RIP Robin Williams

"Death to Smoochy" is so overrated in certain circles. Just because something is cynical doesn't inherently make it good.

yeah, witness The Wolf of Wall Street

i tried to watch death of smoochy but i hate devito's directorial style (much the same reason i hate later mike nichols)

that pic with bellow!

it's not a real movie thread till someone points out that pauline kael didn't like some movies

he has such an odd voice -- not just the way he uses it, but the actual timbre of his voice -- that i was forever wondering what strange part of the country produced that accent. of course, he's from chicago. he just talks like no one else. talked. RIP.

when as a kid I realized who Bono was I thought Robin Williams could play him.

xps lol, i know, she's instant flame-bait. while dissing Good Morning Vietnam, she also has to crap on Planes Trains and Automobiles too

i find one-hour photo pretty much unwatchable. it's not that over-art-directed, studied solemnity that seems to afflict a lot of features made by music-video directors.

by a lot i guess i mean, mark romanek's and anton corbijn's.

xp Alfred, my little group of high school friends initially referred to Bono as 'Mork From Cork'.

I just found OHP unwatchable because it was too uncomfortable. I hate being made to squirm in my chair.

Video directors also tend to overscale scenes.

guy dies, wankers crawl all over youtube taking stuff down. i'm not happy. butthatsjustme.

Video directors also tend to overscale scenes.

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, August 13, 2014 3:43 PM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

overscale, or just overwork

fincher is guilty of this too in a way, but he's a lot smarter than those other guys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wCUcepbflA

one hour photo is amazing, i love movies that make me squirm in that way. not gore, but deep creep. one of the most profoundly disturbing movies i've ever seen. love it.

agree.

Just watched The Fisher King again, maybe for the first time since its original run. Wow, I forgot just how Gilliam-y it is, to the extent I can't believe it was a hit. ( was it?) Anyway, performances are so good all around. Forgot so much of this, from the train station waltz to Williams going the Full Robin.

I saw it in rep a few years ago as part of a Jeff Bridges series, and I don't think most us were ready to see Williams' Wang up on the big screen.

Richard LaGravenese wrote it, and he's good at unexpected and oddly timed exchanges b/w characters. The stuff involving Plummer-Williams-Ruehl-Bridges is terrific. The rest is too Gilliam-y, a director I don't much like.

it's not a real movie thread till someone points out that pauline kael didn't like some movies

― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Wednesday, August 13, 2014 3:59 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Since the seal's been broken, she liked both The Best of Times and The Survivors. Do I need to see these?

the former? yes

The latter? Yes.

When Robin Williams was in Seattle filming World's Greatest Dad, he crashed a comedy night at Rebar: http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/robin_williams_crashes_laff_hole

He was also a regular donor to the West Seattle Food Bank: http://westseattleblog.com/2014/08/remembering-robin-williams-his-west-seattle-food-bank-benefits-also-how-to-get-help-if-you-need-it/

The stuff involving Plummer-Williams-Ruehl-Bridges is terrific.

isn't this the entire cast

aside from whoever plays the burning equestrian avatar of psychosis

I saw Toys at the cinema. I think I remember really liking it at the time, tempted to rescreen.

Am guessing I would swiftly regret it tho.

now wondering how come he never played a Burton batman villain

was he not in line to play the riddler at some point? before carey?

One Hour Photo is utter crap bar Williams' performance btw

The stuff involving Plummer-Williams-Ruehl-Bridges is terrific.

isn't this the entire cast

Some random familiar faces in this, too, like David Hyde Pierce and Tom Waits. But yeah, the four person axis is pretty much everybody and all the speaking roles, save Michael Jeter, who is also pretty intense in this.

it's just outrageously corny and hence untruthful

I meant the four of'em together, which takes almost an hour to happen.

xpost That's one of the many things so strange about the movie. Like I said, it was way more Gilliam-y than I remembered, but the story did not necessarily call for the Gilliam touch. So there are these weird glimmers of fantasy and ... not truth, interspersed with these moments of raw emotion. Very awkward, precarious mix. I mean, jeez, there is a scene where Robin Williams' wife's brains are blown out all over his face.

i saw a similar brains-blowing scene the other night in Raul Ruiz's City of Pirates, a much funnier film

anyway, which of RW's standup lines have been repeated most often? I think "Cocaine is God's way of telling you you're making too much money."

God fucked up and creating the platypus.

Or was that George Carlin.

Another wrinkle:

Robin Williams Had Early Parkinson's, Wife Says

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/robin-williams-death/robin-williams-had-early-parkinsons-wife-says-n180826

Wau

:(

i wondered whether health news had inspired this

the guy was already walking on a wire when he COULD be constantly active

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XiooG_Zrmc

anyway, which of RW's standup lines have been repeated most often?

Among Reagan-era early teens, the "heat-seeking moisture missile" one.

http://petapixel.com/2014/08/14/photographer-photographs-two-mimes-1974-realizes-35-years-later-one-robin-williams/

awesome

I rescreened The Best of Times last night. Still holds up. I forgot the Under Fire team of Roger Spottiswoode and Ron Shelton directed and wrote it, which explains how well drawn the townspeople are.

I once dated someone who had a family connection to Taft, CA where The Best Of Times was filmed. Underrated movie and does get a little bit of the town's feel
http://www.turnto23.com/news/local-news/taft-has-special-connection-to-robin-williams-williams-filmed-one-of-his-earlier-films-there-081214

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_LA4gJeCio