1. Mr. And Mrs Smith – 18.6 m
2. Madagascar – 5.0m – off 38% Fri-Fri
3. The Longest Yard – 4.4m – off 49% Fri-Fri
4. Star Wars: III/R-Sith – 4.0m – off 44% Fri-Fri
5. Shark Boy & Lava Girl – 3.9m
6. Cinderella Man – 2.9m – off 51% Fri-Fri
7. Sis, Traveling Pants – 2m – off 44% Fri-Fri
8. The Honeymooners – 1.8m
9. Monster-In-Law .- 9m – off 53% Fri-Fri
10. Lords Of Dogtown – .7m – off 70% Fri-Fri
Number 1 With A Hail Of Bullets – Mr. & Mrs. Smith
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[twitter-widget username="DavidPoland" hiderss="true" hidereplies="true" hidefrom="true" items="3" showts="60" title=" " targetBlank="true"][twitter-widget username="MCNTweets" hiderss="true" hidereplies="true" hidefrom="true" items="3" showts="60" title=" " targetBlank="true"]
It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?
So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.
And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.
There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.
I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.
But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”
My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher
“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.
~ David Simon
What’s to say? No surprises whatsoever this weekend. Everything performed the way most people expected (except for certain website hosts who thought “Cinderella Man” would have legs).
Let’s start talking about next weekend. “Batman Begins” will, of course, have a big opening, but based on the darkness (kind of “Constantine”-esque) of the marketing materials, and the “B”-grade word of mouth averages, it won’t have strong legs. The trailers/spots for “War of the Worlds” are not inspiring either. Both critic-proof openings, but I’d be concerned if I were the studios. Ditto “Fantastic Four.” There will be some sad faces in Hollywood this summer.
From the people I’ve spoken with, “Wedding Crashers” seems to be the sleeper hit-in-the-making.
I guess that makes official that Cinderella Man is no Seabiscuit.
And outside from Mr and Mrs Smith good opening this is another weekend with underperfoming new releases.
Could people stop blowing smoke up Wedding Crashers’ ass? I can smell this flick from here, and it’s not a good smell. So it has Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn in it. Not like those two have not been in some real friggin stinkers. I have more faith in a Zombie film being the sleeper hit of the Summer, than a really tired premise with two likeable actors. Whateverthecase, Bats being DARK always a good thing. The War of the Worlds, however, should be called Tom’s Folly. Since who wants to support this nutjobb anymore?
Since the rest of the world loves our whitest actor as much as they do. Mr. and Mrs. Smith will be fine as Poland pointed out. Yet, I wonder if that flick has been hurt by two stars and all the gossip they have generate. Since, hating Affleck and Lopez not as fun as hating Pitt and Jolie. Just some conjecture I wanted to put out there.
L&DB’s comment is amusing. My friend and I arrived 30 min prior to showtime and the line was literally around the block. And this was the line for people like us who had already bought tickets! At which point I turned to my friend and muttered, in the most dead-pan manner I could muster ‘Gee, it does seem that the two stars’ tabloid adventures seem to have put a devestating, potentially fatal crimp in their new picture’s box office endeavors.’ I’ve lived in Studio City for 7 months, and it was by far the biggest crowd I had seen… (aside from Star Wars, which was expertly handled with a wrist-band system) and the earlier shows had sold out hours ahead of time, forcing us to plan ahead for an annoyingly late 10:45 show. Yes, I suppose had not the gossip intruded, it may of grossed $25 million last night. Of course, maybe without the gossip, it might have only made $14 million. Say what you will about Cruise’s antics, but according to Wells, WotW is at 90% awareness right now. Unless you’re Meg Ryan, maybe there is no such thing as bad publicity.
As for the film, I rather loved the first half, loved how slowly paced and not action-drenched it was. After about the 2/3 mark (after the house fight), it kinda dwaddled, and you could see all the script problems, struggles for a proper ending, etc, right on the screen. And, I’m a big fan of Angela Bassett and David Keith, so you can understand my annoyance at the tease (thinking of a good Goliath line to use here, but nothing’s coming).
