JamesG
04-24-2014, 02:17 PM
Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele
by Judd Apatow (Award-nominated Producer, Director, Screenwriter)
http://i1331.photobucket.com/albums/w594/JamesGrec3/key-and-peele-movie_zps5edd2ba9.jpg
The New Faces of Funny
I don’t laugh out loud much anymore. I have seen way too much comedy, and one might say I am dead inside. But Key and Peele make me laugh — hard.
These guys are crazy funny. They are smart, satirical, ridiculous, pointless, political, subversive, immature and important all at the same time. They know what they are doing and are ready for their moment.
I’m equally impressed by their friendship. These two men seem amazed and grateful to have found each other. And they come alive when kicking around ideas, in perfect sync, offering ways to build and expand each other’s premises. It is a wonder to behold.
We are writing a screenplay together, and I hope one day we make a movie. But regardless, every time I leave a meeting with them, I feel like I have been a part of something very special. It is comedy and love dancing together, and it is the best of the human race.
(I think I went too far — but they are funny.)
Seth Meyers
by Amy Poehler (Emmy-nominated Actress)
http://i1331.photobucket.com/albums/w594/JamesGrec3/SethMeyersSNL_zps2a15548a.jpg
The New Kid in Late Night
Seth Meyers is the best listener on television. To see the proof, watch him every night on his new show, "Late Night with Seth Meyers". His ability to connect his big-picture brain with his compassionate attention to detail makes him a great host and a loyal friend.
He is a sharp performer and superior writer. But his biggest talent is the delight he takes in helping others look good. At "Saturday Night Live", Seth spent 13 years making sure the comedy sausage was delivered on time. Sometimes it was delicious; other times it was tough. But he always knew what the show needed to make it edible.
Often it needed him on Weekend Update, as a fake anchor delivering real news. "Late Night" needs him now, and we are lucky he has arrived. It’s a brutal business, this late-night game. Thankfully the new kid in town is an old pro with a kind set of eyes and the skills to pay the bills.
[Note to TIME editors: I am upset with Seth for complaining our recent dinner went on too long, so please take him off this list per my request. Thanks in advance.]
Benedict Cumberbatch
by Colin Firth (Academy Award-winning Actor)
http://i1331.photobucket.com/albums/w594/JamesGrec3/cumberbatch-benedict_zps2a1ce788.jpg
The Alarmingly Talented English Star
When I was about 25 years old, I worked with two very good actors. The encounters were brief, but I’ve remembered them both with great admiration. Wanda Ventham and Timothy Carlton both embodied qualities which one is fogyishly tempted to look at with nostalgia. Along with very considerable talent, they had elegance, glamor, wit, kindness and decency.
I didn’t know at the time that they were married or that they had a son of about 10 who was quietly gestating all the same attributes. And now, 30 years later, the boy has been let loose. He has taken the form of Benedict Cumberbatch.
His parents’ qualities are on rampant display. It’s rare to the point of outlandish to find so many variables in one actor, including features which ought to be incompatible: vulnerability, a sense of danger, a clear intellect, honesty, courage — and a rather alarming energy. I take no pleasure in feeling humbled, but there’s no getting around it.
He must be stopped.
Robin Wright
by Naomi Watts (Academy Award-nominated Actress)
http://static.tvgcdn.net/MediaBin/Galleries/Editorial/130923/Emmy_Awards_Arrivals/12/smallcrops/emmys-wright1sm.jpg
The Actress Who Beams a Light on Washington's Dark Corners
Robin Wright is a woman who can check all the boxes. Anyone who has seen her in "House of Cards" knows how she is able to take her talents — deep thought, beauty, raw truth — and incorporate all of them onscreen.
My experience of Robin evolved, from watching her in The Princess Bride and Forrest Gump, then meeting her and finally collaborating with her, each time the impression becoming greater. I remember her fragility and depth in early performances.
She was mesmerizing. In person, I was struck by how bright and bold she was — girlish and delicate but also full of spunk and fire. When I worked with her on the film Adore, I was left with my eyes popping and jaw slack. I found myself rendered speechless, searching for my dialogue — because I literally forgot I was on a movie set.
Her process was invisible yet so present. Her wild intensity beams extraordinary light — it bleeds into every actor she works with and audience member who watches her.
Jenji Kohan
by Shonda Rhimes (Creator of Grey's Anatomy and Scandal)
http://cdn.cnwimg.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Jenji+Kohan+kdovDM52JkSm.jpg
Creator of Unforgettable Characters
A force of nature. That’s what pops into my head every time I have the opportunity to see Jenji Kohan in person.
