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Hollywood sibling stars

Philip Wuntch — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:41:21 +0000

Few movies arrive with as many family connections as the upcoming Lymelife, the new dramedy produced by Martin Scorsese. Alec Baldwin, alpha bro of the Baldwin brood, is the biggest name in the cast. Also gathering advance huzzahs are two Culkins, Kieran and Rory, brothers of Home Alone’s Macaulay, as well as Emma Roberts, niece of Julia and daughter of Eric. And then there’s Timothy Hutton, son of the late Jim, giving what some critics say is his best performance since Ordinary People.

The movie world is full of second generation actors. But it’s even more enticing to investigate sibling stars. Anyone ever hear of sibling rivalry?

Among the candidates:

Alec Baldwin, as noted, is the acknowledged alpha Baldwin brother. But he’s trying to soften his sometimes bombastic image. 30 Rock’s success welcomes him into even the most conservative “media rooms.” He’s also making jaunty appearances on Turner Classic Movies, co-hosting the weekly “essentials” series and recommending such mainstream faves as Ben-Hur and Funny Girl. Meanwhile, likable brother William has made a name for himself, while sibs Daniel and Stephen are largely in the background. When Stephen voted Republican in the last two elections, Alec said, “I’m glad Dad isn’t alive to see this.”

You gotta feel a little sorry for the Culkins. Poppa Bear Christopher Culkin has the rep of a ferocious stage father. Home Alone made Macaulay Culkin one of the most famous child stars in movie history. But that was 19 years ago, and Mac now has reason to be sad-eyed. The 28-year-old actor is far from an adult headliner. But brothers Kieran and Rory are winning raves for Lymelife.

Ben and Casey Affleck have established themselves in both indie and mainstream movies. What’s more, they seem to get along just fine. That’s not always the case. For example…

Roles actors turned down

Bill Sullivan — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:24:39 +0000

If you’re a major actor or actress in Hollywood, you are going to have to make decisions.

Scripts come your way all the time. A few are great, many are good, most are garbage.

Your job is to separate the Academy Award possibilities from the flicks doomed to go straight-to-DVD by way of Rotten Tomatoes. Figuring all that out from reading printed words on a page can be dicey business.

Everyone makes mistakes, of course. Make too many of them, though, and you’ll soon be in the “Whatever happened to…” segment of some cheesy entertainment show.

Glamorati has a list of actors who turned down what proved to be memorable roles.Here are just a few of them:

– Molly Ringwald: Vivian (Pretty Woman); Molly (Ghost)

– Alec Baldwin: Richard Kimball (The Fugitive)

– Melanie Griffith: Thelma (Thelma and Louise)

– Julia Roberts: Lead in Basic Instinct; Annie (Sleepless in Seattle)

– Leonardo DiCaprio: Dirk Diggler (Boogie Nights)

– John Travolta: Forrest Gump (Forrest Gump)

To see the rest, check out Glamorati.

Best movie cameos

Philip Wuntch — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:16:38 +0000

This week’s hot movie. Tropic Thunder, has a trio of hot stars. Ben Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr. and Jack Black play pampered movie stars who find their mettle tested when making a Vietnam war movie.

It’s also got a trio of hot cameos. Early reports indicate that Tom Cruise should get a career boost with a screamingly funny extended cameo as a fat, bald, foul-mouthed producer. Matthew McConaughey plays a slick, slick, slick agent, while Tobey Maguire appears briefly but significantly in a preview of the Downey character’s upcoming movie.

Like much Hollywood jargon, “cameo” has a flexible definition. Basically, it’s a small part played by an A-list star whose name is mentioned, if at all, only in the final credits. Let’s take a gander at some earlier cameos.

Bruce Willis played himself in an Ocean’s Twelve cameo, greeting Julia Roberts like an old friend. Julia’s character, you see, was pretending to be Julia Roberts. It makes sense in the movie. Well, not altogether. Anyway, there was something smug about the “inside joke” that didn’t help the movie. In the original 1960 Ocean’s Eleven, headlined by Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine, then a member of Sinatra’s Rat Pack, made a fleeting appearance at a bar.

In the original Planet of the Apes, Charlton Heston played the astronaut stranded in Apeland. In the inferior remake, Mark Wahlberg had the lead, but Heston appeared briefly as the wise simian poppa of menacing ape Tim Roth. As in the first movie, Heston also had the last line.

Hollywood’s crossover stars

Bill Sullivan — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:46:04 +0000

Some people sing. Some act. A TV star becomes a movie regular. The very brave may even take a turn on Broadway.

