Tag Archives: Rushmore

In Memorium: Tony Scott AKA ‘Top Gun’ and the Need for More Than Speed

Ask us what our three favorite movies are. Go ahead. Ask us.

Number one would probably be Wayne’s World. That’s just our movie. The one of which we know every word. The one we would just play over and over again the background, as if it was our Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The third movie we’d list would probably be Tombstone or Rushmore, depending on what kind of mood we were in or the audience we were with or if there was someone we were trying to impress; Tombstone if we wanted to seem more original, more honest, more badassRushmore if we wanted to seem more intellectual, more sophisticated, more melancholy. But the second movie on our list would no doubt be Top Gun, the Tony Scott film that was played on repeat during our childhood and pretty much taught us what an action movie should be: adrenaline-fueled, testosterone-soaked, hyperactive, supercharged, bombastic, loud, and frenetic, a visceral thrill ride. It essentially defined 80s popcorn blockbusters. In fact, it kinda defines the 80s. And maybe that’s why it’s so significant to us, why we still hold on so dearly to Scott’s definitive film (with all apologies to Crimson Tide and True Romance, and no apologies to anything from Scott’s later collaborations with Denzel Washington).

But it’s more than that. Maybe ‘Top Gun’ is just good.

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Filed under Crucial Taunt, In Memoriam, Nostalgia Corner, The Big Screen

Terry Gross Interviews Jason Schwartzman, Gets EVEN Closer to the Judd Apatow Chart

Around this time last year Fresh Air host Terry Gross interviewed directors Judd Apatow and Wes Anderson, asserting her place on the Judd Apatow Chart.  Last week she welcome Jason Schwartzman, who appeared in both films the directors discussed with Gross last fall, those being Funny People and The Fantastic Mr. Fox respectively.  Now that Gross has interviewed all three talents it’s clear now that she’s really angling to be included on our Apatow web. Well, Terry, you keep at it, and next time we do an update we’ll see what we can do.  If you could somehow finagle an appearance in one of their movies that would certainly be a big boost to your chances.

In addition to discussing his roles in Apatow and Anderson’s films, Schwartzman also talks about Bored to Death, as well as what it was like growing up in the Coppola family, so if you have 45 minutes, it’s worth a listen.

Listen to the Fresh Air Interview with Jason Schwartzman

 

And to stimulate your visual cortex, here’s a couple of our favorite Schwartzman moments:

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Filed under Flashback!, Judd Apatow, Marconi & Cheese, Team Zissou

It’s One Thing To Mess With Roman Polanksi, But Seymour Cassel? No!

Bert & MaxWell, no, Seymour Cassel has not been detained by Swiss officials on 32-year-old charges of raping a 13-year-old girl.  He has, however, been suspended from the Screen Actors Guild after being found guilty of “conduct unbecoming of a member,” stemming from a May incident in which he allegedly sexually harassed staff members during a May meeting.  It should be noted that he was found guilty by an “internal trial board,” so it seems that SAG is its own sovereign nation or is part of the fleet of human survivors fleeing the Cylon pursuit.

It’s just hard to believe that this kind of behavior is capable by the man who stole our (my) heart as Bert Fischer, beloved father of Max and devoted husband to the late Eloise (in Jumped The Snark favorite Rushmore).

Oh no! Apparently him and Polanksi are buds.  Maybe this isn’t so outrageous after all.

Well, hopefully the only thing they have in common is a love for cigars.

Let’s just cross our fingers that Wes Anderson doesn’t shoot his next film in Switzerland (although even if he does Anderson might not show either).

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Filed under Team Zissou, The Big Screen, Who's the Boss?