city slickers Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Let me get this right out of the way -- I chose not to watch The Pink Panther (remake, was it?) when it hit theaters back in 2006. As a major fan of comedy, the original Panther flicks directed by Blake Edwards and featuring Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau are, in my mind, comedic masterpieces (with A Shot in the Dark being my favorite). From time to time I'll take in the occasional remake (and, more often, sequel), but there are some films I refuse to go near. Not because they look bad, or because people tell me they're bad -- I choose not watch them simply because I don't want the film to tarnish the awesome feelings I associate with the original work. Thus, I stayed far away from The Pink Panther (starring Steve Martin), so I will not use this space to rip apart a film I did not see.

Instead, I'll bring you news (via The Hollywood Reporter) that Harald Zwart has been tapped to direct The Pink Panther 2 for Columbia Pictures and MGM. The good news? Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel were brought on to rewrite the script; these are the two responsible for gems like Gung Ho, City Slickers and Parenthood. So, knowing they're involved should help boost some confidence. Zwart was the man behind Agent Cody Banks and One Night at McCool's, but let's not hold that against him. Steve Martin will once again return to play Inspector Clouseau, and this time it appears he teams up with a bunch of moronic European detectives to try to stop a massive crime wave. No word on a release date, but the powers that be are eying an August production start.

Vladimir Palaniuk, better known as Jack Palance, passed away from natural causes today, as the Monterey Herald reports. The AP sites his age at 85, although his family has said his age was 87. Regardless, Palance had an air of immortality. Everyone loved when he dropped down and did one-armed pushups at the Academy Awards. And it wasn't the last time he did them. Well into his 80s, Palance showed everyone his health and strength behind the worn skin and warm smile.

Palance was born February 18, 1919 to a Ukranian family in Pennsylvania. In the 1930's he started his journey into the spotlight as a professional boxer with the name Jack Brazzo, however his successful career was cut short to enter World War II. After an injury took him out of service, Palance got an AB in Drama from Stanford University and made his Broadway debut in 1947. From there, he quickly acheived two Oscar nominations for his work in Sudden Fear and Shane. Over the years, Palance racked up a number of professional successes, which culminated in his Academy Award win for City Slickers.

He was a great man, and his talents and strength will never be forgotten.

We lost a great actor today, folks. At the age of 57, Bruno Kirby has passed away due to complications related to leukemia, after recently being diagnosed with the disease. Most of you probably remember Kirby as Billy Crystal's best pal in, personally, one of my favorite romantic comedies of all time, When Harry Met Sally. Or as Robin Williams' strict, yet hilarious nemesis in Good Morning, Vietnam.

Then you have one of his more classic roles as the wise-cracking New Yawker in City Slickers. As the news of his death hit me, the first image that popped into my head was that of a scene from Slickers when Kirby, Billy Crystal and Daniel Stern are out on the open range complaining about that annoying blinking VCR clock. Fed up with the conversation, Kirby goes, "Shut up! Just shut up! He doesn't get it! He'll never get it! It's been 4 hours! The cows can tape something by now! Forget about it please!"

I will never forget about that performance, and we will never forget about Bruno Kirby. Farewell my good man. Farewell.

Seeing as Cinematical celebrated its very first birthday recently, I couldn't help but jump at the chance to incorporate the whole what-to-do into this week's Trailer Park. Normally, birthdays are a time for celebration. In Cinematical's case, we're celebrating the fact that, not only have we survived one whole year on the internet, but we've also managed to become the best source of movie anything one can find for, um, free. And I'm not just saying that because I write for them. Seriously, I'm not. What are you staring at? Don't you believe me?

However, birthdays also mean we're getting older. And getting older means we're that much closer to throwing in the towel. So, in order to hide the fact that we're so afraid of the future, we throw parties, sing songs, buy cards, bake cakes, light candles and make wishes. We create rules: In order for your birthday wish to come true, you must blow out all of the candles in one breath and not tell anyone else what you wished for. We want to feel like, no matter how old we are, we're still very capable of following our dreams. And that's a good thing.

In some way, shape or form, the following movies all have to do with birthdays. Whether we're on a quest for love, a journey to find ourselves or a mission to help someone else, these films proved life is about experience and not some crummy Hallmark card. Oh joy, Cinematical is getting older on this week's Trailer Park...