Cinematical

Mr. Campbell, I hope to God, for the sake of your credibility that your lazy Walker knock was simply a lame by-product of your inability to resist the temptation of wrapping up your article with a punchline and not your honest opinion.

And if it actually is, I'll continue to give you some headway and assume that you simply aren't familiar with Walker's filmography, post-"2 Fast 2 Furious", and somehow managed to miss "Joy Ride".

Last year was a definitely stand-out, breakout year for Paul Walker, with his small, but memorable role in "Flags Of Our Fathers", the sleeper hit, "Eight Below", and especially his performance in Wayne Kramer's wonderfully dark and entertaining modern Grimms' fairy tale, "Running Scared".

It's unfortunate that you'd resort to an unfair and untrue gag at his expense, especially now that he's going out of his way and fighting tooth and nail for choice, juicy, and challenging parts under the guidance of gifted filmmakers.

I'm sorry but this kinda stuff gets under my skin as irritatingly as incredibly uninspired and inaccurate talent-void-surfer-dude jokes or "Whoa." impressions at Keanu Reeves' expense. The guy played a damn F.B.I. special agent GOING UNDERCOVER by POSING as a surfer in a legitimately great action flick early in his career. Wow. Get over it. Uggghhh.

And yea, I met Paul Walker one time (Ironically, right after "2 Fast 2 Furious"'s theatrical release, no less.) in his Huntington Beach stomping grounds, and he was an extremely friendly, easygoing guy, so yea, maybe I'm a little biased but so what?

Just do yourself a favor and look at his 2006 and what he's got in the pipeline. His performances speak for themselves.

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My name is L.G.! I like to get really, really angry about things that affect me in no way whatsoever!

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I believe Kevin Smith once wrote that the "Internet has given everybody in America a voice..." and "for some reason, everybody decides to use that voice to bitch about movies." That and sharing pornography, of course.

I'm not much for the latter but I love all things movies and this is a movie blog site, Mr. Snider, and there's a reason all the articles written by Cinematical's wonderful bloggers have a comment feature. Which also allows me to waste time dignifying your lackluster stab at a jabbing comment about my comment with yet another comment.

It's a wonderful thing, really.

Now go watch "Running Scared" and pray neither John Singleton or Paul Walker waste their time and talent on ridiculous sequels nobody asked for and nobody would ever even think about ever again if it wasn't for embarrassingly ignorant and wrong-headed lawsuits.

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All I have to say is that, yes, Paul Walker was lackluster in more than one flick that I've seen.
However, he was VERY good in one recent movie, which gives me hope for his future - Running Scared. He played that role perfectly and should be recognized.
Thanks.

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Mr. MacReady, I salute you and commend your open mind.

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Just for fun, L.G., let's take a look at what he has in the pipeline, per your suggestion: The Life and Death of Bobby Z, a movie helmed by John Herzfeld, whose resume pales even in comparison to Singleton's. Then comes The Heaven Project, directed by John Glenn. According to IMDB, Glenn is first-time director whose IMDB profile is almost empty. Yeah, he's really "fighting tooth and nail for choice, juicy, and challenging parts under the guidance of gifted filmmakers."

This a movie blog, and you're entitled to write your opinion, but please do not expect it to go unchallenged.

I would add that, although I haven't seen Running Scared, I HAVE seen Joy Ride, and afterwards I seriously considered washing my eyes with Clorox. One good movie role does not a talented actor make.

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To the author, Christopher Campbell. Not knocking you or your site and continued success to you. Just wanted to mention that while your reporting came across balanced- you have to remember what made this case newsworthy in the first place: it was the first time the EEOC had ever taken on a Hollywood labor dispute.

As you mentioned, the EEOC released a statement yesterday that they were disappointed with the ruling. For you to say that you "bet plenty of other black members" worked on that set? As a person who has worked on the Universal lot and in a Universal film, I have never seen more than 3 of any black crew on a set, and that includes craft services. I'm not saying that Universal is a racist corporation but you're presuming that there was more of a minority presence on that set of workers than you can confirm. Like, if there were a lot of Black people on that set, and he was the only one who sucked, then why was his firing a problem. It's not that simple.