OH… MAJOR WARNING HERE. If you see a trailer for Red Eye and it doesn’t resemble the one you’ve seen for months… CLOSE YOUR EYES AND CLASP YOUR EARS AND LIGHTLY SING TO YOURSELF. I’ve seen the movie and it’s a terrifically effective suspense picture. The new trailer gives EVERYTHING away. The is stunningly insulting considering how terrific the first trailer was, which gave nothing away and left everyone jazzed. Seriously, I advocate singing outloud.
Scott Mendelson
L&DB: Re “Wedding Crashers,” I personally have no interest in it, but it’s been such a dark cinematic summer that a stupid film with hip, appealing actors (none of whom are annoying like the “Dukes of Hazzard” cast) is prime to do really well. I’ve done an informal Q&A with people of target audience age, and there is lots of positive buzz, sight unseen, about the film — at least at opening. “The Island” and “40 Year Old Virgin” are also creeping up the buzz factor.
MarketingGuru: What makes you say the studios should be concerned about WAR OF THE WORLDS? Here’s a quote from Jeffrey Wells’ Hollywood-Elsewhere.com:
“06/10/2005 2:15 PM
Yesterday’s tracking figures on War of the Worlds (Paramount, 6.29) are through the roof — awareness is over 90% and definite interest is over 50%. For a movie that’s two and a half weeks from opening, this indicates something really big about to happen. This is almost Star Wars-level. Who knows? The Steven Spielberg-Tom Cruise collaboration could do $90 to $100 million in five days time.”
Wedding Crashers will do very well. Seen it twice, one of the funniest movie for adults in a long time and no, I don’t work for New Line. But, I can’t imagine it’s not rated R, so I’m curious how well it can do.
Pritchett: “War of the Worlds” will open huge…no doubt. I haven’t seen the film, but there’s just something about the marketing materials that leads me to think that there isn’t much “under the hood” (which is probably what all this Cruise/Holmes hype is for). It looks kind of cheap and cheesy like “The Day After Tomorrow,” rather than mass appeal like “Independence Day” or “Close Encounters…” It’s just a hunch based on my knowledge of marketing. The concern I mention should be about word-of-mouth dropoff following the review-proof opening. Sure, it’ll do $100 million-ish opening weekend, but it might top out at $200-225, and with ALL the backend deals, the budget, it’s a concern. If it was THAT good, Paramount wouldn’t have hedged so long on “Mission 3”
I guess you’re seeing different trailers and ads than I am, then. Nothing about it looks cheap or cheesy to me.
Cheap and cheesy definitely do not come to mind when I see a trailer or TV spot for War of the Worlds. Looks good to me. What makes you so certain that Paramount hedging on MI:3 has anything to do with the quality of War of the Worlds? Your extensive “knowledge of marketing?”
Saw it at the great AMC in Burbank last night. Had to settle for the midnight feature… it too was sold out hours in advance. And the crowd ate it up! A few weeks ago David, you were, rightly so, making a case for the lack of real movie stars around. Well this is the first movie in a long time that offered real star power, much better than the vacant Ocean’s 11 and its awful sequel. This was trashy, popcorn injected fun… combining the giddy best of “War of the Roses,” “The Incredibles” and “True Lies.” I think what may put off many viewers (and wrongly have them label it a disaster) is that it really doesn’t have that spy plot you’ll find in most of its type. This isn’t about how the Smith’s deal with marriage while killing people. This film is about the Smiths front and center and if you look at the film as a whole, it really never claims to be anything else. It’s an unusual take, but Liman gets away with it. The ending goes on a bit and there really aren’t any other supporting characters, but this is a fun movie, and best appreciated with a date. The dinner scene is just perfect. I actually think the thesis of the film, about the release of marital frustration might play better for viewers in long term relationships. Anyway, the sexy posters all over Hollywood hit the right note… this is a return to real star power and for what it is… the film works.
Leonard Maltin sums it up best:
http://www.leonardmaltin.com/picks.htm
hate to say it, but i disagree with the “awareness” of WOTW translating into box office numbers. the film will do well, it always was going to do well, with a killer combination of spielberg, cruise, hg wells, and aliens. but i think all the media saturation on holmes/cruise has left a bad taste in peoples mouth and maybe i’m wrong, but anyone else getting a slight battlefield earth feeling? for better or worse, the scientology thing is out there and now connected with WOTW. And based on the numbers of B:E, that is not a good thing. So what I think is, WOTW will make a ton of money, but less than it would have if this tabloid nonsense never happened.
