Tag: IMDB Check (11-20 of 25)

Oct 5 2009 12:59 PM ET

From Maestro to Mayor: Mark Metcalf on 'Mad Men'

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Tags: , , , , Mad Men, Television

Mark-Metcalf_lThe mayor in last night’s Mad Men looked familiar, right? The man who mightily refrained from grilling Betty Draper re: the whereabouts of her pledge pin was character actor Mark Metcalf. He’s probably best known for playing The Maestro on Seinfeld. What I hadn’t realized, until my viewing partner who apparently rocks harder than I do pointed it out to me, is that Metcalf was also the disapproving father in Twisted Sister’s video for “We’re Not Gonna Take It” (pictured, left) and the sadistic teacher in their “I Wanna Rock” video. He also played Neidermeyer in Animal House, The Master in Buffy the Vampire Slayer…and a cursory glance at Metcalf’s IMDB page indicates he’s guested for at least one episode on every TV show ever.

I like to think that somewhere in the back of Metcalf’s noggin as he screamed “What do you want to do with your life?!?!?!” — possibly butting up against the thought, “Fix my weird teeth, maybe” — was “Play the the mayor on Mad Men.” Goals are important. This concludes our Relatively Useless IMDB Check of the Day. Cheers to Mark Metcalf! “Ohhhhh…Maestro….“

Read more: ‘Mad Men’ TV Watch: When in Rome…

Apr 24 2009 09:42 PM ET

Is Stephen Dorff headed for a career comeback? If so, why exactly?!

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Stephendorff_lExplain this to me: In the span of a week, Stephen Dorff has landed a role playing a porn star in a comedy co-penned by Adam Sandler called Born to Be a Star, on top of the lead role in the next Sofia Coppolamovie, Somewhere. Quick: Can you name one Stephen Dorff movie? I couldn’t. I know his face, but had to do an IMDB check for a refresher on his career. He’s been steadily working since the ’80s, but his recent work seems to be comprised of the schlock-horror and direct-to-DVD variety. And, the forgettable Oliver Stone opus, World Trade Center.

I have to ask, in all fairness and with all due respect: What did he do to earn this career resurgence? Sure, an Adam Sandler-written comedy isn’t a huge get, but this one co-stars Christina Ricci (who’s great) and has a funny premise about a couple discovering their parents were famous porn stars. The Coppola movie, on the other hand, is kind of a big deal, if only because they are as rare as solar eclipses, or McDonald’s Shamrock Shakes. Her last film was 2006′s Marie Antoinette, which came and went, but she did propel Bill Murray to critical acclaim and awards glory for Lost in Translation. And Dorff’s role in Somewhere, where he’ll play an excess-loving actor with an 11-year-old daughter (Elle Fanning) who suddenly enters his life, sounds like a perfect platform to turn heads. But certainly you’ll agree, it’s odd to see him transition from Fear Dot Com and a Britney Spears video to these high-profile roles and a bit part in this summer’s Public Enemies. It’ll be interesting to see how this all goes down.

Are there any Stephen Dorff fans out there? Will his volatile, hard-edged persona be good for these movies? And do you think he’s headed for a Mickey Rourke-style comeback into the hearts of audiences and casting agents everywhere?

Jan 15 2009 07:00 PM ET

Tim Meadows visits 'The Colbert Report' to hawk inauguration merch: I'm sold!

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Tags: , , , , , About Last Night, Television

Sometimes all it takes is one quick cameo to remind you how much you miss a pop-culture personage. Take Tim Meadows’ in-character appearance on The Colbert Report last night. Just a couple minutes of Meadows sending up those absurd commemorative Obama keepsake/kitchenware ads sent me straight to his IMDB page to scope out what else he’s been working on*. Dude is hilarious! This is a fact that does not get mentioned often enough, in my opinion, and I am now making it my mission to fix this. How could we have taken Meadows for granted all through those 37 seasons of SNL he did? Also, he is a skilled salesman. Watch the clip below and tell me you aren’t a little tempted to call now and buy a few of those souvenirs Meadows and Stephen Colbert are pushing.

(*Sad answer: Supporting roles in something called Breast Picture – yikes — and Ashley Tisdale/Kevin Nealon vehicle They Came From Upstairs. Oh well.)

