Today marks the Blu-ray debut of Good Will Hunting, Gus Van Sant’s acclaimed 1997 drama that became the breakthrough film for writer/stars Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. The pair, who had been friends since childhood, famously wrote the screenplay out of struggling-actor frustration, figuring that if they couldn’t find any good roles (or convince people to give them good roles), they’d write some of their own. The strategy paid off in spades; the film was a critical and financial smash, and the duo won that year’s Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Damon and Affleck weren’t the first frustrated actors who turned to the typewriter to take control of their careers; it’s a common strategy for young actors who can’t get a job, albeit not one that always works out quite as spectacularly. Young actors on the rise aren’t the only ones prone to take a shot at screenwriting, though — more established actors have frequently been known to try their hand at the gig as well, either to redefine themselves and redirect their careers, or to realize a personal, important project. And, let’s be honest, some have probably just done it to satiate their own massive egos. Whatever the case, there’s an abundance of movies written by actors out there; after the jump, we take a look at ten titles, and rank them in order of their artistic (and career-trajectory-influencing) success.
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Well kids, Father’s Day is Sunday, so we hope you’ve bought your tie or drill or whatever. Dads always get the shaft in the holiday sweepstakes; mothers get flowers, candy, elaborate gifts, songs written for them, shout-outs on television, and, let’s face it, fathers sorta get taken for granted. But if the movies have taught us one thing, it’s that the potential for being a terrible father is limitless. We’ve compiled a list of the worst fathers in movie history; check it out after the jump, and maybe give Dad an extra hug on Sunday.
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1. Weezer’s new album Hurley, which includes guest appearances by Ryan Adams and Michael Cera, is now streaming on MySpace.
2. The Man Booker Prize shortlist has been announced, with Tom McCarthy’s novel C as bookies’ favorite to win. [via Independent]
3. Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote has run out of funding, but he refuses to give up the project: “Robert Duvall is Quixote, Ewan McGregor is also there, and we are looking for new financing right now.” [via Variety]
4. Pavement is looking for someone to play guitar with them on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on September 23, and it could be you. [via Pitchfork]
5. The first cast photo from the US version of Skins leaves us feeling underwhelmed about the remake. How about you? [via Digital Spy]
Bonus link: DragonCon Parade 2010
The storyline for Aaron Schneider’s Get Low — which stars Bill Murray, Robert Duvall, and Sissy Spacek — reminds of us of that episode of The Golden Girls where Sophia decides to stage her own wake because she’s curious to see what people will say about her. It turns out that it’s actually based on the true story of Felix Bush (Duvall), a hermit who lived in the sticks of Tennessee back in the ’30s. As it tends to go in small Southern towns, people take his reclusive nature to imply that he has done unspeakable things, and Bush becomes the subject of much speculation. He believes that having a living funeral will be his chance to both hear what people really think of him and to set the record straight about why his been hiding out in the woods. Murray plays the shady funeral home director determined to make some money off of the whole thing. Sounds promising, no?
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The songs we hear sung by Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges), the onetime country-music superstar at the center of Scott Cooper’s film Crazy Heart, are infused by a weary regret. “I used to be somebody,” he sings to a sparse crowd gathered at a bowling alley in southern Colorado, and it’s only the first of a series of lyrical recriminations that he’ll declare. Offstage, Blake is anything but penitent — he drinks whiskey by the bottle, chain-smokes, and brushes off the young musicians hoping to be acolytes for a day. From Colorado, his tour heads south to a cozier two-night stand at a small Santa Fe bar, where he meets Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal). A journalist and single mother, she seeks an interview with him, which — over talk of the Delta blues and Lefty Frizzell — becomes something deeper.
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Gray, empty, and full of collapsed architecture, the godforsaken landscape of The Road — which opens in theaters today — is true to author Cormac McCarthy’s lean, illustrious source.
Less a trained road warrior than a weary yet determined father, Viggo Mortensen carries this post-apocalyptic film and his family — namely The Boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee) — on his raggedy back. The plot is as spare as McCarthy’s prose: father and son must rely on each other as they trek across this eerie, desolate world to the sea.
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