Latest news with #Airplane!
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Baltimore Ravens Spoofed ‘Severance' for Their Schedule Reveal. They Just Forgot to Make It Funny
I've been writing a lot lately about my lengthy Zoom with The Naked Gun! and Airplane! creator David Zucker. Our interview was ostensibly set up to discuss his upcoming web series MasterCrash, a more-sincere-than-usual sendup of MasterClass, and to provide space for him to gripe about being left out of Seth MacFarlane and Akiva Schaffer's new Naked Gun movie — a classic win-win media & PR collab! The residual impact has been how much I've since thought about parody, and how not everybody knows how to do it right. Time will tell if MacFarlane and Schaffer's take starring Liam Neeson as the new Lt. Frank Drebin, son of the old one (Leslie Nielsen), strikes the right tone. Considering the IP and talent attached — and even factoring in the talent not attached — Naked Gun (August 1, 2025) has a shot. The big Baltimore Ravens short film released this week, on the other hand, never gave itself much of a chance. More from The Hollywood Reporter Michael J. Fox Joins Apple's 'Shrinking' Season 3 in Guest Role As Shoppers Cut Back on Spending, Live TV Streaming Services Aim to Attract Subscribers with Up to 70 Percent Off 'Murderbot' Review: Alexander Skarsgard Is a Droll Delight as a Lethal Cyborg Who'd Rather Be Watching TV in Uneven Apple Series NFL schedule-reveals have officially become a thing. Major streamers, broadcasters and media companies (think: Netflix, Fox, Disney, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video) got to announce a game or two of theirs to television advertisers in attendance at their respective upfront events earlier this week, and the team-by-team schedule-reveals (brought to you by Seat Geek!) are turning into major Hollywood productions, often borrowing from major Hollywood productions. This year, the Kansas City Chiefs played Cash Cab, at least two teams did Minecraft, the Houston Texans parodied Scary Movie, the Los Angeles Rams went the Daily Show route and the New York Giants spoofed Love Island. The results are a mixed bag — but this story isn't about those videos. The first mistake the Ravens made was in the selection process. Baltimore went big for their reveal with a parody of Apple TV+ drama Severance — it's always ambitious to try to spoof the best show on television, especially when your cast is comprised of offensive linemen, football coaches and front-office personnel. While imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, not all imitations flatter equally. And as they're already well aware of in Baltimore, if you come for the king (of TV), you best not miss. There are some good pieces in the execution of the video. Certain production elements, like the cinematography, are great. The baby goats as the team's draft picks who are are 'not ready yet' was a clever choice. And it's OK that the players can't act — Adam Scott can't protect Lamar Jackson's blindside — where the video went wrong was in the writing phase. The actual Severance premise here is unclear. Are the players severed so they don't leak the schedule? Maybe, or maybe I just retroactively invented an intention. Though there are maybe a handful of decent jokes, the video is seven minutes of setups and few punchlines. It's not enough to think 'it'd be funny to have our players and staff read these Severance lines.' A shot-for-shot remake is not comedy — unless, ironically, it's the ones Severance lead Scott did with Paul Rudd. Perhaps the Ravens should have brought on Severance writer/creator Dan Erickson and/or his partner on the project Ben Stiller as free agents, like how a team signs a player they've since traded away to a one-day contract so they can officially retire where it all began. Stiller seemed to appreciate the effort — Ravens Productions shot more than 200 hours and spent days editing — enough to retweet the video, at least. (And even if he didn't dig it, the only professional sports team that could possibly draw Stiller's ire this week is the Boston Celtics, who tonight will attempt to push the New York Knicks to an Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 7. Stiller will almost certainly be courtside for Game 6 at Madison Square Garden.) Look, maybe I'm wrong. I'm certainly biased here — and not just about the proper way to