Robin Williams: 1951 - 2014

Most of us will never have any idea what kind of pain Robin Williams was in. We look at a suicide like that and many of us have the instinct to ask, "What did he have to be so unhappy about?" He had an incredibly successful TV, movie, and stand-up comedy career and could have had many more year to add to it. But to think that way is to miss entirely what depression is. Depression is not about what's going on in your life, although there can certainly be triggers. It's an inner turmoil and a lack of a coping mechanism. Williams also suffered from addiction, at various times to cocaine and alcohol, which is either a symptom of or a contributing factor to his depression.

Death of Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967 - 2014)

That was devastating news to hear yesterday that Philip Seymour Hoffman died of a drug overdose. I was at work when I heard the news and, for a few minutes, fell into a sad slump. I remembered suddenly that I had read about his recent stint in rehab. And I remembered thinking he seemed such an unlikely candidate for that kind of drug addiction. If someone had said he was an alcoholic, I would hardly have blinked. Lots of people drink and many of them have a problem with it. But maybe we tend to think of heroin addiction as relegated to a certain corner of society, to certain members within it. In our minds, heroin is for rock stars or street junkies, but not for world class actors who earn critical praise, win awards, and seem to be otherwise normal. I think what this demonstrates is that you never know who may be hiding a secret drug addiction and those addictions can affect anyone.

Roger Ebert Has Taken a Permanent "Leave of Presence"

RIP Roger Ebert (1942 - 2013)

Roger Ebert was 70 when he died yesterday and had spent the last decade battling cancer, yet his writing almost never slowed. In fact, it seemed to impossibly double when he lost the use of his voice some years ago.

I've read several obituaries and tributes to the man, the best of which can be found here, and nothing I can say will do justice to the life he led and the influence he had as the nation's most recognizable film critic.

In 46 years as film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, he amassed a catalog of thousands upon thousands of reviews. For a long stretch he ran a bi-weekly Great Movies column. In recent years those columns took a back seat as he focused more on his blog which became his voice online when he no longer could express himself verbally to the people standing next to him. He expounded on a variety of topics including politics, philosophy, religion, evolution, death, video games as art, and his own personal history and memories. If his blog writing had a unifying theme it was the expression of humanity and compassion. He allowed comments on his blog entries. He personally read and approved every single one of them, occasionally even responding. His entries dealing with video games and evolution have thousands of comments posted. His blog was widely praised for having the most sensible and well-behaved readership on the Internet. The level of debate was usually elevated.

In Memoriam: The Oscar Death Montage 2013

The last two years I made predictions about who would feature among the 40 or so film personalities to make the In Memoriam montage at the Oscars. This year I started to make a list in early January and then just plum forgot about it until a few hours before the show, at which point I thought it was a bit late.

Here's the final list as presented on the show. The inclusion of Andrew Sarris is significant. Critics don't often make these lists. Surely the people working in the industry don't always like us, but you can't deny the influence certain critics have had on the medium. Sarris is one.

No big omissions, although there are always some people griping about this or that person not given their due. Ann Rutherford was left off this year, for example. Look, she was never a big star, never a big award winner. She was an Academy member, but her last credit was nearly 40 years ago and she spent the end of her career in television. Talk of snubs of Andy Griffith, Phyllis Diller, and Larry Hagman is just silly. They were clearly TV stars who get their In Memoriam tribute at the Emmys. The Oscars is for feature film and people primarily associated with films. But then there's Adam Yauch...

Tony Scott Dies

This is a shocker if only because it's unusual to hear of suicide stories involving men in the twilight of their lives. Scott was 68 years old and married. He drove his car onto the Vincent Thomas Bridge in L.A., got out, climbed a fence, and jumped off. A suicide note was found in the car. Who knows what was going on in his life that spurred him to call it quits.

In addition to being one of Hollywood's most successful action film directors, he was also a producing partner with his brother Ridley and produced the recent Prometheus.

His list of director credits is a what's what of big dumb action thrillers: Top Gun; Beverly Hills Cop II; Days of Thunder; The Last Boy Scout; The Fan; Enemy of the State; Spy Game; Man on Fire; Domino; Deja Vu; The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3; Unstoppable.

His feature debut was an indie vampire film starring Susan Sarandon, Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie called The Hunger. It might have suggested a career path more like Ridley's until the dollars came calling, I guess.

He also directed True Romance, an early Quentin Tarantino screenplay and Crimson Tide, a pretty taut and well-made submarine thriller starring Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington.

He directed Washington in 5 films, making one of the most successful actor-director partnerships in recent memory.

2012 Academy Awards In Memoriam

Yesterday I made some quick predictions about inclusions in the annual montage of dead celebrities for the Oscar show. Here's the full list of those included.

