One Last Stroll Down The ‘boulevard’ With Robin Williams

“I think every generation has a different take on Robin Williams,” says Dito Montiel, 49, who directed the late superstar in his final live-action role. The indie is less a coming-out celebration than a drama about a man letting go of the love of his life, his wife of 40 years (played by Kathy Baker). Montiel says Williams embraced the complexity of the role and would talk about the work for hours. Williams was ideally cast as Parry, a “there but for the grace of God go I” homeless man whose previously ordinary life had been destroyed in an instant. The character allowed Williams to marry his extreme dynamic levels with sympathetic emotional depths. “The Birdcage” may be the actor’s funniest film, because of Mike Nichols’ crackerjack direction, Elaine May’s whip-crack adapted screenplay, and Nathan Lane and Hank Azaria making meals of the scenery. [...] as stunning as that figure sounds, it’s not even the studio’s largest crater. [...] the losers and still champs: “The Lone Ranger” is estimated to have gone as much as $190 million in the hole, and “John Carter” (which is not as bad as its reviews), according to Disney’s financial reports, lost up to $200 million (the company took a $160 million write-off). [...] dry your eyes — Disney is doing all right, with “Age of Ultron,” “Inside Out,” “Ant-Man” and Star Wars Episode VII: Speaking of “Star Wars,” the prequel trilogy may have badly lost its way, but the powers that be behind the franchise never lost touch with the fans. A shot-by-shot, fan-generated remake of “The Empire Strikes Back,” called “The Empire Strikes Back Uncut,” is the result of more than 480 individual segments from more than 1,500 submissions.