Month: January 2014

Categories
Awards

I NEED TO SEE INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS!!

‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ honored by the National Society of Film Critics

The Coens’ film about failure continues to experience little of it. The National Society of Film Critics handed out their awards on Saturday and Inside Llewyn Davis, Joel and Ethan Coen’s soulful and sardonic journey set among the Greenwich Village folk music set, came away with a number of top prizes, including Best Picture, Director, and Actor. Also honored were Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine, James Franco for Spring Breakers, and Jennifer Lawrence for American Hustle. Check out the full list of winners and runners-up below, including the voting breakdown.

BEST PICTURE
Inside Llewyn Davis – 23
American Hustle – 17
12 Years a Slave – 16

BEST DIRECTOR
Joel and Ethan Coen (Inside Llewyn Davis) – 25
Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity) – 18
Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) – 15

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
Blue Is the Warmest Color – 27
A Touch of Sin – 21
The Great Beauty – 15

BEST NON-FICTION FILM
(Tie)
The Act of Killing – 20
At Berkeley – 20
Leviathan – 18

BEST SCREENPLAY
Before Midnight (Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke) – 29
Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel and Ethan Coen) – 26
American Hustle (Eric Singer and David O. Russell) – 18

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Inside Llewyn Davis (Bruno Delbonnel) -28
Gravity (Emmanuel Lubezki) – 26
Nebraska (Phedon Papamichael) – 19

BEST ACTOR
Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis) – 28
Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) – 19
Robert Redford (All Is Lost) – 12

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) – 57
Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue Is the Warmest Color) – 36
Julie Delpy (Before Midnight) – 26

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
James Franco (Spring Breakers) – 24
Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) – 20
Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips) – 14

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle) – 54
Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) – 38
Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine) – 18
Léa Seydoux (Blue Is the Warmest Color) – 18

EXPERIMENTAL FILM
Leviathan

BEST FILM STILL AWAITING AMERICAN DISTRIBUTION
Stray Dogs and Hide Your Smiling Faces

Categories
Movies

Oh, I forgot that the new PARANORMAL ACTIVITY movie opened this weekend. I need to see that!

Box office report: ‘Frozen’ freezes the latest ‘Paranormal Activity’ out of the top spot with $20.7 million

As much of the Northeast was trapped in a winter wonderland not unlike its snow-cursed setting, Disney’s Frozen managed to reclaim the No. 1 spot at the box office for the first time in three weekends. The animated film took in $20.7 million, which is a nearly 28 percent drop from last week’s numbers but still impressive considering it’s no longer a holiday and the film is already in its sixth weekend of wide release. It’s now inevitable that the Disney hit will cross the $300 million mark, as it’s currently sitting pretty at $297.8 million. That’s $97 million more than 2010′s Tangled –Disney’s previous CG-animated adaptation of a fairy tale with a past participle for a title—made in its entire domestic run. Meanwhile, Frozen‘s worldwide total has reached $639.9 million.

Much like the first snow, the first shameless sequel of the year is a milestone that came early in 2014. But Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, the Latino-marketed spin-off and fifth film in the popular horror franchise, couldn’t quite possess the top spot with its shaky-cam scares. The movie took in $18.2 million in its opening weekend, which is a whopping 38 percent less than its predecessor Paranormal Activity 4 made in its first few days out and the lowest ever debut for a Paranormal Activity film in wide release. For the last half-decade, Paramount has been wringing this series for all its worth—Paranormal Activity 5 hits theaters this October—and the returns appear to be diminishing. Moviegoers also seem to be growing a bit tired of the movies’ limited bag of tricks: Despite receiving generally better reviews than PA4, The Marked Ones rated a step down with Cinemascore, from C to C-. Still, this is a cheap goose and even if it switches from laying golden eggs to silver ones, it’s fine for the studio.

After three weeks at No. 1, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug tumbles like a dwarf in a barrel to third place with $16.3 million. So far, the second episode of Peter Jackson’s trilogy isn’t reaping quite as big a pile of gold as the first: Smaug comes out of its fourth weekend with a healthy $229.6 million, but that’s still $34.2 million less than An Unexpected Journey had at this same point last year. The first Hobbit took in a grand total of $303 million domestically, which means the second one most likely won’t make it past that three-double-zero mark. If that ends up being the case, it would be the first of Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth films not to do so.

Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street takes a decent bite out of the box office with $13.4 million, bringing the total for Martin Scorsese’s coke-fueled tale of stock-pushing sybarites to $63.3 million. There’s a very good chance Marty’s latest will surpass Hugo‘s disappointing total domestic take of $73.9 million, showing Americans prefer their Scorsese to be decidedly un-family friendly. Meanwhile, David O. Russell’s American Hustle, which features more than a wink to Marty’s signature aesthetic, is nipping at The Wolf‘s back paws. It rounds out the list with $13.2 million, as Sony’s critically acclaimed ensemble dissembles its way to $88.7 million.

1. Frozen – $20.7 million
2. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones – $18.2 million
3. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – $16.3 million
4. The Wolf of Wall Street – $13.4 million
5. American Hustle – $13.2 million

Categories
The Couch Potato Report

It is a cold and stormy weekend…why not watch a movie?

The Couch Potato Report – January 4th, 2014

The first week of any new year will never be the biggest week for new releases…Happy New Year, by the way…but there are a few that are worth mentioning, including the interesting DON JON, which marks the directorial debut of former child star Joseph Gordon-Levitt, from THIRD ROCK FROM THE SUN, who has recently appeared – as a grown-up – in THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, LOOPER and INCEPTION.

DON JON finds him playing a regular guy who is fully dedicated to his family, friends, and church.

One night he meets a beautiful and seemingly perfect woman – played by Scarlett Johansson of THE AVENGERS and LOST IN TRANSLATION – and Don falls in love.

Unfortunately, no matter how perfect she seems, no matter how much he loves her and his family love her, Don loves something else even more than her, more than any woman, in fact. Don is addicted to adult films.

Don Jon is trying to find happiness and intimacy with his potential true love, but he struggles to give up the adult films he loves so much.

With a lesser cast, DON JON could have been a film that wasn’t worthy of our time, but this cast – that also includes Julianne Moore and Tony Danza – is so strong that I can actually recommend the movie.

Yes, DON JON is a bit repetitive and the subject matter may turn some people away, but I do mildly recommend it, especially during the first week of the new year, when there isn’t much else out there.

Horror fans, Happy New Year to you!!, I have something for you…remember the 2010 film INSIDIOUS about the couple whose son became comatose and a vessel for ghosts in an astral dimension?

Well, that creepy flick now has a sequel and in INSIDIOUS – CHAPTER 2, the boy is safe, but his parents are possibly at risk and need to discover how they have become connected to the spirit world…before it’s too late!!

I didn’t think that the first INSIDIOUS film was great, but it was an effective horror film. It did what I expect from movies like this: scare me a little, creep me out, make me jump back a few times, and show me something I haven’t seen before…or at least not seen too often.

INSIDIOUS – CHAPTER 2 is all of that as well, plus it is extra creepy. And I mean that in the good way that horror films can be.

Non-horror fans should skip INSIDIOUS – CHAPTER 2, but I do easily recommend it to anyone who likes this kind of stuff.

Every year or so a small little film comes out that I usually gravitate toward and easily recommend.

Even without much acclaim or fanfare, I tend to love these movies. Last year that movie was YOUR SISTER’S SISTER and when I first heard of TOUCHY FEELY, I thought it would be one of these films for me as well, after all it has a cast I like and a premise I find interesting, but – unfortunately – it is just a small little film that I’m glad I’ve seen, but won’t recommend.

TOUCHY FEELY is the story of a massage therapist who finds herself unable to touch human skin. She is one of the best at what she does, but one day she just can’t touch people…at all.

That I still find interesting, but instead of examining how someone can turn into someone who has an aversion to touching skin, TOUCHY FEELY is also about that woman’s brother, an uptight dentist who somehow becomes a man with the power to heal.

That secondary story wasn’t interesting as the character is basically a jerk, with little to no redeeming qualities, and the tertiary story in the film – featuring Canadian actress Ellen Page as a young woman with a crush on her Aunt’s boyfriend – was the least interesting part of the film.

I never disliked TOUCHY FEELY, as I said, I’m glad I’ve seen it, but I don’t recommend it…at all. Nothing really happens, and then it just ends. Like this review.

I also can’t recommend the film WRECKERS, starring Benedict Cumberbatch of the BBC’s SHERLOCK. This is an older film, made before he was the well-known actor he is today, and it isn’t one most people need to see.

Benedict stars here as one half of a married couple who move back to his childhood village to start a family.

All is – seemingly – going well, until the day they receive a surprise visit from the husband’s brother.

A visit that re-ignites some age old sibling rivalry and makes the wife start to wonder if she even knows the man she’s married.

The problem with WRECKERS is that it has very little that we haven’t seen before, and the result is a movie that is barely a step above boring.

This one is for huge fan, and I mean HUGE fan of Benedict Cumberbatch’s only. Everyone else should just skip it.

Hey, let’s laugh now, and laugh you will at THE SIXTEENTH SEASON of the classic animated show THE SIMPSONS!!

SEASON SIXTEEN features guest voices Jason Bateman, Gary Busey, James Caan, Stephen Hawking, Eric Idle, Liam Neeson, Amy Poehler, Ray Romano and plenty more! Plus, they make fun of Saskatchewan!!

I agree, this season of the show isn’t included when fans talk about the glory years of the show, but there are still some huge laughs, and I really enjoyed it!!

THE SIMPSONS – THE SIXTEENTH SEASON, guaranteed to fit on your shelf between SEASONS FIFTEEN and SEVENTEEN!!

And guaranteed to fit on your shelf between VOLUME 11 and 13 is VOLUME 12 of FAMILY GUY!!

I’ve been saying for more than a couple of years that FAMILY GUY is waaaaay past its prime, and I maintain that stance right now, but I’ve also been saying that said, it does still make me laugh out loud on occasion.

And it does…at least it made me laugh out loud.

FAMILY GUY – VOLUME 12 features the show’s 200th episode and a few extra surprises.

I can’t highly recommend VOLUME 12 of FAMILY GUY because it is past its prime, and continues to feature lazy, borderline racist humour, but I will admit that it did make me laugh.

Just as I’m sure VOLUME 13 will.

Hey, do you remember, back in the mid-to-late-eighties, when all of those movies about people switching bodies came out at around the same time?

There was LIKE FATHER LIKE SON, 17 AGAIN, VICE VERSA, ALL OF ME and BIG, just to name five.

Most of them haven’t stood the test of time and can be hard to find on DVD or Netflix, except for BIG, which has just been re-released in HD on blu-ray in a fantastic 25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION.

Directed by Penny Marshall, BIG stars Tom Hanks – in an Academy Award nominated performance – as Josh Baskin, a young boy who makes a wish “to be big” and wakes up the next day an adult, much to his delight, but to the dismay of his parents.

The new blu-ray of BIG also features an extended cut of the film, and some great behind-the-scenes retrospective materials.

I’ve always loved BIG, Tom Hanks is great in it, and I thoroughly enjoyed re-watching it again this week.

The 25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION of still great comedy BIG; VOLUME 12 of the occasionally funny FAMILY GUY; the very enjoyable SIXTEENTH SEASON of THE SIMPSONS; the for Benedict Cumberbatch fans only drama WRECKERS; the completely skippable drama TOUCHY FEELY; the creepy horror flick INSIDIOUS – CHAPTER 2; and the interesting, yet odd DON JON – written, directed by and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt – are all available now, either on disc or on demand.

And for the first weekend in January 2014, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here again next time on The Couch!

Categories
People

Sad news…may he rest in peace.

Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers dies at 74

Phil Everly, who with his brother, Don, made up the most revered vocal duo of the rock-music era, their exquisite harmonies profoundly influencing the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Byrds and countless younger-generation rock, folk and country singers, died Friday in Burbank of complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, his wife, Patti Everly, told The Los Angeles Times. He was 74.

“We are absolutely heartbroken,” she said, noting that the disease was the result of a lifetime of cigarette smoking. “He fought long and hard.”
During the height of their popularity in the late 1950s and early 1960s, they charted nearly three dozen hits on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, among them “Cathy’s Clown,” “Wake Up Little Suzie,” “Bye Bye Love,” “When Will I Be Loved” and “All I Have to Do Is Dream.” The Everly Brothers were among the first 10 performers inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when it got off the ground in 1986.