Stella’s Boy: I’m not certain of anything. Movie marketing is not a science, it’s a lot of guesswork. And thank you for honoring me with sarcasm quotes. I partly agree with Martin, though “Battlefield Earth” is not the comparison I’d make — to me it’s more like “Day After…” or even “A.I.” Though “Minority Report” was brilliant, the studio concern is that “WOTW” will do similar numbers. I’m sure they’re thinking that without a strong supporting cast, “WOTW” is nothing more than “Day After…” or “Deep Impact.” Tom Cruise alone is not enough to guarantee huge success (he can open a movie, but that’s about it). It’s easy to forget for those of us in our 30s, 40s or 50s, that to today’s teens, Tom Cruise is kind of old, the way a Paul Newman was when we were younger. Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves and Johnny Depp have managed to stay vital to a young market (especially teen girls), but Cruise hasn’t. They’re just too cynical about him. When Nicole Kidman’s adult drama successes lost Mr. Cruise the “power couple” importance to teens, he went on to Penelope Cruz. When her star failed to materialize he needed to move on. Jessica Alba or Kirsten Dunst would have been good moves, but he had to settle for Katie Holmes. I’m sure she’s nice, but do teen boys go gaga for her like they do with Alba? Cruise’s recent Tony Robbins-esque mind-control/power-of-positive-thinking stuff is admirable, but will it work in week two?
I am getting more than a slight ‘Battlefield Earth’ feeling about WOTW. I’m also getting a ‘Signs’ feeling and that isn’t good.
and yes, the movie stars publicity have defintely helped Mr&MrsS in my big dirty city. The only reason why the lines were a block long was because everyone wanted to see A Jo and Pitt together [not bad together]. Passing people in the line I don’t know how many times I heard guys saying to their girlfriend’s/wives “uhh..so what’s this movie about?!” Funny, no one knew.
I bet L&DB is a happy boy today. A rare occasion it is when Lota is happy the Schlubs won. Zambrano was scaring me. Nothing worse than being in a biker bar with Red Sox fans in the bottom of the 4th today. Like being at a bad horror flick.
“(Especially if you
I saw Mr. and Mrs. Smith last night and, I gotta tell ya, i had a lot of fun. Of course it’s not important. It never pretends to be, and that’s a very big part of its charm. I’m surprised to see your predictions, though.
On the other end of the projection spectrum, I am disappointed about Cinderella Man’s performance. Despite Ron Howard’s style of filmmaking, I really got caught up in this film, in no small part due to Crowe’s talent.
KK: I didn’t say that I “created” the idea of “Wedding Crashers” being a sleeper hit. I was just reporting on my own informal survey. I know David Poland has written the same kind of thing; my own findings show the same thing. Did I say anything like “you heard it here first?” No. Of all the films this summer, the one that I’m completely flummuxed about is “Bewitched.” There will be a lot of Monday morning quarterbacks on that one, but I defy anyone to nail accurate predictions on it before it’s screened. My early guess is $31 million opening, $70 total. Something on the order of “Monster-In-Law.”
I understand what Lota was saying. Battlefield Earth was a shitty movie that bombed. Signs is a shitty movie that made a lot of money. But they’re both shitty, and he thinks she sees that quality in War of the Worlds.
I think WotW will be great, but then I’m a Spielberg fan.