write comedy. I love the New York Giants probably as much as Stiller loves the New York Knickerbockers. Am I still a bit peeved at the Ravens for the absolute thrashing they put on my team in Super Bowl XXXV? Very much so. And as an early adopter of Severance, I may have overprotective tendencies about the series. Other people and publications dug the Severance spoof — as of this writing, the Ravens' reveal video had 9,000 likes on X and nearly 3,000 on YouTube (with 70,000 views). USA Today ranked it as the fourth-best schedule out of 32 NFL teams, 9to5Mac called it 'hilarious' and something called Motorcycle Sports (that clearly ventures beyond motorcycle sports) said it was 'epic.' But don't believe everything you read online — except for this opinion. Nevermore (do this), Ravens. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise 'Yellowstone' and the Sprawling Dutton Family Tree, Explained
Fox News
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Original 'Naked Gun' director says he would not have cast Liam Neeson in reboot
The "Naked Gun" reboot starring Liam Neeson has generated a lot of excitement online, but one of the original film's directors isn't a fan. "It's painful, but it's just it's not what I would have done," David Zucker told Fox News Digital. "But you know, I don't want to just bash what they're doing, but I'd like to. But it's not what I would have done, it is not our style. It's strange seeing it." Zucker directed the original 1988 comedy, "The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!" starring Leslie Nielsen and co-written by his brother, Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Pat Proft. The Zucker brothers and Abrahams, known by the acronym ZAZ, are also the comedy masterminds behind "Airplane!" "Top Secret!" and the "Police Squad" TV series. The director admitted he doesn't want to see the "Naked Gun" reboot with Neeson, comparing it to when "Airplane II" came out, which did not involve ZAZ. "Jim Abrahams said when we would do Q and A's and we'd be asked, 'Why haven't you ever seen 'Airplane II?' And Jim said, 'Well, if your daughter became a prostitute, would you go watch her work?'" "'The Naked Gun' and 'Airplane,' these are our babies. And we spent a lot of time conceiving it, doing it. And then it was kind of a surprise to me when I was excluded from the remake." Zucker continued, "I just assumed I would do it. We wrote a script. And then suddenly Seth MacFarlane came in with Liam Neeson, and it was big studio, big agency, big producer." "Family Guy" creator MacFarlane is a producer on the reboot, directed by Lonely Island alum Akiva Schaffer, starring Neeson, Pamela Anderson and Paul Walter Hauser. WATCH: ORIGINAL 'NAKED GUN' DIRECTOR SAYS IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO REPLACE LESLIE NIELSEN WITH LIAM NEESON IN REBOOT Had he been involved, Zucker says he would not have cast Neeson. "You can't replace Leslie Nielsen. That's the thing," he said. Zucker added, "They were very sincere and in what they thought they were going to do. They want to do 'Naked Gun.' And these aren't bad people, they worship, they love 'Naked Gun,' 'Top Secret!,' 'Airplane!,' and Seth MacFarlane has done homages in 'Family Guy' and all this stuff, and it's very nice." "He called me, and for 10 minutes he just told me how much he loved my movies. However, when I first heard that he was going to do it, I kind of applied hat in hand to help or to be involved. And he said, 'Not until we do the script.' He didn't want to meet with me. So that's his choice. All I can say is that's Hollywood." According to Zucker, he and original "Naked Fun" co-writer Pat Proft wrote "our version of Naked Gun 4," more in keeping with the style of spoof ZAZ and Proft have been known for over the years, beginning with their Kentucky Fried Theater in Los Angeles, which evolved into their first film, "The Kentucky Fried Movie." "We learned there are rules, and we wrote a book called 'Surely You Can't Be Serious' and it's the true story of 'Airplane!' and we've put in it the 15 rules of comedy, our comedy. I'm not going to tell the Wayans brothers or Mike Myers what to do, even Seth. I wouldn't tell him how to do 'Family Guy,' he's obviously good at it, or 'Ted.' But what we do is very specific, and just being a fan doesn't mean that you can do it." "Remember those ads for kids' things in the '60s? It says, 