400 Screens, 400 Blows - Where Are They Now?
Filed under: Columns, 400 Screens, 400 Blows
I don't know about anyone else, but I thought that was a pretty exceptional summer, as far as good, entertaining movies went. I've seen summers in which almost every movie seemed mediocre and not one standout ever emerged (2000 and 2006, for example). But this year, there were at least five standouts and at least five more really good movies. Call me crazy, but I caught up with Speed Racer on DVD this week, and even that one didn't seem so bad. (Sure, it's no Iron Man. I think it probably plays better on the small screen, although I did have trouble with the length and with the annoying Spritle character.) And, of course, we saw a lot of stars at their best this summer: Robert Downey Jr., Heath Ledger, Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Ben Stiller, James Franco, Meryl Streep, Penelope Cruz, etc. Good times! It was all so exciting that I nearly forgot about some of my other favorite stars.
It's weird. You can get caught up in the ebb and flow of this business and it may not occur to you that, say, Neve Campbell hasn't been around lately. I miss her. I interviewed her in early 2004, just after Robert Altman's The Company came out. That was a masterful film, a great piece of work, on which Neve had writing and producing credits. It looked like she was really going places: from there, she was poised to play the great silent film star Louise Brooks in a biopic. I saw her again in James Toback's twisted When Will I Be Loved, which I liked more than just about anyone else.
Then... nothing. No Louise Brooks, or anything else. But according to the IMDB, she has been working. Some of these movies haven't been released, and some have gone straight to video. I received one of them in the mail once, something called Partition. The tagline was "Bound By Love. Separated By History," which clinched my decision not to watch it, even if Neve was in it.
Then the other night my wife was flipping channels and a Wesley Snipes movie was on. I didn't recognize it, but from the look and feel of it, I guessed that it wasn't too old. A bit of research and I came up with it: The Contractor, from 2007. A straight-to-video title. Yes, Snipes found himself in trouble with the law recently (tax problems), but his career had been slipping before that. I last saw him in Blade: Trinity (2004), a movie that made me want to bludgeon myself into unconsciousness. But why did he disappear? Certainly not because of one bad movie. He's a fun, effortless movie star with a terrific, mysterious, Clint Eastwood-like tough guy delivery. And if he feels like it, he can be funny, or touching, as well. Everybody has a favorite Wesley Snipes movie, whether it's Blade, Blade II, Demolition Man, New Jack City, White Men Can't Jump or Down in the Delta.
What happened? I haven't figured that out yet. When I mentioned to my wife that Snipes had lately done a bunch of "straight-to-video" films, she asked, "yes, but does he know they're going to be straight-to-video films when he signs on?" Good question. I don't know. Certainly some filmmakers set out to make "straight-to-video" films, providing content for that ever-growing niche market, but sometimes they're a concession when a theatrical release doesn't materialize. Regardless, how does a career drop from the A-list to the D-list? People don't seem to want to see any more Mike Myers films, and yet he keeps showing up time and again. Snipes must have more fans out there than Myers does. Why did Myers get a big summer release and Snipes get the straight-to-video one?
Another one of my favorites is Rachael Leigh Cook, who I last saw in a supporting role in Nancy Drew (2007). She's impossibly cute, with giant-sized eyes that could have come from an anime character. But she speaks with a meaty, throaty tomboy's voice that grounds all her performances in a kind of intelligent, reassuring reality. Maybe she was too hard to pin down, or maybe she chose too many awful films, like Blow Dry or Texas Rangers. Either way, I saw two of Cook's straight-to-video films, and they were both pretty good. Scorched was a nifty, fleet-footed bank-robbery comedy, and 11:14 was a very cool time-flipping drama, with several disparate events all coming together at the same minute. (And it had Patrick Swayze in it! What more can you ask?)
There are so many others. Bridget Fonda suddenly disappeared, though I suspect she's doing the housewife/mother thing for a while. Michael Keaton's appearances are all too rare these days, though a very good under-the-radar movie called Game 6 appeared on DVD (co-starring Robert Downey Jr.!) a couple of years back. And Christian Slater recently gave a superior performance in a twisted little black comedy called He Was a Quiet Man, which played for a couple of days on one or two screens before heading to DVD. On the other hand, Pierce Brosnan spent several years in "straight-to-video" limbo (Detonator 2: Night Watch, etc.) before landing the job as James Bond and heading back to the A-list again. And Mark Hamill dropped from Star Wars stardom to "straight-to-video" limbo before becoming a highly successful voice actor.
I guess careers ebb and flow, and for any number of unpredictable, unfathomable reasons. It could be bad movie choices, or bad box office, or lack of PR, or merely taking a vacation at the wrong time. I love all these actors, but the love of one fan may not be enough to bring back something as complex as a career. Ultimately, I guess this means that we shouldn't count out "straight-to-video" as a viable option for quality films.
