Ricardo Montalban Dies at 88

Photo from source, LA Times

This was a cool guy. Forget Fernando Lamas, Ricardo Montalban was the one who looked marvelous. No matter what TV show or movie he was in, he was the coolest guy on the screen. Fantasy Island may have been escapist fare, but it was the smarter counterpart to its schedule-mate The Love Boat. By a mile. And The Colbys may have been a second-rate Dynasty, but Montalban was still cool in it. And as the villain in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! he chewed the scenery while Priscilla Presley and Leslie Nielson clowned it up.

But when I think of him, it isn't Mr. Roarke that comes to mind. It is Khan Noonien Singh from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, in which he was not only the coolest Star Trek villain ever, he provided William Shatner with one of his most remembered scenes EVER. "KHAAAAAAAN!!!"

He will be missed.

[Excerpt]

Ricardo Montalban dies at 88; 'Fantasy Island' actor

Ricardo Montalban, the suave leading man who was one of the first Mexican-born actors to make it big in Hollywood and who was best known for his role as Mr. Roarke on TV's "Fantasy Island," has died. He was 88. . .

Read more at: Los Angeles Times

Movies I CAN Wait to See: Superhero Movie

Image captured from Superhero-Movie.net

I've run a series of Movies I Can't Wait to See posts, and you would think (given my previous choices) that Superhero Movie would be one of them. I'll tell you why I'm a little leery about this one.

The Scream series of movies rejuvenated both horror movies and spoof movies, by combining the best of both. After a successful trilogy, Scream was done, but was effectively followed by Scary Movie. This spoof was created by the Wayons brothers, and was extremely funny. Scary Movie 2 followed, and was, well. . .not so much. They shoehorned in The Matrix and Charlie's Angels--decidedly not horror movie fodder, and of course Chris Elliot. Elliot is a notoriously unusual performer, and was put in a gross-out role, which is sort of redundant. Part 2 just didn't work for me.

Scary Movie 3 came around, with the Wayons brothers out, and David Zucker (of Airplane! and Top Secret! fame) was in. This was a great move, and the third movie was hilarious. Charlie Sheen is at his best in this type of movie, and Simon Rex was funny and lovable. I actually liked this movie better before I saw the outtakes on DVD, which showed how scatter shot the production was. But it was a vast improvement over Part 2.

Scary Movie 4 had many funny moments, but didn't hold together very well. Like Airplane II: The Sequel or Hot Shots! Part Deux, it felt like leftover jokes from the earlier edition. Things get screwy right around this point, because other spoof ideas got churned into "spin offs."

Date Movie tried to spoof chick flicks, and even though I adore the star, Alyson Hannigan, I thought it was terrible. Epic Movie, spoofing blockbusters, was a bit better, but was still all over the place, hopelessly trying to work all of the spoof elements into a cohesive whole. And that brings us to. . .

Superhero Movie. Now, I love genuine superhero movies, having been a rabid comic book reader in my youth. I even liked Fantastic Four and The Hulk. But superheroes got a bit of a spoof in Epic Movie, and if the recent spate of spoofs is any indication, this will likely be a mess too. I'd love to be wrong. My feeling is, if you're going to throw in the kitchen sink, it might be better to split the stories into four half hours, rather than trying to weave them all together. And putting Leslie Nielson in your spoof doesn't automatically mean it will be funny. Ever seen Repossessed or Dracula, Dead and Loving It?

Oh, and there's a Scary Movie 5 on the way too. And who am I kidding, I'll at least get the videos.

Official site: Superhero-Movie.net

Previously:

Movies I Can't Wait to See: Indiana Jones 4

Movies I Can't Wait to See: Mama Mia!

Movies I Can't Wait to See: The Green Lantern

Movies I Can't Wait to See: Friday the 13th

Movies I Can't Wait to See: Justice League of America

Movies I Can't Wait to See: Wonder Woman

Movies I Can't Wait to See: Metal Men

Movies I Can't Wait to See: Firestorm

Movies I Can't Wait to See: Shazam!