Find Famous People Fast!

Browse Bios:

News and Notes

Commentary From the Editors

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Movie Review: FAT MAN AND LITTLE BOY

Paul Newman Memorial Movie Review
FAT MAN AND LITTLE BOY
Viewed at home, courtesy of Netflix
Meal: Popcorn and 2/3 of a bottle of Luzon Jumilla Spanish wine (2005)

We happened to have FAT MAN AND LITTLE BOY in the house, courtesy of Netflix, so we watched it tonight with many fond nods and mental genuflections in the direction of Westport, Connecticut and the ghost of Paul Newman.

Good grief, this movie was made 20 years ago! 1989, to be exact. Starring Paul Newman, John Cusack (he dies in the end -- oops, SPOILER), Laura Dern in a creepy Sean-Young-in-BLADERUNNER hairnet, Natasha Richardson (yes, alas) and some guy as Robert Oppenheimer, commie.

It's not a great movie. It's stylish, good-looking, and has a beautiful score by Ennio "I've Written Music for 485 Different Freaking Movies" Morricone. But... too many heroes, and of course, none of them are heroes because they're building The Atom Bombs That Will Kill 200,000 Japanese Innocents. Except of course they aren't innocents, because the Japs started the war. Except we built the bomb to beat the Krauts, not the Japs, and once we beat the Krauts we should have stopped building The Bomb! Except wait, John Cusack's brother is fighting in the Philippines and needs the bomb to get home safe! Etc, etc.

The real problem is that the movie is built around Paul Newman and his star power, and in truth he's not really the natural star of the movie. He's General Leslie Groves, the not-very-likeable Army general who pushed the whole project forward. It's just not the "star" role, frankly. Groves is the villain -- the meanie who doesn't understand sensitive genius ol' J. Robert Oppenheimer (who has a hot commie mistress in San Francisco! And they're listening in on his calls to her, the baddies! And he's tortured by building the bomb! And Bonnie Bedelia is his tortured wife with nothing to do but appear every four scenes, looking tortured!).

Then John Cusack dies in a pointless accident (oops, SPOILER!) and the bomb succeeds and Oppenheimer gets treated like dirt. The end.

Except that the guy who plays Oppenheimer, Dwight Schultz, goes on to do voices in a million video games and TV shows you've never heard of.

Well, godblessyuh, Mr. Newman, you were the greatest. And the number of clinkers you appeared in is pretty darn small. This is one of 'em, though. So long!

I give it 3 lumps of killer unstable radioactive plutonium out of a possible 9.

Labels: , , , ,

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 12:49 PM0 comments  

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Richardson Autopsy: "Blunt Impact" to the Head

The death of Natasha Richardson has been ruled an accident by the New York City medical examiner.

The cause of death was determined to be an epidural hematoma -- bleeding in the brain -- caused by a "blunt impact" to her head.

The ruling matches earlier reports of Richardson's condition. It doesn't explain how such a blunt impact could have occurred if the actress fell as described, in soft snow, on a ski slope for beginners, without hitting anyone or anything.

The Globe and Mail is also pondering the timeline from the Canadian end.

Lights on Broadway were dimmed at 8 pm on Thursday night in tribute to Richardson -- one night after the same lights were dimmed for actor Ron Silver.

Labels: ,

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 8:55 PM0 comments  

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Natasha Richardson, 1963-2009

Shocking, but now confirmed: Natasha Richardson has died, apparently of head injuries, after falling on a ski slope on Monday.

A written statement, released Tuesday night by publicist Alan Nierob, said, "Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha. They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time." Nierob did not announce a cause of death.

A few places to read more:

=> Variety has a clear and simple career overview.

=> The Daily Mail has an obituary and photos.

=> The Independent has notes on her love affair with husband Liam Neeson.

=> Scientific American reports on so-called "talk and die" syndrome, where a fall that seems at first harmless can turn fatal soon after.

Good luck, Ms. Richardson, wherever you are.

Labels: ,

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 6:49 PM0 comments  

Natasha Richardson Health Update

It's still quite confusing.

The actress was flown from Canada to New York yesterday, where she is at Lenox Hill Hospital.

At this moment there seem to be two camps of reporting. The BBC and some others are taking the "family is gathering" line. Her injuries are serious, they say, and the family is "very distressed" (the BBC) and "highly distressed" (NY Times). But that's as far as they take it.

The New York tabloids go much farther. The NY Post has been reporting since yesterday that Richardson is "brain-dead." The Daily News is running a history of her relationship with Liam Neeson which concludes, "Broadway mourns the ending of one of its favorite love stories." And so on.

[Update: Sadly, Richardson has died.]

Labels: ,

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 4:36 AM1 comments  

See all blog posts from: