Retrospective

Gwyneth Paltrow

Posted by John Klein III on October 26, 2018
Posted in: Fun With YouTube, Retrospective. Tagged: . Leave a comment

I was joking the other day about how much sleep Gwyneth Paltrow got during her conscious coupling to Chris Martin.  I’m simply not a fan of Coldplay.  Do they offer sleeping bags at their live concerts or do you have to bring your own?  I was joking about how she probably respected him as an artist and chose to never listen to his music, in fear that it wasn’t good and she would have to live her days pretending to like it.  But from occasion, she would hear this lovely sound that worked as a nice white noise machine and she would sleep and sleep.

Coldplay tried to trick me into liking them with that Superhero song of theirs that they teamed up with Chainsmokers to create “Something Like This.”  At first, I enjoyed all the superhero references but there was this nagging suspicion that something wasn’t right.  Especially as I was getting sleepy as I was driving and I figured out that it must be Coldplay but with an undercurrent of something else.

I’ve been tempted to start a Coldplay channel on Pandora and just downvote only Coldplay songs, but I doubt that would translate to my other Pandora channels.

From there, I started taking Paltrow for granted, saying how she was only really amazing in Duets, a film I really really enjoy.  She was also great in Bounce and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Within that same moment, I remembered she was in Se7en and got “what’s in the box?” stuck in my head for a while after that.  Ironically so.

She’s really been in some amazing films and I did a deep dive into her career to see if she’s usually great or am I just allowing her early films to set a tone for her that she doesn’t even adhere to.

Here is the link to her Wikipedia page, if you want to follow along.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwyneth_Paltrow

She’s Young Wendy in Hook.  Good film, it is mostly a piece of trivia as she’s not really doing much in it besides one scene, right?

Seven, great film!  She’s quiet in it and almost forgettable.

I want to watch Pallbearer, as I sort of like David Schwimmer and I am still confused why he didn’t get more work after Kissing a Fool.  Such a great film and he plays against type in it so that should have shown his range.  He must have been so confused after that film came out and didn’t get more roles like that.  Shame Jason Lee doesn’t work more these days too.  I get that actors peak and then find roles that they want to do but I want more Jason Lee in my life.  Did Mili Avital ever do anything else?  She’s literally just the girl in that film, the object of desire but I liked what she did with what she had to work with.  Some Law and Order episodes, that’s a shame but what I expected to see.

Back to Paltrow.

Emma, a film I haven’t seen but like Great Expectations, starts forming this picture I have of her of being in artsy films I have no interest in.  I recall watching Great Expectations with my arms crossed, demanding the film entertain me.  Which is no way to watch a movie.  I also was not entertained and meant to read the book but never got around to it.

In-between those films, she did Sliding Doors.  A film that I felt lost during but came back around to it a few years ago and it really stands out.  Big Love’s Jeanne Tripplehorn is in it and that was fun to discover.  That film does a lot with its 99 minutes.  Maybe I came to it a few minutes in on HBO or something and missed the crucial set up.  It is a great concept for a movie and it moves too.

Shakespeare in Love, which I enjoyed at the time.  She’s good in it.  I recall mostly watching it just for Ben Affleck as I’m still a pretty big fan of his.  I should watch it again as most of that cast is amazing.  I didn’t even know Colin Firth was in it.  Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, and Tom Wilkinson (what does he do between this film and Batman Begins?).  Rupertr Everett is in it too, whatever happened to him?  Dame Judi Dench is in it as well though I never quite was impress with her like I’m supposed to be.  Her legend is based off of her stage work, right?  She hasn’t really done many films that I’ve seen.  She’s good as M in those James Bond films and I’m glad they carried her over from the Brosnan films to the Craig films.

I should watch Chocolat (especially after I Love You Man, I just never got around to it), Iris has Kate Winslet in it.  Notes on a Scandal is one of the first films I recall her being in that was not Bond related.  A trailer that was pretty good in regards to telling me I wouldn’t want to watch it.  Yep, those are the films.  I guess I view her as the British Meryl Streep, she does films that just don’t either appeal to me or cross over into my sphere, so I never even hear of them.

Wilkinson does Rush Hour and Shakespeare in Love in 1998.  Ride with the Devil, a fun western film with Tobey Maguire and Jewel (why she doesn’t act more, is beyond me) by Ang Lee.  I should watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I like that cast, I just never got around to it.  Then he’s in Batman Begins.

Everett wins all of our hearts with My Best Friend’s Wedding, so now I’m going to have “Say a Little Prayer For You” stuck in my head for the rest of the day.  Sometimes these deep dives have consequences.  He commits career suicide with Inspector Gadget.  I attempted A Midsummer Night’s Dream and has started doing voice work which makes sense, he has a good voice.  So yeah, Inspector Gadget buried him, which didn’t necessarily happened to Matthew Broderick.  Hey, Michelle Trachtenberg was Penny in that film, she escaped it.  Though Broderick has paid his dues and his kids needed to go to college so he shouldn’t be punished for doing a money film.

Thanks to Musicloverslove for hosting that video, oh and you are welcome.

I chose Affleck over Matt Damon so I didn’t watch Talented Mr. Ripley.  I like to pick sides.

2000 is the year I start really liking her.  She is in Bounce with Affleck and she steals my heart in Duets.  Well, that entire movie steals my heart.  Duets and Mumford, are two films that I’ve probably seen the most.

Her father, Bruce Paltrow, directed Duets.

She’s in The Anniversary Party which is really Alan Cummings and Jennifer Jason Leigh’s film as they produced, directed, wrote, and star in it.  There is a slew of actors in the film so it is pretty great if you like to play the Kevin Bacon Separation game.

If you are curious, her Bacon Number is 2, she’s in Mortdecai with Johnny Depp and he’s in Black Mass with Kevin Bacon.  Two films I have yet to see.  I didn’t even know Bacon was in Black Mass.

I saw Shallow Hal, and that might be the film that soured me on Jack Black.  He wasn’t the guaranteed good time after that film.  It also isn’t very good.

I definitely don’t see every Wes Anderson film (not sure why not) so I have yet to watch Royal Tenenbaums.  I like the casts of his films, so I’m not sure why I don’t seek them out more.  I want to see Bottle Rocket as I’m a huge Luke Wilson fan.  I saw Rushmore and didn’t get the big deal about it.  I seemed to be the only one in my circle who liked Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, well me and my friend, Jay.  I didn’t care for Fantastic Mr. Fox, we rented it and it was the third movie of the weekend so maybe I was just burned out.  I wanted to watch Moonrise Kingdom.

She has a cameo in Austin Powers in Goldmember, but I don’t recall her at all.

So I start losing track of her around 2002.  I thought about watching Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, though I’ve never been a big fan of Jude Law or Angelina Jolie.  I was under the impression I wasn’t a big Paltrow fan too, so triple whammy but it looks like I’ve enjoyed the bulk of her films, thus far.

I had no interest in View from the Top.

I hadn’t heard of Possession but it has Aaron Eckhart so I should at least see if it is available.

I type all of that but I’m not watching any movie any time soon.

I keep having this memory of a commentary track where she makes a joke about who Brad Pitt was dating and she said she doesn’t know but she knows she was 1994 to 1997, and she said the dates real fast.  It was pretty funny.  Maybe it was an interview as I just Googled “Gwyneth Paltrow commentary track” and didn’t get any hits on the first three pages.

I haven’t heard of Sylvia and it doesn’t sound like a film I would be into.

I skipped three films of her earlier work.  Hard Eight, I haven’t heard of.  It has John C. Reilly and Samuel L. Jackson in it.  I haven’t heard of Hush.  She was in a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder, A Perfect Murder.  That film has Michael Douglas and Viggo Mortensen so no rush to see that one either.

I hadn’t heard of Proof but it has Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Hope Davis in it.  I’ll watch any film with Hope Davis!  I just haven’t seen enough of her films.  Such an amazing actress.

She was in Infamous, the other Capote film of 2006.  Toby Jones is Capote and the film has Hope Davis, these two would appear in Wayward Pines a decade later.  Sandra Bullock and Daniel Craig are in it along with Jeff Daniels and Sigourney Weaver.  I’ll add it to the list.

Running with Scissors is a film I wanted to watch as the story sounded very interesting.  She reteams with Joseph Fiennes from Shakespeare in Love.  Brian Cox and Alec Baldwin are in it.  So is Patrick Wilson, and there was a time I was watching all of his films, then he exploded on the scene and now it is hard to keep up.  Gabrielle Union is in it and I like her, though I don’t see nearly enough of her films.  Kirstin Chenoweth I can take or leave.

Her brother wrote and directed The Good Night, which I also hadn’t heard of.  Good cast though with Martin Freeman, Danny DeVito and Simon Pegg.  Penelope Cruz is in it as well but I don’t have any real connection with her.

2008 gives us Paltrow as Pepper Potts in Iron Man.  There is that great quote, that I can’t find right now, about Robert Downey Jr. convincing her to be in Iron Man so that she can be in movies people actually want to watch.  I’m sure if I can find the proper quote, I could search for it easier. I found a slew of quotes about him saying Paltrow and Jon Favreau will be in Avengers 4.

She was in Two Lovers with Joaquin Phoenix and Elias Koteas, in what I can only imagine in a small role.  Though from the Wikipedia page, it looks like he’s pretty involved in the final act.  I should seek this out too, though Joaquin doesn’t do much for me since Quills.

Iron Man 2, she’s also good in.

I was tempted to see Country Strong, her third film where she sings in after Duets and Infamous.  Tim McGraw with no hat on.  Tobey Maguire co-produced the film as his daughter’s nanny wrote and directed the film.  Trivia!

I recall the advertising for Contagion, a film my mother would love, I’m sure, as she’s a real nut for disaster films.  The film has a stellar cast – Marion Cotillard, who I have to see more films of hers, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Elliot Gould, Bryan Cranston, and Demetri Martin!  What?!  This reminds me that I wanted to watch Taking Woodstock, which was directed by Ang Lee, that guy is pretty well rounded.

I haven’t heard of Thanks for Sharing, but it has Pink in it so my wife will be interested in that.  The film also stars Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins, and Josh Gad.  I guess Paltrow has started making smaller films or I’m even more out of touch with films than I thought I was.

She was great, of course, in The Avengers and Iron Man 3.

At least she had more to do in Iron Man 3.

Mortdecai seemed like a joke of a film and then it got lousy reviews but what else was it going to be?  A sleeper hit?  It does feature Ewan McGregor and Olivia Munn, two people I enjoy watching.  Paul Bettany and Jeff Goldblum too.

Her appearing in Spider-Man Homecoming was a very nice surprised.  I’m glad she came back to the franchise.  Hopefully she’s here to stay or at least, gets a nice payday for a few hours work.

According to Wikipedia, she is slated to be in Infinity War and Avengers 4(Ever? Maybe?)  That seems to be the popular theory.  Time Travel or Fantastic Four related, which would be spectacular!

. . .

Television wise, she’s hosting Saturday Night Live once with Ceeloo Green for Season 36 Episode 12.  My Nintendos!  Apparently she has been on four other episodes, probably friends of those hosts.

She did a voice on the Clerks Animated Series, which seems familiar.

She was on five episodes of Glee, as Holly Holliday, which I think I saw one of those episodes.  I really had to stop with that show once Rachel and Kurt kept flying (or driving?) back from New York to Ohio and I looked it up and there is no way college students can afford that trip as often as they did it.  It is ten hours one way, so they will show up in Ohio for two scenes, be back in New York by night time, during the same day.  It was beyond belief!  Plus, screw those two coming back and not leaving the show.  Argh!  I’m over it.

For those interested, Season 2, Episodes 7 (The Substitute), 15 (Sexy), & 17 (A Night of Neglect), and Season Five, Episodes 12 (100) & 13 (New Directions).

She’s friends with Ryan Murphy and he thought she should showcase her singing prior to Country Strong coming out.

Thanks to vinsanity70 for hosting the entire episode!

She was on The Marriage Ref, a show my wife and I really enjoyed.  She was on the episode with Jerry Seinfeld and Greg Giraldo.  Tom Papa was great as the host too.  Season Two wasn’t as good though.

Thanks to George R. Whitaker for hosting the entire episode of this series!

Her episode of Who Do You Think You Are? was nice too.

. . .

She has won so many awards and nominated for even more that she has her own Awards Wikipedia page!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Gwyneth_Paltrow

Thanks to the Oscars for hosting their own video!  Not bad getting the award from Jack Nicholson.

So she’s an Best Actress Oscar winner for Shakespeare in Love, for her role as Viola De Lesseps, which I don’t think usually precedes her name, for whatever reason.  It isn’t like there is a time limit on how long one can use that.  It isn’t also like her career took a twist like poor Cuba Gooding Jr. either.  She also won a Golden Globe for that role.   She was nominated for her role in Proof for another Golden Globe.

For the Oscar, she beat out Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth, Fernanda Montenegro for Central Station, Maryl Streep for One True Thing, and Emily Watson in Hilary and Jackie.  Count Blanchett as another actress I’m not drawn towards. Those are four films I also never heard of.  I know Watson from Equilibrium and I’m probably one of a handful of people who kept getting Emily Watson and Emma Watson confused, always thinking Emily was doing very well for herself, getting all types of roles and attention but it was Emma.

Shakespeare in Love won the most awards at the 71st Academy Awards with seven.  Tough competition against Saving Private Ryan.  1998 was a good year for films.  Shakespeare in Love won Best Picture, Steven Spielberg won Best Director for Saving Private Ryan, Judi Dench won Best Supporting Actress, Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard won for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, Stephen Warbeck won Best Original Musical or Comedy Score.  Gary Rydstrom, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Ron Judkins won Best Sound for Saving Private Ryan.  Martin Childs won Best Art Direction and Jill Quertier won Best Set Decoration for Shakespeare in Love.  Janusz Kaminski won Best Cinematography for Saving Private Ryan.  Sandy Powell won Best Costume Design for Shakespeare in Love.  Lastly, Michael Kahn won Best Film Editing for Saving Private Ryan.  Poor Joseph Fiennes wasn’t even nominated for Best Actor and Geoffrey Rush was at least nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

Montenegro is a Brazilian actress, who I’ve ever only seen in Love in the Time of Cholera.

Thanks to AwardsShowNetwork for hosting this video.  Getting the award from Tim Robbins isn’t too bad.  He was in Howard the Duck and Antitrust!  Two fun guilty pleasure films.  Of course, with Shawshank Redemption and Bull Durham, one can afford to have a little fun later in his career.  And earlier, he’s in the pilot episode of Moonlighting too!

Tad awkward with the thanks to the Weinsteins, but that’ll be true for an entire decade of awards though.

The Golden Globe win is a tad more impressive as it is in Musical or Comedy and I’ve seen more of those films.  She beat out Cameron Diaz from There’s Something About Mary, Jane Horrocks in Little Voice, Christina Ricci in The Opposite of Sex and Meg Ryan in You’ve Got Mail.  I’ve attempted Opposite of Sex and it didn’t grab me.  I passed on You’ve Got Mail as I barely watched Sleepless in Seattle.  I’ve never even heard of Little Voice nor Jane Horrocks until right now.  She was in The Witches and Memphis Belle, so I’ve seen two of her films.

Shakespeare in Love also won Best Film – Musical or Comedy.  I can’t believe Patch Adams was nominated, I hate that movie so much!  Bulworth, Mask of Zorro and There’s Something About Mary are pretty great.  People don’t seem to talk about Bulworth enough, except for how it introduced people to Halle Berry.  A British film, Still Crazy, was also nominated.

It also won the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay over Bulworth, Happiness, Saving Private Ryan and The Truman Show.  Storywise, Truman Show got robbed!  At least Truman Show earned Jim Carrey Best Actor – Drama, it won Best Music, Original Score by Burkhard Dallwitz and Philip Glass.  Ed Harris won Best Supporting Actor.

Michael Caine won Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for his role in Little Voice, maybe I should try to watch that movie.

Paltrow lost her second chance at a Golden Globe in 2006 to Felicity Huffman in Transamerica.  That year, Maria Bello was nominated for A History of Violence, Charlize Theron for North Country and Ziyi Zhang for Memoris of a Geisha.  I have only seen A History of Violence out of those five and Bello should have won as she’s amazing in that film.  Funny enough, Dench would love to Reese Witherspoon so both Paltrow and Dench were nominated the same years twice, and both won their awards and lost awards together eight years later.  Dench was in Mrs. Henderson Presents and Witherspoon was in Walk the Line, two more films I haven’t seen.  I’ll be tempted by Walk the Line.

