Striking a Chord

It is now the end of September, and for all of you it may mean the star of Halloween or the end of summer and the promise that "winter is coming."  However, for me this month it means the end of Chord Overstreet staring at me from my Glee calendar.  Nothing against Heather Morris, but having Chord's smiling beauty greet me every morning is a definite incentive to swoon as the day begins.  In honor of this, let's all spend a moment looking at Chord.

Movie Theater Habits and Rituals

We have not done a get-to-know-you article about me in a longtime (we used to do this occasionally on Fridays, but have sort of fallen off the wagon a bit with them), so I figured now was as good of time as any to give it another go.  If you like this series and want to continue learning a bit more about the man behind the curtain, share that sentiment in the comments.  If you don't like them, let me know and I'll return to having film reviews principally in the afternoons.  I am nothing if not accommodating.

We've discussed my movie theater pet peeves a while back, but I figured that I haven't really talked about my ritual of actually going to the movies on this site.  There is nothing better, in my opinion, than going to a movie theater and enjoying a film with a bunch of strangers in the dark.  Whenever people go on and on about the advantages of watching a movie at-home, I listen, and occasionally agree (it is highly convenient, frequently cheaper, and you can do it at your leisure and multiple times), but there's something just...complete about experiencing a film in a theater (even if it's a bad movie).  This is why I go to the movies so frequently.  As a result of this, though, I have developed some opinions and habits surrounding attending a movie theater, and since I spend most of my time on this blog discussing the actual movies I see, I figured that you might want to know about this process.

Selecting the Movie

I usually start planning out my movie schedule a few months in advance.  I'm a budgeter (Suze Orman has taught me well), and so I will look through the IMDB and Wikipedia pages of upcoming films and plan out meticulously what movies I'm planning on seeing.  Since I am not a Rockefeller (there's a reason that I am budgeting), I usually look for one of the following four things when seeing a film: it has a star or director I love involved, it's part of a franchise I love, it has OVP written all over it, and then there's just the general intrigue factor.  As you may have gleaned from the constant Oscar-writing on this blog (the Oscar Viewing Project is easily the most popular tag), the Oscar-watching is the most set-in-stone of the viewing.  If it is likely to compete at the Oscars, I'm all over it.  The rest I'm a little hedged on, particularly general intrigue (you can't always tell months in advance that you'll want to see a film, particularly if it's success is a bit out-of-the-blue), but I usually leave one free space just in case a surprise hit pops up.

For franchises, I almost always see the film if I liked the previous one, though if the reviews are terrible I'm more apt to throw a film on my Netflix queue (honestly, I rarely decide totally against seeing a movie that I initially wanted to see, but the Netflix queue is for films that aren't worth the $10 bet I'm placing on them).  Stars and directors vary, but generally if one of the following names is attached I'm probably going to be shelling out some money: Meryl Streep, Martin Scorsese, Terrence Malick, Steven Spielberg, Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, David Fincher, Pixar, Woody Allen, Ryan Gosling, and increasingly Adam Driver.  There are other actors that can almost certainly make the cut, but those are the only people/directors/studios where if I see their name on the marquee I'm 99% certain to be in the actual audience.

Best Times for the Movie

I've discussed how I have a specific seat I like at the movies in the previous article, but there's also a method to the madness on the timing of a film.  Some movies are more fun with a large audience (comedies, blockbusters), while others you don't want a particularly robust crowd.  Generally my movie-watching patterns fall into three batches: weekend morning matinee, Thursday night movie, and occasionally the Saturday-night picture.

Friday and Saturday nights (when most people hit the movies) are not my thing generally for a couple of reasons.  For starters, I like to attend the movies by myself (we'll get to that in a second), and this is really a couples/group sort of time to hit the movies.  Plus, even when its a Transformers film I still want to hear what's actually going on, and there's the risk with more people that you get the mob mentality of "it's okay to talk," and that's a major problem for me (for the record-the moment to stop talking in the movies is when the trailers begin, but you can have until the trailers are done to shut down your cell phone).  Still, though, there's an energy from a packed theater that is impossible to replicate, and some of my favorite movie-watching moments came from a packed house (I find this is particularly true for a packed art house: Brokeback Mountain, Milk, and Precious all come to mind).

The reason I love weekend morning matinees is the way that they start your day.  There's nothing better than getting up, grabbing breakfast, and then saying "I'm going to go to the movies."  It's also a proper deterrent to not eat popcorn at the theater, since that's not the greatest way to start your day, and it's frequently the cheapest time to see a film.

However, if I had to pick a specific favorite time without regard to expense, it would be Thursday evening.  It's the perfect way to start your weekend-you do it on a Thursday afternoon, it feels like a jump-start to your weekend, and you get die-hard movie fans on a Thursday evening because most people are frantically trying to prep for their final day of the work week.  The theater is nice and quiet, filled but not too much so which allows for a strong choice of seats, and it's the perfect way to head into your weekend with something crossed off the To Do list (seeing the movie everyone else saw last weekend!). :)

The Concessions

Is there anything more key to the movie-going experience than spending an inordinately large amount of money on ridiculously bad-for-you concessions?  No, there's probably not, is the answer, and while I try with all of my might to pass them by, I frequently have a moment where I think "I need popcorn."  There's something so decadent about sitting in public, gorging on food in the dark, and I just can't turn that down.

For me, I am very much a creature of medium popcorn/large bottled water.  That's my go-to at the theater-medium popcorns tend to vary in size dramatically (I have one theater where their medium would be a small at another, and another theater where a small is the size of some larges), so it takes some guess work if you're not used to the theater, but as a rule I stick to the medium.  Other concessions depend on the time of day (if it's a morning movie, popcorn at most is fine), but I do on occasion go with the candy (never the soda-that is way too much soda for one person to consume in a sitting).  I don't get people who like Junior Mints in a theater, though-they get too mushy and messy.  Sour Patch Kids and M&M's are far more my speed (particularly the latter).  The rest of the menu I usually leave alone as it's too complicated to try and maneuver unless you're at a theater where you get a table with your seat (in which case, go for the chicken fingers and the glass of wine).

Movies-Better Solo?

As a general rule, I like going to the movies by myself best.  I think this is partially because I am a massive introvert, and partially because (as you can clearly tell by this being my second article about going to the movies without any overlap), I'm a bit persnickety about this experience.  People who come with sometimes talk during the movie, tend to be late (it is against John's rule of ethics to miss the trailers, or, heaven forbid, the movie, and yes, I will abandon you if you are late), or don't want to psycho-analyze the movie afterwards.

Still, though, it is fun if you find the right movie partner (this, for the record, is a "dealbreaker" in dating for me-if you cannot pass the movie test you probably aren't going to make it much further on the dating timeline), so with my friends/relatives who don't talk during the movie and know the value of punctuality, I love going with them, and since I see so many movies, I usually try and pick ones they will like as a result of learning their movie tastes.

