Whedatow Actors That Could Be in Spider-Man

This week it was confirmed that John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein are writing Marvel's Spider-Man film planned for 2017.  The pair have proven that they can write a good comedy with Horrible Bosses and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.  However, Daley is best known for acting in Freaks and Geeks and Bones, in other words, being a part of Whedatow, my weird conspiracy theory type thing about mutual collaborators between Judd Apatow and Joss Whedon.  The Marvel films already have a handful of Whedatow actors, partially since Joss directed two of them, but Judd is also represented with Paul Rudd playing Ant-Man.  Daley comes from the Apatow side of things as well, so maybe now that he's writing a Marvel movie he could help balance the scales in the casting department.  Hopefully, Marvel will also take advantage of an important piece of the Spider-Man mythos that was largely missing from the most recent incarnations; the main character's job at the Daily Bugle newspaper.

J. Jonah Jameson

Peter Parker's boss at the Daily Bugle newspaper is tough to cast.  The ideal actors for the role are two who have already played it; J.K. Simmons from Sam Raimi's trilogy and Ed Asner from the 90's animated series.  However, Marvel will probably try to distance their Spider-Man from previous versions in as many ways as possible.

What makes Simmons and Asner great for the role is their ability to be simultaneously funny and a little intimidating while yelling just short of profanely at a teenager.  That combination of humor and rage is the defining trait of J. Jonah Jameson.  It's a combination that was seen in Harold, the father of the Weir clan (including Daley's character Sam) in Apatow's Freaks and Geeks.  Harold was played by Joe Flaherty, best known for his work on iconic sketch show SCTV.  Once you've seen Flaherty yell at his freak daughter and geek son about people who have died after cutting class it's not hard to imagine him shouting out a request for more pictures of Spider-Man.

Robbie Robertson

Robbie Robertson is a well-respected editor at the Daily Bugle.  He's one of the few people willing to stand up to J. Jonah Jameson that he might actually listen to.  He's a consistent ally to Peter Parker both in costume and in his civilian identity.  Romany Malco seems a bit young for the part, but that apparently doesn't matter if Marisa Tomei can play the traditionally gray haired Aunt May.  Malco starred in Apatow's 40 Year Old Virgin as one of several sexual mentors to Steve Carell's titular virgin.  Surely a slightly older Malco could play a more traditional life coach role to a young superhero.

Betty Brant

Peter Parker's first major love interest was Betty Brant, who dropped out of high school to support her family by working as J. Jonah Jameson's secretary.  I've always thought that high school student Peter dating someone who works full time was a little odd.  It's not a big thing but I prefer to think of Betty as more of an older woman who Peter has a small crush on.  SNL's Vanessa Bayer, who recently appeared in Apatow's Trainwreck radiates so much warmth, compassion, and humor that it's easy to see a dorky teenager being drawn to her.

My 5 Favorite Best American Movies

Earlier this week BBC released a list of what their judges think are the greatest American films of all time.  I have something of a love/hate relationship with these kinds of lists.  I think it's futile to try to rank something so subjective but lists like this introduced me to some of my favorite movies, TV, and music.  For instance, Rocky is glaringly absent but that's not a huge loss compared to the gain of someone taking an interest in Alfred Hitchcock.  Also, I'll take any opportunity to discuss movies I like.  The BBC already did a decent job of describing the appeal of their top 25 so I thought I'd explain what I like about some of my favorites in the bottom 75.

Duck Soup

http://maudit.tumblr.com/post/8868627900

Just before I started writing this I thought "it's been too long since I've seen a Marx Brothers movie" and went on Netflix to see what they had that I hadn't already seen, more than ready to settle for one I'd already seen if it came to that.  I was furious to see that they didn't have any Marx Brothers at all anymore.  The Marx Brothers are a pivotal part of any comedy fan's development.  The siblings were like a small army of comedy Terminators, each singlemindedly determined on flawlessly executing their individual roles: Chico with his smooth talking charm and Italian accent, Harpo with his wild physical antics and unsettling attitude towards women, Zeppo the self aware straight man and Groucho with his distinctive look and mind bending witticisms.  Duck Soup is their masterpiece.  It has all the elements of a typical Marx Brothers' outing but with a decade's worth of Daily Shows political satire stuffed into one movie.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

I recently developed a taste for western films.  Originally I had Segio Leone in mind who I know to have influenced several modern directors, but I soon realized John Ford is the true master of the genre.  He was an unparalleled storyteller with access to some of the greatest actors of his time.  Liberty Valance subverts expectations at every turn to tell a tale of two men, one a well intentioned scholar played by James Stewart and the other a hardened farmer played by John Wayne.  The two earn each other's respect in their battle against the villainous Liberty Valance, played by Lee Marvin, as they both woo the same woman, Vera Miles, and Stewart's character enters the political landscape.  However, only one man shot Liberty Valance and he's the hero of the story, whatever that means. 

