Going by the advice of an old professor, Verhoeven said:
"When I was in high school in Holland, my art teacher said: The breast of a woman is the most beautiful thing in the world. I never forgot that."
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The post Paul Verhoeven Wishes He'd Made Showgirls More Like Basic Instinct appeared first on /Film.
When we consider John Malkovich playing a parody of himself in "Being John Malkovich," there comes the question: Why John Malkovich? Why not "Being Kurt Russell" or "Being Alan Rickman," for instance? Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman answered this, saying there was no other actor in mind when he wrote the script, due to Malkovich's "quality of unknowability" (via Rolling Stone).
And there we have the main draw of John Malkovich as a Hollywood actor, a visage that is instantly recognizable yet as inscrutable as the great stone faces of Easter Island. There isn't anyone else remotely like him, which adds to his enigma. Although he had hair when starting out, he's better known for that magnificent bald dome that hints at a mercurial intellect. Beneath that, there is the interrogative, simian brow that can measure degrees of rage or contempt by how many lines Malkovich furrows into it; then the beady yet penetrating eyes, the hollow cheeks, the prominent top lip and teeth, and the tapering chin that more recently has often rocked a professor-like beard.
It's a remarkable head, matched by the way Malkovich speaks and carries himself. That voice, veering from dry monotone to spitting rage, invites all the S's: Sly, sneering, sibilant, sinister, supercilious, superior, and scornful, while his body language carries the cool arrogance of someone who believes they are by far the smartest and most important person in the room.
In short, he is an actor born to play criminal masterminds and Machiavellian schemers and, despite his vast body of work, he is probably best known for his villainous roles; I'm even willing to wager that you're picturing him holding a gun to a cuddly toy's head as you read this. Yet for all his success in these parts, it wasn't a conscious career decision from Malkovich himself.
Screen villainy from the late '80s to the early aughts was dominated by a rogue's gallery of Brits, kicked off by Alan Rickman's brilliant turn as Hans Gruber in "Die Hard." Gary Oldman chewed scenery in several high-profile action flicks while David Suchet played an Islamic terrorist in "Executive Decision." Anthony Hopkins won an Oscar for portraying Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs" while Ben Kingsley played deliciously against type as a violent nutjob in "Sexy Beast."
In this period proliferated by British thesps, John Malkovich was one of few American actors who really stood out in similar roles and, like his counterparts from across the Atlantic, he started out in the theater. When he made the leap from stage to screen, it was in relatively benign roles. He earned an Oscar nomination for his performance in "Places in the Heart," gave an excellent supporting turn in "The Killing Fields," and played a surrogate father figure to a young Christian Bale in "Empire of the Sun."
Then came the role that made Malkovich a true star and set him on course for villainy, playing the reptilian seducer Valmont in Stephen Frears' "Dangerous Liaisons." As a very atypical leading man, he may have seemed an unusual choice for the part, but he dominated the film with his magnetic charisma and dark sexuality. The devious turn was reflected in real life, as he began an affair with co-star Michelle Pfieffer and wrecked his marriage with Glenn Headley.
One thing for sure is that Malkovich is an incredibly hard-working actor, clocking up over 80 credited screen roles. He has portrayed a wide variety of characters throughout that huge body of work, but it is his bad guys that have really stuck in the popular imagination.
The success of John Malkovich's slithery performance in "Dangerous Liaisons" established him as an actor capable of embodying treacherous characters, and during the '90s he made a serious impact playing very clever bad guys. Compared to his other roles, they were relatively thin on the ground to the point of almost being outliers; he also played the dimwitted Lennie in "Of Mice and Men," for instance, but it was the villains that really stood out.
Firstly, Malkovich earned his second Oscar nomination playing Mitch Leary in Wolfgang Petersen's suspenseful political thriller "In the Line of Fire." With limited screen time, he made a big impression as the meticulous would-be assassin hellbent on taking down the President and taunting Clint Eastwood's grizzled old Secret Service agent along the way. It was a chillingly controlled performance that gave the rare sense that the bad guy might actually come out on top this time.
After that, there was a less-celebrated role as a classic literary and cinematic monster, teaming up again with "Dangerous Liaisons" director Stephen Frears to play Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in "Mary Reilly." He gave a hammy but entertaining dual performance but the film was sunk by Julia Roberts, horribly miscast as the eponymous maid and adopting one of the worst Irish accents ever attempted onscreen.
Then came the big one, the movie that will perhaps forever associate Malkovich with villainous roles: Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom in Simon West's outrageously fun "Con Air." With an aura of cool calculation and intense menace among a chimp's tea party of cartoonish criminals, he felt like a genuinely dangerous foil for Nic Cage's repentant crook.
In over two decades since that convict plane crash-landed on the Vegas Strip in "Con Air," John Malkovich hasn't had all that many notable villain roles, although the ones he has taken are obviously tailored to benefit from his bad guy quotient. The most substantial was playing an older version of Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley in "Ripley's Game," while his unnerving screen presence was heightened by creepy special effects in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." Just for larks, he also lent his distinctive voice to a dastardly octopus in "Penguins of Madagascar." Regarding the turn towards villainy in his career, Malkovich is very matter-of-fact (via NME):
"Those were just the roles I was offered. For 'Liaisons' I was quite surprised to be offered that role at all. I wasn't offered the Clint Eastwood role for 'In the Line of Fire' because why would I? To be honest I don't think of any of them as villains per se anyway, more as studies in talent gone awry, or at least potential gone awry."
Approaching his 70th year, Malkovich is showing no sign of slowing down. He has several upcoming films, one of which is notably in keeping with the topic. In "Mindcage," he plays an incarcerated serial murderer giving advice to a pair of detectives on the trail of a copycat killer. That setup sounds very familiar, so it will be interesting to see if Malkovich is able to out-Lecter Hannibal Lecter. With Martin Lawrence and Melissa Roxburgh as the detectives I wouldn't put money on it matching "The Silence of the Lambs," but given Malkovich's affinity for dark characters, it should be worth a ticket and a bucket of popcorn.
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The post John Malkovich's Streak Of Villainous Roles Wasn't Something He Controlled appeared first on /Film.
Chances are if you've seen an American war film in the last 30 years, the name Dale Dye might ring a bell. Dye is a former Marine captain whose brief cameos and appearances are peppered throughout action films like "Under Siege," "Mission: Impossible," "Starship Troopers," and "Saving Private Ryan." After his first onscreen appearance in Tobe Hooper's "Invaders from Mars," Dye played Captain Harris in Oliver Stone's semi-autobiographical war epic "Platoon." The concept of actor boot camps is nothing new, and the intense soldier training that goes on at these grueling sessions does tend to bond the players together. The experience can also add some verisimilitude that pays respect to the actual soldiers that had to go through actual boot camp. Dale Dye's actor boot camps are legendary in the business. Apparently, the one that Charlie Sheen and the other actors went through during the making of "Platoon" in 1986 was particularly brutal.
It didn't help matters that Stone already had a reputation for putting his actors through hell, especially early on in his directing career. Michael Douglas in a Vanity Fair interview, for example, told an anecdote where Stone accused him of being on drugs when they were making "Wall Street" together. The mind games Stone played caused Douglas to imbue the role of Gordon Gekko with even more nastiness and anger, leading to an eventual Best Actor Oscar.
During "Platoon," Charlie Sheen also told Vanity Fair that the two-week boot camp went way too far, forcing the actors to "live in the same clothes with no showers, no phone calls to agents, no letters to girlfriends ... it was hell." Stone's abuse would carry on throughout filming to the point where Sheen and the other actors almost went from tired thespians to fed-up mutineers.
"Platoon" became a huge hit in 1987 grossing over $130 million dollars and was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning four including Best Picture and Best Director for Stone. In a fantastic tell-all cover story in the March 1987 issue of People magazine, Stone teased Sheen saying, "When he arrived for filming, Charlie was still a nerd. Then each week there was a perceptible change as he became a soldier." The grunt training that eventually transformed the actors into competent Army men was "100% military," according to Sheen who said the cast was basically threatened. "We were told if we disobeyed an order, we'd be off the film."
