BILL PAXTON POLL

http://www.criminalcomplex.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/paxton.jpg

bill pullman poll tbh

<3

was he really close buds w/ arnold for a while or something?

huh tough choice b/w weird science, aliens, near dark, a simple plan, and frailty

1985 Weird Science - Chet Donnelly

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/80s/sites/tampabay.com.blogs.80s/files/images/typepad-legacy-files/52199.6a00d83451b05569e20133edbc8aec970b-450wi.jpg

I'd love to give this to Frailty, but there's no way I can't not vote for Chet.

<3 u Chet

http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/6300000/Chet-weird-science-6347974-450-336.jpg

Thank you for the SK3-D bolding.

A Simple Plan for me. Though Chet is alltime.

top 10, while admitting I've yet to see Weird Science:

1986 Aliens - Private Hudson
1987 Near Dark - Severen
1991 The Dark Backward - Gus
1992 One False Move - Dale 'Hurricane' Dixon
1992 Trespass - Vince
1997 Traveller - Bokky
1998 A Simple Plan - Hank
2001 Frailty - Dad Meiks
2004 Club Dread - Coconut Pete
2006 Big Love - Bill Henrickson

(I actually voted for Aliens though.I mean, come on.)

was waffling between dark backward (which doesn't have enough of him, sadly) and terminator for the 10th spot

http://www.horrordvds.com/reviews/n-z/nd/nd_shot6l.jpg

Chet or Hudson, but boy is he - everyone - incredible in A Simple Plan, one of the most underrated films of all time.

heart says aliens, brain says frailty. which he directed so its like a double shot of paxton. or something

Frailty is my favorite of his "dark side of apple pie" performances, but Near Dark is so badass and Club Dread is so ridiculous I'm stuck between those three.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPn33kAtdLU

well i threw my vote to frailty because i want it to get at least one

since i can assume near dark will have supporters, i'll make sure coconut pete avoids the goose-egg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOVx5wDp3dY

We can't overlooks this epic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRMcnr-OeZ8

Paxton! Bigelow! Directed by Cameron!

i only recently discovered the cover of that martini ranch album

http://www.martiniranchmusic.com/mot_images/DSC_holycow.jpg

Holy Cow!

that's not a cow but a cowmera.

lol, was just going to post "Reach", what an amazing time capsule that is

xps - that is kind of brilliant tbh

not a movie, but in my mind the ultimate Bill Paxton role:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq0OsPZIlgw

saw Club Dread in the UK with a friend. There were only 5 people in the cinema and i was the only one (being from Alabama) that thought the whole Coconut Pete thing was really funny.

this is really tough. he's great in everything, but at the same time i dont think hes ever really had a killer role. i always respected Twister for attempting to make him a leading man. he's actually great in Titanic! i cant think of any of these, that i've seen, where he doesn't bring his Prime Paxton to the table, so really im just choosing fav movie or fav role

Chet or Hudson, but boy is he - everyone - incredible in A Simple Plan, one of the most underrated films of all time.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, February 29, 2012 2:17 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

yeah totally. would've voted for it in the 90s redux poll if it happened

The toughest poll I've ever voted in.

i should watch 'a simple plan' again -- saw it in the theater in college & do remember liking it but i dragged a girl w/ me 2 see it who ridiculed me endlessly for picking it, esp abt the end of it

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Hank was robbed.

really feeling him in Aliens now, wish I hadn't voted for Chet

we're allll gonna diiiiiiiieeee maaaaaaaaaaaaaaannn

i still would've voted for the "fish heads" video had it been listed.

