EXTRAS WHO ADD A LITTLE SOMETHING – NEIL MULLARKEY

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

We’re stretching definitions with Extras in this series of posts. Extras are termed that by the fact that they are mostly in the background and once they have a line of dialogue they cease to be extras and becoming speaking parts. We’ve featured people who spoke but barely previously in this series. Here we’re pushing the boundaries further with a speaking part of several lines that plays over a scene. The character does not get a name and it is doubtful you would remember them but they are not really an extra and probably those in the previous posts weren’t extras either. So what’s the difference between an Extra Who Adds A Little Something and Minor Roles That Had A Major Impact? For me the latter usually involves more screen time, involves a scene I always remembered with a character who may significantly alter how the story goes. Yet these are not hard and fast rules to play by. For me there is a difference but it could all be in the eye of beholder. This week we’re talking about a scene that I don’t think really stuck in my mind but when I watched the scene again recently I enjoyed the way the performer did his moment. For Extras who truly stood out please refer to the awesome post by Mental Floss.

Finally we come to this months Extras Who Add A Little Something.
Recognise this man?

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How about now?

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Educated at Cambridge, 55 year old Neil Mullarkey worked the pub circuit as a double act in the early 1980s with British comedian Tony Hawks. When Hawks left, Mullarkey teamed up with Mike Myers. Image result for neil mullarkeyOften they would perform at the George IV in Chiswick where a young Hugh Grant was performing in the Jockeys of Norfolk revue. That must have been a grand time. Mullarkey remains a working comic performer, writer, voice-over artist and actor making a living doing what he loves and doing it well. To me this is a wonderful achievement.

In 1997 Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery came at an interesting time in Mike Myers career. He had become a star thanks to Saturday Night Live, gone supernova with Wayne’s World and an obligatory sequel but had failed with So I Married An Axe Murderer. I don’t know if having old friends around were a comfort or even if Myers doubted this film would be good but Mullarkey who had done script edits on Axe Murderer appears here with his old colleague as the Quartermaster Clerk (listed 21st on the cast list at IMDB).

It’s a simple scene, superspy from the 1960s Austin Powers has woken up from cryosleep in 1997 and is being handled his personal effects. It’s funny as so many scenes in this film are, one item Powers is handed plays a part later on in saving his life but not much happens. Yet Mullarkey’s line reading of “Babee” always makes me smile. He also ties the scene in a nice little bow at the end with his final gesture.

I just don’t see the scene playing as well in lesser hands than Mullarkey and Myers but maybe that’s just me. You can check out more about Neil Mullarkey at his website here http://www.neilmullarkey.com/

-Lloyd Marken

 

STAR CHARACTER ACTORS – AL LEONG

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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Character actors are actors who get stuck playing a type in several high profile productions. Maybe over time they become famous for doing several of these roles or they become well known and branch out. Al Leong as a stuntman trained in martial arts with a distinct look was destined to play henchmen and whenever Hollywood went through a martial arts craze he was well placed as an Asian performer to get roles. I never knew his name but as a child from the 80s I never failed to recognise the guy with the long flowing goatee and receding hairline. Looking over his credits at IMDB it’s not hard to see why, he was in almost every damn TV show I watched back then. Image result for al leongThe Greatest American Hero, The A-Team (re-cast in several episodes as different henchman or thugs), Knight Rider, Airwolf, MacGyver and Magnum fucking P.I.

No wonder I recognised him in his more famous film appearances which include Big Trouble in Little China, Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Black Rain uncredited, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure as Genghis Khan rolling around on a skateboard, uncredited in The Last Action Hero and uncredited Big Showdown in Little Tokyo. Image result for al leong

In 2000 he wrote, directed and performed in the film Daddy Tell Me A Story, a small film which I don’t recall. Unlike say Stephen Tobolowksy though Mr Leong never really got to branch out into different types of roles. Maybe his range as an actor was limited but we may never know since there are few opportunities to see for ourselves. Two come to mind, his reluctant torturer in Lethal Weapon in which he got a few lines and delivered them well. The other is Die Hard where his henchman in tense moment comically scavenges a chocolate bar. The kind of decision a performer will make to give their character some personality and add some extra flavour to the film. Health issues including beating brain cancer and enduring two strokes led to him doing less film work. You can read more about his life here at Dazed where he was interviewed upon the publication of his memoir The Eight Lives of Al “Ka-Bong” Leong in 2014.

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Whatever he’s doing, I hope he’s happy, recent photos suggest he’s remained in tip top shape. We should find out soon as the documentary Henchman: The Al Leong Story is in post production. Al Leong left an indelible impression on my childhood with his professionalism, graceful physicality and a love for Crunch chocolate bars.

