When Batman Begins wrapped with the Joker tease, I about giggled myself into a coma. I wanted the next movie to start right then. Cut to a few years later and I’m reading for a part in The Dark Knight… then getting the part… then finding out I get to be one of the Joker’s crew…
William "Sandy" Smillie
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The Young Lions
I’ve seen A Streetcar Named Desire, The Godfather, and On The Waterfront, as well as some of the crap he put out later in life (I’m looking at you, The Island of Dr. Moreau.) I sincerely believe that his work in The Young Lions is better than all of them. Not only does he blow Dean Martin (arguably the era’s king of charisma) off the fucking charm map whenever he’s in frame, he makes you forget that Montgomery Clift is even in the movie. He’s that good. That subtle. That impossible to not watch.
The Deer Hunter
I avoided watching The Deer Hunter for… my entire life… because I knew just enough about it to know that I was not going to walk out whistling a happy tune. It takes a pretty big act of will for me to go into a theatre or sit down in front of the TV for three hours knowing that, in the end, no one really gets out alive.
There Will Be Blood
In addition to providing some of the most memorable moments in recent film history (including the T-shirt destined “I drink your milkshake! I drink it up!” and one of the best final shots/lines I’ve ever seen), this movie is a friggin’ masterpiece of storytelling beginning to end. And that’s actually a major point; this movie is all about the story.
No Country for Old Men
No Country For Old Men is the second best movie I’ve seen this year, There Will Be Blood (also a Paramount Vantage release) being the best. But man, it’s by a hair. A split hair. I’m actually kind of looking forward to reviewing a movie that I don’t like, only because I’m afraid I’m going to start sounding like a cheerleader for the film industry as a whole. Shitting on a film will have to wait, however, since this movie is a gem.
Learn to Type
“Learn to type.”
That’s what they told you, right? Or, “Get used to waiting tables.” Yeah, fuck that… The subtextual implication of the statement, “Learn to type,” is that in order to pursue your acting career, you have to scrape by with a low-wage, dead-end job. That, my friends, is a great big pile of horseshit.
Auditioning with a Hangover
Just about every Thursday night, the boys and I get together and play poker in my buddy’s basement. It is the quintessence of masculine bonding, with an occasional intellectual twist. We talk about sex. We boast about or explain away fights we’ve been in. Oprah-like, we discuss the books we’ve been reading. We make fun of each other’s taste in music. And we drink. Man, do we drink. Which would be fine, if we all didn’t have to get up for work in the morning.
Don’t Be A Tool
You can’t effect whether or not someone likes the way you look. You can’t do a thing about it if your style of acting is not what someone else prefers. The shitstorm of a relationship your director is in the process of ending is completely outside of your ability to control. But you can be pleasant to be around. If you just make it a point to bring your best self to the show every time, you should be fine.
Listen To What I’m Not Saying
Too often, actors seem compelled (or are directed) to “fill in the gaps” or “take out the air”. To be fair, sometimes they’re right. “Move it along, already” is rarely a bad direction. The thing is, silence is only a “gap” when it’s devoid of anything useful. There are plenty of examples of completely riveting silence.