Wow. One of the greatest and most underappreciated stand-up comics of all time is apparently getting the biopic treatment.
What’s crazier is that one of the biggest A-list names in Hollywood has taken an interest. Bill Hicks was a brilliant satirist who was way ahead of his time. He wasn’t afraid to address topics that were near and dear to him, even if this wasn’t in agreement with the populous.
Listening to any one of his (mostly posthumously) released comedy albums is eerily like listening to Jon Stewart slice up the current political scene. And then you realize Hicks was saying all the same shit way back in the first Bush administration.
George H. W. Bush, that is.
What’s tragic is that this fearless comic who got into all kinds of trouble for saying what was on his mind died from cancer in 1994 at the early age of 32 . The Sydney Morning Herald reports that, although it is only in the draft stages, a screenplay is being written and that Russell Crowe is considering starring in it. He is one of the most enigmatic actors around today, and even with all the fun that Robert Downey Jr. poked at Crowe in “Tropic Thunder,” I’d love to see him as Hicks. then again, if he’s “circling” the project, maybe what he’s really doing is thinking about producing it, because at 44, he’s a bit old to tackle a man who died so young. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’d be nice if someone talented and responsible took Hicks’ story.
THESE CLIPS ARE NOT SAFE FOR WORK UNLESS YOU ARE WEARING HEADPHONES. IF SO, YOU MAY WANT TO TURN THE VOLUME DOWN A BIT.
Here’s a classic Hicks bit about banality in rock music:
[youtube xRkA6zugNMQ nolink]
And another about musicians against drugs:
[youtube J10w3FuCwfQ nolink]
..and just a little taste of Bill’s “war on drugs” rant:
[youtube Sy-y-uamSiE nolink]
Eric is the Editor-in-Chief of Scene-Stealers.com, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and contributor for The Pitch. He’s former President of the KCFCC, and drummer for The Dead Girls, Ultimate Fakebook, and Truck Stop Love . He is also the 2013 Air Guitar World Champion Mean Melin, ranked 4th best of all-time. Eric goes to 11. Follow him at:
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I think it is going to be great casting and Russell Crowe will at least get a nomination even if the movie itself isn’t that great.
I think it is going to be great casting and Russell Crowe will at least get a nomination even if the movie itself isn’t that great.
I think Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be just about perfect. John Cusack if he were younger. Crowe would be better off playing Carlin, even if he were closer to Hicks’ age.
I think Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be just about perfect. John Cusack if he were younger. Crowe would be better off playing Carlin, even if he were closer to Hicks’ age.
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