Friday Fives – imitation edition

1. What accent do you imitate when you are drunk?

I quote Princess Bride far too often.  But, if I want to get into some proper mean silliness, a “Fish Called Wanda” can not be topped.  it is one of the greatest films ever!  This is not just subjective.  Kevin Kline was best supporting actor for his role as ‘Otto’.  The academy, never, ever gives out awards for Comedy.  To my knowledge  Kevin Kline and Alan Arkin (for Little Miss Sunshine) are the only best supporting actors for comedy roles.

Watch this clip below.  Normally, I would just link to a piece.  However, this is so brilliant it must be embedded for ease of use.  Use headphones on this one

2. What about celebrities? Do you do any good celebrity imitations?

not really.  However, in the course of playing with my laptop’s webcam… to see if it worked and to see if I could upload crap, I created these two stupid gems.  Since we have already embedded instead of linking… I’ll embed here, too.

3. What celebrity to you want most to be?

Dave Grohl.  He is super funny, incredibly nice, very musically talented, and seems to be connected to everyone in music.  Plus, on the side of all that, he is a rock star for a living

4. Do you have a family member that reminds you of someone famous?

my brother looks exactly like ‘E’ from “entourage”.  I am not going to link to his picture, because he doesn’t need to be dragged in to this.  Just trust me they look similar.  Which brother you ask?  this one.

5. What movie do you watch again and again, not for the plot but because it has your favorite actor/actress?

Forrest Gump because of Tom Hanks acting.  Actually, I don’t watch it much because it is incredibly long.  I think Hanks acting job in that film, though, is the finest ever.  I have mentioned this often here, but I really like great acting.  So what is great acting, you ask?  When the actor behind the character disappears.  Meaning, any time you see Al Pacino do a character, you are seeing Al Pacino as that character.  When you see Forrest Gump, you are only seeing Forrest… not Tom Hanks playing Forrest.

For best female acting job ever > Claire Daines in (and as) Temple Grandin.

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Friday Fives

1. What is the  first song you remember hearing?

West Virginia, Mountain Mama… that John Denver song.  Don’t remember where I was, but I was a kid and we were somewhere in the woods.  It seemed I was living that song, and it was a transcendent moment.  I think it is a moment I try to relive every day living here in beautiful and amazing Colorado.

2. What is the first movie you remember seeing?

Star Wars, vaguely.  Movies haven’t really shaped me like books and music have.  I mean, a few have rocked me to the foundation:  Harold and Maude, and Forrest Gump to name a couple.

3. What is the first book you remember reading?

five were missing, or mouse on a motorcycle.  Though it has been 30 years, I have found those books as an adult and am super proud to own them.  A couple of years ago, when I finally found a copy of ‘Five were Missing‘ i read it in the tub in an hour or two.  It did not age well.  It was a revolutionary piece of literary awesomeness… at the time.  Today, it reads as something shit out in 90 minutes for 10 year olds.

4. When did you first realize the world around you?

I remember feeling profoundly different and seperated from the world at a young age.  Not alienated, mind you.  I had an awesome and fun and perfect childhood.  I just remember wondering why i thought so different from everyone.  In retrospect, I turned out mostly normal.  So, maybe everyone has those thoughts.  I don’t know, I was afraid to talk about it.   Plus, I think I may have saw a space ship when I was really young.  Problem is, I can’t be sure if it was an actual occurance or maybe a show I saw.   true story.  You are the first person I have EVER told that to.   So, don’t tell anyone.

5.  How should Carl Kipper  celebrate his AIG rewards?

Carl was a hard worker.  Carl bust his ass every single day why you sat in your cubile and played solitare.  Carl is the reason any of us still have a job.  So, let’s just quit the blame game and put his stapler in jello again.

Briefly, the Oscars

The Oscars were right tonight. They were right to award ‘Crash‘ best picture, and not Brokeback Mountain. I will tell you why, first… I have seen both. I thought Brokeback Mountain on the whole sucked. It had nothing to do with the gay at all. I didn’t like it because the storyline went nowhere, and certainly never got resolved. Our characters did not grow as people over the story, either. It was half-acted, in my eyes. The best thing about that movie was the way it was filmed, which was crazy impressive. How that movie wasn’t nominated for ‘best cinematography’ is beyond me (as are many things).

That being said, I just watched Crash last weekend. I don’t even remember it being in the theaters, or a single commercial for it. Too bad, because that film was amazing. After I watched that film, I felt like I had been punched in the gut to hard I couldn’t breathe. The acting was phenomenal, the writing was brilliant, the story was fascinating, and it kept being important until the end. It reminded me of Magnolia in the way it was a true ensemble cast. All huge stars in their own right, but only there to contribute their little bit to the story.

In fact, that is why I used to love Phillip Seymour Hoffman so much. He was a brilliant character actor, who didn’t draw too much attention. But, he handled every role with passion and finesse. Remember him in Almost Famous as Lester Bangs? Remember him as that crazed escape pervert in Cold Mountain? Remember him as that creepy caretaker in Magnolia? How about as the even creepier AD in Boogie Nights? Those were all interesting and unique characters expertly played. I just came up with those off the top of my head. He was a regular William H Macy.

I speak of him in the past tense because tonight he deservedly won Best Actor. Problem with that is… no more bit part cameos. Now he is a huge important star and can only probably do action movies going forward. Also, me may already be a Scientologist. Remember William H Macy? His name used to be the very stamp of great character acting. Sometime after Fargo he must have decided ‘fuck it, I am cashing in’. I knew that very second when I watched the engaging film ‘Cellular’ on a plane flight to London and Macy showed up to collect league minimum for a phoned in performance.

Oh, and the best acted film ever? Forrest Gump. Have a great week, and we’ll talk soon. That movie is so crazy good, though, it deserves its own entry.