Lota, you damn Mets fan at least Beltran has worked out for you. Secondly, Mr. and Mrs. Smith is a PIECE OF SHIT. You know. I could not curse, but so many of you are hyping this flick it not only bewilders me. Yet, it also leads to me cursing. Almost everything about this film sucked. What kind of sorry ass DP do you have, when you make Angelina Jolie’s head look FRIGGIN HUGE! IT HAS IT’S OWN SOLAR SYSTEM IN THIS FILM! My god. You have a star. Why not shoot her that way. Then you have Vince Vaughn and Adam Brody. Whose parts were either mostly cut out (because Rothman loves to tinker) or were just critically underused. They could have aided this movie, but instead that time went to Brad Pitt mugging for the camera. He officially muggs more in this movie than Deniro has in the entire Meet the Parents/Focker deucefecta! Outside of car chases, which Liman has a skill at crafting, the rest of the action sucked. Sucked. Sucked. SUCKED! Not to mention, that the producers nor the director could figure out what the hell they wanted from this film. As if they decided to make a romcomdraction flick. Pick a genre, and work it. If not, then do not sell an action film, in which the action does not take place into an hour in. Thanks to the worst paced American film since the Mexican. Gore Verbinski wouldnt even pull this crap, and he had a hand in a 2 and a HALF hour PIRATE FLICK! What total mediocore garbage, which War of the Worlds has to be. The new trailer makes it seem like the bloody Patriot with ahole Aliens! WOOO HOOO! Sounds like real fun. Cruise has not only become a creepy little bastard. He also seems to be involved in a film that just smells like ASS for everyone sans jeff. Who loves the Beard too much. To believe he could let him down. THE TERMINAL Jeff! THE BLEEPIN TERMINAL!
Again, when did Hollywood represent the rest of the country when it comes to movieviewing? One theatre not representitive of all theatres, but it SOLD OUT in BURBANK? Wow. People in the Southland standing in the line for jack crap. Like that does not happen almost everyday.
L&DB: You missed your annual shots, didn’t you? DIDN’T YOU!?!?
MarketingGuru: Batman Begins “B-grade” word of mouth? This flick is getting the strongest word of mouth of the YEAR. Not to mention the “dark” angle is what people wanted after that candy colored lala land that was Batman & Robin.
So… Do you people have any FUN anymore when discussing movies?
Arc, I cant speak for the rest of the folks here, but I am all about the fun. Few things are as fun as vivasecting a poorly directed (sans car chase), poorly shot (Poor ‘Applehead’ Jolie), poorly edited, and poorly written flick. I REVEAL IN IT! I REVEAL IN IT!
Whatever about The Terminal. His track record for blockbusters is much better than his track record for quirky romantic comedies.
In other news, can Dave Poland please give Manohla Dargis some respect and refer to her by name instead of just “The Man”?
You mean you “revel” in it.
I think the Dargis comment is meant to be one of respect. Having taken a class she taught, I don’t know if she’d appreciate it. But that was years ago, and for all I know Poland knows her a lot better than me and she doesn’t care.
yes, the Battlefield Earth/Signs comparison had nothing to do with money-making and everything to do with annoyance/dislike. And I like many Spielberg movies, but AI, I didn’t. If it is more Minority Report, less AI, then Lota likes; If the opposite, I will dislike.
Did you air yourself out enough L&DB? Did you ask Angie out and she said No? I am not stumping for Mr&Mrs S but I like Doug Liman so that’s my reason for not tearing a moderately fun movie down.
L&DB: Well, it’s good to know were all having fun here. Besides M&MS continuity problems, the pacing is just about right, so no issues with the editing over here. Also have to give Liman props on the directing just because he IS working from a script written by (ugh!) Mr. xXx2.
Also, Jolie only looks like an apple for 1/4 of the movie. The rest of the time she looks like a (yummy) carrot stick.
On another note, I haven’t seen a Beardberg flick that I haven’t liked yet. I love my totally random tastes!
Lota, keep flapping them lips, and Beltran gets a hammy tear. Dont cross me! BRUAHAHAHAHAHA! Sorry. Super villian moment there. Arc, but Jolie also lost her ass in what seems to be a tragic carrot eating accident. I swear, she had an ass back in Hackers. As Fred Willard would say; “Wha happen?” Oh yeah, still REVEL IN IT!
Is it just my take or are people starting to lose interest in posting on this site?
Joe, its the weekend during the summer. Not many people sit by a computer.
Joe L: They’ve all gone to that juvenile boot camp.
Batman is getting some of the strongest word of mouth of the summer. The commercials are getting better everyday.
Well, by the time I get to look at msot of the latest articles, they’ve all ready devolved into 104 comment pissing contests, and unfortunately, my urine stream ain’t what it used to be.