I know the "Better Solo?" question was initially meant to apply to attending the movies solo, but it could be taken another way, and so we'll close with that: the double feature.  I know most people haven't done this before, but when it comes to particularly busy times of the year (read: Oscar season), I do find that I'm going to the movies back-to-back a couple of times during the rush season (the damn studios should stagger more!).  My rules for the double feature are pretty clear: no more than an hour waiting around the theater afterwards (I always pray there's a bookstore nearby to browse in-between, but sadly that's not the case for most of my theaters anymore), try to find two pretty different movies (so that they don't start overlapping in your head when you want to write a review for both), and always put the better-looking movie second, as that way you don't get a half hour in and realize you're tired and don't want to sit there for another ninety minutes.

Those are my rituals and habits at the movies, now it's time for you to share?  What do you always love to do at the movies?  Put your thoughts in the comments!

OVP: The Boxtrolls (2014)

Film: The Boxtrolls (2014)
Stars: Isaac Hempstead-Wright, Elle Fanning, Ben Kingsley, Toni Collette, Jared Harris, Dee Bradley Baker, Simon Pegg
Director: Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Animated Feature Film)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 4/5 stars

One of the things that I miss in animated films is a clear sense of morality and in particular, a sense of danger surrounding the actions of others.  One of the things that made the films of the 1990's and the Disney Renaissance so intriguing was that there was something moral and fascinating about the characters onscreen.  The Little Mermaid was about the importance of your own voice and not letting vanity take over your own self.  The Lion King is about finding yourself in the harshest of conditions, and rising above your expectations of yourself.  Pocahontas tackled environmentalism and racism.  These are all stories that probably wouldn't be able to be told by Disney today in the same way, even in an era of Frozen making billions of dollars for the company, giving them a pretty long license to do whatever they want.  Thankfully, Laika continues to tell such tales, and in doing so, carries on this lovely tradition.

(Spoilers Ahead) You can see this in the way that the story unfolds, and one of the things I noticed about this film is the care they put in establishing characters and the world these people occupy.  I loved the way that we not only got an introduction to the world of the boxtrolls (creatures that are identified by their boxes, which they use as the equivalent of a Batman utility belt, but are essentially just adorable little creatures who scavenge for metal to keep creating their little underground gizmos), but we also had a clear message of greed surrounding Archibald Snatcher (Kingsley) and Lord Portley-Rind (Harris).  Snatcher uses a tragedy (the kidnapping of a baby) as an excuse to gain more power and to exterminate the innocent boxtrolls in the process.  We find years later that he continues to use fear to control the people of Cheesebridge, enforcing a curfew to keep the citizens from seeing him capturing and torturing the poor boxtrolls, using them as a means to ensure his climbing the social ladder of the town and securing a white hat, an arbitrary status symbol.

This is clearly the sort of (not-so-subtle) messaging that Disney wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole (the fact that Frozen is still a pretty solid metaphor for coming out of the closet still stuns me, though they've shied away from that message in a way that I doubt Laika would).  A power-hungry man using fear to exterminate an entire race of people who are misunderstood?  That sounds like a lot of different genocide tales through history, and we see those illusions frequently throughout The Boxtrolls, with a particularly uncomfortable scene where the townspeople cheer to kills the boxtrolls, even though they're just clever little creatures who haven't actually harmed anyone (as any audience member with half a brain could suspect, the baby that was kidnapped was not in fact kidnapped, but rescued from Archibald Snatch as he was trying to blackmail his father).

The film continues on this way with Eggs, the stolen baby (Hempstead-Wright, best known as Bran on Game of Thrones) trying to rescue his kidnapped friends and along the way befriending a macabre girl named Winnie (Fanning).  There is of course an element of romance to their relationship, but Laika continues to work outside the box and makes them more friends in the end than anything else (Winnie in particular, a girl of singular interests, is in desperate need of a friend).  The better part of this journey is the way that Eggs has to deal with trying to instill a sense of bravery into the boxtrolls.  No one in this film is perfect, which is a nice change of pace from other animated films so intent on making their heroes flawless, and we see the problems with the boxtrolls (they are too meek and too willing to acquiesce for their own good) in addition to the caste system that drove Archibald Leach mad.  The ending unfolds in a relatively expected way (Lord Portley-Rind learns his daughter is more important than material things, Eggs is reunited with his dad, the boxtrolls live above ground in peace with the citizens, and Archibald Leach...well, there's a pretty gross scene involving him that you wouldn't normally get in a Disney film even in the Disney Renaissance-there are places Laika is willing to go that most aren't), but up until the last thirty minutes or so, we've got a complicated story with a terrific set of difficult questions regarding tyranny and what we want to sacrifice in terms of personal freedoms to feel comfortable, and coupling that with a tight script and consistently brilliant animation (this house continues to push the stop-motion button and along with Coraline and Paranorman has created some of the most fascinating animated films in years) we get one of the most thought-provoking animated films I've seen in a while.

Those were my thoughts on The Boxtrolls-what were yours?  Did you like the clear allegory between the film and tyranny?  Do you enjoy Laika's distinctive gruesome-but-gorgeous animation style, or do you find it off-putting?  And where will this film rank in an extremely tight Oscar race for Animated Feature?  Share in the comments!

AFI's 25 Greatest Actors, Part 5

This article is part of a 15-Year Anniversary series commemorating the American Film Institute’s 25 Greatest Stars.  For the Actresses, click the numbers for Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.  For the Actors, click the numbers for Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4.

And now we hit the finale of our AFI Stars series.  We've chronicled through the many men and women who made the list fifteen years ago, were near-misses (in your host's opinion), and for the ladies, are still with us.  We'll now get into the still-living gents who were on the ballot but didn't make it, but before that, I'll just throw out a thank you to anyone who has been reading through this fairly big undertaking on my part (all-told, this was probably one of the largest series we've done on the blog, coming in at around 30,000 words).  I know I frequently ask for this, but if you did enjoy and read the blog regularly (or didn't enjoy), please share your thoughts in the comments and I'll know if this is something that I should try again in the future.

Getting back to the article, the sad matter for the actors in particular is that of the 250 men that were nominated for the list in 1999, only six of them are still alive today.  Two of those men (Kirk Douglas and Sidney Poitier) were on the original list, so we only have just four actors to get into right now.  Without further adieu...

Tab Hunter (1931-Present)

Oscar Nominations: Never nominated
Most Famous For: Being the Zac Efron of his day (no insinuations of Mr. Efron's sexuality...though they are very similar in a variety of other ways, so...).  Tab Hunter was a beefcake who made Warner Brothers a huge amount of money in the late 1950's, starring as the dreamy embodiment of a blond boy-next-door.  Hunter later starred in John Waters' Polyester with Divine and in 2006 caused major media waves (including on the New York Times bestseller list) when he wrote a biopic confirming the long-whispered rumors that he was gay.
Is He Still Working?: No, he is not (his final film role was in 1996), though there is supposedly a documentary coming out about his life next year from Jeffrey Schwarz.
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: Like the living ladies articles, I'm going to skip the "favorite performances" here except for two actors I actually have a favorite performance for.  I'll go with Island of Desire, because let's face it-seeing Tab Hunter shirtless with Linda Darnell sounds like a great way to kill an evening.

Jerry Lewis (1926-Present)

Oscar Nominations: Lewis was never nominated for a competitive Oscar, though he did win the Jean Hersholt in 2009.
Most Famous For: His Labor Day telethons.  Lewis was a noted comedian in the 1950's and 1960's, frequently appearing to much success with Dean Martin in television, film, and radio, and enjoying solid success as a solo act.  However, to most everyone with a television in September, he was the face of the telethons that raised money for Muscular Dystrophy, which he did for over forty years.  He is particularly well-known and beloved in France, where they recognize him as a "comedic genius."
Is He Still Working?: Yes, actually, though he doesn't host the telethons anymore, he does do small film work in movies like Max Rose in 2013 with Claire Bloom (whom you'll remember was on the female acting list).
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: I've never seen the original Nutty Professor (at least I don't remember that I have), and so I think that would probably be the number one slot for Lewis.

Dean Stockwell (1936-Present)

Oscar Nominations: Stockwell has received one Oscar nomination, for 1988's Married to the Mob (he lost to Kevin Kline).
Most Famous For: The career of Dean Stockwell is a fascinating one, as he is one of those rare child actors who went on to have a very strong career as an adult, though in this case in character actor parts. Starting acting as a cherubic-faced youth in movies like Gentleman's Agreement and Anchors Aweigh, he eventually became a hit actor as an adult, dropped out of acting to get involved in the hippie subculture, reappeared in the 1980's in the art house cinema of David Lynch and Wim Wenders, and is most well-known today for playing Al Calavicci in Quantum Leap and Brother Cavil in the revival of Battlestar Galactica.
Is He Still Working?: Absolutely, and in a variety of different pictures (including, and I find this hilarious, Max Rose with Claire Bloom and Jerry Lewis).  He was also opposite Jonathan Groff and Corey Stoll in C.O.G. last year.
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: I've actually seen a few Stockwell pictures, and thought he was terrific if terrifying singing Roy Orbison's "In Dreams" in the exceptional Blue Velvet.  I'll go with his Oscar-nominated work as my missing piece, though I have always meant to watch the revived Battlestar Galactica.

Max von Sydow (1929-Present)

Oscar Nominations: Two nominations, one for Pelle the Conquerer, and another one for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (he lost both).
Most Famous For: Being a titan of acting.  He is frequently referenced by people who want to name check someone of great acting gravitas.  He is particularly well-known for his work in the films of Ingmar Bergman, but also has appeared opposite Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Susan Sarandon in recent years.
Is He Still Working?: Absolutely.  He'll be taking a role of some sort (at least this is the rumor) in the next Star Wars film, and was just on The Simpsons.  He also was an Oscar nominee three years ago, so not only is he still working, but he's working in very relevant films.
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: I would do myself a disservice here if I didn't mention that I love von Sydow's work and he is one of my most beloved performers, particularly his films The Seventh Seal and Winter Light (Bergman being one of my all-time favorite directors).  Of the films I'm missing from von Sydow's filmography, I'd probably say The Emigrants would be the most egregious.

And there you have it-the final four.  What are your thoughts on the careers of Hunter, Lewis, Stockwell, and von Sydow?  Which of their films do you most need to see/most want to share your love for?  Click on the comments and let us all know!

Thoughts on the Family Guy/Simpsons Crossover Episode

As a long-time fan of both The Simpsons and Family Guy, I have to admit that I was absolutely stoked (and a tad bit nervous) about yesterday's crossover episode between the two series.  The stakes were pretty high-these are two of the most iconic network television programs of the past 25 years, and while they clearly have borrowed from each other (admittedly MacFarlane borrowing a wee bit more from Groening), they don't have quite the same stylistic approach to stories.  I left the episode both thrilled and feeling almost dizzy from the meta opportunities of the episode.  Here are some of my principle thoughts (spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the episode yet).

Best Moment

Easily the best moment of the episode was during the deposition at the court case.  After Homer accused Pawtucket Ale of being a rip-off of Duff (a pretty game stab by MacFarlane and his writers to settle a long-running feud between Simpsons and Family Guy fans that Family Guy was just a rip-off of The Simpsons), we saw a series of characters sitting next to each other showing how oddly similar they are (Seamus/the Sea Captain, Adam West/Mayor Quimby, Smithers/Bruce).  Best of all, and the best moment of the night, was when James Woods shows up at the end.  Woods of course has appeared as himself on both series, but first with The Simpsons with him running the Kwik-E-Mart (admittedly not as memorable, though, as his many visits to Quahog).  After the Simpsons-James Woods reminds the audience of this, the Family Guy-Woods says, "we're gonna lose."

Best Single Line

Really any time the show got fourth wall-meta on us.  Upon seeing the sign to Springfield, Stewie asks, "what state?"  Brian (who frequently breaks the fourth wall in the episode), says "I can't imagine we're allowed to say."  Later on we get a moment between Stewie and Brian where they compare "eat my shorts" and "what the deuce" and discuss which is more popular.  Brian cleverly acknowledges that "eat my shorts" is "probably way, way more popular."  Finally, there's the moment when Homer, during a fight with Peter, opens a closet full of Emmys and throws them at Peter, to which he replies, "hey no fair, I don't got none a them."

Best Pairing

Probably the smartest pairing was Peter and Homer-I mean, these two are oddly similar lugs who are genuinely nice guys and cannot help but acknowledge that they are fans of each other.  Second to this would be Stewie doting on Bart, a completely realistic idea, and I loved that they ended the episode by pointing out that Stewie was way too intense for Bart to be his pal.

Smartest Cameo

Aside from Woods (that was gold), you have so many homages being paid to other television programs throughout the episode, with Groening/MacFarlane acknowledging this is a major moment in primetime sitcoms.  The Cleveland Show (Cleveland), Bob's Burgers (Bob), American Dad (Roger), and even The Flintstones (Fred) were all tallied and accounted for in brief cameos.  It's just a pity that Futurama and South Park couldn't find their way into the mix.

Weirdest Moments

This was basically any-time that a Simpson or a Griffin went into one of the other show's bits, from Peter saying, "d'oh!" to the inevitable cutaways.  Most of these bits worked, but it was like taking your boyfriend to meet your parents-it's something you can imagine over and over in your head, and yet it's still bizarre to see these two worlds colliding.

Worst Moments

The episode, while highly enjoyable, and quite a lot of fun, still had a couple of moments that didn't sit well with me (well, two with an addendum).  The first was the end fight between Homer and Peter in an homage to his Giant Chicken battles.  This was of course inevitable (this is one of the most successful Family Guy running gags), but Homer Simpson isn't really a violent man, certainly not someone that would ever kill someone (on purpose...sorry Frank Grimes), and felt very out-of-the-moment.  I also had trouble believing that Lisa wouldn't want to encourage Meg more thoroughly, even when she was better at the saxophone than she was.  I know there's some evidence of this (Maggie was also good at the sax), but Lisa's character has grown a bit since then and I just cannot fathom her not wanting to encourage an emotionally abused person like Meg.  Just in general, in fact, it showed how very different these shows' attitudes toward family are-the Simpsons genuinely love each other in a way the Griffins really don't.

I also wish that we'd had a proper payback crossover between the two (couldn't Matt Groening have done that)?  The show was clearly grounded in Family Guy (it was an episode of the MacFarlane show), but I would have loved for the Simpsons writers (who are considerably better at writing women-wouldn't you have loved a series of the side characters interacting with their counterparts and then a cutaway to fifteen or so of the Springfield women all sitting around with just Bonnie?) to have tackled Family Guy and seen where they went with the program.

