The Robin Williams Edition

Welcome back to the Entertainment Guru News and Views for this week in August, 2014. I wish I could be coming here with great news. Instead, I come with the death of a great comedian, actor and writer.

I walked in the door on Monday evening.. I was dealing with a pseudo-emergency in my head when I looked at my wife on the couch. She had opened her computer and was immediately met with bad news. By now you all know I am talking about Robin Williams.

Monday afternoon, Williams died of an apparent suicide. Williams was 63 at the time of his death. He had a well known battle with drugs and alcohol through his life. He also suffered from depression. He had checked in himself into rehab earlier this year in an attempt to fight his disease. As of this writing we don't if he was doing drugs or drinking at the time that he ended it all.

What we do know is the joy that Robin Williams brought into each and one's lives. There are some actors that are known for one thing or another that doesn't touch every single person's life. That doesn't take away from the talent that they have. But I highly doubt there is a person that has not enjoyed something from Robin Williams' tremendous career. From his turn as a teacher in an all boys' school in "Dead Poets' Society" to being a Genie in Disney's "Aladdin" to being Teddy Roosevelt coming back to life in the three "Night At The Museum" movies. That doesn't even include his Oscar winning performance as a teacher to a troubled genius in the film "Good Will Hunting". And that is just a small handful of his memorable movie roles. But he did so much more than that.

He recently starred in a CBS comedy called "The Crazy Ones" where he was the head of an advertising company along with his on screen daughter Sarah Michelle Gellar. But an older generation he was Mork, the lovable able in the 1978 comedy "Mork and Mindy".

Along side fellow comedians Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg, he co-hosted the "Comic Relief"
telethon which benefited the homeless in America. The event ran for several years and featured famous and up and coming comedians such as Dana Carvey, Jim Carrey, Bobcat Goldthwait, Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock just to name a few.

The list of comedians that he helped inspired would be long enough to fill a blog. His frantic style of comedy was one of a kind, just like the man himself.

We will never know what his mind frame was as he decided to end it all. Whatever it is, his demons got the best of him. And because of that the world lost an inspiration. Robin Williams was a genius, a dark genius but a genius none the less. It also goes to show that you could be world famous and it isn't enough to make you happy.

My hope in all this is that we shine a light on depression. It's not something you can "just get over". For people struggling with depression it is a daily fight. Some days are easy to cope, with aren't. There doesn't even need to be a cause to trigger one's depression. It just happens.

Entertainment Guru News and Views would like to offer our condolences to his family. We all lost someone, but it's nothing compared to your loss. To his friends, count your blessings that you had someone in your life as amazing as Robin Williams. And to his fans, your comedy and legacy will live on. Thank you for the memories, Mr. Williams.

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Four Trailers Edition

Welcome back to the Entertainment Guru News & Views blog with our not so fancy but still new logo. I hope that you enjoy it!

There are some very interesting looking movies coming out, so I thought I would show you some trailers and give my opinions on them. Sure, I could look at the Guardians Of The Galaxy trailer, or something big like that. But let's face it, everyone will be looking at that. Instead, I want to shine a light on some of the smaller movies that will be coming out soon. First we are going to take a look at not one but two new Aubrey Plaza movies. First, here is "Life After Beth"

In what is the third romantic/zombie movie we have seen (Behind Shaun Of The Dead and Warm Bodies), Dane Dehaan stars as a man who lost his girlfriend, Beth. But it turns out that Beth didn't die. She is now a zombie. He tries to maintain a relationship with her, until she goes a little crazy trying to eat brains. I mean if anything is a deal breaker, I would think that would be it. It looks very strange, but funny at the same time. I had never really seen anything of DeHaan until The Amazing Spider-Man 2.  But I think they would make a cute on-screen couple in a very unusual but cool sounding movie. I mean zombies are cool now, so why not take it in direction you would not expect a zombie movie to go.

Plaza returns in a bit of a dramatic role for her in the drama "About Alex". A group of college friends reunite after Alex (played by Jason Ritter) attempts suicide. The friends are played by Max Greenfield, Jane Levy,  Maggie Grace, Max Minghella and Nate Parker. It seems that no matter how long these friends are apart, they fall back into their old habits and friendship. I have a serious weakness for movies about reunions. It looks funny at times and very depressing at times. But it does look well acted by the entire cast. It's refreshing to see movies like this are still getting made in the face of all the super hero movies we see.

Another drama with a touch of comedy is "The Skeleton Twins". Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig play twins (though really they look nothing a like) who both have near death incidents on the same day. They are estranged from each other, having not seen each other in ten years. I like to see actors play against their strengths. Both Hader and Wiig are comedic actors, having spent so much time on Saturday Night Live. But here they get to stretch their acting skills just a little bit.

