ChristopherWalken Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I don't think there's anything Christopher Walken can't do. He can make gold records, hide watches up his arse, dance like a prince, play Russian roulette, find missing people, live underground for decades, and make just about everything sound cool. He's no one-hit wonder.

And now he's also proved that he can out-Poker Face Lady Gaga. Yes, the latest YouTube video to make the rounds (embedded after the jump) finds the actor guesting on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross -- a program from BBC One. Instead of adding more cowbell to the music scene, he calmly sits in his chair and reads lyrics to Gaga's song. In. The way. Walken. Would. Say it.

You might just be able to manage getting through the first part unscathed, but when he starts making "Oh!" sound effects, well, it's comedy gold and I don't see how you could maintain your own poker face. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin might be the Oscar hosts, but I stand by my wish of seeing Walken on that shining stage. He proves, over and over again, that his delivery makes just about everything a-mazing.

And just in case you haven't gotten Gaga enough, you can check out the Lady's version here, and Cartman's version here. Watch Walken do his thing after the jump.

Sometimes it's worth it to revisit the old, to once again revel in its amazing wonder, or show it to the eager audiences who never got to see the excellence for themselves. A long time ago, Cinematical linked to a wonderful YouTube video, but we never really talked about it. That is, until now, as buzz starts to re-bubble.

What could possibly be worthy of re-attention? Christopher Walken cooking. No, not some impersonator. Not a cleverly done Lego world. Not a spoof. Not a clip from a film. I'm talking about the real Walken, handing over succulent foodie tips in the kitchen. After the jump, you can watch the actor make Chicken with Pears -- running down all of his special tricks with that irreplaceable stilted delivery.

Yeah, sure, Meryl Streep rocked as Julia Child, but maybe it's time to hand over the reigns to Walken. Man, can you imagine how the world of food shows could change if Walken really took part? He's done the creepy thing, the scary thing, and the music and dance thing, so a jump to the food world is only natural.

And please, if anyone knows how this all came to be, leave the deets in the comments below!

Ah, Christopher Walken. In the early days, one might have imagined that he'd become an icon of song and dance, his musical swagger paving the way for a long and swinging career. But it was an onslaught of creepy gigs that set Walken's path, and it was his voice that made him an icon -- that staccato drawl with the strangely tantalizing self-imposed pauses.

His infamous inflection is something many try to nail, though few are more than modestly successful. But with the aid of the Internet, the good aren't so hard to find. Helped by the convenience of YouTube, our good friends at Urlesque have gathered some of the best impressions they could find, and these guys are good. But perhaps the best part of these impersonations are the range -- these aren't exactly the visuals one would put with a classic Walken inflection. I guess there must be an inner Walken in each of us, just waiting to be tapped.

Two of the best are after the jump. In the first, "Walken" tries to order a lemonade ice, and in the second, "Walken" teaches us how to hunt free-range chickens. And if these videos make you wild with jealousy, check out the third clip. It's a how-to-speak-like-Walken tutorial led by Naathan Phan, which made the rounds a year ago.

Which Walken impression do you think reigns supreme?

If you crossed him, Shondor would kill you. If you didn't, he would charm you.

Sounds like Christopher Walken, doesn't it? Or, at least, his well-honed movie persona as charismatic tough guy. In a bit of pitch-perfect casting, The Hollywood Reporter posts that Walken, Ray Stevenson, and Val Kilmer have signed onto Jonathan Hensleigh's The Irishman -- an adaptation of Rick Porrello's book, To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia.

Walken will play Shondor Birns, a Jewish-American mobster who was once Public Enemy No. 1 in Cleveland, who hired a young Irish-American dude named Danny Greene (Ray Stevenson) back in the '60s. As time went on, Greene wanted a bigger chunk of the biz and wealth, which led to bad blood and ultimately, a rather nasty car bomb that killed Birns. Greene, meanwhile, was a little bit of everything -- FBI informant, instigator of a country-wide turf war, union organizer. (Kilmer will play a police detective in Cleveland who befriends Greene.)The project is billed as an action movie, so expect lots of fighting, and probably lots of time spent on the bombs that riddled both men's stories. (Here is even more about it.)

This is far from the first mob-filled story ol' Walken has involved himself with, but should be a bit meatier -- and definitely bloodier -- than the usual fare. While we're on the topic: Which is your favorite Walken mob movie?

There are the great actors, men and women with an uncanny ability to transform themselves anew with each and every performance. There are popular actors, who are known for one thing and one thing only, but who have reached iconic status purely because audiences adore them. Then, there's Christopher Walken. Sure, there's The Deer Hunter and Annie Hall, but he also built Optimis Prime in his garage one lazy Sunday afternoon. He told us what the prescription for a fever was. And in 1988, he demanded a pair of boots from Jason Connery. I can say no more. Watch the clip, and experience new depths of horror and hilarity.

(When you're done pondering that, let's all ask Erik Davis why he immediately thought of me when he watched this. This is all thanks to him.)

Balls of Fury
Does anything more need to be said other than that Balls of Fury is a ping pong action movie co-starring Christopher Walken? Frankly, that's enough for me. But if you happen to be a Bruce Lee fan, the fact that it's a spoof of Enter the Dragon may entice you. The comedy details a former Pong phenom called Randy (Dan Fogler), who is sent on a special mission to nab his father's killer, Feng -- who just so happens to be played by Walken. With Maggie Q and a spiritual guide, Randy gets back into ping pong shape and heads to Feng's jungle compound and his ping pong tournaments.

This DVD includes an alternate ending, a small serving of deleted scenes, a comedy bit about, erm, ball handling, and a "Making Of" featurette that includes cast and table tennis guru Wei Wang, who also helped out this year's other ping pong movie, Ping Pong Playa.

