As kids and adults alike, millions of people dream of becoming movie stars. For some actors who make it, though, success on the big screen isn’t everything it’s built up to be. And while most still choose to stay, some stars leave Hollywood to pursue other careers. One such example is Charlie Korsmo, who played the son of Robin Williams’ character in Hook.
Korsmo’s face may be familiar to those who grew up in the 90s. The child star also appeared in movies like Dick Tracy. However, the actor’s career in Hollywood was short-lived, retiring from acting at a young age. Instead, Korsmo pursued a career in academia and is now a successful law professor.
Charlie Korsmo was a child actor, known for playing the son of Robin Williams’ character in ‘Hook’ Actors Dante Basco and Robin Williams on the set of the film Hook, directed by Steven Spielberg.
Korsmo’s face may be familiar to those who grew up in the 90s. The child star also appeared in movies like Dick Tracy. However, the actor’s career in Hollywood was short-lived, retiring from acting at a young age. Instead, Korsmo pursued a career in academia and is now a successful law professor.
Charlie Korsmo was a child actor, known for playing the son of Robin Williams’ character in ‘Hook’ Actors Dante Basco and Robin Williams on the set of the film Hook, directed by Steven Spielberg.
- 4/11/2023
- by William Decker
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
It's wild to consider, but there was a moment in Steven Spielberg's historic career when he faced a crucible, and he fell disastrously short.
The year was 1991. Spielberg had entered middle age and was still trying to segue from the escapist entertainment that had made him one of the most successful filmmakers of all time to dramas with loftier intentions. It worked at first. His 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker's "The Color Purple" was a respectful, emotionally devastating tale of a Black woman's hard-won liberation in the segregated South of the early 20th century. It was a box-office smash that received 11 Academy Award nominations, but Spielberg was mystifyingly denied a Best Director nod. When the film won zero Oscars, it felt personal, especially after he won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement.
His next serious film, 1987's "Empire of the Sun," based on J.G. Ballard's semi-autobiographical novel,...
The year was 1991. Spielberg had entered middle age and was still trying to segue from the escapist entertainment that had made him one of the most successful filmmakers of all time to dramas with loftier intentions. It worked at first. His 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker's "The Color Purple" was a respectful, emotionally devastating tale of a Black woman's hard-won liberation in the segregated South of the early 20th century. It was a box-office smash that received 11 Academy Award nominations, but Spielberg was mystifyingly denied a Best Director nod. When the film won zero Oscars, it felt personal, especially after he won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement.
His next serious film, 1987's "Empire of the Sun," based on J.G. Ballard's semi-autobiographical novel,...
- 11/18/2022
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
As we all mourn the end of the Halloween season and brace ourselves for the seemingly unending parade of holidays based on familial obligations or gross displays of capitalism, November is here to serve as a little respite. Many of the horror movies that disappeared off streaming platforms to try and snag some extra Halloween funds in October are returning to their respective platforms, but the trickling in of cheesy Christmas fare is also coming in fast.
Fortunately, there's a massive amount of old favorites and exciting new titles trying to beat the holiday havoc, and we've got five between Hulu and Disney+ that you would be wise to check out. Action? Teen movies? Horror comedies? Musicals? Weirdly bleak arthouse film with surprising brutality? November has it all, baby.
Can't Hardly Wait (1998)
Before Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont would go on to make "Josie and the Pussycats" (the best movie...
Fortunately, there's a massive amount of old favorites and exciting new titles trying to beat the holiday havoc, and we've got five between Hulu and Disney+ that you would be wise to check out. Action? Teen movies? Horror comedies? Musicals? Weirdly bleak arthouse film with surprising brutality? November has it all, baby.
Can't Hardly Wait (1998)
Before Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont would go on to make "Josie and the Pussycats" (the best movie...
- 10/19/2022
- by BJ Colangelo
- Slash Film
Charlie Korsmo is one of those individuals that went into show business at a young age and still managed to get out, for the most part, when he was still pretty young since he was only in from 1990 to 1998, long enough to have a few memorable roles but not much else. Obviously as you can guess, one of his biggest and most noted roles was as Jack Banning in the Peter Pan adaptation Hook, which starred Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman along with a few other noted celebrities. Jack was pretty much the scamp in every way possible
Whatever Happened to Charlie Korsmo?...
Whatever Happened to Charlie Korsmo?...
- 5/11/2020
- by Tom
- TVovermind.com
Set in a strange and mysterious hospital, this amiably ingenious drama constantly wrong-foots the audience
This low-budget film written and directed by Aaron Schimberg is almost every kind of strange, and yet it has an amiable warmth and an inexhaustible reserve of originality that make it compelling as hell. Packed with rambling digressions, sudden shifts of tone, and playful fake-outs as it shuttles between layers of “reality” and performance, but constructed with precision and assurance, it leaves you with both a sugar high and slight sense of nausea.
At a former hospital, a film crew gather to shoot a low-budget comedy-drama-horror movie within the low-budget comedy-drama-horror movie that is Chained for Life itself. A director (Charlie Korsmo), who may actually be German or just faking the Werner Herzog accent, has managed to cast Mabel Fairchild (Jess Weixler), a famous actor up for slumming it in this indie effort as the...
