THOUGHTS ON MICHAEL CLARKE DUNCAN

Reporting on every celebrity death would be tireless, constant work I don't know that I could do.  News anchors have to report on it, journalists...but I'm not sure I could do it.  The sadness and confusion of a celebrity death can unite people (see Michael Jackson's death) in mourning of that person, and that's what I think is really important to do now.  Sadly people will forget about Mr. Duncan's passing in a week, consumed with other news being shoved down their throat.  But the beautiful thing about an actor passing is that their legacy can always be carried on in the films they appear in, and that will never end.

Oscar/Golden Globe nominee Michael Clarke Duncan died on September 3, 2012.  I turned on the TV to CNN to find this news, and it just broke me.  Being a movie critic means you get crucified if you haven't seen a certain movie in popular favor.  I hate when I tell people I'm a movie fan, and follow it up with "Oh, but I haven't seen 'The Empire Strikes Back'," people flip out.  But I will be that person if somebody tells me they haven't seen "The Green Mile," which is what I consider my personal favorite movie of all time.  It has epic storytelling, great writing, and most importantly, inCREDIBLE performances.  Just like a certain moment in your life, you always remember where you were when you saw your favorite movie; whether it was on a date with your first real girlfriend, maybe sitting alone and watching it while you were sick, or laughing hysterically over it with your best friend, you'll always remember it.

It was summer 2009 I believe, on FX, when I saw an advertisement for "The Green Mile." Summer 2009 was the beginning of my interest in movies, particularly Oscar winners.  I had never heard of "TGM" before hand, and when they showed that little 30 second trailer before it starts I was mesmerized by it.  On TV the movie version was four hours long, so I recorded the final hour and eagerly popped it in the next day.  I'm not alone in this when I say at the end the movie had tearing up big time, and I just waited after a  minute or two when the credits rolled and thought "wow....that was truly amazing.  Of course anyone can tell you "Green Mile" belonged to Duncan, and while some African American groups debate over the way John Coffey was portrayed, there's absolutely no denying Duncan's melancholy, powerful and electrifying presence that earned him a title that can never be washed away: Oscar nominee.  That year fellow Michael Michael Caine won best supporting actor in a role no one remembers in "The Cider House Rules." (No offense, Alfred).

Whenever I see Duncan's name in the credits (usually for voice credits with that booming sound of his) I smile a little and think back to John Coffey bending that gun in two in "Green Mile."  He was great in "Daredevil" (one of the only good aspects of that movie IMO), had a funny role in "Talladega Nights," and an even funnier turn as an overprotective dad on "Two and a Half Men," that had me howling in laughter as he chatted with Charlie Sheen and Sean Penn.  Unfortunately Duncan couldn't help being typecast, he does fit a rather particular bill, and I remember one day before school watching those "Married...with Children" reruns on TBS and seeing him as a bodyguard.  I always plan movies I'm going to make in my mind, hypothetically of course because I know I can't be a director, and when I do I think of my dream cast Michael Clarke Duncan was always, and I'm not kidding, always a part of that cast, in a great supporting role. 

I'll never get to do that now, but like stars before him, fans of Duncan and "The Green Mile" should rest easy in the wake of his death; Duncan will be around for decades and decades, always delighting new generations of movie fans all the while. R.I.P.