“They had that sibling sound,” said Linda Ronstadt, who scored one of the biggest hits of her career in 1975 with her recording of “When Will I Be Loved,” which Phil Everly wrote. “The information of your DNA is carried in your voice, and you can get a sound [with family] that you never get with someone who’s not blood related to you. And they were both such good singers–they were one of the foundations, one of the cornerstones of the new rock ‘n’ roll sound.”

Robert Santelli, executive director of the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, said Friday, “When you talk about harmony singing in the popular music of the postwar period, the first place you start is the Everly Brothers…. You could say they were the vocal link between all the 1950s great doo wop groups and what would come in the 1960s with the Beach Boys and the Beatles. They showed the Beach Boys and the Beatles how to sing harmony and incorporate that into a pop music form that was irresistible.”

In addition to his wife, Everly is survived by his brother, Don, their mother, Margaret, sons Jason and Chris, and two granddaughters. Funeral services will be private.

Categories
Movies

Seems like the smart thing to do.

Universal Will “Retire” Paul Walker’s Character in FAST & FURIOUS 7

The seventh installment of the Fast & Furious franchise has been surrounded by an air of uncertainty for the past few weeks following the unfortunate passing of star Paul Walker. Speculation has run rampant with regards to how Universal would move forward with Fast & Furious 7 after Walker’s death, given that the film was in the middle of production when the actor passed. The studio officially pushed the James Wan-directed pic’s release date from this coming July to April 2015, and now it appears that all parties involved have settled on how to move forward with the pic: Walker’s character will be “retired” in Fast & Furious 7.

Paul Walker had already filmed a number of scenes for Fast & Furious 7 when he passed, so many have wondered whether Universal would try to incorporate some of that footage into the film or if Walker would be wholly absent from the seventh installment of the car-centered series. Screenwriter Chris Morgan was brought in to revise the script last month, and now THR reports that Walker’s character Brian O’Conner will not be killed off in Fast & Furious 7, but will instead be retired “in a way that the studio hopes will satisfy fans of the franchise and make use of the exciting footage of Walker.”

Additional scenes will be written and shot in order to give Walker’s character the proper conclusion, as his character will remain a part of the story of Fast & Furious 7. This seems like a solid decision as opposed to killing off Walker’s character, which would have felt crass and inappropriate. The franchise will then continue without Brian O’Conner, but hopefully Wan and Morgan have come up with a fitting sendoff not only for the character, but for Walker as well. Fast & Furious 7 will open in theaters April 10, 2015.

Categories
The Simpsons

Can’t wait to see it!!

Judd Apatow’s 20-Year-Old ‘Simpsons’ Episode Will Air Next Season

One of Judd Apatow’s dreams will come true when The Simpsons creates an episode around a script he wrote . . . over 20 years ago. Apatow recalled writing the episode in a recent interview with EW. He remembered penning it, along with a spec script for the early Nineties Fox series Get a Life, after the cartoon’s first season, which premiered in December 1989.

“I sent them all around town and I did not get a job from anybody,” he said. “I got a meeting at Get a Life and didn’t get a job there either. But I heard that they liked it at The Simpsons.” After a stint writing for The Ben Stiller Show, Simpsons producers Al Jean and Mike Reiss hired the director to work on the cartoon The Critic, but even then they did not consider developing his episode. Jean finally decided to look at the script a few years ago after reading an interview with Apatow, in which he mentioned his episode. “The reason I brought up The Simpsons episode is because I realized while doing this interview that everything I had ever written was the premise of the first thing I had ever written,” Apatow told EW. “All of my stories are about people trying hard not to grow up.”

As for the plot of Apatow’s episode, he said that the Simpson family would go to a “hypnotism show,” but the hypnotist would suffer a heart attack mid-demonstration. This would leave Homer thinking that he was 10 years old. “It’s about Bart and Homer becoming best friends because they’re the same age, and then Homer doesn’t want to be revived because he’d rather be 10 than have adult responsibility,” Apatow explained. “I wrote it in what I thought was the style of The Simpsons after only six episodes had aired.”