This low-budget film written and directed by Aaron Schimberg is almost every kind of strange, and yet it has an amiable warmth and an inexhaustible reserve of originality that make it compelling as hell. Packed with rambling digressions, sudden shifts of tone, and playful fake-outs as it shuttles between layers of “reality” and performance, but constructed with precision and assurance, it leaves you with both a sugar high and slight sense of nausea.
At a former hospital, a film crew gather to shoot a low-budget comedy-drama-horror movie within the low-budget comedy-drama-horror movie that is Chained for Life itself. A director (Charlie Korsmo), who may actually be German or just faking the Werner Herzog accent, has managed to cast Mabel Fairchild (Jess Weixler), a famous actor up for slumming it in this indie effort as the...
- 10/24/2019
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
"The first trick to learning your lines is to stop worrying." Kino Lorber has released an official trailer for an indie drama titled Chained for Life, the latest film made by indie filmmaker Aaron Schimberg (Go Down Death). This premiered at BAMcinemaFest last year, and it also played at Fantasia, Fantastic Fest, as well as the Mill Valley, New Hampshire, London, Thessaloniki, Bucheon, and Cork Film Festivals. "Building on the promise of his hallucinogenic debut Go Down Death, Brooklyn filmmaker Aaron Schimberg delivers another brilliantly oddball, acerbically funny foray into gonzo surrealism." The film is about a young actress making a low budget horror film, who is cast alongside a man with a deformity, and a number of other actors with physical differences. Jess Weixler co-stars with Adam Pearson playing Rosenthal, and a cast including Stephen Plunkett, Charlie Korsmo, Sari Lennick, and Rayvin Disla. It's an odd, melancholic film. Here's...
- 8/15/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
William Hurt, Christine Lahti and Elizabeth Perkins do excellent work in this superior drama which delivers an important, unforced life lesson. An emotionless hotshot surgeon gets a dose of his own medicine when he’s hit by a cancerous tumor, and is put through the same wringer that so humiliates his patients. What might be a cynical critique becomes a curiously uplifting drama about the need to include some humanity in one’s profession. Asserting the importance of kindness and empathy to people in need, director Randa Haines’ show is more uplifting than a faith-based film.
The Doctor
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1991 / Color / widescreen / 122 min. / Street Date March 5, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 19.95
Starring: William Hurt, Christine Lahti, Elizabeth Perkins, Mandy Patinkin, Adam Arkin, Charlie Korsmo, Wendy Crewson, Bill Macy, J.E. Freeman, Ed Rosenbaum.
Cinematography: John Seale
Film Editor: Lisa Fruchtman, Bruce Green
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Original Music: Michael Convertino...
The Doctor
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1991 / Color / widescreen / 122 min. / Street Date March 5, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 19.95
Starring: William Hurt, Christine Lahti, Elizabeth Perkins, Mandy Patinkin, Adam Arkin, Charlie Korsmo, Wendy Crewson, Bill Macy, J.E. Freeman, Ed Rosenbaum.
Cinematography: John Seale
Film Editor: Lisa Fruchtman, Bruce Green
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Original Music: Michael Convertino...
- 3/5/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“Do you feel like the story is exploitative?” a journalist asks actress Mabel (Jess Weixler) about the new film she’s starring in, early into Aaron Schimberg’s brilliant second feature Chained for Life. In a meta-melodrama that constantly seesaws between fiction and reality, sprawling across a labyrinthine and multi-layered narrative that seamlessly jumps from one textual plane to another, I found myself wondering whether the question was in fact leveled at Schimberg’s own work.
Chained for Life unspools as a film-within-a-film. It follows a thick-accented German director as he makes his English language debut in Us soil: an art-horror about a mad doctor and his patients, all displaying an assorted range of physical differences. Ostensibly in an effort to stay true to his subject, Herr Director (as per the film’s credits) has cast people with real-life genetic disabilities and irregularities–a giant, a little person, conjoined twins,...
Chained for Life unspools as a film-within-a-film. It follows a thick-accented German director as he makes his English language debut in Us soil: an art-horror about a mad doctor and his patients, all displaying an assorted range of physical differences. Ostensibly in an effort to stay true to his subject, Herr Director (as per the film’s credits) has cast people with real-life genetic disabilities and irregularities–a giant, a little person, conjoined twins,...
- 12/21/2018
- by Leonardo Goi
- The Film Stage
As a kid, Charlie Korsmo believed acting seemed way more fun than doing homework.
“We went on a family trip to Los Angeles and saw a TV show being filmed — Punky Brewster — and I thought, this looks like something anyone can do,” Korsmo, 40, tells People in this week’s issue. “I think it was mostly an excuse to get out of school.”
So when the family returned home to Minnesota, Korsmo got an agent and started landing commercial gigs. Then came roles in What About Bob?, Hook and Dick Tracy with Warren Beatty.
“Anytime Warren was late, they’d send me to get him,...
“We went on a family trip to Los Angeles and saw a TV show being filmed — Punky Brewster — and I thought, this looks like something anyone can do,” Korsmo, 40, tells People in this week’s issue. “I think it was mostly an excuse to get out of school.”
So when the family returned home to Minnesota, Korsmo got an agent and started landing commercial gigs. Then came roles in What About Bob?, Hook and Dick Tracy with Warren Beatty.
