Thursday, April 03, 2008

Vacancy - Frank Whaley and Luke Wilson

Vacancy

The owner of a motel scares and eventually murders his guests. All this is captured as part of a snuff movie. It’s a minimalist film with a simple plot. The girl character in the few minutes of the film was not that interesting. Sometimes its nice when all the characters are tight from start to finish. But once they reached the motel, everything flowed quite well under the direction of Nimrod Antal.. Ha ha, his name is Nimrod. Actually he is Hungarian, so perhaps Nimrod means something else in Hungary.

Nimrod Antal Hungarian Director Vacancy and Control Frank Whaley Actor Vacancy and Cold Doug Soup
Nimrod Antal ------------------------ Frank Whaley


The innkeeper is an eccentric evil man played by the actor Frank Whaley. Some might remember Frank Whaley as a young boy in the movie, Cold Dog Soup - another good movie with Randy Quaid. Randy Quaid is yet another under-rated actor, who is more known to be the brother of Dennis Quaid.

Anyway in Vacancy, Frank Whaley is unrecognizable with an odd moustache and sinister glasses. Whaley’s excellent performance as a quiet and vile killer is what made the movie worth watching.

Luke Wilson, whom I first saw in the movie Idiocracy was also acting.
In acting a character, the actor has to bring out what he has inside to play the character. There are many actors who try to play characters, but because they don’t have much of a character to begin with, their pissy-ness and whiney-ness is very vivid on screen, if its not that, then their arrogance is painted all over.

Luke Wilson Texas Billionaire Vacancy
Luke Wilson

Strangely enough, Luke Wilson is NOT like that. He plays his characters quite well. I can thus conclude that contrary to popular belief, being the son of a Texas billionaire does not necessarily make you an arrogant whiny ass…

Of course I conclude each post by stating that if you are interested in finding more about me and my one-lady sketch comedy films, visit my main website www.msdivine.net and watch some of my little sketches and films online.

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Tuesday, October 16, 2007

John Landis @ The Pioneer Theater in New York City

John Landis stopped by the Pioneer Theater to introduce one of his older movies, An American Werewolf in London. He is a very lively enthusiastic and entertaining speaker.

John Landis reminisced about his days in London where you can go to a movie theater and see old roadrunner cartoons in perfect print. Unfortunately luxuries like that do not exist anymore, but it was nice to hear somebody else especially a movie director who can value the beauty and humor in old cartoons and enjoy the experience of seeing it on the big screen.

John Landis and Ray Privett at Pioneer Theater in NYC
John Landis and Ray Privett.

Ray Privett is the creative programming director of the Pioneer Theater.
The Pioneer Theater is a small quaint theater located on the lower east side of Manhattan. They show a variety of films that range from underground cult classics to independent films.

My one-lady sketch film A Most Particularly Peculiar Bank Heist was screened in November 2005.

The Pioneer (aka The Two Boots Pioneer) is one of the few movie theaters that actually has a genuine interest in art and film as opposed to many other organizations that are only interested in making profit or following some sort of trend. The greed for money is what kills art...

John Landis w Ray Privett and Maniac Cop 3 Guy
The Heads of John Landis, Ray Privett and William Lustig (director of Maniac Cop).

This picture of The Heads was my favorite. The seriousness of their expressions look quite interesting. After the flash went off, there was this strange silence. But I was chuckling in my head how strange all these heads sitting together looked like.

I regret not taking more pictures of movie director, William Lustig of Maniac Cop.
I didn't know it was him because I heard that he was driving John Landis and his wife around town. But anyway, I always enjoyed the Maniac Cop movies. The crazy and interesting characters of the bad guys was something that I always liked watching. He also directed Uncle Sam, another good movie. I wish I had shook his hand atleast..
But good thing I snapped that picture of Mr.Lustig's head. It was his head that actually gave me the idea to take a picture of everybody's heads. William Lustig is actually quite friendly and jolly looking. His head also has an interesting shape...

John Landis w Ms Divine, Performance Artist of Tee Hee Heure - one lady sketch comedy films
John Landis and Ms Divine

One of my favorite movies is 3 amigos directed by John Landis. I was just a little girl when I saw it, but I remember it so vividly.
Other movies that I enjoyed that were directed by John Landis were The Blues Brothers, Trading Places and Coming to America.

Movies by John Landis that I am looking forward to watch are Schlock (1973), The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), and The Stupids (1996).

John Landis just finished a documentary film Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project – a documentary about the comedian Don Rickles.

Of course if you are interested in finding more about me and my one-lady sketch comedy films, visit my main website www.msdivine.net and watch some of my little sketches and films online.

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