In Remembrance of Tim Curry

Well, this has already been a week, hasn’t it? Yes, in incredibly upsetting news for any fans of his immense body of work, Tim Curry has died at the age of 80. To list all his amazing roles would take up a whole article in itself. I will say it astounds me that one of his most famous parts was his film debut (“The Rocky Horror Picture Show,”). Plus, his presence in, “Home Alone 2,” is a big reason I actually enjoy that movie more than the first one. Curry did a ton of voiceover work too (Nigel Thornberry was a hoot), shifting mainly into that as opposed to live-action work after a stroke in 2012 limited his mobility to a degree. Whether he was terrifying us as an evil clown ("It,") making us laugh in, “Clue,” or shockingly brutal as a con artist named Rooster in, “Annie,” Curry was an amazing talent. We have a lot of great stuff to enjoy thanks to him, and plenty of joyous memories are held by those who saw him on the stage, screen, or knew him personally. He will be missed.

Flashback Friday: The, "Annie," Movies Are All Uniquely Fun

Seeing the news about Jamie Foxx being hospitalized for an undisclosed medical condition (I wish him a speedy recovery) got me thinking about all his various film roles. The man has some serious range from comedy to drama with such hits as, "Ray," "Django Unchained," "Soul," and he, of course, can sing wonderfully. This got me thinking about film roles where he sang which reminded me he was in one of the versions of, "Annie." I couldn't recall how many films it has had so I double-checked and three flicks exist. The original in 1982, the 1999 television movie, and the iteration with Foxx as Daddy Warbucks in 2014. All three are quite fun in different ways. 

The original movie has elements that have aged poorly at best but also has the best Miss Hannigan in the form of Carol Burnett--plus Tim Curry is great in anything. The 1999 movie is solid with Kathy Bate's Miss Hannigan being pretty good and then Foxx is superb in the 2014 flick. Each movie's Annie does a great job as well so in the end whether you want the old Annie, the 1999 remake, or the 2014 version that takes place in the modern-day they all are a good time. I'm thankful for that in an era where sometimes remakes/reboots can be quite bad.

Film Friday: One New Cinematic Universe Concept I'd Support

I was sitting around and thinking about how after everyone tried to copy the Marvel Cinematic Universe and basically failed (sometimes spectacularly) unless they were inexplicably a, "Conjuring," movie, there was one universe I'd like to see. Basically my idea is a combination of a Cinematic Universe and a Multiverse such as the one seen in that recent animated Spider-Man film and directly referenced in trailers for the new live-action Spider-Man flick. Basically, my idea is to make the three main, "Annie," films all cross-over in some way. Yes, I'm serious, and yes, I've probably gone quite mad.

There is the initial, "Annie," film which was released in 1982 and features a stellar cast including Carol Burnett, Tim Curry, Bernadette Peters, Albert Finney, and more. Following that is the lesser-known but still solid 1999 television movie, "Annie," which had names such as Alan Cumming and the superb Kathy Bates as the delightfully evil Miss Hannigan. Lastly, we have the most recent, "Annie," film which had a much more diverse cast (some haters dismissively refer to the movie as, "Black Annie,") including such awesome folk as Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, and Rose Bryne. All three movies make various tweaks to the plot and have certain better and worse elements overall. What if there were a way to make them all cross-over somehow though?

Evil Hannigan's Unite

Picture it, taking place after all the other movies we find that Miss Hannigan somehow finds a way to travel other dimensions (don't ask me how, maybe the power of sheer spite towards children) and attempts to unite with her other selves who have been defeated by Annie to find a, "World without an Annie," where they can run a big ol' orphanage without ending up broke or in jail. However, the Annie of the various dimensions, all now different ages and doing different things in life discover this plot and realize they need to team-up to stop Miss Hannigan from breaking-apart the, "Annie-verse," which I do plan to trademark, in case you were wondering. This leads to all kinds of multi-dimensional shenanigans and the eventual defeat of the evil league of Hannigans.

However, before all the Annies can celebrate too much there will of course be a post-credit stinger. In this a shadowy figure with a young girl's voice will state how, "They are more worlds than you can imagine that need your help," before stepping forward and revealing she is Madeline, of that famous franchise! Oh shit, I just kicked-off the craziest cinematic universe of popular children's characters ever and I didn't even mention where the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Pippi Longstocking, and a talking Curious George come in. Yes, this sounds overly complicated and most likely will fall flat on its face as with any other Cinematic Universe that has been attempted lately besides the MCU (or again, the inadvertent formation of a, "Conjuring," universe), but damn-it someone should give me millions of dollars and at least let me try to get these movies made. I mean, it can't be any worse than what Zack Snyder gave us (and refuses to quit talking about what he would have done if DC/Warner Brothers let him keep at it). Seriously, give me 100 million dollars for at least the initial film and I'll give you absolute gold or at least an interesting mess. Let's make this happen, people!