Ask 411 Movies for 2.25.08: The Column that Works for Scale
Posted by Leonard Hayhurst on 02.25.2008
Jumper, the Oscars, David Niven, Class of 1984 and unsung character actors that probably won’t win an Oscar, but should
It is with great sorrow that I announce the death of Ben Chapman. He was 79. He passed away of congestive heart failure last Thursday. Chapman played the Creature from the Black Lagoon in the land portions of that film. I had met him several times at the Monster Bash. He was always kind, gracious and loving of his fans. So often at conventions you meet celebrities with a false sense of self and their place in the world. That wasn't Ben. He was grateful for being recognized and enjoyed the chance to meet with those who remembered him and his one big movie. At the show last year, Ben took ill and wasn't able to participate on Saturday and Sunday. I heard that he was very sad about letting people down and so much wanted to put in more appearances. That's the kind of man he was and he will be missed by all who knew him or even met him briefly.
I had to get this in before the Oscars were over, but I'm sure we are all toasting No Country for Old Men. I expected a lot of wonky outcomes, so check the Oscar roundtable to see how well I did on my picks. You can also listen to last week's podcast to hear the thoughts of me, Chad Webb, Will Helm, George Sirois and a couple special ladies.
TO STREAM: Simply press the play button on the podcast player.
TO DOWNLOAD: Right click on the DOWNLOAD HERE link below and then save the mp3 file to your computer.
Please email Ashish if you experience any problems.
This week from YouTube we get David Niven telling a joke about a prawn. Yeah, it was the best I could find.
Q: Leonard, the only reason I look forward to Mondays is to read a new Ask 411 column from you! I have 2 topics for you.
1) I just got a copy of "Class of 1984" which was one of my favorite movies growing up and it's great to finally have an uncut copy on DVD. I still think the themes of the movie hold up today and I always find it odd that not many people have ever heard of it. Have you seen it and if so any trivia on it would be much appreciated.
It's also interesting that Michael Fox (before the J) ,who only had a small role, became the well known actor out of the bunch. Yes Perry King & Tim Van Patten have had success, but not a household name like Fox.
Also after looking it up on IMDB I was surprised to see that Keith Knight, who played Barnyard as well as Fink in 'Meatballs', passed away last year. He was an underrated actor who's death I don't even think you mentioned in your column lol.
2) Speaking of character actors, that got me thinking about all of those actors who you see in tons of movies. People like: Oliver Platt, John C. McKinley, David Morse, Todd Louise, Keith David and William Forsythe. My question is: though they're not box office stars who carry movies, how well are they compensated for their roles? I always hear talk of scale pay, but I don't know what that means or how much that entails. These actors really can make a bad movie good and they don't nearly get the credit that they deserve.
I hope this gives you some fodder for next week's column and please Don't You Die anytime soon!
The Danimal
A: The Class of 1984 was released in 1982 and directed by Mark L. Lester (Commando and the recent Sci-Fi channel film Pterodactyl). Andrew Norris (Perry King) is the new music teacher at an inner city school. He's shocked to see that kids have to go through a metal detector to get into the school because of the crime, drugs and violence. The school's principal (Roddy McDowell, who was the biggest name at the time) has pretty much given up, but Norris decides to fight back and goes after the gang that runs the school, led by Peter (Timothy Van Patten). Michael J. Fox plays one of the students. The movie is considered to be a loose remake of Blackboard Jungle. Screenwriter Barry Schneider was so disgusted with the violence that was added to the film that he had his name taken off the credits. You might also be interested to know that the piano piece that Peter plays in the film was written by Van Patten himself.
Two more sci-fi tinged follow ups came after in Class of 1999 in 1990, also directed by Lester, and Class of 1999 II: the Substitute in 1994.Neither of the sequels have been released to DVD in the United States, but the original film was put out in 2006.
Keith Knight died last August of brain cancer. He was 50. I didn't see anything about him passing and sorrowfully missed eulogizing him. I'm guessing he wasn't included on the Academy Awards death reel either. Knight was doing summer stock in his native Canada when he was spotted and signed to do Meatballs. In his thirty year career Knight did 160 commercials and over forty television and film appearances. Before his death he was doing voice over work in the cartoons "Erky Perky" and "Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends."