'Kids don't try this at home?' That's what I would say, but it's too late, this thing is coming out." The trailer for the reboot showcases Neeson as Lt. Frank Drebin Jr., son of Nielsen's character in the original franchise, making the film both a reboot and sequel at the same time. WATCH: 'NAKED GUN' DIRECTOR SHARES HIS PLANS FOR LEGACY SEQUEL THAT DIFFER FROM LIAM NEESON LED REBOOT Zucker says his and Proft's script, along with Mike McManus, "was not even a cop movie" and would have taken "a fresh approach." "It was 'Naked Gun,' but it's a spoof of 'Mission Impossible,' 'The Bourne Identity' and Bond, with the son of Drebin, who's a young guy. It would have been Andy Samberg. We were doing a young cast and a fresh approach. Don't try to replace Leslie Nielsen. It's just another old guy, no matter how good they are." Representatives for Neeson and MacFarlane did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. Zucker and his team's specificity in their comedy stylings led to the discovery of a young Val Kilmer, who made his feature film debut as Nick Rivers, an Elvis-like pop star in "Top Secret!" "Jerry and Jim and I were casting 'Top Secret!' and this was in mid-1983, and we couldn't find a Nick Rivers that we wanted. We were just tearing our hair out," he recalled. "So finally, our casting director, Suzy Jacobson, suggested, well, there's this actor who's in this play called 'Slab Boys' in New York. So, we hopped on a plane, and we saw the play off Broadway with Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon and Val Kilmer. And we thought he was great." He added, "I mean, I don't remember much about the play, but I thought he [was a] very charismatic, handsome guy. I would date him, but you know, that's another story." ZAZ had Kilmer audition, and they thought he was great, and then the young actor did a version of the Elvis tune "Turn Me Loose," and that sold them. "The way he did it was funny," Zucker said. "He just, he blew us away." Zucker recalled Kilmer being "a little uncomfortable" in the first few weeks of shooting and later realized part of the issue came down to the character. "Val was this Juilliard-trained actor, and we were doing the silliest movie. He had to co-star with a cow with boots on. It was crazy," he said. Kilmer's girlfriend at the time, Cher, also wasn't very confident in the film. "Cher would come out of the set, very nice lady, but she kept telling him this is a monumentally stupid movie. It's going to flop at the box office. I mean, never mind that she was right, it was still annoying to me that she was putting this stuff in his ear." Though the movie wasn't a huge box-office success, it's become a beloved cult classic, and there was no bad blood between Kilmer and the team. "I don't go to the Hollywood parties, but I would run into him on occasion every year or two. And we would always say hello. And he had fond memories of me, maybe not of the movie," Zucker said. WATCH: VAL KILMER'S 'TOP SECRET!' DIRECTOR RECALLS CASTING HIM IN HIS DEBUT FILM He added he'd heard a story about a fan telling Kilmer during a Q&A session that "Top Secret!" was their favorite movie, and Kilmer quipped, "It's my least favorite." "Top Secret!" wasn't ZAZ's first movie, but Zucker feels the team learned some lessons from the experience. He recalled Abrahams figuring out years later that Kilmer's discomfort with the character was "our fault." "We took the wrong lessons from 'Airplane!' which was you fill 80 minutes of a movie with jokes, and you got it," Zucker explained. "What we learned, and this is one of the things that you learn from – I mean, I'm old enough to have learned something – you need to build a character. You have to have your main lead have a character who's got an arc, so he's got to have a problem, and he has to learn something in the second act, and he resolves it in the third act," the 77-year-old said. He explained that in "Airplane!" there was a plot and character arc for the lead, Robert Hayes, but that it was parodied from an existing plot from the film "Zero Hour" and they didn't have the same template and rules to follow for "Top Secret!" "Every movie has been a great experience, but mostly we learned lessons from doing the wrong things, and we were able to put those into the rules, which the people who are doing 'Naked Gun,' they don't know the rules. But I think they're nice people anyways."