And speaking of actors totally stepping out their comfort zones, I offer you this. It is a romantic comedy starring The Boy Who Lived, Daniel Radcliffe. Radcliffe, to this point, has only done Harry Potter movies, a horror movie (The Woman In Black) and a dramatic performance in "Kill Your Darlings". But now, he shows a funny side in "What If". It looks so different for him, but he seems to be very comfortable in his role. I enjoyed the trailer and I know I will enjoy the movie.

There you have it. Four trailers for your consideration. I hope that you will see these movies along side the big action movies the next time you are looking for a flick to see.

Thanks to IMDB for providing the trailers.



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The Letterman Colbert Edition

Welcome back to another edition of Entertainment Guru News and Views.

 

It truly is the end of an era coming next year. The old guard is officially dead and the dawning of the new is upon us.

 

He has been on national television since 1982, but next year he is retiring. I am, of course, talking about David Letterman. He survived the fiasco of The Tonight Show. He recently survived a sex scandal. He has interviewed 1000s of people. He did a show in his theater with no electricity. The man even survived a fight with Oprah and can tell the tale. But next year, he is hanging up his Top 10 list.

 

Think about all the talk shows that have come and most of whom have gone in that time. We have seen some real bombs like Chevy Chase or Magic Johnson. In that time we have seen people have multiple late night talk shows like Arsenio Hall. We have seen The Craigs (Kilborn and Ferguson) and the Jimmys (Fallon and Kimmel). Even the man of a thousand shows, Carson Daly had one. And now Seth Myers has a show too. Let's not forget Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien. Really that's just a small sampling of the late show talk shows.

I was lucky enough to see a Letterman taping back in 1999. My college offered a trip to New York for communication majors so I went. I even got to see one of my favorite actors on the show. John Cusack was there to promote a movie called "Pushing Tin." There was no musical guest that day because Jack Hanna was there with his wonderful animals. It was a lot of fun!

 

It was announced last Thursday that Stephen Colbert will now host The Late Show, leaving his comfy desk at The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. As Lori and I both said, we hope we get to see the real Colbert and not Pseudo News Man that we have seen before. But I think that it is a good choice. I can't think of anyone else who would have been better. He is a well-known personality who was universally liked until the recent scandal and proceeding “Cancel Colbert” movement.

I am sure there will be people who won't be happy about Colbert taking over. Was what he did wrong? Yes; but worse things have been said. It was a joke that people failed to get. Was it funny? I don't think so. Everyone who is put in a comedic position has said something that has been deemed offensive by someone. Does that make Colbert a bad person? I don't think so.

Time will tell how well he will actually do in the role, but I think that he will fit in nicely.

Special thanks as always to my wonderful editor who is also my wonderful fiancée for all her work!

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Rip Mickey Rooney and More Edition

Welcome to another edition of Entertainment News and Views. We lost a few big names in the last few weeks, so I wanted to take this moment to salute their careers.

You might not know the name James Rebhorn, but you knew the man. He was once of "those guys" that was never the star of anything but was always around. He appeared in 125 different roles, with a lot of that being television work. He appeared in such shows as "White Collar," "The Good Wife," and "Homeland" just to name a few. Movie-wise he was in "Independence Day," "Meet The Fockers," and "Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" among others.

We also lost stand up comedian John Pinette at age 50. Honestly, I don't remember a single bit of his. But I remember watching him and thinking he was funny. He was a large man, and a lot of his comedy was based on his weight. You have to admire a man who laughed at himself before the world laughed at him.

Peaches Geldof died at the age of 25. She was a British model and television personality. She is also the daughter of musician Bob Geldof who helped create Live Aid in 1985. For being so young, she accomplished a lot in her life, most notably being the mother of two small children.

And then there is Mickey Rooney. I've said it before and I will say it again. The word legend gets tossed around a lot, especially in Hollywood, but in my eyes only a few people deserve the title. Mickey Rooney deserves the title. Very few people in Hollywood have worked as consistently as Rooney did. In my lifetime, he has appeared in at least one television show or movie in 36 of my 37 years alive on this planet. Show me anyone else with that kind of consistency. It will be hard to. Not to mention the quality of great movies that he was a part of in his younger days. Like "National Velvet" with Elizabeth Taylor, "Breakfast At Tiffany's" with Audrey Hepburn and "Babes in Arms" with Judy Garland. For a much younger audience he appeared in "A Night At The Museum" with Ben Stiller and gave his voice in Disney's "Fox and The Hound."

Our thoughts go out to the families and friends that lost these talented people. Thank you for the great memories you have provided over the years.

Another thanks to my wonderful editor for helping me edit this week's blogs.