I didn’t know John Williams did the score for Memoirs of a Geisha, he won Best Original Score.  Walk the Line won several awards that year as did Brokeback Mountain.  2006 was also the year I started dating my wife as I watched Capote and Brokeback Mountain with her, on the same day so that we could enjoy the Oscars later that day.

George Clooney won Supporting Actor for his role in Syriana, the first Batman to win a major award.  Christian Bale would eventually win an Oscar for The Fighter, so Clooney isn’t alone anymore.

Thanks to rp58641 for hosting this video.  Allison Brie looks amazing, as always!

In 2011, she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for Glee.  Apparently Wikipedia keeps these awards under the Creative Arts Emmy Awards and not the Primetime Emmy Award, took me some doing to locate her win at the 63rd Emmys.  She was officially nominated for the Substitute episode of Glee.  She beat out Elizabeth Banks from 30 Rock, Kristin Chenoweth, also on Glee, Tina Fey from various characters on SNL (lame?), Dot-Marie Jone also from Glee and Cloris Leachman from Raising Hope.  There was a time when Glee was pretty beloved.

For her Oustanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role at the 5th Screen Actors Guide Awards, she beat out the same group from the Oscars – which makes sense – but instead of Montenegro, they swapped in her Golden Globe competitor, Jane Horrocks.

Sort of cool to be fifth person to win an award.  Jodie Foster won the first one for Nell – a film I still think about from time to time when Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson have to figure out exactly why Nell talks the way she does.  After that, it just makes sense and they can start communicating with her.  Jeremy Davis is in that film too.

Susan Sarandon won for Dead Man Walking, I’m not a huge fan of Sean Penn’s so I didn’t watch it.  Frances McDormand won for Fargo, a film I tried to watch when I was younger but couldn’t get into it.  Helena Hunt won for As Good as It Gets.

Paltrow also won for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, which is an award that I like.  I hate to be in a film that wins that award but not counted towards the cast of the film.  That’ll be awkward!  Her co-winners were – Ben Affleck, Simon Callow, Jim Carter, Martin Clunes, Judi Dench, Joseph Fiennes, Daniel Brocklebank, Colin Firth, Paltrow (of course), Geoffrey Rush, Antony Sher and Imelda Staunton.

That award wasn’t given out at the first ceremony.  So Apollo 13’s cast won the first one at the second ceremony, next The Birdcage, then The Full Monty and Shakespeare in Love.  I should watch Full Monty again as that cast has gone on to do more work.  I still don’t have much interest in Birdcage.

In 2013, she was nominated for Best Actress in an Action Movie for the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards for her work in Iron Man 3, losing out to Sandra Bullock in Gravity, which is Gravity even considered an action movie?  I guess if you are a film critic.  Jennifer Lawrence one the very first one for the first Hunger Games, the year prior.  Bullock beat out Jennifer Lawrence (Catching Fire) and Evangeline Lilly for Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug.  Did Lilly do much in the second Hobbit film?  I barely remember her in it but that was a long film.

MTV Movie Awards

She won 1998 MTV Movie Awards for Best Kiss with Joseph Fiennes from Shakespeare in Love.  Back when I used to swear only by the MTV Movie Awards, they nominated the films I actually watched.  Then I just stopped watching movies, a kid will do that you during the very few years.  She lost to Cameron Diaz for There’s Something About Mary in the Best Female Performance.  Diaz also beat out Jennifer Love Hewitt in Can’t Hardly Wait, a much better film than those two movies.  Jennifer Lopez was nominated for Out of Sight, which I couldn’t get more than 30 minutes in a few years ago when I attempted the film.  They were on a highway and life happened and I haven’t gone back.  Liv Tyler was also nominated for Armageddon.  Fiennes was nominated for Breakthrough Male but lost to James Van Der Beek for Varsity Blues.  Which I can’t blame MTV for making that choice.  Shakespeare in Love lost Best Picture to There’s Something About Mary.

Paltrow and Fiennes beat out Neve Campbell, Matt Dillon and Denise Richards in Wild Things, which is pretty amazing.  George Clooney and Jennifer Lope in Out of Sight.  Cameron Diaz and Ben Stiller in There’s Something About Mary, which is surprising as that film sort of swept the awards that night.  I’m surprised to be reminded that Jeremy Irons and Dominique Swain was nominated for Lolita, way to go MTV!  Seems very bold of a choice for a nomination.

At the 2001 MTV Movie Awards, she and Ben Affleck lost Best Kiss in Bounce to Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas’ kiss in Save the Last Dance.  I can’t blame MTV for that one.  Also nominated was Jon Abrahams and Anna Faris in Scary Movie, which I don’t recall a kiss in that film.  I mostly remember Tori Spelling (I almost wrote Donna Spelling, 90210 represent!) and the ghost bed scene from that film and the buckets of sperm for Anna Faris in the freezer scene.  David Cross in the wheelchair.  Was the first one the one where the guy puts his football gear on the girlfriend?  That was a funny gag too.

Tom Hanks and Helen Hunt’s kiss in Cast Away (at the end, maybe?) and Anthony Hopkins and Julianna Moore’s kiss in Hannibal were nominated as well.  I don’t recall either kiss.

That was Bounce’s only nomination.

Sean Patrick Thomas also won Breakthrough Male for Save the Last Dance.  I did like how the sequel to that film had a girl from the streets trying out for ballet, the only real move a sequel could do.

At the 2005 MTV Movie Awards, Paltrow and Jude Law lost their best kiss in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow to Rachel McAdams and The Gos’ kiss in The Notebook.  That one, I won’t even question, he built her a house!  Though Natalie Portman and Zach Braff’s kiss in the rain in Garden State is pretty up there but kissing in the year of the Notebook, why even bother.  Jennifer Garner and Natassia Malthe kissed in Elektra and I don’t recall that at all.  Must have been in a middle of a fight, probably in the woods.  That movie isn’t very good.  Elisha Cuthbert and Emile Hirsch rounded out the kissing in The Girl Next Door.

Teen Choice Awards

In 1998, she was nominated for Choice Actress – Film and Sexiest Love Scene for the Teen Choice Awards.  That second one seems odd for a category for the Teen Choice Awards.  Looking at the nominations, I should be watching these awards as they also seem to be nominating the films I watched.

Freddie Prinze Jr. won Choice Movie : Actor, for She’s All That, beating out Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Ryan Phillipe, Giovanni Ribisi, Adam Sandler, Will Smith AND Ben Stiller!  That’s my boy!

Jennifer Love Hewitt won Choice Movie : Actress for I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.  1998 was the first year for the award show.  So even more impressive for these two actors to win the very first awards.  She beat out Drew Barrymore, Claire Danes, Cameron Diaz, Kirsten Dunst, Paltrow, Christina Ricci, and Reese Witherspoon.

Sarah Michelle Gellar won Choice Movie : Villain for Cruel Intentions.  James Van Der Beek won Choice Movie : Breakout Star for Varsity Blues.  Cruel Intentions won Choice Movie : Drama and There’s Something About Mary beat Shakespeare in Love for Choice Movie : Comedy.  City of Angels won Best Soundtrack.

Rachael Leigh Cook and Freddie Prinze Jr.’s love scene in She’s All That won Love Scene – which I don’t even remember a love scene in that film, I guess it means falling in love and not sex scene?  Probably as Drew Barrymore and Michael Vartan were nominated for Never Been Kiss.  Sex scene for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.  Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts in Notting Ill.  Elizabeth Hurley and Matthew McConaughey in EDtv.  Love scene for Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You.  Sex scene for Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon in Cruel Intentions.

Sarah Michelle Gellar also won TV Actress for Buffy.

FPJr won Hottie Male and Hewitt won Hottie Female.

Stone Cold Steve Austin won Professional Wrestler over Kurt Angle, Goldberg, Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, THe Rock, Sable and The Undertaker.

