FUNNY STUFF VINCE VAUGHN KEEPS COMEDIC MOMENTUM GOING WITH 'WEDDING CRASHERS'.Byline: Bob Strauss Film Writer Smokin' career. Membership in Hollywood's hottest clique (mathematics) clique - A maximal totally connected subgraph. Given a graph with nodes N, a clique C is a subset of N where every node in C is directly connected to every other node in C (i.e. C is totally connected), and C contains all such nodes (C is maximal). . And that sure sign of superstardom: the gossip industry desperately trying to create a romantic link with his latest leading lady. It's all happening for Vince Vaughn. If any of this is going to the 6-foot-5-inch, 35-year-old actor's head, he isn't showing it. Unlike the brash brash (brash) heartburn. water brash heartburn with regurgitation of sour fluid or almost tasteless saliva into the mouth. , trash-talking screen persona Vaughn established nine years ago in ``Swingers,'' recently displayed in the likes of ``Old School,'' ``Dodgeball'' and the new, R-rated sex comedy ``Wedding Crashers,'' the real guy comes off humble and genuinely grateful for his recent success. Though he talks a mile a minute, Vaughn not only lets you get a word in edgewise edge·wise also edge·ways adv. 1. With the edge foremost. 2. On, by, with, or toward the edge. Adv. 1. , but seems happy to hear your point of view. ``No, I'm not always like that,'' says the lanky lank·y adj. lank·i·er, lank·i·est Tall, thin, and ungainly. See Synonyms at lean2. lank  i·ly adv. Midwesterner, wearing a sharp gray suit and elegantly slouched across a hotel suite sofa. ``I really enjoy being quiet sometimes and just relaxing. I feel I'm a pretty good listener. Maybe that's partially why I can portray such fast-talking guys in the movies, from listening a lot and taking in a lot of information.'' In the new movie, Vaughn plays the more manic, stream-of-consciousness half of a pair of pals whose hobby is picking up babes at weddings they weren't invited to. Even for someone who coined the would-be catch phrase ``You're so money!'' in the well-reviewed but under-seen ``Swingers,'' Vaughn's dirty-minded verbal dexterity astonishes in ``Crashers.'' ``He has rapid-fire delivery and a lot of ideas, which was very appropriate for his character,'' observes co-star co·star also co-star n. A starring actor or actress given equal status with another or others in a play or film. tr. & intr.v. co·starred, co·star·ring, co·stars To act or present as a costar. Owen Wilson Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an American actor and writer. Wilson was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on the screenplay of The Royal Tenenbaums, but he is perhaps best known for his successful comedic roles such as John Beckwith in . ``It wasn't so much about keeping up with him, but figuring out where this would take the scene and stuff.'' ``Sometimes people that are very good at improvisation on stage aren't very good in films because you have to ultimately take a scene where it needs to go,'' Vaughn says, revealing a big secret of his success. ``You can say something funny, but if it's not on-story, it's really not very helpful at all.'' Following a string of post-``Swingers'' dramatic duds (``Clay Pigeons clay pigeon target used at gun clubs. It causes poisoning in pigs at pasture which eat the targets. The coal tar pitch used as a binder causes severe hepatic necrosis. See also coal tar pitch. ,'' ``Return to Paradise,'' the ``Psycho'' remake), Vaughn's approach to comedy has not only helped his own star rise, it's aided other actors' vehicles as well. On the weekend we spoke, for example, ``Mr. & Mrs. Smith,'' in which Vaughn made an extended guest appearance for his ``Swingers'' director Doug Liman, opened to spectacular box-office numbers. ``I was just a little bit more than a cameo cameo (kăm`ēō), small relief carving, usually on striated precious or semiprecious stones or on shell. The design, often a portrait head, is commonly cut in the light-colored vein, and the dark one is left as the background. in the movie, but it's exciting that the movie did so well,'' he said with a shrug, then cracked, ``They needed me on this one!'' Of course, the tabloid heat around the presumed affair between ``Smith'' stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie probably sold a few tickets. But there's no denying that Vaughn's small role became more and more prominent in the film's advertising leading up to its release. His rising profile might also be partially responsible for so many small minds wanting to believe that Vaughn and the ex-Mrs. Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, are more than just co-workers on the currently filming ``The Break Up,'' which co-producer Vaughn describes as an ``anti-romantic comedy'' about a split couple who must still live together in the Chicago condo they can barely afford. Vaughn - who, like Aniston, vehemently denies that there's anything more than professional friendship between them - hopes to weather any media madness with a smile. ``I think that now people realize we're working together on this movie 'The Break Up,' '' he says optimistically op·ti·mist n. 1. One who usually expects a favorable outcome. 2. A believer in philosophical optimism. op . ``But that just comes with the territory. I've never dealt with it at the level that these people are dealing with it at all. So, for me, it's easier to have more of a sense of humor Noun 1. sense of humor - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor" sense of humour, humor, humour about it. It's not personal. But I can see from the side how it's a horrible experience for some entertainers, that type of attention.'' The type of attention Vaughn appreciates comes from his fellow film comedians - Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell John William "Will" Ferrell (born July 16, 1967[1]) is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated American comedian, impressionist, writer and actor who first established himself as a cast member of Saturday Night Live, , Owen and Luke Wilson, etc. - who have been dubbed the Frat Pack. Like the extended ``Smith'' cameo, Vaughn's smaller roles in such comedies as ``Zoolander,'' ``Starsky & Hutch'' and ``Anchorman'' are considered extra value in the current funny-movie market. ``Someone came up with this, and it is kind of a reach,'' he says of the Frat label, which plays off the guys-in-their-30s-start-a-fraternity concept of Vaughn's comeback film, ``Old School.'' ``But I think that once you establish it, it is kind of real. The common denominator common denominator n. 1. Mathematics A quantity into which all the denominators of a set of fractions may be divided without a remainder. 