More on The Colbert Report:
The Report was Ken Tucker’s Best TV Show of 2008
A Colbert Christmas inspired EW’s 25 Classic Holiday TV Episodes
Stephen ranked high on EW’s 25 Funniest People in America
Colbert and Jon Stewart made EW’s cover last fall

Sep 24 2008 05:46 PM ET

Breaking news: 'Real World'/'Road Rules' alumni may -- gasp- have acting abilities

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Giuntolichung_lIf Privileged wasn’t my new favorite fall TV show before, it certainly is now thanks to an ever-growing population of tanned man-candy to ogle. But something about Palm Beach’s newest face, hottie headmaster Jacob Cassidy (played by David Giuntoli, left), struck me as strangely familiar. A quick IMDB search garnered a result I hadn’t expected: He’s a former Road Ruler! Something else unexpected: He was actually good. The RR: South Pacific alum’s turn on last night’s ep was not only charming, but he had great chemistry with co-star Joanna Garcia (Do I hear a nomination for entry into our favorite TV/movie teacher’s list? Okay, that’s probably premature). Anyway…

It seemed for the better part of a decade that Real World: London cast member Jacinda Barrett (The Last Kiss, Ladder 49) would be the only RW/RR alum to have any sort of acting career, but the pretty Aussie better watch her back. In addition to Giuntoli, former Real World: San Diego gal Jamie Chung (right) has been kicking butt in her own ABC Family mini-series, Samurai Girl.

What do you think about this RW/RR-goofball-turned-working-actor trend, PopWatchers? Is this the coming of the apocalypse? Or do you enjoy watching reality has-beens try their hand at real work? What did you think of Giuntoli’s (and/or Chung’s) performances? And are there any RW/RR cast members you’d like to see in an acting role (you know, a real acting role).

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Jul 18 2008 01:45 PM ET

What's the last time you, entertainment expert, were actually wrong?

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Robinhoodcostner_lWe’ve done posts about our stupidest pop-culture related arguments and whether or not we correct strangers when we overhear them making an error in conversation. But today, we’re sharing that one time when we were (gulp) actually wrong.

Earlier this week, I was talking with a colleague about Kevin Costner. (Because, why wouldn’t I be?) Like me, he’s pro-Kevin, and was making the point that from 1987 to 1992, Costner had an amazing run, with at least one megahit each year. Then, he started talking about the Oscar love those films received. He referenced Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves‘ nomination for Best Picture. Best Picture?! Please, the only nomination that movie got was for Best Song. (Though Alan Rickman should’ve been recognized for his unexpectedly twisted portrayal of the Sheriff of Nottingham. His performance was a precursor to Johnny Depp’s Keith Richards-inspired take on Captain Jack Sparrow, if you ask me. At least Rickman took home the BAFTA for supporting actor.)

When I finished laughing at this colleague, who’d been so adamant about the film’s nomination, I told him I’d be blogging our exchange — which is when he asked not to be named. Help him feel better. When were you completely and utterly wrong about a pop-culture factoid?

Jul 7 2008 07:24 PM ET

The joys of spotting TV actors on the big screen

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Clarkgregg_lI hate seeing blockbusters on their opening weekends — mainly because I think a $12 ticket shouldn’t come with color commentary from the inconsiderate goon in the seat behind me — and thus it was that I only recently got around to seeing Iron Man. Thankfully, for me, the movie lived up to Owen Gleiberman’s positive B+ review (click here to read it); like Owen, I enjoyed the way the film seamlessly married the human side of Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark character with his iron-clad superhero persona. And like my colleague Ken Tucker, I’d agree Downey shouldn’t be excluded from the Oscar race just because he happened to be starring in a popcorn flick that’s made $300 million (and counting).

Still, the first thing that crossed my mind as the credits rolled was something along the lines of: "Hey, that was Richard from Old Christine!" Which is to say I was surprised and delighted to see Clark Gregg, who plays Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ goofy ex-husband on CBS’ underrated sitcom, more than hold his own as a Strategic Homeland Intervention agent opposite Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow and Oscar nominees Jeff Bridges and Terrence Howard. The weird thing is, even though I watch Old Christine every week, I needed IMDb to come up with Gregg’s name — although I did know the guy wrote the script for What Lies Beneath. ("I think she’s starting to suspect something?" "Who?" "Your wife!" Shudder.)

Anyhow, all this got me wondering if I’m the only one who does the happy dance when under-the-radar TV actors get cast in blockbuster movies. If your answer is "yes," let’s hear about the most recent small-screen-to-big-screen casting choice that left you boogying with joy (or perhaps engaging in some slightly less effusive response). 

Apr 30 2008 10:39 PM ET

PopWatch Trivia: What do 'Law & Order: SVU,' 'Weekend at Bernie's,' and 'First Blood' have in common?