The Guardian
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
TV tonight: inside the juicy cases taken on by top defence barristers
10pm, Channel 4 A juicy new fly-on-the-wall series inside the complicated cases taken on by the UK's leading defence barristers. What does it take to defend a cab driver accused of transporting a whopping £1m worth of cocaine as part of an international drugs conspiracy? Barrister Matthew Radstone is about to show us. Meanwhile, was a case of alleged carjacking at knifepoint staged for an insurance scam? The two accused have different answers. Hollie Richardson 8pm, Channel 4The parlour bathroom is the latest space in Capel Salem, the 163-year-old Pwllheli chapel, to be given an exquisite makeover by master potter Keith Brymer Jones and his partner Marj Hogarth. Inspired by Coventry Cathedral, Brymer Jones fashions a towering clay candlestick holder, while Hogarth creates the perfect lampshade for the room's vintage standard lamp. Ali Catterall 8pm, Channel 5Helen Skelton, Jules Hudson and JB Gill lead this comforting series celebrating the work of British farmers. They're back at Cannon Hall farm in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, exploring the highs and lows of modern farming before Gill examines the sprouting of a green revolution in Manchester. Nicole Vassell 8.30pm, ITV1 The canine-centric moodbooster focuses on a pair of sighthounds learning how to stand on their own four feet, as well as a troubled shar pei in need of surgery. Adorable scenes abound as Alison Hammond helps a litter of jack russell puppies prepare for their new lives as pets. NV 9pm, Sky Witness Always a joy to see Airplane! star Julie Hagerty, here causing friction as the space-cadet sister of veteran New York lawyer 'Matty' Matlock (Kathy Bates). As the distracted Matty continues to investigate her oblivious co-workers, a class-action lawsuit against a dangerous energy drink threatens to implode after jury selection. Graeme Virtue 9pm, Sky HistoryA refreshing take on the Ripper story, focusing less on the killer's identity and more on the context of his crimes. This week, Whitechapel is in turmoil and the Star newspaper uses this as an opportunity to incite an antisemitic riot. Meanwhile, as the police flounder, the killer strikes again. Phil Harrison Smile 2 (Parker Finn, 2024) Paramount+; 9pm, Sky Cinema PremiereParker Finn's terrific sequel to his own hit horror brings back the first movie's implacable curse – which you can only get rid of by killing someone in front of a traumatised witness. But there's a lot more going on here than random people with malevolent grins followed by gruesome deaths. It's also an effective cautionary tale about the cost of fame, as pop star Skye Riley (a convincingly addled Naomi Scott) struggles with addiction and the pressures of a big tour – though the nightmarish doom-laden hallucinations don't help. Simon Wardell Women's Super League Football: Arsenal v Leicester City 7pm, Sky Sports Main Event. From Emirates Stadium. Champions League Football: Aston Villa v Paris Saint-Germain 6.30pm, Prime Video. The quarter-final, second-leg tie.
Boston Globe
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
As an actor, Val Kilmer was a real genius
Kilmer's versatility as an actor was readily evident from his first movie, 1984's 'Top Secret!' In my favorite movie from the guys who brought us 'Airplane!,' Kilmer plays Nick Rivers, a Conrad Birdie-style singer whose gig in East Germany somehow morphs into an espionage plot to save a kidnapped scientist. Advertisement This hilarious spoof of both Elvis movies and World War II films gave Kilmer the opportunity to sing, something he'd also do in the far more respectable Oliver Stone biopic of Jim Morrison, 'The Doors.' In that film, he was so convincing as Morrison some members of The Doors couldn't differentiate between the voices of Kilmer and the real Jim Morrison. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up But back to 'Top Secret!' for a second. Some of the gags are so inside baseball that, as a geeky 14-year-old wannabe cinephile, I was the only one laughing at the Loews Jersey theater where I saw it in ′84. No matter! Nick Rivers turns Elvis's hit song, 'Are You Lonesome Tonight?' into a commercial jingle, sings a Beach Boys-inspired number about 'Skeet Surfin'' in one of the funniest opening-credits sequences ever, and gets into a bar fight while underwater . Advertisement By showcasing Kilmer's singing, acting, and comedic-timing chops, 'Top Secret!' stands out as one of the great acting debuts. Kilmer played everyone from 'The Saint''s Simon Templar to Batman (in 1995's 'Batman Forever'), but Nick Rivers may be my favorite of his performances. It's a close match, though: I also loved Kilmer's performance in his next film, 1985's comedy classic 'Real Genius.' Billed as a teenage sex comedy despite its PG rating, this is the movie that should have been called 'Revenge of the Nerds.' Set at a Cal Tech-style school for geniuses, Kilmer plays Chris Knight, the wisecracking character every film in this genre requires. His job is to help his young protégé, Mitch (Gabe Jarret), ace his