Well, I tried to see a late showing of Mr. and Mrs. Smith this weekend. Unfortunately, there was a major car accident right in front of the theater and the entrance was blocked by six police cars, two ambulances, and a fire truck. Oh well, considering I don’t really care for Doug Liman when his movies are “good” (I quite like Swingers, but I HATED Go, and thought the Bourne Identity was nothing more than Ronin Lite), maybe I’m not missing much.
Ronin of course being one of the worst films ever made.
I am SPAM DOOLEY and I use Garnier Fructis!
L&DB, Smith wasn’t a Vince Vaughn/Adam Brody movie it was a Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie movie. Plus, Vince Vaughn is extremely annoying so I’ll be glad for less screen time.
One of the best things about Smith was that it took it’s time. If the entire movie was just actionactionaction (like some movies are) it gets boring but instead they kept it minimal until the right time when they decided to blow everything up in a rain of bullets and fists. I thought the house fight was extremely well done, maybe it was because it seemed dirty – it didn’t look perfectly choreographed by an Asian martial arts expert, it was dirty, mean-spirited and violent. And that was one mother of a gun Angelina was sporting there!
The entire movie was just fun, and that’s what it was advertised as.
On the matter of Doug Liman though, I haven’t seen Swingers, but i LOVE “Go!” and I really liked “The Bourne Identity”.
On Batman, how did Marketing Guru go about acquiring this apparent B grade word-of-mouth? Through intensive audience tracking and polling no doubt?
Marketing Guru, I did also not say that you “created” the Wedding Crasher’s theory, i was just saying that Poland (and quite a few others mind you) have been saying the same thing for a couple of months now and it seemed pretty silly to be saying that “From the people I’ve spoken with, “Wedding Crashers” seems to be the sleeper hit-in-the-making.”
But, again, I suppose your extensive research is comprehensively analytical?
Marketing Guru shows up once a week to parade conventional wisdom as his/her own unique insights.
Camel, I bring up Vaughn and Brody because WHORE VS SLUT needed a stronger third lead. Those two, while they had chemistry to wreck a marriage for, are far from funny. Or as funny they were playing off of one another with another actor. Im bloody convince this flick has been ROTHMANED, and will have about 15 deleted scenes on the DVD. Brody alone spent bloody 2 months on this flick, for what? 15 minutes of screen time? Something just seems off about this flick, and a better third lead would have helped. Also, you have to be bloody out of your gord or head to make a comparison of Bourn to Ronin. Did they kill a hot ice skater in Bourne? Do they not have a more compelling story than Ronin? Do I have to go on? So they are filmed in a similar place (I believe), but those two films are wildly different. Sorry for flying off the handle, but it was broken. And welcome JeffMCM back from his (edited due to…edited).
I thought Angelina was great enough to cover any slack lost by Brad, but Brad was actually better than he usually was. But, Angelina was just… great. Her comic timing was spot on (who knew) and she chewed up her dialogue heavy scenes and spat them out like venom, and she handled the action scenes with aplomb (like she ought to).
Ya know what? I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she snuck into the Golden Globe’s Musical/Comedy line up…?
don’t underestimate pitt. the guy can act.
It might be time to give Doug Liman his due and consider him a top A list director. He hasn’t had many misfires and continues to defy expectations.
I thought Mr and Mrs Smith was a really good movie. One of the most entertaining movies of this year so far. Thats not saying much at all, I know.
It’s my second fave movie of the year so far, I know that! Just after Kar-Wai’s “2046”, but in all honestly I’d probably rather watch “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” again before “2046” if I was just looking for something to watch.
I’ve been saying Liman is on the verge of becoming a true A List director. I think he just needs one more movie that really hits the Zeitgeist and then he’ll be there.
Well, both the Bourne Identity and Ronin dabbled in the fallout of the secret agent business after the Cold War, had a similar subdued look, and had the big car chase where the main character goes down the wrong side of the streets. Granted, the stories are very different, but I can’t believe Ronin didn’t pop into anyone’s mind when the so-called “jaw-dropping” car chase that was done better four years earlier. But add a compact car, a BT track, and a shot of the car going down a stairs, and suddenly it’s hip with the kids.
