In Memory of Verne Troyer (1969-2018)

Verne Troyer (1969-2018)

Verne Troyer, the diminutive actor best known for his role as Mini-Me, the pint-sized clone of Dr Evil in the "Austin Powers" franchise, passed away at age 49 on April 21st, 2018. He was considered one of the shortest men in the world due to his condition of cartilage-hair hypoplasia, which resulted in him being 2 ft 8 inches (81 cm) tall.

Troyer had started his film career as a stunt double with some minor comedic roles in several films during the mid and late 1990s, including "Baby's Day Out", "Dunston Checks In", "Jingle All the Way", "Men in Black", etc. The pint-sized actor came into contact with film director Jay Roach whom they discussed portraying the character of Mini-Me in "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me". Mike Myers, the film's leading actor, was impressed with Troyer's performance. He rewrote the script to add more screen time for Mini-Me and remove the character's death. Troyer reprised his "Austin Powers in Goldmember" role three years later and joined Myers again for "The Love Guru".

After his success in the "Austin Powers" franchise as Mini-Me, Troyer portrayed supporting and minor characters in several films, including the goblin Griphook in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" and Percy in Terry Gilliam's surrealistic movie "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus".

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In Memory of R. Lee Ermey (1944-2018)

R. Lee Ermey (1944-2018)

Hello everyone; I guess it's been a while since I've done a news update on my blog. I've got sad news to tell you about the former U.S. Marine and actor R. Lee Emery, best known for his iconic performance of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in "Full Metal Jacket", and his distinctive, commanding voice as the leader of the plastic army men Sarge in the "Toy Story" series, died from complications of pneumonia at age 74 on April 15th, 2018.

He was born Ronald Lee Ermey in Kansas and served eleven years in the Marine Corps before spending fourteen months in Vietnam and then in Okinawa, Japan, where he got promoted to staff sergeant. Ermey's first appearance in a film was in "The Boys in Company C", and in the following year, he was in an uncredited role of a helicopter pilot in Francis Ford Coppola's war epic "Apocalypse Now" while working as a technical advisor on set. Ermey was originally a technical consultant on "Full Metal Jacket", where he convinced Stanley Kubrick through an instructional tape to cast him as the profane, sadistic drill instructor, even allowing him to ad-lib 50% per cent of his dialogue in the film. It resulted in his performance being worthy and acclaimed in the film, earning Ermey a Golden Globe nomination as Best Supporting Actor.

Ermey got usually typecast in roles of authority figures in such films as "Mississippi Burning", "Se7en", "On Deadly Ground", "Toy Soldiers", "Prefontainez", "Fletch Lives" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Emery even lent his voice talents as Sarge in the animated feature "Toy Story" as well as two sequels and his television appearances in "The Simpsons", "Family Guy", "SpongeBob Squarepants", "Miami Vice", "Kim Possible", "Scrubs", "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy", etc. In addition to that, he also hosted two documentary series on the History Channel and a reality show on the Outdoor Channel in America.

Thank you for your service, R. Lee Emery and may you rest in peace, sir!

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Tomb Raider Review

Tomb Raider

Release Date: 15th March 2018 - Australia

Production Companies

Warner Bros. Pictures
Metro Goldwyn Mayer

SquareEnix
GK Films

Distribution

Roadshow Distribution

Genre: Action/Adventure

Rating: M

Runtime: 118 minutes

Budget: $90,000,000

Box Office Gross: $274,650,803 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

When the fiercely independent Lara Croft finds herself on the island where her adventurer father disappeared, she must push herself beyond her limits. (Source - Metro Cinemas)

Cast

Alicia Vikander - Lara Croft

Dominic West - Lord Richard
Croft

Walton Goggins - Mathias
Vogel

Daniel Wu - Lu Ren

Kristin Scott Thomas - Ana
Miller
Derek Jacobi - Mr. Yaffe
Alexandre Willaume -
Lieutenant
Hannah John-Kamen -
Sophie

Josef Atlin - Bruce the Boss

Billy Postlethwaite - Bill

Roger Jean Nsengiyumva -
Rog

Jaime Winstone - Pamela

Michael Obiora - Baxter
Nick Frost - Pawnbroker Alan
(Uncredited)

Shekhar Varma - Mr. Ahuja 

Rekha John-Cheriyan - Mrs.
Ahuja
Antonio Aakeel - Nitin
Maisy De Freitas - Young
Lara (7 years old)
Emily Carey - Young Lara
(14 years old)

Duncan Airlie James - Terry
the Trainer

Annabel Elizabeth Wood -
Rose

Crew
Director - Roar Uthaug
Story - Evan Daugherty
Story/Screenplay - Geneva Robertson-Dworet
Screenplay - Alastair Siddons
Executive Producers - Noah Hughes, Patrick McCormick and Denis O'Sullivan
Producer - Graham King
Production Designer - Gary Freeman

Supervising Art Director: UK - Simon Lamont
Costume Designer - Colleen Atwood
Co-Costume Designer - Timothy A. Wonsik
Cinematography - George Richmond
Stunt Coordinator - Mark Henson
Special Effects Supervisors - Max Poolman and
Ivan Janse Van Rensburg

Special Effects Supervisor: UK - Richard Van Den Burgh

Special Effects Coordinator - Lise-Marie Bothma

Visual Effects Supervisor - Hubert Maston
Film Editors - Stuart Baird, Tom Harrison-Read
and Michael Tronick
Music - Junkie XL

Review

I’m so sorry for putting this blog into a three-week hiatus, I haven’t had time to think as I was too busy dealing with other projects as well as a portfolio and interview preparations. Remember when the early 'Tomb Raider' movies were adapted into the big screen from its notable video game franchise and the first instalment was a smash hit and a career-defining moment for one of Hollywood’s contemporary leading actresses, Angelina Jolie. Now there’s a new cinematic interpretation that is said to have been inspired by the video games’ rebooted origin stories and takes a new spin into the iconic female character Lara Croft, into her new setting and personality. I’ve never played any of these games elsewhere but this new movie was much grittier and realistic and a bit of an improvement to its predecessors which were both subpar to everyone’s opinion. 

Most moviegoers have anticipated this picture and I just didn’t care how much has changed in the revised film adaption of 'TOMB RAIDER'. I’m sure this new movie will go far and succeed as one of the few good movies to be based on a video game unlike each one that turns out to be lacklustre and has brought nothing new and exciting to the official game template. The adventurous feel is still there in 'TOMB RAIDER' but the storyline feels like a cut-and-paste translation of other origin stories. I feel that it’s the filmmaker’s doing of trying to convene a gritty look in the picture. The action scenes are terrific and more interesting is how the film contains some decent effects as well as a splendid pace.

Angelina Jolie was the original actress that portrayed Lara Croft, she has now retired from playing the character and will be deeply missed. Alicia Vikander is nearly as terrific and seems to be enjoying her performance despite her own take of the female adventurer/archeologist being passable. It’s not hard to see and understand why she was chosen for that imperfect role since she was younger than her predecessor.

I believe the filmmakers have actually got some of the right aspects, even though it’s close to being the best video game movie adaptation. 'TOMB RAIDER' is currently awaiting for its release in stores and online-streaming. I wish you all the best, if you give the movie a try.

Star rating: (7/10) Good Movie

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