OT - Recast your favorite movie/tv show
Stuck at home with a sick baby, watching the IMDB series on roles that were turned down. In Game of Thrones, Mark Strong, Gillian Anderson, Dominic West, and Brian Cox all turned down roles. Even Emilia Clarke wasn't the first Daenerys to be picked to play the role. Will Smith turned down the role of Neo in Matrix.
If you could recast your favorite movie/tv show, who would you replace?
February 26th, 2019 at 12:16 PM ^
Been watching Cheers at the gym lately...
Coach Harbaugh as Sam
Coach Brown as Cliff Clavin
Izzo as Carla
Brian as Norm
Urban Meyer as Gary from Gary’s Old Towne Tavern
February 26th, 2019 at 12:20 PM ^
That Gary one hurts. He always had the upper hand.
February 26th, 2019 at 3:15 PM ^
Izzo as Carla, too funny although it is an insult to Carla. She is a classic!!
February 26th, 2019 at 4:04 PM ^
Gary Moeller as Coach
February 26th, 2019 at 4:48 PM ^
Actually, I was thinking that very thing while reading the first reply to this thread. I could to totally see Gary Moeller in the exchange:
*Coach picks up phone*
Gary: Hello?............I'll see if I can find him.....Do we have a Gary Moeller here?
Voice: That's you, Coach!
February 26th, 2019 at 9:38 PM ^
....and Kate Upton as Diane Chambers!
February 26th, 2019 at 12:20 PM ^
Kate Upton in Castaway. All the Packages that wash up on shore are all from Victoria’s Secret.
February 26th, 2019 at 12:53 PM ^
Intriguing possibilities for the 2nd half of the movie where 4 years have passed and all she'd have left to wear for clothes is a ratty old loin cloth.
February 26th, 2019 at 4:37 PM ^
Plus, I would set in the Multiverse where I am shipped in Victoria Secret packages.
February 26th, 2019 at 12:21 PM ^
I just want GoT back, damn it. The wait has been ridiculous. It's almost back, though.
February 26th, 2019 at 12:44 PM ^
I think the wait has kind of been too long. I was really excited for the season for a while, then that kind of died down because it was so far away, then I was excited again because it felt like it had been long enough but then that went away because I realized there was kind six months left. Now I am kind of bordering on "over it." It has been almost two years. It literally needs to be the best season of anything ever or it is almost a guaranteed disappointment.
February 26th, 2019 at 12:50 PM ^
Did you watch the last season? The show is quickly becoming ass, my dude. Highly unlikely that it's the greatest season of TV history...
February 26th, 2019 at 12:54 PM ^
Some good moments, some bad moments. "Beyond the Wall" was flat out embarrassing, while "The Spoils of War" was one of the best episodes of all time and the Highgarden scene one of the best the show has ever done. On balance it was a poor season, I agree, but George Martin has completely flaked on them and they are trying to wrap up a bunch of shit. I am going to give them some leeway. They do need to bring it to close it out though.
February 26th, 2019 at 1:11 PM ^
Yeah I'll cut them some slack too. They did a great job telling Martin's story but once they had to write their own it got ugly. I feel like I'm watching a super-long Marvel movie now.
February 26th, 2019 at 1:17 PM ^
Season 7 did kind of feel like that. Any everything is partially a buddy dramedy now, with characters breaking off into twos and "witty" dialogue going back and forth. I agree, for long stretches it does not feel like the show it started as, at all.
I find myself "rooting" for characters that I never thought I would have. My wife is all into the Jon Snow-Danaerys love story and all that. I couldn't care less. I kind of just want Cersei to murder everybody with wildfire in the first episode and then just drink wine with an evil smile for the rest of the season.
February 26th, 2019 at 4:09 PM ^
Until an unknown relative of Olenna Tyrell shows up in the last episode, kills Cersei and claims the throne. Show over.
February 26th, 2019 at 1:25 PM ^
I agree that the wait was aggravatingly long, but supposedly the reasoning for it wasn't to build hype or make the fans wait for the sake of waiting. Supposedly it was for film scheduling purposes, because they wanted to place as much of the filming in real winter as possible. How much truth there is to that, I can't say. But I'd think at least a little. They have the chance to put a huge exclamation point on this series, and put it right up there with Breaking Bad and The Sopranos as one of the greatest TV shows ever made.
I'd take my time too and make sure I got this right.
February 26th, 2019 at 3:52 PM ^
Oh yes, I totally understand the delay. The primary reason is because they essentially filmed six 90(ish)-minute movies. That takes a long time. The secondary reason is certainly to milk the shit out of this.
February 26th, 2019 at 5:13 PM ^
They really aren’t going to be that. That is what they said to begin with but most of the episodes this season are rumored to be a little over an hour.
February 26th, 2019 at 1:18 PM ^
February 26th, 2019 at 1:49 PM ^
Especially if you read A Storm of Swords back in 2000 and ordered from Amazon.co.uk because the books came out in England something like three months before they came out in the US....
It sucks, but I've made peace with knowing he's never finishing the books and at least this way I can see the ending he originally planned. I am still filled with the unshakable conviction that the Red Wedding was him getting too clever by half and removing the main dramatic thrust of the story and he's struggled ever since then to get that central conflict back.
February 26th, 2019 at 2:09 PM ^
It was an incredible scene in both the book and the movie but it took a lot of air out of both for sure.
February 27th, 2019 at 5:47 AM ^
I'm almost forgetting about all 5 books from the song of ice and fire. My favorites were Clash of Kings and Storm of Swords. Though all my favorites die off in the books, Ned, Rob and Jon. The Game of Thrones, the first book, was good. I've been waiting for the last book for 8 years. I've never watched the series. Hopefully, the series will be as good as the book. I remember reading Battle Field Earth by R.L.Hubbard back in the early 80s and the Movie version was just horrible.
February 26th, 2019 at 12:22 PM ^
Bambi but with Muppets
February 26th, 2019 at 12:24 PM ^
I never finished Amazon’s “ All or Nothing” but if they cast Kyler Murphy, Damien Harris and Dexter Lawrence for some of the bit players in the background, the end of the movie might have been more to my liking.
February 26th, 2019 at 12:25 PM ^
Not necessarily my "favorite" films or shows but I have some ideas.
1. Bill Paxton was overmatched by Hanks, Bacon, Sinese, Harris in Apollo 13. That role needed a better more polished actor to keep pace as it was noticeable the rest of the cast was carrying him.
2. Matt Damon was mis-cast as Private Ryan. As good as he in the role for the period he is on screen, the role called for kind a nameless actor. Casting a huge star in that role defeated the idea that the unit was searching for this seemingly anonymous soldier no more or less valuable than any other soldier.
3. Almost anybody would have been better for the gangster role in True Detective - Season 2 than Vince Vaughn.
4. Almost anybody would have been better in Wallstreet than Darryl Hannah. Michelle Pfeifer in particular would have been perfect in the role.
5. Quentin Tarantino should never appear in his own movies. He is a really bad actor and it is a distraction when he pops up.
Final note, I wish that Ed Norton would come back from whatever "hiatus" type deal that he is on and take some staring roles. He was the best actor going for a while and the movie industry misses him.
February 26th, 2019 at 12:43 PM ^
Who would Norton stare at?
February 26th, 2019 at 12:45 PM ^
I don't get it. Does he do more staring than the average?
Edit - I get it now.
** starring
February 26th, 2019 at 3:07 PM ^
along those lines Wall Street is a literal street named Wall so it's always two words not one
February 26th, 2019 at 3:14 PM ^
I don't care.
February 26th, 2019 at 1:09 PM ^
Totally agree with 2 and 5. Matt Damon is very limited in what he can do well, and he really took away from an amazing film. And Tarantino is bad, but is even worse when he works next to the great actors he gets for the other roles in his film...it's like when a girl you think is kinda hot stands next to a truly beautiful woman, and you're thinking, "Huh."