Regardless of whether the actors were soft or not, they didn't last very long. "I think it was day two when me, Kevin Dillon and Francesco Quinn got together and said, 'We're actors, not infantry. Let's just walk.'" Stone even openly berated Sheen during one scene where his character Chris Taylor has to help unload a helicopter without his shirt on. The "Huey" chopper was kicking up rocks and debris, but Stone didn't care. According to Sheen, Stone asked, "Are you a little pu**y from Malibu? Played too much volleyball all your life?"
Charlie Sheen was not having it. "I got so pissed off I ripped the shirt off, did the scene and had scars on my back for weeks," he recalled. So, Stone still got the shot he wanted in the end.
The People magazine interview took place during the height of the film's success when "Platoon" was still raking in cash in theaters. Sheen was proud of the realism in the movie, and also seemed to reference the ongoing military presence of the United States in El Salvador and Nicaragua that was occurring at the time.
"The Vietnam War was something that never should have happened. I'm hoping guys my age can see this film and not want to perpetrate a similar situation in, say, Central America. If we can achieve that, then we've said something with the movie."
The effects of the war were still being felt in the '80s and continued to influence Stone for years to come. His so-called Vietnam trilogy of "Platoon," "Born on the Fourth of July" and "Heaven and Earth" are staunch anti-war films. "Born on the Fourth of July" was based on the life of activist Ron Kovic and "Heaven and Earth" was also loosely based on a true story, leaving "Platoon" to depict Stone's actual experiences during the war. Perhaps that's why he was so hard on the troops.
Stone enlisted in April of 1967 and immediately requested combat duty in South Vietnam. He was assigned to 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Infantry, and was stationed near the Cambodian border. He received the Bronze Star Medal for valor, and went on to document his own story even further with his autobiographical novel "Chasing the Light: Writing, Directing, and Surviving 'Platoon,' 'Midnight Express,' 'Scarface,' 'Salvador,' and the Movie Game."
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The post Oliver Stone's Tough Platoon Shoot Almost Made Charlie Sheen Walk Away appeared first on /Film.
Galling Oscar snubs are often as well remembered as the actual winners. R. Lee Ermey's performance as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket" is a legendary one, but it was totally unrecognized by the Academy. Ermey, a former Marine and drill instructor himself, drew on his past life to play the psychopathic Sergeant. Hartman goes above and beyond what's required of him, speaking in a constantly raised tone and saying nothing but bigotry and abuse. In the end, he pushes Private Leonard Lawrence (Vincent D'Onofrio) too far and gets a personal taste of how successful he was at making the boy into a killer.
When awards season came around, the best result Ermey came to was a Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor nomination (he also won the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor). Matthew Modine, who played the movie's protagonist Private/Sergeant "Joker" has a theory of why Ermey was snubbed by the Oscars. In Modine's view, it comes down to bad timing; five years earlier at the 55th Academy Awards, Louis Gossett Jr. had won the award for playing a similar character to Hartman, Sgt. Emil Foley in "An Officer and a Gentleman."
"An Officer and a Gentleman" stands in contrast to Kubrick's cynical portrait of the American war machine. Richard Gere plays Zack Mayo, a naval candidate under Foley's training. Foley is just as demanding and foul-mouthed as Hartman; "Full Metal Jacket" even reuses Foley's line that only "steers and queers" come out of Oklahoma (albeit with the state in question stopped for Texas). However, Foley's relationship with Mayo isn't purely adversarial; the sergeant encourages the cadet not to quit and they part on respectful terms. Hartman deconstructs Foley's character, showing the ruinous consequences such demeaning behavior could bring.
Since the characters were so similar, Modine felt that left no room for Ermey to be honored (via the Guardian):
"Had Lou Gossett Jr. not won the Oscar for 'An Officer and a Gentleman,' Lee would have won for that performance. But the way the Academy works is, 'Oh, we already gave it to a guy who played a drill instructor. Let's give it to somebody else.'"
That's not to diminish Gossett's performance, though. he's the most memorable part of "An Officer and A Gentleman" and offered a model for Ermy's performance (as Modine also notes, Ermey wasn't a trained actor and had to spend long hours working with casting director Leon Vitali). Gossett also made history, being the first black man to win Best Supporting Actor.
Had Ermey been nominated at the 60th Oscars, his victory wasn't assured either. He would've been facing off against the eventual winner: Michael Douglas, who'd played Gordon Gekko in "Wall Street." Gekko is about as well-remembered a character/performance as Hartman.
Is there a lesson here in this history of snubs? Cherish performances on their own merits, not by the awards they rack up.
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The post Matthew Modine Thinks Lou Gossett Jr. Cost R. Lee Ermey His Oscar For Full Metal Jacket appeared first on /Film.
Dave Chappelle hosted this week's episode of "Saturday Night Live," which bid farewell to season 1 of "House of the Dragon" with a sketch that thoroughly roasted the Targaryens and their gross family tree. It also used the presence of House Velaryon, who are played by Black actors in the show, as an opportunity to bring back some familiar characters from "Chappelle's Show."
Set a couple of hundred years before the action kicks off in "Game of Thrones," HBO's new prequel series begins near the peak of Targaryen rule in Westeros. Based on George R.R. Martin's book "Fire & Blood," it tells the story of how the Targaryens were torn apart by a great civil war called the Dance of the Dragons, which set in motion the fall from power that ended with Jaime Lannister stabbing the Mad King in the back.
"House of the Dragon" also introduces House Velaryon, which is still around during the events of "Game of Thrones" but was never actually seen in the TV show. In Chappelle's "SNL" sketch, the Sea Snake arrives on Dragonstone to back the Targaryens ... and he's brought some allies with him.
Chappelle isn't the first person to ask "where are these people from?" with regards to House Velaryon; it's also been a point of discussion among "House of the Dragon" fans. Unlike the color-blind casting approach to "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power," the ethnicities featured in the "Game of Thrones" TV universe are firmly associated with particular regions of the fantasy world. The majority of people in Westeros are white, the people of western Essos are brown or olive-skinned, and in the far east of Essos lies Yi Ti, which is loosely based on Imperial China. The people of Dorne are played by Hispanic actors, and dark-skinned characters like Salladhor Saan (Lucian Msamati) and Xaro Xhoan Daxos (Nonso Anozie) mostly come from the Summer Isles in the south.
House Velaryon is one of only two noble families that survived the Doom of Valyria, and in "Fire & Blood" they're described as having the same features as the Targaryens: white-blond hair, pale skin, and purple eyes. The purple eyes had already been dropped in "Game of Thrones" (every penny spent on purple contact lenses is one penny less to spend on cool dragon CGI), but book-accurate Velaryons would have been a bit of a headache for "House of the Dragon" viewers. There are already too many characters with pale skin and white hair to keep track of -- a task made all the more difficult by season 1's frequent time jumps and recasts. Add pale-skinned, white-haired Velaryons into the mix as well, and we'd be as doomed as Valyria.
"House of the Dragon" hasn't yet given a reason for the distinct appearances of these two Old Blood families, but it isn't really needed. Their shared trait of white hair is unusual enough by itself to denote their shared history (and make things awkward when Rhaenyra gives birth to brown-haired baby boys), and House Velaryon's seafaring legacy creates the potential explanation that their ancestors originally sailed to Valyria from the Summer Isles. Besides, when "House of the Dragon" season 2 gets here, there'll be far more pressing concerns.
"Saturday Night Live" returns with host Keke Palmer and musical guest SZA on December 3, 2022.
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The first time George Caldwell meets Grover T. Muldoon in Arthur Hiller's 1976 film "Silver Streak," George is in the process of stealing a police car. He's just been accused of a murder he did not commit, and now he is on the run. Panic-stricken, he drives nervously, unaware of the fact that he is not the only person in the squad car. "Dumb, stupid b******," he says to himself. As if on cue, a curious Grover pops up in the back seat, hands cuffed, and peers almost lovingly over George's shoulder. George, shocked by Grover's sudden appearance screams, "Who are you?!" before almost running off the road. "I'm a thief, man!" answers Grover. And so a friendship is born.