2. A commonly shared theme or trait. is Ben Stiller. He really wanted me to be in 'Dodgeball.' He asked Will and Owen and me to be in 'Zoolander,' asked us all to be in 'Starsky & Hutch hutch 1. standard cagelike accommodation for rabbits. 2. light, movable cabin for calves or pigs; to provide shelter and warmth for animals at pasture. hutch burn .' So Stiller's really the guy who's been very supportive and championed a lot of people's careers in a lot of ways.'' This Hollywood buddy system buddy system n. An arrangement in which persons are paired, as for mutual safety or assistance. Noun 1. buddy system reflects the arrested adolescent nature of many of the Pack's films - none more so than ``Crashers.'' To get serious about the subject of a very silly movie for a moment, we asked the never-married Vaughn what this cinematic trend toward noncommitment means to him. ``Part of it is just the time that we live in; it's generational,'' he muses. ``Women are working a lot more, people are pursuing their careers a lot more. They're more kind of into their own thing, more selfish in a way. But I think it's also healthy, because sometimes, in the past, people got married a lot younger without any experiences. They didn't really marry the right person and didn't know who they were at the time. So, there are pros and cons pros and cons Noun, pl the advantages and disadvantages of a situation [Latin pro for + con(tra) against] to it. ``But I do think it's something that comes with time, and the timetable is different for different people. I don't think there's one universal answer for it. But I do think that, ultimately, the highest relationship that you can have in life is with that person of the opposite sex who you're in love with and are best friends with. But it's always great to have good friends. There's a healthy balance, I think.'' Uh, does that mean Vaughn's a romantic at heart? ``Yeah, I think I'm romantic to some degree. I'm more romantic with someone I really like than I am romantic for romance's sake. You know, I'm romantic like, 'You're allowed to sleep over.' I'm very old-fashioned that way. 'Yes, you can say hi to me in public.' I'm a real softy softy - (IBM) Hardware hackers' term for a software expert who is largely ignorant of the mysteries of hardware. that way.'' Such a starry-eyed person must dream of a spectacular wedding, mustn't he? ``I feel, if I have a wedding, it'll be very traditional,'' Vaughn says. ``Very simple, family, traditional wedding. I would prefer there not be a lot of people. But you know how it is. I have no dog in that fight; whatever the girl wanted, that's what it'd be. Don't you think? I don't care
"Don't Care" is a 1994 (see 1994 in music) single by American death metal band Obituary. what the cake looks like, I don't want to get in an argument over it, so go ahead. I would choose my battles more wisely than what the bridesmaids' dresses look like. 'That's fine, Honey, whatever you want.' '' Though he tries to avoid acting the joker full-time, Vaughn obviously understands that humor humor, according to ancient theory, any of four bodily fluids that determined man's health and temperament. Hippocrates postulated that an imbalance among the humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) resulted in pain and disease, and that good health was has been very, very good to him. ``It's strange, in that there's something about doing comedies,'' he reasons. ``You can move up quicker than you can with anything else. There are no special effects special effects, in motion pictures, cinematographic techniques that create illusions in the audience's minds as well as the illusions created using these techniques. and people either laugh or they don't. I have done all of these darker, smaller movies. But comedies - especially if they're mainstream comedies and they do well - you do rise a lot faster than you do in other genres.'' And, at least in Vaughn's case, you get to make like more of a jackass jackass: see ass. than you'd ever think of actually being. ``I'm probably more inhibited, or shy sometimes,'' Vaughn, who began acting in his suburban Chicago high school, says of real life vs. the reel. ``The good thing about acting is that it gives you a playground to do that kind of stuff. I was always confident with acting, for some reason ... but I've always worked hard enough at it to get good at the things that didn't come easy.'' Asked if there was anything he wouldn't do to get a laugh on film, Vaughn had to think long and ... quietly. ``Not really,'' he finally reckoned. ``I feel like, if it makes sense for the story, it's kind of fun to be able to go there. Especially if you're dealing with something called 'Wedding Crashers,' you don't want boundaries. You want to make an R movie, and you want to deal with it in a way that's ... not reckless, exactly, but unapologetic.'' Bob Strauss, (818) 713-3670 bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) THE BEST MAN Vince Vaughn is money when it comes to comedies David Sprague/Staff Photographer (2) no caption (scene from ``Wedding Crashers'') (3) Committed womanizers Owen Wilson, second from left, and Vaughn, right, are skilled at being uninvited un·in·vit·ed adj. Not welcome or wanted: uninvited guests. uninvited Adjective not having been asked: uninvited guests ``guests'' in ``Wedding Crashers.'' |
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