Happy Birthday!!!

It’s been two happy days in a row for us here at Rainbow Chair for five very important reasons. Four are males, one is female; five are white, one is black; all of them are funny, depending on whom you have to ask, and you would have to ask very different people to get the same response, and at least one of them is, or was, or is, a drunk.

Any guesses? I’m sure with clues like that, you had no problem guessing Alec Baldwin, Eddie Murphy, Amanda Bynes, Robert Downey Jr. and Craig T. Nelson were collectively the reason why it was such a happy day for us! And it’s not because Tyler Perry is in talks to make a sitcom called, Madea goes to Hollywood!, where he would portray Baldwin, Murphy, Bynes, Downey and Nelson trying to co-star in a movie with America’s favorite funny woman, Madea. It’s actually because believe it or not, all five of these people were born between today­–Wednesday, and yesterday.

In honor of their birthday, it is only fitting to point the very best, and of course, the very worst of these famous birthday boys and girl. So let’s get started, from oldest to youngest beginning with those born yesterday.

Arrrick Bawdwin (lame South Park joke), Alec Baldwin, born 1958, April 3

The Best – Picking one is going to be hard for a lot of these, but perhaps none will be as hard as Alec Baldwin. I began my life as in infant—duh—but I also began my life not liking Alec Baldwin. I don’t know why, he was just one of those guys that just gave me a bad first impression, and to this day I have no idea why. Be that as it may, I really, really, like what he has been doing as of late, particularly with 30 Rock. If you have not given that show a try yet you are a damn fool, because year in and year out, that show remains one of the funniest and innovative comedy shows on television. This wouldn’t be a best of Baldwin section without pointing out his great run on Saturday Night Live. I think I probably didn’t like the Baldwins as much as I could have, and by the Baldwins I mean Alec—ha ha, poor other Baldwins—because I didn’t start watching SNLs with Baldwin in them until not too long ago, but I must admit, he has been funny for a long time, and he has been GOOD at being funny whenever he has been given the chance to do so. This is also really random, but as I was going through Baldwin’s filmography I noticed something Baldwin had done that elevated him to near Tyler Perry status, which for those of you who don’t know, would rank higher than God, but lower than Brendan Frasier on the “Totally awesome, I can’t believe how cool you are,” rank list. One of my favorite shows growing up as a child was Thomas the Tank Engine, you know, the show that made Ringo a Star? Well apparently, it also made Alec a Baldwin, because he was the narrator of the American Thomas the Tank Engine, from 1998-2003. Let’s not forget Beetle Juice, perhaps one of his most beloved comedies of all time.

The Worst – Ever seen Baldwin play a villain? Ever seen him play a serious villain? Don’t. Please, please don’t. I’m sure he tried his best, but he definitely appeared at his worst during his role in Mercury Rising. But perhaps even worse than his role in Mercury Rising, his performance in The Cat in the Hat has got to top them all, but I must point out that I have never seen Cat in the Hat, but I did read about it on Wikipedia 2 minutes ago, and that makes me an expert. Apparently, The Cat in the Hat was nominated for eight Razzie Awards including Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Mike Myers), Worst Supporting Actor (Alec Baldwin), Worst Supporting Actress (Kelly Preston), Worst Director, Worst Screenplay and Worst Screen Couple (Myers and either Thing One or Thing Two), winning one for Worst Excuse for an Actual Movie (All Concept/No Content). It also won a Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Worst Film. Ha ha, need I say more?

Eddie Murphy, born 1961, April 3

The Best – Adults would say his best work ever was in the Beverly Hills Cop series, but I was a bit on the young side to agree, and prefer the borderline crazy but funny Murphy that he soon developed into. I don’t know why I enjoy Bowfinger so much, but this is my list and I am going to slide it in here as opposed to putting it under his worst. I mean, it wasn’t terrible, and Steve Martin is in it! That’s got to count for something. Perhaps my favorite performance Murphy has done though is as Donkey in the Shrek series. He seems to almost have been born for that role. One of the best animated castings I have seen in a long time. Let’s not forget good ol’ Buckweat from SNL though.

