Jason Lee will put his name on anything. Anything. I have no strong opinion regarding Katie Holmes, other than the strong opinion that she’s incapable of performing in a fashion that would cause me to form a strong opinion of her performance. Woody Harrelson is hit or miss for me; if I’m in the mood to enjoy his work, I’ll pop in Scanner Darkly so that I can at least get Robert Downey, Jr thrown into the bargain. I do like Eddie Izzard and Kieran Culkin, but then the teeter-totter drops and I see Dave Matthews and Alanis Morissette. Without bothering to look at the work that anyone else on the list has done, I note that I don’t recognize any of their names.
My general impression when I see a cast with that many big names is that it’s going to be one of those movies where everyone has about five minutes of screen time and we’re supposed to get thrills from seeing these all-too-brief cameos. Still, I’ve been wrong in the past; maybe this one’ll surprise me.
Personally, the next upcoming movie that has me excited is Be Kind Rewind. I love Mos Def, and although Jack Black is often more miss than hit, Michel Gondry has shown that he’s capable getting good performances out of unfunny actors.
I agree with Bob Mike. I also like Eddie Izzard– he’s obviously a brilliant comedian, and I think he’s pretty great on The Riches. So he’s got some dramatic chops too. But the rest of the cast list fails to inspire me.
However, word on Scanner Darkly. That’s a fantastic film.
That’s fine. I like Lee, Holmes, Ribisi (especially), Culkin, Izzard, and Dave Matthews (really!) as actors. Woody Harrelson and Alanis I can take or leave.
Dave, want me to set up your site as an OpenID server?
I’m looking at the IMDB page for Dave Matthews, and I’m trying to figure out where you would have seen him that would have caused your favorable impression. Consider yourself warned: If you say it was in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, I’m going to punch you in the face. Then Dave is going to punch you in the face. Then I’m going to punch you in the face a second time.
In fairness, I (1) have not heard him speak and (2) judge his musical output perhaps more harshly than I would if not for the exposure that I’ve had to a certain subset of his fans. Drunken, DMB-blaring frat boys are my number one offender in terms of shittifying any event that they encounter.
I did like the story about the frat boys in DC throwing projectiles and liquids from balconies onto protesters funneled through campus while blasting Rage Against The Machine.
A Scanner Darkly, really? I haven’t seen it, but after reading the book I cannot imagine that it would translate into film, but I guess I’ll give it a watch.
It should be noted that the movie is not as good as the book, but it’s still plenty good. Other than Rickman in the Harry Potter franchise, I can’t think of a time when the choice of actor has made as great an improvement to a film as the casting of Robert Downey, Jr in Scanner Darkly. The man hits ‘em out of the park, scene after scene after scene.
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December 4th, 2007 at 6:58 am
?
December 4th, 2007 at 9:48 am
I second Dave’s “?”, and raise you an eyebrow.
December 4th, 2007 at 10:35 am
You don’t like the cast list?
December 4th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Jason Lee will put his name on anything. Anything. I have no strong opinion regarding Katie Holmes, other than the strong opinion that she’s incapable of performing in a fashion that would cause me to form a strong opinion of her performance. Woody Harrelson is hit or miss for me; if I’m in the mood to enjoy his work, I’ll pop in Scanner Darkly so that I can at least get Robert Downey, Jr thrown into the bargain. I do like Eddie Izzard and Kieran Culkin, but then the teeter-totter drops and I see Dave Matthews and Alanis Morissette. Without bothering to look at the work that anyone else on the list has done, I note that I don’t recognize any of their names.
My general impression when I see a cast with that many big names is that it’s going to be one of those movies where everyone has about five minutes of screen time and we’re supposed to get thrills from seeing these all-too-brief cameos. Still, I’ve been wrong in the past; maybe this one’ll surprise me.
December 4th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
…uh… I like Kieran Culkin…
Also, what is OpenID and why won’t it let me link to my website? I demand answers. ANSWERS!
December 4th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Personally, the next upcoming movie that has me excited is Be Kind Rewind. I love Mos Def, and although Jack Black is often more miss than hit, Michel Gondry has shown that he’s capable getting good performances out of unfunny actors.
December 4th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
I agree with Bob Mike. I also like Eddie Izzard– he’s obviously a brilliant comedian, and I think he’s pretty great on The Riches. So he’s got some dramatic chops too. But the rest of the cast list fails to inspire me.
However, word on Scanner Darkly. That’s a fantastic film.
December 4th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
That’s fine. I like Lee, Holmes, Ribisi (especially), Culkin, Izzard, and Dave Matthews (really!) as actors. Woody Harrelson and Alanis I can take or leave.
Dave, want me to set up your site as an OpenID server?
December 4th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
I’m looking at the IMDB page for Dave Matthews, and I’m trying to figure out where you would have seen him that would have caused your favorable impression. Consider yourself warned: If you say it was in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, I’m going to punch you in the face. Then Dave is going to punch you in the face. Then I’m going to punch you in the face a second time.
December 4th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
“House, M.D.”, playing an idiot-savant musician.
(Obvious rejoinder: “Oooh, that’s a stretch!”)
December 4th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Minus the savant part, yeah.
December 4th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
I’ve actually been impressed with Mr. Matthews when I’ve heard him speak.
December 4th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
In fairness, I (1) have not heard him speak and (2) judge his musical output perhaps more harshly than I would if not for the exposure that I’ve had to a certain subset of his fans. Drunken, DMB-blaring frat boys are my number one offender in terms of shittifying any event that they encounter.
December 4th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
I did like the story about the frat boys in DC throwing projectiles and liquids from balconies onto protesters funneled through campus while blasting Rage Against The Machine.
December 5th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
A Scanner Darkly, really? I haven’t seen it, but after reading the book I cannot imagine that it would translate into film, but I guess I’ll give it a watch.
December 5th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
It should be noted that the movie is not as good as the book, but it’s still plenty good. Other than Rickman in the Harry Potter franchise, I can’t think of a time when the choice of actor has made as great an improvement to a film as the casting of Robert Downey, Jr in Scanner Darkly. The man hits ‘em out of the park, scene after scene after scene.