A sad double whammy to lose a couple key figures in humor but the former had his run in drama with respected films like The Crying Game, Mona Lisa, Zulu Dawn and The Cotton Club.
So first up is Bob Hoskins. I had read recently about his retirement due to Parkinson’s yet I thought he would carry on a while longer like Michael J Fox. Bob had a fantastic body of work in America and the UK. However, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?‘s technical marvels succeeded through his great acting under rigorous conditions when digital-film capabilities just weren’t feasible. I can’t think of a movie he did I found completely awful because Bob was the silver lining. Although I’ve never seen Mario Brothers, I bet I could stomach it thanks to him and Dennis Hopper.
Al Feldstein isn’t super well-known, he was a more behind-the-scenes person at MAD during its heyday. Through him, many great writers and artists joined the magazine: Prohias (Spy v. Spy), Dave Berg (The Lighter Side of…), Don Martin, etc. Therefore, numerous contemporary humor owes a huge debt of gratitude to Al: The Onion, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, National Lampoon, The Simpsons and every person who went through that infamous sarcastic phase from nine to 13. When I was growing up in the Seventies, MAD was puzzling, funny and considered somewhat naughty. It’s pretty tame compared to what exists now but in 1977, doing a parody called Crappy Days was pushing the envelope. With Al at the helm, MAD transformed into a magazine and beat out Time‘s prediction of it being a short-lived satire rag.
Thanks gentlemen for the entertainment and laughs!