In 2001, Sarah Michelle Gellar won Best Actress : Comedy for Daphne Blake in Scooby Doo.  FPJr was nominated for Fred Jones but lost to Chris Tucker in Rush Hour 2.  Gellar beat out Paltrow from Shallow Hal, which makes sense.  She also beat out Selma Blair and Cameron Diaz in The Sweet Thing (canceling each other out?), Anne Hathaway in Princess Diaires, Christina Ricci in Pumpkin (a decent film), Winona Ryder in Mr. Deeds and Reese Witherspoon in The Importance of Being Earnest.

Instead of Love Scene, they broke it up (maybe?) and went with Movie : Chemistry and Movie : Liplock.  The Spider-Man kiss won Liplock (and Movie: Action/Drama and Actor  : Action/Drama for Tobey Maguire).  Mandy Moore and Shane West won Movie : Chemistry for A Walk to Remember.

Somehow Mr. Deeds won Movie : Summer.

Gellar kept her reign of Best TV Actress Action/Drama for Buffy.  Tom Welling won Breakout TV Star Male for Smallville.  Alyson Hannigan won TV Sidekick for Willow on Buffy.

In 2008, Rachel Bilson won Movie : Action Actress for Jumper.  Paltrow lost, as Pepper Potts doesn’t do anything actiony in the first Iron Man film.  Abigail Breslin in Nim’s Island, Diane Kruger in National Treasure : Book of Secrets, and Christina Ricci in Speed Racer were all nominated.  I haven’t seen Speed Racer but I don’t recall Ricci being in that film.

In 2010, Zoe Saldana won Movie Actress : Sci-Fi for Avatar.  Paltrow was nominated for Iron Man 2, probably lost due to Iron Man 2 not being Sci-Fi.  Scarlett Johansson was also nominated for Iron Man 2.  Rachel McAdams was nominated for Time Traveler’s Wife, a film I still want to see and Amanda Peet was nominated for 2012.

In 2013, Anne Hathaway won Movie Actress : Action for being Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises.  Paltrow was again nominated for Potts (three for three!) in Iron Man 3.  Jessica Biel in Total Recall, Adrianne Palicki for GI Joe : Retaliation and Rachel Weisz in The Bourne Legacy were also nominated.  Iron Man 3 did beat out Dark Knight Rises for Movie : Action, which is a bold choice.  Downey beat out Bale for Movie Actor : Action.  So Poor Paltrow probably thought she was a lock for her category.  Twilight Saga : Breaking Dawn Part 2 ends Twilight’s like five year reign over Teen Choice and MTV Movie awards, is probably when I stopped watching these things.

Paltrow lost the 1998 Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress to Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth.  New to the category that year was Holly Hunter in Living Out Loud and Ally Sheedy in High Art, two more films I haven’t seen or heard about.

She lost the 1998 Empire Award Best Actress to Cate Blanchett, but she was nominated for Sliding Doors, as it is a British award.  Peter Howitt did win Best British Director for Sliding Doors.  Sliding Doors lost to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels for Best British Film.  Odd how they did Best Category and then Best British Category.  Like, one sort of trumps the other.  Here is the best overall actress, but if we are narrowing it down to only British people, then she is the clear winner.  Helen Hunt was also nominated for As Good as It Gets, Jennifer Lopez in Out of Sight and Pam Grier in Jackie Brown.  Awkwardly, her Award Wikipedia page states she won that award but the page for the 4th Empire Award states Blanchett won.

She won the 3rd Florida Film Critics Circle Award Best Actress for both Shakespeare in Love and Sliding Doors.  Ian McKellen won Best Actor for both Apt Pupil and Gods and Monsters.  Shakespeare in Love won Best Film and Best Screenplay for Norman and Stoppard.  Christina Ricci won Best Supporting Actress for Buffalo ’66, Opposite of Sex and Pecker.  So the FFCC really appreciates hard workers.

Impressively, Paltrow has only ever been nominated once for a Razzie, 2015’s Worst Actress for Mortdecai.  Dakota Johnson earned Worst Actress for Fifty Shades of Grey, sharing it with Jamie Dorman #NotMyChristian.  Those two also share Worst Screen Combo.  Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four took Worst Picture and Worst Director.  Shades also won Worst Screenplay, I didn’t hate that movie but it different wasn’t the sexy romp it advertised itself to be.  All four “Fantastics” were nominated for Combo.  Katherine Heigl in home Sweet Hell, Mila Kunis in Jupiter Ascending and Jennifer Lopez in Boy Next Door were also nominated for Worst Actress.  I saw the Honest Trailer for Jupiter Ascending and Boy Next Door wasn’t a horrible film.  Lopez still has it going on.  Grey won five of the six categories it was nominated in.  I misread it originally, Fantastic Four AND Fifty Shades of Grey won Worst Picture.  Ouch!  Sam Taylor-Johnson dodged the only bullet not winning director for Grey.

Paltrow lost the 1998 Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress to Cate Blanchett’s Elizabeth, so Blanchett may have thought she had a chance at the Oscar.  She was Paltrow’s main rival that year.  Emily Watson was also nominated for Hilary and Jackie.

People’s Choice Awards

I used to be a big fan of the People’s Choice Awards too until Twilight dominated the awards for half of a decade.

In 2013, for Iron Man 3, Paltrow lost both Favorite Actress and Duo.  Iron Man 3 did win Favorite Movie and Action Movie.  I do like how they use “Favorite” instead of “Best” as that is what it really is.  I also like how being nominated in one category doesn’t eliminate you from another.  That’s how Sandra Bullock won Favorite Movie Actress, Favorite Dramatic Movie Actress, and Favorite Comedic Movie Actress.  Paltrow was only nominated in Favorite Movie Actress, as was Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson and Melissa McCarthy.

Somehow Sandra Bullock & George Clooney won Favorite Movie Duo, though I’m pretty sure they are only together for like ten minutes.  Clearly people saw Bullock’s name and just checked her name whenever they saw it.  Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. were nominated for Iron Man 3.  Jennifer Aniston & Jason Sudeikis for We’re the Millers.  Bullock beat out herself and McCarthy in The Heat, one would think there would be vote split action but I guess not.  Chris Pine & Zachary Quinto in Star Trek Into Darkness round out that category.

Shoot, Iron Man 3 won two of its three categories, only losing the one Paltrow was in.  That doesn’t seem right.

In something I find highly suspicious, at the 1998 San Diego Film Critics Society Awards, they awarded Paltrow a “Special Award” for both Sliding Doors and Shakespeare in Love.  I did a quick Google search and no one seems to have written about how silly that seems.  They gave Best Actress to Susan Sarandon for Stepmom, so who knows what is happening there.  Madden did win Best Director for Shakespeare in Love and Best Screenplay – Original went to Peter Howitt for Sliding Doors.  I wouldn’t mind learning more about that Special Award decision.  I like Sarandon in Stepmom but it seems so out of left field.

Satellite Awards

Satellite is one of those words I can never spell.

In 1996, Paltrow won the very first Best Actress – Musical or Comedy for Emma.  So funny to think about these awards that are relatively new.  She beat out Glenn Close in 101 Dalmatians, Shirley MacLaine in Mrs. Winterbourne, Heather Matarazzo in Welcome to the Dollhouse, and Bette Midler in First Wives Club.  Which seems super impressive for her first big role.  Matarazzo was in Scream 3, Princess diaries, Sorority Boys, Saved!, Princess Dairies 2: Royal Engagement.  She’s Hathaway’s friend in those movies.  So she must have been super young in Welcome to the Dollhouse, which I’ve heard of.

In 1998, she lost Best Actress – Musical or Comedy to Christina Ricci in Opposite of Sex.  Ricci was having a banner year that year too.  Horrocks, Hunter and Meg Ryan were You’ve Got Mail were all nominated.  Shakespeare in Love did win Best Film – Musical or Comedy.  But lost a slew of awards!  Truman Show’s Dennis Gassner won Best Art Direction, Thin Red Line’s John Toll won Best Cinematography, Elizabeth’s Alexandra Byrne won Best Costume Design, Thin Red Line’s Terrence Malick won Best Director, Saving Private Ryan’s Michael Kahn won Best Editing, Pleasantville’s Gary Ross won Best Screenplay – Original, and Bill Murray in Rushmore won Best Supporting Actor – Musical or Comedy over Geoffrey Rush.