George and Grover, who are played by the always enchanting Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor respectively, quickly form an unbreakable bond as they attempt to outwit the police and a high-stakes criminal. Almost immediately, the two men have a rapport with one another on screen that borders on kindred as they partake in shootouts and try to stop a runaway train. Both cut from the same comedic cloth, Wilder and Pryor are no strangers to humor, and "Silver Streak" marked their first on-screen collaboration (Wilder had met Pryor previously through his work on "Blazing Saddles" which was co-written by Pryor). Throughout their lives, Wilder and Pryor would only go on to star in three more movies together, but their chemistry on screen is unforgettable. But surprisingly, their ease with one another on-screen came as a shock to them both.
"Silver Streak" is a comedic thriller about a book editor (Gene Wilder) who finds himself unexpectedly caught up in a murder mystery while traveling on a train (the Silver Streak) to Chicago. About halfway through, the film turns into a buddy film when Wilder's character meets Richard Pryor's Grover T. Muldoon, and the two set out to set things straight together. In an interview for the now-defunct Filter magazine, Wilder — who passed away in 2016 — spoke to Gregg LaGambina about working with Pryor for the first time. Their conversation, which has been re-published at Little White Lies, is gracious as Wilder admits to being surprised by just how much chemistry he and Pryor had together. Looking back on their first scene together, Wilder says:
"He said something and I said my line and then he said something that was not in the script at all and I answered it with something not in the script, in a natural way. We did that for a few lines and then came back, ended up on the script lines, and that was how we started our improvisational relationship. And at the end of the scene, when we had made a shambles out of everyone [...] we both, at the same moment, started humming the Laurel and Hardy theme song. [...] And when he hollered 'Cut!' and everyone was laughing, I said, 'Did you know you were going to do that?' And Richard said, 'No. Did you?' And I said, 'No.' But we both did it, I suppose because it appealed to the same silliness. That's the way it always was when we worked."
Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor's chemistry was not really something the two ever discussed. He tells journalist Gregg LaGambina that the two "never talked about anything to do with improvising," and that their remarkable ability to bounce off one another "just happened." In fact, Wilder even goes so far as to describe their chemistry together as being "like a sexual attraction." He explains, "You say, 'Why that woman and not this woman? That woman is much prettier — a better figure, a better body, softer skin, whatever. But I'm attracted to that woman.' You say, 'It's a mystery.' Why? Chemistry." Though his metaphor is a bit outdated — maybe even a little icky — the general sentiment of two people unexpectedly falling for each other remains.
It's funny that he likens their compatibility on screen together to romance because during their first filmed scene together in "Silver Streak," a shootout happens on the side of the train tracks. When Pryor and Wilder reconvene after being apart for a while, they unexpectedly tumble onto each other. Pryor lands on top of Wilder, and it's as if the two are experiencing a meet-cute in a completely different film where they bashfully connect over a clumsy fall. There is a brief moment where they look into each other's eyes, and it's clear there is a connection. "It's just the chemistry," says Wilder. "In that sense, that's what Richard Pryor and I had."
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Everyone, and we mean absolutely everyone knows this video game titan. And while there is no point in introducing them, celebrating their 50 years in the industry is the whole other thing!
Atari 50: the Anniversary Celebration is available on GOG taking you on an interactive journey through 50 years of video games via interviews with designers, developers and industry leaders, documentary footage, product design documents, high-res original artwork, and a curated list of awesome playable titles - all of that put into one cohesive experience. When you encounter a game in the Timelines, you can immediately play it without losing your place.
The massive selection of over 100 games spans seven different platforms: Arcade, 2600, 5200, 7800, Atari 8-bit computers, and, for the first time ever on modern consoles, Atari Lynx and Jaguar! Play the classics like Tempest 2000, Asteroids, and Yars' Revenge, or dive into some deeper cuts.
Behind every game are the stories of Atari, what was happening at the company, and what went into the creation of the games and the hardware on which they ran, all told by the people who were there.
And in addition to all that, Atari 50: the Anniversary Celebration also includes six new games:
Swordquest: AirWorld – a new entry in the legendary Swordquest series, inspired by the design concepts of original Swordquest creator Tod Frye. Who will be the first to solve its mysteries – and finally complete the quest?
Haunted Houses – The original “survival horror” game for the Atari 2600 gets a modern 3D voxel-based sequel, featuring more houses, more spooky situations, and more urns.
VCTR-SCTR – This mashup celebration of the vector era of gaming combines the gameplay from Asteroids, Tempest, and other vector-based arcade classics into a single, continuous challenge.
Neo Breakout – An amazing and addictive two-player competition that combines the best features of Breakout and Pong, with a modern graphic style
Quadratank – The first new entry in the classic Tank series since 1978 combines features from the original games with four-player fun in team or free-for-all modes.
Yars’ Revenge Reimagined – The Atari 2600 masterpiece gets a whole new look. Swap between original and modern graphics at any time!
Join in the celebration!
Less than two days after Twitter’s first attempt to charge for account verification ended in disaster, Elon Musk announced the company is working on a new way to authenticate users. On Sunday afternoon, he tweeted the social media website would soon begin rolling out a feature that will allow organizations to identify accounts that are “actually” associated with them.
Rolling out soon, Twitter will enable organizations to identify which other Twitter accounts are actually associated with them
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2022
Musk didn’t say as much, but the feature is almost certainly a partial response to the problems the platform encountered this past week. After the company began rolling out its new $8 per month Twitter Blue subscription on Wednesday, the website was quickly overrun by trolls who used the service to impersonate celebrities and brands. In particular, the situation was a nightmare for businesses and advertisers. As one example, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly’s stock fell by 4.37 percent on Friday after a fake "verified" account said the company was making insulin free. The prank erased about 15 billion from Eli Lilly’s market cap and forced an apology from it.
The announcement would seem to indicate Musk is coming to terms with the fact that a social media platform can’t exist without content moderation. When a user asked him if anyone would be able to use the upcoming feature, Musk responded: “Ultimately, I think there is no choice but for Twitter to be the final arbiter, but I’m open to suggestions.”
That’s something he probably wouldn’t have said before taking over Twitter. Prior to closing the deal, Musk cast himself as a free speech “absolutist.” During his recent TED Talk appearance, he said he was in favor of very little content moderation. “If in doubt, let the speech… let it exist. If it’s a gray area, I would say let the tweet exist,” he said at the time. The problem with that approach is that it has led to an advertiser exodus and a significant drop in revenue for the company. That’s not something Twitter can sustain with its current debt load.
In recent years, it's become a bit of a tradition to bring in comedian Dave Chappelle as the host of "Saturday Night Live" after there's been a major election. Chappelle hosted after Donald Trump became president in 2016 and delivered one of the best monologue's "SNL" has ever seen, then executive producer Lorne Michaels followed that up by bringing him back in 2020 after Joe Biden won the election. Now he's back in 2022 after the Republicans failed to execute their so-called "red wave." However, Chappelle didn't really spend his monologue time talking about the election. Instead, he focused almost entirely on the recent anti-Semitic controversy surrounding rapper Kanye West. But we'll get to that later.
What's interesting about this episode of "SNL" is that Chappelle spent over 15 minutes on the mainstage in Studio 8H doing stand-up bits. Whenever he (or any other stand-up comedian, for the most part) has hosted, they pretty much get however much time they want after the cold open to showcase stand-up for their monologue. In fact, this same scenario played out back in his November 2020 episode, where he did over 16 minutes of stand-up. But even on his own sketch show, Chappelle never let the stand-up overshadow the sketches. I guess Lorne Michaels is fine letting the comedian take as much time as he wants. Was it worth it? Let's break down the episode and find out.
