RIP Robin Williams

So did Robin Williams' suicide get as big of a play in the local paper as Phil Fucking Collins?

 

The deaths of Hoffman and Harold Ramis impacted me more than Monday's news. I cannot explain why because I recognize Williams was a genius.

 

Hoffman and Gandolfini were both shockers for me. Williams is the equivalent of a first-ballot Hall of Fame movie star, but he hadn't done anything notable, really, since "Good Will Hunting," "One Hour Photo," "Death to Smoochy," and "Insomnia." That was a good run, though.

He had kind of settled into the Eddie Murphy phase of his career.

 

Murphy is a good comparison. I get the sense Murphy is more of a recluse than Williams was, but they both fall into the category where they could never have another hit and they'll still be widely recognized as two of the best comic actors of their generation.

I loved Death to Smoochy, but it wasn't successful at the box office. Insomnia was good as well.

 

Yes, suicide was a major part of that movie, and certainly, What Dreams May Come also pays more than a passing reference to suicide.

 

More like the Michael Caine phase of his career, doing pretty much anything for the paycheck. Doesn't lessen the greatness of either.

 

Or DeNiro.

Perhaps it doesn't lessen the greatness of either, but it certainly impacts people's some people's reactions to the death. I was still watching Hoffman and Gandolfini in current movies, doing good work. Williams's death brought on something more akin to nostalgia.

 

One of the most misleading movie trailers ever, although "Jack" may be a close second.

 

Perhaps. I feel like I was raised on Williams' career. Mork and Mindy was one of the first shows I watched regularly as a kid. I think he's also seen (perhaps unfairly) as an upbeat actor. He could definitely go dark, but he's best known for the manic, funnier roles.

 

His comedic roles were always fun, but the guy could act. "Good Will Hunting", "Insomnia", and "Dead Poet's Society" are wonderful dramatic turns by him, he was outstanding in all of them. I'm a big Peter Weir fan, so his performance in "Dead Poet's Society" always resonates with me.

 

Russell Brand recollects. He's an articulate wordsmith in the vain of Alec Baldwin.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/12/russell-brand-robin-williams-divine-madness-broken-world?CMP=twt_gu

 

I did not expect Russell Brand to be that well-written. Well done indeed.