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April Fools: The 35 Funniest Movie Characters Of All Time (Part Seven)

BILL MURRAY AS JEFF SLATER IN TOOTSIE (1982)

Bill Murray is one of those people with such a long, varied career of starring and supporting roles in so many beloved mainstream and indie films -- from Carl Spackler in Caddyshack to “Bill Murray” in Coffee and Cigarettes -- that he could easily fill up this week’s list almost single-handedly. But of all his roles, his understated, largely improvised performance in Tootsie has always been my favorite: a toned-down version of his cocky '80s persona that hinted at the bemused, melancholy range of his later work, his Jeff Slater is the perfect roommate and wing-man: a wise, mellow pal who gently informs you when you’re "getting into a weird area" with your career or social life, yet who doesn’t scold or judge when he walks in to find you in a dress being groped by a horny old soap opera star. The yin to Dustin Hoffman’s neurotic actor yang, he’s the kind of playwright who’d prefer a half-empty theater filled with people who just came out of the rain to a packed house (and yet somehow doesn’t sound pretentious saying it). And best of all, I actually got to have a roommate very much like him once (hi, Hari!), during a year I still recall as fondly as my memories of Tootsie and the late, great Sydney Pollack. ("You were a tomato!") (AO)

Posted Apr 02 2009, 06:45 PM by Andrew Osborne with | with no comments

Morning Deal Report: Vegan Psychic Power Edition

Blart rules! Well, he rules the box office, anyway, as Paul Blart: Mall Cop topped the charts over the MLK holiday weekend with a $39 million haul. I just report the stuff, people! I accept no blame! Gran Torino slipped to second place with $26.2 million, for a gran total of $77.2 million. Appropriately enough, third place went to My Bloody Valentine 3D, with $24.2 million, followed closely by Notorious with $24 million.

Brandon Routh has signed up for another comic book adapation, but he can leave his cape at home this time.

Posted Jan 20 2009, 11:00 AM by Scott Von Doviak with | with no comments

Filed under: morning deal report, john c. reilly, michael cera, scott von doviak, katie holmes, kevin kline, gran torino, notorious, paul dano, my bloody valentine 3d, paul blart mall cop, brandon routh, the extra man, scott pilgrim vs. the world

America the Beautiful: 15 Movies That Show What's Right With U.S. (Part Two)

THE RIGHT STUFF (1983)

The title of Tom Wolfe's book refers to the ineffable, super-American quality that Wolfe attributed to the anonymous test pilots who paved the way for the NASA space program -- whose stars, the Apollo astronauts, Wolfe depicted as media puppets by comparison. Phil Kaufman's movie version hangs onto the romantic mythology of the test pilots and treats the astronauts' public packaging as comedy, but it also honors the astronauts as real heroes who, by learning to play the media and sticking together to face down the bureaucrats and the scientists with the Dr. Strangelove accents, proved their mettle and created a new kind of savvy icon for the TV age. Amazingly, this satiric yet stirring popcorn epic wasn't much of a hit in theaters but has since achieved classic status as a home video perennial. It has so many high points that it's practically made for the rewind button.

Posted Jul 03 2008, 04:30 PM by Andrew Osborne with | with 2 comment(s)

A Brief History of “Milk”

There have been some awkward moments lately for Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who spent 16 years trying to bring an adaptation of Randy Shilts’ 1982 Harvey Milk biography The Mayor of Castro Street to the screen. There is indeed a Milk biopic set to hit theaters this fall, and Zadon and Meron “have fielded all sorts of congratulatory calls in recent months from people excited to hear that after years of struggle,” that film has finally been made.

But the problem is that film, directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Sean Penn, isn’t their film.