Will Ferrell has enjoyed an amazing acting career. SNL. Funny or Die (home of the “Eva Mendes Sex Tape“). Hollywood. The MTV award shows. Eastbound & Down. The crazy Dubya theatre-HBO gig.

But, really, where would he be without writer/director Adam McKay? He wouldn’t have been the next “it” SNL comedian. He wouldn’t have been following in the footsteps of Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy and Adam Sandler. I can tell you that much. Luckily, Ferrell and McKay met during their time on SNL, where the latter would eventually become the show’s head writer. The rest, as they say, is history.

McKay has been a behind-the-scenes Scottie Pippen to Ferrell’s on-screen Jordan; the comedy duo is better together than apart. They’ve done three hit films and launched one of the most successful comedy websites in Internet history together. Today, their fourth film project, The Other Guys, opens in theaters everywhere. It’s been “certified fresh” by Rotten Tomatoes and appears to be the blockbuster that will finally take Inception down at the box office.

Since it appears another Ferrell-McKay hit is on the way, let’s take a look at the roles that have defined the impressive Hollywood career of Will Ferrell — remembering that he probably wouldn’t be where he was today with all those assists from Mr. McKay.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL-SIZED IMAGE

The Other Guys, which opens tomorrow, pairs Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as cops with opposite personalities. Both actors have carved together successful careers and created their fair share of memorable characters. Each also has one particular role that stands out from the rest. For Ferrell, it’s Ron Burgundy from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. For Wahlberg, it’s Dirk Diggler from Boogie Nights.

Diggler and Burgundy lived in the decade of plaid and polyester — the 1970s. They worked in professions that rose to prominence during that era: Pornography and Broadcast News. They had good hair and big egos. Most importantly, both reached legendary status in their chosen fields.

But which of these two ’70s era icons is the king of kings? There’s only one way to find out. It’s time to once again check the tale of the tape. (Click to enlarge)

In a slight upset, Diggler beats out Burgundy 5-4. It was a hotly contested melee, but Diggler’s massive member was too much for Burgundy to overcome. Perhaps if pal Brick Tamland brought along his trident things would’ve gone differently for Ron. Alas, we’ll never know. Congratulations to Dirk Diggler. You sir are indeed a star.

]]> http://flicksided.com/2010/08/better-70s-personality-dirk-diggler-vs-ron-burgundy-graphic/feed/ 1 http://flicksided.com/2010/07/the-crew-of-inception-graphic/ http://flicksided.com/2010/07/the-crew-of-inception-graphic/#comments Wed, 14 Jul 2010 19:21:08 +0000 Adam Best http://flicksided.com/?p=8870 Inception by looking over this graphic and be the smartest person waiting in line this weekend.]]>

Earlier this week, we introduced you to Dom Cobb and his team of dream hackers with this Inception infographic. While the characters you see on screen and the actors who play them are a crucial part of the telling, they are only half of a production. Almost as mysterious as Leo’s squad, at least to most film fans, is the all-star team Christopher Nolan makes the film with. Some of these film talents — Emma Thomas and Wally Pfister, for example — are longtime Nolan collaborators. Others have come on board Team Nolan more recently, but their reputations precede them within the industry.

Who is Guy Hendrix Dyas? Could Jordan Goldberg be the heir to the Batman or even Superman franchise? Who did Lee Smith work for before he started working with this gang? When did Hans Zimmer become part of the Nolan equation? Ever heard of a company called Double Negative? Get to know the people behind Inception by looking over this graphic and be the smartest person waiting in line this weekend. Your friends will be impressed.

Click Here For Full-Sized Graphic

I’m just going to come out and say it — Christopher Nolan is my favorite director. No, not of all time. No, not currently alive. But, yes, right now, right now I think he’s the best director in the game.

He first caught my attention with Memento, which was one of the most influential films of the last quarter century. Then I went back and watched his first film, Following, and immediately understood how he got Memento produced. Next up was Insomnia, which is a pretty brilliant instant remake of a Swedish movie of the same name. Then he brought the Caped Crusader back from Bat-nipples with Batman Begins. After that there was The Prestige, which I consider a vastly underrated and nearly flawless film. Finally, there’s his latest effort, The Dark Knight, which I consider to be The Godfather II of comic book flicks.