“Anytime Warren was late, they’d send me to get him,...
- 11/2/2018
- by Dana Rose Falcone
- PEOPLE.com
Happy 71st birthday to Richard Dreyfuss on October 29, 2018! The Oscar-winning actor has been an integral part of so many American films that are now considered classics, such as “Jaws,” “American Graffiti” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and a key collaborator on a number of films directed by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.
Dreyfuss has proven himself adept in his wide range of characters — from a music teacher to a blood-thirsty gangster, and from an aspiring actor to an obnoxious oceanographer. The result has been a Best Actor Academy Award with an additional nomination, plus a Golden Globe victory with three additional Globe nominations.
So let’s celebrate Richard’s big day by looking back and ranking his 12 greatest films from worst to best in the photo gallery above.
SEESteven Spielberg movies: Every film ranked from worst to best
12. Always (1989)
For a third time, Dreyfuss teams up with his...
Dreyfuss has proven himself adept in his wide range of characters — from a music teacher to a blood-thirsty gangster, and from an aspiring actor to an obnoxious oceanographer. The result has been a Best Actor Academy Award with an additional nomination, plus a Golden Globe victory with three additional Globe nominations.
So let’s celebrate Richard’s big day by looking back and ranking his 12 greatest films from worst to best in the photo gallery above.
SEESteven Spielberg movies: Every film ranked from worst to best
12. Always (1989)
For a third time, Dreyfuss teams up with his...
- 10/29/2018
- by Tom O'Brien and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
The fall is often perceived as the launch pad for awards season, as numerous prestige films compete for attention in the final weeks of the year. For much of the film community, however, it’s also the first major window into movies worth talking about next year. That’s because the Sundance Film Festival lineup typically drops in the middle of November, shaking up the holiday season with a mixture of familiar faces and newcomers who could make an impact in Park City this January. With programmers working in overdrive to complete the lineup in the coming weeks, and filmmakers praying to break through as the deadlines loom, we’ve cobbled together as much intel as we can for this extensive preview featuring dozens of promising titles that stand a good chance at making their way to Sundance this year. As usual, we’ve tried to avoid projects that are...
- 11/20/2017
- by Eric Kohn, Jude Dry, Chris O'Falt, Kate Erbland, Jenna Marotta, David Ehrlich and Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Becky looks back at an almost-forgotten comic book adaptation from a time before they were cool: Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy.
Feature
Chester Gould’s famous yellow-coated detective, Dick Tracy, has appeared across various mediums since his first comic strip appearance in 1931, but it wasn’t until 1990 that the character made his way into blockbuster territory. It may have been considered less than successful on release and forgotten to a certain extent since then, but there is a lot to love about Warren Beatty’s film, imbued with an infectious sense of fun and comic strip visuals that continue to impress.
Dick Tracy went through several hands before it finally landed Beatty in the director’s chair, though the actor had had a concept for it as far back as 1975. It’s a long and rocky development history that saw names such as Steven Spielberg and John Landis offered the...
Feature
Chester Gould’s famous yellow-coated detective, Dick Tracy, has appeared across various mediums since his first comic strip appearance in 1931, but it wasn’t until 1990 that the character made his way into blockbuster territory. It may have been considered less than successful on release and forgotten to a certain extent since then, but there is a lot to love about Warren Beatty’s film, imbued with an infectious sense of fun and comic strip visuals that continue to impress.
Dick Tracy went through several hands before it finally landed Beatty in the director’s chair, though the actor had had a concept for it as far back as 1975. It’s a long and rocky development history that saw names such as Steven Spielberg and John Landis offered the...
- 6/26/2014
- by sarahd
- Den of Geek
Hook
Written by James V. Hart, Nick Castle, Malia Scotch Marmo, and J. M. Barrie
Directed by Steven Spielberg
USA, 1991
Steven Spielberg is known the world over for creating genuine movie magic. From his blockbuster splash Jaws in 1975 up until his 2012 biopic Lincoln, Spielberg is certainly a gifted filmmaker. Very few auteurs are still work today but Spielberg keeps banging out films that dazzle the senses and leave an everlasting impression on the viewer. However, some of Spielberg’s films haven’t achieved the recognition and respect they deserve. There are certain films that this movie master made that didn’t quite achieve a high status. One such film is 1991’s Hook, a fantasy adventure which didn’t really score well with critics but filled children of the 90s with joy, innocence, and wonder.
The film follows middle-aged lawyer Peter Banning (Robin Williams), a bitter individual who has forgotten who he is.
Written by James V. Hart, Nick Castle, Malia Scotch Marmo, and J. M. Barrie
Directed by Steven Spielberg
USA, 1991
Steven Spielberg is known the world over for creating genuine movie magic. From his blockbuster splash Jaws in 1975 up until his 2012 biopic Lincoln, Spielberg is certainly a gifted filmmaker. Very few auteurs are still work today but Spielberg keeps banging out films that dazzle the senses and leave an everlasting impression on the viewer. However, some of Spielberg’s films haven’t achieved the recognition and respect they deserve. There are certain films that this movie master made that didn’t quite achieve a high status. One such film is 1991’s Hook, a fantasy adventure which didn’t really score well with critics but filled children of the 90s with joy, innocence, and wonder.
