1984 Jams and Starman

I blame the T-800 model for my sudden 1984 enthusiasm. Don't worry, I think it's a 24 hour bug. It'll pass. See, I was watching The Terminator again yesterday (a few posts coming your way to lead up to Terminator Salvation). So, I started researching 1984 and if these old movie songs have to be stuck in my head today, they should also be stuck in yours.

I believe in sharing.




I often forget how long Diane Lane (Streets of Fire, the second clip) has been rocking the movie screens, don't you?

On the other hand, I do remember Jeff Bridges (Against All Odds, third clip) circa 1984, both bearded and un. He made quite an, um, impression in Starman. That's still one of the weirdest Oscar nominations ever for Best Actor. I love that he was nominated for his alien role but I didn't realize it was at the expense of another performance that I've always been furious missed the shortlist, Steve Martin's comedic genius in All of Me. According to my bible Inside Oscar both Clint Eastwood for Tightrope and Jeff Bridges for Starman were campaigning hard that year. Steve Martin was considered to be way ahead of them in the race for his NYFCC winning comedic role in All of Me. Who knew?

It states

Jeff Bridges journeyed through America, visiting Boston, St. Louis, Denver, San Francisco, and, on three separate trips, New York, in order to remain in the public eye after starring as a sweet-natured extra-terrestrial in Starman. The head of publicity for the film noted, "He's wonderful to look at and friendly to talk to and the press likes him." So did Hollywood. "Within the movie industry," commented New York magazine, "Bridges is thought of as a hard-workding, untemperamental actor."

Despite their self-ballyhooing, Eastwood and Bridges remained long shots, so columnist Marilyn Beck checked in on a sure thing: "Steve Martin, anxiously awaiting tomorrow's announcement of Academy Awards nominees, reports, 'Three months ago I wasn't even thinking I'd be included, but now so many people are talking about it, they've got me all worked up.' "

Poor Steve. It must be especially rough to be the one everyone thinks will make it that gets snubbed... especially if you've never been nominated for your acting (see also: Dennis Quaid, Far From Heaven in 2002). I'm confident that history will continue to smile on Martin's early and midcareer work. If you ask me he should have Robin Williams' Oscar tally rather than his own.

Robin Williams in Hospital

Robin Williams was rushed to the hospital yesterday and reportedly went to the ICU for heart trouble. This week's performances on his current tour have been cancelled. Yikes. Famous actors spend a lot of time in fake hospitals in movies but one doesn't like to think of them in real ones. I've sometimes taken Williams to task for overkill in his performances but this news upset me a little. All I could think about was his naked vulnerability, confusion and humor of The Fisher King as he tries to woo Amanda Plummer. I love all of the performances in that movie. Get well soon, Robin.

Now Playing: Robots, Robin, Rescues

L I M I T E D

Dynamite Warrior Another gonzo actioner from Thailand. This one does not star Tony Jaa. What's he up to, anyway?
Introducing the Dwights A comedy starring Brenda Blethyn as an overbearing mother. What imaginative casting! No, I kid. Brenda will always be a 'sweeeeeethaaaart'. At Sundance this was called Clubland
Joshua Looks like an Omen / Bad Seed ripoff but the cast is impressive: Vera Farmiga, Sam Rockwell, and Celia Weston? That's a whole lotta character acting there. Maybe I should go
The Method (El Método) new Argentinian thriller. Twitch says it's quite good. Speak up in the comments if you've seen it

Rescue Dawn -I love Christian Bale I do. But sometimes all I can think about when confronting whatever his new film may be is: what has he done to his body this time? I know I should be thinking about the auteur Werner Herzog (awesome) but I just stare at the photos and wonder how much a body can take. Consider the yoyoing of American Psycho / Machinist / Batman Begins / Rescue Dawn / The Dark Knight and be horrified. His poor body. I go all Sally Field on Julia Roberts

"There are limits to what your body can do Shelby Christian!"

Um, where were we? Yes... this movie is about POW soldiers in Vietnam and it also stars Steve Zahn and it's getting Oscar level buzz. I will see it this weekend

W I D E

License to Wed -Socializing with other cinephiles and/or general moviegoers whilst living in a film rich market like NYC can make you forget basic American truths like: Sandra Bullock is rilllllly famous or in this case: Robin Williams is popular. In some ways Robin is like those numerous sitcoms on TV that nobody ever talks about but which people obviously watch because they get or got renewed each year. He's According to Jim, Wings, 8 Simple Rules, Yes Dear, King of Queens etcetera unto infinity. I mean: who do you know that actually saw RV? It made $71 million. This time Robin is counselling engaged cuties John Krasinki and Mandy Moore before their nuptials
Transformers Review proof so it needn't worry about that 59% on RT especially with a rosy 'consensus' line despite the rotten rating (huh? where do they get those consensus lines) ... but we try anyway --mine if you missed it.