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Common_lThe answer is not Idolatry. (Although, that would be amazing.) It’s that the same man, Ted Kotcheff, who directed First Blood, also directed Weekend at Bernie’s (!) and is now an executive producer on 200-episode-old Law & Order: SVU. That delights me more than I can say, which is why when I talked to Kotcheff for EW.com’s gallery of SVU‘s Oscar-nominated guest stars, I had to ask him how exactly that happened.

"Well, I hate to be pigeonholed," he said. "I can do drama and action, and I can do comedy. People thought The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz with Richard Dreyfuss was a comedy. Certainly Fun with Dick and Jane [starring George Segal and Jane Fonda] was a social comedy. Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? [with Segal and Jacqueline Bisset], and, of course, Weekend at Bernie’s are comedies. There’s nothing more satisfying than making an audience laugh. You go in the audience and you get concrete evidence. But at the same time, I’m interested in serious films about serious subjects. So the reason, I guess, is in my personality: I like both aspects of life, the comedic and the tragic."

How did he make the move from features to Law & Order: SVU, you might be wondering: His agent called and said Dick Wolf was looking for someone to help run a new series that he was calling Sex Crimes. Kotcheff knew nothing about episodic TV, so he asked his agent to get him a gig on another show so he could test it out. That ended up being CBS’ short-lived 1998 drama Buddy Faro. I guess he liked it.

After the jump, Kotcheff shares a few stories about his hero Billy Wilder, just to make this audience laugh.

READ FULL STORY »

Apr 21 2008 01:51 PM ET

Has a stellar TV guest star ever driven you to IMDb or Netflix?

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Careymulligan_lA couple of days ago, I gave my husband rare control of the DVR decided to catch up on some backlogged hours of Doctor Who, and caught a particularly awesome (albeit atypically structured) episode called "Blink." The plotline centered on a young woman named Sally Sparrow, who had to solve the mystery of her best friend’s disappearance with help from the Doctor (who happened to be trapped in 1969 and transmitting messages through DVD "Easter eggs"). The episode was riveting — filled with romance and thrills and terrifying stone-angel statues — and hinged entirely on the star-making performance of the actress playing Sally. Thanks to the power of IMDb, I found her name (Carey Mulligan, pictured) and a list of her credits within seconds of shutting off my TV, then added her 2005 miniseries Bleak House to my Netflix queue. (I’d been meaning to watch it anyhow, and now I’ve got the perfect excuse.)

All this got me wondering: Who was the last unfamiliar actor you became obsessed with thanks to a TV guest spot? And did your fascination continue after you’d seen them in a followup role? All must be revealed, PopWatchers!

Apr 11 2008 03:00 PM ET

Whose film career have you unwittingly followed?

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Streetkings_lI mentioned earlier this week that I’ve already seen Keanu Reeves’ latest, Street Kings (featuring Jay Mohr, Reeves, and Forest Whitaker, pictured). But I just clicked through our 24-film-deep role call gallery for the guy, and was shocked to realize that I’ve seen all but three of the movies. (More interesting than what those are, is what they’re not: The Replacements, Sweet November, and The Lake House.) The point is, I never set out to be an expert on Keanu Reeves, but apparently, I kinda am. Have you experienced that? If so, with whom?

P.S. You can totally watch Point Break on hulu.   

Apr 7 2008 06:05 PM ET

It's okay to like Barry Watson

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In honor of Samantha Who?‘s return tonight (ABC, 9:30 p.m. EDT) with the first of six new episodes, I phoned Barry Watson and asked him to help me dissect his long, crazy career. (Translation: I spent two days tracking down a photo of him in the 1996 made-for-TV movie Co-Ed Call Girl, because that’s when his hair was "really flowin’ good.") I hadn’t read a lot of interviews with Watson, so I was worried that he wouldn’t think having Baywatch on his resumé was as fabulous as I do. But I was wrong: He had just the right amount of pride in his voice when he explained that he was the first person to ever drown on the show. (Watch that episode promo.) He was also happy to talk about getting waxed for Sorority Boys. If you need another rationalization for your crush on Watson, here’s a final offering: The only costar he mentioned having a crush on was Helen Mirren during the filming of Teaching Mrs. Tingle. "There’s a scene where I’m getting manipulated by Mrs. Tingle, and that to me was a real sexy scene," he said (watch it below). "Helen kept kinda rubbing her foot on my leg, and I was like, Oh God, I’ve got a crush on this woman. Helen Mirren is like the sexiest woman on the planet to me. She is. Just the way she goes about everything — she’s just sexy as all hell. Taylor Hackford [Mirren's husband] is a very lucky man. That’s all I can say.” Good boy.

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