TV Guide: Wallace Shawn

Listing: The Fever

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 06:00:00 +0000

Sun Sep 7 06:00 AM HBOSGe

Video: Haunted Mansion, The

Video Detective — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:12:17 +0000

After the blockbuster success of Pirates of the Caribbean, another Disney theme park ride is adapted for the big screen in this family-friendly mix of comedy and chills. Jim Evers (Eddie Murphy) is a real estate agent whose latest project is to find a buyer for a huge but dilapidated old house in New Orleans. However, when Evers visits the property with his family, he discovers it's already inhabited by 999 ghosts, none of whom are interested in sharing the space. As the spirits make their displeasure known, Evers and his family try to shoo them away with the help of an eccentric medium named Madame Leota (Jennifer Tilly). The Haunted Mansion also stars Terence Stamp, Don Knotts, and Wallace Shawn. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide.

Video: Designated Mourner, The

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:50:26 +0000

This film adaptation of the acclaimed play by Wallace Shawn takes place in an unnamed country, where a repressive regime has come to power and begun rounding up and executing intellectuals. Jack (Mike Nichols), a journalist who aspired to a career as a novelist, sits with his wife Judy (Miranda Richardson) and her father Howard (David DeKeyser). Jack has appointed himself the designated mourner for the death of the life of the mind, a life he freely admits that he has given up, while Howard, a stubborn intellectual, is appalled by Jack's willingness to turn his back on his principles. The Designated Mourner was filmed concurrently with the play's London run; it features the same cast and was directed by the same man, playwright David Hare. It is filmed with the actors simply sitting at tables, delivering serial monologues. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide.

Video: Prime Gig, The

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:08:52 +0000

Vince Vaughn stars in this drama as Pendleton Penny Wise, a gifted telemarketer who can sell almost anything over the phone. He's making a good living doing phone sales for Mick (Stephen Tobolowsky), until Mick's operation goes bust without enough funds to pay Penny or his co-workers Archie (George Wendt) and Gene (Wallace Shawn). Suddenly in dire financial straits, Penny is approached by Caitlin Carlson (Julia Ormond), who is recruiting telephone salesmen for Kelly Grant (Ed Harris). Grant is a legend in the telemarketing industry, but not always for positive reasons; one of his previous operations landed him in jail, and Penny isn't sure if Grant's latest scheme -- selling shares in a gold mine -- is on the level. Grant assures Penny that his new operation is legit, and even gives him a tour of the mining facilities; Penny signs on, though he still has his doubts. Soon Penny is outpacing his fellow sales people; he receives healthy bonus checks from Grant and has also become involved with Carlson; but he ha

Video: Prick Up Your Ears

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:08:50 +0000

This unadorned biography of playwright Joe Orton (Gary Oldman) charts his bawdy, dangerous relationships. Alfred Molina plays Orton's brutish lover, Kenneth Halliwell, a pathetic figure who becomes horrific and then tragic before the film is over. The hilarity of scenes from such Orton plays as {+Loot} and {+What the Butler Saw} is evenly balanced by the bleakness of the playwright's tormented (and tormenting) off-stage existence, which ended suddenly at age 34 with half a dozen blows to the head from a hammer. Prick Up Your Ears is based on the book by theater critic John Lahr, who is played in the film by Wallace Shawn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide.

Photo: Stargate SG-1 - Wallace Shawn as "Arlos"

courtesy Bob Akester/Sci Fi

Stargate SG-1, Wallace Shawn

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