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James Earl Jones has died

variety.com

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Re: James Earl Jones has died

#171

Post by myrmidon »

wisty wrote: post #39
woodruffw wrote: post #5

A slightly less cliche fact about James Earl Jones: his film debut was Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove , where he plays the bombardier on the B-52[1]. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSbPqin3L6E

The famous B52 cockpit - From wikipedia: > Lacking cooperation from the Pentagon in the making of the film, the set designers reconstructed the aircraft cockpit to the best of their ability by comparing the cockpit of a B-29 Superfortress and a single photograph of the cockpit of a B-52 and relating this to the geometry of the B-52's fuselage. The B-52 was state-of-the-art in the 1960s, and its cockpit was off-limits…

Conditional support for movie production (by the US military) is highly unethical in my view (even though, pragmatically speaking, it is likely a "good" investment of tax dollars...).

Re: James Earl Jones has died

#172

Post by okwhateverdude »

nirav72 wrote: post #113
hinkley wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, the 'working actor'. Gary Oldman (who also calls himself a working actor) kinda tanked his career for a while by getting typecast as a villain. Playing Sirius Black was basically autobiographical, and kind of got him unstuck.

Gary Oldman is currently starring in this show on AppleTV called Slow Horses. Amazing actor.

He really disappears into whatever character he is playing. Truly one of the exceptional actors of our time. That show in particular highlights this very well.

Re: James Earl Jones has died

#174

Post by Bluestein »

indigo0086 wrote: post #173
Bluestein wrote: post #85

James Earl Jones read the Bible as an audio book. Who - other than him - could pull such a feat?

I recently heard someone at church who listened to his audio bible, I thought that's such a great voice for it.

Gravitas itself, personified.-

Re: James Earl Jones has died

#175

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

jdougan wrote: post #84
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think of Conan , and Coming to America . I was told by an industry insider (taken at face value), that he almost never turned down a part, which drove his agent nuts. That's why he was in these kind of oddball movies. I suspect that Nicholas Cage is similar.

Michael Caine apparently is similar. I see no other reason why he would have done the (wonderful) movie "Water".

There’s his infamous quote about being in Jaws 3:

I have never seen it, but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific.

Re: James Earl Jones has died

#176

Post by sparky_z »

wisty wrote: post #39
woodruffw wrote: post #5

A slightly less cliche fact about James Earl Jones: his film debut was Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove , where he plays the bombardier on the B-52[1]. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSbPqin3L6E

The famous B52 cockpit - From wikipedia: > Lacking cooperation from the Pentagon in the making of the film, the set designers reconstructed the aircraft cockpit to the best of their ability by comparing the cockpit of a B-29 Superfortress and a single photograph of the cockpit of a B-52 and relating this to the geometry of the B-52's fuselage. The B-52 was state-of-the-art in the 1960s, and its cockpit was off-limits…

Source for that last fact? I was curious which president, so I looked it up and the creation of the Situation Room was ordered by JFK who was assassinated before the movie was even released.

Re: James Earl Jones has died

#177

Post by aidenn0 »

UberFly wrote: post #161
aidenn0 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it's Sneakers "We are the US Government, we don't do that sort of thing"

Sneakers is climbing into cult classic year by year. What a great cast. Wow.

Yes the cast. Aside from James Earl Jones it had the following actors who at one point or another had Academy Award nominees (or won) for acting:

Robert Redford

Sidney Poitier

David Strathairn

River Phoenix

Ben Kingsley

Mary McDonnell

And In addition to those it had Dan Aykroyd and Stephen Toblowsky

Re: James Earl Jones has died

#179

Post by nonameiguess »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #25
OhMeadhbh wrote: post #11

I know everyone is talking about how he voiced Vader, but when I think of him, I think of Strangelove and Hunt for Red October. I didn't spend a lot of time in the fleet, but what I did was rather boring and/or annoying; the idea that something exciting would happen in the CIC is probably why I often think of the line "Now, understand, Commander, that torpedo did not self-destruct. You heard it hit the hull. And I wa…

I think of Conan , and Coming to America . I was told by an industry insider (taken at face value), that he almost never turned down a part, which drove his agent nuts. That's why he was in these kind of oddball movies. I suspect that Nicholas Cage is similar.

My wife's cousin worked the case where they forced Nic Cage to give back the dinosaur skull he bought for a quarter mil at an illegal auction to the Mongolian government. He had to take every role ever offered to him because he made some amazingly stupid financial decisions.

Re: James Earl Jones has died

#180

Post by nonameiguess »

qup wrote: post #126
imiric wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me he will always be Mufasa. Brilliant performance and perfect casting. "Everything the light touches is our kingdom." Still get shivers from that movie to this day. Nostalgia, sure, but it's truly a masterpiece. R.I.P.

Saw it in theaters as a kid. It was one of the best movie experiences of my life.

My aunt used to take me and my sister to the El Capitan theatre to every big Disney tentpole that premiered there in the late 80s and early 90s. I think Lion King is probably still the best movie-going experience I have ever had and ever will have. It was the first one where I was a teenager and that was probably the end of my true childhood and when I started losing interest in stuff like that. I don't think any scene will ever again touch me like James Earl Jones voice booming from the clouds telling Simba to remember who he is. The swell of that Hans Zimmer score still brings tears to my eyes instantly every time I hear it.
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