If I'm being totally honest, I actually think that the best parts of this weekend's "SNL" came from Weekend Update. Both Sarah Sherman and Marcello Hernandez were fantastic with bits at the desk, not to mention the fact that Colin Jost and Michael Che have been on a roll lately with stellar headline jokes. But if we're talking the best actual sketch from the evening, it goes to "Potato Hole."
First of all, this is a short sketch, but the punchline is so good that it still gets the job done. Admittedly, the first two-thirds of this sketch feel like a dud, with every member of this local news team making puns about their musician guest's album title, which is called "Potato Hole." This comes after Willie T. Hawkins (Chappelle) continually and kindly declines to explain the meaning of the title. You know that when the title is finally explained, it's going to be the punchline, but it hits so much harder than you might have expected. The cuts to the horrified and awkward news team as Hawkins explains its meaning are perfectly timed and executed, and it's just a great sketch that doesn't overstay its welcome.
Dave Chappelle likes to introduce sketches on "SNL" just as he did on "Chappelle's Show." But this particular sketch required an introduction to set-up the meta comedy that was about to unfold. Chappelle didn't feel like being in as many sketches, so he had Mikey Day take his part in "Black Heaven," and hilarity ensued. With the perfect white guy voice, it's absolutely hilarious to hear Day reluctantly spouting off lines that were intended for a Black character. It's a simple premise, but it's one that works very well thanks to Day's skills as a comedian. Also, I'm sad to say that I had no idea that Day was on the first season of the improv comedy series "Wild 'n Out" on MTV (now at VH1). Sounds like I have some homework to do.
It was good to see a Please Don't Destroy sketch make it to air, especially one with such a prominent and absurd role for Molly Kearney. Much of the comedy from Please Don't Destroy's videos come from their fast-paced and frenetic energy, and this one is no exception. It runs through the gamut of election insanity in just over three and a half minutes, and Kearney continues to show off their comedic chops that fit in perfectly at "SNL." When Kearney comes in dressed as a full-on politician, it gets even funnier.
Chappelle again brought some of his classic characters back from the Comedy Central sketch series "Chappelle's Show," but this time, he dropped them into the newly diversified cast of the "Game of Thrones" prequel series "House of the Dragon." It's somewhat basic when it comes to the formula of the sketch, but the production quality of this parody is rather impressive. Admittedly, there is some amusement that comes from seeing the "Game of Thrones" versions of Rick James, Tyrone Biggums, and Andy "Silky" Johnson, not to mention cameos from Ice-T and Donnell Rawlings, but if it wasn't for the impressive sets and costumes, this one would feel a little more half-baked.
Finally, we have the worst sketch of the night. For me, this felt like it was delivering the same kind of premise as the "Black Heaven" sketch and it wasn't executed nearly as well. A Black-owned barbershop has a white barber working on this day, and whenever he tries to get in the conversation, the chatter and haircuts come to a screeching halt. It's funny a couple times, but it happens far too repeatedly without enough variation to keep up the momentum. Plus, I can't help but be annoyed that we don't hear the barbershop clippers until just before they're shut off for the sake of comedy. It's a stupid nitpick, but it's a logistical issue that makes the setting feel less authentic. Plus, if there were more noise that suddenly cut out, it might make the bit more effective. Granted, this was only slightly worse than the political cold open, which continues to be a disappointment almost every week.
Dave Chappelle has been in hot water recently with his Netflix stand-up special "The Closer" sparking outrage among the LGBTQ+ community with a series of observations and jokes that were full of ignorance. Sadly, the comedian has doubled down on his misguided perspective in the fallout that followed, but he chose not to address any of this with his 15-minute stand-up monologue. However, what he did instead may not have been much better.
Chappelle spent a good chunk of his time talking about Kanye West's recent fall from grace due to antisemitic remarks that he continually made online and during interviews. While he pointed out the problem, Chappelle came awfully close to agreeing with some of the stereotypes that West spouted off, but in a way that wouldn't get him in trouble. These are bits that sound like jokes, but they're also pointing out what he sees as hypocrisy. It's along the same lines of his commentary about the prejudice against the gay community versus the Black population in the aforementioned stand-up special that stirred up trouble.
Granted, jokes about the prominence of Jewish people in the media are nothing new, especially among Jewish comedians, so this is deemed as being more acceptable. But even so, Chappelle comes awfully close to defending Kanye West's remarks by focusing on the manner in which he expressed them rather than the expressions themselves.
Anyway, when it comes to "Saturday Night Live," Chappelle was fine as a host. The comedian's persona has become larger than life, and there's a part of me that thinks he's gotten too casual in the manner with which he presents himself at "SNL." It's almost like he sees the show as being more of a showcase for him than comedy in general. The guy couldn't go a single (live) sketch without having a cigarette in his mouth or in his hand, and yes, they were real cigarettes. Hell, half of his ""SNL" bumper photos that appear when the show returns from commercial break had cigarettes in them. Even when he was playing his classic characters in the "Game of Thrones" sketch, it kinda felt like he was phoning it in.
Like I said earlier, the best parts of this weekend's "SNL" came from the Weekend Update desk. On top of the great jokes inspired by the week's headlines (Che's one-liner about the University of Kentucky student kicked out of school for using racial slurs and attacking Black students and subsequently arrested for "impersonating a police officer" was absolutely golden), the two appearances by Sarah Sherman and Marcello Hernandez were top notch. While Hernandez's bit was something new entirely, Sherman shined again by bringing her brand of alt comedy oddity to the desk in a manner more pronounced than ever before.
Complete with a bright, smiley world map, her own pink desk piece, and weird, neon graphics that feel like they came from a Lisa Frank universe designed by David Cronenberg, Sarah Sherman delivered her own news segment. Of course, it included riffs on both Michael Che and Colin Jost, but for me the best part of this is Sherman's brand of comedy. She's delightfully strange, and that reference to the "turkey wattle between her legs" had me in stitches. I hope she gets to do this bit every once in awhile.
That's all for this episode. We'll be back in a few weeks after Thanksgiving when "Nope" star Keke Palmer hosts "Saturday Night Live" on December 3, 2022.
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American television has had its share of wacky pop culture families, but surely one of the most unique is the Addams Family. While they may share many of the same qualities as a typical nuclear family (i.e. mother, father, a couple of kids, some pets, in-laws, etc.), the Addamses take the concept to absurd levels with their nonchalant dalliances with the gothic, the ghastly, and the supernatural. What's normal for Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, Pugsley, and the rest of this clan is the stuff of nightmares for the rest of us.
Nevertheless, that mix of sitcom family hijinks and horror is what makes "The Addams Family" so delightful and what has kept them haunting our magazines, TV screens, movie theaters, and more for decades. It seems that every generation since these characters were first unleashed on an unsuspecting audience in 1938 has its version of the Addamses that they grew up with, proving just how much pop culture staying power they have. So let's take a look at the long and fascinating history of "The Addams Family."
Because "The Addams Family" has such a long history on the big and small screen, it's easy to forget that they made their first appearance on the page. The man behind everyone's favorite morbid family is Charles Addams, a prolific cartoonist who worked for some of the biggest publications of the day, including TV Guide and Collier's.
However, his longest stint was with The New Yorker, to which he contributed around 1,300 cartoons. Interestingly enough, his Addams Family comic strips (which didn't even have a name at the time) made up only 58 entries of the voluminous work he produced for the magazine. The bizarre family made its debut in its pages in 1938. As depicted in the cartoons, the family differs a fair amount from the various incarnations that it inspired in the following decades. Still, many of their classic elements were introduced under the pen of Charles Addams, including the pitch-black humor and satire of the nuclear family. Addams' family would achieve a higher profile with the release of his 1959 collection, "Dear Dead Days: A Family Album," and from there, it would only be a matter of time before "The Addams Family" would hit the mainstream in a big way.
