April 19, 2024
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20 Weeks To Oscar: Rush To Poor Judgment?
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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
That was brief?
J/K DP. Have fun at Sundance.
No United 93. Guessing – Letters from Iwo will sneak in as 5th movie over LMS, bec. Spielberg is behind it.
They sorta liked everything this year, didn’t they? Lots of movies won a prize! Disappointed that Babel took it, but oh well.
Chicago,
Spielberg behind a World War 2 movie? What are the odds?
On the subject of the globes:
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz
that was pretty much my feeling about the thing.
Hugh Laurie: great actor, boring show. Still, he is Hugh Laurie and should get every award ever just for his work on Black Adder and the Jeeves and Wooster films.
Jennifer Hudson: I guess we can add “Award Winner” in front of her name, which means they can say “Starring Award Winner Jennifer Hudson” in the ads for the national tour of whatever awful Broadway show she ends up in this time next year.
Alec Baldwin: He’s fantastic in the part. Good on him.
Sasha Baron Cohen: Never has anyone gotten so much media for basically playing a more antisemetic, sex crazed Yakov Smirnov. I think the guy is funny, but i think when history looks back on the first decade of the 21st century, Borat will be reduced to “That’s Nice”, this decade’s version of “Where’s the Beef”, or more appropriately, Andy Kauffman’s “Thank you very much”.
Helen Mirren: File under “Most Predictable”
Meryl Streep: Scratch that. Move Mirren to “Second Most Predictable”.
Clint Eastwood: So….. i guess anyone can just make a movie in a foreign language and win this award. Perhaps i could win this category if i could get my adaptation of Schindler’s List in Spanish, or “Lista de Schindler” off the ground.
Martin Scorcese: Well deserved. Though, ten minutes later i was already tired of hearing the words “Finally” and “Martin Scorcese” in the same sentence.
Babel: This movie is ether. Not like the drug that knocks you out, but more like vapor. I heard people this morning asking about it. What’s Babel? People have not even heard of this movie. Same with Iwo Jima. Those not in the business or in NY or LA really seem to have no clue as to what these films are. I think it’d be funny if Babel wins Best Picture next month and most of the country is like “huh?” I guess that would mirror last year’s ceremony where Crash won best Picture and everyone went “what the fuck?”
Crash’s win wouldn’t be anywhere near the WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot a Babel win would bring about. Take the English Patient reaction, and then multiply by the power of nine galaxies. THEN you shall know true POWER.
/clutches iron fist
Glad to see The Queen performing well.
One could easily make the argument that it is not only the most sophisticated piece among those nominated, but also the most risk taking. When I first heard of the concept of this movie I thought there would be so many ways this film could devolve into caricature in a Spitting Image way. Instead it is one ofthe most intelligent films I’ve seen about people who are still actively in a public spotlight.
Again though, that Michael Sheen is not even getting talked about as a lead Oscar contender for his 3 dimensional and human portrayal of Tony Blair and Lil’ Leo gets two noms TWO!, again shows why these things are banal.
Easily, The Queen, has some of the best acting I’ve seen in a long time.
Letters from Iwo will sneak in as 5th movie over LMS
I agree, except I think it still will be Babel left out in the cold. I think of the seven most possible nominees (Departed, Dreamgirls, Queen, LMS, Letters…, Babel, and United 93) that Babel is the only one with no chance of taking home the Oscar.
And hold strong Dave, Dreamgirls is still the frontrunner. I think this year is really beginning to resemble 2002 when no one really thought Chicago should win, but there was no consensus on which of the other nominees should be the frontrunner. Thus Chicago won, but did pretty poorly across the board in the other major categories. I think Dreamgirls will have the same experience, with Hudson winning (and maybe Murphy) but no one else, except costumes and such. Scorsese and Mirren are obvious winners, and the only real mystery is who will come out on top of Best Actor. My money’s on DiCaprio, for whichever role he is nominated for.
I love how everyone…journalists especially..underestimate the emotional impact that Babel has on people who see it.
“Emotional impact” is hardly a universal reaction to Babel. I walked out of the theater with a shrug, as did my viewing companion.
