Comments on: Open Thread for October 16, 2009

By: Kopakka el Incrópito

Kopakka el Incrópito — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:39:12 +0000

@Callot “Judi Dench is amazing as Queen Victoria”

Judi Dench IS Amazing. probably “Helen Mirren amazing”, maybe even “Vanessa Redgrave amazing”.

And, guys don’t be so harsh on Butler, he’s (relatively) young.

All I can remember about 300 is Faramir telling a wonderful Underdog/Battle of Berlin tale to a bunch of guys who happen to be about to march into battle.
Just like Butler’s Character in Dracula 2000 (No he probably hasn’t {hadn’t?} starred any classics yet) claims at the sight of a bible. “Propaganda”

By: JT

JT — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 16:01:31 +0000

Hasselhoff

By: Gab

Gab — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:50:20 +0000

Don’t forget P.S. I Love You!

Do American actors cross the pond and do better there than here ever? I can’t think of any examples off of the top of my head.

By: callot

callot — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 02:45:20 +0000

As a former union organizer for the AFT, I can tell you that there are plenty of bizarre umbrella unions out there. For example, the UAW (United Auto Workers) represent graduate student teachers, paralegals and blackjack dealers.

By: Trevor

Trevor — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:44:58 +0000

I think the point has been made before about Mrs. Fletcher’s seeming inability to avoid being at the scene of the crime, much like how every defendent in “Matlock” was caught picking up the murder weapon left behind by the real killer (who, depending on whatever fashion style was relevant at the time, usually had a mullet of epic awfulness or shoulderpads on top of shoulderpads, and sometimes both). It’s a shame that they never did an episode in which someone realized he was talking to Jessica Fletcher, turned pale white, and ran in the opposite direction. Could’ve saved all of us a lot of time.

I really don’t know what to make of Gerard Butler, he’s the latest in what I like to think of as a case study in the “Jude Law Theory”: a foreign-born movie star overseas who is consistantly in films made for American audiences almost to the point that you wonder if he’s really that good or if there just aren’t enough actors to take on said role. Perhaps to go back further, Butler/Law/Hugh Jackman et al., are all part of the Michael Caine tradition of acting (in which you hit it big in America because you’re “exotic” without being threatening, and thus find yourself in all sorts of movies over a given period of time). Caine’s proclivity to be in just about any movie made in the Seventies is a running joke in the Jeremy Piven vehicle “PCU”, and there’s some truth to the idea that Caine was in every film made during certain time periods, because he sure seemed to be in everything. A lot of times, it’s mostly because studios want to push a certain actor as “the next big thing,” or someone like Jackman gets lucky with an iconic role and the demands for work skyrocket until the audience is sick of that particular actor. Caine can be said to have had a resurrection of sorts with his supporting roles in the new Batmans, so I think it would be unwise to write off some of the actors I cited just yet. Still, Butler could turn into one of those actors you know just because you know of him, but not for any particular role.

By: Varoh

Varoh — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:52:01 +0000

Come on. Gerard Butler was great in RocknRolla which was alot of fun

By: Dan

Dan — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:41:36 +0000

Angela Lansbury also originated the role of Mrs. Lovett in “Sweeny Todd.” Best thing she ever did, in my opinion.

By: Matthew Wrather

Matthew Wrather — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:17:38 +0000

Hey, 30 Rock is Back. Can we set aside our differences over Glee and spend some time talking about how awesome that show is?

(Though the page strike was totally unrealistic, right Belinkie and Mark? And the union JUST SO HAPPENED to represent bucket drummers? Come on.)

Ladies and Gentlemen, Jay Leno.

By: Sylvia

Sylvia — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:16:55 +0000

@Lara You are correctly thinking of Murder, She Wrote. Also, Diagnosis Murder.

By: callot

callot — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:24:39 +0000

Gerard Butler played a small role in Mrs. Brown, about Queen Victoria’s relationship with her servant John Brown. Judi Dench is amazing as Queen Victoria, and she won several awards for the performance.