The film follows middle-aged lawyer Peter Banning (Robin Williams), a bitter individual who has forgotten who he is.
- 6/23/2014
- by Randall Unger
- SoundOnSight
On June 12, 1998, Can’t Hardly Wait premiered in theaters. Though it was hardly a runaway hit at the box office, it helped launch the careers of many stars and kicked off several years of highly popular teen films that would be responsible for shaping our high school (and college) years. The film was particularly known for its ensemble cast that was filled with tons of “before they were famous” stars including Jason Segel (Watermelon Guy), Sean Patrick Thomas (Jock Friend) and Ethan Embry (Preston Meyers), who was emerging from a world of child acting into adulthood. Fifteen years later, Embry took the time out of filming a werewolf thriller, Late Phases, to chat with VH1 Celebrity about the vibe on set, his “altered” state and what the movie was actually about.
VH1 Celebrity: What initially drew you to the project?
Ethan Embry: It had been awhile that I had...
VH1 Celebrity: What initially drew you to the project?
Ethan Embry: It had been awhile that I had...
- 6/12/2013
- by Stacy Lambe
- TheFabLife - Movies
Newsflash: Simon Cowell is supposedly interested in booking Jennifer Love Hewitt to replace Britney Spears on The X Factor next season. Yes, that Jennifer Love Hewitt.
On the surface, this idea seems, well, sorta nuts. Despite five recent-ish seasons of Ghost Whisperer, Hewitt hasn’t been particularly relevant since her Party of Five days, and her brief early-aughts singing career was unmemorable at best. (Though you’ve got to admit, “BareNaked” is still pretty catchy.)
Dig a little deeper, though, and suddenly the rumor starts making a weird kind of sense. Hewitt’s certainly as famous as, say, Paula Abdul...
On the surface, this idea seems, well, sorta nuts. Despite five recent-ish seasons of Ghost Whisperer, Hewitt hasn’t been particularly relevant since her Party of Five days, and her brief early-aughts singing career was unmemorable at best. (Though you’ve got to admit, “BareNaked” is still pretty catchy.)
Dig a little deeper, though, and suddenly the rumor starts making a weird kind of sense. Hewitt’s certainly as famous as, say, Paula Abdul...
- 4/26/2013
- by Hillary Busis
- EW.com - PopWatch
Today, comic book fans may recall Warren Beatty’s adaptation of Dick Tracy as a memorable misfire. When it was released in 1990, it was met with, at best, mixed reviews and while it performed respectably at the box office, missed Walt Disney’s estimates so the hoped for franchise was stillborn. Blame could be squarely placed at Beatty’s feet since he had a strangle hold on the film as its director, producer, and star. It got so crazy that poor Kyle Baker had to use only three approved head shots for the 64-page comics adaptation, which stretched even his considerable skills.
We have a great opportunity to reconsider this film now that Disney is releasing it tomorrow on Blu-ray. One of the things about the production is that Beatty wanted to recreate Chester Gould’s strip as faithfully as possible, which meant he limited the color palette to a mere seven colors,...
We have a great opportunity to reconsider this film now that Disney is releasing it tomorrow on Blu-ray. One of the things about the production is that Beatty wanted to recreate Chester Gould’s strip as faithfully as possible, which meant he limited the color palette to a mere seven colors,...
- 12/10/2012
- by Robert Greenberger
- Comicmix.com
Each week within this column we strive to pair the latest in theatrical releases to worthwhile titles currently available on Netflix Instant Watch. This week we offer alternatives to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Young Adult, & New Year’s Eve.
This week a subtle spy faces off against a mean girl and a cavalcade of celebs in theaters nationwide. Want more thrilling espionage tales, badass black comedies and schmaltzy star-studded stories? We’ve got you covered with some stellar selects that are Now Streaming.
Based on John le Carré’s espionage novel, Ttss centers on stoic MI6 agent George Smiley (Gary Oldman), who is in the midst of a mole hunt. Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch and John Hurt co-star. Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In) directs.
Like your thrillers with British accents? Sure you do!
Sherlock (2010) Ttss co-star Benedict Cumberbatch stars in this extraordinary BBC sleuth series as a sociopathic Sherlock,...
This week a subtle spy faces off against a mean girl and a cavalcade of celebs in theaters nationwide. Want more thrilling espionage tales, badass black comedies and schmaltzy star-studded stories? We’ve got you covered with some stellar selects that are Now Streaming.
Based on John le Carré’s espionage novel, Ttss centers on stoic MI6 agent George Smiley (Gary Oldman), who is in the midst of a mole hunt. Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch and John Hurt co-star. Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In) directs.
Like your thrillers with British accents? Sure you do!
Sherlock (2010) Ttss co-star Benedict Cumberbatch stars in this extraordinary BBC sleuth series as a sociopathic Sherlock,...
- 12/8/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
After recently winning the film rights to the character from Tribune Co., the veteran actor and director revealed his plans for a follow-up to the 1990 project and it's home release. Warren Beatty produced, directed, and starred in the original comic book adapted film, which features supporting roles from Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Madonna, Glenne Headly, and Charlie Korsmo. Dick Tracy depicts the detective's his conflicts with crime boss Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice as well as his love relationships with Breathless Mahoney and Tess Truehart and his upbringing of "The Kid". At the La Times Hero Complex Film Festival last night, Beatty revealed a few minor details about his plans to bring Dick Tracy back to audiences. When asked if a sequel was on the way: “I’m gonna make another one [but]...