A force of nature. And it’s not just because of the brilliantly badass blue, green or sometimes purple hair. It’s because of the brain underneath it.
A smart businessperson, Jenji was one of the first creators to sign on to make content for Netflix, making her a bold early disrupter of the television model. And we are all the better for it. Because Jenji creates television in a way no other writer creates television.
From "Weeds’" drug-dealing mom Nancy Botwin to … well, every single woman behind bars in "Orange Is the New Black", Jenji’s characters are richly layered and iconic. The characters she creates are dark, twisted, funny and startlingly honest. She’s turned criminals into women we know, women we care about, women we root for.
Just as important and in a way that is shamefully rare today, Jenji’s characters are a breathtaking riot of color and sexual orientation onscreen. Jenji shows a passion for diversity by creating characters of all backgrounds who are three-dimensional, flawed and sometimes unpleasant, but always human.
But then, what else could we expect from a force of nature?
Kerry Washington
by Valerie Jarrett (Senior Adviser to President Obama)
http://www.emmys.com/sites/default/files/styles/bio_pics_detail/public/2013/08/Kerry-Washington_0_0.jpg
The Actor Who Projects Strength Amid Scandal
Occasionally in American pop culture, an icon emerges who captivates us and provides a vivid snapshot of who we are and the changing times in which we live.
In her role as Olivia Pope, "Scandal’s" unflappable political fixer, Kerry Washington has used her grace and vibrant magnetism to transcend age, race and gender, and to provide a new mainstream media lens through which to view modern womanhood and professional excellence.
Setting aside the “scandalous” melodrama necessary to sustain a fictional series so titled, Kerry has offered up a fresh new archetype for what it means to lead while combining courage and compassion, strength and vulnerability, passion, steely discipline and unfailing loyalty.
It is a role that makes full use of her distinctive talent for drawing in audiences with such authenticity that we often forget she is acting.
Kerry’s work with the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities since 2009 is also a source of deep inspiration, using arts education to close achievement gaps and ignite passion among young people.
In a world that too often tells little girls to choose between womanhood and success, between femininity and a seat at the head of the table, both onscreen and off Kerry Washington embodies the promise that lives in all our young people to shape their own destinies and succeed as “gladiators” for the causes in which they believe.
http://time.com/time100-2014/
by Judd Apatow (Award-nominated Producer, Director, Screenwriter)
http://i1331.photobucket.com/albums/w594/JamesGrec3/key-and-peele-movie_zps5edd2ba9.jpg
The New Faces of Funny
I don’t laugh out loud much anymore. I have seen way too much comedy, and one might say I am dead inside. But Key and Peele make me laugh — hard.
These guys are crazy funny. They are smart, satirical, ridiculous, pointless, political, subversive, immature and important all at the same time. They know what they are doing and are ready for their moment.
I’m equally impressed by their friendship. These two men seem amazed and grateful to have found each other. And they come alive when kicking around ideas, in perfect sync, offering ways to build and expand each other’s premises. It is a wonder to behold.
We are writing a screenplay together, and I hope one day we make a movie. But regardless, every time I leave a meeting with them, I feel like I have been a part of something very special. It is comedy and love dancing together, and it is the best of the human race.
(I think I went too far — but they are funny.)
Seth Meyers
by Amy Poehler (Emmy-nominated Actress)
http://i1331.photobucket.com/albums/w594/JamesGrec3/SethMeyersSNL_zps2a15548a.jpg
The New Kid in Late Night
Seth Meyers is the best listener on television. To see the proof, watch him every night on his new show, "Late Night with Seth Meyers". His ability to connect his big-picture brain with his compassionate attention to detail makes him a great host and a loyal friend.
He is a sharp performer and superior writer. But his biggest talent is the delight he takes in helping others look good. At "Saturday Night Live", Seth spent 13 years making sure the comedy sausage was delivered on time. Sometimes it was delicious; other times it was tough. But he always knew what the show needed to make it edible.
Often it needed him on Weekend Update, as a fake anchor delivering real news. "Late Night" needs him now, and we are lucky he has arrived. It’s a brutal business, this late-night game. Thankfully the new kid in town is an old pro with a kind set of eyes and the skills to pay the bills.
[Note to TIME editors: I am upset with Seth for complaining our recent dinner went on too long, so please take him off this list per my request. Thanks in advance.]