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Charlie Kaufman is one of the most unique and skilled screenwriters in history.  Eternal Sunshine is one of his more digestible films but it's still pretty strange.  It's impossible to describe it any simple terms.  It deals with broad concepts like love and fate and memory and doesn't give any conclusive answers.  There's no question, however, in the talent of the cast.  Jim Carey and Kate Winslet play the main couple who make the regrettable choice to erase their memories of each other.  Elijah Wood, Kirsten Dunst, and Mark Ruffalo play the team of technicians running the memory-erasing procedure on Carey's character while dealing with their own personal complications.

The Dark Knight

My love for superheroes is well documented.  My respect for Christopher Nolan is less so but it is very real.  I love Inception and Memento and The Prestige and of course The Dark Knight.  I saw it in theaters when I was 16.  At first I thought it was just a very good superhero movie but once I witnessed all of the acclaim it received I looked at it differently the next several times I watched it.  The script is complex and fascinating, a morality tale of the best kind.  Nolan's directing is crisp and vivid as always and Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker is truly phenomenal.

Johnny Guitar

As previously mentioned, I'm still fairly new to the western genre.  I don't know what exactly attracted me to Johnny Guitar when I randomly saw it on the TV guide.  A major factor might have been that I was still looking to build my knowledge on the topic, but it also could have been the campy title, or that I had never seen any of Joan Crawford's work, or any combination of those reasons.  Whatever it is, I'm sure glad I watched it.  It is the oddest and most colorful western I've seen out the dozens I've watched over the past several months.  I found it at a time when I was starting to get weary of all the white guys in Westerns, so it was an exciting relief to see one that was about a conflict between two women.  The titular Johnny could almost be taken out completely and you'd have the same magnificent film.  It's really about the utter hatred between a casino owner and her local rival, played with captivating ferocity by Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge respectively.  It all culminates, as all westerns must, in a shootout between the two women, ending the violence and McCarthy-esque witch hunt at least for a little while.

Vision_Quest

A few months ago I happened to come across an episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles entitled "Vision Quest."  In it, the titular turtles go into the woods to get in touch with nature and learn about themselves.  The episode renewed my interest in the turtles, especially the current series, which is smart, funny, and has some of the most striking and beautiful imagery I've seen in any animated show outside of the Avatar franchise.  More importantly, it made me realize that I could use a vision quest in my own life.

There's no shortage of wilderness where I live, but I thought the best place to go would be the nearby Raven Rock State Park.  I'd been there once before, over 13 years ago by my estimate, so it seemed like a good time to go back.  I put it off for a while, partially because of weather and scheduling complications, but mostly because I realized it was a dumb idea.  In real life you can't just go in the woods and have an epiphany and solve all your problems.  I don't even take any drugs so that puts a hamper on my ability to hallucinate.  I assume peyote is hard to find in a humid sub-tropical climate region.  I guess you'd have to special order it from your drug dealer or something.

Nonetheless, I couldn't get the idea of going to Raven Rock out of my mind.  Yesterday I decided to go ahead and take my disappointment so I could move on with my life.  The weather seemed fine and I din't have any pressing matters to attend to so I went.  I left my phone in the car and took off down the first path I saw toward The Raven Rock, because why go to Raven Rock if you're not going to see The Raven Rock?  As I stood just outside the entrance to the trail something moved.  I looked just in time to see the back of a deer disappearing into the trees.  I remembered that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had a spirit guide in the form of a deer on their vision quest.  Was I seeing a real deer or a spiritual manifestation of nature herself?  I may never know, but I was starting to feel a little more confident in my decision.

As I walked down the trail I started to lose that confidence when I realized I was either surrounded by feral animals or supernatural forces in the form of feral animals.  I flinched at every snapping branch, but I carried on.  I was passed on the trail by two separate pairs of women who I assumed to be college students.  I was glad to know there were enough people around that I wouldn't be alone for too long in case of an emergency, but I couldn't help but be a little offended that they seemed to be there more for the steps than to take in the majestic and terrifying glory of God's creation.  Regardless, they reminded me of my purpose for being there so I made sure to stop and take in the sights once in a while.

