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| marantzo |
 Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 6:30 pm |
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| Robin Williams is dead. Apparently suicide. RIP |
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| daffy |
| Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 6:41 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 1939
Location: Wall Street
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 9:23 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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| Awful. I'm not a fan of the manic comedy or the sweating-the-milk-of-humanity performances, but he was a genuine talent and more than that apparently a genuinely good man. The human brain can fuck your shit up. I wish he'd been wired a little differently so that he could have been as happy as he made others. Damn. |
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-Topher |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 10:05 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| What Joe said. To the syllable. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 12:32 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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For some odd reason I picked up the latest Robin Williams film and watched it last night. The Angriest Man in Brooklyn. Not that good. The premise -- a man angers an intern into telling him he has 90 minutes to live -- is rather weak. Fortunately that's a film runtime, but then the film can't really decide whether it wants to be a family drama, social commentary, black comedy, or what.
Also, employs a creaky voice-over by different characters, and lame little happy snippets from the past to contrast the present. And that's another problem, the film more or less cops out on it's titular premise by making the Williams' character formerly a great guy/dad, only to become embittered by the death of his oldest son two years prior.
Also, Mila Kunis looks too pretty and over make-upped to be a believable medical intern. I suppose their might be doctors who wear false eyelashes, but I found it distracting. And goo thing all her make-up is waterproof because you never know when you might need to jump into the East River and come out looking good on film. There was another film recently (last year?) that used another hot young actress as a doctor. That was a better film so the hottie performance stood out more. Can't think fo the title offhand. |
Last edited by gromit on Tue Aug 12, 2014 4:29 am; edited 1 time in total
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| Befade |
| Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 2:26 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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| My grandchildren just watched him in Jumanji Saturday night. Depression is horrible. When suicide offers the only relief. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 4:01 am |
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Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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| But most of his films were rubbish. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 4:31 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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I've been struggling to think of a film of his I liked. Or a performance of his I admired. I didn't really have much opinion of Robin Williams. He had talent and was creative and mostly made movies that weren't terribly interesting to me.
I do like some of the choices he made, playing lonely or embittered middle-aged men -- Insomnia, One Hour Photo, World's Greatest Dad, Angriest Brooklyn Man, etc.
Just looking through his film credits quickly, Jakob the Liar might be my favorite. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 5:06 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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That's a good observation.
It's interesting to compare Williams film career with that of another hyperkinetic comedian, Eddie Murphy, who, arguably, was just as good an actor, but tended to settle for Eddie Murphy vehicles rather than seeking out the more challenging and less flaterring roles that Williams took on. Though in fairness, he probably had much less opportunity. |
_________________
I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 7:30 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Eddie Murphy's performances in Beverly Hills Cop and 48 HRS were better than anything Williams ever did on film. Unfortunately, Murphy never improved on these turns and got progressively worse and worse.
By far my favorite Williams film (aside from Good Will Hunting, which was not really a "Williams film") is World's Greatest Dad, a really edgy, borderline offensive, but memorably black comedy directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, who brought out something in Williams no one else ever did. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 8:15 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6958
Location: Black Hills
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| He had some good sci-fi gigs...Final Cut was fascinating, and he made good use of his experiences with depression. Also have a soft spot for The Fisher King. Am sorry, as others expressed, that "Mr. Happy" couldn't keep him happy. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 11:01 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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Thanks, Billy.
My own favorites are Garp, Popeye and Moscow on the Hudson. While I agree with most people here about Williams' choice of roles, clearly he made fairly good choices in terms of a career. The Mrs. Doubtfire-type shit resurrected his status, movies like Dead Poets Society remained touchstones in many people's lives. I liked that he would jump around between the most unlikely stuff, and even when it seemed like he could do no wrong he'd then end up in something like Toys. At least one of the "unwatchable" movies, Club Paradise, is quite good. |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 11:38 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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I haven't seen a number of his well-known films, such as Popeye, Jumanji, Patch Adams, or even Aladdin.
Moscow on the Hudson seemed like it had promise, but didn't really go anywhere or pick up. At least that's my recollection -- it's been a while.
I think i felt mostly the same about Garp.
I mostly liked World's Greatest Dad, even if it is a little hazy in my mind.
Could stand for a re-watch, if I can find it. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 12:22 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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gromit wrote: .....Moscow on the Hudson seemed like it had promise, but didn't really go anywhere or pick up. At least that's my recollection....
Good Will Hunting is easily my favorite Williams work. He and Matt Damon created what was a tricky pair. It may be far from psychiatric practice as some have claimed, but dramatically it was convincing. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 12:33 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Since we're being honest here, I will confess that Popeye and Dead Poets Society are two of my all-time least favorite movies. |
Last edited by billyweeds on Tue Aug 12, 2014 1:34 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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