Too bad this didn't happen before the poll: http://www.avclub.com/articles/bill-paxton,75626/

Weird Science (1985)—“Chet Donnelly”
BP: I forgot his last name! [Laughs.] Chet was one of those things… I remember the audition. John Hughes had a bungalow—they’ve all been torn down to make room for the rides they keep building over there at Universal—and I remember coming over to read for that in his office. I had a good reading, and I got a callback, and I decided to start riffing a little bit on the dialogue, kind of coming up with my own versions of some of the stuff, and I really think that is what endeared me to John Hughes. I beat a few people out for that part, and I got invited to hang out at that bungalow, and that’s when I first met Anthony Michael Hall. They were very close at the time. And I remember John saying one day—we were still in early rehearsals and pre-production and starting to come over for fittings and stuff, and he wanted to screen Michael The Breakfast Club, which had just been finished, and was just about to come out. So we went over to the Hitchcock theater on the lot, and I watched The Breakfast Club with Michael Hall the first time he saw it, and John sat in with us. So that was an experience.

We had a great time making the film. The biggest thing I remember was that we started the picture in Chicago, and we all were staying at the Skokie Hilton, and I was staying there with Robert Downey and a guy named Robert Rusler, another actor, and Michael Hall and Ilan [Mitchell-Smith]. I remember my first day on the set, I was in the makeup trailer, they were shooting something else, and the first shot I did for the movie was when I come back after I’ve been duck-hunting, and they’ve had the wild party, and I pull up in my Blazer, and I get out, and I’ve got my shotgun and some duck I’m holding by the neck. And I remember being in the makeup trailer, I knew the makeup artist—Michael Germain, I’d worked with him before—and I told him I wanted to do a haircut that was really intense. And he’s the one who suggested the flattop, but long on the sides and slicked back. [Laughs.] And he was afraid he was going to lose his job to cut it like that without having it approved by the producer or the director, but I said, “Just do it.” Because I had kind of this militaristic outfit on, y’know, his hunting outfit, but I needed the hair to set it off. And when I came on the set in character with that haircut, John just fell out of chair and went, “Oh my God, it’s great!” John loved the character I created for that movie so much that he modeled the older brother in Home Alone after Chet. In fact, it’s almost like he said to the guy, “Just watch Bill Paxton in Weird Science, and you’ll have the part.”

I was offered a small part—the part Richard Edson did—as the parking attendant in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and I should’ve done it, but at the time… Y’know, I’d done a bigger supporting role in Weird Science, so I was trying to hold out for something a little better. But I think that might’ve… I never heard from John after that. I think that put the kibosh on my career with him. I was sad to hear he had passed away. I’d always wanted to write him, just to tell him how much the role of Chet had meant to me, both personally and to my career. It’s really what led me to get Aliens. I knew Jim Cameron, and I had auditioned for Jim that summer when I was visiting my girlfriend in England. I was on a list of, I think, about 12 other actors, and Scott Rudin was the head of casting at Fox at the time, and Jim had been away in England for probably a couple of months in pre-production, and when Weird Science came out, he hadn’t seen it. So when my name came up, Scott Rudin said, “Well, Bill’s getting some really good notices for this John Hughes comedy that’s out right now.” And Jim said, “Well, Bill’s a friend, I’d love to use him if the studio’ll approve it.” And they said okay. So it meant a lot to me.

Now, mind you, it’s a role I’ll never live down, because people like to bust actors like me and take us down by saying, [sneers] “Oh, yeah, Chet in Weird Science.” It’s a passive-aggressive thing. But I’m very proud of Chet. One thing about Chet was, he might’ve been an A-hole, but he was an A-hole you respected. [Laughs.] If I do a thousand movies, it’ll probably still be at the top of my obituary, but so be it. I’m very proud of the fact that I created a character with the help of John Hughes that became part of the zeitgeist, part of the popular culture.

Paxton is such a cool dude.

I interview the guy once, and halfway through he basically just said "enough about me! let's talk about you!" And we just hung and chatted for an hour.

You know you can count on Bill Paxton to flash a full smile with natural teeth in 2012

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BODczNDEzNTk0M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjkzMTA3Nw@@._V1._SX640_SY857_.jpg

<3 you bill paxton

there should be more dudes like Bill Paxton in the world

there is, he's called Bill Pullman

RONG

Y'all know about that History Channel miniseries he and Kevin Costner did about the Hatfields & McCoys? I think it just started last night.

it's on my DVR waiting for me to start watching tonight. I set my my TiVo as soon as I saw Paxton was in it :D

Not sure why One False Move didn't make an impression on me when it came out--really liked it this time. Thorton's scary, but it was the guy who played Pluto who really impressed me. And whatever happened to Cynda Williams? Great here, great in Mo' Better Blues.

rewatched frailty a couple of weeks ago, it was not as good as it was in my memory - great concept but i had completely blocked the mcconnaughey framing device and plot twist

It is a great little noir that I would deffo watch again.

Carl Franklin's other noir from the 90's Devil in a Blue Dress is also underrated imo

Paxton also what I would call "attainably handsome"
Like, handsome but in a real-world way.

Seems v charming & laid back from interviews

*seemed :(

his marc maron interview from a little while back is worth a listen - he's got some great stories (including the JFK one mentioned earlier) and seems like an awesome guy. he spends a lot of time talking about his dad, who he had a great relationship with, and who lived well into his eighties so it somehow seems a bit sadder that his son only made it to 61 :(

i need to listen to it, i have it saved & never got around to it

i think people always forget about A Simple Plan because i guess some might consider it the poor man's Fargo or whatever, but I think it's a better film w/equally good performances.

https://twitter.com/therealjuicyj/status/835932004340350977

dying of surgical complications is a frikkin nightmare (assuming it was an otherwise routine op)

Bill Mumy from FB:

Eileen and I are shocked to tears. Devastated to hear Bill Paxton is gone. Billy was an integral part of our world for many years. There would be no Fish Heads success or Barnes & Barnes films without Billy's positive, boundless energy and tenacious follow through. Billy pushed us to make the film and he quickly took it to SNL and got it on the show. In a world of talkers, Billy was a doer. Eileen gave him a job packing Jane Fonda's Workout books and vinyl albums and tapes as he did odd jobs when he started acting professionally. He was even a paperboy and made a short film, "Scoop", about that experience. He was always enthusiastic and ready to go. He was limitless. We made four Barnes & Barnes films with Billy and he was always fearless and brilliant. A sweet, funny, talented actor who loved the Golden Age of showbiz and especially Buster Keaton. Although our relationship had become one of Christmas card exchanges and an occasional phone chat, Billy was family. Our deepest condolences and love to Louise, James & Lydia.
We are utterly shattered by this...

R.I.P. Brother...

It's pretty much a pulp movie but Bill Paxton kind of recaptures a bit of the Chet/Private Hudson vibe playing the skeevy bad guy in '2 Guns'. His part is really entertaining and you can tell he enjoyed playing a schmuck.

2 Guns is pretty underrated actually

i think people always forget about A Simple Plan because i guess some might consider it the poor man's Fargo

or given that it's not a snarky farce, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

listening to the WTF interview finally and i cannot control my OMG MARON WOULD YOU JUST LET THE GUY FUCKIN TALK

usually it doesnt bug me as much but dude is such a natural storyteller quit steppin all over him lol

This was pretty great:

http://gizmodo.com/storm-chasers-unite-to-give-bill-paxton-an-epic-tribute-1792765560

awwwwww <3

Like Ned, I didn't see this thread. Here's the link to the Dean Delray interview from late January that I posted on the other one. If you're not familiar with Dean, his voice might be a little grating, but he and Paxton had some background together and they were really simpatico.

https://soundcloud.com/deandelray/324-bill-paxton

Didn't know he was in Stripes, will have to look out for him next time

Another interview, this time with PFT,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XxgEFe9OJk

roundup of obit/tribute links

Paxton will soon be seen “playing Emma Watson’s father in The Circle, James Ponsoldt’s adaptation of Dave Eggers’s paranoid drama about the goings-on inside a mysterious and powerful tech company."

https://www.fandor.com/keyframe/bill-paxton-1955-2017

ohhhh i saw a trailer for that, looks weird

listening to the WTF interview finally and i cannot control my OMG MARON WOULD YOU JUST LET THE GUY FUCKIN TALK

usually it doesnt bug me as much but dude is such a natural storyteller quit steppin all over him lol

― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, February 26, 2017 4:55 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

tbf this is the problem with every single WTF interview

yeah that's true, it just bugged me more than normal i guess lol

Check out the Delray interview I posted upthread. He still has a horrible habit of talking over his guests. To be honest he's worse than Maron with most guests. But it seems like he was actually friends with Paxton and they got into a good rhythm, I thought.

