Vale Robert Culp

Bugger of a start to the day.

I've always had a soft spot for Robert Culp. I'd always liked him as an actor from as far back as I can remember. I think I first discovered him in the Demon with a Glass Hand episode of the Outer Limits. It was a tough role to play credibly, but he did it well.

Later I watched him in I, Spy, teamed with Bill Cosby, and in The Greatest American Hero. While I love him in Hero, it's I, Spy that really shows off the man's talents and heart. The stories he wrote and directed are solid and even deal with taboo subjects for the day like the Vietnam War and heroin addiction. Cosby was a virtual unknown, I, Spy being his first TV role, and Culp was the star factor driving the series, but he treated Cosby as an acting equal right from the start.

Culp and Cosby had also decided on a 'non-statement' in regards to race, as in, Cosby being African American would never be noteworthy. Their characters, like the men, were equals. So when a script was written in which someone made thinly veiled racial comments directed at Cosby's character, Culp walked into the production office with him to tell them that this wasn't to be allowed to happen again.

Most recently, I was delighted to finding him voicing a character in the Half Life games.

Robert Culp's acting career spanned over five decades. Think I'll spend a bit of time revisiting it over the next few weeks.

Tweety-things

( Tweets below cut for those not interested... Aren't I a sweetie? )

Movies for 2010 - Part 9

16th March
Stranger Than Fiction

18th March
Transformers

19th March
The Creature from the Black Lagoon - in 3D!

20th March
Hot Fuzz

22nd March
Wanted
The Man Who Would Be King



I rather enjoyed Stranger Than Fiction while Transformers was worse than I remembered. My plan was to watch Transformers then watch the sequel, but it was fucking painful, don't think I'll bother. A film with only one likeable character (female computer geek) is just a wasted effort.

The 3D version of Creature works for all the same reasons Avatar did - the 3D is used to immerse you in a world. I remember seeing this at the Valhalla cinema in Melbourne, and the bits the audience reacted to were relatively simple shots with fish swimming about. In fact, even though I'd seen the film many times before the Valhalla screening, I'd never realised it was 3D feature, there was nothing in the direction that would be out of place in a regular movie. And the most important thing is, I genuinely love the story.

Man Who Would Be King was very good. Sean Connery and Michael Caine playing a pair of utter bastards, but still managing to make them likeable. The end of the film still guts you, even with fore-warning.