Working for scale in acting refers to the least amount of money that can be paid to one who is a member of the Screen Actor's Guild. This would go to those in bit parts and extras. This list will fill you in on the pay rates. The list of character actors you name would be making significantly more. It varies from production to production and actor to actor, but most of the guys you named are probably making around the high six digits for a major film and lower for television work or independent movies. The top actors in the world make around $20-$25 million per picture, plus more with residuals and percentage deals.
Let's look at the actors you named.
Oliver Platt: Platt was born in Canada on January 12, 1960. His mother was a social worker and his father a US diplomat. He was also the second cousin, once removed, to Princess Diana. His wife's name is Camilla and they have three children. Platt has received two Emmy nominations for his work on "Huff" and one for "The West Wing" as special council Oliver Babish. This year he received a Screen Actor's Guild nomination for playing George Steinbrenner on the "Bronx is Burning." His films include The Three Musketeers, Flatliners, Working Girl, Postcards from the Edge, Beethoven, Indecent Proposal, Benny & Joon, Executive Decision, A Time to Kill, Lake Placid, Bulworth, Bicentennial Man, Kinsey, Martian Child and the infamous Ready to Rumble.
Platt's on the right. I know it's hard to tell.
David Morse: Morse was born in Massachusetts on October 11, 1953. His mother was a schoolteacher and his father a sales manager. He is married to actress Susan Wheeler Duff. They have three children. Morse was busy in the theater scene in Boston and New York in the seventies. Thanks to his six foot four height he landed the role of a bartender turned NBA star in 1980's Inside Moves. In 1982, Morse landed a starring role on "St. Elsewhere." His career went on the slide when the series ended, but it picked back up in the mid nineties. Films since then for him include Twelve Monkeys, The Rock, Contact, The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Negotiator, the Green Mile, Proof of Life, 16 Blocks and Disturbia. He returned to television in 2002 to 2004 for "Hack." However, he received his first Emmy nomination last year for a guest spot on "House." Currently he's doing "The Seafarer" on Broadway.
Morse is on the right, again, it's hard to tell
John C. McGinley: I assume this is who you meant. He was born in New York on August 3rd, 1959. His mother was a schoolteacher and his father a stockbroker. McGinley was spotted by Oliver Stone while doing theater in New York and he signed him for Platoon. Since then he's worked for Stone in Wall Street, Any Given Sunday, Talk Radio, Born on the Fourth of July and Nixon. For the past eight years he's been a standout character on "Scrubs" as Dr. Perry Cox. He has a son with Downs Syndrome through his first wife Lauren Lambert. They divorced in 2001. In 2006 he married yoga instructor Nicole Kessler. Their first daughter Billie Grace was born February 2nd. He and Willem Dafoe own part of a SoHo Bistro.
This one is real tough, but I'm guessing McGinley is on the left here.
Todd Louiso: Again, I assume this is the guy you meant. Louiso, 37, is a Cincinnati native. His father was the Artistic Director of the Cincinnati School for the Creative and Performing Arts, which got him into acting. He directed his first film, Love Liza, in 2002. Slated for later this year is The Marc Pease Experience with Ben Stiller and Jason Schwartzman. Of acting roles he's been in School for Scoundrels, Snakes on a Plane, Thank You For Smoking, High Fidelity, Jerry Maguire, The Rock, Apollo 13 and 8 Heads in a Duffle Bag.
I'm pretty sure Louiso is the black chick.
Keith David: David was born June 4th, 1956 in Harlem. He was bit by the acting bug after playing the Cowardly Lion in a school production of "The Wizard of Oz." That took him to New York's High School for the Performing Arts and then onto Julliard. He won an Emmy in 2005 for best voice over performance (a category I didn't even knew existed) for "Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson. In 1992 he won a Tony for "Jelly's Last Jam." His strong voice often gets him voice over work and he's well remembered for the cult favorite cartoon "Gargoyles." His film work includes Platoon, The Thing, Bird, They Live, Road House, Always, The Quick and the Dead, Clockers, Volcano, Armageddon, There's Something About Mary, Requiem for a Dream, Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick and Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
Oops, that's David Keith, hold on
William Forsythe: Forsythe was born in Brooklyn on June 7th, 1955. He studied acting early in New York and then moved out to California. He's usually cast as heavies. His movies include Once Upon a Time in America, Cloak & Dagger, Raising Arizona, Extreme Prejudice, Dead Bang, Dick Tracy, Out for Justice, Stone Cold, Firestorm, American Me, The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag, Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, Virtuosity, Gotti, the Rock, Blue Streak, The Devil's Rejects and the new Halloween. He also played Al Capone on the new "The Untouchables."
Damn, that's John Forsythe. Give me a second.
We have space to kill this week. I wrote up a review of Jumper for my newspaper job that wound up not getting used. We're still working out the whole logistics of me doing reviews and a blog. So you get it here. Now you might say this is lazy of me, but aren't you the lazy ones for not sending questions? Huh, ever think of that.
Jumper Review
Release Date: Feb. 15, 2008
Genre: Fantasy Action
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Rating: PG-13 for intense action violence, some language and brief sexuality
Running Time: 88 minutes
Director: Doug Liman
Writer: David S. Goyer and Jim Uhls and Simon Kinberg from a novel by Steven Gould
Cast
David Rice: Hayden Christensen
Roland: Samuel L. Jackson
Mary Rice: Diane Lane
Griffin: Jamie Bell
Millie: Rachel Bilson
William Rice: Michael Rooker
Mr. Bowker: Tom Hulce
Rating: one star
Trivia: Tom Sturridge and Teresa Palmer were originally cast in the leads, but replaced after two months of filming.
Teleportation is the ability to appear in any location in an instant. You're in New York one moment and, with a thought, you're in Paris the next. Teen David Rice finds himself possessed with this power and spends the next eight years using it to rob banks and travel the world. His fun ends when he comes to the notice of Roland, a member of a top secret unit that tracks down and kills ‘jumpers' because they feel their power is unnatural. David runs back to his hometown of Anne Arbor and reconnects with his crush from high school, Millie. David also meets a fellow jumper in Griffin, who fills him on their powers and the people tracking them. And, somehow, David's long lost mother Mary is tied up in matters as well.
The primary positive of the film is the sharp special effects. Old editing tricks are combined with modern CGI and sound effects to make the actual act of ‘jumping' visually compelling and believable within the narrative of the film. While the ability could have been explored further, action sequences are certainly punched up by its use. However, the power itself is largely left unexplained and it leads to some inconsistencies. Sometimes the use of the power causes property damage and sometimes not. It can be inferred that this ties in with the experience and mental focus of the jumper, but if it's not directly expressed in the movie then it doesn't count.
The movie spends a little too much time on setup, but the young Millie and young David come off more interesting than their adult counterparts and perhaps the film should have been focused on David's early days with the power. With a movie like this, you have take it at face value, but that doesn't mean that poor storytelling and poorer logic can be excused. It's the type of movie where characters are as stupid or as smart as they need be at any given moment depending on what is needed to drive the story forward.
Christensen proves what was hinted at in the Star Wars films that he's a pretty boy charisma sink. Bilson has a little more presence, but her character is so poorly written that it's hard for her to overcome being the stereotypical dumb bimbo. Jackson is great in just about everything and he tries hard here, but he's given very little to work with. Roland's motivations are never explored. Lane has little more than a cameo and is severely wasted. Bell manages to add some subtext to Griffin through his performance and is by far the most exciting and compelling character.
Director Doug Liman, who helmed Mr. and Mrs. Smith and The Bourne Identity, does a good job in keeping the pacing tight and action popping, but it's all just window dressing on a bad script. Three very different screenwriters adapting the screenplay of another author appears to be too many cooks spoiling the broth. The tone and style of the film is uneven, while so much slips through the cracks on just basic storytelling and plot progression.
Countless plot points are left dangling. It's never revealed what the break in the case was that led Roland to David in the first place. Later, Roland discovers a huge secret and then doesn't act on it. The DVD should contain about three hours of deleted scenes to make sense of the narrative mess. As a feature film, it makes a better television pilot as characters are left in limbo and new plotlines are established and left open in the final moments. This was probably done for a sequel, which most likely will be direct to DVD if it does see the light of day.