-Lloyd Marken

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GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 REVIEW AVAILABLE ON BUZZ

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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There were two films I was most looking forward to in 2017. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Good trailers for Thor: Ragnarok and Wonder Woman have me excited about those films like Logan did previously and of course I can’t wait for Oscar season every year. But Guardians was it for me and it came out last week in Australia.

While I’ve never read one of the comics there was something new and interesting about the team since I saw the concept art for the first film. After the trailer for the original dropped I told friends in early 2014 that this was a film that could be Star Wars for a new generation. As it turns out we were lucky enough to have Star Wars be Star Wars for this generation but Guardians of the Galaxy turned out to be a success beyond expectations too.

Three years later and you can read my review of the sequel here http://buzzmagazine.com.au/guardians-of-the-galaxy-review/ at Buzz Magazine.

Based out of Victoria, Buzz Magazine was one the longest running street press magazines in Australia being published in print from 1993 to 2010. Some fine writers have worked for Buzz over the years and gone onto successful careers in media since and there is simply no way to measure the contribution the mag made to local music over its print run. With such words and minimal advertising on the website the impression could be taken that Buzz is now semi-retired. Yet the site is quite prolific with new write-ups on a daily basis, the ongoing interest of fans old and new and contributions from some very talented people indeed.

It is a huge honour to have anything I write appear on their website but to have it be for such a hotly anticipated film that I have fallen in love with is quite a thrill. Once again I appreciate anybody who clicks on the link to read it and hope you enjoy.

-Lloyd Marken

BERLIN SYNDROME REVIEW AVAILABLE AT HEAVY

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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I continue to be fortunate enough to have reviews published online at respected magazines. If you wish, please click on the link to read my review for Berlin Syndrome here at https://heavymag.com.au/film-review-berlin-syndrome/#.WQhkK421vIU

An effectively made horror film without the gore but all the squeamishness, it boasts two brave performances from Teresa Palmer and Max Riermelt. I applaud the technique of the filmmakers but wonder who will really get much out of a film that deals with such harrowing subject matter as abduction and imprisonment.

Heavy is an independent magazine and website that is all about the music and specifically heavy music and supporting the Australian music scene in general. Fortunately for me they do cover film as well and I am very grateful to have had this review published on their website.

-Lloyd Marken

SOME STATS ON MY ‘THE FOUNDER’ REVIEW – OVER 1,000 VIEWS FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL 2017

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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I apologise for this ‘tooting of trumpet’post and also for said trumpet not being as impressive as some of my fellow blogs saxophones, clarinets and French horns. Stats though have for a long time been fascinating to me so I thought I would share this never to be repeated occurrence.

I published five reviews in 1 day back in January to effectively catch up on films I’d seen in the past year. The day was January 18, 2017 and concluded with a post about The Founder titled Ray Kroc…What An Asshole! It proved the most popular of those five reviews and closed out the month less than a fortnight later with 53 views averaging 3 views a day with the majority coming in the first 48 hours. So far, so normal for this blog. Some posts retain interest over the months. Last year reviews for Eye in the Sky, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Star Trek: Beyond kept getting interest months after being published with a few views sprinkled here and there. So it was no surprise when some love came the way of Ray Kroc Asshole in February. Yet it quickly became apparent something else was afoot and due to fellow blogger Beetley Pete’s own experiences and knowledge it was ascertained that the review was being featured on some app which greatly increased it’s profile. There were also a lot of people coming out of The Founder and google searching Ray Kroc Asshole and variations on that. Also as Beetley Pete pointed out as the post became my most seen it started to feature on references to my site through various means. The more popular a post becomes the more it defaults to coming up in searches and references. It’s not in my humble opinion one of my best or worst reviews. It is relatively short though and I think reflects a broad consensus on the film which is that it is well made with a particularly great Michael Keaton performance but that it is hard to enjoy due to Kroc being such a…well you know.

In February there were 372 views with an average per day of 13 views for that month.

In March there were 212 views with an average per day of 6 views for that month.

Fair to say as April began the views were slowing down but with 637 views there was a good chance one day we might reach 1,000. Then the views shot up following digital and disc release of the title across the world. April 19 I posted happily that the milestone of 1,000 views had been reached, quite a lucky break for my little corner of the internet.