In 2002, she lost Best Supporting Actress – Musical or Comedy for Royal Tenenbaums, to Maggie Smith in Gosford Park.  Which I still haven’t seen but that’s another good cast.  Anjelica Huston was also nominated from Royal Tenenbaums, so maybe there was some vote splitting.  BUT!  Helen Mirren and Emily Watson were both nominated for Gosford Park, so Smith must have been very good in it.  If I was a betting man, I would have thought all of the vote splitting would have worked in Miriam Shor’s favor for Heding and the Angry Inch.  I’m not familiar with her or the film.

In 2010, Country Strong’s title track lost Best Original Song to Burlesque’s You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me.  127 Hours’ If I Rise, Alice in Wonderland’s Alice, and two songs from Twilight Saga : Eclipse were also nominated, What Part of Forever and Eclipse.

Saturn Awards

The Saturn Awards is another award show I should follow but is it even aired on television?  I thought Spike had them for a time.

In 1995, she was nominated for Se7en for Best Supporting Actress, but lost to Bonnie Hunt in Jumanji.  I do like Bonnie Hunt.  Also nominated was Illeana Douglas in To Die For, Salma Hayek for Desperado, Jennifer Jason Leigh in Dolores Claiborne, and Juliette Lewis in From Dusk till Dawn.  Dolores Claiborne is the only film of that group that I haven’t heard of or watched.  Actually, I know of Desperado but I haven’t’ seen that one, now that I think about it.  It is an adaption of a Stephen King work and in 2013, Time Magazine named it in the top ten best adaptions of his.  Kathy Bates is in it too.  It came in seventh.

In 2008, Paltrow was nominated for Best Actress for Iron Man but lost to Angelina Jolie in Changeling.  Which are two different performances in vastly different films.  Cate Blanchett rears her head again in Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  Maggie Gyllenhaal in Dark Knight, Julianne Moore in Blindness, Emily Mortimer in Transsiberian were also nominated.  I should check out Transsiberian as I do enjoy Mortimer.  Woody Harrelson, Ben Kingsley and Kate Mara are in it.  I do like Kate Mara too!

. . .

So, just based off of Emma and Great Expectations, I have her as this fancy dancy actress in my mind and she clearly doesn’t deserve to be written off like that.  I’m glad I went down this deep dive with her career.  I have a few movies I need to check out.

For my own benefit, those films would be –

Pallbearer

Talented Mr. Ripley

Anniversary Party, as I don’t remember her being in it.

Royal Tenenbaums

Thanks to Rohan for hosting the video.

Austin Powers in Goldmember – scratch that, she’s in the parody Tom Cruise movie with Cruise as Powers and Paltrow as the girl.  Dixie Normous, get it?

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, maybe?

Proof

Running with Scissors

Contagion

Thanks for Sharing, is on Hulu right now

Country Strong

Two Lovers

That could be a decent couple weeks of films.  I’ll definitey seek out Pallbearer, Proof, and Contagion, if I have to narrow it down to three films.

 

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June 30, 2018 – S&FwM’s Fifth Birthday!!!

Posted by John Klein III on July 2, 2018
Posted in: Retrospective. Tagged: . Leave a comment

We turned five years old on Saturday!  We’re doing it!

Like always, here’s our latest stats!

All Time Views :                     163,203
Visitors                                   74,322
Posts                                       1,482
Comments : 281                   339
Review Posts : 813                814
Posts : 1,413                          1,482
Categories : 37                      39
Tags : 1,352                           1,365
Followers (Blog) : 146          176
Followers (Twitter) : 368      459
Followers (Facebook) : 8      24
Followers (Tumblr): 48         50
Followers (Pinterest): 73      82
Followers (Total) : 643         791

At 3,602  views – our most popular post is still my post about Bounce Patrol.

At 1,468 views – our most popular comic review has been New Avengers 51, beating out last year’s Death of Wolverine 3.

Best Ever Single Day View : 275 -July 24, 2014 . I imagine this must still be it, it is the only stat I can’t recreate it.

Best Month : May 2018, with 6,157 views

I’m still a tad obsess with getting my visitors from countries with nine views to ten views so if you know anyone in Cape Verde, Guyana, Laos (still!), and Armenia, please let them know they are always welcomed back. Moldova went from 9 to 11 from last year.

Once again, thank you, all of the visitors who have made all of this possible – I wouldn’t keep doing this if it wasn’t for the constant encouragement of visitors.  Thank you.

I’m trying to do a better job of thinking of posts and maybe I should just bite the bullet and start doing posts that are barely 50 words but I never think that’s worthy of a full post but if I do enough of those, maybe it’ll ignite a desire to do longer posts. I’m just not really doing anything besides being the best husband and father I can be and that’s been cutting into my time to do other posts. I should just do posts regarding the television series and movies I’ve seen. I just have to get back into the writing habit.

Thank you again for everyone who has come to the blog, even with the lack of reviews of current comics. People do seem to be coming for older reviews.

Right now, I’m making some slow progress in Lego Dimensions. We saw Incredibles 2 in the theater, and really enjoyed it. Last night, we got an hour into Last Jedi and hopefully we can get back to it relatively soon. Its just hard to find time to do everything I want to do, there are only so many hours in the day but I’m going to work harder with the blog as I do enjoy the outlet it provides.

 

X-Men Legacy Volume Two

Posted by John Klein III on February 23, 2017
Posted in: Retrospective. Tagged: , , , , , , . 2 Comments

Now, I never referred to it as Volume Two as Volume One started with issue 208 so there was no need to clarify which volume of the title it was but this has been Volume Two of X-Men Legacy.

Of the 24 issues, I own 14 of the issues – 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22 and 14.  On my Wishlist are two issues – 20 and 23, both of which are due to Hastings not having my comics in.

The reason I own so many of these is how often Magik showed up in this series.  A few of them are due to Kitty being there for Illyana being part of Cyclops’ Uncanny team helped keep her involved.

There have been some great storylines in this series, such as Prodigal, Invasive Exotic, Hope and Glory, Wear the Grudge Like a Crown and the concluding storyline.

This series was written by the mastermind that is Simon Spurrier.  Along the way, he had some excellent artist on board.

1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 23, 24 – Tan Eng Huat

4, 5, 6 – Jorge Molina

10, 11, 12, 16 – Paul Davidson

17, 18, 21, 22 – Khoi Pham

My favorite would have to be the Wear the Grudge Like a Crown.

Some might have dismissed the title as a solo David Haller title or as a satellite title but it tied into and used the current titles’ continuity to both enhance and place this title.

This was also Blindfold’s title, as she was in each issue and was crucial to the overall story arc.

There will be an issue 300 of Legacy but issue 24 concluded this second volume.  Spurrier does have a section of 300 that will involve his Legacy run but that is technically part of volume one with the renumbering.

New Mutants Volume Three

Posted by John Klein III on October 17, 2016
Posted in: Retrospective. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Now that I own the final issue of New Mutants Volume Three, I can do this Retrospective!

I own these issues :

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 28, 29, 30, 32, 45, 47 and 50

Magik was an original member of the team, thus, I own most of them until she left.  Doug joins later during Necrosha.

The storylines and tie-ins this title had were :

Return of Legion

Necrosha

Siege

Second Coming

Fall of the New Mutants

Rise of the New Mutants

Age of X

Unfinished Business

Fear Itself

Exiled

Fear the Future

Fight the Future

The creative team for the series have been :

1, 2, 3, 4 – Zeb Wells and Diogenes Neves
5 – Zeb Wells and Zachary Baldus6, 7, 8 – Zeb Wells and Diogenes Neves
9, 10 – Zeb Wells and Paul Davidson
11 – Kieron Gillen and Niko Henrichon
12, 13, 14 – Zeb Wells and Ibraim Roberson
15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 – Zeb Wells and Leonard Kirk
22, 23, 24 – Mike Carey and Steve Kurth
25, 26, 27 – Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning and Leandro Fernandez
28 -Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning and Michael Ryan
29, 30, 31, 32 – Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning and David Lafuente
33, 34, 35, 36, 37 – Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning and David Lopez
38, 39, 40 – Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning and Leandro Fernandez
41 – Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning and David Lopez
42, 43 – Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning with Kieron Gillen and Carmine Di Giandomenico
44, 45, 46 – Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning and Leandro Fernandez
47, 48, 49, 50 – Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning and Felix Ruiz with Klebs

Pretty cool how they kept getting artists back to the title, it really does add synergy.

