Taps and the City

So I turned on "TAPS" on FMC because I wanted to catch the scene that is used in the Scene It board game. What I found out while watching was that--brace yourself--Harry Goldenblatt once had hair! I know! Oh, and that was also 28 years ago. Quite the career, I'd say, Mr. Handler.

For the uninitiated, Harry Goldenblatt is Charlotte's husband, in "Sex and the City."

I'm still working on a screenshot of him in "TAPS," but I'll get it posted once I get one.

Actor: Evan Handler
Previous work: "Sex and the City" and "Californication"
Fun(ny) fact: He used to have hair. Who knew?

Most Annoying Sound in the World: Oh!

Somebody says yous need protection. Dat true?

No, no. Well, kind of... I'm confused. So, you are a hitman, but you are offering protection to me while I stock this convenience store fridge with Miller lite?

Still confused. Oh, well. You wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world? And follow that up with some hot peppers?



Actor: Mike Starr
Commercial(s): Miller Lite Taste Protector Cap thingy
Previous work: "Dumb & Dumber" and "Life on Mars"
Fun(ny) fact: I once saw him and his lady friend (wife, maybe?) coming out of the spa area in the Nordstrom building on Michigan Avenue in Chicago

Switchback to Music

Very excited to hear this song show up. Although, it is a Jimmy John's commercial. This band's stuff typically is in your action movie trailers, but I guess sandwiches need love, too. Actually, a lot of this band's/his (because lead singer Klayton goes out on his own A LOT) stuff turns up in movie trailers. Not sure how to describe their sound, but I suppose "electronic rock" is suitable. Well, mostly electronic.

Enough blabbing. Check out the commercial/song starting at :03, ending at :11. I would prefer a longer cut. Oops, they're called cues, not cuts.

Continue.



Band: Celldweller
Song: "Switchback" [Get this song, opens in a new window]
Album: Celldweller
Other placement(s): Too many to mention here, but check this list on the Celldweller site (scroll about halfway down)
Bonus material: Celldweller's "Birthright," which appears in an "Iron Man" TV spot (:04 to :15) and the "Speed Racer" trailer (:13 through the end, with a break from 1:32 to 1:37)

Attica! Gattaca! I mean ... Atticus!

Now, this is just unfair. A user on IMDb wants to "punch him in the face" (his words, not mine). What did he ever do to you? I'm guessing it's that Atticus, here, made more money in one appearance with Hancock than the user will make in a full year of employment. Plus, this kid is probably much cuter than the user ever was or will be.



But I'm just guessing.

Actor: Atticus Shafer
Commercial(s): AIG (above)
Previous work: "Hancock" and "The Class"

Hannibal Loves Frankie

There are four films* in which Hannibal Lecter appears. However, only one actor has been cast in all of them: Frankie Faison. He played Barney Matthews in "The Silence of the Lambs," "Hannibal" and "Red Dragon." But in "Manhunter," he played Lt. Fisk. We won't hold that against him, though, considering that Hannibal Lecter was played by Brian Cox in that installment.

In his other roles, he generally plays a teddy-bear father figure or some variation on a police officer.

Actor: Frankie Faison
Previous work: "Coming to America" and "Do the Right Thing"

*Technically, there are five films. However, we won't count "Hannibal Rising" because it was set when Hannibal was a child. Frankie's characters wouldn't have been born yet.

Carl Winslow

Ha! I'm hoping that headline was enough to grab you. Just seeing him on TV again, regardless if it was a bit part, was enough to get me excited. I blinked several times to be sure it was him. Carl Winslow, playing a remarried widow on "Monk." And yet, since I saw him in "Die Hard" just a couple days ago, I thought of him in that film first.

Note: Although most people would know him immediately from either "Family Matters" or "Die Hard," I still felt the need to post this, if for no other reason than posterity.

Actor: Reginald VelJohnson
Monk episode: "Mr. Monk and the Class Reunion"
Previous work: "Family Matters" and "Die Hard"

A Very Brady Mermaid

With "The Little Mermaid" on Broadway, my lady friend started to listen to snippets of the live recordings on iTunes. That, of course, lead to pulling out the old VHS version of the film. For me, watching this was difficult. Trying to identify voices from a film that came out in 1989 was hard. The only ones really noticeable was Buddy Hackett and Edie McClurg (the redhead who generally plays a nanny or demure teacher).

Anyway, long story short, Eric's voice was bothering me. It and the actor's name sounded very familiar. Then it hit me: Eric is Greg Brady (from the films).

Actor: Christopher Daniel Barnes
Previous work: Both "The Brady Bunch" films

Election Crasher

Given that he just clinched the Republican nomination, it seems fitting to acknowldge John McCain. However, we're acknowledging him for his role in "Wedding Crashers." He and James Carville greet Sect. Cleary (ne Christopher Walken) at the beginning of the film, just before Cleary's oldest daughter gets married. Also, the film was on three times this past weekend on TBS, so it was fresh in my mind.

I, Pirate

He was the redheaded pirate in "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story." He was also in "I, Robot," although you never actually saw him; he was the motion-capture actor who served as the body for the robot Sonny. And I'm pretty sure he is a master at voice work. I've always been convinced that he is from England (consider his accents in "A Knight’s Tale" and "Death at a Funeral"), but I was wrong. He's from El Paso, Texas. England, El Paso--at least they both start with the same letter.

Actor: Alan Tudyk
Previous work: "Arrested Development" and "Knocked Up"

Woodstock (Ill.) Represent!

For those of you who don't know, "Groundhog Day," starring Bill Murray, was filmed primarily in Woodstock, Ill., not Punxsutawney, Pa. When watching "Groundhog Day," look in the background when Ned Ryerson (Bing!) first appears. You'll see Woodstock Jewelers.

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THIS JUST IN: "Groundhog Day" was recently named to AFI's 10 Top 10. The film placed No. 8 all time in the Fantasy category.
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Jake 'Gill'-en-hall

We know that isn't how it is pronounced, but the voiceover artist of the trailers for "Donnie Darko" didn't. The trailers are on the DVD. You'd think they would have caught on before they released it. It's just interesting that even then, no one could decide how to pronounce his last name.

For the record, it’s "Jill-en-hall."

On a personal note, I must say that I feel for the guy. My last name is mispronounced all the time. Only after knowing me do people get it right. Well, most of the time.

Bring It On, Ducks!!

Alternate headline: "Ees tha Go-leee!"

The male cheerleader in "Bring It On" (the straight one who has an affinity for spanks) is also the goaltender of the Iceland team in "D2: The Mighty Ducks." And keeping with the hockey theme, he was Rob McClanahan in "Miracle," which chronicled the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team's defeat of the powerhouse Soviets, as they were known then.

Actor: Nathan West
Previous work: "7th Heaven" and "Not Another Teen Movie"

Seth Rogen: Bully

He's also a Halle Berry look-alike, arguably. But back to the subject at hand: While re-watching "Donnie Darko," I was astonished to see that Seth Rogen played Ricky Danforth, a bully. No big ado, just thought it was interesting, and the first time I would have seen the movie, I would have had no idea that was him.

Check out No. 19 under his Actor profile
Source: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0736622/

Progressively Checking Out at the Barbershop

He was a nervous Dinka in both "Barbershop" films, and then showed up in a recent Progressive commercial, where he is at the check out with that funny/annoying clerk. But hey, he saved $350. Cha-ching, Dinka!

Actor: Leonard Earl Howze
Commercial(s): Progressive checkout
Previous work: "Antwone Fisher" and "My Name is Earl"

Un-pimped Out Auto

They're the commercials where the "German" guy and the hot assistant (still working on who she is) smash a ridiculously pimped-out car. You probably know him better as the rarely clean-shaven, hobo-looking Russian bad guy. But in actuality, the actor is Swedish.

Actor: Peter Stormare
Commercial(s): VW Mark 5
Monk episode: "Mr. Monk Paints His Masterpiece"
Previous work: "Fargo" and "Prison Break"

Tobey Maguire: Spider-Man, Strong-Man

Before Spider-Man was wailing on the Goblins, Doc Ock, Sandman and Venom, he was playing Strong-Man in "The Wizard." OK, he actually played "Lucas' goon at video Armageddon" and was a head shorter than everyone else. He must have been labeled a goon because of the hot-pink shirt and the mullet. That stuff just screams "goon," don't you think?

I guess I shouldn't talk, though. I was always partial to hot green, at least according to my biker shorts. Unfortunately, I also had a mullet when I was younger.

See the end of the cast list if you're not convinced that is him in the image.
Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098663/fullcredits#cast