EricRoberts Tagged Articles at Cinematical

With never-ending zeal, Hollywood looks back to the good ol' days with remakes and re-imaginings. But it's always the plots; always the stories. What about the actors? If there was any way that looking to the past would be beneficial, it would be grabbing those actors of today and getting them to dip back into the roles of yesterday -- the gigs that made us love them, but were so soon forgotten or cast aside.

Between casting ruts and earnest attempts to foster specific career paths, actors all too often leave their well-loved roots in the past, becoming an entirely different sort of performer. Very rarely do we get glimpses of those early years, and as nice as it is to see glimpses of former glory in a skit that pops up on SNL or Funny or Die, it's not the same as a feature-length, starring gig.

What follows are seven actors and actresses who are ripe for a return to the past. Naturally, this is only the start of a very long list, so be sure to add your picks in the comments.

Know what's fun? When a production company tries to sell its film by reminding us of its unstoppable awfulness. It' doesn't happen all that often, but yesterday I received an email from the production company behind a new action flm called Royal Kill -- and the email was basically a miniature press release about a powerfully negative Washington Post review of Royal Kill. (The film was shot in D.C., which probably explains why it opened -- and got reviewed -- there).

I'll include the rest of the awesome press release after the jump, but here's the gist: According to the IMDb, Royal Kill packs a cast list that includes Eric Roberts, "Lalaine," Wrestlemania's Gail Kim, and the late Pat Morita as "exhibition manager." Apparently it's just a really rotten low-budget action flick, and Dan Zak's Post review certainly doesn't inspire a lot of interest, but to get a publicity release that's sort of proud of the critical bashing? Now that's weird. But hey, whatever helps you land a home video deal, right? After the jump, take note of how the hard-working publicist tries to assert that "bad movie" automatically qualifies you for Ed Wood-style cult status. Ha.

Punishment gluttons, here's the Royal Kill website!

Some of the best moments on the big screen comes from something we'd never expect, but find irresistible -- the sort of occurrences where it seems like someone fed you into a computer and came out with the perfect and inevitable piece of awesome that would appeal. And now I'm wondering if that could be Paul Rudd morphing into Eric Roberts.

I've liked both men for a while -- Roberts being my first big Hollywood crush, and Rudd being my dancing King. But the two never met with any common ground in my mind. Nevertheless, the new rumor hitting the mill is that the two might play the same character in the upcoming Allen Ginsberg obscenity trail film, Howl. According to Bad Taste, a source inside the production has confirmed that Roberts is in negotiations to play Luther Nichols in the film -- the man that Paul Rudd is currently playing. This is either a mix-up in who is negotiating, or who is playing who. I can't see a modern film paying two actors to do the same role when there's lots of age makeup around.

But the idea ... I like it. The young, upbeat cherubic quality to Rudd balanced with the aged sneer of Roberts. It would definitely be an interesting way to tackle a character -- not Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan unique, but close enough.

Now that Mickey Rourke has made a killer return to Hollywood, who should be next?

Ever since I saw the clip Peter added to his Indie Roundup last month, I'm dreaming of an Eric Roberts comeback. As Rourke (Roberts' The Pope of Greenwich Village co-star) said: "Eric Roberts is the f---in' man!" I'm sure it was all sorts of embarrassing for Eric, but Mickey has got a point. Roberts has got a heck of a lot more talent than most people today realize, and he just doesn't get a chance to show it off.

I never forgot, but that's because when other tykes in the '80s were purring for James Spader, Judd Nelson, and the rest of the brat pack, I was all about Roberts. It started with young adoration for Nobody's Fool and Best of the Best, and became critical appreciation after seeing films like Star 80 and Greenwich, before becoming despair over projects like the Doctor Who TV special. He's been in something good gigs recently (The Dark Knight), but nothing that really shows his range or talents.

By now you may have already heard the news that Arnold Schwarzenegger will return to the big screen in a cameo role as himself in Sylvester Stallone's veteran-heavy action flick The Expendables. AICN broke the news last night, saying Arnie will play Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger -- that he'll be shooting for one day, and the Governor will have ties to Stallone's character, Barney Ross. Additionally, Latino Review adds that Danny Trejo has joined the flick, while AICN notes that Eric Roberts has replaced Ben Kingsley in a cast that already includes Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham, Sandra Bullock, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren and Forest Whitaker. And I'm sorry, but if that retro badass cast can't churn out a fun flick, then I've lost all hope in humanity.

With the news out of the way, let's turn to the topic at hand. Obviously Arnold is itching to get back in front of the camera in some way, shape or form (we still don't know what version of the Governor we'll see in the next Terminator film), but do we, as fans, want to see him return to movies or should the guy stick to politics? Is the Schwarzenegger era over, or is there still room for the guy to make a highly successful flick?

What do you think?

I discovered Eric Roberts through Nobody's Fool. He played Riley, a stage technician who falls for the wacky but lovable Cassie (Rosanna Arquette). It's one of those flawed movies that's perfectly enjoyable when watched with the comfortable eyes of nostalgia -- it's not the greatest feat of filmmaking by far, but it's a movie of memories and awkward '80s charm. Watching that, Mr. Roberts became my movie hero.

Yesterday, the world belonged to sister Julia, and today it belongs to daughter Emma, but for some of us, it's always been Eric's world. Over the many years of acting, he's amassed controversy, critical feats, and brow-raising stinkers, bringing us a long selection of roles that should always stay on the radar. Tonight, I want to give you a taste of his accomplishments, as well as a little bit of heroics, because these days, he's like the wonderful Christopher Walken -- mostly pigeon-holed into the tough, meanie, or jerky roles. Without further ado, I give you: The Pope of Greenwich Village and The Best of the Best.

