Showing results by narrator "Bob Andelman" in All Categories

Of course there are stereotypes in Hollywood! Look up "Scary Mofos" in any dictionary and you'll find a picture of actor Danny Trejo. Even when he's smiling, he's frightening. (No disrespect, sir.) Mention his name in casual conversation and watch the visceral fear come rising up in someone's eyes. As the master thespian Jon Lovitz once said, "Acting!" Yeah, maybe.

If I were the president of one of the broadcast networks, I'd take another look at signing up A.J. Jacobs to make a sitcom based on his life. (And yes, I know it's been tried before – as described by A.J. himself in Esquire magazine last fall, but this idea is worth a second look.) All the basic elements are there: A.J. is a neurotic, Jewish writer living in Manhattan with his grounded wife and naturally funny three boys, two of whom are twins.

In addition to continuing in his role as Dotcom alongside Grizz Chapman as Tracy Jordan's posse on NBC's 30 Rock, comedian Kevin Brown's standup career has truly blossomed and it keeps him out on the road whenever Tina Fey doesn't need him on the award-winning sitcom.

Mr. Media interviews Paige Howard. Yes, yes, Paige Howard is one of those Howards. Sister of Bryce - who played Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man 3, niece of Clint, granddaughter of Rance and, yup, daughter of Ron and Cheryl. That had to be said, I'm told, because Paige hasn't accrued enough screen credits yet where you wlll drop what you're doing when you hear the name "Paige Howard". But if you have time, take a look at her performance in a new film called Cheesecake Casserole.

Back in '82, I used to be able to throw a pigskin a quarter mile. What actor doesn't dream of at least one role for which they will forever be remembered? For Jon Gries, no doubt, that character is "Uncle Rico" in the 2004 cult classic high school comedy Napoleon Dynamite. Uncle Rico is a ball of confusion, hard-packed with conflicting characteristics, the classic enigma hiding inside a mystery hiding in plain sight.

Collins became a next generation Mickey Spillane, creating memorable titles and characters of his own such as Road to Perdition and Quarry. He's worked in all kind of media, from scripting Dick Tracy daily comic strips from 1977-93 to writing the novelizations of movies such as Saving Private Ryan, Air Force One and American Gangster and creating his own one-man show Eliot Ness: An Untouchable Life. The crowning achievement of his career, however, may have been when Mickey Spillane - the best-selling mystery writer of the 20th century - chose Collins to be his literary executor.