I don’t begrudge anybody that liked it, of course, and I admire the craftsmanship that went into it. But I didn’t think it offered anything that Inarritu hasn’t done before. And the much-vaunted “emotion” struck me as more as “emoting,” if you can see the difference.
Okay, let’s rumble:
“Jennifer Hudson: I guess we can add “Award Winner” in front of her name, which means they can say “Starring Award Winner Jennifer Hudson” in the ads for the national tour of whatever awful Broadway show she ends up in this time next year.” Good management (see Britney, Christina, Gwen) can make anyone a star. She needs to crossover very quickly and not be another Mary J. Blige, but more a Celine Dion type singer. Hopefully Clive won’t put her in his R&B stable and she’ll get classy songs to sing…however, she’s a fish out of water and this is all new to her…I hope she’s smart & not taken advantage of. And what’s wrong with being the ‘star’ of a Broadway play – Julia Roberts did it!
“Alec Baldwin: He’s fantastic in the part. Good on him.” –Agree
“Sasha Baron Cohen: Never has anyone gotten so much media for basically playing a more antisemetic, sex crazed Yakov Smirnov. I think the guy is funny, but i think when history looks back on the first decade of the 21st century, Borat will be reduced to “That’s Nice”, this decade’s version of “Where’s the Beef”, or more appropriately, Andy Kauffman’s “Thank you very much”.” — He has still to prove himself.
“Helen Mirren: File under “Most Predictable” — she didn’t look too happy last night did she?
“Meryl Streep: Scratch that. Move Mirren to “Second Most Predictable”.” — The older stars of Hollywood took up a lot of speech space, she including Beatty who is so irrelevant these days (7 minute speech about nothing). At least Clint knows how to make it short and sweet.
i think Mirren looked none too thrilled because even she acknowledges that the constant statues handed out to her and Meryl are getting a little tired.
Mirren, Meryl and Judi Dench are almost an awards cliche at this point.
Yes, their work is good. But how many more statues are they going to bestow them with?
I thought Arriaga got dissed at the awards. His table didn’t seem to be close to Cuaron’s and his name was just thrown in when Cuaron thanked people.
Granted, I’m in the camp that thinks Cuaron and Arriaga are equal authors in the 3 films they did, but Arriaga also wrote “The Three Burials of…I’m too lazy to spell it right” and that was a terrific film. If Cuaron is Tarantino, Arriaga is his Roger Avary.
Why wasn’t Little Children given a presentation clip? Was it a victim of the never-ending Beatty tribute?
Maybe this is a stupid question, but can someone explain where the “Dreamgirls is dead” argument originated? I mean, when that line of thought first came out, it was still presumed to be the likely Globe winner (and it was) and it had to have still been seen as a significant contender for the PGA at least, right? Let alone SAG.
Granted, box office was an issue, but how could it have ever been deemed over before any of these contests — each of which could/will give it a shot in the arm — were settled?
So Cuaron’s been using Arriaga, too?
No wonder Innaritu felt betrayed!
DG is dead – IMO, there’s a backlash starting across the internet. If you’re the front runner and if you’re an all-black cast, there’s bound to be backlash. And what I’m reading about Jamie Foxx’s big mouth and arrogance, he might singlehandedly sabotage the win.
anghus: Mirren only feels like an awards cliche this year, because she’s so far out in front this year. But she’s never won an Oscar, which is the one that counts most, and she hasn’t been showered with nominations the way Streep and Dench routinely are. Blame the ridiculous number of annual movie awards groups out there, not the fact that they all happened to agree with each other over a single award in a single year.
If the Dreamgirls backlash started on the internet in the last couple of weeks, I think we can expect the Academy to become aware of it in, oh, twenty or thirty years.
BABEL was a big surprise–it’s received zero critic group citations for best picture, it’s the lowest rated (as per Rotten Tomatoes) of any (save BOBBY) nominees, and the box office gross is marginal with only $21 million. And yet, it pops up continually as an awards contender. My theory…great marketing to the “for your consideration” crowd. Also, it plays on PC elements of brotherhood, multi-culturalism, communication, etc. I saw the film. Thought it was a noble attempt at those virtues I mentioned, but was ultimately disappointing. It had powerful “parts” but failed as a whole. With so many GREAT films out this year (DEPARTED, QUEEN, PAN, U93, CHILDRENofMEN, etc), I don’t understand the zeal demonstrated by certain groups to laud something that is merely mediocre to good.