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The How I Met Your Mother Edition

 

 

I remember watching a show when it first debuted nine years ago. I saw two familiar faces from other things I had seen in the past, and three new faces that at that point I didn't think I had ever seen before (turns out that I have, but that's another story).

I remember after the first episode thinking, "This is a good show, I hope they don't cancel it." It was a very unique show.

Every season after that, I still kept waiting for them to cancel it, but they never did. Ultimately it lasted eight seasons before they said this would be the last season and now we are down to the final hour-long episode.

I am, of course, talking about "How I Met Your Mother" (as if you didn't know that, just from the name of this week's blog). And tonight we will witness the final new "How I Met Your Mother" of all time.

My absolute favorite thing about the show is the fact that the smallest detail that seemed like a throwaway joke somehow came back three seasons later and had an entire episode written about it. We have gotten the answer to every question, except for one. That being the Pineapple Incident. But according to the spotless narration by Future Ted (Bob Saget) even he doesn't know the answer to that.

While this hasn't been the best season, it has provided a lot of great moments. I think it was hindered when it was announced that the final season would take place over two days. They had to draw it out with a lot of filler episodes, which a lot of people didn't like. I can understand the point. But it was a unique way to end a very unique show.
 

But this got me thinking about something. There are only four shows I can say that I have watched from start to finish in my entire life, without missing a season. Two of the shows were sitcoms and they are often compared to each other. One show is, of course, "How I Met Your Mother," the other show is "Friends." The other two shows are polar opposite drama shows. One was teen -based, one is adult-based. I am referring to "Dawson's Creek" and "White Collar."

It also got me thinking about what other shows people have watched. So I turned to my Facebook friends and sent them that exact question. I was surprised by the number of responses. There were a lot of varied responses, from comedies to dramas and a few animated shows as well. For example, Steven from New Jersey has watched everything from sitcoms like "Everybody Loves Raymond" to "Big Bang Theory" with a splattering of zombie blood and the "Walking Dead." Lauren in Florida is a fan of shows like "Sex and The City," "Game Of Thrones," and "Charmed." Lori, also in New Jersey, watched every season of "House, M.D." Kevin in Nevada has watched "Friends," "Family Guy," "Supernatural," and "Hell’s Kitchen." It seems that "Walking Dead" is the most watched show of all my friends (except Lori, who just doesn't do zombies).

Thank you to 22 friends that answered the question for me. I think there will be more questions asked on Facebook for the purpose of the blog, so look for that in the future. Also if there is something you want me to discuss, feel free to contact me. That goes to anyone, not just my friends on Facebook!

Also special thanks to my wonderful editor for proof reading this and contributing to the blog as well.

 

In closing I would like to say thank you to Ted, Barney, Robin, Lily, and Marshall for nine legend... wait for it... dary seasons.

 

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The Adele Dazeem Edition

Welcome to another edition of the Entertainment Guru, the Post-Oscars edition. It would be so easy to have called it that, but how could I after the events of that night. But there is more to come on that shortly.

Let's see how well I did with my predictions for the night. I said that Jared Leto would win Best Supporting Actor, and the winner was indeed Jared Leto. I had picked Jennifer Lawrence to win Best Supporting Actress. I was wrong this time as Lupita Nyong’o won this year. I picked Matthew McConaughey and Cate Blanchett to win Best Actor and Best Actress respectively. I was correct on both, bringing my total for the year to 3-1. In the writing categories, I predicted correctly again with "12 Years a Slave" and "Her." I was also right with my prediction that "Frozen" would win Best Animated Movie. So now I am 6-1. I would call that a good year for me! But that's where the good news ends. I picked Steve McQueen to win Best Director, but the director of Gravity Alfonso Cuaron won. I also mis-predicted the movie that would win Best Picture. I said it would be "American Hustle" taking the trophy, but it was "12 Years a Slave" instead. So I finished the night picking 6-3. Still, not a bad total.

I thought that Ellen DeGeneres was, for the most part, a good host for the Oscars again. I think they went with a safe bet after last year's host Seth MacFarlane got a pretty mixed reaction from the fans. I thought the Selfie moment was cute and it did what they set out to do. It was indeed the most retweeted picture in the history of Twitter. Just the star power in that picture alone was incredible.

But not every bit in the Oscars worked for me. People wonder why the Oscars are the longest award show of the year. I can sum it up in one word from this year's ceremony. Pizza. I am not sure what that was supposed to accomplish. I laughed once, but I thought the whole skit was pointless, really.

And then there was the John Travolta flub. I don't know if he was nervous or what. But how one goes from Idina Menzel to Adele Dazeem is beyond me. For a guy that has been in Hollywood for almost forty years to not pronounce someone's name is just plain embarrassing.