I have 13 issues on my wishlist, most of them are Variant covers –

1 – Ross, Benjamin, McLeod, 2nd Printing
4 – 70th Anniversary Frame Variant
6 – Zombie Variant
10 – Deadpool Variant
13 – Heroic Age Variant
15 – Art Adams Variant17 – Regular Cover (I own the Variant) Magik is on the regular cover, so that’s why I still want it
24 – Regular Cover
25 – Art Adams Variant
37 – Regular Cover

So I really just want 24 and 37 as I’ve already read issue 17.  But it would be nice to knock off some of these variants one day.

 

All New X-Men

Posted by John Klein III on January 20, 2016
Posted in: Retrospective. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

All New X-Men 1 – All New X-Men 41

41 issues, all written by Brian Michael Bendis!  It should be stated that Cory Petit lettered every issue as well, which is pretty impressive to keep the same letterer for an entire series.

The series ran from, cover dated, January 2013 to August 2015

Since this was the main flagship title, sharing the honor with Uncanny – a lot took place in this series.  This is the series where the time misplaced Original Five X-Men starred.  Crossover overs storylines were – Battle of the Atom / Trial of Jean Grey / Black Vortex.  Other storylines include the much demanded sequel to Battle of the Atom, the Ultimate Adventure and the Utopians arc.

Art Teams were –

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 14, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29 – Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger, Colorist Marte Gracia and VC’s Cory Petit

Issue five, Inker Von Grawbadger had help from Craig Yeung and Gracia had help from Jason Keith.  Issues nine & ten, Gracia had help from Rain Beredo.  Issue twenty-nine, Gracia had help from Jason Keith.

6, 7, 8 – David Marquez on both pencils and inks, Gracia and Petit

12, 13 – Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger, Colorist Rain Beredo and VC’s Cory Petit

15 – David Lafuente on both pencils and inks, Colorist Jim Campbell and VC’s Cory Petit

19 – Brandon Peterson on both pencils and inks, Colorist Israel Silva and VC’s Cory Petit

20 – Brandon Peterson and Mahmud Asrar shared art duties, Colorist Gracia returned and helped Silva and VC’s Cory Petit stuck around as well

21 – Brandon Peterson and legend Brent Anderson (did a few pages on his own) Silva colored Petersn’s pages and Campbell did the Anderson pages, VC’s Cory Petit did all of his own lettering

25 – The All Star Jam Issue! Artists David Marquez with Justin Ponsor on colors for the Framing Device, VC’s Cory Petit on lettering duties – the other artistic talents of :

Bruce Timm & Laura Martin, Arthur Adams & Justin Ponsor, David Mack, Skottie Young & Jason Keith, Robbi Rodriquez & Justin Ponsor, Lee Bermejo & Marte Gracia, Kent Williams, JG Jones, Ronnie Del Carmen, J. Scott Campbell & Nei Ruffino, Maris Wicks, Jason Shiga, Dan Hipp, Max Wittert, Jake Parker & Matthew Wilson, Jill Thompson and Paul Smith & Bob Wiacek & Jordie Bellaire

30 – Sara Pichelli, Colorist Marte Gracia and VC’s Cory Petit

31, 32, 33, 34, 36 – Mahmud Asrar on both pencils and inks, Colorist Marte Gracia and Letterer VC’s Cory Petit

Issue 31 Gracia had helped from Jason Keith.  Issue 34, Gracia received some support from Marcelo Maiolo.

35 – Mahmud Asrar on both pencils and inks, Colorist Marcelo Maiolo and Letterer VC’s Cory Petit

37 – Mike Del Mundo on pencils, inks and colors, though Marco D’Alfonso helped with the coloring and VC’s Cory Petit on lettering

38, 39 – Andrea Sorrentino on pencils and inks, Colorist Marcelo Maiolo and Letterer VC’s Cory Petit

40 – Mahmud Asrar on both pencils and inks, Colorist Rain Beredo and Letterer VC’s Cory Petit

41 – Mahmud Asrar on both pencils and inks, Colorist Marte Gracia and Letterer VC’s Cory Petit

There was a whole host of variant covers with this series so I’m not listing cover artists – not that I do but in case you were wondering.

 

Nightcrawler Volume Two

Posted by John Klein III on September 8, 2015
Posted in: Retrospective. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Nightcrawler Volume Two Issue 1 – Nightcrawler V2 12

Of the twelve issues of this series, I own five of them – 1, 5, 7, 9 and 12

All of them written by Chris Claremont with Todd Nauck handling the main art duties.  Assisting him is Colorist Rachelle Rosenberg and Letterer VC’s Cory Petit (issues 1, 2, 3 & 7).

Issues 4, 5 & 6 were lettered by VC’s Joe Sabino

Claremont had a script assist from Marguerite Bennett for issue 7, the very excellent, Death of Wolverine, tie-in issue.

Issue 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12 were lettered by VC’s Travis Lanham

Pretty great that this title was able to go twelve issues while maintaining the mean creative team.  Rosenberg really made all the issues pop with her coloring choices.

 

All New Ultimates

Posted by John Klein III on May 18, 2015
Posted in: Retrospective. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

All New Ultimates 1 to All New Ultimates 12

Ultimate Shadowcat has had starring roles in five ongoings – two X-Men titles and two Spider-Man titles, as well as this series – All New Ultimates.  I own all twelve issues of it.

The creative team has pretty much stayed the same for the entire run, outside of three issues.

Michel Fiffe wrote the entire series.

Amilcar Pinna has been the main artist for the series, not providing art for issues 7, 8 and 9.

Those issues were done by Giannis Milonogiannis with coloring duties being handled by Jordie Bellaire.  Except for issue nine, when Colorist Esther Sanz handled the duties.

Nolan Woodard has been the colorist for the entire series, outside of issues 7, 8 and 9.

VC’s Clayton Cowles has been the series letterer.

Issue eleven enlisted several inkers – Terry Pallot, Amilcar Pinna, Lorenzo Ruggiero and Le Beau Underwood.  Terry Pallot came back to ink the final issue.

 

When Did You Become a Freddie Prinze Jr Fan?

Posted by John Klein III on March 25, 2015
Posted in: Fun With YouTube, Retrospective, Songs. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

My love for Freddie Prinze Jr. started way back in 1999’s mega hit, She’s All That

Thanks to YouTuber playplay90sVHS for hosting the video.

There is something about how intense FPJ is as Zack, as he tries to balance the hacky sack and how it is a complete metaphor for the pressures that he is under.  Such a fantastic scene.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Prinze,_Jr.

I may have seen I Know What You Did Last Summer and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer but he wasn’t the star of those films.  Though those films are awesome if you are a Sarah Gellar or a Jennifer Love Hewitt fan.

She’s All That, gave us Rachel Leigh Cook – who only really remember from when she played the Joey character in Dawson’s first real movie and from her excellent turn in Anti-Trust.  Which is still the only film I really like Ryan Phillipe in.

She’s All That also gave us the first of many times when Matthew Lillard and Freddie Prinze Jr acted together.  Such a fun duo these two actors are when they get to play off of each other as teammates or rivals.

She’s All That has an outstanding cast – Paul Walker, Kevin Pollack, a very young Anna Paquin, Jodi O’Keefe of Prison Break Fame (the lousy third season), Dule Hill and Tim Matheson (West Wing Represent, yo!) and it even has Lil’ Kim AND Usher!  Gabrielle Union is also great in it as is Chris Owen.  Even Elden Henson of Mighty Ducks fame and soon to be Netflix’s Daredevil’s Foggy Nelson, is in this as the best friend to Rachel Leigh Cook.

Before he was a named actor, he was in a movie titled, Hostage High, wherein Ricky Shroder takes his old high school hostage, at gun point, and the sheriff played by Henry Wrinkler.

I wasn’t a big fan of Wing Commander, I blame not really knowing the game that it was based off of and not being the biggest space movie fan.