The thing that irked me about Identity was it didn’t have any balls. They kept making Bourne as safe and bland as possible as to not turn off mainstream viewers, and the entire reveal about why he got to where he was completely unsatisfying and ruined what good will I had for the movie. That’s not to mention the CIA desk jockeys were extremely boring villains and it seemed like the finer points of the Treadstone Assassins hit the cutting room floor save some moments near the end (along with one great stunt that was too little, too late).
That said, Supremacy was MUCH better. They make Bourne’s motivations pre-amnesia much more clear than “A kid! Oh my God! My life is a lie!”, give him the hard edge that was so desperately missing in Identity, and give the CIA desk jockeys more to do than shout, “GET BOURNE! HEY, HAVE YOU GOT BOURNE YET?! WELL, IF NOT, GET HIM!”
I have yet to see Mr. & Mrs. Smith, but I’m a fan of Swingers, Go and The Bourne Identity. I think all three are very solid flicks. However, do you think Liman is hurting his rise to the A-list with his behavior? I realize that in Hollywood the dollar is the bottom line, but more and more people claim that they will never work with him again and he seems to be quite a jerk, even by Hollywood standards.
I believe that as long as his movies continue to make money, Liman won’t have any problems attracting A list talent. For example, Pitt wanted to work with him after Liman had worked with Damon on “Bourne”, which was by all accounts a long and tough shoot.
I’m sure that Pitt talked to Damon about working with Liman and that Damon told Pitt that while Liman is nuts he does have a great eye.
The true impact, I feel, will be felt when one of his movies does not work. Then Liman will really feel the impact of his behavior.
Waiting for Liman to fail is not the way to go. As long as he keeps making hits, everyone will want to work with him. His craziness will become eccentric and fun.
But is the question whether or not he will keep working, or whether or not he will elevate to the A-list?
i think hes already a list. how many other directors have a strong of hits like this under their belt with troubled scripts and mega stars in the production?
I would say a lot of directors. We are talking about two movies that had troubled scripts and mega stars and turned out to be hits, right? Is that really all that rare in Hollywood? I don’t think that is anything exceptional. And I don’t think Doug Liman is an A-list director at this point. But that may change soon.
The Bourne Identity’s release date was delayed several times because the studio wasn’t happy with the action scenes.
Producer Frank Marshall had to reshoot some of the action scenes. The scenes that are attributed to “Liman’s genius” were not shot by him at all. I’ve heard that Jon Favreau had a lot of input with the shooting of “Swingers”, i.e. how to stage scenes to deliver the punchline better. None of this is really that unusual. Personally, I don’t we should be giving a guy who’s directed 4 films in 9 years that much credit.
But Go sure is an awesome movie.
I find it suspect when you hear about how a director really didn’t have a hand in something successful when people with agendas want to bring him down a few pegs. The facts are this. The man makes hit movies. Whats Hollyweird about? Money.
How is SITH going to become the third, fourth or fifth biggest release of all time? SITH is falling behind Spiderman and is only tracking about $3.5 mil
ahead of Spiderman 2.SITH may not get past ROTK let alone reach $400 mil.
I’m not too interested in bogus records like that. It’s not like its a Hank Aaron or Joe Dimaggio type record here. The game changes. The value of money changes. When tickets cost 50$ each in five years some random movie will make 2 billion. It doesn’t matter.
We may have to give Doug Liman his due as a director. Maybe the PR people spin this trouble on the set, drama stuff to help sell the movie and foster his rep as a guy who gets things done. Because the finished products are all very good and very profitable.
I worked for the production company that financed “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”. Trust me, it was a nightmare. Everyone was miserable. Roughly a dozen people worked on the script. Though, I heard Brad Pitt caused more problems than Doug on the set.
But the point is there are plenty of movie sets that were miserable that churned out exceptional movies.
All that matters is the final product. Most movie productions are disasters. All that matters is what is on screen. And Liman gets what he needs to from whatever it is he does.