My final thoughts on the Oscars 2014 are about the names missing from the In Memoriam section. I don't know how names like Cory Monteith, James Avery, Jonathan Winters, Tom Clancy and Dennis Farina were not included. I know the Oscars are about movies, but all of them have been involved in movies in someway or another. Monteith, Winters, Avery and Farina are more known for their work on television than in movies, but they have appeared in movies as well. And without Tom Clancy's novels we would have never gotten Jack Ryan. They were included in the web version of In Memoriam. Maybe if we took some parts out of the pizza bit, we would have been able to honor ALL who passed this year.

Special thanks as always to my wonderful editor and fiancée for once again re-reading my work so I can bring it to you.

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The Winners of the second and a half EGNVies, Oscars and RIP Edition

Welcome back to a jam-packed edition of the Entertainment Guru News and Views. We have a lot to talk about this time, but we will get started with some sad news.

This past week we mourned the death of actor/director/writer Harold Ramis. He will forever be remembered as Egon Spengler. There are very few great projects from the 1980s and 1990s that Ramis was not involved in. From Ghost Busters to Stripes to Animal House to a movie that I think is vastly underrated, Back To School. He has been busy into the new millennium as well, showing up in Knocked Up as Seth Rogen's father as well. He was brilliant no matter what he chose to do. From everything that I have read about him, he was highly regarded as a nice guy. The term Renaissance Man gets thrown around a lot, but clearly Ramis fit the description. He was involved in so many different aspects of movie production. I could probably do a whole blog just about the cultural impact this man had, especially on my childhood, but instead, we will just sit back and remember one of his greatest moments in Ghostbusters. I give you, the Twinkie.

There has been talk about doing Ghostbusters 3 for years now. I know that Bill Murray had said he would not be involved with the film. And now that Ramis has passed, I think they should not make the movie. As big of a fan as I am of the movies (Yes, I even enjoy Ghostbusters 2, but not nearly as much as the original) it would lack something when half of the main actors are not involved. I think the time had passed for them to have made the movie, but now just let us move on. It would only ruin another great movie with another sequel not worthy of it.

Later tonight marks the biggest night in Hollywood, it's the Oscars with your host Ellen DeGeneres. I will admit that I have not seen any of the movies up for awards this year, but I thought I would go ahead and attempt to pick the winners. We will check next week to see how well I did with them. For Best Supporting actor, I predict that Jared Leto will win for "Dallas Buyers Club." I think this is the closest category, which is why I started here. I am hoping for an upset though. I think there is a chance (albeit a small one) that Barkhad Abdi will win for "Captain Phillips." For Best Supporting Actress, I say Jennifer Lawrence will win for "American Hustle." For Best Actor, my prediction is Matthew McConaughey will also win for "Dallas Buyers Club." The Academy tends to like true stories, and this one tugs at the heart. For Best Actress, I pick Cate Blanchett for "Blue Jasmine." For Best Director, I predict Steve McQueen for "12 Year's A Slave." For Best Original Screenplay, I am going to say that Spike Jonze will win for "Her." What are my picks for Best Adapted Screenplay? Why, I am glad you asked! John Ridley will win for "12 Year's A Slave." But I am hoping that "Philomena" wins it for Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope. For Best Animated Feature, it has to be "Frozen." Mostly since it's the only movie I saw that's up for anything this year. Plus it was just that good! And finally for Best Picture I say that "American Hustle" will win. Check back next week and see how many I got right. Or most likely in this case, wrong.

But now we will move to the awards that everyone is talking about, the EGNVies for this year. Last week I gave you the nominees. For those of you new to the blog, these are the awards for the movies that I actually saw. So we will get started with Best Ensemble. This year I give the award to "Fast And Furious 6." For Best Female Comedic Performance, the winner is Sandra Bullock in "The Heat." For Best Male Comedic Performance, the EGNVie goes to Alan Arkin in "Grudge Match," because quite frankly Alan Arkin is awesome. The Winner for Best Actor in an Action Movie goes to Tom Hiddleston for "Thor: The Dark World." Why? Because Tom Hiddleston is awesome too! The winner of Villain Of the Year goes to Donald Sutherland's performance as evil President Snow in "Hunger Games: Catching Fire." Speaking of "Catching Fire" let's also congratulate his co-star Jennifer Lawrence, winner of Best Actress in an Action Film. And the winner of EGNVie Picture of the Year, Congratulations "Frozen."

What did you think of my picks? What would you change? What categories do you want me to add for next year? Let me know! See you next week!

Special thanks as always to my wonderful and beautiful editor for helping me with this week's blog.

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