I came to a fork in the road, one sign said "Raven Rock" and the other said "Little Creek."  My most vivid memory of my previous trip was standing on the river bed and I wanted to get back there.  I thought it was unlikely that the rushing river in my mind was called "Little Creek" but I figured it was my best shot, and I would make my way to Raven Rock eventually.  After a I walked down the Little Creek trail for a while I started to suspect that the series of stagnant garbage juice puddles beside the path was The Little Creek.  (That's a little harsh, maybe.  It sounds like I'm giving nature a bad Yelp review)  I stayed on that trail anyway in hopes that the little creek would lead to a considerably larger Little Creek.  Perhaps even a gentle stream or a babbling brook.  A man came walking down the path towards me using a baseball bat as a walking stick, perhaps another college student.  He greeted me warmly so I felt welcome asking him if The Little Creek was up ahead.  He confirmed my suspicions that Little Creek was beside me the whole time.  He also informed me that I could get to Raven Rock if I kept going forward.  He was so confident and helpful that I thought he was probably an employee of the park, or more likely he was my spirit guide.  Likely an alternate form of the spirit deer I saw earlier.  He could have had deer like qualities.  You don't know.  You weren't there.

I parted ways with my Spirit Guide and continued making my way towards Raven Rock.  When I got to a steep, M.C. Escher-esque wooden staircase I knew I was close.  I took a few seconds to enjoy the sights from that height then proceeded down the stairs.  Sure enough, there was The Cape Fear River and The Raven Rock, between them was a sign that said "End of the Path."   A little beyond the sign was a young nuclear family joined by a father and his son, whom they had apparently just met.  I stood a little way from them, looking at the river and doing some light eavesdropping.  The nuclear father stood at the end of a tree that had fallen into the river with a fishing line in the water.  I was a little jealous because I thought it would be the perfect place to put my feet in the water.

Eventually, I slowly made my way past the family, taking time to admire the Rock and passing the father and son as they left.  Just beyond the family I found a spot on the riverbank where it was easy enough to put my hands in the water and splash some on my face.  Soon after I realized that my sinuses were incredibly clear and this weird eye thing I had for the past few days was gone.  I turned around and saw an opening into a secluded area a little off the beaten path where trees stood between the Rock and the river.  I walked around that area for a little while.  There was a creek that came out from under the Rock and led to the river.  Maybe it was a continuation of The Little Creek.  Maybe not.  They were both tiny and dumb, so it's possible.  I jumped over the creek and walked around some more.  After I jumped over the creek to go back to the river I looked down and was horrified to find that my zipper was down.  Did my leaps and bounds open my fly?  Was it open the whole time?  Did my Spirit Guide know it was down?

One time I stood like this and
looked up at the rock near the kids.
Thanks a lot Spirit Guide.

I wondered if I should apologize to the parents for maybe accidentally flashing their children or if I should address it at all, but it didn't matter because they were gone when I got back.  I took the opportunity to get on top of the fallen tree.  At the end of it I took off my shoes and put my feet in the cold water.  Then I remembered the water moccasin scene from Lonesome Dove so I took my feet out of the water pretty quick.  I sat there for a while and basked in the cool air coming from the river as my feet dried, then I explored along the river a little more.  I came upon a tree with large exposed roots on a small hill surrounded by rocks.  I climbed to the top of the hill and put my hand on the Tree of Life.  Then I remembered that the film 127 Hours exists so I carefully climbed down the rocks.

I felt it was time to leave so I went back to the wooden staircase.  A few steps up my sinuses came back for vengeance, my breath got heavier and the stairs seemed much more Escher-esque.  I'm pretty sure that if I had the energy to raise my head I would have found myself looking down at the sky.  From there on it was mostly downhill back to my car.  I noticed that the leaves seemed a little brighter and the sounds of nature were a little less ominous.  Beyond that I didn't really have an epiphany but I wasn't exactly disappointed either.

Nature: 4 stars.

Whedatow!: The Secret Connection Between Joss Whedon and Judd Apatow that Probably Isn't Real!

You know those lists of TV shows canceled too soon?  There's plenty of them floating around.  I've made one myself, maybe more.  When I was just starting to learn about pop culture I would often turn to these kinds of lists to learn where to look.  "Canceled too soon" was an especially intriguing topic because it meant the shows were good but unpopular and I am very alternative.  Two shows that usually show up on such lists are Firefly and Freaks and Geeks.  I think that's where it all began; my obsession with the creators of those two shows and the connection they share in my mind.  That's how I started seeing the patterns that may or not be there.  How I became convinced that Joss Whedon and Judd Apatow are intrinsically linked.