"The Addams Family" made the jump from print to television with their very own series on September 18, 1964. Some of the darker aspects of the source material were toned down (probably from a combination of strict TV standards at the time and out of an attempt to attract a wider audience), but much of the playfully grim humor was retained. One of the qualities of the show that separated it from other sitcoms at the time was that it reversed the usual fish-out-of-water gags typical of such shows as "The Beverly Hillbillies" and instead, made the family out to be normal with visitors being the ones who must get used to their ghoulish lifestyle. Another innovation pioneered by "The Addams Family" is that it portrayed Gomez and Morticia Addams as being far more, ahem, amorous than the usual sitcom couple in an era when onscreen depictions of sexuality (even in marriage) were still taboo.
Unfortunately, Charles Addams was less enthusiastic about the show than viewers. According to Smithsonian Magazine, Addams' biographer, Linda H. Davis, said that he "was up-and-down on the television show. He certainly enjoyed what 'The Addams Family' did for his earning power, but he said the characters were 'half as evil.'" Still, it did bring his creations to a wider audience, and the series is still beloved today.
In the first season episode, "Lurch, the Teenage Idol," Gomez is impressed with the Addamses' monosyllabic butler and in-house harpsichordist, Lurch, and convinces a record company to sign him and release an album. Despite mostly consisting of graveyard grunts, Lurch's music is a big hit with the kids, and he becomes a bona fide pop star. The fame gets to his head, however, and he decides to leave his position as a butler to focus on his music career.
While this may sound like simply another whimsical day in the life of the Addams Family, this episode is unique in the characters' legacy, as it had a real-world impact in the form of a brief but popular dance craze creatively titled "The Lurch." The episode inspired a song of the same name by Grammy Award-winning record producer Gary Paxton (who also produced the similarly-themed "Monster Mash"). If this all sounds too nutty to be true, there's a clip of Lurch actor Ted Cassidy dancing to the song on the 1960s music variety show, "Shindig!"
"The Addams Family" may have only lasted two seasons, but it was popular enough to stay in the public's mind even after its cancellation, and it wasn't long before they made their return to the small screen. They would appear on TV again in animated form with another lighthearted comedy horror character, Scooby-Doo, specifically on an episode of "The New Scooby-Doo Movies." Titled "Wednesday Is Missing," the episode follows Scooby and the gang as they experience van problems and are forced to stay with the Addams Family in their creepy mansion until they can repair the Mystery Machine. However, they stumble upon a ransom note that states that Wednesday Addams will meet a terrible fate if the Addams Family doesn't turn their estate over to this evil mastermind.
Scooby-Doo and the Addams Family make a wonderfully fun pairing in this crossover and, as stated in Collider, was a massive hit, guaranteeing that audiences still wanted more of the Addamses. "Wednesday Is Missing" is made all the more special because the original cast returned to voice the characters they made famous. However, because of legal issues, it has never been rereleased, so tracking it down is a bit of a challenge.
The Addams Family may have had an auspicious animated debut with their appearance on "The New Scooby-Doo Movies," but their next foray into animation wasn't as successful. The premise of "The Addams Family" saw them traveling across the country and finding themselves in a range of spooky and silly adventures — not unlike those experienced by a certain talking dog and his groovy friends.
The series only lasted for one season and is largely forgotten today. It simply didn't have much going for it, as the concept of the show was already put to better use by Scooby-Doo, so it was probably too redundant for general audiences. One of the few bright spots in the animated series was that it brought back Jackie Coogan and Ted Cassidy as Uncle Fester and Lurch, but that's hardly enough to save an otherwise typical early 1970s cartoon (although the show's creators deserve credit for having the Addams Family drive around in a camper that's shaped like their crumbling Victorian home).
After the macabre family failed to connect with audiences through animation, they returned to TV in live-action form for a 1977 Halloween special. The curiously titled "Halloween with the New Addams Family" (it features the return of the original cast members, making the "new" an odd addition) sees Gomez's brother, Pancho, staying with the clan as Halloween approaches, a holiday they celebrate as if it were Christmas. However, some crooks have set out to steal the Addams Family fortune with a plan that involves kidnapping Gomez and Morticia and replacing them with doubles ... for some reason.
"Halloween with the New Addams Family" is too convoluted for the straightforward formula that typified the franchise at its best. The original cast is noticeably older, but they've retained much of the charm they displayed in their 1960s heyday, and there are a few good gags to (mostly) distract from the overly complex plot.
Charles Addams' creation was relatively dormant throughout the 1980s but kicked off the next decade with a bang. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, "The Addams Family" features a star-studded cast, including Raul Julia as Gomez, Anjelica Huston as Morticia, Christopher Lloyd as Uncle Fester, and Christina Ricci as Wednesday. The 1991 film follows the eponymous family as they celebrate the return of the long-lost Uncle Fester, who's been suckered into a sinister plan by a couple of con artists looking to steal the Addams Family fortune.
It wasn't an easy film for first-time director Sonnenfeld, who had to contend with the production switching studios in the middle of filming and executives meddling with the project. "The whole second half of the shoot we were working for a studio that thought we were uncuttable and unreleasable, so things got more difficult," explains Sonnenfeld. However, the troubled production managed to power through these obstacles and become a box office hit, reintroducing "The Addams Family" to a new generation.
Spurred on by the success of "The Addams Family" in 1991, an animated TV series based on the characters was released the following year. The show followed the family going about their lives in their creepy and kooky gothic mansion, which happens to be located in the bright and cheerful town of Happydale Heights. Since the family is seen as a nuisance in their neighborhood, they must contend with the Normanmeyer family, who are hellbent on ridding their town of those mysterious and spooky Addamses.
Because this animated program was aimed at younger audiences, much of the graveyard humor of Charles Addams' original cartoons had to be tempered for the Saturday morning crowd. There's not a whole lot to recommend the show other than the nostalgia factor for those of us who grew up in the early 1990s, but it did bring back John Astin as Gomez Addams. The show's minimal success was no doubt due to interest in Barry Sonnenfeld's film, but it was popular enough to last for another season.
There's no shortage of merchandise based on hit movies, and because it's so common, much of it is pretty cheap and unmemorable. However, a rare exception is "The Addams Family" pinball machine. The machine was released in 1992 by Bally Games and, according to Wired, has become one of the most sought-after and highest-selling pinball machines ever made, with more than 20,000 units sold. That number may not sound too high compared to records sold, but in the pinball world, a hit game usually sells around 8,000 to 14,000 units.
Luck certainly had a lot to do with the success of the game. Clay Harrell, the owner of the Ann Arbor Pinball Museum in Michigan, told Wired that "The Addams Family" pinball machine "checked all the boxes." "The timing of the release and movie, the theme capturing people that remembered the original TV series and the success of the new movie, and the pinball market at the time, which was doing very well," Harrell said. However, the game also included many entertaining features that were not typical of pinball machines made up to that point, giving it an edge over contemporary units and contributing to its legendary status.
The success of 1991's "The Addams Family" inevitably led to a sequel. In "Addams Family Values," the creepy clan welcomes a new member to their family with baby Pubert. (this is a fun little Easter Egg: The family members didn't have names until the 1960s TV show. According to Smithsonian Magazine, Addams proposed "Pubert" as the name for the son, but it was considered too suggestive for television, so "Pugsley" was the final choice). Meanwhile, Uncle Fester has fallen in love with a woman who, unknown to him, is an imposter who's planning to kill the family and steal their fortune.
While the sequel didn't fare quite as well as its predecessor at the box office, it got better reviews from critics, who praised the film for its more developed characters and stronger plot. Unfortunately, before further films could be made, Gomez actor Raul Julia died on October 24, 1994.
It would be some time before audiences would see their favorite morbid family back on the big screen. To hold them over, a direct-to-video sequel, "Addams Family Reunion," was released in 1998, no doubt in an attempt to capitalize on the waning interest from the previous installment (as well as trying to charm fans with "family" puns. Surely "Addams Family Feud" will be announced any day now). The plot revolves around Gomez and Morticia learning that Grandma and Grandpa Addams have been stricken with the incredibly common disease of normality. They decide that the only way to restore their grim disposition is to organize a family reunion and find a relative who might have a cure. However, a mix-up ensues that results in the Addams Family going to an "Adams" family reunion.