- 6/10/2011
- by Pietro Filipponi
- The Daily BLAM!
I see… a career resurgence? EW has confirmed that Haley Joel Osment — a.k.a. the kid from The Sixth Sense with the worst imaginary friends ever — has joined the cast of Sassy Pants, a comedy about a homeschooler (Ashley Rickards) with an overbearing mother. And for any fan of Osment’s early work, it’s hard not to say: It’s about time! Though Osment was the promising young child star of films like Forrest Gump, Pay It Forward, and A.I. Artificial Intelligence, he’s spent the majority of the 2000s providing voiceovers for video games or cartoons. But...
- 1/31/2011
- by Kate Ward
- EW.com - PopWatch
Sony Pictures is getting ready to release its upcoming film, The Green Hornet, starring Seth Rogen with direction by Michel Gondry, written by Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The movies will follow, Britt Reid (Seth Rogen), the son of wealthy newspaper publisher James Reid (Tom Wilkinson), is a ne’er do well playboy who inherits a media empire after his father dies. One day, he meets an employee named Kato (Jay Chou), who is more than he appears. After realizing how he and Kato are not using their abilities to the fullest, Britt decides that the two should become crimefighters, taking on the identity of the Green Hornet. With the help of his new secretary, Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz), Britt discovers that Russian criminal Benjamin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz) controls the city’s criminal underworld. Meanwhile, Chudnofsky, paranoid that he is losing his edge as a crime boss, has united all of...
- 1/11/2011
- by Kevin Coll
- FusedFilm
Chicago – Comic books and graphic novels are certainly the closest artistic relatives to cinema, but are the mediums really meant to walk hand-in-hand? While Hollywood has certainly benefitted from the profitability of superhero franchises, securing vehicles for every caped demigod known to man, the popular taste of costumed devotees doesn’t always jive with that of the mainstream public.
Filmmakers like Zack Snyder are declared “visionaries” in some quarters simply for reproducing someone else’s vision panel-by-panel. Yet there are several motion pictures that have transcended the boundaries of their source material and found inventive ways of translating the form, content and spirit of a comic into a wholly cinematic language. So, with the industry buzzing over Edgar Wright’s visually kinetic adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel series, “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World,” let’s take a look back at ten of the best comic book...
Filmmakers like Zack Snyder are declared “visionaries” in some quarters simply for reproducing someone else’s vision panel-by-panel. Yet there are several motion pictures that have transcended the boundaries of their source material and found inventive ways of translating the form, content and spirit of a comic into a wholly cinematic language. So, with the industry buzzing over Edgar Wright’s visually kinetic adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel series, “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World,” let’s take a look back at ten of the best comic book...
- 8/12/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
There was some discussion recently on Dan Carlson's review of Toy Story 3 (2010) regarding the role of the critic and the personal preference baggage he or she brings to a film when reviewing it. Film reviews, by their nature as being based on informed opinion, have been and will always be subjective. This is a reflection of the text being analyzed; evaluating a film is not the same as grading a multiple choice test with concrete answers. As film critic Pauline Kael once wrote, "Criticism is an art, not a science, and a critic who follows rules will fail in one of his most important functions: perceiving what is original and important in new work and helping others to see."
Most readers of my criticism here have noted that I tend to be very self-reflexive in my writing and analysis, sometimes to the point of what could be perceived as...
Most readers of my criticism here have noted that I tend to be very self-reflexive in my writing and analysis, sometimes to the point of what could be perceived as...
- 6/22/2010
- by Drew Morton
Todd Phillips, he of The Hangover and Road Trip fame, has a project in development, Project X, which is being described as a "hard-r" party movie cast with a lot of unknowns. There's an open casting session and a website called ProjectXOpenCall was created so that they could find a bunch of people who aren't normally in movies. I don't really get what's going on with the casting, but it's apparently very unique, and Collider has more details on that, which they got from Phillips personally. Details about the movie are being kept mum, though there's some indication (via Firstshowing) that it will be filmed cineme verite style (that means, as though the camera were being held by a dumbass drunken college student), but I'm guessing it's going to be a raunchy, sex-filled Can't Hardly Wait. That's what I'd like for it to be, anyway, because it allows me to post the clip below.
- 4/21/2010
- by Dustin Rowles
In addition to being a fashion icon, a remarkable live performer and a musical genius, Lady Gaga just added another line to her ever-growing resumé: She's the new creative director for "specialty products" at Polaroid, the venerable instant camera company. They'll be unveiling their partnership at the Consumer Electronics Show and hope to have both old-school and digital products available by the end of the year.
Gaga's involvement in Polaroid adds yet another chapter to the company's involvement in pop culture. From Outkast to "Clueless," Polaroids have shown in all corners of the pop culture landscape.
"Memento"
Director Christopher Nolan first grabbed the attention of the masses with this twisty noir flick, which centered around a guy named Leonard (played by Guy Pearce) who has a brain condition that doesn't allow him to make new memories. What does he do to supplement his brain? He takes a ton of snaps with his trusty Polaroid camera.