The Worst – Ha ha, where to begin. The Adventures of Pluto Nash is probably a good start. What I would like to know is who was the guy or girl who had the final say on whether or not to make this movie because whoever it was, really needs to never be in a decisions making role again in their life. It. Was. Terrible. I was even going to add Alec Baldwin’s worst category, but as he was uncredited in it, I decided to reserve all the hate for Murphy. A worst of Murphey list wouldn’t be complete without talking about Norbit and everything after the first Dr. Doolittle and Nutty Professor—not that the first doesn’t belong on his best list, just not his worst either. But the sequels, and Norbit? Forgive me for being politically incorrect, but why does every funny black man think they need to either dress up like old women or the entire cast of a movie?—I don’t actually mean every funny black man, I’m actually speaking directly to Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence right now. “The jig is up, you guys should know you don’ stand a chance getting a good review acting as an entire cast or dressing up like a hilarious old, and of course, fat, woman when Tyler Perry’s around stealing all of the lime light. Come on fellas!

Amanda Bynes, born 1986, April 3

The best – In my eyes, there are really only two respectable things this actress has done that would make her best list, besides being extremely pretty and agreeing to go out on a date with me later this week. The Amanda Show, which really wasn’t to appealing to me, but I can appreciate it for what it was, and one of my all-time favorites from my childhood, All That. I love all that, and I’m going to have to just leave it at that, or we might as well change the show to All Day, because that’s how long I could talk about it.

The Worst – ANYTHING that isn’t All That, really. I didn’t even like What I Like About You, oh Amanda, if only you were still a kid, then you’d be funny.

Robert Downey Jr., born 1965, April 4

The Best – I don’t want to spend too much time on RDJ, mainly because I feel like recently, I would be adding nearly every movie he has recently made to the list. Like a bottle of fine wine, one he hasn’t already drank, of course, Downey just gets better with age. Iron Man defied all the odds when it didn’t suck, like Spider Man and The Hulk did, and Sherlock Holmes I thought was awesome. Ha ha, he was even in Bowfinger. Maybe Downey and Murphy were out celebrating their birthday week and Murphy snuck him into a few shots, who knows. Even though I’ve never seen it, I feel like Chaplin needs to be added to this list. It not only one Robert an Oscar nomination in 1992, it also won him a British Academy Award.

The worst – I would like to feature somebody else’s worst performance by RDJ, because to be perfectly honest, I have seen probably the least of RDJ out of the people I am spotlighting, and I feel like I would never be able to do it justice. What I do know is that Due Date does NOT belong on his worst list, no matter what Orangechair tries to tell you. This worst of Downey comes from Erin Demchak of StarPulse.com. She thinks that The Singing Detective, 2003, was the worst film RDJ has ever been in. “This 2003 film is based on the BBC miniseries in which novelist Dan Dark (played by Robert) is hospitalized for a painful skin disorder and believes that he is the detective in the book he is reading. The plot is all over the place and because it’s a musical, they randomly burst out into song throughout the movie, which is distracting. To boot, we don’t get to see the dapper Robert that we all love so much, instead we are forced to watch him in a hospital bed covered with lesions,” Demchak said.

Craig T. Nelson, born 1944, April 4

The Best – Two things need to be added to this list and two things only: Coach and The Incredibles. One of my father’s favorite shows, Coach is a classic. Nelson’s gruff confrontational personality clashes perfectly with Jerry Van Dyke, brother of Dick, and Bill Fagerbakke, the voice of everyone’s favorite starfish, Patrick Star. His speaking role as Mr. Incredible is one of those roles that I mentioned before when talking about Eddie Murphy as Donkey, just a perfect match.

The Worst – Not sure where to start to be honest, I suppose the more than 20 straight to television movies he has been in would be a good place.

Th-th-t-h-t—ththth—thth-ththt-th-th-th-That’s all Folks

Spotlight: William H. Macy, Drunken, Angry and Minnesotan All at Once

BY: ORANGECHAIR

Comparing Frank Gallagher, the drunken neglectful father from Shameless, Jerry Lundegaard, the timid pathetic car salesman from Fargo, and Senator Ortolan Finistirre, the rough anti tobacco senator from Thank You For Smoking, would seem like an impossible task if all three characters weren’t played by the same actor. Range is something that William H. Macy seems to effortlessly wield as an acting tool as he jumps from unique role to unique role. Starring in award winning films, Fargo and Thank You For Smoking, and guild pleasures alike, Wild Hogs and Mystery Men, William H. Macy has proven to the world what a talented actor he is.