Down To You, I simply adore, as I’m also a huge Julia Stiles fan.  There is just something about her that is super intoxicating and I seek out any new film of hers.  FPJ needs to do more romantic comedies, and I believe his career was hurt when he tried to get away from that.  He could be the next Tom Hanks!

Boys and Girls is still a personal favorite of mine.  This may be a favorite movie of mine for all the cast members – Claire Forlani (though I may still give Mallrats the edge) and Jason Biggs.  This was one of the only films that Heather Donahue of Blair Witch Project, ever made after the big film.  I used this film to prove to my father that Blair Witch Project wasn’t real, as he wasn’t believing any of the evidence.  Alison Hannigan also has a small role in it.  I simply love the soundtrack and the main song from it – Ronan Keating’s If I Don’t Tell You Now.

Thanks to YouTuber Leo Life for hosting this video.

I could watch, Boys & Girls, all day.  All Day!  It use to be one of those films that I would play while doing papers in college.

Head over Heels is fun, he’s the romantic lead but he doesn’t have the burden to carry the film.  I like Monica Potter (of Parenthood fame) and whenever that show made her cry (her go-to character trait) I thought about this film and how she just had a good time in it.  There is a running joke with one of the models in the film, that I still think about.

Summer Catch, is FPJ back in a comedy.  Jessica Biel is the love interest and Matthew Lillard is back as a teammate.  One of my favorite baseball films.  If you want a movie about No Hitters, this is the one for you.  Brittany Murphy is in it as is Bruce Davison (playing Biel’s father) and Wilmer Valderrama of That 70’s Show fame.

The film is mostly remembered, fondly for this moment with Jessica Biel –

Summer Catch Jessica Biel

But it really is a good film!

Then we get to 2002 & 2004’s Scooby Doo films.  The first one is my favorite and the cast commentary is a real delight!  FPJ is Fred, his wife Sarah Michelle Geller is Daphne, Matthew Lillard is Shaggy, Scooby is Scooby and Velma is played by the always amazing and should work more, Linda Cardellini.  I wonder if Linda is still friends with FPJ and the gang as I remember thinking that she was the sole person who wasn’t connected to FPJ prior to filming.  I do like Seth Green being added to the cast for the second film.

Linda Cardellini Velma

I do love me some Velma!

I haven’t seen any of the animated films that he has lent his voice – Shark Bait, Happily N’Ever After and Deigo.  His voice is unique enough for animation but I sort of need the man himself to be seen.

I’m not sure if after Scooby Doo, he decided to purposely take time away from the screen but he starts taking time off and after three years, came back with Brooklyn Rules.  Probably best known as his return to dramatic work since his first two films – To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday (with the incredible Michelle Pfeiffer) and The House of Yes – which is more of a comedy but with serious issues going on around it.  House of Yes is what got FPJ in the Miramax house and gave him a career.  I’ve always been a fan of early Miramax and Lionsgate.

Brooklyn Rules stars Alec Bladwin, Scott Caan and Mena Suvari.  FPJ will eventually work with most of the cast of American Pie.

New York City Serenade, is a very interesting film that has scenes that I still think about.  Like Chris Klein losing it on a costumer at the photo development center and FPJ has to cool the situation.  FPJ (people refer to him as that, right?) is a budding film maker.  Wallace Shawn (of Princess Pride fame, Inconceivable!) plays himself.  It isn’t an easy watch, with characters making baffeling decisions throughout it.  FPJ’s character, Owen, should have ditched Chris Klein’s character so much earlier in the film.  I don’t quite get the characters’ friendship.

His last film, believe it or not, is Jack and Jill vs. the World WAY BACK IN 2008!  I’m not sure why he isn’t bankable anymore.  Well, I guess looking at his last films but good for him for trying to branch out and get some range.  Probably my favorite Taryn Manning film, as she gets to play a different sort of character, one that is still a tad zany but grounded.

After this, he has two children (Gellar doing the hard work) in 2009 (a daughter) and 2012 (a son).

He has dabbled in television.

He was the Male Nanny for Ross and Rachel in Season 9 Episode 6, my favorite episode.

Thanks to YouTuber Rhetoric of Gender & Sexuality for hosting the video.

Though the ones where they are throwing the ball and Joey has to keep covering for Chandler and Monica and refers to himself as a horrible human being, are pretty fun.  5×21 and 5×9, respectfully.

He had his own show, Freddie, on ABC that lasted 22 episodes in 2005 / 2006.

Freddie Prinze Jr has worked with WWE off and on, I believe that is his most current gig, actually.

In 2010, for 24’s eight season, he played Cole Ortiz, which also featured another favorite actress of mine, Jennifer Westfeldt.  Season three is by far my favorite season of the show, with the moment with Jack in front of the hotel with the dude’s daughter, but eight is up there.  3×23 is the episode that made me a hardcore fan of Jack Bauer!

That’s my retrospective on Freddie Prinze Jr., who really needs to act more!

At one point, I owned all of these films but traded them in for cash, which was a very sad day for me.

1963 – 2013

Posted by John Klein III on August 24, 2014
Posted in: Retrospective. Leave a comment

So many things turn 50 last year, when I should have done this post, that I enjoy.

The X-Men

TheAvengers

Doctor Who

(All in November)

Lucky Charms

The assassination of President Kennedy, I am a sucker for any documentary on the subject.

Zip Codes

Disney’s Sword in the Stone

The Outer Limits

The Fugitive

It is like, 1963, is when the world started becoming recognizable.

Actors who were born : Dave Foley, Michael Jordan (more of a basketball legend), Mike Myers, Johnny Depp, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, Lisa Kudrow, John Stamos and Brad Pitt.  Also – Steven Soderbergh, Vanessa Williams, Quentin Tarantino, Jet Li, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Elizabeth Shue and Helen Slater.

Nanoseconds

Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have A Dream Speech

Captain Crunch

The Smiley Face

Chips Ohoy, I prefer Chewy

Tab Soda

The Great Escape

Naturally, all of these are 51 this year.

Robin Williams

Posted by John Klein III on April 12, 2014
Posted in: Retrospective. Leave a comment

If asked, I would say I prefer dramatic Robin Williams to comedy Robin Williams. I know that might be a bold statement but I would marathon Dead Poets Society, Awakenings and Good Will Hunting all day than some of his comedies.

Also, I can’t stand him on interview shows. If he could just sit in his chair and have a conversation, it would be a different matter all together. It makes my stomach turn. Jim Carrey also did this a bunch in his beginning days.

Inside the Actor’s Studio had a countdown to the fans favorite epsidoes. They kept featuring five of the episodes. Whenever they cut to Robin Williams’ episode, he was barely in his seat. Some people must really like it but I’m not a fan.

There is one film of his that I can’t stand and I thought I’ll finally express my thoughs on it and then I can stop thinking about it completely going forward.

At the same time, I thought I’ll just do a complete career retrospective and then I can see if I really do prefer one over the other.

If you want to play along :

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000245/

Popeye – the first movie my mother told me I slept through as a baby. Saw it as a young child and thought it was okay. As a fictional character, I like Popeye. Olive Oil on the other hand, I can never understand why Popeye and Brut would fight over such a skinny woman.

Only seen a few episodes of Mork & Mindy, and it seemed dated by the time I saw it in reruns.

Good Morning, Vietnam – now that’s comedy gold there!

Adventures of Baron Munchausen – I saw this when I was much younger, and only for Uma Thurman so I don’t recall him in it as much.

Dead Poets Society – so many memorable moments. So many great lines too.

Awakenings – I’m not even sure what made me watch it but I’m glad I did. I think I was in a watching everything Robert De Niro was in phase and fell in love with it. It was on a movie channel so I saw it a bunch that month.

Hook – Has to be my first Robin Williams film I saw. Love the concept of it; love how it all comes together. I’m a fan. I’ll say more action adventure than comedy.

Aladdin – He is the voice of Genie. He is amazing at it but when they announced he wouldn’t be back for the sequel, I wasn’t upset by it or anything. They got the guy who did the voice from the Aladdin animated series and of course, he was good. Robin Williams voices him in the third Aladdin feature, I wasn’t sure if it was necessary but if you get Robin Williams to agree to do your movie, you don’t turn him down afterwards.

Mrs. Doubtfire – hated as a child but now I’ve gotten an appriciation for it. I think Pierce Brosnan being James Bond later, has made me like this movie more.