The main connection is that both directors have a group of actors they've worked with repeatedly, as in the "frequent collaborators" section of their Wikipedia page.  That's common for a lot of directors; Quentin Tarantino with Samuel L. Jackson and Uma Thurman, John Hughes with Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall, Tim Burton with Johnny Depp and his now ex-wife Helena Bonham Carter.  The difference, in my diseased mind, is that Apatow and Whedon's collaborators (a word which here means "anyone who has worked with the director several times or had major roles in at least one venture") have a tendency to work together on other projects.  This theory focuses on two television series that were quite popular in the height of Whedatow in the late '00s, Bones and How I Met Your Mother.

Bones stars David Boreanez as one half of a crime solving duo.  Boreanez also worked with Whedon for seven years as Angel in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff Angel.  In its third season Bones introduced John Francis Daley, geek Sam Weir of Apatow's Freaks and Geeks, as psychologist Lance Sweets.  Carla Gallo, who has appeared in several Apatow films but is most famous for her role in his second "cancelled too soon" series Undeclared, plays Sweets' love interest.  Also, Bones'  entomologist Jack Hodgins is played by T.J. Thyne who appeared with Boreanez in three episodes of Angel.  On a related note, Daley wrote the upcoming film Vacation starring Christina Applegate, who was in both of Apatow's Anchorman films, and features Chris Hemsworth, who of course worked with Whedon on the Avengers films and Cabin in the Woods.

In a way How I Met Your Mother is the centerpiece of Whedatow.  It features a marriage between Whedon and Apatow's frequent collaborators.  Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan play "perfect couple" Marshall and Lily.  Segel starred in both Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared and has worked with Apatow on four different movies.  Hannigan starred in Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Willow Rosenberg.  HIMYM also stars Cobie Smulders and Neil Patrick Harris, who have worked with Whedon on the Avengers films and the web series Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog respectively.

Then there's James Gunn's live action Scooby-Doo movies.  Sarah Michelle Gellar, the titular Buffy of Vampire Slayer, plays Daphne (the purple one) and  Linda Cardellini, the titular main freak of and Geeks, plays Velma (the orange one).  Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed also features Seth Green and Tim Blake Nelson who appeared in Whedon's Vampire Slayer and Apatow's Heavyweights respectively.

It's not unheard of for one of Judd's collaborators to appear in one of Joss's projects or vice versa.  Felicia Day, who starred in Dr. Horrible and appeared in Buffy, was in one episode of Undeclared.  Linda Cardellini recently made a surprise appearance in Avengers: Age of Ultron.  Amy Addams, the romantic lead in Apatow's Talladega Nights, was also in an episode of Buffy.  Alan Tudyk, the best part of Firefly and most things he's in, had a small role in Apatow's Knocked Up.  David Krumholtz, who worked with Apatow in Freaks, Undeclared, Superbad, and Walk Hard appeared as exposition wizard Mr. Universe in the Firefly sequel movie Serenity.  Danny Strong, who appeared in 29 episodes of Buffy, has been in 2 episodes of Girls which is produced by Apatow.

This goes all the way back to the early days of Joss and Judd's careers in the late 80's and early 90's.  As far as I can tell the closest the two ever came to working on the same project is their connection to Roseanne Barr.  A popular piece of pop culture trivia is that Whedon wrote a few episodes of Barr's landmark sitcom Roseanne, but a less documented fact is that Judd started his career by writing jokes for Barr's stand-up.

Maybe the strangest part is that neither has hardly ever acknowledged the other.  I've been on Twitter for a long time and I follow a lot of celebrities, including the "J-vowel-double-letter-duo" as I affectionately call them.  It's pretty common for famous people to tweet about whatever TV or film they're enjoying at the time, whether they have anything to do with it or not.  Here are two of the biggest directors in Hollywood with vaguely similar careers and names and tons of mutual acquaintances and neither has every directly mentioned the other's work in any significant way.  A Google search for their names only brings up the Roseanne connection, Judd jokingly referencing Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Joss defending The Interview, which Judd was not directly involved in but several of his collaborators were, and some more listicles of course.

I'm not saying Whedon and Apatow have some secret feud.  Anything is possible but I have no real evidence that they dislike each other whatsoever.  It's much more likely that all this is merely the result of the world being small and strange, but it's even more likely the result of my small and strange brain.  For the record, though, I'm pretty on board with an Appatow helmed Buffy the Vampire Slayer relaunch.  Or any continuation of Buffy really.  Or Freaks and Geeks.  Or Firefly.  Or The Ben Stiller Show.  Or Dollhouse.  Or Undeclared.