I must have had too many cups of coffee when I agreed to take on a Cinematical Seven covering the hunks of sports films. (Erik had the easy job, picking the Hottest Sports Girls.) Trying to pick the studs is like having hundreds of 4-star, wonderful movies thrown on your desk and being asked to pick the 7 best. Yeah, right! No problem! To make the task easier, I decided to pick a range of sports, and never double up on one particular type. That cut out a whole slew of possibilities, and what I came up with is what you see below.

What have I learned from picking the Seven Sexy Sporting Studs from cinema? The best of the best (pun intended) were in the '80s and '90s. I also learned that you should never share the list with a friend beforehand -- they'll remind you who you're forgetting, and that's why you'll find one tie down below. Enjoy!

The Eight Men Out Team

The only thing I knew when I took on this assignment was that Eight Men Out was going to be featured. Bull Durham is great and all, but this is the baseball movie. It's John Sayles, and it has the best baseball team to ever make it on the screen. They might have let their morals loosen a little, but they still kept their looks. Foolishly, I tried to pick between John Cusack, Charlie Sheen, D.B. Sweeney, and David Strathairn. Forget that! I'm taking the easy way out. Cusack's Buck Weaver was super cute as a "future jailbird," Charlie was always tasty in those days, and it's beyond me why women weren't falling all over David Strathairn the minute he jumped into film with Return of the Secaucus Seven, or any of the bigger movies that were soon to come. And Sweeney was cute, too, in that dorky way.

More casting news for The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan's new foray into the Batman mythos. Just a few days ago Jessica Barnes mentioned here on Cinematical that William Fichtner had joined the cast, and now, according to the LA Daily News, comes word that Eric Roberts will be playing a mafia kingpin. Not much else is mentioned about the role, but Cinematical's own Erik Davis posted last month that the character Sal Maroni will figure prominently in the new film, so it's probably not a huge stretch to assume this may be the character Roberts will play. In the comics, Maroni was the crime boss who threw acid in the face of District Attorney Harvey Dent (being played by Aaron Eckhart this time around), scarring him badly and driving him to become the villain Two-Face.

This isn't actually Roberts' first role with fanboy geek appeal. In 1996 he appeared in the U.S. made-for-TV movie Doctor Who, based on the long running British TV series, in which he played The Doctor's longtime nemesis The Master. And, of course, he currently plays the villainous Thompson on NBC's Heroes, so butting heads with super heroes should be second nature to him. His more mainstream roles of late have included the series The L Word, and Pandemic, a Hallmark Channel presentation in which he stars with Faye Dunaway and, surprisingly, does not play a bad guy.

One thing Roberts does make clear is that he likes to work. "I don't stop working. I'm a workaholic. I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm too overexposed to ever be a superstar, so I'm happy to be a working actor every day," he says in the LA Daily News piece. He also jokes about losing out on the Academy Award in 1985 when he was nominated for Runaway Train. "Once they gave my Oscar to the wrong person, I called my agent and said, 'From now on if there's one good thing about a project, I'll do it.' If the character is good, I'll do it. If the director is good, I'll do it. If the location is good, I'll do it."

Check out this cast: Roy Scheider, Daryl Hannah, Eric Roberts, and Sean Young. In an indie flick, for which each is probably earning about $30/day, plus meal money. How crazy is that? I mean, if it was, say 1987, this would be a huge studio picture, complete with lots of posh trailers and personal assistants, glamorous magazine layouts for the ladies and talk show appearances for everyone except, possibly, nutso Sean. Ah, memories.

Anyway. This new, cheapie-flick is a thriller called Dark Honeymoon, and sounds like it could easily be either over-the-top terrible, or subtle and creepy. The story is about a man who marries a hot woman he barely knows, only to "[uncover] the terrible truth about her as those around them begin to die mysterious and violent deaths." Me, I'm worried mainly about the men here: despite the fact that Scheider played a nearly impossible part perfectly in All That Jazz and was wonderful in Jaws, the horror of his performance in Romeo Is Bleeding has never left me - and you never know what the hell Eric Roberts is going to get up. Do you see what I'm saying here? The chances for a lot of screaming and yelling are dangerously high. That said, I'm intrigued in spite of myself.

Shooting is due to being in May.

Starring Eric Roberts-spawn (and Aquamarine's girl-who-finds-the-mermaid) Emma Roberts, the Nancy Drew movie has had a lot of people (many of whom totally won't admit it) in a nostalgic frenzy since news of its existence was announced way too long ago. Now, finally, there's some good news: production has begun. Woo hoo! Not only that, but we've got a plot (the news of which is possibly slightly less good).

In order to get her somewhere with lots of pretty people and parties (and, of course, because the title is Nancy Drew: The Mystery in Hollywood Hills), Tiffany Paulsen and Andrew Fleming's script has Nancy traveling to Hollywood with her dad (Tate Donovan) on what is apparently a very, very long "business trip," since Nancy ends up enrolling in Hollywood Hills High School and meeting a boy (Josh Flitter). Because she is a girl detective, Nancy inevitably "stumbles across evidence about a long-unsolved crime involving the mysterious death of a beautiful movie star." However, in addition to wearing her play dress and solving the mystery, innocent little Nancy also finds herself temped by the "fast-living, self-indulgent world of Hollywood." Now, I don't know anything for sure, but knowing our girl, I'm pretty sure she'll come out of it ok.

While the relocation to Hollywood is a little scary, the fact that Fleming, who co-wrote and directed Dick, is also writing and directing here is just awesome news. If anyone can effectively balance sweetness with the smart sense of humor that's going to be required to deal with this whole Hollywood thing, it's him. The movie's not slated for release until 2007, though, so we've plenty of time to sit and worry.