Jack Nicholson has had a long, strange trip from his early days playing bit parts in Roger Corman's schlocky epics to today, when he has established himself as one of America's premier actors.
Disney has long had hegemony over animated movies in this country. Their family-oriented musicals have become the standard for animated features in America, and neither 20th Century Fox nor DreamWorks have been able to prevent Mickey from standing astride the animated world like a colossus. In the meantime, while the Mouse House has dominated the silver screen, anime has become an increasingly powerful and prevalent force on television.
Marvel Comics once had little success in getting movies made about its superheroes. DC Comics, Marvel's arch-nemesis in the comics industry, had seen its two foremost characters, Batman and Superman, turned into hugely successful film franchises that generated tons of money for the company.
A few years ago, Jackie Chan was well known only to aficionados of martial arts flicks, having garnered marginal box office success in America with such films as "Rumble in the Bronx" and "Who Am I?" Viewers of these films praised his obvious talents, although the comic book plots and poor dubbing left much to be desired.
Marginal pop culture figures don't typically have movies made about their lives. Andy Kaufman and Bob Crane are two notable exceptions, but at best most C-list celebrities must remain content with their own "E!
When the Beatles broke up in 1970, each member of the archetypal boy band eventually released solo albums.
Samuel L. Jackson gained a reputation as the coolest man on the planet after the release of "Pulp Fiction." Jules Winnfield quoted Ezekiel and made it sound like he was the prophet himself, before proceeding to promptly rearrange your face. Ever since then, however, Samuel L.
Marketing is truly a deceptive process. The trailers and advertisements made it seem like "The Rules of Attraction" would be yet another mindless sex comedy, some high budget version of "MTV Undressed." Starring all the requisite hot young Hollywood stars, including James Van Der Beek (Dawson himself), and even having a special promoting it on Comedy Central, it appeared that this would be a rehash of "American Pie" and its ilk. Surprisingly, it turns out this film is not a comedy at all.