Yet the views while slowing down again now kept coming for the rest of the month and I just to share some of these stats. In April Ray Kroc….What An Asshole received 1,098 views with an average of 36 views per day. On the 23rd of April it received 135 views which only a handful of other posts on this blog have received in their lifetime. Captain Reg Saunders of the Australian Army has received 141 views mostly due to it kindly being featured on GP Cox’s site. 124 views for The Heroes of Kibeho have been received and that is a reflection of how painful, moving and important the story of those Australian soldiers is. While my review of the ever popular Hunt for the Wilderpeople has received 123 views. 115 views have been received for a post about South Vienamese General Ngo Quang Truong whose story can only be heard more. My Sunshine Blogger Award post has not retained interest but still has 107 views all up. 99 views have been received for a review of my favourite film from last year Eye in the Sky.  For that week there were 414 views, more than the crazy amount of views in February 2017.

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In fact with this crazy amount of views that stats for the blog are out of whack. There were 1,712 views in America for 2016, for just this past month there have been 1,077 views from the United States of America. 2017 with 5,495 views and 3,277 visitors now has almost as many as the whole year of 2016 with 5,673 views and 3,206 visitors and it’s not really because the blog has grown in popularity but just because this post has featured on an app and is now in the google search matrix.

Again this isn’t really a reflection on what I’ve done but more on the skill of IT gurus and the makers of The Founder who at the very least created a strong reaction from the audience to the central character.

An interesting tidbit, the most popular blog post from April was Over 1,000 Views For The Founder with 56 views. Either way, fluke or not, I’m very grateful for it and I hope those people who came across the post enjoyed reading it.

-Lloyd Marken

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MINOR ROLES THAT HAD A MAJOR IMPACT – DR. LAMAR FROM GATTACA

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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They say there are no small roles and profiled in this post is certainly one of those occasions where that was certainly proven to be true.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

WE’RE GIVING AWAY THE FUCKING ENDING!!!!

SO…..SPOILERS OK!

Andrew Niccol’s Gattaca is set in the not too distant future where everybody genetically engineers their offspring. This has resulted in a new class system and Ethan Hawke stars as a man born the old fashioned way who dreams big. Genetically he’s got a bad ticker and is ruled out of his lifelong dream to become an astronaut so he fakes his identify including DNA samples and gets into the space program.

It’s a film that only grows in resonance with each passing year and beneath it’s clinical stylised look beats a human heart. The tagline for the movie was ‘There is no gene for the human spirit.” and I hope that’s true. There are a lot of good performances in the film not least of which is one by Jude Law who got noticed a lot for his performance here. Personally I think Law works best as a character actor rather than a movie star but that’s another conversation.

Speaking of character actors, Xander Berkeley who I may do a profile on down the line, plays Dr. Lamar whom Ethan Hawke’s Vincent Freeman skillfully gives Jude Law’s DNA to during regular tests so he can remain in the space program. There are maybe three scenes with the good Doctor to show us the stakes and process of Vincent’s deception. In it Berkeley gives Lamar a droll personality and always closes with the line “Remind me to tell you about my son” but we don’t pay too much attention.

The stakes get pretty high for Vincent and numerous plotlines play out. The Doctor does not feature in any of them. Finally at the end of the film with his goal in sight Vincent is confronted with an unexpected urine test doing his final medical with Lamar. Assuming the jig is up he begins a speech. That’s when Lamar tells him about his son. One of my favourite type of scenes is when two characters are talking about one thing but they’re really talking about something else entirely. Dr Lamar tells Vincent that his son wants to follow in Vincent’s footsteps but he is not perfectly healthy but then who knows what his son will achieve and then waves him on. With that Xander Berkeley’s side character becomes the coolest guy in the whole movie having known all along Vincent was lying and never letting on for years. The dialogue is just perfect here, we come to realise maybe Lamar told his son the truth about Vincent and that is why his son idolises Freeman but then again maybe not. Ethan Hawke’s reaction is so perfectly calibrated. What is happening between the two characters is deeply profound and personal for both but neither openly expresses it and yet neither can quite mask all the emotions on their face.

It also speaks to the deeper themes of the film. Part of Vincent’s achievement was beating the odds against his supposed less than perfectly healthy body but it was also about the sentimentality and love that Dr. Lamar has for his own child and wanting his dreams to come true. In the end dreamers can’t be forced to stop dreaming and if there is enough of them anything is possible.

-Lloyd Marken

‘THEIR FINEST’ REVIEW AND ‘THOR: RAGNAROK’S TRAILER PLAYS A DIFFERENT TUNE’ AVAILABLE AT HEAVY

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

Heavy1A little over a month ago my wife won free tickets to a preview screening of Their Finest. She kindly let me go as her guest and I am now grateful to say that my review of the film has been finally published online at HEAVY Magazine’s website.

It’s a great little film that will move you featuring a strong female lead, meta humour about narrative construction and the film industry all set amidst The Blitz during World War II.