I don’t really think it’s the PR people spinning the on set problems. Frank Marshall, among others, has already stated how horrible Liman was to work with.
i’m sure frank marshall is a total, absolute dream to work with. u think hes bitching about all the money he made off it?
bi-bob, I didn’t realize that you are the president of the Doug Liman fanclub. Like I said, Marshall is only one of many. It’s not like he is the only person who has ever stated that Liman is hell to work with. And no, I’m sure Marshall is happy about the money he has made. Your point is?
michael jackson. could anyone have predicted this clowns life? a star by age 5. teen idol. best selling singer of all time to wacko who preys upon kids with illnesses? is there anyone more wacko in the world right now?
My man Michael. I feel so bad for him. Such a terrible life. He just needs some help the poor guy.
Doug Liman will continue to get the plum assignments and people will deal with him. Until he tanks one. Ask William Friedkin or Michael Cimino how being an ass is worth it in the long run when you have a bad streak.
Just as I predicted: Michael Jackson moonwalks on all counts. You know, after O.J., John Landis and now this — maybe California might consider getting better prosecutors.
A celebrity in California going free???? No way! They can have videotape of a celebrity shooting someone and they’d get off. That’s what you get when Liberals take over.
Is that a serious comment? Celebrities in California go free because of liberals? I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and just assume that it’s a joke. I can’t imagine someone making a statement like that and meaning it.
Just remember, as we go along here, deeper and deeper into acrimonious political debate: This time JoeFitz, you — not Stella, you — introduced politics into the discussion.
Quick, let’s change the subject. Maybe we can avoid a nasty political debate. So, um, everyone looking forward to seeing The Perfect Man this weekend? I wish something else worth seeing was being released this week.
Stella: Everybody wants to avoid The Big Bat, fella.
In other important celebrity news, Katie Holmes announced that she is converting to Scientology.
OK, do I call the deprogrammers, or do you want to?
To be on the safe side, I think we both should.
My cousin is getting married in a few months…there has been a lot of tension because her fiance is jewish (agnostic really) and she’s catholic. She wants him to convert, but he doesn’t want to..blah blah blah.
Converting religons to please the spouse is NOT unusual. Granted that happened after they were engaged, not dating for a couple of months.
You realize we could all be sued for even mentioning deprogrammers and Scientology on the same site, let alone mentioning them in consecutive posts?
VGM: They can sue me until the cows come home, freshen up, and go out again. Let them try to get blood from a turnip. Or, in my case, money from a pauper.
Of course, they might decide to sue Dave instead, because it’s HIS blog, not ours.
Good job on ignoring Joe Fitz everyone.
This is apropos of nothing we
I’ll play along Joe.
Linda Fiorentino. I thought she’d be huge at one point. Not so. Robin Wright Penn after Princess Bride and Forrest Gump.
And I’m surprised that Haley Joel hasn’t done more projects since his arrival. oh well. Judging by today’s events, I’m sure some people would rather not be famous at all.
What the hell ever did happen to Linda F? What a smart, sexy woman! Maybe she intimidated too many men, eh?
Linda Fiorentino is, according to Kevin Smith, a total diva and was too hard to work with. That kind of rep doesn’t help too many actors/actresses out.
Jordana Brewster and Jake Gyllenhaal are two actors I’m waiting for to break out.
Gina Gershon is someone I wouldn’t mind seeing in higher profile projects. While looking up her credits, it seems she is doing the voice for Catwoman in the cartoon show, along with other cool B-listers like Ron Perlman (Killer Croc), Robert Englund (The Riddler), Clancy Brown (Mr. Freeze), Joaquim de Almeida (Bane), Ming-Na, Udo Kier, Mitch Pileggi (Gordon), Edward James Olmos, the late Frank Gorshin, and Adam West. Wow. I hear the show gets better during this second season, but I’ll stick with the 90’s animated series for now.
Liked Joaquim de Almeida in “Good Morning, Babylon,” directed by Taviani brothers. Very good drama about early days of silent moviemaking. Unfortunately, the movie’s not even available on video anymore. Damn shame. Charles Dance played D.W. Griffith in the film — one of his best performances.
I think Paul LeMat could fit in that category. All the leads in American Grafiti went on to bigger things in some shape or form, but he didn’t for some reason.