I agree with those that feel Babel is well-made, well-intentioned and ambitious, but ultimately disappointing and unsatisfactory as a whole. However, I would take it any day of the week and twice on Sunday over Little Miss Sunshine. I prefer pretty much every single movie being talked about, seriously or not, as an Oscar contender over LMS.
Stella’s Boy, I feel the exact same way. The problem is that I found LMS so mediocre that I can’t even summon the energy to complain about it. It’s easily the weakest of the bunch.
Is Children of Men completely dead for a BP nomination?
So I finally caught this Dreamgirls flick (aka American Idol: The Movie). And I gotta tell ya there’s a reason it’s getting a hard time. It just ain’t that dreamy. The lack of Motown music in the very Motown story makes it seem kind of phony (strange though how that one Jackson 5 bit actually tries to duplicate THEIR sound).
This is almost as much a Members Only film as say Firefly. If you’re not keyed into the brand name from the get-go there’s not much here to jump on. Chicago it is not. Not even Walk the Line.
“This is almost as much a Members Only film as say Firefly.”
Obviously, the Dreamgirls club has many more members.
“I love how everyone…journalists especially..underestimate the emotional impact that Babel has on people who see it.”
Untruth. The critical response has been more positive than the lukewarm audience reaction.
As far as history goes…if the Oscars repeat the acting wins as they did for the Globes (which is looking REALLY likely). That means we will have three African American performers win in the same year!
That’s great! That’s historic! And people like being a part of history. Kind of a corny angle, but hey that’s how people pitch things sometimes.
Scorsese is looking more and more like a lock. Which is good. Mirren and Hudson are sure – bets. I don’t want to say anything about Best Actor or Picture…. I bet those will be the surprising ones come next month.
I wish Children of Men had a better shot, but it doesn’t. Shame, I saw it this weekend and was completely blown away.
If it doesn’t win Best Cinematography it’d be a real shame.
I’m with Eric when it comes to Babel. It’s well crafted, beautiful in parts, but it didn’t add up to much to me, which was disappointing, since I’m a big fan of Amores Perros and liked 21 Grams.
Anyhow, I only caught the last hour or so of the Globes after reading the winners online. Sacha Baron Cohen was pretty funny though. Hopefully he gets an Oscar nomination next Tuesday – it’ll make the race very interesting. I think he really does have a shot at winning if nominated.
Hey, American Idol starts tonight. How much you want to bet that the show will just be filled with renditions of “And I am Telling You,” “Listen,” and “I am Changing”?
Though she won for TV and not for film, Yay for America Ferrera!
Loved how ethnically diverse the winners were yesterday (too bad Masi Oka couldn’t pull out a win, though).
Loved Meryl’s speech because it was sassy, funny, and it highlighted what a great year it has been for actresses–and she did it so pointedly that maybe the film industry will heed her words (though probably not). She also mentioned Little Children and Pan’s Labyrinth as films to catch, which I think gave them a tiny promotional push, especially for Little Children since it’s clip wasn’t shown.
I don’t get all the fuss about Borat. Too met it’s a combination of sketch comedy and Jackass. I thought that Cohen was much funnier in Talledega nights.
Did Kyra Sedgewick not make a total fool of herself?
Do Warren Beatty and Shirley Maclaine ever talk? She wasn’t even there for his tribute! And how did Tom Hanks get so buddy-buddy with Beatty that he ended up presenting his tribute? I don’t recall them ever doing a film together, and Beatty’s old enough to be his dad.
Notice that Murphy and Hudson didn’t bother to thank their castmates in their speeches?
Glad Hudson paid tribute to Florence Ballard, though.
What is it about animated movies that bring out the most mundane songwriting skills in former powerhouse rock and pop stars?
I wish Gillian Anderson had won her category just so I could hear her acceptance speech. I also wish that Forest Whitaker had remembered to mention him in his speech when he was thanking his fellow castmates.
What the hell was Trump doing there?
Was Tim Allen not totally creepy as he leered at Vanessa Williams?