Check out James' Review | Buy the DVD

Blade Runner
It has been 25 years since Blade Runner first hit theaters, and now we're getting one hell of an anniversary DVD gift just in time for the holidays. Originally stemming from the mind of Philip K. Dick, the film is a cyber-heavy vision of the future where replicants (human clones) are whipped up to work on colonies outside of Earth. However, when some escape and head to the planet, Deckard (Harrison Ford), a cop and replicant terminator, must put aside his visions of retirement and stop them. The flick also starred the likes of Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, and Daryl Hannah -- and of course, it's one of the biggest and most loved sci-fi films to hit the screen.

Fans can choose one of 3 main sets -- the 2-Disc Special Edition, the 4-Disc Collector's Edition, or the mack daddy of collections: The Ultimate Collector's Edition. The 2-Disc set offers Ridley Scott's new, final cut of the film with three commentaries, plus a feature-length documentary on the film's creation. If that's not enough, you can up it two more discs and also get all the different cuts -- theatrical, international, and director's, as well as another disc with 90 minutes of rare footage and featurettes. Finally, you can add one more disc and store it all in a sweet, metal case. The extra DVD shares a "Workprint Version" that changes things up a bit (such as no Deckard narration and no happy ending) and includes one more featurette and commentary.

Check out Ryan's Review of the Final Cut | Buy the 2-Disc, 4-Disc, or 5-Disc DVD


Other New DVD Releases (December 18)
Stardust
Underdog
Halloween
Rush Hour 3
Evil Dead: Ultimate Edition DVD
Bring It On: In It to Win It
Cinderella II: Dreams Come True

*And apologies to Simpsons fans: The Simpsons Movie

Check out Peter Martin's Indies on DVD for even more new releases.

Today we salute the military veterans who have either served in wartime or in peace. I think technically Veteran's Day specifically honors war veterans, but I don't see why the non-combat military personnel needs to be excluded. Still, in the movies, it's the war vets that are most memorable, and on this holiday, I'd like to present my list of seven favorites.

Obviously this list isn't comprehensive -- in fact, I don't feature any examples of the now-stereotypical Vietnam vet character, which would include Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July or Gary Senise in Forrest Gump. This is just a list of characters, positive and negative, that I prefer and which I think somewhat represents the wide and diverse scope of war vets.


"Homer Parrish" from The Best Years of Our Lives (1946, William Wyler)

About fifty years before Robert Zemeckis was digitally removing Gary Senise's legs to make him the disabled vet Lt. Dan of Forrest Gump, William Wyler directed a real amputee veteran named Harold Russell as the handicapped character Homer Parrish in this movie about the difficulty of coming home following World War II. Russell actually won an Oscar for his performance as Parrish, a former high school quarterback who returns to his childhood sweetheart, with whom he's engaged and for whom he no longer feels good enough. The actor/character has hooks for hands and appears in some sappy, obligatory scenes where he has trouble with them, but he ends up a guy that is beloved more than pitied, and it's almost easy to forget he has the handicap, especially after hearing him play piano with the false limbs.

The hunk ... He's a fairly disputed figure in the world of cinema, subjected to the taste and whims of anxious, heterosexual women everywhere. The hunk's popularity is often fleeting -- the beefcake stud for one year is often forgotten by the next. But most importantly, the hunk is entirely, and completely, subjective. One woman's pearl is another woman's stale, salty oyster.

One might argue that some tastes are, therefore, off, but subjectivity and sex are one of the world's big blessings. We don't all lust for the same people, and thus, the earth can stay safe. Otherwise, imagine a world-wide Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered. It wouldn't be pretty. So, what follows are my list of hunks.

I am sure you will question some of my picks, and I will admit -- some don't have the stellar physique that the others do. That being said, each of them have been in horror movies, and they've done their fair share of testosterone bewitching. But this is just my own, subjective taste, which will probably bother and bewilder some. But that's where the comments come in. Share your horror hunks, who have chased, or been chased, on-screen -- extra points if they're a little surprising. This is Halloween, after all, which is all about a world that's just a little different...

Imagine if you will the incredible team-up of Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken and Wiliam H. Macy -- not simply in the same movie, mind you, but as an on-screen trio. Now, imagine that they are playing the old security guards from Night at the Museum. OK, you've got a good mental picture of what The Lonely Maiden might look like. According to Variety, the three actors have been cast in the comedy, which was written by Michael LaSieur (You, Me and Dupree). The plot follows these three guards at an art museum (unlike Night's Museum of Natural History) who have become really attached to the paintings and other works they watch over every night. So, when some of the pieces are transferred to another location, the guys decide to pull a heist and steal the works in order to return them to their museum. Maybe they could have simply gotten jobs at this new place, but whatever.

The plot is very different from Night at the Museum, obviously, but I really can't get it out of my head that Freeman, Walken and Macy make for an almost perfect parallel to their respective counterparts Bill Cobbs, Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney. It's like this is a prequel to that hit Ben Stiller comedy. Sorta. Anyway, I'm excited to see these three actors working together. It's a much better mix for Macy than Wild Hogs, and it kinda reunites him with a fellow Another World cast member (did he and Freeman ever appear in an episode together?). Most importantly, though, is the fact that The Lonely Maiden will be just as much fun to listen to than to watch; rarely are such distinct and enjoyable voices grouped together in a non-animated movie. The Lonely Maiden (the title probably refers to a painting) will be be directed by Peter Hewitt (Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey) and begins shooting in Boston on November 12. Maybe at the Museum of Fine Arts?