best actors in Vegas Vacation
bill b
The blackjack dealer,
the Griswold cousin/exotic dancer
the Griswold sister
the Griswold brother
I crack up everytime I think of that dealer.
And Wayne Newton, well, that pull out shot where you see what the
artist is painting, that makes it all worthwhile.
--
Bill B.
Good luck!
billbinvegas at hotmail
David Berman
> I think were, in descending order,
>
> The blackjack dealer,
> the Griswold cousin/exotic dancer
> the Griswold sister
> the Griswold brother
>
> I crack up everytime I think of that dealer.
That dealer is Wallace Shawn, a wonderful character actor who is also a
playwright.
He was sensational in "My Dinner With Andre," one of the most
heart-stopping action flicks ever made.
Best from David in NV
B. T.
The Visitor
bill b wrote:
> And Wayne Newton, well, that pull out shot where you see what the
> artist is painting, that makes it all worthwhile.
And the gift he gives to Ellen.
Wayne must have one great sense of humour to go along with all that.
Kudos to Wayne. He really added to the movie.
John
Steve G.
news:3CC18ADF...@dfxcvbxrtyfghhd.com...
The best Wayne scene was when Cousin Eddie was awestruck meeting him at the
lounge table. He touched Waynes' hair to see if it was real. Looked
ad-libbed to me.
Burt Piel
Wallace Shawn is also the son of William Shawn,the long time editor of
The New Yorker.He grew up in the center of New York's intellectual and
literary circles and is well connected to those communities today.So
it is especially funny to see him playing these kinds of characters
in low brow movies.
David,I've read your posts for years,and your sardonic description of
"My Dinner with Andre" seems a striking departure from your usual
straight forward and straight arrrow approach .And a very funny one!I
taped "My Dinner..." from PBS a few years ago and still believe I will
watch it all the way through.But not today.
Eric Simandl
death is on the line.
--
"You have confused the true with the real."
-- Samuel R. Delaney, 'Dhalgren'
TheShadow
Where would you place Sid Caesar's touching portrayal of a lonely
soul..who had a 2nd home at the keno lounge...who chosed gambling as a
vehicle to cope with old age?
Tortoise- whose fictional hero is The Shadow
john smith
IDIOT....OOPS, NEVER MIND, HE'S NOT ACTING!!!!
--
bill b wrote in message ...
Beeb E. Rebozo
>
> The best Wayne scene was when Cousin Eddie was awestruck meeting him at the
> lounge table. He touched Waynes' hair to see if it was real. Looked
> ad-libbed to me.
You're right. On the Howard Stern radio show, Randy Quaid (who plays
Cousin Eddie) said that it was ad libbed. If you watch the scene very
carefully, Quaid breaks character after he reaches for Wayne Newton's
hair, and starts to laugh at his own joke a split second before they
cut to the next scene.
For all of us (on this board, certainly) who love Las Vegas, I'd
recommend renting Vegas Vacation for a night. Wallace Shawn's surreal
blackjack dealer, the beautiful girls go-go dancing in the neon
graveyard, the satiric portrayal of the typical buffet slop, and Wayne
Newton's brilliant self-parody are all worth forking a few bucks over
to Blockbuster.
David Berman
> David,I've read your posts for years,and your sardonic description of
> "My Dinner with Andre" seems a striking departure from your usual
> straight forward and straight arrrow approach .And a very funny one!I
> taped "My Dinner..." from PBS a few years ago and still believe I will
> watch it all the way through.But not today.
It's a funny thing about that movie, Burt. Rosalyn and I don't often differ in our film opinions, and
when we do it is usually only by degrees. We agreed on the brilliance of the first "Lord Of The
Rings" film, for instance, but she said it contained too much violence for her to handle.
But "My Dinner With Andre," which I'd abbreviate to "Andre" except that it would then be about a
movie starring a seal, is one of those exceptions where we are poles apart. I thought it was
engrossing and stimulating, whereas Roz thinks it is among the worst films she has ever seen.
--
David Berman
> For all of us (on this board, certainly) who love Las Vegas, I'd
> recommend renting Vegas Vacation for a night. Wallace Shawn's surreal
> blackjack dealer, the beautiful girls go-go dancing in the neon
> graveyard, the satiric portrayal of the typical buffet slop, and Wayne
> Newton's brilliant self-parody are all worth forking a few bucks over
> to Blockbuster.
I agree, and have to say that I was surprised to find the film much more hilarious and entertaining than the critics
did.
My take on it: Las Vegas is already a caricature of the real world, an entertainment environment that wouldn't exist
but for the grand designs of the gaming moguls.
The only way that "Vegas Vacation" could successfully tackle such a surreal and larger-than-life destination was to
paint with a very broad brush, stretching reality to its logical extreme. Anything less and people would have been
saying, "What's so funny? That's what Vegas is like anyway!" "Vegas Vacation" manages to transcend the "real" Vegas,
but in a way that allows viewers to still see the connection to the Vegas they may think they already know. With
elements of both satire and parody, the movie really works.
Jen
> It's a funny thing about that movie, Burt. Rosalyn and I don't often differ in our film opinions, and
> when we do it is usually only by degrees. We agreed on the brilliance of the first "Lord Of The
> Rings" film, for instance, but she said it contained too much violence for her to handle.
David, out of curiosity, did you read the book before you saw LOTR?
I'm sort of taking an informal poll of people I know who have read vs.
not read Tolkien's masterpiece, and then what they thought of the
film.
I first read the book 20 years ago, and I've read it many, many times
since. It's a refuge, a place of incredible joy and solace for me-
and I was terrified that PJ and company would tarnish the legend with
a terrible movie. I was so delighted to find that was not the case.
Just curious :)
-Jenny
Harvey J Cohen
<ladyvol...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> David, out of curiosity, did you read the book before you saw LOTR?
> I'm sort of taking an informal poll of people I know who have read vs.
> not read Tolkien's masterpiece, and then what they thought of the
> film.
>
> I first read the book 20 years ago, and I've read it many, many times
> since. It's a refuge, a place of incredible joy and solace for me-
> and I was terrified that PJ and company would tarnish the legend with
> a terrible movie. I was so delighted to find that was not the case.
>
FWIW, I read the trilogy + The Hobbit over 30 years ago, and have
reread the Trilogy more than 50 times since. It is one of my most
favourite pieces of English literature. I thought the first film was
a masterpiece of cinematography, and as the film closely followed the
book, I was pleased. The only part of the film I didn't rate "A+" was
the portrayal of Saruman - a tad two one-dimensional. I can hardly
wait for films 2 and 3, and the boxed DVD set.
--
Harvey J. Cohen, Ph. D.
-------
About Windows XP, seen in Forbes Magazine ..
"...the world's richest Chief Software Architect continues a record for
design elegance unmatched since the Yugo."
------------------------------------------------------------------
David Berman
> David, out of curiosity, did you read the book before you saw LOTR?
> I'm sort of taking an informal poll of people I know who have read vs.
> not read Tolkien's masterpiece, and then what they thought of the
> film.
I'm happy to contribute to your poll, Jenny.
No, I never read it. So I judged the film on its own merits and was not in a position to make a comparison
between book and movie.