Matt Kane b. 1991 (Once Upon a Time, The Dinosaur Project)
Zane Holtz b. 1987 (From Dusk Till Dawn [TV], Vampires Suck, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief)
Samantha Mumba b. 1983 (Boy Eats Girl, The Time Machine)
Antje Traue b. 1981 (Man of Steel, Pandorum)
Jason Segel b. 1980 (This is the End, Gulliver’s Travels)
Jay Chou b. 1979 (The Green Hornet)
Rebakah Jean Morgan b. 1979 (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)
Derek Richardson b. 1976 (American Horror Story, Reeker)
Dave Bautista b. 1969 (Guardians of the Galaxy, Riddick, Smallville)
Jesse L. Martin b. 1969 (The Flash, A Christmas Carol: The Musical [2005], The X Files)
Mark Collie b. 1956 (The Punisher)
Kevin Costner b. 1955 ( Man of Steel, Waterworld, The Postman, Testament)
M.C. Gainey (Revolution, Haunted High, Lost, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, The X-Files, The Haunting, M.A.N.T.I.S., Knight Rider, Starman, Wizards and Warriors, Time After Time)
Paul Freeman b. 1943 (Tales from the Crypt [TV], Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark)
David Stollery b. 1941 (Jack and the Beanstalk, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court)
Basil Hoffman b. 1938 (Eerie, Indiana, Beauty and the Beast [1987 TV], Small Wonder, Love at First Bite, Close Encounters of the Third Kind)
John Boorman b. 1933 (director, Excalibur, Exorcist II: The Heretic, Zardoz)
Robert Anton Wilson b. 1932 died 11 January 2007 (author, The Illuminatus Trilogy, Schrodinger’s Cat)
Orville Sherman b. 1916 died 1 October 1984 (Westworld, The Twilight Zone, The Brain Eaters, The Adventures of Superman)
Danny Kaye b. 1911 died 3 March 1987 (The Twilight Zone [1985], Peter Pan [1976 TV], Pinocchio [1976 TV], Wonder Man)
Cary Grant b. 1904 died 29 November 1986 (Topper)
Oliver Hardy b. 1892 died 7 August 1957 (Babes in Toyland [1934])
Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. The geezer in me looks at the bottom three names on the list - Oliver Hardy, Cary Grant, Danny Kaye - and thinks "THOSE are movie stars." I could use Kevin Costner from Waterworld, but that feels cruel. Earlier Picture Slot folk were Jay Chou (the most recent Kato) and Antje Traue (the Kryptonian villainess from Man of Steel), and again I am going with an up-to-date choice, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer from Guardians of the Galaxy. While Bautista had genre roles before this year, this is the first one I consider iconic.
I am not the first to point this out, but making a Guardians of the Galaxy movie shows just how confident the people at Marvel Studios are. This was a book that almost no one read and they turn it into an enormous hit. The people who make movies from DC Comics are so timid, they are dithering as to whether they can make a Wonder Woman movie or not. To match the chutzpah of making Guardians, DC would have to make a movie about the Legion of Super-Heroes, Challengers from the Unknown or Doom Patrol.
2. One unspottable Canadian. Zane Holtz is Canadian, but most of his credits are in movies instead of TV, so hard to spot.
3. The Guy at the Door. The folks born before John Boorman are dead, and he and everyone born after him are alive. I give him special best wishes on his 83rd birthday. He directed Excalibur and Zardoz, both movies I enjoyed but thought MST3K should have taken a shot at them. I don't see any movies on the list that got the Best Brains treatment today.
4. Hey... no Star Trek! This should be rare, but this is the fourth time in nine days our birthday list has nobody from any of the incarnations of Star Trek.
Many happy returns to all the living on the list, most especially John Boorman, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.
Prediction: Facing me through the window of the bar was a sign that kept changing. First it would read: WORK WHILE YOU SLEEP. Then it would say: AND DREAM YOUR TROUBLES AWAY. Then it would flash in letters twice as big:
MUTUAL ASSURANCE COMPANY
Reality: Here, Heinlein is predicting suspended animation as a way to make money by putting it in an interest paying account that you will be able to access when you awake in the future. No one has made suspended animation work yet, and given that the brain loses function when it gets too cold for too long, the odds it will ever work are not good.
Again, I want to thank Lockwood DeWitt for pointing me in the direction of the valuable book.
Greg Plitt, a fitness model and actor, died after being hit by a Metrolink train in Burbank yesterday. Reports say it looked like he was filming some video when he was hit. He was in Terminator Salvation and his body was the model for the CGI of Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen.
Best wishes to the family and friends of Greg Plitt, who died far too young. He is never to be forgotten.
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!
The NFL experts at ESPN have strong consensus that both the home teams will win today in the conference championships. Tomorrow, we will check in and see how they did.
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
The NFL experts at ESPN have strong consensus that both the home teams will win today in the conference championships.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping they don't.
The birthday of the creator of Zardoz is a high Holy Day around the Empire...
"To match the chutzpah of making Guardians, DC would have to make a movie about the Legion of Super-Heroes..."
ReplyDeleteHEY! For those Of A Certain Age especially, going from the founding story to the death of Iron Man--er, Ferro Lad--is a movie which we would see in the theatre. Especially if Mordred--er, Mordru--is set up for the sequel.