Thursday Movie Picks: Actors or Actresses Playing Themselves
Wandering through the Shelves hosts a weekly movie challenge in which you choose 3-5 movies based on that Thursday’s theme and explain why you chose those movies.
Today's theme is Actors or Actresses Playing Themselves, so here are my choices!
Bill Murray (Zombieland)
I read that other actors were considered for this cameo in Zombieland, including Patrick Swayze (who was too ill to film) and Mark Hamill. But Bill Murray was perfection as... Bill Murray. He's not infected, but he disguises himself as a zombie to get around town safely. It's a brief cameo, but it's hilarious.
The Cast (This is the End)
I can't lie; this movie cracked me up. It was so ridiculous, but I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. It probably helped that everyone in this movie played exaggerated versions of themselves. Michael Cera has a hilarious "cameo," and Emma Watson kicks some butt. This is one of those movies that I'll get sucked into watching anytime I see it's on.
Julia Roberts (Ocean's Twelve)
This seems to be a somewhat polarizing scene in Ocean's Twelve. People either love it or really hate it! To get close to the Fabergé Egg they're attempting to steal and swap, Linus (Matt Damon) has Danny's wife, Tess (Julia Roberts), pose as... Julia Roberts. It might have worked if not for the presence of Bruce Willis as himself, realizing "Julia" isn't quite Julia. Tess also talks to Julia Roberts on the phone - Julia's voice. Got it? Cool. Anyway, it's a bit silly, but you can tell the cast had fun with it.
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I’ve heard of all three but have only seen Ocean’s Twelve. It’s my least favorite of the three Ocean films but that scene with Julia Roberts pretending to be herself is very meta and one of the better parts of the film.
This was tough for me, my first came right away but I had to poke around for my other two.
Airplane! -Kareem Abdul Jabar (1980)-Wacky spoof of disaster movies and in particular the 1957 Dana Andrews/Linda Darnell film Zero Hour! Kareem plays himself though for some reason he’s pretending to be co-pilot Roger Murdock leading to many puns.
Wings of Desire-Peter Falk (1987)-Dreamy and cerebral fantasy from Wim Wenders about two angels, Damiel & Cassiel who float above Berlin offering rays of hope for the downtrodden without their knowledge. When Damiel falls for trapeze artist Marion and longs for a non-spectral existence he is given some unexpected advice from Peter Falk (as himself) who harbors a secret unknown to all.
Zoolander-David Bowie (2001)-In this loony satire of the male modeling industry the legendary Bowie appears as the judge of a fashion runway “walk-off” between Ben Stiller’s Derek Zoolander and Owen Wilson’s rival male model Hansel McDonald.
Airplane! is a great choice for Abdul Jabar. And I almost chose David Bowie for Zoolander… or Billy Zane. He was great in that film too.
I almost went with This Is The End too but I couldn’t decide on who to pick. I should’ve just did what you did.
I was sitting here trying to zero in on one actor and almost went with just Michael Cera since his cameo was hilarious…then I just figured why not use everyone? lol
This Is the End is just the perfect choice this week. SO many cameos, and so many great moments.
Thanks! I probably could have chosen three actors from that movie alone for the theme. It’s just such a silly movie.
This Is the End is one of my favourite comedies. It is so hilarious, no matter how many times I’ve seen the movie. My favourite cameo is that by Channing Tatum because I definitely did not see it coming the first time haha.
The Channing Tatum cameo was a bit of a surprise, yes lol The end just went bonkers to be honest.
We match with the first 2 and I was surprised I liked Zombieland since i don’t like zombie movies and can’t stand Jesse Eisenberg but it is funny. I liked Oceans 12 and thought this scene was funny. I have not seen the last flick but wanted to because it looks like a stupid, but fun, comedy.
Ah we match so much, I also went with Ocean’s Twelve and This is the End. I love Ocean’s Twelve cameo scene though, like I don’t see why people hate it…. rude. 😀
Cera was amazing!!
Yes, I thought the Julia being Julia was hilarious. Maybe it was too meta for some people?? 😀 lol
Cera’s cameo was so funny. I kind of want to go back and rewatch it now.
This is the End is one I want to see and I know it has a number of cameos.
It’s a ridiculous movie but so funny.
This is the End is a great pick, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that one 😀
I probably could have used the movie for every single pick. I need to watch it again.