Jane Russell - actor

Annie Girardot - actor - an odd inclusion this French actress as she doesn't seem to have any credits that would be well-known in the United States.

John Calley - executive - most recent winner of the Thalberg Award

Polly Platt - art director

Ken Russell - actor, writer, director - Oscar nominated as Best Director for Women in Love. Recently appeared in Mr. Nice.

Donald Peterman - cinematographer

Farley Granger - actor - Strangers on a Train and Rope

Whitney Houston - actress, ahem

Bingham Ray - executive

Tak Miyagishima - member-at-large - winner of 3 Scientific and Technical Awards as well as the Gordon E. Sawyer Award

Bert Schneider - producer - winner of an Oscar for Documentary Feature

Michael Cacoyannis - director, producer - 3 Oscar nominations for Zorba the Greek

David Z. Goodman - writer

James Rodnunsky- electrical department

Peter E. Berger - film editor

Jack J. Hayes - composer

Peter Falk - actor

Cliff Robertson - actor

Laura Ziskin - producer

Sidney Lumet - director

Sue Mengers - talent agent

Steve Jobs - executive

George Kuchar - experimental filmmaker

Hal Kanter - writer

Theadora Van Runkle - art director

Tim Hetherington - photojournalist and documentarian nominated last year for Restrepo. He was killed while covering the conflict in Libya last April.

Gene Cantamessa - sound

Gary Winick - director of such recent films as Bride Wars and 13 Going on 30.

Bill Varney - sound

Jackie Cooper - actor

Gilbert Cates - producer

Richard Leacock - documentary filmmaker

James M. Roberts - member-at-large

Marion Dougherty - member-at-large, casting

Norman Corwin - writer

Paul John Haggar - member-at-large, assistant film editor

Joseph Farrell - public relations

Ben Gazzara - actor

Elizabeth Taylor - actor

Handicapping the Oscar In Memoriam Montage 2012

I believe the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences uses the end of January as the cutoff date for fallen celebrities to be included in their annual montage. This rules out the possibility of Whitney Houston's inclusion unless they make a decision that she's too big not to include. She was never nominated for an Oscar, although some songs she performed in The Bodyguard were nominated, and she only starred in three Hollywood movies. I think it's possible we'll see her included, but not surprised if she's left out.

Frances Bay is an actress whose face you probably recognize for all the bit parts she's had over the years. I don't think we'll see her, but she died last September at age 92.

R.I.P. Charles Napier

Character actor Charles Napier died yesterday at age 75. He had a recognizable face, often playing military officials or cops. He was Hannibal Lecter's unfortunate victim when Lecter escapes his cell in The Silence of the Lambs and also the recipient of John Rambo's threat, "Murdock, I'm comin' to get you," in Rambo: First Blood Part II.

But I've seen him most recently in a small role in The Grifters, which will be featured as part of my John Cusack focus this fortnight. Check back for a review in the next few days.

RIP Sidney Lumet 1924 - 2011

I will, as usual, leave the aggrandizement to writers and publications with the time and money to do it proper justice.

I have long been an admirer of Lumet's films since before I even really had any idea or cared about who directed them. I saw Network, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, and Twelve Angry Men when I was in college and devouring as many cinema classics as I could get my hands on. I've seen them all at least a second time since and they all hold up remarkably well on both a second viewing and considering the years that have passed since their openings. You can read my review of his feature film debut, Twelve Angry Men, here.

Elizabeth Taylor 1932 - 2011

One of the greatest of Hollywood stars in history has died today. I'm no giant (no pun intended) fan of her as an actress, I suppose mainly because I'm not very familiar with her work. I've seen bits of Cleopatra and all of Father of the Bride, but the only film of hers I've seen in its entirety that I have any real recollection of is Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? which she is devastatingly brilliant in. Mike Nichols directed her to her second Best Actress Oscar in that film.

What I honestly most remember her for is her bizarre announcement of the Best Picture winner at the 2001 Golden Globes when she seemed half drunk and in a senile haze. She almost opened the envelope before reading the list of nominees. The stunned audience had to shout up at her that she was doing it wrong. When she finally got around to announcing the winner it was this odd screech of "Glaaaaadiator!" Poor woman. How far they fall.

Normally I would take an opportunity like this to visit some of her work and provide fresh reviews like I did with Dennis Hopper and my reviews of The American Friend, Colors and Hoosiers last year. Unfortunately I am bogged down with work and family and don't have the time right now.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is probably worth a look as well as Giant and A Place in the Sun. If only I had the time. Oh well.

Goodbye Liz.

Actor Michael Gough Dies (1916* - 2011)

And I can chalk up another name from my old celebrity death list.

Most people probably know him as Alfred in the Tim Burton's and Joel Schumacher's Batman films. Burton called on him again for a role in Sleepy Hollow in 1999, his las appearance in a feature film after getting his start back in 1948.

He also had Hollywood roles in Out of Africa and The Age of Innocence, but my favorite was his role as Dr. Paul Flammond in one of my favorite comedies, Top Secret!


*My original title had his birth year as 1917. IMDb is usually a reliable source for this information, but not in this case.

2011 Academy Awards In Memoriam

Here's a list of the people featured in last night's Academy Awards In Memoriam segment. I made some predictions about it last week. Let's see how I did.

(Names listed with a * are people I predicted)

*John Barry - Composer - James Bond theme; Out of Africa; Chaplin
*Grant McCune - Visual Effects - Star Wars; Star Trek - The Motion Picture; Speed; Ghostbusters II
*Tony Curtis - Actor - expected his visage to close the segment - The Defiant Ones; Spartacus; Some Like It Hot

Handicapping the Oscar Death Montage

In addition to regular Academy Awards predictions (which I will post this week), I thought it might be fun to predict who will turn up in the montage of dead film makers, or In Memoriam.

Most people only ever know the actors in the montage, maybe a director occasionally, but I'm going to handicap everyone.

I'll start with the actors who have died in the last year:

Corey Haim - might make the Oscars as he was an important child star in the 80s, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him left out.

Titanic's Gloria Stuart Dies

Other publications are much better at celebrity obits, and actually take the time to do real research.

I'd just like to point out that she was also on my celebrity death pool list that I made about 6 and a half years ago. Took her long enough. She was 100.

By the way, she was a stunner in the golden age of Hollywood.

Another from the Celebrity Death Pool Bites the Dust

Many years ago I heard about these celebrity death pools in which people throw their money into a pool to bet on which celebrities will die in the next 6 months. The younger the celebrity who dies and the sooner within the 6 months, the more points you earn. It's a sick game. It's morally depraved at best, but it was so intriguing. I thought about throwing myself into the thick of it and made up a preliminary list of those likely to die.

Comedian Robert Schimmel Dies

I just read that Robert Schimmel, a not particularly well-known stand-up, has died from injuries sustained in a car accident on Thursday.

I distinctly remember the majority of his 1999 HBO special, "Robert Schimmel: Unprotected" in which he culls his personal life (including his daughter's sex life, life after his heart attack and his marital sex life) for hilarious material. If you can get your hands on a copy of that routine, check it out. It's worth it.

Maybe his publicist should let the webmaster know that his official site needs to be updated as it still indicates he's performing at a club in Chicago later this month.

Death Comes Knocking

Actress Rue McClanahan (top left in photo) died today at 76.

Last year Bea Arthur died.

In 2008 Estelle Getty died.

Betty White is the last surviving "Golden Girl". Death is coming for her in 2011. Update your celebrity death pools.

In related trivia: Robert Vaughn is the only surviving member of The Magnificent Seven.

Dennis Hopper Dies

Well, this has been expected for the past few months. Dennis Hopper died today at home in California. He was suffering from metastasized prostate cancer. He turned 74 earlier this month.

He was never one of my favorite actors, but he's always been there. The IMDb lists 202 film and television acting credits for him beginning in 1954. His first two feature film credits were  Rebel Without a Cause and Giant, both starring James Dean. Lots of television work followed over the next decade until he directed and starred in Easy Rider, co-written with his friend, Peter Fonda. That iconic film is often regarded as the beginning of the New Golden Age of Hollywood Cinema that ran through the 70s.

He created some other indelible and iconic roles during his long career. He portrayed Tom Ripley on screen long before Matt Damon in the Wim Wenders directed The American Friend. Then he was the sycophantic photojournalist idolizing Marlon Brando's Kurtz in Apocalypse Now.

Perhaps his most famous screen role came in 1986 when he played the nitrous oxide inhaling Frank Booth in David Lynch's Blue Velvet. Who can forget the Candy Colored Clown scene? Or how about "Baby wants to fuck?" (Both clips are very much NSFW).

But for me the most singularly great performance from Mr. Hopper was in True Romance in which he played the father of Christian Slater, who had unwittingly stolen a large amount of cocaine from the mafia. One scene in particular is what I will always remember him for. The scene was made great by the head-to-head acting of Hopper and Christopher Walken and also by the Quentin Tarantino written dialogue.

And of course we shouldn't forget his wonderful villain roles in the classic action films Speed and Waterworld, both of which were the likely result of his accepting every script that came his way during the last 2 decades of his career.

RIP Dennis Hopper (17 May 1936 - 29 May 2010)

Vanessa Redgrave Has Had a Very Tough 14 Months

Legendary stage and screen actress Vanessa Redgrave has just lost younger sister Lynn, 67, to breast cancer. This comes on the heels of the death of older brother Corin on 6 April and just over a year after the tragic death of daughter Natasha Richardson in a skiing accident in March 2009.