Jonathan Winters

Smurfs 2: I'm Too Smurfy - Clip

The Smurfs are back in a brilliant movie sequel that sees them take on evil magician Gargamel for a second time as he makes another attempt at harnessing the blue power of the Smurf people. This time, he has successfully created a group of similar creatures called Naughties, which he has plans to use to lure the impressionable Smurfette to him in order to finally win their potent magic. Aware of the kidnapping, the rest of the Smurfs band together on a rescue mission alongside their human acquaintances Patrick and Grace Winslow who agree to help them get to Smurfette and convince her that she belongs at home.

Right Said Fred, the nineties duo responsible for the number one 1991 hit 'I'm Too Sexy', has got involved in the promotions for the new film, marking the celebrations of Global Smurfs Day on June 22nd 2013, the day after 'The Smurfs 2' is released on the 21st. They have recorded a brand new track called 'I'm Too Smurfy', which isn't too dissimilar from their debut hit as you'd imagine, in a video featuring people in Smurf costumes getting funky and the duo painting their faces blue in honour of the Smurfs' return.

The Smurfs 2 Trailer

The Smurfs return following a harrowing experience lost in New York while being pursued by the evil wannabe wizard Gargamel in 'The Smurfs'. Their plight is not over, however, as Gargamel will stop at nothing to harness the power of the blue creatures. Currently an icon of sorcery in Paris, he creates two Smurf-like creatures called Naughties who he uses to tempt the impressionable Smurfette in a life of mischief as she holds the valuable secret of the spell to turn the Naughties into real Smurfs. After she is kidnapped, her family and friends embark on a mission to save her, whether she wants to be or not, and enlists the help of their human friends Patrick and Grace Winslow to take down Gargamel once and for all and lead Smurfette back on the straight and narrow.

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Remembering The Improvisational Comic Genius Jonathan Winters

By Jack de Aguilar in Lifestyle / Showbiz on 13 April 2013

Jonathan Winters

Comedians and fans alike are mourning the death of Winters

Jonathan Winters inspired a wealth of improve comics in his heyday. The legendary comic passed away last night (April 13) due to natural causes, causing the comedy world to remember one of its greats.

Winters’ career actually began with a talent contest win. This lead to radio gigs, giving him more exposure, before he started on the comedy-club circuit. He then went on to become a regular on late night TV – becoming one of Jack Paar's favourite guests and a Johnny Carson regular. His style was frenetic, often character based and involved deep improvisation. Unfortunately, the magnitude of his work and the nature of his style reeked havoc with his mental stability. He suffered two mental breakdowns in the late '50s and early '60s, but such was his humility and self-awareness, his stays in mental hospitals and diagnosis of bipolar disorder often formed in his jokes. “I love improvisation,” he told Reuters in an interview nearly 13 years ago. “You can’t blame it on the writers. You can’t blame it on direction. You can’t blame it on the camera guy. ... It’s you. You’re on. You’ve got to do it, and you either sink or swim with what you’ve got.”

“Most of us see things three-dimensionally,” Morse once mused in The New York Times. “I think Jonny sees things 59-dimensionally. Give me a hairbrush and I see a hairbrush. Give Jonny a hairbrush and it will be a dozen funny things."

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Legendary Film & TV Funnyman Jonathan Winters Dies, Aged 87

By Joe Wilde in Lifestyle / Showbiz on 12 April 2013

Jonathan Winters

Legendary funny-man Jonathan Winters has died at his Los Angeles home after a long battle with his deteriorating health.

Jonathan Winters, the comic actor whose career spanned more than five decades, has passed away at his home in Encino, Los Angeles, surrounded by family and friends at the age of 87. His death was confirmed by to press by Gary Owens, his good friend, who said this of Winters; “He was one of the great comedy talents in the history of the United States. Just brilliant."

Jonathan Winters brought laughter to millions for half a century

Winters was one of the most inspirational and well-known faces in comedy from the 1950's onwards, working until the very end with his last performance coming as the voice of Papa Smurf in 2011's movie adaptation of The Smurfs. He was due to resume his role in the upcoming sequel and also had another role scheduled for the film Big Finish alongside Jerry Lewis and Bob Newhart. Of course, Winters had a sizeable back catalogue of material and is perhaps best known for his roles in It's A Mad, Mad, Mad World and The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! as well as the 1994 version of The Flintstones on screen, but it is his television work he will be best remembered for.

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The Smurfs Review

By Rich Cline

OK

A simplistic approach means that this charming adventure-comedy will only appeal to very young children. While it's lively and enjoyably silly, there's just not enough wit in the story or characters, nor enough skill in the animation.

Life is idyllic for the tiny blue Smurfs, whose village is hidden from view in a European valley. But the evil-but-hapless wizard Gargamel (Azaria) wants to capture their magical essence and, when he finds their village, he chases six of them through a vortex that dumps them into Manhattan. Lost in the city, the Smurfs befriend Patrick (Harris) and his pregnant wife Grace (Mays), whose help they need to both escape Gargamel and regenerate the vortex to get home.

Meanwhile, Patrick's under pressure from his boss (Vergara) to come up with an ad campaign.

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The Smurfs Trailer

Standing three apples high, the tiny Smurfs live happily and peacefully in their medieval Smurfs village. However, their quiet way of life is threatened by the evil wizard Gargamel and his long-suffering, wise cracking cat Azrael. Gargamel wants to become the most powerful sorcerer in the world and to do that, he needs the Smurfs' essence.

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The Loved One Review

By Christopher Null

Extraordinary

Decades before Six Feet Under, The Loved One skewered the paradox of the funeral business in appearance-obsessed L.A. Wildly and unpredictably funny, The Loved One careens from scene to scene so quickly you may not be able to keep up with the jokes.

And what jokes they are! The very American Robert Morse stars as a British visitor to L.A., a wannabe poet who gets caught up in the machinations of a cemetary owner (Jonathan Winters) and his top mortician (Rod Steiger in the role of a lifetime). It's more cult than cemetary, and Morse soon becomes enchanted with one the cemetary's guide/beautician/chanteuse (a dippy Anajette Comer). The film haphazardly careens from subplot to subplot, eventually settling into a set piece about a kid obsessed with rockets, which Winters sees as the solution to the problem of running out of space for "loved ones" in the cemetary (aka corpses).

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It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Review

By Christopher Null

Very Good

It's also long, long, long... well, you get the picture. Mad, Mad World is the brainchild of director Stanley Kramer, best known for films like Inherit the Wind and Judgment at Nuremburg, who figured he really ought to take a shot at directing a comedy, and what the hell if it's over 3 hours long (his first cut was 5 1/2 hours, actually). Kramer hired every comedian in Hollywood -- counting cameos represents Mad, Mad World's special thrill -- and sent them on a chase across southern California in search of $350,000 that a dying Jimmy Durante alludes to after a car wreck. The ensuing adventures stretch the definition of the word madcap.

Of course, this is what we owe movies like Cannonball Run to. But the original will always reign as the only two-tape comedy on the rental rack. Enjoy.

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