Characters/Bits I Wish We'd Had Time For, but It Was Only an Hour

Off the top of my head...Stewie proclaiming "excellent," having Snake be the thief of the car, a Conway Twitty bit, the Bonnie sight gag I just listed above, Peter meeting Flanders, Quagmire romancing a woman of Springfield, Joe meeting Chief Wiggum, Tom Tucker and Kent Brockman both trying to interview people on the courthouse steps, and some acknowledgement that Marge and Lois so rarely get the same sort of adventures their husbands do (Francine, Wilma, and Donna could all share in this moment).

Those were my thoughts-you must have a few-share them in the comments!

The Skeleton Twins (2014)

Film: The Skeleton Twins (2014)
Stars: Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Luke Wilson, Ty Burrell
Director: Craig Johnson
Oscar History: No nominations
Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

In my opinion, there aren't enough movies out there about siblings, particularly ones that explore the sibling dynamic as adults.  I hate to say this in case you're an only child out there (since you likely won't quite get it), but a sibling relationship is bizarre in that you both share so many things from birth.  You are both (likely) loved by the same parents, live in the same house, go to the same schools, experience similar punishments and troubles.  You have your own language and set of experiences that only you share.  There's a weird sort of competitive nature to your relationship that always exists even if you tend to embrace it more as you get older, rather than let it dictate your relationship.  And there's a love between siblings that is bizarrely unique.  Your parents or children you love instantly, your spouses you love as a result of working toward it-your siblings you love out of a shared history, out of a realization that you will never be quite as similar to someone else in your short time on this rock (and in my case, because my sibling is awesome).

(Spoilers Ahead) This is why I was so excited to see The Skeleton Twins, the rare film this time of year that I'm not seeing because it's clearly going to be in the hunt for some end-of-the-year accolades (so many films are Oscar threats right about now that I'm positive by the end of the year I'll be going broke, and I get that feeling every Oscar season).  The movie is about Maggie (Wiig) and Milo (Hader), two siblings who haven't spoken in ten years, though we don't learn why until toward the end of the film.  The opening scene is on Milo unsuccessfully attempting suicide.  It's a pretty disturbing sequence in a film that seems extremely pre-occupied with suicide and the ramifications of it (despite the way the film has been marketed, this is not a comedy-it's a drama with comedic elements).  We learn pretty early on that both of these two siblings are haunted by suicide, as their father committed it when they were fourteen, and they had a mother who basically abandoned them.  As a result, Milo has severe esteem issues and Maggie is paranoid that she cannot be a good mother, and constantly sabotages her relationship with her standup husband Lance (Wilson) through lying and adultery.

The movie's at its best when it's exploring their relationship with each other, both the warm and the prickly.  There's a scene toward the middle of the movie where Milo invites their mother (Joanna Gleeson in a very strong cameo) over and we see the cruelty that comes from a mother who clearly didn't want anything to do with her children.  The entire scene is brilliantly acted between Gleeson and Wiig, who manages to cut her mother pretty harshly, trying to get under the skin of someone who is too uninterested in her own children to really care.  This scene is complimented later in the movie when Milo and Maggie lip synch the Starship classic "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" (random fact: this was an Oscar-nominated hit from Mannequin), showing that being with a sibling is a bit like riding a bicycle: you never forget the in jokes.

The movie's side stories aren't quite as strong, particularly Wiig's.  We see her constantly sabotaging her relationship with Lance by sneaking birth control pills and sleeping with random men, but we don't quite get why she keeps doing it when she clearly doesn't want to, particularly with the adultery.  I also didn't like the complete predictability of her finally (for good this time!) giving up her scuba instructor lover and then getting caught just when she's in the clear, which felt like a filmic cliche.

The plot behind Milo was considerably more interesting, with him seeking out a former teacher named Rich who had an affair with Milo when he was fifteen shortly after his dad died.  There's a very stunning scene later on in the film where it's painted pretty clearly that these two saw their relationship disintegrate when Maggie told the school about Rich's affair with her brother, and that Milo has a very misguided interpretation of the affair even as an adult.

The film ends in a bit of a predictable nature considering that up until then some of the directions (particularly the shocker regarding their falling out) had not been something we'd seen coming.  Maggie decides to commit suicide, and then is saved by her brother.  It's an ending that's supposed to mirror the beginning, but at that point in the plot we have moved beyond the catalyst to their reunion, and should be working on a different level of recovery.  Still, though, there's enough interesting things said about Maggie and Milo's relationship (and a strong chemistry between former SNL castmates Hader and Wiig) to make this movie a worthwhile investment.

Those were my thoughts on the film-what are yours?  Do you agree that the film had some strong points, even if it didn't always deliver on them?  What is your favorite movie about sibling relationships?  And do you like the direction that Wiig and Hader have taken their post-SNL careers?  Share in the comments!

AFI's 25 Greatest Actors, Part 4

This article is part of a 15-Year Anniversary series commemorating the American Film Institute’s 25 Greatest Stars.  For the Actresses, click the numbers for Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.  For the Actors, click the numbers for Parts 1, 2, and 3.

We've now gone through all of the actors that were on the list of the 25 greatest from the AFI.  A crowning achievement, to say the least.  And yet, don't you feel like a few names were missing?  Like I did with the actresses (click through all of the links above if you're catching up, as there's been a lot of discussion centering around this conversation), I thought it was appropriate to chronicle ten superstars of the era who probably just missed the cut.  These ten men were the closest in my opinion (if you disagree, click on the comments below):

Montgomery Clift (1920-1966)

Oscar Nominations: 4 nominations, though he would never win an Academy Award during his short but celebrated career.
Why He Was Close to the List: Montgomery Clift was one of the first leading men to really be emotional or sensitive onscreen.  Paving the way for the likes of James Dean and Marlon Brando (and people like Ryan Gosling and James Franco today), he was intensely beautiful, but also someone with a secret, an introvert with something to tell.  He probably is still referenced so often today not just because of his tragic life and his closeted homosexuality (the gays are taking over this list, for the record-he's not the only one that I'm name-checking), but because his acting style is far more utilized by today's leading men and women than that of Bogie or John Wayne.  He was a pioneer of the hidden emotion.
Why He Missed: Clift's career never fully recovered after his near-fatal car accident in 1956, when his emotional state (already a bit damaged) and his physical appearance became altered and deteriorated quickly as a result.  Consequently, his filmography is impressive but quite brief, costing him against someone as prolific as Edward G. Robinson or Robert Mitchum.
My Favorite Performance: Looking through, I've actually seen almost all of Clift's films (I didn't realize this, but I have well over 50%, better than any other actor we've profiled, male or female, except for James Dean).  I will go with his sensational work in A Place in the Sun, where he plays a social-climber who wants nothing more than to leave his past where it is, but cannot escape it.
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: As I said, I've seen most everything.  I'll go with Hitchcock's I Confess as I'm curious to see what Hitch does with an actor that he knew was gay off-screen (Hitchcock was pretty good about the gay allegory and worked it well with Anthony Perkins).