Everything You Need to Know About Apollo Creed

On Tuesday the trailer was released for Creed.  It's the seventh installment in the Rocky franchise that made Sylvester Stallone famous.  This is the first film in the series that Sly didn't write or direct.  Rocky is definitely Stallone's baby but he isn't the only one who had his career launched by the tale of an every-man boxer.  Carl Weathers also made his name in the role of the charismatic and flamboyant champ Apollo Creed.  The new film will focus on Apollo's son Adonis, played by Michael B. Jordan.  Based on the trailer it looks like Apollo's legacy will loom large over the movie so here is a refresher on the Star Spangled "Count of Monte Fisto."

In case you thought flamboyant wasn't the right word.

1. He fought Rocky Balboa

In the original Rocky Apollo Creed is on top of the world.  He's the undisputed heavyweight champion.  Then a fighter backs out and Apollo has the idea to replace him with a genuine underdog as a publicity stunt.  He picks a nobody bum from Philadelphia named Rocky "The Italian Stallion" Balboa (Stallone).  Apollo sees the fight as a show but Rocky sees his one chance to make something of himself.  The champ's hubris is almost his undoing.  Balboa becomes the first person to go all fifteen rounds with Apollo but loses by the judge's decision.

2. He lost to Rocky Balboa

After the two fighters spend some time in the hospital recovering from beating each other in the face repeatedly Apollo starts to feel like his victory is not respected enough.  He gets mail insisting that Rocky should have won.  Although he originally told Rocky there wouldn't be a rematch he changes his mind when his pride is on the line.  Rocky is originally reluctant to get back in the ring and tries to make his way as a Regular Joe.  Eventually he relents to his fighter's instinct and agrees to another match.  Rocky becomes the new champion in a narrow knockout and Apollo loses a match for the first time.

3. He became friends with Rocky Balboa

Remember how weird it was when the person who beat Ken Jennings on Jeopardy lost the next game?  That's kind of what happened when Rocky beat Apollo.  In the beginning of the third movie Rocky loses his title to the tank-shaped monstrosity Clubber Lang, played by Mr. T.  Apollo takes it all surprisingly well.  He offers to help Rocky train to take back the belt, mostly out of interest in his own honor.  Apollo brings his former opponent to the neighborhood gym in L.A. where Creed came up so Rocky can rediscover "the eye of the tiger."  After some swimming and beach running and mild racism Balboa fights Lang again and retakes the title wearing Apollo's hand-me-down shorts.

4. He fought Rocky Balboa again which was kind of a dangerous decision

Apollo asked for a mysterious stipulation as part of his agreement to train Rocky.  In the last scene it is revealed that he wants another rematch.  This one takes place in secret with no one else in the room.  Apollo and Rocky both punch at the same time then the screen freezes and the credits roll.  What followed probably wasn't pretty or safe considering that the first time the two fought they practically killed each other.  They must have pulled their punches a little because the fourth film starts with Rocky arriving at his mansion with little more than a black eye, although he may have been punched forward in time because his son is significantly older than he was in the second movie.  That fight is specifically mentioned in the trailer for Creed.

5. He got killed fighting Ivan Drago

Like Rocky in the second movie Apollo has trouble adjusting to a normal life without boxing.  He decides to come out of retirement to fight a roided up Super-Russian named Ivan Drago played by Dolph Lundgren.  Drago hits Creed with the strength of ten communists.  Apollo refuses to let Rocky (who is in Apollo's corner for very good reasons I'm sure) throw in the towel so Drago communizes him to death.  Rocky takes it upon himself to avenge Apollo so he sets up a match against Drago in Moscow.  He gets help from Apollo's old trainer Duke and climbs a Russian mountain, making him strong enough to defeat Drago then give a speech about change.

6. His absence is somehow not the worst part of the fifth movie

It's seriously a very bad movie.  All you need to know is that Rocky loses all of his money and moves back to his old neighborhood in Philadelphia.

7. Rocky Balboa owns his own business

By the sixth movie Rocky has worked up enough funds and business acumen to open an Italian restaurant.  A geriatric Rocky is shown running a place named Adrian's in Philadelphia when he isn't training to beat down on young folks and taking other troubled youths under his wing.  The restaurant seems to be where Adonis has a conversation with Rocky about Apollo in Creed, beginning a new mentorship.

Fun Fact: Before their first fight Apollo joked that since Rocky is Italian "if he can't fight, I bet he can cook."