You can read more of my thoughts about it here https://heavymag.com.au/film-review-their-finest/#.WQCg0o21vIU

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In the mean time I also wrote a piece about the use of songs in recent film trailers. This was inspired by the recent release of the trailer for Thor: Ragnarok making use of the fantastic and fantastically appropriate Led Zeppelin track Immigrant Song. I was lucky enough that Heavy Magazine also published this. You can check out that post here https://heavymag.com.au/film-news-thor-ragnaroks-trailer-plays-a-different-tune/#.WQCgo421vIU

Heavy is an independent magazine and website that is all about the music and specifically heavy music and supporting the Australian music scene in general. Fortunately for me they do cover film as well and I am very grateful to have had these posts published on their website.

Thank you all who take the time to click onto another page and read the reviews published elsewhere. I really appreciate it. To my fellow Aussies and any Kiwi readers, I hope you had a good ANZAC Day.

-Lloyd Marken

‘COSI’ BY BEENLEIGH THEATRE GROUP AND ‘ENGLAND’ AT METRO ARTS REVIEWS AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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From the Queensland Ballet to Vin Diesel to two very different takes on theatre in one weekend. If I did this for a living it would never get old, I’ve been living in a dream this past month or two and I don’t want to wake up. I remain grateful for the opportunity to work for Scenestr.

On Friday I attended Beenleigh Theatre Group’s production of the classic Australian play Cosi which boasts some real laughs and heart. On Saturday I was in the Brisbane CBD to experience England by Tim Crouch. This was a play with a difference experimenting with how an audience fills a space, interacts with the performers and take in their surroundings. It is Crouch’s words and rule breaking that leave an impression, that and two central performances by Barbara Lowing and Steven Tandy. Both have a wealth of experience and true acting chops. More is the shame that I recognised Tandy from a sex scene in the Aussie crime flick Gettin’ Square more than any of his more revered theatre and television work. No matter I will always remember him for his great work here now.

You can read my review of Cosi http://scenestr.com.au/news/arts/cosi-beenleigh-theatre-group-review-20170424 and my review of England at http://scenestr.com.au/arts/england-metro-arts-review-20170424 I thank you all for taking the time to click on the links.

Tomorrow is ANZAC Day in Australia. Lest We Forget.

Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They also publish Scene magazine in print every month focussed mostly on music gigs, festivals, stand-up comics, fashion and interviews with local and international bands. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts and fortunately for me I have had some reviews published on their online website.

-Lloyd Marken

EXTRAS WHO ADD A LITTLE SOMETHING – KATHY LARSON and MISSY WOLFF

Posted on by Lloyd Marken
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 Catherine Larson and Missy Wolff as Beetle Girl 1 and Beetle Girl 2.

 

Extras are meant to fade into the background, never to be recognised and surely not remembered. Yet some prove the exception to the rule and when you’re in a scene as good as this one in Fried Green Tomatoes all you have to do is your job and you’ll probably end up being remembered for a long time. Few will recognise the names of Kathy Lawson or Missy Wolff. Fewer still would know they played Beetle Girl 1 and Beetle Girl 2 in the movie. Yet ask people what their favourite scene is from Fried Green Tomatoes and there’s a huge possibility they’ll say “When she rams the car of those two bitches in the car park.”

The genius of the scene is how relatable it is, how this happens to everybody and how we usually turn the other cheek too. We don’t really need people losing their temper and ramming into cars every time something likes this happens. Everybody knows if you rear end somebody most likely you’ll pay the excess. The point of the sequence though allows us to indulge in the fantasy. We’ve seen lead character Kathy Bates’s Evelyn Couch take a lot of shit from a lot of people throughout the film and this proves the turning point for her character. With a cry of Towanda she ploughs into their red Volkswagen Beetle Convertible (it’s no accident it’s red and a convertible) four times. Her punchline seals the deal and off she goes into the sunset. Towanda indeed. The writing and set up of this moment was always destined to be a classic if the two actresses hired in these small parts could make the Beetle girls believable but also instantly dislikable. To their credit they did and it remains their most globally recognised performances.

Kathy Larson was credited as Catherine Lawson for Fried Green Tomatoes. On IMDB she has 10 acting credits from Little Darlings in 1980 as Girl through to 1995 with the TV series in The Heat of the Night as Tracey Cole. Fried Green Tomatoes (Beetle Girl 1)and Kalifornia (Teenage Girl) are the roles she is best known for. The actress also had reoccurring roles on TV shows during 1989 to 1993 including Ryan’s Bar. See if you can spot her in the cast photo below.Image result for "Catherine Larson"Maybe she works now teaching drama somewhere, acting in theatre, maybe she’s left Hollywood and the arts far away in her rear vision mirror. She’d now be older than Kathy Bates was when they had a stand off over the virtues of being a particular age.