Now, Nolan is moving on to bigger and possibly, or more like impossibly, better things. Since reviews started leaking out in the last week or so, words like “masterpiece,” “epic” and “hypnotized” have been getting tossed around. Every critic seemingly walks away from this mega-budget mind-bender that damn excited about what they just saw. Personally, I think we’re all about to witness the coolest flick we’ve seen since The Matrix dropped just over a decade ago. My expectations were this high for Nolan’s last film, a lot of people’s were, and he didn’t disappoint. He’ll deliver again.

Crazy thing is, the hype is building to a freakin’ fever pitch and we still don’t know jack about the movie or its cast. That’s why we here at FlickSided did some digging and put together this snazzy graphic that brings you up to speed on the cast/characters of Inception. Enjoy and be sure to check back in all week long as we’ll be serving up plenty of Inception coverage!

CLICK HERE FOR FULL-SIZED GRAPHIC

When it comes to vampires, the hottest of the cold blooded right now are The Twilight Saga‘s Cullen family. I’m not a fan of the Twilight movies, but unlike others who systematically trash the franchise without actually watching the chapters, I have seen them and therefore feel completely justified when hurling pointed barbs at card carrying member of the “Twi-tard” fanbase.

I like my vamps dark, edgy and murderous, not glowing, sensitive and stable. Now, the Cullens can get nasty when they want to, so they aren’t complete wussies, but compared to other clans of brooding bloodsuckers, they don’t score very high in the coolness department. Edward is dreamy and all, but he’s also a bit of a dork. Sorry, teeny boppers.

My favorite big screen vamp family are The Lost Boys. Back in 1987, they were hip and happening. Nowadays, they still have quite a loyal following and are widely considered some of the coolest creatures of the night in the vampire genre.

So, why not compare the two clans to see which one comes out on top in a fang vs. fang melee? After all, the tale of the tape never lies. In one corner, it’s the Cullens. In the other, it’s the Lost Boys. Let’s get ready to… (Click to enlarge)

The Cullens hung tough, but they are simply no match for Santa Carla’s finest. Millions of 14- and 15-year-old girls will be crushed, but they can take solace in knowing that there will be two more Twilight flicks after Eclipse in which they can ogle Edward’s captivating eyes and luscious hair.

Who’s ready for Killers? C’mon, it’s a rom com about a government hitman who marries a cute computer tech, retires from the game, then years later becomes the target for execution by assassins who may or may not be his next door neighbors.

Sounds awesome. Kinda like a combination of Grosse Pointe Blank, The Whole Nine Yards and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Minus the talents of John Cusack, Bruce Willis and Brangelina. Instead, we get Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl. Not exactly Woody Allen and Diane Keaton.

For a variety of reasons, both Kutcher and Heigl have become pretty annoying as of late. Neither has reached the Tom Cruise/Lindsay Lohan level of irritation, but it’s not for lack of trying. So, who’s the least annoying of this terrible twosome? A quick look at the tale of the tape should provide an answer (click to enlarge):

Congratulation to Kutcher. He’s the clear-cut winner in this showdown of annoying stars. Despite his incessant tweeting and awful commercials, Heigl sill comes out on top due in large part to her non-stop complaining about how unfair and hard a life of celebrity is. Plus she’s got a giant forehead.

]]> http://flicksided.com/2010/06/least-annoying-ashton-kutcher-or-katherine-heigl-graphic/feed/ 11 http://flicksided.com/2010/05/the-ultimate-arnold-action-cheat-sheet-infographic/ http://flicksided.com/2010/05/the-ultimate-arnold-action-cheat-sheet-infographic/#comments Mon, 24 May 2010 18:42:21 +0000 Adam Best http://flicksided.com/?p=5890

In many ways, Arnold Schwarzenegger is my favorite actor of all time. Now, don’t take this the wrong way. Do I like him more than Bill Murray? No. Do I idolize him the same way I do Orson Welles? No. Can his acting skills even be mentioned in the same sentence paragraph hour day week month year as Daniel Day-Lewis? No.