God bless the intertubes.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C5weUajWUAA80Qu.jpg

Predator?

Oh, shit, he's in the second one, isn't he?

Anyone notice that while he didn't make the formal In Memoriam montage, he did feature prominently in the scenes-from-movies Rolex ad that showed several times.

He didn't make the montage, but Jennifer Aniston did mention him during the introduction to it.

Yeah, I know. I just meant that he ended up in a prominent commercial regardless.

Wow, never realized that Paxton was the running guy in New Order's Touched by the Hand of God video! Where he makes out with Rae Dawn Chong at the end. And the video was directed by Kathryn Bigelow!

Yeah, there is a whole nexus between her, Paxton, and James Cameron, for obvious reasons.

he's everywhere I wanna be

First viewing of One False Move in maybe 26 years last night (35mm at BAM, paired with Touch of Evil). I would call it a great HUGE noir, not a little one. Doesn't seem to be at all available in the usual digital formats, but if you have a local rep screen you should badger them to show it. Excellent performances all around, and Paxton deepens the obvious elements of his role (not-too-smart sheriff in over his head).

Billy Bob Thornton's co-writing of the script and playing of Cynda Williams' psycho lover is probably his finest hour. Carl Franklin has settled into directing prestige TV, lots of "House of Cards." Should've done a lot more features.

available on amazon streaming, fwiw

oooh

Still sad about this.

"Should've done a lot more features."

I agree and One False Move is a top movie. Franklin seems to be highly regarded in the TV realm, and he has done so much directing - I don't even know what TV work of his I've seen tbh. Conversely John Dahl seemed a much lesser talent and made some so so noirs in the same era, and quite a few more features than Franklin, that weren't too good at all imo. Oh and also he ended up working on many of the same TV series as Franklin, I think.

Twister held up pretty well. Same strengths (flying cow) and weaknesses (a little repetitious at a certain point) as 20 years ago. Did get a kick out of spotting--you see him twice, about three seconds each time--Jimmy Barrett/Lynch-guy Patrick S. Fischler. He's part of the competing storm-chasing crew.

TWISTER was my favorite movie when I was 12. I was also really into weather

The effects and editing are often eye-opening. By the fifth or sixth twister, though, I'm a little exhausted. There were a couple of jokes that really made me laugh, only one of which I can remember now: Helen Hunt's long pause when Paxton tells her that his fiancée is a therapist. "Yours?"

haha, great line

phillip seymour hoffman is in this movie!

struggled with twister on rewatch a few years back - we couldn't get past how much bill is stuck repeating lines, like "we have to go! we have to go now!!!" or whatever.

PSH is actually one of the things that bugs me about the film. I don't put the blame on him--he's a great actor, and he invents a character here. But the writers treat him like a sitcom character with a signature line. Whenever they're on the road, it seems like every other scene ends with a close-up of Hoffman delivering some effusive bit of stoner-dude doggerel just before they head out.

Line I sort of remember from this movie: "When you said you chased storms for a living, I assumed it was a metaphor!"

er, tornados

That was a great line--that might have been the line I couldn't remember, but I think there was another one that made me laugh too.

Bill Paxton reflects so much of what I love about America

Game over, man

:-(

Watched 'One False Move' last night - I had never seen it (don't even remember it in theaters in my town in 92). Holy shit, great film! I'm sure my vote in this poll was 'Near Dark' role, but had I seen this, it woulda definitely been my vote.

One False Movie is great, as is his character in it