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Actors We Miss: Natasha Richardson

By Marina Zogbi (Subscribe to Marina Zogbi's posts), Posted Mar 18th 2011 8:00PM
Filed under: Features, Cinematical
Natasha RichardsonTwo years ago today, Natasha Richardson died at the age of 45 from a head injury she suffered while skiing two days earlier. Her untimely death from what initially seemed to be a minor accident was shocking. Adding to the tragedy was the fact that her life and career were in full bloom.

Though she had distanced herself professionally from the illustrious Redgrave family (including her mother Vanessa and aunt Lynn) in order to establish her own reputation, Natasha had in the last few years begun to work with them on both stage and screen.
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Their Best Role: Kurt Russell in 'Big Trouble in Little China'

By Marina Zogbi (Subscribe to Marina Zogbi's posts), Posted Mar 16th 2011 7:00PM
Filed under: Columns, Cinematical
Kurt Russell in 'Big Trouble in Little China'

Kurt Russell, who turns 60 tomorrow, has played his share of tough guys on screen, including the legendary badass Snake Plissken in 'Escape From New York' (and 'Escape From L.A.'), Wyatt Earp in 'Tombstone' and, more recently, Stuntman Mike in Quentin Tarantino's 'Death Proof.' Of course, he's portrayed many other types of characters in his long career (starting as a child actor), but his physicality and general intensity equip him especially well for action heroics (or anti-heroics).

Maybe that's why we have such a fondness for Jack Burton from John Carpenter's 1986 martial arts / action / supernatural comedy 'Big Trouble in Little China.' As the wisecracking, dim-witted yet arrogant truck driver who gets involved in a gang-related kidnapping in San Francisco's Chinatown, Russell is a complete self-spoofing hoot, the polar opposite of Plissken and his other dead-serious bad boys.
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Scenes We Love: 'Shaun of the Dead'

By Marina Zogbi (Subscribe to Marina Zogbi's posts), Posted Mar 15th 2011 12:00PM
Filed under: Features, Cinematical
'Shaun of the Dead'

The finest romantic zombie comedy (or rom-zom-com) ever to hit the big screen, 2004's 'Shaun of the Dead' worked on every level -- alternately hilarious, suspenseful, disgusting and kind of sweet. An obvious and loving homage to the George Romero oeuvre, 'Shaun' is more than just a clever parody, thanks to director Edgar Wright and co-writers/stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. It's a supremely British (i.e., dryly witty) lark with moments of genuine poignancy and a good soundtrack to boot.

Pegg and Frost, who later appeared together in Wright's similarly uproarious 'Hot Fuzz,' also co-wrote and star in Greg Mottola's sci-fi comedy 'Paul,' opening this Friday. A formidably funny duo, their characters' friendship is at the heart of 'Shaun.'
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Scenes We Love: 'Go'

By Marina Zogbi (Subscribe to Marina Zogbi's posts), Posted Mar 1st 2011 12:20PM
Filed under: Columns, Cinematical
Jay Mohr and Scott Wolf in 'Go'

Before director Doug Liman became a mainstream Hollywood name via 'The Bourne Identity,' action/rom-com hybrid 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' (bequeathing us moviedom's most fussed-over couple in the process), and recent marriage-politics drama 'Fair Game,' he helmed the nifty comedy/crime flick 'Go.' His third feature after the straight-to-video 'Getting In' and the funny, groovy 'Swingers' -- starring then then-unknowns Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn -- 'Go' was and remains a delightfully raw, unpredictable and entertaining movie.

Released in 1999, 'Go' came out a few years after 'Pulp Fiction' and was undoubtedly influenced by the latter's adrenaline-boosting, multi-plot narrative. But Liman's movie, based on John August's excellent screenplay, has an edgy humor and wild vitality all its own, in addition to atypical characters and performances from a mostly young, clearly inspired cast. With 'Take Me Home Tonight,' a movie that unfolds over the course of one night, opening this Friday, we can't help but think back to 'Go,' a classic of the genre.
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Their Best Role: Sidney Poitier in 'In the Heat of the Night'

By Marina Zogbi (Subscribe to Marina Zogbi's posts), Posted Feb 23rd 2011 8:00PM
Filed under: Columns, Cinematical
Sidney Poitier in 'In the Heat of the Night'

As Sidney Poitier turns 84 this week, we look back on the role that defined him at the height of his onscreen powers, and at the movie that nabbed a slew of Oscars (though, oddly, not even a nomination for Poitier himself).

'In the Heat of the Night' (1967) certainly wasn't Poitier's first film tackling American race relations – that was 1950's 'No Way Out,' directed by Joseph Mankiewicz, in which the Bahamian-American actor played a prison doctor dealing with a viciously bigoted convict (Richard Widmark). Since Poitier was the leading black Hollywood actor during a time of budding social awareness and civil rights unrest, it was inevitable that many of his movies during that roughly 20-year era had racial subplots even when race wasn't a primary theme.

Though obviously limited by his circumstances, he bore this responsibility well, delivering many strong performances and indelible characters. None were more iconic than 'In the Heat of the Night''s Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia homicide detective pressured into solving a murder in a small, Southern town.
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Their Best Role: Nick Nolte in 'Affliction'

By Marina Zogbi (Subscribe to Marina Zogbi's posts), Posted Feb 9th 2011 2:40PM
Filed under: Features, Cinematical


Nick Nolte has played many memorable characters, but one in particular -- Wade Whitehouse in 1998's 'Affliction' -- edges out the others by a hair for its intensity and sheer guts. Nolte's an actor whose scrappy physicality and distinctive, gravelly voice are just the proverbial icing on the cake of his power on-screen. Whether playing heavies in gritty dramas ('Q&A,' 'Mulholland Falls'), romantic leads ('The Prince of Tides') or comedic characters ('Down and Out in Beverly Hills,' 'Tropic Thunder'), Nolte is always compelling. Even his less successful roles ('Jefferson in Paris') are at least interesting.

Nolte turns 70 this week, a good time to voice our appreciation for the man who -- even through some tough personal travails, notably a battle with alcoholism -- has puts enormous amount of heart and soul into his movies, never more so than 'Affliction.'
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Stars in Rewind: Julianne Moore Hawks Time-Life Books' 'Mysteries of the Unknown'

By Marina Zogbi (Subscribe to Marina Zogbi's posts), Posted Feb 7th 2011 5:40PM
Filed under: Features, Cinematical

Before she ever worked on a feature film, Julianne Moore -- star of the upcoming horror/supernatural thriller 'Shelter' -- had a major role in the soap opera 'As the World Turns.' From 1985 to 1988, she inhabited the dual roles of Frannie Hughes and her mysterious British identical half-sister Sabrina, winning a Daytime Emmy for her work. She also appeared in a few TV movies.

So, the actress wasn't completely new to the small screen when she was featured in a commercial for Time-Life Books' 'Mysteries of the Unknown' circa 1988 (the 33-volume series was published from 1987 to 1991). The wildly popular books each tackled some aspect of the paranormal, including 'Alien Encounters,' 'Hauntings' and 'Mystic Places,' long before ghost-hunting reality shows became common television fare.
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