senior project and have some fun while doing it. Every line Kilmer utters is quotable here — 'I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, '... I drank what?'' — and there's a lightness to his work that he never duplicated once he became a 'serious actor.' As silly as 'Real Genius' gets, there's a scene where director Martha Coolidge showcases the same kind of silent-acting greatness that Kilmer demonstrated decades later in 'Top Gun: Maverick.' When that senior project's laser prototype is sabotaged by the film's bespectacled villain, Kent, Chris realizes that his future is shot to hell. After kicking and punching the dormitory walls, he knocks over a freezer — and out rolls the means to his salvation, a frozen nitrogen cylinder he can use to quickly recreate his laser. Coolidge fixes her camera on Kilmer's face as the epiphany hits him, and she lets the reaction play out in real time. You can see the confidence return to his wounded eyes. Suddenly, he starts to giggle. Then he launches into a joyful dance before giving the world yet another Kilmer quotable line: 'It's a moral imperative to get revenge on Kent.' Advertisement Val Kilmer, left, and Robert Downey Jr. in "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang." John Bramley/Warner Brothers Pictures I could have spent my time here ruminating on Kilmer's excellent turn as Doc Holliday in the 1993 Kurt Russell western, 'Tombstone' ('I'm your huckleberry' is yet another great Kilmer line) or listing any number of scenes from 2005's Shane Black-directed darkly comic neo-noir, 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.' His work in David Mamet's 2004 thriller, 'Spartan,' is also worth mentioning. He's one of 10 million actors who played Elvis, in the dreadful 1993 Tony Scott-Quentin Tarantino collaboration, 'True Romance.' And the informative 2021 documentary 'Val' is required viewing for fans and newbies alike. Hell, I could have really gone rogue and mentioned 1996's absolutely terrible 'The Island of Dr. Moreau' remake he made with Marlon Brando. At least his flawless Brando imitation was daring. I'm sure plenty of other tributes will mention your favorites. I chose to focus on the two movies that put Kilmer on the map for me, the films I saw as a burgeoning cinephile that made me want to follow the prickly actor anywhere from Berlin to Gotham City. Watching Kilmer in movies was more than a pleasure. Like revenge on Kent, it's a moral imperative. Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Val Kilmer Died Before Planned Beverly Hills Film Fest Red Carpet Appearance
Val Kilmer died on Tuesday just before the Top Gun actor was set to walk the red carpet at the Beverly Hills Film Festival. 'It was a shock to find this out. We had just confirmed Val to attend the west coast premiere of American Badass: A Michael Madsen Retrospective this past weekend,' Nino Simone, founder and president of the Beverly Hills Film Festival, said Wednesday in a statement. More from The Hollywood Reporter Val Kilmer Death: Michael Mann, Francis Ford Coppola, Josh Brolin Pay Tribute to Actor Val Kilmer, Actor Revered for Playing Batman and Jim Morrison, Dies at 65 Jim Abrahams, 'Airplane!,' 'Naked Gun' and 'Hot Shots!' Master of Mirth, Dies at 80 Kilmer died in Los Angeles on Tuesday at age 65 of pneumonia, his daughter, actress Mercedes Kilmer, told The New York Times. 'He [Kilmer] was thrilled to come out in support of his friend [Madsen]. I know PR was on the phone, trying to get a hold of the driver, bringing Val for his 7:30 p.m. red carpet arrival. The story and news of his death were reported, literally at the same, exact time. Unbelievable, and so heartbreaking. Our hearts go out to his family,' Simone added. The Beverly Hills fest opened with a world premiere for Hello Beautiful, which stars Tricia Helfer in a drama about a successful model who is diagnosed with breast cancer. Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015, and Val, a stirring documentary about his life that premiered at Cannes in July 2021, showed him needing a breathing tube. His illness followed a Hollywood career where Kilmer played Batman and Jim Morrison, and had memorable roles as Iceman in Top Gun and Doc Holliday in Tombstone. His other performances included as Robert De Niro's nasty henchman in Michael Mann's Heat (1995); as Marlon Brando's insane assistant in John Frankenheimer's The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) and as the suave crook Simon Templar in Phillip Noyce's The Saint (1997). Mann was among the tributes to Kilmer that poured in on Wednesday, saying in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, 'While working with Val on Heat I always marveled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val's possessing and expressing character. After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news.' The 25th Beverly Hills Film Festival is set to run through April 6. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Harvey Weinstein's "Jane Doe 1" Victim Reveals Identity: "I'm Tired of Hiding" 'Awards Chatter' Podcast: 'Sopranos' Creator David Chase Finally Reveals What Happened to Tony (Exclusive)
