Star Pick with William Ragsdale

With a towering warrior frame, Jason Momoa is a rare actor whose size onscreen matches his larger than life build in person (no offense to other stars, but usually, for whatever reason, height is not one of their trademarks). Yet, despite his imposing height and breadth, he is chill and zen when you meet him – a relaxed, calming presence. Momoa has quickly built up his star status, most wholly unaware of his time on Baywatch (44 episodes, no less), often forgotten in his role on Stargate: Atlantis, or his turn in the remake of Conan the Barbarian, most thinking his take on Khal Drogo (on the surface, a savage barbarian, Momoa built a fascinating, multi-faceted character) in Game of Thrones was his first major performance. . . and since, he has made intriguing, surprising, and most importantly, quality choices with his career – splitting time between film and television. Eccentric roles in B movies like Bullet to the Head and The Bad Batch, or selecting the Canadian series Frontier (where he plays a part-Native outlaw involved in the fur trade), fit the man like a glove, personas that meld with the actor, for even his most recent win, that of Arthur Curry, better known as Aquaman (currently, as of January the 8th, 2019, the number one film in the world), could have been considered a risky bet. . . for the underwater superhero has often been the joke of the industry (remember Vincent Chase’s lack of interest in Entourage) – after all, he swims around the ocean talking to fish, yet Momoa (and director James Wan) have made the hero cool again – a slick, at times comedic warrior hero in the vein of King Arthur or Indiana Jones.

A while back, I sat down with the great Scott Wilson. Perhaps known more recently as Hershel on The Walking Dead, he has been busy carving out an interesting career over the past five plus decades. Starting off with roles in two classics, In the Heat of the Night and In Cold Blood, since, he has graced the silver screen in films such as 1974's The Great Gatsby, The Ninth Configuration, Johnny Handsome, Young Guns II, The Exorcist III, Dead Man Walking, Shiloh (and its two sequels), G.I. Jane, Pearl Harbor, The Last Samurai, The Host, and a small but integral turn in this past year’s Hostiles, while recently, he has appeared on television series including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Bosch, and The OA. . . this much shortened filmography gives you a small idea of the impact he has made in the industry.

It was a pleasure sitting down with Randy Havens at CAPE Cornwall a few months back. Everyone’s favourite science teacher from the ultra popular Netflix series Stranger Things (Mr. Clarke for those wanting his character’s name), the actor has carved out an intriguing persona on the show – a kind-hearted, nurturing mentor and positive influence for the exuberant youths who are constantly dealing with things that go bump in the night. Also having standout roles on the television shows Halt and Catch Fire, Sleepy Hollow, Living the Dream and in the animated series Archer, he will next be seen in a few highly anticipated motion pictures. . . namely the Joel Edgerton written, directed and starring Boy Erased, Jason Reitman’s Gary Hart Presidential campaign biopic The Front Runner, Sean Anders’ newest comedy, Instant Family, and Godzilla: King of the Monsters – the sequel to the favourably reviewed 2014 feature.

It was an absolute pleasure to sit down with guitar guru Damon Johnson a few months back. The co-founder of Brother Cane, the band helped shoot Johnson onto the national scene – partially thanks to three number one hits on rock radio, namely: “Got No Shame”, “And Fools Shine On”, and “I Lie in the Bed I Make”. And, for horror fans, “And Fools Shine On” was used in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (the sixth entry in the franchise). Disbanding in 1998, Johnson has been in demand ever since. He has worked (either touring or writing/recording) with Sammy Hagar (album: Marching to Mars), Faith Hill, John Waite, Whiskey Falls, Queensrÿche, Stevie Nicks, as well as many others (including his own solo projects). In 2004, he joined Alice Cooper as his lead guitarist. . . also co-writing and recording the superlative album Dirty Diamonds – some standout songs include, “Woman of Mass Distraction”, “Perfect”, “Dirty Diamonds”, and “Sunset Babies (All Got Rabies)”. On the road for five consecutive tours until 2011 (I saw them back in 2006), he was asked to join another iconic rock band, Thin Lizzy – Cooper gave him his blessing, and he made the jump.

What is there to say about an icon like John Carpenter? An auteur with the skill to make dynamic features with a minuscule budget, his film Halloween majorly influenced the slasher sub-genre (along with gialli, and other movies such as Peeping Tom, Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Black Christmas). One of the most prolific horror filmmakers since the 1970s, he followed up the October 31st related motion picture with titles like The Fog, The Thing, Christine, They Live, amongst many others, whilst he has branched out into other genres with films like Assault on Precinct 13 (action), Escape From New York and its sequel Escape From L.A. (sci-fi action), Starman (a sci-fi romance), and Big Trouble in Little China (an action adventure comedy).

I was fortunate enough to sit down with actor Jayson Warner Smith at CAPE (Cornwall and Area Pop Expo) recently. Perhaps best known as Gavin, Negan's trusted and rather level-headed manager of the Kingdom in The Walking Dead, he has quickly carved out several quality roles on both television and the silver screen in a short time. Also with a key role on the highly acclaimed series Rectify (which ran for four seasons and ended in 2016), his character of Wendall Jelks is a master antagonizer and death row inmate, while he takes a wholly different turn as a loyal yet wild right-hand man airplane pilot to Tom Cruise's character in 2017's American Made (directed by Doug Liman). He has also appeared on the big screen in films such as Footloose (the remake), Mississippi Grind, Christine, and Birth of a Nation.