R.I.P. Gene Wilder

The world of comedy and the world of cinema lost a true legend today when it was revealed that actor and comedian Gene Wilder passed away at the age of 83. Gene starred in classics like Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, The Producers, and even Stir Crazy. According to his nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman, he passed away from complications of Alzheimer at his home in Stamford, CT. His nephew released a statement saying:

We understand for all the emotional and physical challenges this situation presented we have been among the lucky ones — this illness-pirate, unlike in so many cases, never stole his ability to recognize those that were closest to him, nor took command of his central-gentle-life affirming core personality. The decision to wait until this time to disclose his condition wasn’t vanity, but more so that the countless young children that would smile or call out to him “there’s Willy Wonka,” would not have to be then exposed to an adult referencing illness or trouble and causing delight to travel to worry, disappointment or confusion. He simply couldn’t bear the idea of one less smile in the world.

He continued to enjoy art, music, and kissing with his leading lady of the last twenty-five years, Karen. He danced down a church aisle at a wedding as parent of the groom and ring bearer, held countless afternoon movie western marathons and delighted in the the company of beloved ones.

I remember the first time I ever saw Gene Wilder in a film and it was actually Hear No Evil, See No Evil with Richard Pryor. I thought it was the greatest and funniest film when I was kid and I wanted to see more from him. Then I was completely blown away by his performance in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory which to me is untouchable. Gene in his career was nominated for two Oscars with one being for his role in The Producers and the other for co-writing Young Frankenstein. He did however win an Emmy in 2003 for his guest work on the TV show Will & Grace. He made his debut on Broadway starring in the off Broadway play Roots before forming a friendship with Mel Brooks in 1963 after Brooks saw him in Brecht’s Mother Courage (Anne Bancroft was Brook’s wife and she was in the play as well). He did win an award on Broadway as he won the Clarence Derwent Award for promising newcomer.

One of Wilder’s better runs was when he co-starred with Richard Pryor in films like 1976’s Silver Streak, Stir Crazy (which was a big hit), and the lesser of the hits like Hear No Evil, See No Evil, and Another You with Richard Pryor. While filming  Hanky Panky, he met his third wife, the legendary Saturday Night Live alum Gilder Radner. She would star in his most successful directing effort The Woman In Red in 1984 and she was in his other film Haunted Honeymoon before she grew ill with ovarian cancer. He devoted a lot of his time to taking care of her, but after her death he barely worked at all. His last real acting gig was for Will & Grace in 2002/03 before he left for good. Gene will definitely be missed as the world mourns the loss of another legend. R.I.P. Gene Wilder (June 11, 1933 – August 28, 2016).

Day 119: Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015)

For today I chose a film from Adam Sandler (Happy Gilmore) because the first film in the Hotel Transylvania series was very good despite what people may be saying about his career. When I saw that Netflix had Hotel Transylvania 2 available to watch, I took the shot and it’s todays’ film. The film starts off with Mavis (Selena Gomez) and Jonathan (Andy Samberg) getting married and that follows with them having their first child Dennis (Asher Blinkoff). Dracula (Sandler) is having a hard time with the idea that his new grandson could be a human and not a monster. It’s gotten to the point that Mavis and Johnny are thinking about moving away to give Dennis a normal upbringing. Not liking the idea of that, Dracula has Johnny take Mavis on vacation in an attempt to see if he can bring the monster out of Johnny. The film also stars Kevin James (King Of Queens) as Frank, Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs) as Wayne, David Spade (Tommy Boy) as Griffin, Keegan-Michael Key (Let’s Be Cops) as Murray, Fran Drescher (The Nanny) as Eunice, Molly Shannon (Superstar) as Wanda, Nick Offerman (Parks & Recreation) as Grandpa Mike, Megan Mullally (Will & Grace) as Grandma Linda, Mel Brooks (Spaceballs) as Vlad, and the film was directed by Genndy Tartakovsky.

While I loved the first film, I have to say that I enjoyed this one, but not as much as the first. This film had it’s funny moments, but not as much as the first film did. The funniest character in this film was definitely Blobby who provided enough laughs even though he doesn’t really say much. I honesty believe that is why they had him in the film as much as he was. The first film dealt with Mavis wanting to date a human and this film had them struggling with the idea that their son could be human. That is the one thing I have to give the film credit for is that it was well written film and it may show that Sander has something left in the tank. I loved the edition of Mel Brooks as Vlad and certainly the nod to Interview With The Vampire with the costume Johnny wears at a party.  The only thing I had a problem with is that he switches his stance very quickly on how he feels about humans even though this is a guy who has hated humans for a very long time. I just feel that this is something that should have been developed over a film, but nonetheless it was a good film. I am excited to hear that there is going to be a third film in the series because it’ll be cool to see where they take it now. Alright so it’s time to give the film a final grade and with careful thought, I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade.