Actor Karl Malden dies at 97
Yesterday it was reported by the Associated Press that actor Karl Malden died at the age of 97 of natural causes in a statement that was made by his family to Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
Best known by people of the Internet generation as that guy who kept telling people not to leave their homes without their American Express cards, Malden started his acting career on the stage in such plays as “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “All My Sons,” and “Key Largo,” and it through director Elia Kazan that he was able to make the transition to Hollywood.
After serving in World War II, Malden appeared in a string of successful classic films such as the film version of A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) for which he won the Academy Award for his supporting role as Mitch, Marlon Brando’s character’s best friend. Malden and Brando had worked on the stage in New York City before, and they would work together again in On the Waterfront (1954) with Maldon playing the priest to Brando’s character, garnering him another Oscar nomination.
In 1972, he gravitated to the small screen where his role as Lt. Mike Stone in “The Streets of San Francisco” for which he was nominated four times for the lead actor Emmy but never received, sharing the screen with a young talent by the name of Michael Douglas.
I’ve always been fond of him as an actor and his range always astonished me, especially his role as Herbie in Gypsy (1962) where he was called upon to act, sing, and hold his own against Rosalind Russell and Natalie Wood. You can check out his other work in this Washington Post slideshow.
Apart from his wife Mona (to whom he was married for over 70 years) Malden is survived by daughters Mila and Cara, his sons-in-law, three granddaughters, and four great grandchildren.
No commentsTrailer Watch: Matt Damon is The Informant!
Check out this first trailer for Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant!, a comedy that centers around Matt Damon as Mark Whitacre, a dim-bulb agri-business VP who spills the beans to the FBI about his corporate masters’ evil ways.
The best part? It’s all true. (Or as true as Hollywood gets, anyway.)
Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant! also stars Scott Bakula and Tony Hale (Buster from Arrested Development). The film opens in the US on October 9, with international releases following in most markets within a month.
You can also watch this trailer in glorious Quicktime over at Apple.
1 commentDaybreakers producers get their hands on An American Werewolf
When they’re on a roll, the Furst brothers are really on a roll.
Not long after the producing duo of Sean Furst and Bryan Furst released the trailer to the upcoming Daybreakers (which stars Ethan Hawke and hopefully will forever destroy the notion that vampires sparkle), Variety reported that the two were set to produce the remake of the 1981 classic horror movie An American Werewolf in London through Dimension Films.
More important, however is Variety writer Dave McNary’s tip of the hat to the team at Bloody Disgusting.com for keeping on the story they teased out of original director John Landis during an interview at last year’s HorrorHound convention in Pittsburgh, PA.
No word yet on who’s writing or directing the remake, but judging by how damn awesome Daybreakers looks and feels, this is one remake I’m actually looking forward to seeing on the big screen.
5 commentsQuote of the day: Figuring out Michael Bay’s id
Could you sum up the film in one line of its dialogue?
“I am standing directly beneath the enemy’s scrotum.”
—Topless Robot’s Rob Bricken (and my former managing editor at Anime Insider) tries to explain everything you never needed to know about Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
2 commentsAmy Adams, Melissa Leo join The Fighter club
Earlier this year, I said that Mark Wahlberg must have breathed a sigh of relief when it was announced that Christian Bale and director David O. Russell came to the rescue of the production of a long-awaited project he has championed called The Fighter—based on the true story of how “Irish” Mickey Ward (played by Wahlberg, of course) became a championship lightweight boxer, aided by his former druggie half-brother (played by Bale).
If the negotiations reported last last night by Variety conclude successfully, he’s probably going to break out into a victory dance, for Amy Adams (the upcoming Julie & Julia) will be joining the cast as ”a gritty bartender from Massachusetts who ends up dating Wahlberg’s character.” THR also notes that Academy Award nominated actress Melissa Leo (Frozen River) has been cast as Wahlberg and Bale’s mother.
Shooting begins next month in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Related Posts: Christian Bale, David O. Russell to give Mark Wahlberg film a fighting chance
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