I was on my way home this morning from a screening (that had been canceled last-minute due to a problem with the print or something). I decided to swing by Caroline’s Comedy Club on Broadway and 50th on my way back to the bus. There was a small tribute to Robin Williams taped up on the outside wall. Pictures of him as Mork. A picture of Johnny Carson wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. A quote from Robin Williams:
“You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.”
The folks at the Comedy Club must have just put it up when they got to work that morning. Someone had placed some sunflowers beneath the taped-up photos. I am sure there will be more flowers placed throughout the day. Something about there being only a couple of sunflowers there made the moment even more emotional.
So sad. I loved him in dramas even more than the comedies. One Hour Photo, The Final Cut, Insomnia, Good Will Hunting, the man could flat out act. And I know there has been serious backlash on Dead Poets Society over the years but I still love that movie as well. Seize the Day.
And in case you didn’t see it, MZS reviewed a documentary on the real people Dog Day Afternoon was based on, figured I’d mention it since I know how much you love that one. Good to take your mind off things.
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-dog-2014
Todd – yes, I loved him in dramas, too, all of the ones you mention. The Fisher King is one of my favorite movies, and he is amazing in it (in the post below this one I mentioned that a friend of mine, who is a therapist, says that his scenes were shown in a class she took on PTSD because it was so accurate, what he was doing.)
So sad.
I read all the stuff on Rogerebert.com – seems like good manners, since my stuff is there too. :) I saw the trailer for “Dog” and got super excited. That’s the guy I wanted to write to after I first saw the movie when I was 12! Nutty!! It’s playing at the IFC Center here – gonna try to catch it in the theatre.
Loved Matt’s review! I loved his insights.
Yeah, I figured you would have seen it! I am fascinated by that story, must seek out the film.
I need to watch The Fischer King again, i probably don’t appreciate it as much as I should.
Mercedes Ruehl. She would never get that role if the film was made now. Emma Stone would. Nothing wrong with Emma Stone. I love her. But Mercedes Ruehl is a woman with a capital W. Big tits, big hips, in her 30s, and her own freakin person. I love her performance – and the truly ADULT relationship she has with Bridges’ character. Bridges is devastating in it, and Robin Williams is just amazing. (Stephanie Zachariek’s piece in the Village Voice really put into words for me why that performance is so special.)
That movie is really important to me. Not sure why. It just speaks to me!
Here’s Stephanie’s piece.:
http://www.villagevoice.com/2014-08-06/film/robin-williams-could-always-find-the-raw-seriousness-in-his-comedy/
I know you have touted it in the past, I don’t know why it didn’t make a bigger impression on me, I must have seen it on an off night (for me). I will check it out again.
Mercedes Ruehl is awesome. Married to the Mob! And I just saw The Warriors again recently, and did not realize before she has a bit part as the Cop who busts James Remar and handcuffs him to the park bench. She has an amazing screen presence.
Oh, and we were talking sixties movies a while back, well I saw one from 1977 that blew me away, Sorceror, directed by William Friedkin, starring Roy Scheider. GREAT movie, they really DO NOT make them like that anymore. Recently re-released on Blu-Ray after vanishing for many years, well worth checking out.
Oh yeah, Sorcerer has been a favorite of mine! That bridge scene. Holy mackerel. It’s been a lot of fun to see it get all this press because of the Blu-Ray release – I wrote about it when Roy Scheider died, I think. But, you know, for years it was this weird movie that no one had even heard of. Great film. And Friedkin’s stories about the trailer for Star Wars playing before Sorcerer – and he knew his goose was cooked. Or so the story goes.
Here’s the Star Wars story – you’ve probably heard it before.
http://www.sheilaomalley.com/?p=55046
I wrote a little bit about Sorcerer here – http://www.sheilaomalley.com/?p=7803 – mainly focusing on that crazy bridge scene. So glad you saw it!
I haven’t seen the newly released version of Sorcerer though – are there good special features??
There is a 40 page booklet excerpted from Friedkin’s memoirs, which i have not read yet, but that’s about it. But it’s a directors cut, and from what I understand, it added back much footage from what has previously been shown, particulary 4 prologues of the 4 “drivers” and how they all wound up in that South American hell hole.
Yeah it got creamed by Star Wars, and count me as one of those who never even heard of it until this rerelease. Great that it is getting a “2nd life” now, I LOVED it.
Amazing film, right?? It was basically a “lost” film until this re-release – crazy ambitious, dark, muddy …
Can’t wait to see the director’s cut.
and will definitely keep an eye out for a theatrical re-release – at a Friedkin festival or whatever – because I think it would be absolutely overwhelming on a big screen.
Oh yeah, it would play awesome on the big screen or even an IMAX. You can FEEL the rain in that movie. There is a visceral quality to that film that simply does not exist anymore.
That’s what I was trying to get at in my blithering post about the bridge sequence. It looks 100% dangerous. It probably is, you know?
Yeah, I think I read that the truck fell in the water several times during filming, it’s one of those movies where you would not be surprised at all if you found out someone was killed making the movie.
That’s an amazing quote from Robin Williams. So simple and so true. I’m hanging on to it.
I know, right? Protect that spark!