harland williams Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Scenes We Love: Half Baked
Filed under: Comedy », Fandom », Trailers and Clips », Scenes We Love »
Right off the bat, I want to make it clear that you don't have to be half-baked to enjoy Half Baked. But if you thought Pineapple Express was hilarious, and you haven't seen Half Baked, it's high time you rectify this problem. Sure, Pineapple Express had James Franco as a drug dealer slash nice Jewish boy overly concerned with his Bubbe, and it had Danny McBride wigging out in his normal (i.e. awesome) way, and yeah, it was almost the perfect stoner crime caper.
But Half Baked has all that and more! It has Dave Chappelle as both a janitor at a lab that just happens to produce pharmaceutical-grade marijuana and a hip-hop star named Sir Smoke-a-Lot who, when high, complains, cries, and complains that he needs a "backiotomy." It has Guillermo Diaz as Scarface, who wants you to know he's Cuban, B! And it has Jim Breuer in one of his least annoying incarnations (although personally I do enjoy Goat Boy -- I'm not sure what that says about me, really). And then there's Harland Williams who accidentally kills a police horse by feeding it their munchies.
Let's not forget about the amazing cameos, including Jon Stewart as the Enhancement Smoker ("You ever seen Scent of a Woman... on weed?"), Bob Saget as someone in a Narc-Anon meeting who offers up a memorable confession, Steven Wright as the random dude sleeping on their couch, Tommy Chong as an inmate named the Squirrel Master, and plenty of others.
Nia Vardalos Goes Greek Again with 'My Life in Ruins' Trailer
Filed under: Comedy », Romance », Fox Searchlight », Trailers and Clips »
Four years after Connie and Carla failed to set the world on fire, Nia Vardalos has left the writing to someone else while returning to the safe turf of Greece for her new film, My Life in Ruins. Vardalos plays an Athens tour guide tired of all the grating tourists, obnoxious locals, and scheming colleagues in her life, and if the trailer -- link removed at request of studio -- (for those who don't mind Greek subtitles) is any indication, things might just change for the better soon enough.
There has yet to be any specific Stateside release date announced -- Fox Searchlight tentatively has it scheduled for 2009 -- but the crowdpleaser pedigree of Vardalos and director Donald Petrie certainly doesn't hurt the film's chances of outgrossing the $8 million that Connie raked in theatrically (whether or not the downright loud pairing of Harland Williams and Rachel Dratch will is a different story).
Also in the name of safe-bet follow-ups is I Hate Valentine's Day, a rom-com written and directed by Vardalos that reunites her with My Big Fat Greek Wedding love interest John Corbett. That project also bears an equally vague '09 release date, but I have trouble thinking that it couldn't be out of post-production and in theaters by next February.
'My Life in Ruins' at the Acropolis
Filed under: Comedy », Tech Stuff », DIY/Filmmaking »
Over a year ago, Erik Davis brought you word that Nia Vardalos was coming back, and that she was gaining rare access to the 2,500-year-old landmark -- Athen's Acropolis. That's not to shabby for a woman who hasn't found any success even remotely comparable to her break-out indie hit -- My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Nevertheless, My Life in Ruins is currently filming under the watchful eye of director Donald Petrie. It follows a Greek tour guide (Vardalos), and co-stars Richard Dreyfuss, Rachel Dratch, Harland Williams, and Alexis Georgoulis. After shooting at the Oracle of Delphi and Olympia* (site of the first Olympics), this past Saturday the cameras finally hit the Acropolis.Talking to Reuters, Vardalos says: "No one has ever been granted permission to shoot at the ancient sites. This is huge." Apparently, this has been in the works for years, starting with a request during the 2004 Summer Games. "It was a lot of dinners and hand shaking, a lot of requesting permission and really assuring them that we would leave the ruins exactly as we found them." They got what they wanted, but only for one day. How's that for production pressure? It'll make it tougher that the crew won't be allowed to eat or drink on the site. I'm sure it will be a mixture of happiness and huge stress. Let's just hope that they don't have the Valkyrie film woes.
After all of this effort and unprecedented access, will it all be worth it? It's Vardalos' Greek security blanket, which should help it, but it could always become the next Connie and Carla, and being Greek didn't help the Big Fat bomb of a TV show. Anyone want to make predictions?
*Edited to include proper site of first Olympic Games.
Potentially Offensive, Definitely Unamusing: The Blind Dating Trailer
Filed under: Comedy », Trailer Trash », Cinematical Indie »
Some people always seem to think that Hollywood's run out of ideas, but I disagree. For example, I just watched a brand-new trailer for a comedy about a 22-year-old blind guy who goes on dates but is still a virgin! I mean, that's pretty original, isn't it? Blind guy? Dating? Virgin? Eh? Anyone?From first-time screenwriter Christopher Theo and solid actor turned bad director James Keach, Blind Dating (and the whole concept is right there in the title) stars Chris Pine, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Harland Williams and a humiliated Jane Seymour. The Samuel Goldwyn folks are planning to get this one into limited release on May 11, but I say just save the money you'd spend on prints and invest it in another movie that's not A) a blatant ripoff of other "virgin" comedies or B) focused on jokes in which blind people walk face-first into doors.
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