Do you have a favorite actor that has disappeared? Favorite "straight-to-video" films? Let us know!
Our Favorite Summers: 1981
To the Calendar! Comic-Con 2009 Schedule Released
Exclusive: Eli Roth Talks 'Thanksgiving'
Raja Gosnell to Direct Live-Action 'Smurfs'
First Look: Ellen Page Ready to 'Whip It'
_thumbnail.jpg){kind=spacer}
_thumbnail.jpg)
_thumbnail.jpg){kind=spacer}
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-12-2008 @ 12:20AM
Michael said...
Christian Slater's going to be in an NBC series called My Own Worst Enemy. I don't know if it's started yet, but I saw a billion promos for it during the Olympics.
Reply
9-12-2008 @ 6:27AM
MCW said...
For me, I am seriously disappointed that Rick Moranis has had such a hard time getting movie roles lately that aren't just voice acting. I was a huge fan of the Honey I Shrunk movies, and of him in general. It's a shame really. I'm sure there are more that I wonder about, I just can't remember them all at the moment.
Last time I said that I missed Neve Cambell on here I was attacked by another Cinematical commenter, and then stalked in every article I commented on. To that person, I say please die. I miss Neve too :( Least we've got her twin Selma Blair to fill her role while she is missing in action.
After watching older movies, I always enjoy looking them up on IMDB to see how many of the actors vanished off the face of the Earth. It's startling to see just how many no longer act.
The one thing that bothers me is that one of my favorite "Former child stars" Macaulay Culkin does so many artsy and stupid movies now. He may still act once in a while, but I want to see him in a real comedy, not a movie that looks like Michael Jackson wrote and directed. Saved! was OK, but c'mon, comedy was where Culkin shined.
Reply
9-12-2008 @ 12:17PM
Topher said...
I swear I don't normally put stock in gossip, but I swear I heard a few years back that Bridget Fonda suffers from agoraphobia. A recent event for her Aunt Jane brought her out with the rest of the family, but she didn't interact with the press, walk the carpet, or speak at the function.
I could be TOTALLY wrong and spreading rumors, but if it is true, it would certainly explain her being out of the spotlight for so long.
Reply
9-12-2008 @ 2:06PM
NadaNuff said...
I found Neve's performance in 54 to be terrible. Outside of the Scream francise (which did not require much in the way of acting) and Wild Things (ehhhh), I can't remember seeing her in much else. Guess she's just not that good.
Reply
9-13-2008 @ 2:08AM
Aviendha said...
I saw the movie Partition in the theatre and it is a pretty good movie. I really enjoyed it. It starred Jimi Mistry and Kristin Kreuk as the romantic leads but I did think that Neve Campbell did a good job in this movie as well.
Reply
9-13-2008 @ 11:55PM
pocketnunu said...
I love Neve Campbell, and no, Partition was not a "Neve Campbell" movie, but a movie with her in it. She has not done any major studio work for a while, but has concentrated on independent, "little" movies, and very often (like "Partition" and "Closing the Ring") little parts.
The few exceptions -- like "Panic" -- in which I thought she was superb, never got the distribution or marketing that would have cemented her as a serious dramatic actress both critically and with audiences.
Another one that I thought she was very good was a Showtime movie, "The Last Call," with Jeremy Irons as writer F. Scott Fitzgerald and Neve as his secretary, Frances Kroll. Irons was fantastic and Neve was right up there with him.
You'd have thought with "The Company" Neve's career would have taken off. But these productions just never got the recognition, distribution or marketing they deserved. She's worked with masters: Bill Macy, Jeremy Irons, Robert Altman, Wes Craven, even James Toback (I think he's creepy myself).
How much bad luck can you have?
So like some other commenters, I miss her too. I think she's good for the Big Screen, but she's chosen another path and that is our loss.
Reply
9-20-2008 @ 4:55AM
starsweeper said...
MCV: Rick Moranis isn't having trouble finding work - he deliberately stopped making films in 1991 after his wife died of cancer in order to look after his kids. Voice work doesn't take up as much time as live acting roles, and I'm sure he got into it because his long-time friend Dave Thomas has been doing it for year.
Reply
10-03-2008 @ 11:38PM
Kate said...
I find it kind-of sad that people assume an actor has failed because they've chosen a life out of the limelight. Neve has had a few turns onstage in England, working alongside some of the greats, in recent years. She's also said in several interviews that the Hollywood lifestyle was just not for her. I applaud her for doing smaller projects. I think she began as an average actress who was loved for her charisma and beauty, and has become a very talented actress who's off the beaten path. More power to her.
Reply