The PG rating prevented "Addams Family Reunion" from going for darker and racier jokes, resulting in a watered-down version of the hit Paramount films. The small production budget didn't help either, but this film is salvaged somewhat by an enthusiastic performance from the always-watchable Tim Curry as Gomez Addams. While "Addams Family Reunion" is not an official sequel to the feature films, it did see Carel Struycken return as Lurch as well as Christopher Hart handily reprising his role as Thing.
Finally, the "new" in an "Addams Family" property is justified, this time as "The New Addams Family." With a whole new cast and a premise firmly planted in the present, it's actually useful to distinguish this series from previous installments. This version of "The Addams Family" doesn't shy away from the past too much, though, as several episodes are remakes of installments from the original 1960s TV series.
This flat, lightweight one-season series has two things going for it: modesty and nostalgia. The actors do a fine job with the otherwise lifeless material, so it'd be cruel to be too hard on "The New Addams Family." Let's end our assessment of "The New Addams Family" on a positive note. A charming component of this series was that it featured John Astin, the original Gomez Addams, as Grandpa Addams for a couple of episodes.
Tim Burton is the perfect choice for an "Addams Family" project. As Barry Sonnenfeld revealed to Variety, Burton was considered to direct the 1991 feature before he ultimately got the job, saying, "I will tell you that there were two other directors approached — Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam — and they're both really good choices. But they both turned it down, so that's how I ended up getting it." While Sonnenfeld did a solid job with his version, one can't help but wonder how a Burton-helmed version of the film would've turned out, considering the neo-gothic aesthetic that is especially characteristic of "Beetlejuice" director's work.
It came as no surprise when, in 2010, it was announced that Burton was tapped to direct a stop-motion version of "The Addams Family." Burton apparently wanted to go back to the biting humor that characterized Charles Addams' original cartoons that rarely appeared in the TV and film iterations. Unfortunately, that project fell apart, and while official details on why are hard to come by, according to Burton it may have had to do with creative differences. The director told Empire that it "never really went anywhere," adding, "I was intrigued by it...but I think they wanted to go a more computer-generated way."
The over-the-top personalities and aesthetics of the Addamses make them ideal for the stage. In April 2010, a musical version opened on Broadway. According to Smithsonian Magazine, critics weren't too thrilled with the production, but it was fairly successful with audiences who kept it running for around two years.
However, the production didn't take off until it left Broadway and toured around the world to big business. It was especially popular with young people, as it became the most performed high school musical in the 2018-19 season. The success of the musical may be attributed to the fact that Andrew Lippa, who wrote its music and lyrics, went back to the gallows humor of Charles Addams' cartoons. Lippa stated that "it's so much fun to get into the dark recesses of kids pulling legs off spiders knowing they shouldn't in a humorous way."
Tim Burton's assessment of why his project never materialized seems to have been correct, as the next time we would see the Addamses would be in a computer-animated film. The plot opens with a flashback to Gomez and Morticia's wedding, which was interrupted by an angry mob that hates their morbid preoccupations and chases them to an abandoned asylum. The doom-and-gloom bride and groom meet Lurch, a former patient of the asylum, and it's there they decide to start a family. Flash forward to the present, and the Addamses have to again contend with a population that rejects them for their gothic lifestyles.
This family-friendly take on "The Addams Family" features an all-star voice cast that includes Oscar Isaac as Gomez, Charlize Theron as Morticia, Chloë Grace Moretz as Wednesday, Finn Wolfhard as Pugsley, Nick Kroll as Uncle Fester, Snoop Dogg as It, and Bette Midler as Grandmama. While the cast does a solid job, the film's approach is a little too sweet for the typically ghoulish material, and that may be off-putting for fans of previous incarnations of the characters.
2019's "The Addams Family" wasn't a massive success with critics, but it did pretty well at the box office, which is reason enough for a studio to greenlight a sequel. In this second outing, Gomez and Morticia notice that as their kids mature, they are spending less and less time with the family. To bring everyone back together and reestablish their clan's bonds, Gomez decides to take them all on a cross-country road trip, hitting up expected locations like Salem, Massachusetts, and Sleepy Hollow, New York, along with a stop in Miami to meet with Cousin Itt. Meanwhile, a mad scientist is after Wednesday to use her scientific genius as part of his schemes to create human-animal hybrids.
The terrific voice cast of the previous film returns for "The Addams Family 2," which features a few funny gags and not much else. While there is some delight in seeing the Addams Family taken out of their gothic homestead and experience regular life, the over-reliance on sappy sentiment waters down the eerie appeal.
After Tim Burton turned down "The Addams Family" in 1991 and his stop-motion "Addams Family" project fell apart in 2010, the quirky filmmaker and the altogether ooky clan have finally joined for a match made in Hot Topic. The product of this gothic union is the 2022 Netflix series "Wednesday," which follows the woeful character as she adjusts to life as a teenager at Nevermore Academy. What separates this series from other coming-of-age shows is that Wednesday has psychic powers and is on the hunt for a monster that's killing locals, and, of course, her school is named after a line from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven."
Jenna Ortega stars as Wednesday Addams alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams, Luis Guzmán as Gomez Addams, and a special appearance from Christina Ricci, who played Wednesday in the '90s theatrical films. It's a bit surprising that it took so long for Burton to work on an "Addams Family" project, but we're sure glad that this is the one he ultimately ended up with. The director has always been drawn to outsider protagonists, and it sounds like this series' take on the titular character struck his fancy. He told Empire, "When I read this [script], it just spoke to me about how I felt in school and how you feel about your parents, how you feel as a person. It gave 'The Addams Family' a different kind of reality. It was an interesting combination."
Read this next: Horror Remakes That Are Better Than The Originals
The post The Addams Family Timeline Explained appeared first on /Film.
At long last, the results are in and the data has now been analysed. A total of 14 types of AA cell and 9 types of AAA cell were tested, totalling 23 types in all. A total of 20 cell types were alkaline, with two carbon-zinc and one lithium cell thrown-in to the mix.
From the test data, a total of 23 constant-current runs and 84 constant-power runs were conducted, requiring approximately 100 days of 24/7 test time to complete accounting for a few mishaps as well. This is amongst one of my most involved experiments.
A summary of the cell metadata is given above. Most of the cells originated from China, with a majority of cells being relatively fresh. The Duracell parallel-import pack is particularly old, as is the Energizer Lithium cell I pulled out of storage, but all other cells would be considered fresh.
As received, all cells were measured for their open-circuit voltage. The high reading is given by the Lithium cell, which is no surprise given its chemistry. The low reading is given by the Duracell parallel import pack, likely a reflection of its cell age. Other cells were within a range of around 1.60V to 1.65V. Standard deviations within packs seem to show the Rocket AA cells seemingly being very consistent, alongside the Procell Intense AA and Daiso Red AA. The Juice Bank AAs seem to have the biggest discrepancy between voltages, although the pack size is the second largest in the round-up.
The weights of the cells were also recorded. The heavier cell weights in the AA category were recorded by the Procell Intense, Procell, Daiso Red and Chevron. In the AAA category, they were recorded by the Daiso Nevolution, Chevron, Procell and Procell Intense. Unsurprisingly, the Lithium cell weighed the least, due to its chemistry, with the carbon-zinc contenders also weighing less than their alkaline counterparts. The Juice Bank AA cells again show a marked discrepancy in cell weights, along with the Procell Intense AAA cells. The more consistent cell weights are recorded by Daiso Red AA, Daiso&HW AA, GP Extra AA, Rocket AA, Daiso Red AAA, Daiso&HW AAA and DEaiso Nevolution AAA cells.
This section focuses only on summarising the results of a 25mA constant-current load measured by a Keithley 2450 SourceMeter, with the cells maintained at 25 degrees Celsius. These results could be considered reflective of the total usable capacity of a cell in a low-drain application. Owing to the large time investment necessary to perform this test, just one sample of each cell is tested, thus results must be interpreted with care.
