Posts Tagged ‘Seth Rogan’

Some people are only ever appreciated for their work posthumously.  Others are lucky enough to receive praise during their living years.  Perhaps the most fortunate of all artists are those who are appreciated throughout their lifetime and far beyond that.  John Belushi is one of those people.  Although his career ended in 1982 when he died tragically of a drug overdose, he continues to be extremely influential to many upcoming comedic actors.

While working as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, John brought a wide range of characters to life.  From memorable characters like the Samurai chef and the Land Shark, to my personal favorite, Jake Blues, Belushi never left the audience disappointed.  John Belushi brought so many amazing things to SNL.  He was versatile, original, hysterical and above all else, brave.  As well as original characters, John nailed dozens of impersonations including Joe Cocker.

Now, nearly 20 years after his death, John Belushi is about to have another film made in his name. Screenwriter Steven Conrad (Pursuit of Happyness) and Producer/Director Todd Phillips (The Hangover) have teamed up to put together a biographical film of the late actor’s life.  Phillips will definitely be producing the film, although it is not yet decided whether he will also direct it.  This will all be made possible thanks to Warner Brothers’ recent acquisition of John’s life rights as well as the backing of his estate and late widow, Judith Belushi-Pisano.  A number of actors have been rumored to be up for the leading role including Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and Artie Lange.  The movie does not have a set release date at this time, but is surely something to look out for.

Be sure to check out more great posts from tv/movie editor Lisa Curry right here at Positively Celebrity!

Best surprise: With song/dance man Hugh Jackman as host, surprise presenters, and funny gag bits, the Oscar’s was one of the most entertaining it’s been in a long time. (Ratings were even up 6 percent from last year’s telecast.)

Worst surprise: Chances are you won your office pool because just about no surprise winners threw off our ballots. “Slumdog Millionaire” cleaned up winning 8 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay as predicted, and Kate Winslet, Heath Ledger, and Penélope Cruz won as expected. The biggest upset was Sean Penn winning Best Actor over Mickey Rourke, but really we all knew it was between the two anyway.

Worst use of presenting the Best Pictures:  Up until the last ten minutes of the show, you wouldn’t even know which films were nominated for Best Picture, and isn’t this what the night was really all about? Instead of showcasing clips throughout the night like usual, the clips were only shown right before the award was handed out. Even worse, they were intermingled with previous films that have similar themes making the clips confusing and taking attention away from the nominees.

Best presentation of movies: The montages of film genres recapping the best of 2008 were done so in great pop culture fashion. Coldplay’s “Lovers in Japan” played to the great romance flicks, Wall-E the adorable robot found a tape of the best animation movies, and the hilarious James Franco and Seth Rogen reprised their “Pineapple Express” roles as they watched DVDs of the funniest comedies.

Worst use of presenting the Best Songs: The song nominees, which are usually played in their entirety throughout the night, also weren’t given their full due. The two “Slumdog Millionaire” songs and “Wall-E” song were shortened and played one after the other. We all knew “Jai Ho” was going to win, but “Wall-E” should have been given it’s own set piece rather than making John Legend sing with “Slumdog’s” Indian back-up dancers and drummers.

Best use of presenting awards: Rather than randomly presenting awards, the telecast walked the audience through the making of a movie starting with the screenwriting process to art direction to editing. Stars associated with the category was also a nice touch like action hero Will Smith presenting Best Visual Effects and Sound Mixing and “Religious” filmmaker Bill Maher presenting Best Documentary.

Best presenters: Steve Martin and Tina Fey presented the screenplay awards humorously (“Don’t fall in love with me” Martin stoically told a googly eyed Fey) and controversially (poking fun at Hollywood-favorite Scientology). And don’t forget about Ben Stiller who delivered a dead-on impression of Joaquin Phoenix’s bizarre appearance on the “Late Show with David Letterman” while presenting with Natalie Portman. It would have been even funnier though if it wasn’t just parodied at the previous night’s Independent Spirit Awards.

Best use of presenters: Keeping most of the identities of the presenters top-secret beforehand made for a more exciting show because you never knew who was going to come out next. Hello Will Smith, hello Reese Witherspoon!

Worst use of presenters: While it was fun seeing past winners like Nicole Kidman, Robert De Niro, and Christopher Walken, presenting the nominees, it came off too self-congratulatory. Instead of comments like “You really nailed it” and Marion Cotillard clasping her hands together cooing “Thank you” to Winslet, let’s see some clips instead. Most viewers at home haven’t seen all the movies, so it’d be more interesting to see the performances for which they’re nominated. 

Best acceptance speech: Instead of the director or co-stars accepting on his behalf, the acceptance of Heath Ledger’s Oscar by his family was much more touching. “Tonight we are choosing to be happy and celebrate what he has achieved,” his mother, Sally Bell, said.

Funniest acceptance speeches: Where to begin? First there’s Phillipe Petit, the subject of the documentary, “Man on Wire,” who not only balanced the Oscar on his chin, he also made a coin disappear.  Then the Japanese director of the Best Animated Short, “Kunio Kato thanked Mr. Roboto.” Finally, Best Director, Danny Boyle, bounced up and down in homage of Tigger for his children.  

