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Tag: as good as it gets

  • Helen Hunt Wrote, Directed, and Stars in ‘Ride’

    Helen Hunt of Mad About You and As Good As It Gets fame wrote, directed, and stars in a new film called Ride.

    In the film, that also stars Australian actor Brenton Thwaites, Helen Hunt plays a single mom who is completely devoted to her college-aged son. When he drops out of school and moves cross country to surf, she follows along and takes up surfing, too. As she does so, she starts a redo of her own identity.

    There was no question in Helen Hunt’s mind that she would portray the mom in Ride. She didn’t believe anyone else would “put up with what I put up with. I was in the ocean for nine hours at a stretch.”

    She loves the ocean in real life, too.

    “There is nothing that right-sizes you more than that beautiful, big body of water,” she said during a recent interview with the Associated Press.

    In addition to Ride, Helen Hunt is writing her third film and plotting her return to TV. She and Paul Reiser starred for seven years in the TV comedy Mad About You.

    “I’m developing a show with my partner (Matthew Carnahan) that is wild and weird and I hope we get a chance to make it. I’m smart enough to not have any prejudice about the size of the screen. It’s the part and the writing and the story,” she said.

    Ride, starring Helen Hunt and Brendon Thwaites is now in theaters.

  • Jack Nicholson Retires from Acting

    “You can’t handle the truth!” Jack Nicholson proclaimed in A Few Good Men.

    And guess what?

    Maybe we can’t now, because he’s quitting acting.

    [UPDATED]: E! Online reported that sources close to Nicholson said that the movie star is not quitting acting; in fact, he’s considering a few scripts.

    According to Radar, an American entertainment news aggregate, a Hollywood film insider said that, “Jack has – without fanfare – retired.” Ultimately, the reason for Nicholson’s retirement is due to his suffering issues of old age. “There is a simple reason behind his decision — it’s memory loss. Quite frankly, at 76, Jack has memory issues and can no longer remember the lines being asked of him.”

    “His memory isn’t what it used to be.”

    The 76-year-old movie icon has twice won the Academy Award for Best Actor in his performances in the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, as well as the 1997 film As Good as It Gets. Nicholson also won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the 1983 film Terms of Endearment. He has been nominated for a record-setting 12 Oscars, eight for Best Actor and four for Best Supporting Actor.

    The producers of the upcoming film Nebraska intended for Nicholson to play the main role as an aging, alcoholic father that embarks on a journey from Montana to Nebraska with his son in order to claim a million dollar Mega Sweepstakes Marketing prize. The role has since been given to Bruce Dern after Nicholson told the filmmakers he was not interested.

    In the 1950’s, Nicholson began his career in Hollywood at the MGM cartoon studio where he served as a gofer for the animated legends Joseph Barbera and William Hanna.  After seeing his talent as an artist, Nicholson was offered a starting level position as an animator, but respectfully declined stating that he sought out to become an actor.

    Nicholson made his film debut in 1958 with teen drama The Cry Baby Killer. His last film was back in 2010, where he co-starred with Paul Rudd, Reese Witherspoon and Owen Wilson in the romantic comedy-drama How Do You Know.

    (Image via Wikicommons)