Universal settled with the plaintiff. Internet wisdom and majority opinion assumes that if you settle then you were guilty in some respect. (Michael Jackson, anyone?). John Singleton siding with Universal surely helped and I'm sure it helped his career. At the end of the day, does any director sacrifice his career by taking up for a crew member? Maybe the fired assistant director wasn't on his game. He's only worked on 'T2'--one of the most, at the time, expensive and technically complex films ever made. I wasn't there. But there is a double standard in entertainment work and that's just how it is. I just hope he got a good settlement because I wonder who'd work with him now that the Feds say he sucked based on certain parties not being able to just say wht they had to say at the time. After all, if everything could be talked out, there'd be no need for lawsuits, would there?

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Sam G., I'm somewhat stunned to see you bash John Singleton and write off a first-time filmmaker in the same breath. A first-time filmmaker always deserves an innocent-until-proven-guilty in my book, and while Singleton's filmography may be somewhat scattershot and not for everyone, he is undeniably talented and has shown a lot of finesse in his producing ventures.

I'm also going to assume you have no prior knowledge of the hurdles and hoops Walker jumped in and through in order to secure roles in "Running Scared" and, especially, "Flags", which was a very minor role, to boot. He was fully aware of the talent involved in front of and behind the camera and pursued those movies with diligence and tenacity.

His imminent projects, while they may be led by inexperienced or unproven directors are populated with notable actors and sound pretty compelling on paper.

Harrison Ford has adopted this approach to his own film selection for the vast majority of his storied career, and while there are definitely several films on his resume that may ultimately be underwhelming in execution, you simply cannot fault his intentions and professional ethic.

Walker, Ford, and many other working actors will continue to reap tons of crap for that kind of open-minded role hunting but what matters is that they're doing so seeking to mix things up, challenge themselves, enrich their craft, tweak their image, and deliver the goods to audiences as best they can in the process.

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I'm not implying that Singleton's not talented, but to me he's sort of a mid-level director - not quite up there with the greatest of his generation but undeniably talented. And Herzfeld isn't even at that level - I know him best from 2 Days In The Valley, which was sort of ehh. Lastly, John Glenn isn't just a first-time director; he's just about a first-time anything!! It's not like he's a longtime screenwriter making his directorial debut; the guy's practically new to the business!! So excuse me if I don't put too much stock in his ability right at the moment.

With regard to the hurdles he faced in Running Scared and Flags, I'm sort of surprised to hear he had hurdles in Running Scared, but I'm not suprised to hear it about Flags.

Lastly, you seeming willingness to lump Harrison Ford and Paul Walker in the same general vicinity is as stunning to me as what I wrote was to you. I'm sure that his work ethic is tremendous, but ask any NBA 12th man that work ethic don't mean squat if you don't have the talent. I'll repeat: one good role does not mean he is a good actor. As for whether he is "mixing it up" to show off his acting chops; that will be something I have to see to believe.

Now fess up. Who the hell are you? You clearly have a vested interest in having Paul portrayed in a positive light.

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Valid points across the board, Sam G., and endearingly even-handed.

I figured my comparison of Ford and Walker's selection M.O. would draw obvious fire but I don't mean to say they're playing in the same ballpark.

Ford is a cherished, legendary icon with more than enough talent and presence to burn. Like I said before, his is a long, amazing, storied career.

Walker, on the other hand, is a fresh-faced rising star who has, admittedly, slummed it in stock studio fare for much of his young career but is making a successful, conscious effort to shed his teen idol roots and mature as an actor.

He's got plenty of potential and I'm more than willing to invest my interest and movie-going dollar in that, that's all I'm saying.

I'm sorry to say that I'm not Paul Walker, incognito, the president of his fan club, a studio plant, or his mother. I'm just a 19 year old guy who digs Walker's work and am looking forward to seeing what he's got in store for the masses.

The advantage he's got in my book is that I'm already a fan of his stuff, good and bad. He's got plenty of worthwhile guilty pleasures under his belt. "2 Fast 2 Furious" being a definite highlight in that regard. It's gloriously cheesy and ranks right up there with "Top Gun" for hilarious latent homoeroticism.

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