At the same time, there’s no actor I’ve quoted more than Ah-nuld. I’m not sure there’s an actor, Murray included, who’s made me laugh as much as Arnie. Arnold, both literally and figuratively, was a blast.

You can watch his movies over and over, and even though they do get more and more dated with each viewing, they also become more enjoyable. What I love about Arnold is that even though he took the craft of acting seriously, he never took himself as an actor too seriously. He was never above an outrageous action plot or corny one-liner, and that’s exactly what made him so much fun. Even as Governor of California — a word which he can’t even say, I might add — he is still cracking jokes and having fun at his own expense.

In honor of the one and only Arnold Schwarzenegger, here is a reference guide inforgraphic that takes a quick look at his biggest action hits. Hey, we’re in the thick of the summer movie season, and nobody did blockbusters better than Ah-nuld, right?

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL-SIZED INFOGRAPHIC

Check Out Our Other Infographics:

• 2010 Summer Movie Season On A $100 Budget
• Classifying Famous Australian Actors (Venn Diagram)
• Michael Bay vs. Roman Polanski

Regardless of whether you think the economy is rebounding or not, I think we can all agree that it’s still struggling. Nonetheless, the box office numbers from recent summers show that Americans will cut out a lot of other things before they’ll cut out their movies. But there has to be some trimming, right? That’s what we’re here for. Whether you’re into action extravaganzas, blockbusters, chick flicks, comedies, kiddie stuff or nerdfests, we’ve got a plan that will allow you to take in the summer movie experience just the way you want it for $100 or less. There’s a lot of summer left and the best flicks are yet to come, so be sure to mark your calendars (we’ve even given you the dates). Just don’t say we never did nothin’ for ya.

Click here for the full-sized infographic.

While watching an opening night showing of Clash of the Titans in completely unnecessary, after-the-fact 3D, I pondered the rise of Sam Worthington. Not too long ago, he was a former Aussie bricklayer whose career highlight was a small role in Hart’s War. That was before he somehow managed to land an audition for the James Bond reboot and a starring role in what would become the highest-grossing film ever. As a result, he’s an overnight A-lister who has headlined three of the biggest-budgeted action blockbusters of the past two years. And to think, dude was this close to going back Down Under as the guy who almost became the next Russell Crowe.

But Worthington is the next Crowe, and he’s just the latest in a long line of Australian actors to take Hollywood by storm. What makes Aussie actors so compelling to the American film industry? For one, they seem to have an easier time developing a “standard” American accent than even many Americans do. It’s more than that, though. They are rugged. They are attractive. They are intense. They have range. Sometimes all of the above.

In Worthington’s case, he’s mostly attractive and rugged. Then you have the late, great Heat Ledger, who brought attractiveness, intensity, range and ruggedness to the screen. Peter Finch was just as fine of an actor, but he was mostly rangy and intense. Hugo Weaving? Mostly intense, but he’s still a brilliant thespian. The Oscar winners? Well, they tend to all have amazing range. The stars? The biggest ones have three of the four traits. This Venn diagram uses the four traits that are such an invaluable part of the Australian acting style to classify the styles of its most renowned actors (CLICK HERE FOR FULL-SIZED IMAGE).

A couple days ago famed film critic Roger Ebert set off a firestorm on Twitter when he tweeted that Michael Bay was remaking Roman Polanski’s classic flick Rosemary’s Baby.

Actually, this rumor is nothing new. It was first floated back in 2008 when Bay’s production company Platinum Dunes was negotiating with Paramount about doing an update. Luckily, nothing came of it. It could be Ebert got his hands on some secret info not yet released to the public. Thus far, there has been no announcement from Hollywood that anything is in the works.

Of course that won’t stop me from doing a side-by-side comparison of Michael Bay and Roman Polanski’s careers. So, here it is. (Click to enlarge image.)