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PCIntern

(25,490 posts)
Mon Dec 26, 2011, 04:25 PM Dec 2011

Willard Smith vs. Willard Romney vs. Willard (the Movie)

We're all gonna have to keep this straight until Willard is Whipped and Whomped in November. The name "Willard" has only popped up three times in my life to my recollection, and, although I actually met and spoke with Willard Smith as a very young man, performing with his buddies at the (as it was then-known) City Line Shopping Center Hillary's Ice Cream Parlor after school some days,I have never met Willard Romney because I am in the 99% and of course, I never met the protagonist of the film "Willard" because he was eaten by the rat, Ben and his buddies at the end of the movie. Interesting sidelight: Obama once mentioned that Willard Smith could play him in the film about the 2008 election because "he's got the ears".

So here goes, just so you don't get confused...




Will Smith

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For other people named Will Smith, see William Smith (disambiguation).

Will Smith

Smith in 2011
Born Willard Christopher Smith, Jr.
September 25, 1968 (age 43)
Wynnefield, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Other names The Fresh Prince
Occupation Actor, producer, rapper
Years active 1985–present
Spouse Sheree Zampino (m. 1992–1995)
Jada Pinkett Smith (m. 1997–present)
Children Trey Smith
Jaden Smith
Willow Smith
Website
www.willsmith.com
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. (born September 25, 1968),[1] also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood.[2] Smith has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards, two Academy Awards, and has won multiple Grammy Awards.

In the late 1980s, Smith achieved modest fame as a rapper under the name The Fresh Prince. In 1990, his popularity increased dramatically when he starred in the popular television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The show ran for nearly six years (1990–1996) on NBC and has been syndicated consistently on various networks since then. In the mid-1990s, Smith moved from television to film, and ultimately starred in numerous blockbuster films. He is the only actor to have eight consecutive films gross over $100 million in the domestic box office and the only one to have eight consecutive films in which he starred open at #1 spot in the domestic box office tally.[3]

Fourteen of the nineteen fiction films he has acted in have accumulated worldwide gross earnings of over $100 million, and four took in over $500 million in global box office receipts. As of 2011, his films have grossed $5.7 billion in global box office.[4] His most financially successful films have been Bad Boys, Bad Boys II, Independence Day, Men in Black, Men in Black II, I, Robot, The Pursuit of Happyness, I Am Legend, Hancock, Wild Wild West, Enemy of the State, Shark Tale, Hitch and Seven Pounds. He also earned critical praise for his performances in Six Degrees of Separation, Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness, receiving Best Actor Oscar nominations for the latter two.





Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.

The son of George W. Romney (the former Governor of Michigan) and Lenore Romney (née LaFount), Mitt Romney was raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and later served as a Mormon missionary in France. He received his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University, and thereafter earned Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration joint degrees from Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School. Romney entered the management consulting business, which led to a position at Bain & Company, where he eventually served as CEO and brought the company out of crisis. He was also co-founder and head of the spin-off company Bain Capital, a private equity investment firm that became highly profitable and one of the largest such firms in the nation. The wealth Romney accumulated there would help fund his future political campaigns. He ran as the Republican candidate in the 1994 U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts, losing to incumbent Ted Kennedy. Romney organized and steered the 2002 Winter Olympics as President and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, and helped turn the troubled games into a financial success.

Romney was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 2002, but did not seek reelection in 2006. He presided over a series of spending cuts and increases in fees that eliminated a projected $3 billion deficit. He also signed into law the Massachusetts health care reform legislation, which provided near-universal health insurance access via subsidies and state-level mandates and was the first of its kind in the nation. During the course of his political career, his positions or rhetorical emphasis have shifted more towards American conservatism in several areas.

Romney ran for the Republican nomination in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, winning several primaries and caucuses, but eventually losing the nomination to John McCain. In the following years his book, No Apology: The Case for American Greatness, was published. He also gave speeches and raised campaign funds on behalf of fellow Republicans. On June 2, 2011, Romney announced that he would seek the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Political observers and public opinion polls place him among the front-runners in the race.


Willard is a 1971 horror film starring Bruce Davison and Ernest Borgnine, directed by Daniel Mann. The movie is based on the novel Ratman's Notebooks by Stephen Gilbert, and was nominated for an Edgar Award for best picture. The supporting cast included one of Elsa Lanchester's last performances, and one of Sondra Locke's first.


Willard is a meek social misfit with a strange affinity for rats. He lives in a large mansion, accompanied only by his cranky and decrepit mother. On his 27th birthday he leaves the party out of embarrassment. While sitting outside he sees a rat and tosses it pieces of birthday cake. His mother gets upset with him for leaving the party and she scolds him later while also discussing how badly the house is falling apart. The next morning he goes out and feeds another rat (this one has babies with it) while imitating their squeaks. His mother starts telling him that he needs to kill the rats that have been running around their yard, to which Willard refuses.