Mary Louise-Parker is certainly well-known, but never got to that A-List level of recognition. She’s talented, and sexy as hell.
Who does Kevin Smith have kind words for? Ben Affleck and Miramax? Lets go to the source here and not give him a pass after he bashes Reese W and Linda F.
You seriously going to tell me that celebrities and others don’t get off from an easy judicial system implemented by Liberals who are more into prisoners rights then citizens? You can say, just don’t look for anyone with common sense to believe it. It’s a shame that we let people like OJ, and Robert Blake and MJ walk. But hey, thats California!
Enough about MJ. Onto weirder news. Katie Holmes??? What is this girl thinking? Is there a funnier story going than this? Is Chris Klein the luckiest guy in the world right now for dodging this bullet? Is Pat Kingsley laughing her ass off? Is Nicole Kidman? Forgive me. I’m fascinated.
Mark, what “source” is it that you speak of? Smith is pretty fond of everyone he has worked with… Except for that one time Prince employed him for a week.
Katie Holmes? I’m not seeing her as a bullet to “dodge”, just someone who isn’t very forward thinking.
The story gets more bizarre daily. It writes itself.
The best bit of business about TOMKAT: They met at an Scientology event to get Tom laid. That’s right kids; L. RON HUBBARD WANTS YOU ALL TO GET LAID! JOIN UP NOW! No wonder they never mention the story on talk shows, because they would be considered weirdos even friggin more. Poor The Beard. He just had to go with Cruise and put him in the alien version of The Patriot. I cant wait for this flick to bomb. Luckily, an American icon like Bats, can outshine any nutty actress any day.
“They can have videotape of a celebrity shooting someone and they’d get off.”
Robert Blake was basically found holding the gun and splattered with blood! …he still got off.
And it doesn’t surprise me that Katie Holmes is now a scientologist because hasn’t Tom come out and said he’s just not into anyone who’s not? And Katie is a horny little actress who wants better roles so she needs to latch onto Tom.
It’s a shame though, because I legitimately liked Katie but now… well, sorry.
It’s also a shame that she has taken the spotlight away from what should be Christian Bale’s breakout role. In fact, it’s almost down right offensive. I actually read that she doesn’t care if her romance overtakes her film roles because she’s “so in love”. If I were Christopher Nolan I’d want her to shut the fuck up.
Christian Bale is the perfect man. I think I want to marry him (however illegal it may be).
Camel, Im sure that has to be legal in your country. Nothing wrong with people marrying one another. Yet in this country, it’s as if Katie Holmes has no importance towards Bats what so ever. Which makes me happy becauses it just goes to show how much of an icon Bats has become. WOTW, I feel, is another story all together. Lucas needs to meet the beard, and give him the Steve Zissou shoulder hug. Of all the times to lose it. Cruise had to do it now.
would somebody please smack that “pucker” off of Chirstian Bale’s face? It seems sometime after American Psycho the guy’s been sucking on the eternal lemonhead. It’s getting frickin’ annoying (like zellweger’s squint).
Best movie in 10 yrs: White Chicks!
“sold to the big black guy! … right over there!”
Camel is a guy. That is why its illegal. So I’ll take Christian. Thank you very much.
But they didn’t have a video of Blake doing it. Even with that, he still gets off. And hes a Z list celebrity.
Can anyone remember the last time a high-profile case in California ended in a conviction? All I can think of is the O.J. civil case.
A civil case isn’t criminal. And while he lost the case, he still hasn’t had to pay anything to the families and he can’t be tried again for the murders. California is just a vast wasteland of a terrible justice system.
Didn’t Christian Slater do a couple of months in the poke? What about that fella that played “chaplin” – you know…the one who’s gay/straight/don’t know which. Robert Downey, that’s it…didn’t he do some time? So what if OJ get’s off? at least he’s not making movies anymore…
so what? the dude killed 2 people. what if it was ur brother or mother or sister? would u just be happy if the judge said “we’re letting him go but he won’t make naked gun 4”
Back in 95 no brother was ever going to put the Juice away. Ten years later we all would pull the switch on that jerk. A shame really.
It is amazing to read about how OJ still dates white blonde women. What is wrong with these girls? I can only imagine being their father.