After seeing an actor in a number of different role, most actors (even some of the best ones) falling into their own specific wheelhouse. I am not saying that most actors are pigeon holed but after a while, all of their roles have a sense of fluidity to them. I always feel like there is something that links the actors’ characters and their styles together. Somehow, Macy seems to be able to wipe those links away. It took me a very long time to see how talented an actor Macy is. It really wasn’t until I saw him in Shameless that I took a step back and realized why I had never before noticed Macy like I was noticing him now. The first time I saw Macy on the big screen was in the movie Mystery Men (which will ALWAYS be a personal guilty pleasure) but the first time I really saw him shine was when he teamed up with the Coen Brothers in the film Fargo. Playing a desperate man driven to stage a kidnapping of his own wife, Macy is joined by Frances McDormand and Steve Buscemi in this dark comedy. The next time I remember seeing him show his true talents was in Jason Reitman’s Thank You For Smoking where his brilliant performance was matched by ones from Aaron Eckhart and J.K. Simmons. The reason I never fully noticed Macy’s true brilliance in these roles was because he was matched by equally brilliant performances. In each amazing performance I had seen him in, William H. Macy had been surround by other amazing performances, cast with a number of actors with the ability to steal the screen.

Oddly enough, it was Macy’s switch move to television that really sparked my interest in him. I had seen Macy in many great roles before he stared on the American version of Shameless but never before had I found him to be so unrecognizable. It wasn’t that he didn’t look like himself; it was the fact that he had ceased being William H. Macy and had become Frank Gallagher. Quite often, the move from film to television marks the downfall of a stars career. The move to television had no effect of Macy in fact, as he went on to play what is my favorite role he has ever stared in. Bringing the talent he has displayed throughout his career, Macy steals ever single scene Frank appears in, making the show one of my current favorite shows on television.

I hope this is clear by now but my appreciation for William H. Macy has snuck up on me over the last couple years. He is a great actor that has left behind a string of amazing performances. If you like William H. Macy and aren’t watching Shameless, you are missing out on one of his most amusing and impressive performances. I do not believe that Frank Gallagher is going to be Macy’s last performance which only begs one question: What could the future give us from William H. Macy.

Bryan Cranston: Schizophrenic or Brilliant Actor?

BY: ORANGECHAIR

A couple of days ago, I posted an article titled “John Noble: The Best Television Actor You’ve Never Heard Of.” The article looked at the unrecognized talents of John Noble, Walter Bishop of Fringe. Upon reading the post again, I became inspired to continue to inform readers of the great television performances they may be missing. The posts will be tagged as spotlight posts and will eventually extent to television creators, movie actors and movie directors. Today, however, I’m going to take a look at another television phenomenon: Bryan Cranston.

Malcolm in the Middle will always have a special place in my heart because it was the first television show that I watched the premiere of weekly. I know how nerdy that sounds but I love television and Malcolm in the Middle taught me that I could watch a brand new episode of my favorite shows every week. A snowball effect is the only way to describe the result of the realization. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was watching a performance by a television great.

In all fairness, at the time, most people didn’t think of Bryan Cranston as a multi-faceted television actor. He did get some recognition in the form of three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. The nominations were given for his portrayal of Hal, the spastic, comedic father in a constantly down on their luck family. Cranston played the part brilliantly, barreling through scenes like a whirlwind of comedic insanity. Cranston played the role so well that people began to see only Hal when they saw Cranston. Cranston became pigeonholed.

Just because he was pigeonholed does NOT mean Cranston is or was a bad actor. The only thing the term denotes is that the world thought he could only play Hal or another similar, crazy, spastic father. Escaping from a pigeonhole accusation is a very difficult thing for an actor to do, especially since viewers expect the actor to fill one, very specific role. Brian Cranston didn’t just escape his pigeonhole accusation; he completely destroyed it and proved, as Walter White, that he can play any character he wants.

It was an odd choice when AMC cast Cranston as the dying chemist turned meth cooker on their hit show Breaking Bad. How could the world possibly believe that Hal was cooking and selling crystal meth? From the moment Cranston appeared on the show, he proved his acting genius. Walt is the polar opposite of Hal, a timid man that is obsessed with providing for his family. When he is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, Walt turns to the thing he knows best to leave as much money for his family as possible: science. Using his chemistry knowledge, Walt manufactures the purest form of meth on the market and jumps into the deep end of the drug world.