Crossover stars are becoming more common, and many are earning rave reviews for their versatility. (Others at least get points for courage, even if their efforts leave something to be desired on the artistic front.)

Forbes recently cited 10 well-known performers for their successful ventures outside the box.

Here’s the list:

Christina Applegate: TV, Movies, Broadway

Glenn Close: Movies, Broadway, TV

Billy Crystal: TV, Movies, Broadway

Jamie Foxx: TV, Movies, Music

Jennifer Garner: TV, Movies, Broadway

Holly Hunter: Movies, TV

Jennifer Lopez: TV, Movies, Music, Fashion

Julia Roberts: Movies, Broadway

Mark Wahlberg: Music, Movies, TV

Denzel Washington: TV, Movies, Broadway

To read more about these multi-faceted entertainers, check out the slideshow at Forbes.

Celebrity baby names

Philip Wuntch — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:40:40 +0000

The addition of two bundles of joy to the Jolie-Pitt homestead elevates Angelina and Brad to the highest plateau of public favor. Even after the birth of their first biological child and their various adoptions and humanitarian works, the specter of Jennifer Aniston clouded their public personae. But who can resist a pair of twins?

Their new arrivals are christened Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Leon. You can bet that even the most intimate chums won’t lean over the crib and say, “Hi, Viv!,” particularly with the French spelling. Marcheline was the name of Angelina’s mother, who died in January 2007 after a long battle with ovarian cancer.

Knox Leon (Leon pronounced with a long “o”) was so named because dad Brad is a fan of artist Archibald Knox and has collected several of the late artist’s works. The day after Angelina gave birth, the Archibald Knox Web site reportedly received over 2,000 hits.

Celebrities are different from us ordinary mortals. Among those differences is their practice of giving offspring unusual names. What follows is a list of celebrity baby names, and there’s not a Dick or Jane among them.

Matthew McConaughey’s new arrival is Levi, but he’s not named for the jeans that Matthew occasionally bothers to put on. The spiritual star explains that Levi is another name for the Biblical apostle Matthew. Early tabloid reports predicted that the bouncing baby boy would be named Budweiser, after his pop’s favorite beer. After all, Matthew’s big brother Rooster named his son Miller Lyte.

Julia Roberts named her twins Hazel and Phinnaeus. Nothing wrong with Hazel other than its vintage seems to be several generations ago. But Phinnaeus??? It’s a family name, says Julia. But try explaining that to the kids at school.

Also on the previous-generations name register is Matilda, daughter of Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams. Possibly she was named for the Aussie folk song “Waltzing Matilda.” FYI, Jake Gyllenhaal was her godfather.

9 Most Typecast Actors of All Time

Cyndi Hughes — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:31:49 +0000

Leave it to Cracked.com to devise this clever little list of most typecast actors. We can’t say it any better than writer Michael Swaim, who writes: “For an actor, getting typecast is a double-edged sword. On one hand, you can be fairly sure you’ll always get work. On the other hand, if your breakthrough role was ‘guy with frantic diarrhea,’ you can look forward to a long career of feigned intestinal distress and people on the street yelling, ‘Hey, diarrhea guy!’ … Below are nine actors who, for better or worse, are probably going to play the same part until they either die rich or get relegated to The Surreal Life, where they’ll get sloppy drunk and bitch to their housemates about being typecast.”

9. Reginald VelJohnson

8. Julia Roberts

7. Kelsey Grammer (above left)

6. Alec Baldwin

5. Samuel L. Jackson

4. Cameron Diaz

3. John Cusak (above right)

2. Will Smith

1. William Shatner

For more on each typecastor, check out the list at Cracked.

10 Mismatched Movie Couples

Bill Sullivan — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 16:36:49 +0000

In casting Hollywood films, finding the right combination of players can literally make for strange bedfellows…some stranger than others.

Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte? Fine as individuals, maybe not so hot as an on-screen couple.

Woody Allen and a woman half his age? Good for the Wood Man, but maybe a little unbelievable (not to mention uncomfortable) for the rest of us.

So who made Yahoo’s list of 10 Most Mismatched Movie Couples?

Here’s a sampling:

– Roberts and Nolte, I Love Trouble (1994)

– Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, Gigli (2003)

– Harrison Ford and Anne Heche, Six Days, Seven Nights (1998)

– Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth, Beyond the Sea (2004)

– Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman, Star Wars Episode II and III (2002/2005)

For the rest of the list, photos, and more, visit Yahoo.