The above table summarises the energy (Wh), charge (Ah), average discharge voltage (Vavg) and average discharge temperature (degrees Celsius), sorted by energy.
Based on these results, it is no surprise that the Lithium AA managed to excel, measuring 4.537Wh. The best alkaline AA was the Procell, measuring 3.752Wh, followed by the Procell Intense at 3.734Wh which is pretty much splitting hairs. Amazon Basics put in a good showing, with 3.653Wh. While Toshiba measured poorly, the wooden spoon for the AA category went to Daiso&Go AA which supplied in just 2.955Wh.
In the AAA category, the best performer was the Daiso Nevolution AAA, providing 1.622Wh, followed by the Chevron AAA at 1.598Wh and Daiso Red AAA at 1.547Wh. The wooden spoon in this category is hard to say – both Daiso&HW and Daiso&Go manage to deliver about 1.43Wh which is the low-end of the scale, but both are not all that far from the average.
Rather unsurprisingly, the carbon-zinc cells did even worse – the AA carbon-zinc was handily beaten by the worst alkaline AAA cell. But given this comparison, it is very obvious that an AA cell gives you much more than an AAA cell – about 2.4 times as much energy!
The same tables are available with the results sorted by charge and average discharge voltage. When sorting by capacity, a few cells do shuffle places, mainly because of differences in voltage maintenance. At such a low-drain, the benefit of the Procell Intense is not evident – in fact, the sampled cells were marginally worse than their regular Procell counterparts, but perhaps not significantly so.
The overall results, when compared with my prior 25mA current tests, seem to suggest that the average cell is perhaps marginally worse than those tested in 2017 – for example, the Industrial by Duracell fared better by a noticeable amount (3.93Wh), although the test condition is slightly different. The results don’t seem to show any great improvement – which is perhaps not unexpected, as alkaline cell technology is quite mature.
The discharge voltage profile is seen above – the lithium cell maintains a very stable voltage profile, while alkaline cells tend to have a more sloped curve. Some differences are seen towards the end-of-discharge where some cells seem to be tailing off but then “find some life” and the decline levels off for a bit. Perhaps this is what separates the more advanced cells from the ordinary ones.
This section focuses only on summarising the results of constant-power load of 0.48W for AA and 0.21W for AAA as measured by a B&K Precision Model 8600 DC Electronic Load, with the cells maintained at 25 degrees Celsius. These results reflect a moderate load which a more modern device with switching converters may present. As these tests are quicker, up to four samples of each cell is tested (provided the pack has sufficient cells), allowing some statistical analysis.
It is no surprise that under a heavier load, the superiority of the lithium cell becomes even more apparent. It is nice to see that despite being close to expiry, the cell seems still to have kept most of its charge. However, as lithium commands a significant premium, it is usually not an economical option in spite of its superior performance.
Of the alkaline AA cells, Procell Intense takes the crown, followed by Amazon Basics and Procell. The wooden spoon goes to Daiso&Go which manages to measure a lower effective capacity than even some AAA cells.
Of the AAA cells, Daiso Red manages to take the crown, followed by Chevron and Daiso Nevolution. Procell Intense actually performed worse than Procell, which may just be down to the patch. Again, the wooden spoon goes to Daiso&Go – it seems their cells just aren’t good in general.
The same tables are available with the results sorted by charge and average discharge voltage. As before, a few cells do shuffle places, mainly because of differences in voltage maintenance but the overall trends are similar. It is pleasing to see that temperature maintenance for all tests appears to be well within expectations.
The discharge voltage profile is seen above – even under a heavier load, the lithium cell maintains a very stable voltage profile, while alkaline cells exhibit a more pronounced curve. There is less of a “life extension” going on at higher discharge rates, with the knee of most cells being visible, although at slightly different voltages. Because of the adjusted discharge rates to reflect the difference between AA (solid) / AAA (dashed) cell capacity, the discharge times are clustered together to some degree.
Perhaps the results are more easily interpreted graphically, so I have also taken the liberty to generate a few graphs of the constant power tests where the variation of the four cells can be visualised better compared to the bars in the tables above.
The plot of measured energy under constant power load is shown above – the superiority of lithium is quite obvious, offering around twice as much energy as the best alkalines under a 0.48W load. Zooming into just the alkaline cells …
… I have plotted the average alkaline energy for both AA and AAA, along with 10% lines either side. It seems that Procell Intense, Amazon Basics, Procell, Toshiba and Daiso Red manage to perform well in the AA size. In the AAA size, Daiso Red and Chevron are the better performers.
Performing the same graphs for charge, the trend is pretty similar, although Chevron AAA falls outside the +10% line.
Comparing the ratio of energy and charge between the constant current and constant power tests shows that the variation can range from a factor from around 1.5 to 4. This is likely reflective of the differing internal resistance of each type of cell. The lithium cell was almost unbothered by the difference in load profile, while the carbon-zinc were the most sensitive. Strangely, the parallel-import Duracell cells were similarly bad.
This can also be plotted as the average discharge voltage under the 0.48W/0.21W constant power load. Some appliances prefer higher average voltage to produce better performance (e.g. old-fashioned flashlights, linear-regulated LED flashlights). Most alkaline cells sit around the 1.15V to 1.20V range, with a few managing a higher average. It seems Rocket and Juice Bank aren’t doing too well by this metric.
I thought it was also worth revisiting some of the hypotheses I had previously thought of.
Does increasing cell weight mean more total energy at high loads? In theory, I would imagine so, but it seems the variation in cell designs and their performance at high drains outweighs any minor differences.
Does a higher open-circuit voltage predict a better energy result for heavier loads? Again, higher open circuit voltage may mean fresher cells, so may mean better results. However, again, it seems other factors may be more important, so any correlation is quite weak.
Does increasing cell weight mean more total energy at light loads? In theory, a light load would reduce the influence of internal resistances which depend on cell geometry. In this case, there seems to be a better correlation.
Does a higher open-circuit voltage predict a better energy result for light loads? Unfortunately, it seems this is not the case at all.
In order to see if any of the cells are likely to come from the same factory, I decided to unwrap the cells (in no particular order) to find identifying marks on the inside shell.
Of all the AA cells, it seems none of them are likely to be identical (aside from brand-related cells from Duracell) – the markings range from none, to printed and etched. The lithium cell has the can crimped at the positive terminal, rather than at the negative.
A few of the cells have anti-leak rings, but even those are somewhat different.
A similar result is seen in the AAA cells, which also seem to be unique.
Again, there is a mixture of anti-leak designs, but they have some subtle differences – the Procell ones seem to use a cardboard washer which previously was used on their AA cell designs as well.
After all of these tests, I can conclude that:
Disposable cells are not particularly environmentally friendly … so I do feel a bit guilty to see just how many cells I had purchased for this round-up. The remaining cells will find a use – perhaps powering photographic flashes for future blog photos, wireless keyboards/mice, etc. But I have long been a proponent of using low self-discharge Ni-MH rechargeable cells such as the Eneloop and will continue to do so in-parallel.
I hope you enjoyed this investigation and got something out of it!
Pillows are soft and simple, and help us get more comfortable. They can also get really gross. Think about it: Night after night, your pillow is subjected to whatever combination of sweat, drool, hair oil, dead skin, makeup, and any other dirt and schmutz coming out of your head, face, and mouth.
The series: "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown"
Where you can stream it: Discovery+, HBO Max (season 1)
The pitch: Celebrity chef, writer, and travel journalist Anthony Bourdain brings his unique brand of genuine empathy and self-aware snark to every corner of the globe as he travels to the "parts unknown." The CNN series follows Bourdain as he travels to various places around the world, connecting to the people who live there through conversation, and more importantly, through food. Food is a huge part of culture, and though Bourdain's previous travel series, "No Reservations," focused almost entirely on global food customs, "Parts Unknown" uses food as the starting point for much larger conversations. Bourdain is an expert at making people comfortable and earning their trust, in large part because of his earnestness. He has discussions with everyone ranging from the poorest and most disenfranchised to heads of state. The best part is that he treats them all the same — as equals.
"Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown" is ostensibly a travel show but ends up being so much more. Bourdain, or "Tony" to the many that came to love him, is an educated and entertaining guide to the food, customs, and cultures of the world. If watching "Parts Unknown" doesn't make you want to travel more, you might be dead inside.
It's truly difficult for me to explain the impact Anthony Bourdain had on my life, and I discovered him and his work through "Parts Unknown." The series, which began with an episode about Myanmar in 2013, is a travel series that manages to get at the core of what it is to be human. Bourdain is the perfect host because he never acts like he's above anyone or anything, and he embraces his travels and the people in them with an open heart and mind. He might occasionally make a joke about something that made him uncomfortable, but he was never judgmental. He was honest, sometimes too honest, and it encouraged others to open up in the same way.
I have an anxiety disorder and developed agoraphobia as a preteen, but also love meeting new people and experiencing new things. These two things have always existed inside me, a duality of someone who wants to hide under the covers but also wants to see the world. It's frustrating, but watching Bourdain inspired me to push myself to do more. I started taking on new opportunities and saying "yes" to things even when they were scary, and ended up going on some the greatest adventures of my life. Then, following my heart and my desire to be like Bourdain and experience different walks of life, I took a job working as an assistant director on a weekend crowd shoot for a feature film in San Francisco. As I strolled onto set, the first movie set I had ever been on as crew, I checked my phone and saw the news on Twitter: Anthony Bourdain was dead. The rest of us were left to pick up the pieces.
It wasn't just Bourdain's willingness to put himself out there and his ability to get great interviews from people that made him so inspirational, but his love and appreciation of his fellow human beings made him a bastion of radical empathy. It didn't matter whether he was chatting with former President Barack Obama in a soup restaurant in Hanoi or with rural fishermen who lived on floating rafts in the waters off of Vietnam, he spoke to them with the same level of kindness and respect. He was also refreshingly honest about his own demons, as he had suffered with drug addiction and other self-destructive behavior in his life. He was inspirational because he had been through hell and back and somehow managed to never let it make him bitter.
The perspectives that Bourdain brought to the screen in "Parts Unknown" might never have been shared with the wider world if it weren't for the series. His openness and empathy led him to help shed light on people and places with dark pasts, controversies, or shady reputations. There are no political ambitions or agendas, just a humanist approach to showing how at our core, humans are all pretty much the same. We all just want hot food, a warm bed, and some friends to share a laugh with, and Bourdain understood that better than most.
Anthony Bourdain and "Parts Unknown" didn't just inspire me to take more chances, travel more, and try more international cuisine, it also gave me a different way of looking at the world. Regardless of where on this big blue planet you end up, the people there will have a culture and stories worth sharing. I stopped thinking of anyone as "Other," and started trying to think of what we could learn from one another. Even those who I had previously thought of as my enemies were human beings with experiences, joys, and fears that mirrored my own, and realizing this helped me approach them with more patience and willingness to listen. If more people were like Bourdain and treated each other with respect and honesty, the world would be a much better place.
Bourdain's death by suicide left a massive hole in my heart, and in the hearts of many of his fans worldwide. This man who understand the value of a good chat, a cold drink, and a hot bowl of noodles was gone forever, taking his wisdom and warmth with him. The best we can do without him is share the lessons he brought to us all, learning more about one another and reacting with open arms instead of suspicion. I miss you, Tony, and wherever you are, I hope they have noodles.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Read this next: Actors Who Died In 2021
The post The Daily Stream: Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown Made Me a Better Human Being appeared first on /Film.
The first footage of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (recently turned 11th) running with DLSS, FSR, and XeSS has been released, and it’s looking mighty impressive.
Some weeks ago, we reported that a modder is working on an official DLSS mod for Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Resident Evil Village. Fast forward two weeks, and we now have the very first footage of this unofficial DLSS/FSR/XeSS implementation with The Elder Scrolls V.
Not only does this mod vastly improve performance, but also the game’s visual quality on PC. In the video, we can see Skyrim running in 360p resolution being upscaled up to 4K. It’s impressive, to say the least, and deserves to be watched. Check out the video, courtesy of ‘PureDark’ and ‘Mern’.
As for the release date of this exciting mod, the creator first wants to complete VR combability. Luckily, it appears that it will soon be released to the public.
“Hi I am the author of the mod, I am aware that the most GPU-heavy mod is ENB and I've already talked with Boris about it, he agreed to do the compatibility from his side(which is the only way to make ENB compatible since it's close sourced)”, modder ‘PureDark’ writes.
“But for those who are not lacking GPU power, DLAA provides much better AA than TAA with some extra performance cost, and it works with ENB out of the box [because] there's no upscaling involved.”
He adds, “This is more for GPU limited situation, which I know is hard to get into with 1080P, but it's actually pretty easy to hit GPU bottleneck at 4k with some graphic mods.
But with all that said, the mod is not publicly released yet; I would still need to make it VR compatible before releasing it, and since there are ENB presets that are compatible with the VR version's dynamic resolution, I can at least make it work with ENB in VR.”
We’re very interested in the development of this mod as it shows high potential for other titles as well. We will update you as soon as more information about it is available.
The post First Skyrim DLSS/FSR/XeSS Mod Footage Shows Extremely High Potential; Will Soon Release Publically by Aernout van de Velde appeared first on Wccftech.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
For a Cold War techno-thriller about a teenage hacker named David (Matthew Broderick) who accidentally sets off a nuclear standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union, "Wargames" manages to not take itself too seriously. The entire plot rests on an unmotivated Seattle wunderkind who uses his home computer to impress a neighborhood girl named Jennifer (Ally Sheedy) by changing both of their high school grades. Unfortunately, it also results in David going a little too far and accidentally accessing North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)'s supercomputer, which misinterprets the break-in as the start of WWIII.
Amazingly, "Wargames" went on to be a smash hit at the box office that was nominated for three Academy Awards. Broderick would go on to stardom after appearing in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," another film where the young actor tampers with his high school computing system to remove his nine absent marks. Besides Broderick and Sheedy, there is another familiar face you might recognize in the film who found great success later on in his career. Michael Madsen was working as an auto mechanic in Chicago when a chance encounter with filmmaker Martin Brest landed him a small role as a soldier in the hit drama.
Madsen was just as surprised as anyone at his sudden stroke of luck, telling Screen Rant in 2020, "I didn't know I was going to be an actor. I had no notion of actually being able to do that. I was a blue-collar kid from Chicago." His family certainly didn't have any connections to Hollywood, either. "My father was a firefighter. My mother was a writer. What chance did I have of ever doing something like that?"
It's always strange to go back and recognize an actor in an old movie after they've gone on to greater notoriety. Spotting Michael Madsen in "Wargames" is so jarring it almost feels like deep fake technology is being used over the face of another actor. Madsen was a long way away from playing Mr. Blonde in Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" when he popped up in the opening scenes as a random soldier in a missile silo. Sharing the story with Screen Rant, Madsen reminisced about landing the role entirely by chance. "I was going to school to be a paramedic and a friend of mine was an actor in my class, and he took me to an audition he was going to. I just went in with him accidentally because we were hanging out."
Madsen had no intention of auditioning, but he must have had a look that the director responded to:
"I didn't even read for the people who were there, but I met Martin Brest, who was there, and he must have been 25 years old, I guess. He asked me if I had any idea of ever being an actor. I thought it was a ridiculous question and I didn't know how to respond, but I got invited to California to play the soldier in that missile silo because of that chance meeting."
Martin Brest is technically uncredited as the director of "Wargames" with John Badham ("Saturday Night Fever") coming in after United Artists fired Brest after reportedly not being happy with the footage he had already shot. Luckily for Madsen, his part ended up in the finished film. The newly minted actor moved to California, got a job pumping gas in Beverly Hills, and the rest is history.
Read this next: The 15 Best Cold War Movies Ranked
The post Getting 'Accidentally' Cast In War Games Made Michael Madsen Into An Actor appeared first on /Film.
