Kurtwood Smith

There are a number of actors and actresses who I believe are severely underrated and underpublicized, and underutilized. Within this blog, I'll be discussing many of them. The actor having the honor of being the first is...Kurtwood Smith.

Kurtwood Smith has starred and appeared in various films and television shows. He made his big screen debut in The Deer Hunter (1978), which starred Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken (back in his villain-playing days), and Meryl Streep. Aside from television shows and movies, Smith as also taken part in animated shows, such as in a couple of episodes of Robot Chicken in 2005, and served as a voice actor for many video games such as Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel in 2001. However, Smith is probably best known for his roles of the main antagonist Clarence Boddicker in Robocop (1987), Senator Blaine Mayer in 6 episodes of 24 in 2009, and of course, the father of the house, Reginald "Red" Forman in That 70's Show (1998-2006).

I watch That 70's Show every weekday after I come home from class. Like clockwork, it is always on FX in the late afternoon. (Two episodes in a row...YES!) And Red Forman is one of my favorite characters on the show, not just because he is the smart-alecky, war veteran, post-Korean father figure, but he also has great comedic timing and has a commanding presence.

I didn't watch the show when it was originally on, starting in 1998. I didn't really get into it until after 2004 or 2005 when reruns from FOX started being shown on its sister channel, FX. I was then able to watch all the episodes from the beginning. The first time I watched an episode of That 70's Show, I watched the opening credits and saw that Smith was playing the father, and I said to myself "The guy who played Clarence Boddicker in Robocop is in a family sitcom? The guy who blew Peter Weller's hand off with a shotgun? The guy who made a funny catchphrase out of 'Bitches, leave'?"

But, then I started watching the show and found out that he was actually hysterical and not only was able to do comedy, but he was able to do more dramatic scenes when the show called for it. Not to mention, the unending barrage of "foot in ass" jokes. Smith has a great range that I don't believe was every properly displayed. Unfortunately, at 66, Smith's career is winding down. I don't think he could've shared the screen with some of Hollywood's A-list stars...I think he could have BEEN one of Hollywood's A-list stars if he had reached popularity 20 years earlier than he really did. Luckily, Smith will be remembered for one of his best performances and best characters, Red Forman, although he wishes he could be remembered for some of the other characters:

"I love playing villains. When you're a bad guy, you get to do many real nasty things. It's a lot of fun." - Kurtwood Smith

First Post - The Diminishing Level of Originality in Hollywood

Welcome to my blog. I decided to begin writing this blog last night after I did some research into the movies to be released within the next two years, and I felt obligated to share thoughts that I've had for a long time about the status of the film and television industry.

Just a quick disclaimer...I will not complete my first year of law school for another two and a half weeks, so I won't be making too many posts until after May 12. Once the summer starts, I'll have more time to write.

In recent years, there has been a conspicuous decrease in the number of "original screenplays" in the movie business. What makes a screenplay "original" is one that is written by a screenwriter, director, etc. that is NOT adapted from a novel, NOT a remake, NOT a reboot, and NOT a prequel/sequel. (I will delve more into this issue in a later post)

With this knowledge, open up the movie section of your local newspaper or, since this is the technology age, go to http://www.moviefone.com/ and take a look at the movies that are currently out. How many of them meet the criteria of an original screenplay? In a 16-theatre multiplex, maybe 25% of the movies? AT BEST!

Let's take a sample of the movies currently out in Nassau County, NY:

The Bounty Hunter - an original screenplay, but a complete box office bomb
Date Night - another successful Steve Carell movie
Clash of the Titans - a remake of a 1981 movie of the same name
Death at a Funeral - a remake of a 2007 British movie of the same name
Diary of a Wimpy Kid - an adaptation of a book published in 2007 of the same name
Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too? - A sequel
Alice in Wonderland - A remake/sequel to the original 1951 animated movie, which in turn was an adaptation of the 1865 novel
Hot Tub Time Machine - an original comedy screenplay, following in the footsteps of the Bartha/Cooper/Helms/Galifianakis in The Hangover (2009).
Kick Ass - an adaptation based on a comic of the same name
The Last Song - another Nicholas Sparks adaptation

So we have three adaptations, two remakes, two sequels, and three original screenplays. Of the three originals, only two were/are successful: Date Night and Hot Tub Time Machine. Don't get me wrong, I really liked them, but they're bonehead comedies following the footsteps of The Hangover, Pineapple Express (2008), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), and The 40-Year-Old-Virgin (2005). Where are the quality dramatic, family, or fantasy screenplays?

An excellent example is Avatar (2009), which was completely conceived by James Cameron as far back as before he even made the original The Terminator (1984). The only reason he waited to make it until now was that he had to wait until the visual effects technology could catch up with his ideas. And it looks as if he was right because Avatar is now the highest-grossing movie of all time.

So, what's the big secret formula to making a successful original movie? EFFORT! There's a big rush to make a screenplay out of any recycled material just for the writers/directors/production companies/studios to rake in some money, that they sacrifice quality for the sake of expedience. It is now quantity over quality. Of course, the public goes to the theatre to see these movies, but it's not because they're specifically pining for these movies. It's because they don't have anything else. I certain that a person would want to see something new and original that they're not familiar with, than sitting through two hours of a movie, to which they know most of the plots points and most certainly known the trite ending. I guess we'll have to see what Hollywood churns out next and what people like most.

Until next time, I leave you with a relevant quote from Aaron Sorkin's original screenplay, The American President (1995):

Lewis Rothschild (Michael J. Fox): People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand.

President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas): Lewis, we've had presidents who were beloved, who couldn't find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight. People don't drink the sand because they're thirsty. They drink the sand because they don't know the difference.