Benedict Cumberbatch
by Colin Firth (Academy Award-winning Actor)
http://i1331.photobucket.com/albums/w594/JamesGrec3/cumberbatch-benedict_zps2a1ce788.jpg
The Alarmingly Talented English Star
When I was about 25 years old, I worked with two very good actors. The encounters were brief, but I’ve remembered them both with great admiration. Wanda Ventham and Timothy Carlton both embodied qualities which one is fogyishly tempted to look at with nostalgia. Along with very considerable talent, they had elegance, glamor, wit, kindness and decency.
I didn’t know at the time that they were married or that they had a son of about 10 who was quietly gestating all the same attributes. And now, 30 years later, the boy has been let loose. He has taken the form of Benedict Cumberbatch.
His parents’ qualities are on rampant display. It’s rare to the point of outlandish to find so many variables in one actor, including features which ought to be incompatible: vulnerability, a sense of danger, a clear intellect, honesty, courage — and a rather alarming energy. I take no pleasure in feeling humbled, but there’s no getting around it.
He must be stopped.
Robin Wright
by Naomi Watts (Academy Award-nominated Actress)
http://static.tvgcdn.net/MediaBin/Galleries/Editorial/130923/Emmy_Awards_Arrivals/12/smallcrops/emmys-wright1sm.jpg
The Actress Who Beams a Light on Washington's Dark Corners
Robin Wright is a woman who can check all the boxes. Anyone who has seen her in "House of Cards" knows how she is able to take her talents — deep thought, beauty, raw truth — and incorporate all of them onscreen.
My experience of Robin evolved, from watching her in The Princess Bride and Forrest Gump, then meeting her and finally collaborating with her, each time the impression becoming greater. I remember her fragility and depth in early performances.
She was mesmerizing. In person, I was struck by how bright and bold she was — girlish and delicate but also full of spunk and fire. When I worked with her on the film Adore, I was left with my eyes popping and jaw slack. I found myself rendered speechless, searching for my dialogue — because I literally forgot I was on a movie set.
Her process was invisible yet so present. Her wild intensity beams extraordinary light — it bleeds into every actor she works with and audience member who watches her.
Jenji Kohan
by Shonda Rhimes (Creator of Grey's Anatomy and Scandal)
http://cdn.cnwimg.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Jenji+Kohan+kdovDM52JkSm.jpg
Creator of Unforgettable Characters
A force of nature. That’s what pops into my head every time I have the opportunity to see Jenji Kohan in person.
A force of nature. And it’s not just because of the brilliantly badass blue, green or sometimes purple hair. It’s because of the brain underneath it.
A smart businessperson, Jenji was one of the first creators to sign on to make content for Netflix, making her a bold early disrupter of the television model. And we are all the better for it. Because Jenji creates television in a way no other writer creates television.
From "Weeds’" drug-dealing mom Nancy Botwin to … well, every single woman behind bars in "Orange Is the New Black", Jenji’s characters are richly layered and iconic. The characters she creates are dark, twisted, funny and startlingly honest. She’s turned criminals into women we know, women we care about, women we root for.
Just as important and in a way that is shamefully rare today, Jenji’s characters are a breathtaking riot of color and sexual orientation onscreen. Jenji shows a passion for diversity by creating characters of all backgrounds who are three-dimensional, flawed and sometimes unpleasant, but always human.
But then, what else could we expect from a force of nature?
Kerry Washington
by Valerie Jarrett (Senior Adviser to President Obama)
http://www.emmys.com/sites/default/files/styles/bio_pics_detail/public/2013/08/Kerry-Washington_0_0.jpg
The Actor Who Projects Strength Amid Scandal
Occasionally in American pop culture, an icon emerges who captivates us and provides a vivid snapshot of who we are and the changing times in which we live.
In her role as Olivia Pope, "Scandal’s" unflappable political fixer, Kerry Washington has used her grace and vibrant magnetism to transcend age, race and gender, and to provide a new mainstream media lens through which to view modern womanhood and professional excellence.
Setting aside the “scandalous” melodrama necessary to sustain a fictional series so titled, Kerry has offered up a fresh new archetype for what it means to lead while combining courage and compassion, strength and vulnerability, passion, steely discipline and unfailing loyalty.
It is a role that makes full use of her distinctive talent for drawing in audiences with such authenticity that we often forget she is acting.
Kerry’s work with the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities since 2009 is also a source of deep inspiration, using arts education to close achievement gaps and ignite passion among young people.
In a world that too often tells little girls to choose between womanhood and success, between femininity and a seat at the head of the table, both onscreen and off Kerry Washington embodies the promise that lives in all our young people to shape their own destinies and succeed as “gladiators” for the causes in which they believe.
http://time.com/time100-2014/