February 26th, 2019 at 1:24 PM ^
This is a little before my time but how big of a star was Matt Damon before Good Will Hunting? The filming for Saving Private Ryan was done in June 1997 before Good Will Hunting was released (December 1997). I think at the time of shooting and casting Saving Private Ryan he was a nobody and fit what they were trying to do with the character.
February 26th, 2019 at 1:30 PM ^
Dammit...I type too slow. Props to you Sione.
February 26th, 2019 at 1:26 PM ^
About Matt Damon..."Ryan" was filmed in the summer of 1997. Spielberg deliberately cast him because he was pretty much an unknown and, as you note, didn't want people saying, "Oooooh, it's a big star!" Then in December of 1997 while Spielberg was hunkered down with his editing team, a little ditty called "Good Will Hunting" was released, thus screwing the whole anonymous actor thing. Oops.
So I remember this kind of shit but forget the name of someone I met two days ago...
February 26th, 2019 at 1:30 PM ^
Both responses interesting. I remember "Ryan" being considerably later than "Hunting" but I guess my memory is betraying me.
February 26th, 2019 at 1:36 PM ^
Still a valid point for the OP's question though. I would much rather have Private Ryan be someone who was only known for that role.
February 26th, 2019 at 1:48 PM ^
It was Dolores.
February 26th, 2019 at 2:22 PM ^
Damon was an up-and-comer for sure. He had some attention in "School Ties" and then obviously broke through with "Good Will Hunting." (And deservedly so). Agree with someone else's comment. He's a very good actor, but it has to be the right role. If not, it never works. He's not a character actor - maybe if you consider his role in Ocean 11. I was surprised how well he did in "The Martian." Might be his second best role behind GWH. Great and nuanced performance.
February 26th, 2019 at 2:31 PM ^
I'll also add that Leo Dicaprio just rubs me the wrong way. He has such a baby face, and sort of annoying voice, that I can never believe him in adult roles. I still see the kid from Growing Pains. Only time I've truly liked him in roles was "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" and "This Boy's Life."
February 26th, 2019 at 4:13 PM ^
Dude, No! Dicaprio was phenomenal in The Departed. He owned that movie.
February 26th, 2019 at 6:32 PM ^
Jason Bourne says hello.
February 26th, 2019 at 7:39 PM ^
Oh, he was great in Bourne (well the last one sucked). Just think he was better in The Martian.
February 26th, 2019 at 1:54 PM ^
Norton has himself a reputation that may be part of the reason he hasn't been in a ton of films lately (outside basically voice work for a Director he gets along with very well). He's a perfectionist that likes things done his way, and for certain directors/actors this isn't a favorable situation. I thought he was doing some stage acting as well, and his next film is being directed by himself (co-starring Bruce Willis, William Dafoe, Leslie Mann, and Alec Baldwin), so he will be back to some degree in 2019, but yet to be seen how big of a release it'll actually be.
February 26th, 2019 at 2:13 PM ^
Yeah, I am aware of that reputation. I know him and Tony Kaye almost killed each other over American History X and he was a pain in the ass during the whole Incredible Hulk fiasco.
Conversely, Spike Lee called him one of the most "direct-able" actors he had ever worked with after 25th Hour and said he basically did exactly as he was told in every scene. I guess it just may have to do with the director and material he is working with.
February 26th, 2019 at 2:12 PM ^
Ed Norton probably has difficulty getting roles since he's apparently a major asshole. See Tobey Maguire, too.
February 27th, 2019 at 7:51 AM ^
He's Edward Norton. Ed Norton was the Art Carney character (a sewer worker) on The Honeymooners . Edward Norton did not want to be confused with him. The Honeymooners is still the best sitcom ever, thanks to Jackie Gleason and Art Carney..
February 27th, 2019 at 9:36 AM ^
Eh, I say Ed.
February 26th, 2019 at 12:33 PM ^
The Fugitive is perfect as is.
February 26th, 2019 at 6:23 PM ^
I saw Ann Arbor PD had a fugitive surrounded last night. I'm guessing it want you, since the blog is probably verboten in jail.