This post was born on a Friday night when I declared a certain actor to be my favorite B-list actor currently working. A lot goes into this sort of decision. It’s not just a matter of judging on-screen performance. No, finding a favorite B-lister is more a matter of unquantifiable taste: an affinity for the bad movies he or she has appeared in, a formative childhood role, a body of credits that reads more like a list of punchlines, all of that je ne sais quoi. I made my choice for all those good reasons and cited his works. I was devastated, then, to be corrected – my actor had not appeared in most of the movies I had named. Impossible. Couldn’t be. But, of course, a brief flash of an iPhone prove it could be. It was. Half of the films in which I had identified this man had not featured him at all. It had been someone else, somehow. A fake, an impostor. I had confused my man with someone else, combining their collected screen appearances into what I thought was the greatest CV ever compiled by a second-tier actor. I was wrong. So wrong that I am determined now to make sure you never have to suffer the same embarrassment and heartbreak that I have suffered.
Archive for the ‘Television’ Category
You Know, That One Guy: Four Pairs of Oft- Confused Actors
Posted in Cinema, Television, tagged b-list, bill paxton, bill pullman, christopher meloni, elias koteas, fuzzy dunlop, jeff bridges, jeff daniels, wilson on November 18, 2009| 5 Comments »
When Panthers Attack: On What’s Funny In Overtime When You’re Down By 5
Posted in Chicago, Sports, Television, tagged 2009, aaron gray, angry bulldogs, big baby, blue velvet severed ear, boston celtics, captain kirk, chicago bulls, jk noah, jokes, kevin garnett, laughing it up on the sideline at inappropriate times, lol deng, playoffs, rondo, rose, shit that lurks in the shadows, staying loose, twin peaks, vinny, wwe on April 28, 2009| 1 Comment »
What We’ve Been Watching: March 5, 2008
Posted in Cinema, Sports, Television, The Internet on March 5, 2009| 7 Comments »
Oh, Hi There. We’ve been watching television and movies and things on the internet and we’d like to tell you about them. Consider it an advice column for the socially stunted.
OSCAR NOMINATED LIVE ACTION SHORTS (TH)*
German for "Big Winner"
Spielzeugland (Germany) – A rather pedestrian short about a German boy during the 1930s who’s been told by friends and family that his Jewish friend and piano partner will soon be taken away to “Spielzeugland” (“Toyland”). There are about 47 flashbacks and flashforwards during the 13-minute film, and shit doesn’t get explained particularly well. This won the Oscar, which is silly, because it’s a little exploitative, and not particularly well-made or inspired. (more…)
What We’ve Been Watching, February 24, 2009
Posted in Chicago, Cinema, Sports, Television, tagged alan rickman, ben stiller, boring boring hockey, bottle shock, bug, chicago blackhawks, cronenberg, danko, david cronenberg, death becomes her, el topo, festival express, friedkin, fuck, fucking motherfucker, grateful dead, guts television, james woods pulls a tv out of his stomach, janis joplin, janis joplin drunk, janis joplin high, jim carrey, jodorowsky, kelly reichardt, lester freamon, michelle williams, minimalism, minnesota wild, motherfuck, motherfucker, motherfucking cocksucker, next generation, randall miller, rick danko, rick danko drunk, star trek, the band, the cable guy, the wire, videodrome, wendy and lucy on February 24, 2009| 2 Comments »
UFC 91, Bloodsport, and Sunday Night Football: Brief Thoughts on Energy Conservation in Athletics
Posted in Leisure, Sports, Television, tagged "going green", Africa, Bloodsport, brock lesnar, clinton portis, dallas cowboys, dan severn, dustin hazelett, energy conservation, frank dux, jean-claude van damme, ken shamrock, kumite, MMA, monkey fighting, montage, NFL, poundings, racism, randy couture, ricardo morra, sergei eisenstein, stereotypes, synthesizers, UFC, vhs, washington redskins on November 19, 2008| 2 Comments »
What We’ve Been Watching: Special September Bumper Edition
Posted in Cinema, Fashion, Literature, Television, The Internet, tagged 007, baby boomers, big z, black sox, contemporary westerns, entourage, funny har-har, gene wilder, h & m, japan, literacy, netflix, roger deakins, yu darvish on September 16, 2008| 8 Comments »
We’ve been a little lax here at RD about keeping you up to date on things that we’ve seen. In penance, we present to you a giant-size Bumper Edition of “What We’ve Been Watching”.
Notes from NFL Sunday: Week 1
Posted in Television, tagged Baconator, Bloody Mary, Chansi Stuckey, Favre, football, Frank Thomas, Fringe, Michael Jordan, Morrissey, Naps, NFL, Olbermann, Patrick, Philly Cheese Steak, Sunday, The Death of Tom Brady on September 9, 2008| 5 Comments »
Eric sat around all day Sunday watching the NFL. Observations within (mostly non-football related).
What We’ve Been Watching, August 25, 2008
Posted in Cinema, Literature, Television, tagged bigelow, bubble boy, days of heaven, generation kill, henriksen, man on wire, medium cool, near dark, petit, the wire, wexler on August 25, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Hamiltons: Wizened Old Men
Posted in Cinema, Hamiltons, Television, tagged freamon, gandalf, guinness, henry fonda, Q, scully, terkel, wizened, yoda on August 23, 2008| 2 Comments »
One of the more familiar archetypes of Earth culture is the figure of the Elder, the gift-giver, the bearer of ancient knowledge: the Wizened Old Man. A staple of culture since at least the days of Homer, the Wizened Old Man has helped along narratives by imparting warnings, dispensing information, and offering counsel during trying periods. This figure has taken various forms down through the years, has mutated in different ways, but the idea remains the same. One knows it when one sees it. Here is Running Downhill’s take on the ten greatest Wizened Old Men of all time. [Editor’s note: We here at RD realize that, yes, occasionally, this figure is female, but that’s a different list for a different time. Also, we realize that this list is skewed a little towards modern culture, but that’s just because we don’t read much].
What We’ve Been Watching: Monday, August 18, 2008
Posted in Cinema, Television, tagged black book, cheadle, cronenberg, generation kill, henriksen, jesus camp, man on wire, michael phelps, mutants, near dark, olympics, reign over me, scanners, verhoeven on August 18, 2008| 3 Comments »
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