Gods Behaving Badly

What if Greek Gods were alive and living in New York?  Isn't that an interesting concept?  Well that's the premise for the new movie adapted from the novel by Marie Phillips.  This movie is only in pre-production without a release date.  But it has already garnered a large amount of attention, and rightfully so. 

The film tells the story of the Greek Gods, alive and well and living in a brownstone in New York City, as they cross paths with a young couple, Kate and Neil. The intersection of the Gods and the mortals threatens not only the couple’s budding relationship, but the future of everything else. Kate will be played by Alicia Silverstone and Neil by Ebon Moss-Bachrach. The gods are: Aphrodite — Sharon Stone, Apollo — Oliver Platt, Artemis — Edie Falco, Demeter — Phylicia Rashad, Dionysus — Nelsan Ellis, Eros — Gideon Glick, Hades — John Turturro, Hermes — Henry Zebrowski, Persephone — Rosie Perez and Zeus — Christopher Walken.

Just Me
Gods Behaving Badly boasts a star-studded cast.  But these actors and actresses aren't just stars, they actually have talent...real talent.  I would have to say John Turturro, Edie Falco, Christopher Walken, and Nelsan Ellis are some of my favorite actors right now.  I've been loving John Turturro since I saw him portray the mean-spirited, racist, Italian older brother in Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing.  And no one can deny Edie Falco's talent.  She went from playing the quiet, submissive Mrs. Tony Soprano to the pathological lying, pill-popping, aggressive Nurse Jackie.  This is a turn in her career Falco took I don't think anyone saw coming.  Taking the role was risky but it paid off.  Not to mention it makes you think twice the next time you need to go to the ER. 

Nelsan Ellis is a newcomer as far as stardom goes.  Ellis plays the gay, outspoken, flamboyant Lafayette on HBO's True Blood.  And though he is considered a supporting character, Lafayette has become one of the main reasons many people tune in to this show.  But what many people don't know is Ellis is actually NOT gay.  Ellis is a Julliard trained, perfectly straight Alabama native who initially struggled with bringing Lafayette to life.  I don't know about you, but there was no doubt in my mind he was gay.  And so I originally thought the Lafayette character was intriguing but not a stretch for Ellis.  My assumption was that Ellis was essentially just playing himself on screen.  But apparently I was wrong and I'm quite sure I was the only one.  So to me that truly shows the range of his acting chops.  There's just something about Ellis.  I can tell he has a lot to offer us as movie goers and television junkies.  And I accept.

And then we have Mr. Christopher Walken who will be playing Zeus in the film.  And Zeus is exactly who is in the movie industry.  Walken has been in over 100 film and television titles for the past 60 years.  I'm not sure Walken has ever been a household name or penetrated pop culture like some of the other stars in this movie, but whoever casts him as Zeus understands his dominance.  Now I say dominance in a sense that this man has always dominated any movie he has been in.  From what I've seen, Walken is rarely cast as the lead of the movie.  He's usually the supporting actor or barely even that.  Sometimes he only has one scene in a movie like in Pulp Fiction.  But no matter if he's on the screen for 5 minutes or 50 minutes, he's always unforgettable.  I really can't put my finger on it.  The guy is actually weird to me.  On screen no matter if he's in a drama, comedy, or horror film; his tone of voice, mannerisms, and facial expressions are so UN-exaggerated but yet evoke all this feeling and emotion.  I don't know how he does it.  But it works for him.  In essence Walken always leaves me....uuuummmm.....SATISFIED.

So with that, this movie had better be good.  It would be hard to mess this movie up given the original story and phenomenal ensemble of actors.  But let's face it, Hollywood had done it before.  But I have faith in the Gods.  I hope they won't let me down.