Not only is it amazing that Cranston can play the opposite of Hal but Cranston brilliantly portrays Walt as an ever changing character. Full of fear, turmoil, pain and guilt, Walt adapts and grows during every episode. The depth of raw emotion Cranston is able to bring to the character is simply astonishing. Walt desperately attempts to acclimate to the dark world of drugs all while trying to keep the positive aspects of his life clean and untouched. Somehow, Cranston makes it seem easy to bring the complex character to life.

Cranston has proven himself a master actor, easily feeling at home in comedy or drama. An actor who I first assumed to be a one trick pony, Cranston has taken the character of Walt White to amazing heights. From 2008-2010, Cranston earned three consecutive, well deserved Emmy’s for his portrayal of Walt in Breaking Bad. Cranston is one of the most talented actors on television right now and needs to continue to be recognized as such.

John Noble: The Best Television Actor You’ve Never Heard Of

BY: ORANGECHAIR

If you have not been watching Fox Network’s supernatural hit Fringe, then you are missing out on a number of different television greats: great acting, great directing and a mind-blowing storyline. The show was created by the same mind that brought the television world Lost, J.J. Abrams. The show takes a look at the Fringe division of the FBI in Boston Massachusetts. The Fringe division looks at cases and events that dip into fringe science, events that involve phenomenon like teleportation, parallel universes, precognition, dark matter and much more. The show follows a three man team consisting of Olivia Dunham, Peter Bishop and Doctor Walter Bishop. Future posts will look at the show as a whole and all the different components of it but today I have one focus: Walter Bishop.

Walter Bishop is the show’s mad scientist, a broken shell of an insane man attempting to make up for the wrongs of his past. The role is played by John Noble, a man who most people do not know by name. Beyond his portrayal of Walter Bishop in Fringe, Noble’s notable roll is in The Lord of the Rings series where he plays Denethor (the guy who lit himself on fire). He has played other roles here and there but his most impressive piece of acting is his brilliant portrayal of Walter Bishop.

To understand why Noble is so brilliant, the character of Walter Bishop needs to be understood. If you notice, I did not slap SPOILER ALERT warnings on the top of this blog because I’m not going to ruin the show for people but that means readers who have watched the show are going to have to bear with my somewhat cryptic descriptions. When the show first introduces Walter Bishop he is a patient at a mental institution. Olivia Dunham, the series main protagonist, enlists Walter’s son, Peter, to sign him out of the institution as a consultant. Walter is only allowed out as long as Peter stays with him as a guardian. Walter is a broken, shell of a man with large gaps in his memory of the past. One minute, Walter is a giggling child thinking about candy and the next moment memories of the horrible experiments he conducted in the past reduce him to a broken man, cry out of horror at his own actions.

As the Fringe division investigates a series of supernatural events that become known as The Pattern, it becomes increasingly clear that many of Walter’s forgotten (and not forgotten) actions of the past have created an unstable future. This realization only further shatters Walter’s spirit as the audience sees the truly horrific nature of his past. Noble brings Walter’s character to life with such ease that in my mind, Walter is a real person. Noble dances Walter across an emotional spectrum, bringing him from supreme happiness to pure horror as a lucid memory finally settles in his mind. The acting is real, raw and in my opinion, some of the best acting a viewer can find on television.

It confuses and bothers me that John Noble has not received an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Walter Bishop. Working my way through the first three seasons of Fringe, I have found plenty of single episodes in which Noble proves he deserves a nomination, let alone entire seasons. Noble walks Walter down the fine line that separates villain from hero with deft ease, creating a wholly heart breaking character. Walter spends the show desperately trying to live with and make up for the actions of his past. The beauty of the writing and acting of the show is that the audience is forced to do the same thing. It is difficult to not put your faith behind the mad scientist, struggling to right the wrongs of his past but as the past is revealed, it becomes very difficult to keep faith in Walter. It becomes very difficult not to turn your back on him yet at the same time you’ve invested so much emotion in the character that you just can’t turn your back on Walter. The character Noble is able to bring to life with his acting is amazing and shows his true talent. John Noble deserves a nominations or at the very least, some recognition of his acting talents.