When Willard goes to work he is promptly scolded by his boss Mr. Martin. Later he returns home and traps the rat family in the center rock in the pond by using a wooden plank and food, before turning on the water, taking the plank away, and letting it fill up until the water level reaches the rats (which are on top of a tall rock in the center); by then he feels guilty and puts the plank back before turning off the water. When his mother asks if he killed the rats he lies and tells her he did.

That afternoon he begins playing with a rat he names Queenie, and begins teaching them words like "food" and "empty". He sees a white rat and immediately takes a liking to it. The white rat becomes his best companion and he names it Socrates for his wisdom. Numerous other rats come to him, one of which is a giant specimen he names Ben.

At work, Mr. Martin nags at Willard, telling him he won't give him a raise and then urging him to sell the house. Willard sneaks up to a party Mr Martin is throwing opens his suitcase which has rats in it, he then urges them to go get the food and ruin the party. The guests begin screaming and Willard laughs behind the bushes where he's hiding.

The next day Willard's mother dies. After this Willard is further pressured from the banks to give up the house.

Willard decides to bring Socrates and Ben to the office with him. He sets them on some shelves and tells them to be good. One of his friends at work gives him a cat named Chloe. Chloe constantly claws at the suitcase where Ben and Socrates are residing. Willard hands her off to a complete stranger and drives away. Later on it is revealed that the rat population is getting too big and he can't afford to feed them much longer. Willard decides to steal money from his boss. He orders the rats to "tear it up" and puts them in front of the door.

Later, at home, Willard gets mad at Ben and keeps putting him outside the bedroom, but Ben persists in sleeping in his room. The next day he again takes Ben and Socrates to work. One of the workers spots the rats and Mr. Martin bludgeons Socrates to death, leaving Willard devastated. Willard train his rats to follow his commands and kills Mr. Martin after confronting him. Willard then abandons Ben, goes home and begins sealing up any holes that the rats can enter his house through. He also puts as many as he can into cages and drowns them in the small pool outside.

Willard has dinner with a girl he likes but is rudely interrupted by Ben staring at him. He gets up and notices all of the rats running up the stairs from the basement. He orders her to leave and locks the door before confronting Ben. Willard stalls and begins mixing rat poison, but Ben reads the box and squeals loudly, alerting the others. In an act of desperation, Willard tries to hit the rat with a broom, but misses. He runs upstairs but the other rats come after him. Shutting the door, he stands there terrified. The rats begin to gnaw at the door and eventually break in, gang up on him, and chew him up, killing him. The camera zooms into a close-up of Ben and the credits roll.

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Willard Smith vs. Willard Romney vs. Willard (the Movie) (Original Post) PCIntern Dec 2011 OP
If I may add the other Willard who is generally known... Staph Dec 2011 #1
you're right...I'm a moran...n/t PCIntern Dec 2011 #2

Staph

(6,251 posts)
1. If I may add the other Willard who is generally known...
Mon Dec 26, 2011, 06:27 PM
Dec 2011

Willard Scott

Willard Herman Scott, Jr. (born March 7, 1934) is an American media personality and author best known for his television work on NBC's The Today Show and as the creator of the Ronald McDonald character.

...

"Ronald McDonald" character
Willard Scott as Ronald McDonald, from one of the first three pre-recorded television advertisements to feature Ronald. Note the "food-tray hat".

Another television role he performed regularly from 1963–1966 and occasionally as late as 1971 was Ronald McDonald for a McDonald's franchise in Washington, D.C.. Scott wrote in his book, The Joy of Living, that he originally created the Ronald McDonald character at the fast-food restaurant chain's request.

In Morgan Spurlock's documentary film Super Size Me, Eric Schlosser claims that McDonald's replaced Scott on account of his weight, supposedly concerned about McDonald's image.


The Today Show
Scott was tapped by NBC in 1980 to become its weatherman for The Today Show, replacing Bob Ryan, who replaced him at WRC-TV until 2010. After being inspired by a viewer request, Scott began his practice of wishing centenarians a happy birthday on-air in 1983.

During the 1980s, Scott routinely did weather reports on the road, interviewing locals at community festivals and landmarks. He also periodically did the program from Washington D.C., which he still considered his home. During this time, NBC executives told the bald Scott to wear a hairpiece. He complied when in New York, but refused when outside of the studio, resulting in a strange dichotomy on the air.

In 1989, The Today Show co-host Bryant Gumbel wrote an internal memo critical of the show's personalities. The memo was leaked to the media. Gumbel said Scott "holds the show hostage to his assortment of whims, wishes, birthdays and bad taste ... This guy is killing us and no one's even trying to rein him in." This garnered enough of a backlash that Gumbel was shown making up with Scott on the show.

Although he is no longer The Today Show's full-time weatherman, Scott continues to appear twice a week on the long-running morning program to wish centenarians a happy birthday and to substitute for regular weatherman Al Roker during his absences. He appears from the studio lot of WBBH, the NBC affiliate in Fort Myers, Florida. He is also currently the commercial voice—taking over the job from the late Mason Adams—of Smucker's jellies which sponsors his birthday tributes on The Today Show.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willard_Scott

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