The director says that the Simpsons writing team is currently punching up his script and that the changes he’s seen so far have been “hilarious and brilliant.” After the writers finish the editing process, Apatow will look over the script again. “I think the idea of my episode is very good and there are some nice moments,” he said, “but it was the first thing I ever wrote. . . .” He also joked about wanting to voice the episode’s hypnotist.

Apatow ended the interview by saying that getting the episode developed is “a real full-circle moment” for him. “I wanted to be a part of it from the second it was created,” he said. “I knew it was one of the landmark moments in comedy and now that I have become a part of it, there is a small part of me that thinks I should retire. . . . There’s nothing else to dream for.”

Since writing the script, the Apatow has become one of the strongest voices in modern comedy with films such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, This Is 40 and more, as well as executive-producing the TV series Girls. This Sunday, Apatow will lend his voice to The Simpsons alongside actors he’s worked with often over the years – Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen and his wife, Leslie Mann – as well as Channing Tatum and Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford.

Categories
Music

Cooool!!!

Jimmy Page says Led Zeppelin reissues will be released this year

The first of Led Zeppelin’s long-mooted remastered reissues will be released this year.

Guitarist Jimmy Page first revealed that he was working on remastering a number of Led Zeppelin albums back in 2012. He has now posted a New Year’s message on his website, via Planet Rock, stating the first reissues will come out later in 2014. He wrote: “It’s good news for the New Year. The first of the Led Zeppelin releases – comprising of Led Zeppelin I, Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin III and their companion discs – will be released this year. I’ve also been working on some of my own material from the archives that will be unleashed in 2014.” It is rumoured that artist Shepard Fairey will be redesigning the original artwork for the new releases, after creating the artwork for the ‘Celebration Day’ live album and film.

Robert Plant recently stated that he had discovered some previously unreleased Led Zeppelin music, some of which features the band’s bassist John Paul Jones on vocals. Speaking on BBC 6Music, the rocker said to Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie that he listened to the material with Jimmy Page and it is likely that the music will feature on the remastered releases of Led Zeppelin’s back catalogue.

He said: “I found some quarter-inch spools recently. I had a meeting with Jimmy and we baked ’em up and listened to ’em. And there’s some very, very interesting bits and pieces that probably will turn up on these things.” Speaking about John Paul Jones’ response to the material which features him on vocals, he joked that Jones is trying to bribe him not to release the songs. “So far, he’s going to give me two cars and a greenhouse not to get ’em on the album,” he said.

Last year Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis revealed that Led Zeppelin were at the top of her dream list for future headliners for the festival. Speaking to the BBC, Eavis was asked if there was a Post-it note on her fridge with her dream list written on. “Yeah, it’s on a napkin actually. On the fridge, there… We would love to have Adele. And we’d also love to have Led Zeppelin. I mean Zeppelin have got to do it, haven’t they? It would be so good, wouldn’t it,” she said.

Categories
Bruuuuuuuuce!!

This is an interesting way to promote the new album.

Springsteen songs get a fair hearing on ‘The Good Wife’

The Good Wife has a new Boss.

The critically acclaimed drama — and CBS’ website — will be the unusual first official spots to listen to Bruce Springsteen’s 18th studio album, High Hopes, before its Jan. 14 release.

Starting at 10 p.m. ET Sunday, until 7 p.m. ET on Jan. 13, fans can stream the album exclusively, in its entirety, at CBS.com/springsteen. And the Jan. 12 episode of Wife will feature snippets of three songs from the forthcoming album, including the title song (released as a single last month), Hunter of Invisible Game and The Ghost of Tom Joad, a new version of the title track of a 1995 album.

It’s part of a deal between Springsteen’s label, Columbia Records, and CBS to gain wider exposure for the album in an unconventional way, and lure his Baby Boomer fans to the show and the top-rated network’s website. CBS paid a customary fee to license the songs for the episode.

“Of course we were incredibly excited by the potential; we’re huge Springsteen fans,” says Michelle King, co-creator and executive producer of the series with her husband, Robert.

The deal came together after the episode, this season’s 12th, had been written and filmed, but not yet edited. Its writer, Keith Eisner, is “from New Jersey, and when he heard Bruce Springsteen songs were being used, he literally jumped up and down,” she says.

