Gary Oldman Talks Heath Ledger’s Joker, The Riddler For Dark Knight Sequel
Last night in L.A., select film sites including Slashfilm were shown The Dark Knight. The collective positive buzz seems to have only increased in the hours since, reaching frenzied levels that are arguably unprecedented (especially for Twitter). Over the weekend, Movie Hole spoke to Gary Oldman about Heath Ledger’s role as The Joker, and what he thinks will happen per villains for a third film. Note: Some readers feel that Oldman’s quotes fall under spoiler material.
Update: Producer Douglas Urbanski, who is a friend/manager of Oldman, has contacted Slashfilm to say that he was with the actor at the time and believes the following quotes were “taken widely out of context.”
Note: If need be, does he believe The Joker will be recast, and if not, who’s the next villain?…
“I don’t see why not. I mean, they did it with Katie Holmes’ character. I understand that this is a different circumstance, but I think another actor could do the job. I think Heath would want another actor to do the job.” Oldman then took a moment to think about it some more, “Maybe we don’t need the Joker. Because we’ll have The Riddler.”
Nice save, Oldman. Also, poor Katie Holmes analogy. The following question is bound to paint the Earth in the coming weeks, just as it did with the release of Batman Begins (and look how that played out): Will Christopher Nolan return?
“We don’t really know if Nolan is coming back. …I guess I have to come back. …Nolan will come back for a third one. I think we all have to.”
For over a year, the rumor has persisted that Anthony Michael Hall (Weird Science, Rusty Griswold) plays Edward Nigma aka The Riddler in TDK. A few commenters have referenced the rumors down below. Slashfilm can confirm that ADH plays TV anchor Mike Engel in the film (as credited on IMDB). Moreover, days ago, Hall shot the chatter down to Sci-Fi…
“…people thought I was playing the Riddler, that I had a cooler role than I actually did. …But I was very happy to hear that there was talk online, I guess with Batman fans suggesting that maybe I was playing the Riddler. I wish I was, you know? I wish I was Batman, to be honest with you, but I think Christian has it locked up.”
David Pasquesi: In the Limelight
No, it’s not Adrien Brody’s snarky older brother. It’s David Pasquesi, one of the stars of Spike TV’s first original half-hour comedy, The Factory.
Looking at Pasquesi’s IMDb page, he’s done a fair amount of TV and film work, but the majority of his experience comes from both theater and improv. He currently does shows and occasionally teaches at Chicago’s IO (Improv Olympic). Back in the day, he honed his improv chops under the tutelage of the legendary Del Close and was part of the class that developed The Harold. An improv geek’s reaction to that would be “Holy crap!” and everyone else should be thinking, “Who’s Harold?” Yeah, don’t worry about it. If this interests you though, check out this great interview he did back in ’06, all about his work in improv.
Fellow children of Second City, Stephen Colbert, Amy Sedaris, Paul Dinello and Mitch Rouse created, wrote and starred in Exit 57, to which Pasquesi contributed as a writer. This very same team went on to create Strangers with Candy. Pasquesi had a recurring role in the series as Stew the Meat Man. He was only in a few episodes, but one of my favorite scenes from the entire first season is when art teacher Geoffrey Jellineck argues with Stew at the Blank household (”Obviously you have a beef, Stew”). Pasquesi returned for the role in the 2005 feature film version of the series.
After a few roles here and there on TV and in movies, including Jeff Garlin’s I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With, Pasquesi joined Rouse’s new project for Spike TV, The Factory, playing the role of smart-ass Smitty, who lives with his ex-wife because neither of them can afford to get their own places. It’s the channel’s first original half-hour comedy and it’s totally improvised, in that Curb Your Enthusiasm sort of way. Perhaps it’s because I’m not part of Spike TV’s main demographic or I’m wary of watching material from the same place that brought us Stripperella, but I didn’t think the show was spectacular. Then again, I’ve only seen the pilot and improv’d shows often need a little time before they find their feet. I’ll probably tune in at least once more, just because I like Pasquesi.
To be quite honest, my main intention of writing this post wasn’t to promote The Factory. Surprising, I know. Really, I just wanted an excuse to share this video that Pasquesi did a few years ago. It’s called “Hobbies” and it’s a short film from a series about regrets. He plays angry and bitter disturbingly well, and his improv skills are super-impressive. Plus, I don’t know if some of you more avid readers have been able to tell, but I’m a fan of self-loathing out loud. Check it out (language NSFW):
The Factory officially premieres June 29th, but the first episode is available for streaming on the website. Watch it if you’re a guy and you’re into this sort of thing.
Things I learned from my cable TV
I’m going to hazard the guess that if you are a regular visitor to TV that you, like me, probably watch more television than the average bear. Partly out of good old fashioned curiosity, and partly because I’m paying for all of those channels so I might as well use them, I make it a point to cover as much of my cable TV package as I can when time allows. Doing so, you end up finding some odd and interesting things. After the jump, five things I’ve learned from my cable TV over the last week or so.