Gaga's involvement in Polaroid adds yet another chapter to the company's involvement in pop culture. From Outkast to "Clueless," Polaroids have shown in all corners of the pop culture landscape.
"Memento"
Director Christopher Nolan first grabbed the attention of the masses with this twisty noir flick, which centered around a guy named Leonard (played by Guy Pearce) who has a brain condition that doesn't allow him to make new memories. What does he do to supplement his brain? He takes a ton of snaps with his trusty Polaroid camera.
- 1/7/2010
- by Kyle Anderson
- MTV Newsroom
The ball is set to drop in just a matter of hours, PopWatchers! So I can only imagine that more than a few of you are preparing to channel your inner Frank the Tanks this holiday. (Now I believe it is my duty to warn you that streaking will probably be looked down upon by your respective towns, as well as your respective sober selves when you see the inevitable embarrassing pics.) And as I begin to line up my own champagne and wine bottles to celebrate the new year, I'm reminded of those in film and on TV who willingly put themselves in humiliating,...
- 12/31/2009
- by Kate Ward
- EW.com - PopWatch
Bodies pile up like dirty socks in the PG-13 Avatar, but Nancy Meyers' classy comedy It's Complicated got an R-rating from the MPAA. What gives? According to the New York Times, board members were uneasy about a sequence in which Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, and Alec Baldwin smoke marijuana at a party with no negative consequences. Seems a little strange to us, since plenty of other movies have shown similar illegal activities without tragic ends. Here's a look at a few highlights (sorry, couldn't resist). Nine to Five (1980) Crime: Coworkers Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, and Jane Fonda smoke a...
- 12/29/2009
- by Adam Markovitz
- EW.com - PopWatch
Add the words "Till It's Over" to the title of this stale house party celebrating high school graduation, and you'll get a gauge of audience reaction to this dumb and dull comedy.
Decked out as a wild-and-crazy, end-of-school-year party-rama, "Can't Hardly Wait" has many of the same decorations and trappings as "American Graffitti" and "House Party", but it's one dreary carbon of a celluloid.
Luckily, its target teen audience may be too wet behind the ears to have ever viewed this Sony release's wilder, woolier and funnier antecedents. Factor in a so-so opening weekend at the boxoffice, but word-of-mouth will be failing. Still, based on the recognition value of its youthful cast, this comic cut-out may chalk up some decent grades as a video rental, perfect as background noise at slumber and pizza parties but not distracting enough to intrude on more adventuresome late-night activities.
In this hodgepodge of party hijinks, writer-directors Harry Elftont and Deborah Kaplan have crammed together a cluster of kids -- all stereotypes -- and jammed them into, basically, a single-set situation. Unfortunately, this class is not nearly as edgy and charismatic as those at Ridgemont High. They are, left to right in the yearbook: Mike, a callous, handsome jock (Peter Facinelli), Amanda, the class beauty and Mike's porcelain girlfriend (Jennifer Love Hewitt); William, a National Merit Scholar geek (Charlie Korsmo); Kenny, a kooky shortboy who thinks he's a homeboy (Seth Green); Preston (Ethan Embry), a moony nondescript who pines for Amanda, and Denise, a sullen outsider (Lauren Ambrose). It all swirls around the fact that Mike and Amanda have broken up. Oh, there's other people too: a pair of nerds on the roof and a gushy girl who wants everyone to sign her yearbook. Interesting? Not even.
Unfortunately, Elfton and Kaplan, while stringing out predictable plot dots for these character cliches, have not even connected the basic linear points with any verve or originality. The narrative is merely a scattergun smear of lame sight gags and disjointed, dimwitted vignettes, camouflaged shrewdly by some quick-cut edits and jumpy swerves.
Overall, "Can't Hardly Wait" is about as much fun as listening to a valedictorian drone on about the future, all puff and predictability. It's an underachiever on all comic fronts -- poorly structured gags, underdeveloped plotting, dropped comic opportunities, witless dialogue, a band that doesn't play, etc.
Yet, amid its overall sloppiness, there is some merriment, supplied largely by Green for his wonderfully goofy performance as a nerd who tries to overcompensate for his lack of cool by affecting black, homey behavior.
In addition, Ambrose brings a vital sense of alienation to her role as class cynic. They are the only two characters who muster any empathy or interest.
CAN'T HARDLY WAIT
Sony Pictures Releasing
Columbia Pictures
A Tall Trees production
A Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont film
Producers: Jenno Topping, Betty Thomas
Screenwriters, directors: Harry Elfont,
Deborah Kaplan
Director of photography: Lloyd Ahern
Editor: Michael Jablow
Production designer: Marcia Hinds-Johnson
Music: David Kitay,
Matthew Sweet
Executive music producer: Ralph Sall
Costume designer: Mark Bridges
Co-producer: Karen Koch
Casting: Mary Vernieu,
Anne McCarthy
Color/stereo
Cast:
Amanda: Jennifer Love Hewitt
Preston: Ethan Embry
William: Charlie Korsmo
Denise: Lauren Ambrose
Mike: Peter Facinelli
Kenny: Seth Green
Girl Whose Party It Is: Michelle Brookhurst
Running time -- 96 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Decked out as a wild-and-crazy, end-of-school-year party-rama, "Can't Hardly Wait" has many of the same decorations and trappings as "American Graffitti" and "House Party", but it's one dreary carbon of a celluloid.
Luckily, its target teen audience may be too wet behind the ears to have ever viewed this Sony release's wilder, woolier and funnier antecedents. Factor in a so-so opening weekend at the boxoffice, but word-of-mouth will be failing. Still, based on the recognition value of its youthful cast, this comic cut-out may chalk up some decent grades as a video rental, perfect as background noise at slumber and pizza parties but not distracting enough to intrude on more adventuresome late-night activities.
In this hodgepodge of party hijinks, writer-directors Harry Elftont and Deborah Kaplan have crammed together a cluster of kids -- all stereotypes -- and jammed them into, basically, a single-set situation. Unfortunately, this class is not nearly as edgy and charismatic as those at Ridgemont High. They are, left to right in the yearbook: Mike, a callous, handsome jock (Peter Facinelli), Amanda, the class beauty and Mike's porcelain girlfriend (Jennifer Love Hewitt); William, a National Merit Scholar geek (Charlie Korsmo); Kenny, a kooky shortboy who thinks he's a homeboy (Seth Green); Preston (Ethan Embry), a moony nondescript who pines for Amanda, and Denise, a sullen outsider (Lauren Ambrose). It all swirls around the fact that Mike and Amanda have broken up. Oh, there's other people too: a pair of nerds on the roof and a gushy girl who wants everyone to sign her yearbook. Interesting? Not even.
Unfortunately, Elfton and Kaplan, while stringing out predictable plot dots for these character cliches, have not even connected the basic linear points with any verve or originality. The narrative is merely a scattergun smear of lame sight gags and disjointed, dimwitted vignettes, camouflaged shrewdly by some quick-cut edits and jumpy swerves.
Overall, "Can't Hardly Wait" is about as much fun as listening to a valedictorian drone on about the future, all puff and predictability. It's an underachiever on all comic fronts -- poorly structured gags, underdeveloped plotting, dropped comic opportunities, witless dialogue, a band that doesn't play, etc.
Yet, amid its overall sloppiness, there is some merriment, supplied largely by Green for his wonderfully goofy performance as a nerd who tries to overcompensate for his lack of cool by affecting black, homey behavior.
In addition, Ambrose brings a vital sense of alienation to her role as class cynic. They are the only two characters who muster any empathy or interest.
CAN'T HARDLY WAIT
Sony Pictures Releasing
Columbia Pictures
A Tall Trees production
A Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont film
Producers: Jenno Topping, Betty Thomas
Screenwriters, directors: Harry Elfont,
Deborah Kaplan
Director of photography: Lloyd Ahern
Editor: Michael Jablow
Production designer: Marcia Hinds-Johnson
Music: David Kitay,
Matthew Sweet
Executive music producer: Ralph Sall
Costume designer: Mark Bridges
Co-producer: Karen Koch
Casting: Mary Vernieu,
Anne McCarthy
Color/stereo
Cast:
Amanda: Jennifer Love Hewitt
Preston: Ethan Embry
William: Charlie Korsmo
Denise: Lauren Ambrose
Mike: Peter Facinelli
Kenny: Seth Green
Girl Whose Party It Is: Michelle Brookhurst
Running time -- 96 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
What about a comedy about a guy with a multiphobic personality who's tormented by constant panic? Sound just a tad sicko and a trifle politically incorrect? Wonderfully, yes!
Despite probable second opinions by the mental health profession and the terminally serioso, ''What About Bob?'' the Bill Murray-Richard Dreyfuss laugh-getter, should provide high therapy for audiences who have endured good-movie deprivation through this dismal spring.
And, as Norman Cousins wrote, laughter is the best panacea for health problems. The side effect of all this moviegoer chuckling will be a healthy dose of loot for Buena Vista.
Bill Murray solidifies his status as the all-American class clown with his woolly bully portrayal of dysfunctional recluse Bob Wiley, a man so smitten with phobias he can barely complete life's most minimual tasks without grievous stress.
Bob's such a headcase and an around-the-clock challenge that his shrink pawns him off on a hated colleague (Richard Dreyfuss), a publicity-mongering poop of megalomaniac proportions who is about to take off on a month's lakeside vacation. The good doctor, in addition to his enlarged ego, has some problems of his own, which make yet for ''another vacation that's not a vacation for his family'': a frazzled wife (Julie Hagerty), a pressured boy (Charlie Korsmo) and a neglected teenage girl (Kathryn Erbe).
Indeed, the doc has declared perfection must reign for the vacation, and all activities are subordinated to his impending appearance on ''Good Morning America, '' an ego-gratification headtrip to shamelessly hawk his self-help best-seller. One doesn't have to spend seven years in plot analysis to know, basically, the story prognosis: panicky Bob shows up (with his goldfish) at the doctor's retreat and ''ruins'' his vacation.
In Tom Schulman's perceptively droll screenplay, the psychological tables are, not surprisingly, turned, as balmy Bob proves the perfect panacea for the doctor's distressed family life.