Springsteen recorded versions of the 12 songs during the decade before his last album, 2012’s Wrecking Ball, but only three were released in their early forms: Hopes, a Tim Scott cover, on a 1995 EP, American Skin (41 Shots) on a 2001 live set and Tom Joad. All tunes were freshly recorded for the new disc, which also includes covers of The Saints’ Just Like Fire Would and Suicide’s Dream Baby Dream.

“This is music I always felt needed to be released,” Springsteen says in a statement announcing the CBS deal, to be unveiled today. “I felt they all deserved a home and a hearing.”

Robert King says the producers got a “super-secret” listening session a few weeks ago, and though they initially planned to use one song, “we got greedy” and chose three. “The one that obviously jumped out at us was High Hopes; it has that driving momentum,” he says. And they picked Invisible Game for the closing scenes, tying together several plot threads.

In the episode, titled “We Are Juries,” Alicia (Julianna Margulies) and former partner Will (Josh Charles) separately represent each side of a couple accused of drug smuggling, and cause confusion when they insist on separate jury pools.

Aiming for better ways to promote as music sales lag, it has become more commonplace for musicians to offer sneak previews of their work on iTunes or their own websites. Making an entire album available on a broadcast TV network website, however, is unprecedented.

But CBS’ hopes for a coup were partially dashed when Amazon’s mobile site on Saturday briefly sold tracks from the album. The songs were pulled, but not before eager fans had purchased and uploaded them to file-sharing sites. Early reviews based on those songs were mixed.

Categories
SCTV

Awesome!!!

‘SCTV’ Reunion: Martin Short, Eugene Levy to Appear on Andrea Martin’s ‘Working the Engels’

TORONTO — Martin Short and Eugene Levy are set to guest star on the Andrea Martin comedy vehicle Working the Engels for NBC and Shaw Media.

Martin, Short and Levy worked together in the Toronto production of Godspell before later joining SCTV as performers and writers.

The Halfire-CORE comedy will see Short play Chuck Pastry, the head of huge corporation Big Pastry, while Levy will perform the role of Arthur Horowitz, a family-oriented, well-connected and much-loved lawyer who is a neighbor of the Engels.

The series, created and written by Katie Ford and Jane Ford, centers on a family who must band together to keep their heads above water when their father and breadwinner passes away, leaving them with a mountain of debt.

The Engels must all go to work running Dad’s storefront law firm, with one minor problem: Daughter Jenna is the only one who is qualified to practice law.

Scott Thompson (The Kids in the Hall) and Sarah Levy will also guest star on the Canadian comedy, while Jason Priestley (Beverly Hills, 90210) will direct four episodes.

Besides Martin, Working the Engels stars Kacey Rohl, Azura Skye and Benjamin Arthur.

The 12-episode series is currently shooting in Toronto.

Categories
People

May he rest in peace.

‘Fresh Prince’ actor James Avery dies, aged 68

Los Angeles (AFP) – US actor James Avery, most famous as Uncle Phil in hit 1990s sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” died on New Year’s Eve aged 68, his publicist said.

With a deep baritone voice, Avery regularly played judges, professors or doctors in TV shows in the 1980s and 90s, as well as extensive voice work, including on animated projects.

His first big-screen role was an uncredited part in 1980s classic “The Blues Brothers,” and he enjoyed a prolific TV and movie career stretching over three decades.

But the role most people will remember him for is as Philip Banks on the 1990s NBC series, who played a role model to the young Will Smith’s character, a fictionalized rapper version of himself.

“I’m deeply saddened to say James Avery has passed away,” his “Fresh Prince” co-star Alfonso Ribeiro tweeted. “He was a second father to me. I will miss him greatly.”

Born James LaRue Avery in Virginia and raised in New Jersey, he had worked until September, shooting the film “Wish I Was Here” directed by Zach Braff, which will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this month.

Avery died late Tuesday in hospital in Glendale, outside Los Angeles, “due to complications from open heart surgery,” his publicist Cynthia Snyder told AFP in an email.

He is survived by his wife of 26 years, Barbara Avery, his mother Florence Avery, and his stepson Kevin Waters. Plans are being made for a memorial service, the spokeswoman said.