Missy Wolff according to IMDB has been a stand in for Jeanne Tripplehorn and was offered the right of first refusal for the Ashley Judd role in A Time to Kill. She has four acting credits on the website for two roles in 1991 and one in 2010 and one in 2011. In 2011 she was also credited for Props for a short film Small World. This suggests she’s remained in the arts if not always in a way that gets her recognised by the Internet Movie Database. That’s okay, I worked on two short films and one feature film listed on IMDB but I’m not listed in any of their credit lists on the website. It’s a bit of process. After a quick google search it is proven true that she is still very much active in the arts. In 2015 she performed in Charleston South Carolina Who’s Afraid of Virignia Woolf? for the Footlight Players. A quick bio showed that she had been in other productions in Charleston and off Broadway productions in New York City throughout the years.

I imagine both Larson and Wolff were pretty excited in 1991 to get these small roles on screen. I like to imagine their families came to see them in with pride at a local theatre. Maybe for a while they dreamed of this being the first step of them becoming the next Julia Roberts or Mary Stuart Masterson. Maybe they thought they’d always get small parts and were already working towards having a different type of career. I wonder where Kathy Larson is now and hope they’re both doing well. I doubt they were anything like their characters. That’s working actors for you and Kathy and Missy remain two fine examples of working actors.

-Lloyd Marken

OVER 1,000 VIEWS FOR THE FOUNDER REVIEW

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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A minor milestone was reached today when the views for my review of The Founder reached four digits.

The review was published January 18, 2017, the fifth review I posted that day and a relatively short one compared to some of my posts. It accumulated the customary likes and views over a 48 hour period that I’m thrilled to often receive with each individual post and then everything quietened down which is customary too especially if another post follows in a couple of days.

Then something odd happened in February and I started averaging twenty views a day. Fellow blogger Beetley Pete had a similar uptick in views with a post about whatever happened to the band Jamiroquai. His investigations had revealed that WordPress had gotten into bed with some other company and now our posts were featuring on some app or other. AMP or pinrss references in the stats backed up this likelihood. For whatever reason my Founder review had featured or struck a nerve and now we were off to the races.

My blog is growing but still a fairly minor thing, I marvel at the way some other bloggers have grown their audiences and take an interest in such a wide field. I’m happy to get 25 – 30 views within initial release, a good post will get 40-50 views and anything else over that is a superstar post. What hits and what doesn’t can never be an exact science. Is it a popular subject matter? When did you release it? Have you touched base with your core fans recently? What is the length of the post? Are there pretty pictures? These are factors that can appear sometimes to make a difference but in the end you have to write about what you want to write about and let the chips fall where they may? Related imageThe second most viewed post this year was about Red Carpet Dresses for Awards Season Part I with 78 views. During the Oscars I did Part II for that Awards Show and it petered out at 34 views. Not that I’m disappointed but the two similar posts do go to show predicting results is impossible.

As time moved on the views slowed down for The Founder but come April 4th they jumped back up again from say 3 views a day to 25 views a day. So here we are. A quick google search indicates what I suspected. The Founder was released digitally on ITunes and Amazon Video April 4th. DVD and Blu Ray release followed April 18th.

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It wasn’t a particularly great review, nor a particularly bad one much like the film itself. If we’re being honest Stats show a lot of google searches with variances on a common theme. When I wrote about The Founder I noted it was a well made film about Ray Kroc performed by Michael Keaton is an Oscar worthy performance. Yet the film portrayed Ray Kroc as an asshole and the film was hard to enjoy as a result. Clearly many other people felt the same way as the popularity of the post has to at least be partly attributed to all these google searches for Ray Kroc is an asshole.

What is the difference between the number 40 and the number 1,000. There are no more comments on the post, I haven’t seen any money from this little deal and I’m sad to admit but it doesn’t reflect an increase in my skillset. This was purely down to algorithms and corporate wheeling and dealing of which I played no part. How many of these viewers actually read the whole post and enjoyed it? Who’s to say.

Yet I am glad it has 1,018 views and counting. Why? Perhaps the answer lies here. Sometime in early 2016 a Jim from Texas commented on a post of mine. His comment inferred he’d been reading a lot of my posts but he had no blog of his own. He just read mine and probably others and liked them and just wanted me to know he did and to keep posting. 1……1,000. I like to think there’s a few Jims from Texas and I thank them and I hope they liked this post.

-Lloyd Marken

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