He played himself twice on the Larry Sanders Show, a show I really liked growing up.

Apparently he is in To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, a film I’ve wanted to see just to see Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes in drag. Johnny Legs is in it too. Also, not dying to see it either. Came out in 1995, and I’m not sure if it as ever really crossed my path.

Jumanji – Another fun action adventure. Kirsten Dunst is the young girl in it so how old much Robin Williams be?

The Birdcage – the commercials were enough for me. I’m not the biggest Nathan Lane fan, whenever he is on Modern Family is enough for me.

Jack – the first movie of his, that I remember thinking was a dumb concept and why would one even make that movie? He plays a boy with a growth hormone that makes him age to look like Robin Williams. ooof!

Aladdin and the King of Thieves – the sequel he did show up for.

Deconstructing Harry – I don’t quite remember him in it but I really like Julia Louis-Dreyfus in it.

Flubber – I also had no interest in this film. Passed on conception.

Good Will Hunting – I saw as I’m a bit of a Ben Affleck fan and Robin Williams really open my eyes on what type of an actor he could be. I must have watched Awakenings after this film, now that I think of it. Same for Dead Poets Society. Career defining and he got Best Supporting Oscar for it too, richly deserved! Shame we don’t get this Robin Williams more.

Patch Adams – here we go. Patch Adams is horrible!  I haven’t been so angry at a film since this one. Not even sure why I watched it, I know I was at home. I may have been under the impression we were getting dramatic Robin Williams. What we got was offensive.   Now, I should say this rage is from the 1998 version of me who is almost 17. I probably should rewatch the film but the idea sends me into another rage so I don’t think I can give it a second chance. So the film is based on the true story of Dr. Hunter “Patch” Adams, and the book he wrote with another person. So it is suppose to be a first person telling of his life.

So this doctor figures out that humor is the best medicine and decides to open a hospital that is purely based on treating all cases with the highest dose of humor possible. Who takes their family member to this hospital, is beyond me. So he gets married to this nice lady, who I now learn is played by Monica Potter, who I really like from Con Air but mostly from Parenthood.

So Monica Potter’s character goes to this crazy guy’s house. There are all of these scenes and moments that clearly indicate, she shouldn’t go over there. Now, I recognize that is actually happened to the real girlfriend of Patch Adams, so I apologize ahead of time. This would be easier if this was a completely fictional story. Except, the scene in question, is completely fictional so I feel like I have some room to do this here. The screenplay is written by Steve Oedekerk, of Kung Power : Enter the Fist fame. So my problem is mostly with him, unfortunately.

Enough build up already, so the scene is Potter and the crazy guy, and they start off by having some wine and jokes and then it builds to the guy getting his gun out, confessing his love for her and he then kills her when she rejects him and then kills himself, murder suicide. Here’s my problem, the scene lasts maybe five minutes (maybe longer or shorter – my memory of it is it lasts a while) but the entire scene is fictional. No one survives the encounter. The police show up and maybe there is wine on the table and assumptions are made but the story is from Adams’ perspective, so it is how he wants the story to be known as but who is to say what really happened that night before the deaths. It could have been an affair, I doubt it, but it should have just been a scene of Adams telling her not to go, then him getting a phone call and going over there and getting the bad news. The scene is unnecessary on all levels. I get the whole “show don’t tell” aspect of movie making but depict the film as true events and then completely make up an entire scene.

Oh wow, so I’m reading the Wikipedia page right now and getting even more angry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patch_Adams_%28film%29

“The film has several major departures from Adams’ real history. One is that the character of Carin is fictional, but is analogous to a real life friend of Adams (a man) who was murdered under similar circumstances. Another difference is the then-47 year old Robin Williams portrays Adams as enrolling in medical school very late in his life, his older age even being brought up in dialogue. In reality, Adams started medical school immediately and his educational progress was quite normal for a physician: He graduated high school at 18, college at 22, and medical school at 26.”

Wow, so that entire scene isn’t even about a real lady (though I do feel bad about the guy dying” why even make that choice and have this be a plot point. Oh and it is a plot point as it steers the movie for quite some time afterwards.

Also, apparently this movie got horrible reviews so I’m not the first person to not like it. Also on the page is the reaction from the real Patch Adams, who didn’t like the film either. Which must be even worst for him. Imagine watching it the first time, the Monica Potter character comes onto screen, he’s all like “who is that suppose to be” and then the murder suicide scene happens and he is like “is this even necessary!?!” It isn’t.

Turns out, the hospital is one of those ‘free hospitals’ which is great cause! I will not be making a point to rewatching this. Robin Williams made 21 million dollars of it and he didn’t even give ten dollars to the Patch Adams’ hospital. Not like he has to but ooof, that isn’t good. Apparently also, the film promised to give or donate money to the hospital and never did even though it was a box office success. What a mess! Glad I decided to do this post, as I wouldn’t have known any of this.

On a lighter note, apparently Robin Williams has voiced the Genie in several other places. Disney’s Math Quest with Aladdin video game, the television series Great Minds Think for Themselves and Aladdin on Ice a TV Movie. That has to burn that he didn’t do the second sequel or the television series. I want to say James Woods did the voice of Hades on the Hercules television series, I could be wrong.   No, he did, he’s like Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel the Little Mermaid, and he has done the voice of Hades whenever there was need to do so. Which I really like that type of ownership of an animated role.

Bicentennial Man- another film I passed on. I’m not a big fan of robots.

One Hour Photo – seemed to creepy for me.

Death to Smoochy – now this film, I really do love. I would place it more in the fun but dramatic column. Came out in 2002, so I may have had a mad on for Robin Williams that lasted for five years, that sounds like something I would do, so this movie put Robin Williams back in a positive light for me. Such a great film.

Insomnia – I remember not getting through it. I should revisit as it is a film by Christopher Nolan and I do like those Batman films of his.

RV – I, like most people, passed hard on this movie. The commercials confused me over who would watch it.

Man of the Year – I like the concept of a popular celebrity running for President and winning but Robin Williams doing what he does and the way the story is told (from the commercials) wasn’t my type of film.

Happy Feet – haven’t seen any of these

Night at the Museum – Took me forever to watch it, I’m sure I saw it on FX or something. I liked him in it as Teddy Roosevelt, it isn’t a big role. Not seen any of the sequels.

License to Wed – Also not have seen it but I remember thinking that it was the start of a new direction in his career, supporting character roles instead of leading man.

I’m pretty sure I saw his episode of Law & Order : SVU, Authority. That show, I can only stomach so much of. Not sure how anyone can watch four hours of it, everyday on USA. Seems like a waste of programming to me.

Wilfred – that’s right, he was on an episode of that, Progress. We love that show but the last season was a little hit or miss.

The Big Wedding – I should watch it as I’m a sucker for giant ensemble films.

Lee Daniels’ The Butler – a film I want to see, James Marsden as JFK sounds good. Robin Williams plays Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The Crazy Ones – As much as I like Sarah Michelle Gellar (I’m a bigger Freddie Prince Jr. fan – though it has been harder lately to be) I don’t watch nearly anything she is in but the commercials seem to show Robin Williams restrain a little. My wife liked the few episodes she saw at the beginning. I’m not sure why Sarah Michelle Gellar never did How I Met Your Mother, she’s the most notable absence from all of the Buffy / Angel guest stars. But that also failed to get Joshua Jackson and Michelle Williams (even when she was dating Jason Segel – the whole reason I thought he was dating her during that short window) but maybe they never sought them out either.

That’s Robin Williams career from my perspective.

Patch Adams though, still super frustrating!

I’ve only ever seen one of his HBO stand up specials, I don’t recall watching the entire thing.

He also was uncredited on an episode of Friends, The One With the Ultimate Fighting Champion. I like Jon Favreau’s little run he had on the show as Monica’s millionaire boyfriend. I don’t remember Robin Willians or Billy Crystal being in the episode’s opening but TBS and Nick at Nite seem to air the episodes constantly so I’ll pay attention to any reairings. Apparently they were there to promote (quietly) their film Fathers’ Day which I saw listed but couldn’t remember at all.

I also didn’t see the film with him and John Travolta as new fathers in their 50s. That also didn’t look good.