Bing Crosby (1903-1977)

Oscar Nominations: Crosby received three nominations in his career, winning for Best Actor for Going My Way.
Why He Was Close to the List: Crosby's stature in the film community is still recognized today, particularly with his work in Holiday Inn and White Christmas (it helps when you star in a holiday classic-take note actors wanting longevity).  Crosby's vocal prowess and singing ability was legendary, and his many films with Bob Hope are still remembered to this day.
Why He Missed: A couple of reasons.  For starters, like Hope, his principle fame didn't seem to just be from the cinema, but instead from a different format (for Hope, it was stand-up and television, for Crosby, it was music).  It appears that most of the actors listed by the AFI are chiefly famous for their on-screen ability (only Judy Garland really made the crossover to another medium with an equal level of success).  There's also the little factor that Crosby's reputation has taken a severe downturn since his death due to his parenting skills and bizarre will (much like Joan Crawford's, an actress who probably could have made it to the Top 8 had it not been for Mommie Dearest).
My Favorite Performance: Unlike Clift, I don't love Crosby in quite the same way (I always found Bing a bit stiff onscreen) and so I'll go with a personal favorite from childhood in White Christmas.
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: In one of those rare situations where I haven't seen a Best Picture winner (I've seen over 80% of them), I've never seen Going My Way, which would need to be at the top of the list.

Errol Flynn (1909-1959)

Oscar Nominations: Flynn never received an Oscar nomination or win in his career, a stunning bit of news considering how long he was a Box Office draw.
Why He Was Close to the List: Flynn lives on today as a swashbuckler par excellence.  His name conjures images of dashing technicolor and elaborate sword battles.  It helps when you're creating an on-screen persona if you have one that no one else has ever had or can imitate, and that was the case with Flynn, who was a cad but one that you rooted for onscreen.
Why He Missed: Flynn doesn't have a particularly large list of easily-recognizable classics in his oeuvre, with the obvious exception being The Adventures of Robin Hood.  His extremely questionable relationship with Beverly Aadland (when she was just fifteen) further damaged his reputation in Hollywood, which was already pretty badly damaged from years of pretty open philandering (he reportedly romanced Marlene Dietrich and Delores del Rio while married).
My Favorite Performance: I'm not going to embarrass myself here.  I've seen a spattering of Flynn films, but none of note, and none that I'm going to claim as a favorite for such a legendary actor.
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: Clearly I've got my work cut out for me (there's a chance you do too if my theories about his filmography are to be believed).  Together we can make a point of hitting The Adventures of Robin Hood, Captain Blood, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, and The Sea Hawk.

Charlton Heston (1923-2008)

Oscar Nominations: Heston received only one Oscar nomination in his career, but he won for it in Ben-Hur.  He also received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1978.
Why He Was Close to the List: Heston was one of the biggest and most recognizable stars of the 1950's, frequently leading his way through biblical epics like El Cid, Ben-Hur, and in particular The Ten Commandments that are still watched heavily today (most of these films you can catch on Turner Classic Movies during Easter).  He also made Planet of the Apes late in the 1960's, adding another classic to his list of motion pictures.  All-in-all, there is no one else in the history of the movies that quite had the stature and heroic gravitas that Heston did onscreen (for those unfamiliar with his onscreen work-and for the love of pete, please change that-Russell Crowe in Gladiator probably comes the closest), and with the shift toward more relatable heroes, we probably won't see another one ever again.
Why He Missed: While with Flynn and Crosby I think part of their miss on the list came from their offscreen behavior, I'm utterly confident that Heston's was a result of that as his filmography is too big to ignore otherwise.  Heston's neoconservative beliefs and in particular his strong advocacy for the National Rifle Association alienated him from a generation of moviegoers and bitterly divided public opinion on him, an opinion that only got worse in the years following the creation of this list (particularly after Michael Moore's documentary Bowling for Columbine was released).
My Favorite Performance: I genuinely loved Ben-Hur and think that it's an epic masterpiece, but Heston was better in Touch of Evil, where he has to match wits with Orson Welles and watches his entire world slowly deteriorate.
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: I've seen the Big Five films from Heston (all name-checked above), so I'll go with The Agony and the Ecstasy, an adaptation of the Irving Stone novel where Heston plays Michelangelo.

Rock Hudson (1925-1985)

Oscar Nominations: Hudson received one Academy Award nomination in 1956 for Giant (he lost to Yul Brynner).
Why He Was Close to the List: Hudson's fame comes from two different places.  First was his acting in the 1950's and 1960's in larger-than-life roles romancing Elizabeth Taylor and most frequently Doris Day (he later enjoyed success on television opposite Susan Saint James in McMillan & Wife).  The second source of his fame surrounded his personal life (he was one of the very first major stars in Hollywood to come out as gay) and his bringing AIDS to light in a major way to the public (Hudson ended up dying from the disease, but his admission that he had AIDS was a hugely influential point in the AIDS awareness movement considering now everyone in America knew someone who had the disease).
Why He Missed: Hudson's fame at this point is almost entirely surrounding his sexuality and his association with AIDS.  His filmography hosts films like Giant and Pillow Talk, but it's not really large enough to compete with someone like John Wayne or Kirk Douglas who enjoyed decades of hits and significant movies.  Also, Hudson suffers a bit from that stereotype that pretty men can't act (don't believe this is a stereotype?  Compare the Best Actor lineup to the Best Actress lineup in any given year and tell me I'm wrong).
My Favorite Performance: I love Hudson as the hunky fake Texan in Pillow Talk, where he manages to be both charming and incredibly sexy while wooing Doris Day.
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: Like Clift, I've seen most of Rock Hudson's most significant films. I'll probably pick Ice Station Zebra (which plays constantly on Turner Classic Movies), one of his last major hits.

Charles Laughton (1899-1962)

Oscar Nominations: Laughton earned three Oscar nominations during his career, winning for The Private Life of Henry VIII.
Why He Was Close to the List: One of the great Shakespearean and theater actors, Laughton commanded major respect on the screen in almost everything he did (for those unfamiliar with his persona, think Philip Seymour Hoffman meets Laurence Olivier, with a bit of homosexuality for flavoring).  He brought a theatrical sense to the screen, and had the good sense to play in large epics during most of his career, meaning that his filmography is spattered with major classics from Mutiny on the Bounty to The Hunchback of Notre Dame to Witness for the Prosecution.
Why He Missed: Laughton never quite had THAT film to claim as his own.  All of those films are bona fide classics, but they aren't classics you instantly think of when discussing the term.  As a result, you end up with someone similar to Myrna Loy for the ladies-when you mention them as a candidate for a greatest stars list, you say "of course!" but they don't spring to mind unprompted.
My Favorite Performance: I'm going to cheat here, as I've missed most of Laughton's most significant acting work and don't want to embarrass myself, so I'll go with his sole directorial effort in The Night of the Hunter.
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: If I cannot find a favorite performance that means another marathon list, so we'll put the four films I listed above along with Spartacus and Captain Kidd and make up for lost time.