Kristy Swanson didn’t do a soft-core porn movie - Showtime: I haven’t been a Showtime subscriber for a very long time. I was so annoyed with them after the cancellations of Beggars and Choosers and Going To California that I canceled the service. But the siren’s call of Billie Piper nekkid, combined with a special offer from the cable company, was enough to bring me back into the Showtime fold.
With all those new features freshly activated on my cable box I started poking around and found the following movie available On Demand.
Ok now, reading that, my first thought was, “How the hell did I not know about this movie?” I have a vast network of perverts friends that are supposed to keep me updated on those developments. A nipple can’t slip in Hollywood without my inbox lighting up. Surely the OG Buffy in a soft-core romp should have set off some alarms. I had to know…
I made it about three minutes into the movie before I got bored. As you might guess, it’s not a movie that will be clamoring for attention in any AFI lists any time soon. I fired up the FFWD in the hopes of finding just what Kristy Swanson’s involvement in this mess was. Those hopes were soon dashed as I made it to the end with nary an appearance of the former Buffy star. A trip to IMDB reveals the details. She did make a movie called Forbidden Secrets, but it’s a completely different movie, with more plot, and a lot less boobs. Dammit. As a side note, I also learned that you really don’t want to go googling for Kristy Swanson images while at work. Lordy, those results are NSFW even in the morally corrupt work environs I so enjoy.
Nigel’s Granny is more gangsta than Chris - Fox: Unimpressed with Chris’ attempt at krumping on last week’s So You Think You Can Dance, Nigel went a bit off the deep end in his critique. Not only did he point out that his grandmother is more gangsta than Chris, he went on to add that rather than toughness or aggression, the performance conveyed the idea of a small child telling his mommy he has to go pee pee. Ouch. I agree that Chris didn’t really pull off the krumping number as well as he could have, but damn, it was week two, Dude.
Alicia Sacramone is dangerous behind the wheel - NBC: Ok, probably not. I’m sure Miss Sacramone is actually a perfectly safe driver, but I have to wonder what the hell NBC was thinking with their profile on her during the Olympic Trials. They, rather oddly, cut away to shots of her driving, twice. Once showing her changing songs on her iPod. And the other time showing her driving with her left foot hiked up onto the seat. Not to take anything away from Nastia Liukin or Shawn Johnson, but Alicia is my early pick for America’s sweetheart at the Olympics. She’s adorable, has a fantastic back story, and is really good at what she does. NBC doesn’t need to be throwing her under the bus with bad edits.
A “gold star” is a lesbian that has never been with a man - LOGO: For variety, apparently you could also toss “mangin” in there. You can take that to mean that I also have LOGO on my cable system, and I’ll watch anything at least once, even if I’m about as far from the target demographic as I could get. That last bit also explains the odd wealth of Suite Life trivia bouncing around my noggin. This particular revelation came from Gimme Sugar. It’s a reality show following the lives of a group of lesbian friends. It all felt very similar to Curl Girls to me, if you’re familiar with that one. And much like watching Curl Girls, the overwhelming thought I’m left with is that I have enough trouble figuring out the machinations in the minds of straight girls. My melon is just not up to the added complications of trying to figure out what’s going on here.
Evan Tanner’s new blog over at Spike TV is going to be RAW! - Spike: Technically I learned that from the internet, but they directed me there during the broadcast of the Ultimate Fighter finale. I just toss it out there because Evan Tanner is a really interesting guy, and as long as Spike sticks to their word about letting him write whatever he likes, it could be a very interesting addition to the Spike page.
Like they say during the commercial breaks on NBC… the more you know…
How well do you know the work of Troy McClure?
Are you familiar with the works of actor Troy McClure? You might know him from Locker Room Towel Fight: The Blinding of Larry Driscoll. But as the IMDb notes, he has had quite a long career.
Mental Floss has a new quiz up at their site, Troy McClure Film or Actual Terrible Movie? It contains 15 questions about the work of McClure (voiced on The Simpsons, of course, by Phil Hartman - the character was retired when Hartman passed away). They give you a film title and you have to guess whether it’s a fake Troy McClure film from an episode of The Simpsons or an actual film that somehow got made (note: just pick a film and the site automatically goes to the next question). I got 10 out of 15, but I think that was more because of my knowledge of bad films than specific episodes of The Simpsons.
Some of the titles of these movies and TV shows are priceless (don’t worry, these aren’t on the quiz): David vs. Super Goliath, Calling All Quakers, Lead Paint: Delicious But Deadly, Smoke Yourself Thin, Pepsi Presents: Fractions. I also like the telethon Let’s Save Tony Orlando’s House (today he would be hosting a special for Ed McMahon).