James franco bill hader willem dafoe biography

film by Sam Raimi

For other uses, see Crime Wave.

"The XYZ Murders" redirects here. For the omnibus by Barnaby Ross, see Barnaby Ross.

Crimewave is a American comedy film directed by Sam Raimi, from a screenplay he co-wrote with the Coen brothers. It stars Reed Birney, Sheree J. Wilson, Paul L. Smith, Brion James, Louise Lasser and Bruce Campbell, with the latter also serving as a co-producer. An unusual slapstick mix of film noir, black comedy, Hitchcockian suspense, and B-movie conventions, Crimewave portrays bizarre situations involving a nebbish everyman (Birney) entangled in a murderous plot while pursuing his love interest (Wilson).

Following the commercial success of The Evil Dead (), Raimi and Campbell decided to collaborate on another project. Joel Coen of the Coen brothers served as one of the editors on The Evil Dead and worked with Raimi on the screenplay. Production was difficult for several members of the crew, and the production studio, Embassy Pictures, refused to allow Raimi to edit the film. Several arguments broke out during the shoot of the film due to continued interference by the studio.

The film was a box-office flop and has since fallen into relative obscurity outside of fans of Campbell and Raimi. Few critics reviewed it upon release, though the little amount of critical attention it received was mostly negative. Several story and style elements found in Crimewave influenced later productions by Raimi, and its overall failure directly led to the inception of Evil Dead II (). Over time, the film has achieved the status of a minor cult film.

Plot

Victor Ajax has been sentenced to death, sitting in an electric chair. In a flashback, we learn that Victor once was a promising young technician in the employ of Trend-Odegard Security. Mr. Trend, co-owner of the company, has learned of a plan by his partner to sell the company to Renaldo "The Heel" (which stole Nancy and bullied Victor by beati

William James "Willem" Dafoe (born July 22, ) is an American actor. A highly prolific character actor, Dafoe has received multiple awards and nominations, including four Academy Award nominations. Dafoe has frequently collaborated with filmmakers Paul Schrader, Abel Ferrara, Lars von Trier, and Wes Anderson.

Dafoe is a founding member of experimental theater company The Wooster Group, where he acted in several productions. Dafoe made his film debut in Heaven's Gate in , but was fired during production. Dafoe had his first leading role in the outlaw biker filmThe Loveless () and then played the main antagonist in Streets of Fire () and To Live and Die in L.A. (). Dafoe received his first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role as Sergeant Elias in Oliver Stone's war film Platoon (). In , Dafoe played Jesus in Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ and starred with Gene Hackman in Mississippi Burning, both of which were controversial. Following small roles in Born on the Fourth of July () and Wild at Heart (), Dafoe began a six-film collaboration with director Paul Schrader with the drama Light Sleeper (). Dafoe starred with Madonna in the critically reviled erotic thriller Body of Evidence in and then co-starred in Clear and Present Danger (), The English Patient (), Speed 2: Cruise Control (), and The Boondock Saints ().

After receiving his second Best Supporting Actor nomination for portraying Max Schreck in Shadow of the Vampire (), Dafoe played Norman Osborn in the superhero film Spider-Man () a

Segments are rated on a scale of stars

MCCAIN RECORDING SESSION
in a recording studio, John McCain (DAH) approves misleading attack ads

&#; Meh, some fairly hacky jokes early on regarding Darrell&#;s John McCain being out of touch with modern technology.
&#; Great use of Bill as a sarcastic announcer of attack ads.
&#; The ridiculous attack ads against Barack Obama are funny, especially the one comparing him to Charles Barkley.
&#; Some good bits with Kristen here, such as her explanation of the “tax benefits for pedophiles” claim that one attack ad made, and her knowingly responding “He won that election, right?” when Darrell&#;s McCain is about to negatively compare one of the anti-Obama attack ads to a ridiculous attack George W. Bush made on McCain during the presidential race.
STARS: ***½

OPENING MONTAGE
&#; Showing that he&#;s not yet used to saying newbie Bobby Moynihan&#;s name, Don Pardo mispronounces Bobby&#;s last name as “Monahan” tonight.
&#; Casey Wilson&#;s opening montage shot from all of the preceding live episodes she appeared in (first screencap below) has been replaced with a new shot tonight (second screencap below), which I believe remains her opening montage shot for the rest of her SNL tenure.

This new shot of Casey was actually previously used in a few NBC reruns of season 33 episodes (I was told that one of them was the reportedly heavily-edited rerun of the Ellen Page episode, a rerun of which I never saw myself), but tonight&#;s episode is the first time that shot has been used in a live episode.

MONOLOGUE
host has displaced Columbia University resident assistant (JAS) as BMOC

&#; Pretty fun use of Jason as a typical fratboy, and he fits this role well.
&#; Not much else to say about this monologue at all. Just average.
STARS: ***

THE COUGAR DEN
young musician (host) has a predilection for older women

&#; This sketch has officially become recurring.
&#; Wow, the audience&#;s laughter

December was a long time ago: George W. Bush was languishing in the last days of his presidency; the Great Recession had only just gotten underway; and a young fella named James Franco was putting together his second-ever short-film project for his filmmaking degree at NYU. His subject was Saturday Night Live cast member Bill Hader, but when SNL head honcho Lorne Michaels agreed to give him full backstage access, Franco decided to expand his focus and trace a week in the life of the storied sketch show.

The resulting documentary, Saturday Night, premiered at the SXSW Film Festival way back in March But thanks to a tangle of rights issues, it was never released beyond that — until now. With little fanfare or advanced notice other than a post on Franco&#;s instagram feed, the doc dropped on Hulu Plus this past Friday, just in time for the premiere of SNL&#;s 40th season.

Of course, there have been plenty of behind-the-scenes tales of the show in the past, from Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller&#;s recently updated/expanded book Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live to a 60 Minutes report in But no two casts are ever the same, and Franco&#;s doc homes in on the SNL zeitgeist of its day. Here&#;s what we took away from it.

1. Franco is not the greatest auteur
For all its vaunted subject matter, Saturday Night looks like what it is — the work of a first-year filmmaking student. It&#;s all shaky handheld camera work, some of it in grainy black and white for no apparent reason. Franco doesn&#;t really know when and where to edit himself, and as an interviewer, he doesn&#;t ask anything like tough questions; he&#;s a besotted fanboy, getting to hang out on the set of the show he loves. Still, Franco&#;s workmanlike, fly-on-the-wall approach isn&#;t distractingly bad, and he manages to capture a lot of pretty cool moments.

2.