Steve McQueen (1930-1980)

Oscar Nominations: McQueen received just one Oscar nomination in his career, for 1966's The Sand Pebbles.
Why He Was Close to the List: What James Dean was to the 1950's, Steve McQueen was to the 1960's.  McQueen was a devilishly handsome daredevil who played by his own rules and frequently romanced some of the leading ladies of his day (including Ali McGraw) and played rebellious, modern roles like that of Frank Bullitt in Bullitt, one of his most noted pictures.  His death at only age fifty added a mystique to McQueen's already enormous aura.
Why He Missed: Two reasons: one, McQueen's partying and racecar-driving caused him to miss out on a huge number of classic films, and as a result his filmography is much slimmer than most of the men listed here.  Secondly McQueen was more of an actor that was famous in the 1960's, considerably later than Hollywood's Golden Age and is more in-line with the likes of Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, and Paul Newman, though his early death occasionally groups him with the stars of an earlier era.
My Favorite Performance: I have always enjoyed him as the totally crushable Rocky in the (admittedly dated, but still enjoyable) Love with the Proper Stranger.
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: I've never seen McQueen in Bullitt, a genre of film that isn't really my cup of tea, but clearly is one that I should hit sooner rather than later regardless of the film subject.

Anthony Quinn (1915-2001)

Oscar Nominations: Quinn received four Academy Award nods in his career, winning twice for Supporting Actor in Viva Zapata! and Lust for Life.
Why He Was Close to the List: Quinn was one of those actors that everyone deeply admired for his tenacity onscreen and his thespian chops.  Though he starred in very few major films (outside of a supporting role in Lawrence of Arabia), he, like Spencer Tracy, was an actor who carefully selected projects that would enjoy prestige and acclaim from critics, audiences, and awards' bodies.  It also helps that he worked for decades, right up until his death, giving multiple generations a chance to see his work in a theater.
Why He Missed: I touched on it, but Quinn never broke out in a specific role like other actors did.  His most famous part would be Zorba the Greek, but that's not a film a number of people see today.  He's well-respected, but not someone who survives in a memorable way in films since then (he also did a number of supporting parts, which may have cost him considering how headliner-heavy the AFI was in creating this list).
My Favorite Performance: It's been years since I saw it, but I have to imagine that Zorba the Greek will age pretty well if I ever re-visit it in the upcoming years, so I'll go with that for Quinn.
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: I've seen neither of his two Oscar-winning roles (though oddly enough I've seen both of the films he lost the Oscar for).

Mickey Rooney (1920-2014)

Oscar Nominations: Rooney received four competitive Academy Award nominations in his career, but won for none of them.  He did win a Juvenile Oscar in 1939 along with Deanna Durbin and then won an Honorary Oscar in 1983 for life achievement.
Why He Was Close to the List: He was the top box office draw of 1939 and 1940!  Okay, that's a joke that has frequently been thrown out (I don't know why Rooney in particular gets hammered with swipes in that regard).  He was clearly a very popular entertainer (his fellow actors adored him), and his star endured for decades (his career ended up spanning over ninety years), ending only this past year with his death.  He is one of those rare actors who did musicals, dramatic pictures, silent films, child star to aging grandpa-he was one of a kind.
Why He Missed: His onscreen (and offscreen) persona was an acquired taste, and one that not everyone was a fan of, quite frankly.  He was a very good actor, though, and I think if this list had been made a decade later, seeing that Rooney would still be working and would become one of the final links to Hollywood's Golden Era, he probably would have made the cut.
My Favorite Performance: I'm going to cheat here, but not in the way that I did with Laughton.  I'm going to pick Rooney's terrific solo effort on The Twilight Zone in "The Last Night of the Jockey"-if you want proof the man could act, here's a fine place to start.
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: I could go with one of the Oscar-nominated roles, but I'll instead go with some of the Andy Hardy pictures, getting a view of what Rooney truly became famous for (he made fifteen of these pictures in the days before television).

Peter Sellers (1925-1980)

Oscar Nominations: Sellers received two Oscar nominations for acting, for Dr. Strangelove and Being There, losing for both.  He also was nominated for his Live Action Short Film The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film, which he also lost the trophy for.
Why He Was Close to the List: Sellers has long enjoyed an enduring fame, particularly amongst comedians, as one of the pioneers of the art form.  Think of how Steve Martin is revered amongst almost all comics now as being a true pioneer and artist-that's largely what Peter Sellers was in his era.  He also starred in Dr. Strangelove in not one but three roles, a comic triumph any actor would be envious of achieving.
Why He Missed: Sellers, like Steve McQueen, enjoyed his principle fame in later years, particularly the 1960's and 1970's, and as a result may not have felt like an appropriate choice for the "Golden Age Stars" list.  He was also very difficult to work with and very reclusive in his personal life, adding mystique but less public consciousness as a result.
My Favorite Performance: Only a fool wouldn't pick his comedic triumph in Dr. Strangelove, one of the most biting, provocative, and cutting films ever made, and Sellers is a key reason for all of that.
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: I've never seen Sellers in his last great film role, that of Chance Gardner in Being There with Shirley MacLaine (who, contrary to some opinions of Sellers, thoroughly enjoyed working with him).

And there are my hunches as to the ten men who just missed the AFI list-what are your guesses?  Who do you think was the closest (my gut is Heston)?  Who are your favorites?  Who did I forget from the just misses?  Share your thoughts in the comments!

OVP: Bolt (2008)

Film: Bolt (2008)
Stars: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton, Malcolm McDowell, Greg Germann
Directors: Chris Williams and Byron Howard
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Animated Feature Film)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 1/5 stars

As an adult, when you watch a children's film you occasionally have to suspend belief.  A movie like Up, for example, pushes the laws of physics to the end of the world and beyond.  Toy Story is a silly fare if you really think about it (why is it only the toys that come alive?).  But usually the world that is being established at least makes sense on-paper.  You can suspend your beliefs because it kind of works-there's enough reality grounded into the movie to make sense of everything on-screen.  And then there's something like Bolt which takes that patience and pushes it to infinity and well, well beyond.

(Spoilers) The movie, a big hit for Disney in 2008 and one that apparently "re-captured Disney's magic" according to some viewers (I think that was said a year too early-Princess and the Frog was much better in that regard), is an extremely silly fare that seems to borrow more from DreamWorks than Pixar (which is about as mean of a thing as you can say about an animated film).  The movie follows Bolt (Travolta), a dog who isn't aware that he isn't a super dog (he plays one on television), who is separated from his master Penny (Cyrus), and then enlists the help of a streetwise cat named Mittens (Essman) and a frantic hampster named Rhino (Walton).  Along the way, Bolt realizes that he is not super, but can still be loved by Penny and save the day anyway.  It's a cute, if 100% predictable plot, and fine enough in that regard.

I had a few problems with it, however.  For starters, the animation is pretty rudimentary by today's standards.  We don't get any of the stylistic color schemes we have from later Disney films like Princess and the Frog or Frozen, much less the heights of the Pixar universe.  It's computer-animated, but there's not enough life in this to really elevate it in a way that even some of the lower-grade Pixar films tend to enjoy.

The bigger problem isn't that, though: it's the plot, the characters, and the message the film sends to its viewers.  The plot is, well, stupid.  Even the most simplistic of children would realize that Bolt clearly has eaten before, and yet there is a scene where he is stunned that he is hungry.  It would have made more sense for him to be stunned food wasn't randomly in front of him.  It's these sorts of moments that take you truly out of the picture, and show the writing team wasn't paying enough attention.  The film clearly is borrowing from Peter Weir's The Truman Show, but once we're out in the real world, we don't get a legitimate reason for Bolt to believe that his superpowers were inhibited.  The dog may go through some identity crises like in Toy Story or see some things where his delusion can be extended, but the film doesn't feature any such plot devices.  Instead, it becomes an extended dose of silly, and I expect more from a studio that gave us complicated plots for younger audiences in the 1990's.

The characters themselves are all pretty snooze-ville as well.  Bolt is one of the blandest antagonists I've seen Disney base an entire movie around-he's uncomplicated, not particularly interesting, and constantly just running around being bossy.  Travolta's vocal work is pretty uninspired as well-it sounds as if he's reading a children's story rather than actually acting.  The only person who is remotely funny in their role is Essman.  Even though her character is horribly cliched, she has the comic skills to land most of the jokes and actually make you laugh.  The film needed a bit more of her bite, but sadly even she joins the conformity by the film's end.

And that was my big, really sad takeaway toward the end of the film.  This wasn't just a "we're happy just the way we are" message.  Instead, we get Penny giving up her own dreams of being an actress and just deciding to live in the country growing up to be a kid.  I know that there's a wholesome nature to this, but I'm going to say I was a little disturbed that instead of having her pursue her other dream, she had to stay at home to make her man (in this case, a dog) happy.  This may be taking a bit of a feminist reading of the film, but that's where my mind went, particularly considering that Cyrus was the one cast as the voice of Penny, and the character onscreen in many ways mirrored Cyrus in real life (both were on silly hit TV shows where characters have double lives), but Cyrus in real-life went on to have number one hit singles and became a multi-millionaire, not a girl running around playing fetch.  I'm going to say that I was disappointed that we saw another girl come in and play Penny's character rather than have the show itself continue on in a slightly altered way with Cyrus's Penny continuing to follow her career.

Those were my thoughts on this film.  We'll get back to it in a month or so when we tackle the 2008 OVP, but let's kick off our discussion of that race now.  Did you enjoy Bolt?  Do you agree with me that it sends some pretty mixed messages to the audience?  And where does it rank on your personal Oscar ballot against WALL-E and Kung Fu Panda?  Share in the comments!

AFI's 25 Greatest Actors, Part 3

This Article is part of a 15-Year Anniversary series commemorating the American Film Institute’s 25 Greatest Stars.  For the Actresses, click the numbers for Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.  For the Actors, click the numbers for Parts 1 and 2.

So far we've chronicled six of the biggest legends of cinema, and as a whole they were fairly uniform-the leading men of their eras, whether romantic, dramatic, or comedic.  Here we get a few more of the classic leading men, as well as someone who went on to become a character actor, and while we deceptively will get nine winners, it's really a dozen fellas.  Let's take a look at the final set of the AFI's 100 Stars honorees...

17. Kirk Douglas (1916-Present)

Oscar Nominations: Douglas would receive a trio of Oscar nominations in his career, all for Best Actor, but would lose every time (he probably came the closest to winning for 1956's Lust for Life).  Douglas would deservedly win an Honorary Award in 1996 from the Academy.
Probably Best Known Today For: Living forever?  Hopefully that's the case-it clearly helps your star exponentially to have some longevity around it (unless you do what the next guy on this list did, though that doesn't seem like as enjoyable of an alternative).  Douglas has been one of those great, enduring links to Hollywood's classical age, and as recently as 2010 (when he famously handed the Oscar over to Melissa Leo) he has been in the public eye (he still blogs for the Huffington Post).  Douglas also, of course, is known for his work in Spartacus and for being Michael Douglas' father.
My Favorite Performance: I have to admit that I like the idea of Kirk Douglas more than I like him in practice as an actor.  I love that there's still a great film actor out there from Hollywood's Golden Age remaining active and as a link for today's audiences into the Hollywood of the past, and I do hope that Kirk Douglas just continues living forever.  That said, I've never had that moment of adoration with one of his films (I admittedly have a few to go with this particular gentleman), so I'll go with his Oscar-nominated work in The Bad and the Beautiful for now.
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: As I stated above, there's a few to go here, including his iconic work in Spartacus, his near miss with the Academy in Lust for Life, and his work in Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece Paths of Glory.  Anyone up for a marathon (actually-that goes for any of these articles; in hopes of getting more comments going I'll offer up a weekend of reviews on some of the missing links on a few of these actors if we can get some discussion going)?

18. James Dean (1931-1955)

Oscar Nominations: 2 nominations, both posthumously, for East of Eden and Giant
Probably Best Known Today For: Being the quintessential "live hard and die young" star.  Eternally youthful (it's always a weird moment the first time you realize you're older than James Dean ever was), he made three classic movies, and then died in an automobile accident.  Since then, in a similar way to Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, he has become an icon of the 1950's, frequently featured in poster art and 50's nostalgia and becoming synonymous with being "cool."
My Favorite Performance: It's also a weird moment when you actually see Dean onscreen for the first time-it's kind of like seeing Marilyn for the first time in a movie.  It's an odd juxtaposition because you have become so used to seeing them, almost as cartoons in poster art for so many years that to realize that this beautiful creature actually was a person at one point-it's a tad bit jarring.  That said, my favorite performance of Dean's would be his troubled, sensitive young man in Rebel Without a Cause, a marvelous movie and one of the most nuanced performances of the 1950's.  It's one of those performances where you say "what might have been..."
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: While he technically had uncredited roles in a handful of movies (that's what happens when you become hyper-famous: they find the random tiny roles you did when you were just trying to make rent), he was only billed in three films: Rebel, East of Eden, and Giant.  The only one of these I haven't seen is East of Eden, so clearly that's the miss here.

19. Burt Lancaster (1913-1994)

Oscar Nominations: Lancaster received 4 Oscar nominations, winning for 1960's Elmer Gantry
Probably Best Known Today For: Being awash in the suds with Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity.  That image, of them making out in the sand, is one of the most iconic in film history, and if he hadn't had anything else in his career that alone would keep him forever in the public memory.  That said, he was an actor with an extraordinarily long career (spanning four decades), and he's also pretty memorable from his work in Field of Dreams and his late career comeback in Atlantic City.
My Favorite Performance: Like Kirk Douglas, I am missing a few pieces here but haven't been wild about what I've seen so far.  I actually quite liked his tiny role in Field of Dreams-it's probably my favorite performance in that movie.  I'll go with that, though From Here to Eternity is an appropriate if not all-together inspired choice (he's like the fourth or fifth best performance in that movie-the Monty Clift/Donna Reed story has always intrigued me more from that picture).
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: Elmer Gantry, clearly, with his Oscar win for that film, though seeing him with a young Susan Sarandon in Atlantic City is definitely keeping that movie pretty high up on my to-watch list.

