1991 Academy Awards

Just a little blast from the past to brighten up your day.

In 1991, during the filming of Mobsters, Richard Grieco and his cast mates, Patrick Dempsey, Christian Slater and Costas Mandylor presented an award--all spiffed up in their handmade tuxedos.  It's short, but they look good.

 

Film News Interview with Richard Grieco

This interview from the UK website Film News overlaps quite a bit with the Art Catalogue by the Sea piece I posted yesterday, but there are a few additions. And, in addition to the bonus questions, it's always nice to see word spreading in a variety of venues.

Of course, every new foray into the public eye brings out the good and the bad: though Richard is getting a lot of great coverage for his artwork and those in the industry seem to have only good things to say, the celebrity gossip crowd isn't always so kind. Example: yesterday's Warm Glow piece, "Richard Grieco Would Like to Sell You a Bottle He Painted for $1800."

Seems to me before anyone gets too amused, they might want to take a peek at the "Sold" page on Grieco's website...even I was surprised by how many times I had to click that "Show More" button to get them all to display.

Richard Grieco Interview in Art Catalogue by the Sea

You may recall that shortly after Richard's gallery opening in September, Gallerie Sparta shared a photo from an "art magazine shoot." Print magazines have a long lead time, so it wasn't until this week that the interview surfaced. It's well worth the wait.

Art Catalogue by the Sea's multi-page spread on Richard Grieco includes an in-depth interview, several photos of Richard with and creating his artwork and images of many of his paintings.

While fans will have heard much of the background before, Richard talks at length about what art means to him. And, perhaps most interesting to me, he shares the story of how his Soul Bottles came into being and how his process with them differs from the way he paints on canvas.

The piece is well worth a read whether you're a fan from the television days or an art enthusiast--and, if you discovered Richard during his 21 Jump Street days, you'll probably like his new look. Added bonus: the publication is filled with gorgeous artwork from others, as well.

Was Booker a Mistake?

Hollywood.com has included Booker on a list of spin-offs that shouldn't have been. Though I agree with several of the selections, I can't get on board with this one (and that has nothing to do with the whole "just an excuse for Richard Grieco to get naked" thing).

Unlike some shows that made the list (Joey, for example), the writer doesn't actually criticize Booker. Rather, the argument seems to be that it would have made more sense to keep Dennis Booker where he was, as added "edge and man candy" on 21 Jump Street.

Yep, I've totally posted this before...in my very first post.
You know you wanted to see it again.

While I'm sure none of us are going to argue with that characterization, I think that 21 Jump Street ran its course, and I don't think I agree with the writer's suggestion that Grieco's continued presence could have kept the show aloft after Johnny Depp's departure.

What do you think? Did Fox make a mistake spinning Dennis Booker off into his own series? If so, was it an "ugh, that show really sucked" kind of mistake or more of a "wow, 21 Jump Street was so much more awesome before you pulled that character out of it" kind of mistake? Would the original series have lasted longer with Richard to hold our attention?

Minutes to Midnight Update

Last month, we learned that Richard Grieco had been cast as the Sheriff in the upcoming thriller / horror flick Minutes to Midnight. At that point, we knew that Kane Hodder and WWE's John Hennigan would also appear in the film, that the story centered on a series of murders in a ski lodge on New Year's Eve and that Friday the 13th franchise composer Harry Manfredini had signed on for the score.

This week, joblo.com told us that Bill Mosely and John Kapelos had also joined the cast.

More interestingly, the update also included new plot details, including the fact that one of the villains is a painter who uses human blood in his work, to capture the souls of his victims. Though it's a fairly unusual niche, this won't be the first time Grieco has portrayed a character investigating a murderous artist. In The Apostate, Richard stars as a priest drawn in to the investigation of a serial killer when his younger brother becomes a victim.

That role, as you may know, turned out to be life-altering for Grieco. It was co-star Dennis Hopper (the murderous artist) who persuaded Richard to go public with his real-life artwork, now emerging as the cornerstone of his creative and professional life.

Richard Grieco's Roses

If you haven't seen Richard's 1991 appearance on the Arsenio Hall Show, you're going to love this video. (Hey, let's be honest...if you saw it 22 years ago, you're still going to want to watch it again.)

The opening bit where Arsenio basically calls Richard a liar when he claims to grow roses is funny, and you'll pick up some charming confirmation that Grieco is not a celebrity at heart.

 

Minutes to Midnight

Not to be confused with After Midnight, which was completed last month--Richard Grieco has a brand new film in the works.

This one co-stars Kane Hodder of Jason X fame and John Hennigan, better known as the WWE's "Johnny Nitro".

There isn't a lot of information available about Minutes to Midnight just yet, but it's classified as a horror film and the high-level story line involves a group of people targeted by a killer in a ski lodge on New Year's Eve.

I've commented before on how often Richard plays a dangerous man, but in this one he's the good guy.  Or, at least, he's the Sheriff. I suppose that doesn't entirely rule him out as the killer.

Another interesting note: the film will be scored by Friday the 13th franchise composer Harry Manfredini.

More information to come as it's available!