Worst camera shots: Awkward alert… Not only did Jennifer Aniston have to present an award mere feet away from Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, the camera cut away to Brangelina twice! At least Jolie and Pitt made nice and weren’t giving dirty looks.

Best use of teeny boppers: While baby faced stars like Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Robert Pattinson, and Amanda Seyfried presented and performed on stage to most likely draw in the younger audience, their presence was downplayed and didn’t make the Oscars feel like the Teen Choice Awards.

Best secret talent: Anne Hathaway showed off her really good voice in her pretend-impromptu song and dance number with Jackman. Look out Beyoncé. Maybe you won’t be needed next year.

Here are the winners of the major categories:

Best Picture: “Slumdog Millionaire”

Best Actor: Sean Penn, “Milk”

Best Actress: Kate Winslet, “The Reader”

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”

Best Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”

Best Director: Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”

Renting “Zack and Miri Makes a Porno” offered a first time experience for me: the first time I’ve ever received a dirty look for renting a legitimate movie. I guess the cashier (a middle aged woman) was aghast that such an aptly titled film could sweep its way onto the shelves of a family oriented video store. (Come to think of it, I don’t even recall receiving a dirty look for renting an actual porno movie.)

I rented this movie because I am a Kevin Smith fan and I think all Judd Apatow fare is merely wanna-be Kevin Smith fare. Smith was the first (and best) to master the raunchy sex-comedy genre and his best films: Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma etc. are all better than anything Apatow has ever tried. Seth Rogan, star of ‘Zack and Miri,’ has even admitted his reverence for Smith in interviews, stating that he hopes to make comedies as great as Smith’s mid/latter 90’s output (hey, Superbad! came close).

Indeed, there is only one Kevin Smith, but there is also only one Seth Rogan and it’s a treat to see these two comedic geniuses sharing the same bill. The film is a showcase for Smith’s trademark repartee, acted masterfully by Rogan and angelic Elizabeth Banks, two characters you want to root for (maybe a little extra for Banks because she is undeniably gorgeous).

The title encapsulates the film; these are two roommates down on their luck, who in turn discover love through the making of a porno film. It’s vile, it’s crass, it’s Kevin Smith at his best and it’s the perfect rental if you’re looking for a good laugh (and don‘t mind a little nudity with your humor).

“Dream big,” Ellen Page’s “Juno” character tells her step mom. Indeed, the film’s director and stars did.

Not only was “Juno” nominated for four Oscar nominations, its stars and director won awards, or as they are called “Beavers” at their native Canada’s ninth annual Canadian Comedy Awards Friday night in Saskatchewan.

Montreal-born Jason Reitman won Pretty Funny Film Directing, Halifax-born Ellen Page won Pretty Funny Female Actress of the Year, and Ontario-born Michael Cera won Pretty Funny Male Actor of the Year for “Superbad” (even though he also was in “Juno”).

Cera’s “Superbad” costar, Vancouver-born Seth Rogen, won a Beaver for writing the raunchy but funny teen comedy. He also won Pretty Funny Comic Person of the Year for his recent performances in “Knocked Up” and “Pineapple Express.”

You can see the show and the rest of the winners when it airs next March on Canada’s The Comedy Network.

In the meantime, read on to see what other celebrities hail from the land up north.

Eric McCormack – Toronto, Ontario

Jim Carrey – Newmarket, Ontario

John Candy – Toronto, Ontario

Lorne Michaels – Toronto, Ontario

Avril Lavigne – Belleville, Ontario

Shania Twain – Windsor, Ontario

Mike Myers – Scarborough, Ontario

Pamela Anderson – Ladysmith, British Columbia

William Shatner – Montreal, Quebec

Paul Shaffer – Thunder Bay, Ontario

OK, so maybe they are not as easy on the eyes as Brad Pitt, but Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, and the like have introduced a new class of men to Hollywood, affectionately dubbed as the “Comedy Mafia”.

Flashback to high school and these self described “nice Jewish boys” would surely have generated a few laughs but would probably not have been a girl’s first choice for a prom date. Well, talk about Revenge of the Nerds (or comedians, in their case).

This month, Rogen graces the cover of GQ, a spot typically reserved for Hollywood’s quintessentially beautiful men. Although Rogen fondly cites Will Ferrell and Adam Sandler as inspirations, neither Ferrell, who Rogen calls “the funniest guy ever” nor Sandler can tout a GQ cover as one of their many accolades.

Proving he’s more than just a pretty face, Rogen not only acts in his movies, which have grossed over 400 million, but also has contributed to the writing and production of many, along with childhood friend Evan Goldberg.

Although Rogen and company’s films may appear entrenched with pot smoking and bodily fluids, the films have been surprisingly well received by critics.

Rogen and Hill’s mark on the Hollywood scene was even conceded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, notorious for shunning raunchy comedy, when the two nascent comedy kings were chosen to present at the 2008 Academy Awards.

With Rogen’s charm and growing fame, he was able to secure ’80s pop-rock superstar Huey Lewis to record the title song for his new, highly anticipated movie, Pineapple Express.

It appears that wit, a good sense of humor, and not taking yourself seriously will make you the boss of the mafia in Hollywood.