In this spendidly cast film, Murray and Dreyfuss play off each other to their maximum advantage: Murray does what he does best, to shine-on and ultimately destroy authority figures, while Dreyfuss' portrayal of the runty doctor is splendidly Napoleonic. Throughout, Murray's loopy/droopy antics and Dreyfuss' preeny/weenie cackles are perfectly calibrated, as the not-so-nutty patient deflates the pompous psychiatrist's ego to hysterical hot air.
Although the farcical windup could benefit from a slight sedative, Frank Oz's direction is ever sensitive to the ticks of each character while keeping the slapstick dosage to a wacky, yet safe, level.
Technical contributions are marvelously subtle, thus powerful: editor Anne V. Coates' surgical cuts, in tandem with cinematographer Michael Ballhaus' witty compositions, are wonderfully punchy, amusing, while Bernie Pollack's costumes are apt psychological profiles for all. Similarly, Miles Goodman's splendid score, with its doodly reeds and lumps of goofy brass barrages, is a perfect toner for this smart-and-nutty amusement.
WHAT ABOUT BOB?
Buena Vista
Touchstone Pictures Presents
In association with Touchwood Pacific Partners I
A Laura Ziskin Production
A Frank Oz Film
Producer Laura Ziskin
Director Frank Oz
Screenwriter Tom Schulman
Story Alvin Sargent, Laura Ziskin
Co-producer Bernard Williams
Director of photography Michael Ballhaus
Production designer Les Dilley
Editor Anne V. Coates
Costume designer Bernie Pollack
Music Miles Goodman
Casting Glenn Daniels
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Bob Wiley Bill Murray
Dr. Leo Marvin Richard Dreyfuss
Fay Marvin Julie Hagerty
Siggy Marvin Charlie Korsmo
Anna Marvin Kathryn Erbe
Mr. Guttman Tom Aldredge
Mrs. Guttman Susan Willis
Running time -- 99 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
Despite probable second opinions by the mental health profession and the terminally serioso, ''What About Bob?'' the Bill Murray-Richard Dreyfuss laugh-getter, should provide high therapy for audiences who have endured good-movie deprivation through this dismal spring.
And, as Norman Cousins wrote, laughter is the best panacea for health problems. The side effect of all this moviegoer chuckling will be a healthy dose of loot for Buena Vista.
Bill Murray solidifies his status as the all-American class clown with his woolly bully portrayal of dysfunctional recluse Bob Wiley, a man so smitten with phobias he can barely complete life's most minimual tasks without grievous stress.
Bob's such a headcase and an around-the-clock challenge that his shrink pawns him off on a hated colleague (Richard Dreyfuss), a publicity-mongering poop of megalomaniac proportions who is about to take off on a month's lakeside vacation. The good doctor, in addition to his enlarged ego, has some problems of his own, which make yet for ''another vacation that's not a vacation for his family'': a frazzled wife (Julie Hagerty), a pressured boy (Charlie Korsmo) and a neglected teenage girl (Kathryn Erbe).
Indeed, the doc has declared perfection must reign for the vacation, and all activities are subordinated to his impending appearance on ''Good Morning America, '' an ego-gratification headtrip to shamelessly hawk his self-help best-seller. One doesn't have to spend seven years in plot analysis to know, basically, the story prognosis: panicky Bob shows up (with his goldfish) at the doctor's retreat and ''ruins'' his vacation.
In Tom Schulman's perceptively droll screenplay, the psychological tables are, not surprisingly, turned, as balmy Bob proves the perfect panacea for the doctor's distressed family life.
In this spendidly cast film, Murray and Dreyfuss play off each other to their maximum advantage: Murray does what he does best, to shine-on and ultimately destroy authority figures, while Dreyfuss' portrayal of the runty doctor is splendidly Napoleonic. Throughout, Murray's loopy/droopy antics and Dreyfuss' preeny/weenie cackles are perfectly calibrated, as the not-so-nutty patient deflates the pompous psychiatrist's ego to hysterical hot air.
Although the farcical windup could benefit from a slight sedative, Frank Oz's direction is ever sensitive to the ticks of each character while keeping the slapstick dosage to a wacky, yet safe, level.
Technical contributions are marvelously subtle, thus powerful: editor Anne V. Coates' surgical cuts, in tandem with cinematographer Michael Ballhaus' witty compositions, are wonderfully punchy, amusing, while Bernie Pollack's costumes are apt psychological profiles for all. Similarly, Miles Goodman's splendid score, with its doodly reeds and lumps of goofy brass barrages, is a perfect toner for this smart-and-nutty amusement.
WHAT ABOUT BOB?
Buena Vista
Touchstone Pictures Presents
In association with Touchwood Pacific Partners I
A Laura Ziskin Production
A Frank Oz Film
Producer Laura Ziskin
Director Frank Oz
Screenwriter Tom Schulman
Story Alvin Sargent, Laura Ziskin
Co-producer Bernard Williams
Director of photography Michael Ballhaus
Production designer Les Dilley
Editor Anne V. Coates
Costume designer Bernie Pollack
Music Miles Goodman
Casting Glenn Daniels
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Bob Wiley Bill Murray
Dr. Leo Marvin Richard Dreyfuss
Fay Marvin Julie Hagerty
Siggy Marvin Charlie Korsmo
Anna Marvin Kathryn Erbe
Mr. Guttman Tom Aldredge
Mrs. Guttman Susan Willis
Running time -- 99 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 5/17/1991
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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