'Final Destination's' Bludworth cloaked in mystery
In Candyman's suite
When actor Tony Todd met me at Chicago's Trump International Tower, he said, “You look like an algebra teacher!”
So much for my inner image as the James Bond of film critics.
Todd shot to international stardom in the filmed-in-Chicago, 1992 horror hit “Candyman.” He played the title role of an evil spirit brought back to life in the Cabrini Green projects when someone says his name five times in front of a mirror.
These days, Todd performs voice-over work in animated films and reprises his role as the mysterious Bludworth in “Final Destination 5,” starting its second weekend run.
I had heard that Todd knew the complete back story of Bludworth, a story that might come out in later installments of “Final Destination.” So I asked, and he confirmed it.
“Absolutely,” Todd replied. “I created it. Most actors do that. They fill in the blanks. You don't want to play a cipher. Although the way this franchise has been edited, he looks like a cipher.
“Most people are completely wrong about who they think this guy is. He's the Grim Reaper. Death himself. Or the Angel of Death. Those are the easy answers.”
OK, I told him, but you gotta give us a clue on who this guy might be.
“Perhaps he's an actor who's taking on these different roles as a coroner or mortician and he's finding himself as he plays his roles?” Todd said. “He's someone on a grand mission, someone who's compelled to warn these people. He can't do anything about it. If I tell you, or I make a suggestion, it's up to you as a man to figure it out.”
You're clarifying with more mystery, I told him.
“Keep them guessing,” Todd said with sly smile. “There's a very specific secret that he has. Look in his eyes. If you seriously study the movies, look at the twinkle. He knows something. The audience needs that character. Maybe I'm the seamster, the tailor stitching things together. Hmmm. Maybe I should use that.”
I asked Todd, now 57 and still 6 foot, 5 inches tall, what compelled him to go into the performing arts.
“The fact that it keeps me out of prison. It keeps me away from doing something that I would be miserable at. You know early on when you're given a gift that can keep you sane. That's what acting does for me. It keeps me honest and keeps me sane.”
What question do you get more often than any other? I asked.
“‘Did you practice being scary when you were a kid?' In my mind, I'm not scary at all. I'm channeling my inner Cary Grant!”
I'll be the judge of that
Join me and many area teen filmmakers when the Fifth Teen Film Fest rolls out at 6 p.m. Friday (that's today) at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library in Arlington Heights. (Where else?) Free admission! Go to ahml.info for details or call (847) 392-0100. I'll be judging more than two dozen films shorts and handing out three top prizes with help from Teen Librarian Tom Spicer.
Dann, you need ‘Help'
Mr. Gire: I am not in the habit of commenting on articles, however, your review of “The Help” has struck a nerve with me.
I enjoyed reading the article until the last few paragraphs where you mentioned you had not read the book. Then you make reference to Aibileen's narration of the movie, and how she could know details about Skeeter's friend.
Further, you question if it would have made “better sense for the journalist to be telling us about ‘The Help'?” The movie is true to the book. From the first chapter, it's Aibileen telling the story and the unlikely relationship between Skeeter and Aibileen that continues the story.
Now, I have not finished reading the book, but plan on doing so before I see the movie. Although you are a film critic by trade, perhaps it would have been helpful for you to have read or at least researched the book before making such comments about how the movie could have been better portrayed. — Marie Johnson
Dear Marie: This issue comes up every few years or so, and my answer remains the same. A movie must stand on its own as a narrative work. Understanding a movie should not be dependent on outside reading materials or other forms of homework (useful in further exploring a subject, perhaps).
Look at it this way: Should we only be able to understand a novelization (a book based on a movie) if we see the film first? I think not.
More to your point, if what you write is accurate — that Tate Taylor's movie stays true to Kathryn Stockett's novel — wouldn't my criticism of the film's narrator be equally applicable to the book's? — Dann
Dann: Read your review (of “The Help”) which was as predictable as the book and movie. Of course, the “colored” help are the good guys and the white “racist” homeowners, property owners and business owners in the South during this time are the bad guys. This is from a time long ago, which fortunately does not exist today in America.
In reality, hundreds and thousands of African Americans worked in Southern white households for a number of generations up to the post-Civil Rights era. These positions were considered prime jobs as the alternative was working in the fields.
I am sure many people will enjoy both the book and the movie regardless of the historical inaccuracy. Have we made any progress? — Robert L. Hudon, Jr.
Dear Robert: Not enough.
Sheen gets his day
If you didn't already know, Gov. Pat Quinn has declared Friday, Aug. 19, to be “Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez Day” in Illinois. The father-son filmmaking duo are in the state so Dad can receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago International Film Festival Friday night at the AMC River East, 322 E. Illinois St., Chicago. The movie “The Way” — directed by Estevez and starring Sheen — will be shown as part of the festival's annual summer gala. Go to chicagofilmfestival.com.
After Hours with ‘Bill'
The After Hours Film Society presents “Bill Cunningham New York,” Richard Press' doc about bicycle-riding New York Times fashion photographer Bill Cunningham, now 80-plus years old. Chicago Film Critics Association member Josh Larsen serves as the guest host. The doc plays at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Tivoli Theater, 5021 Highland Ave., Downers Grove. Tickets cost $9 ($5 members). Not rated. 84 minutes. Go to afterhoursfilmsociety.com.
Meek feminist western
Kelly Reichardt's “Meek's Cutoff,” originally released to theaters this spring, throws away the myth and romanticism of the American western and hits us with hot, sobering doses of realism that approximate what frontier life was really like for three families making their way over the Cascade Mountains in 1845.
Bruce Greenwood plays Meek, the chauvinistic, quasi-racist scout leading the struggling settlers, played by Michelle Williams, Will Patton, Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan and Shirley Henderson.
It's an evocative, feminist take on the risks and ethical dilemmas facing the pioneers as they pushed westward. Every shot is from a female's point of view. The men are mere supporting characters in a traditionally male-dominated genre. (PG) 104 minutes. ★ ★ ★ ½
The Blue Whiskey Cinema Series presents “Meek's Cutoff” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Cutting Hall Performing Arts Center, 150 E. Wood St., Palatine. Advance tickets cost $8; $10 at the door. Concessions will be sold. Go to bwiff.com for details and tickets.
Ÿ Daily Herald film critic Dann Gire's column runs Fridays in Time out!