20. The Marx Brothers (1887-1979)

Oscar Nominations: None of the Marx Brothers ever received an Oscar nomination in their careers, though Groucho won an Honorary Oscar in 1974.
Probably Best Known Today For: Being one of the great comic teams of classic cinema.  The brothers: Chico (1887-1961), Harpo (1888-1964), Groucho (1890-1977), and Zeppo (1901-1979) appeared in a number of classic comedies together in the 1930's and 40's and are famous for their madcap antics in some of the era's most celebrated comedies (there was a fifth brother named Gummo that was part of the act but left when he was drafted during World War I and didn't appear in any of their films; I couldn't find a quality photo with Zeppo, who isn't pictured to the left, but he wasn't as significant of a part of the Marx Brothers as his three older brothers).
My Favorite Performance: In my opinion you can't really go wrong with a Marx Brothers comedy, particularly with Duck Soup or A Night at the Opera (I will admit that I get these two particular films mixed up as the whole point of a Marx Brothers film is not the plot but seeing the madness that comes out of what's happening onscreen).  If forced to pick between the two...maybe A Night at the Opera.
Glaring Miss in Their Filmography: I have never gotten around to Animal Crackers-this is noted as one of Groucho's funniest performances, so I'd probably go with that.

21. Buster Keaton (1895-1966)

Oscar Nominations: Keaton would never win a competitive nomination or win from the Academy, but he did win an Honorary Oscar in 1960.
Probably Best Known Today For: ...not being Charlie Chaplin?  That's cruel, though it's worth noting that the rivalry that cinematic fans of their work have long fueled has decidedly come out in Chaplin's favor through the years, at least in terms of enduring fame (if it makes you feel better, Buster, Harold Lloyd clearly got the shaft of the three of you).  That said, his work as the great stone-faced comedian of the Silent Era is still known today and celebrated by many critics, a number of whom argue (vociferously) that he was better than Chaplin.
My Favorite Performance: I've only seen one Keaton film, and while I didn't love it (so far, I'm more on the Chaplin side of things), Sherlock Jr. is hard to argue with in terms of certain incredible scenes in the movie, particularly the scene where Keaton enters the movie during the dream sequence.
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: I mean, I haven't seen The General.  If I were going to create a list of classic movies that I haven't seen, the number one title on that list would be The General, so you know that my head is pretty damn low right now.  It's currently at Number 12 on my Netflix list-provided I don't get to re-arranging too much, we'll hit this by the end of the year.

22. Sidney Poitier (1927-Present)

Oscar Nominations: Poitier received two Oscar nominations in his career, winning Best Actor for Lilies of the Field (becoming the first black man to win Best Actor).  Poitier also won an Honorary Award in 2002.
Probably Best Known Today For: Being an iconic and celebrated figure in the Civil Rights movement in the United States, and along with Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, and Harry Belafonte, being one of the very first black movie stars (he's also Ambassador from the Bahamas to Japan, as he actually has dual citizenship with both the Bahamas and the United States-random fact!).  Poitier is one of the most widely-respected actors in the industry, and one of its most enduring stars.
My Favorite Performance: I know that some like to quibble about how Poitier never received an Oscar nomination for In the Heat of the Night, but part of me thinks it was more to do with vote-splitting (he also had Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and To Sir, with Love out that year) than racism.  Still, he certainly deserved an Oscar nomination for his iconic Virgil Tibbs.
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: I've never actually seen the movie that landed Poitier his Academy Award.  For whatever reason Lilies of the Field has never made it to the top of my queue, though I've seen a lot of Poitier films through the years.

23. Robert Mitchum (1917-1997)

Oscar Nominations: Mitchum received an Oscar nomination for The Story of GI Joe, but didn't win.  Mitchum is noteworthy on this list because, aside from James Dean who died at age 24, he's the only person to have never won either a competitive or an honorary Oscar.  Clearly AMPAS dropped the ball on that one.
Probably Best Known Today For: All right, I'm going to go there-Robert Mitchum is most well-known today for wearing his high-pants and being an "out-of-shape, in-shape" guy (you can thank Seth MacFarlane for introducing Mitchum to a new generation of filmgoers, albeit with a series of Mitchum cliches, and if you don't know what I'm talking about you don't watch Family Guy).  Mitchum was one of those great, enigmatic tough guys-frequently finding himself on the wrong side of the law but on the right side of a dame.
My Favorite Performance: Hands down this is Night of the Hunter.  Mitchum's creepy Harry Powell in this movie is one of the most chilling villains ever brought to the screen, and definitely a strong introduction to his work if you're not particularly familiar with him as an actor (he's one of the least known of this list of 25 men).
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: I've never seen Cape Fear, the original production with Gregory Peck and Polly Bergen-that would probably at the top just over his work in The Winds of War (a giant miniseries for ABC back when broadcast television invested in giant miniseries and it wasn't just something the History Channel and HBO created).

24. Edward G. Robinson (1893-1973)

Oscar Nominations: Robinson never received a competitive nomination in his long career, though he did win an Honorary Award in 1973 (though, sadly, it was given posthumously).
Probably Best Known Today For: Saying the phrase "see" a lot?  Robinson's persona is what is well-known today, most notably being parodied by Chief Clancy Wiggum on The Simpsons.  Robinson is also well-known as one of the cinema's most famous portrayer of gangsters, with Little Caesar coming to most people's minds.
My Favorite Performance: I actually would go with Double Indemnity, when he was starting to shift into supporting performances (he's one of those rare actors who did that shift during that era, rather than just petering out in terms of what work they were doing).  I love the calculating way that his character draws out scenes, getting more and more information (though there's not really a "bad" part of that movie).
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: I can never remember if I've seen Little Caesar-I feel like I have, but that might just be because that is one of those films that you see so many clips of that you are sure you've seen it.  As a result, I'll go with Orson Welles' The Stranger here, though I should clearly probably re-view Little Caesar just to make sure I've enjoyed it.

25. William Holden (1918-1981)

Oscar Nominations: Three nominations, he won Best Actor for 1953's Stalag 17.
Probably Best Known Today For: Being face-down in a pool.  I always wonder if actors sort of hate the fact that they become most well-known for an early role, constantly living in its shadow.  If William Holden did, at least he can take comfort in knowing that his work as Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard is a truly splendid piece of work, and established him as the easy-going, cool but potentially more below the surface handsome man that the 1950's desperately needed (as he became a major star as a result of that movie).
My Favorite Performance: I'll go with Sunset Boulevard.  With one big exception, I've actually seen most of the major movies of Holden's career, but I (like the public) liked him best early-on, charming Norma Desmond as a boy toy certain he'll be a great screenwriter, and then finding his way into a nightmare (this is also one of my all-time favorite movies just in general).
Glaring Miss in His Filmography: I've never seen the film that won Holden his Oscar, oddly enough. Stalag 17 has for whatever reason stayed off my radar, but as it was a major player in that year's Academy Awards, we'll get to it someday with the OVP.

And there you have it-we're done with the official entrants in the AFI's 100 Stars list.  We'll get into the also-rans tomorrow, but in the meantime-who are your favorites of these nine gentlemen?  Do you have a performance you gravitate toward?  Which of their films are you ashamed to admit you've never seen?  And which would you like me to discuss more in-depth on the blog?  Share in the comments!