Ben Stiller was soooo flat.
Here’s my prediction for the Oscars: Surprises galore for the nominations, but not many for the actual awards. I think Scorcese will win, but I think the best pic winner will come completely out of left field.
Anyone think Eddie Murphy REALLY has a chance to win?? I mean his reputation as an egomaniac didn’t all of a sudden disappear did it?
I finally saw Dreamgirls, and while I’m sure I’m not the first to point this out, I’d like to do it anyway: Jennifer Hudson can barely act. Every award she has won has been for her singing voice, her admittedly showstopping musical number halfway through the film, and for her post-Idol, cinematic newcomer status.
I don’t mean to rain on her parade, but someone out there has to agree that a halfway observant critic must notice that her acting, especially early on in the film, is mediocre AT BEST.
Still, she might as well enjoy her current high tide, because it won’t last long (unless she plays a singer from here on out or takes thankless roles in lowbrow, African-American comedies).
Dreamgirls itself is a decent movie, but deserves a B rating and nothing more than one or two technical awards. Maybe a Best Song award too. Even Eddie Murphy’s getting a little more than he deserves for this role, though I hope this wave of success will convince him to be choosier with his future roles. At least he has a body of work to help justify a potential statuette next month.
While I liked The Departed more than Babel, I was glad to see it win. I’ve yet to see Little Children, however. That being said, Babel has no chance at the Oscars. I also wish United 93 would have been nominated.
It was nice to see Cohen take home the award, and hopefully it will secure him the fifth slot later this month when the nominations are announced.
And while I realize this is a Movie website, let me just conclude by adding my outrage that the Globes completely ignored HBO’s greatest drama, The Wire. I’m not sure its latest season was eligible for the Emmys, who also ignored it, but it’s easily the best show on television today (and has been for years). Wake up, folks.
Maybe if the corner kids sang and danced while selling drugs it would be lavished with accolades.
I think it’s important to note that Crash wasn’t even nominated for a golden globe last year — I think this years’ Crash is LIttle miss sunshine — it is such a well made little movie that deals with common themes and is very relatable and really funny.
Leonardo Dicaprio should win best actor this year — not only for two great performances in one year — like sean penn, when he won, but because he was so deserving for the Aviator. His great film roles include Titanic, what’s eating gilbert grape, gangs of new york — he is very deserving and very overdue. If Adrian Brody can win for one great role, certainly Leonardo should win for 5 great roles.
I think it’s important to note that Crash wasn’t even nominated for a golden globe last year — I think this years’ Crash is LIttle miss sunshine — it is such a well made little movie that deals with common themes and is very relatable and really funny.
Leonardo Dicaprio should win best actor this year — not only for two great performances in one year — like sean penn, when he won, but because he was so deserving for the Aviator. His great film roles include Titanic, what’s eating gilbert grape, gangs of new york — he is very deserving and very overdue. If Adrian Brody can win for one great role, certainly Leonardo should win for 5 great roles.
LMS was nominated for at least one award that I recall, and that was a Best Picture award.
It certainly has a good chance of earning a Best Pic nod for the Oscars.
Filmkr is right: what Little Miss Sunshine have in common is that they are both very funny. The difference is that only LMS was intentionally so.
I didn’t think Helen Mirren looked “unhappy”; I thought she looked nervous and tense. It can’t be much fun being the heavy favorite, and she’s unused to it. She and Peter O’Toole are the greatest working actors of a certain age who remain un-Oscared. (Kate Winslet, Laura Linney, Julianne Moore, and Guy Pearce, your time will come–hopefully before YOU are of a certain age.)
I think it’s scandalous that the “Little Children” clip was omitted. That’s a small film that needed the exposure. Those involved in it must have been crushed. Has there been an explanation?
“So I finally caught this Dreamgirls flick (aka American Idol: The Movie). And I gotta tell ya there’s a reason it’s getting a hard time. It just ain’t that dreamy. The lack of Motown music”
Crow Robot – did you know this was based on a stage play that happened like 25 years ago! and was on Broadway and it is Broadway tunes and NOT MoTOWN tunes? Did you know that?
Hey Moniker,
I totally agree on The Wire and the just completed season was the best yet. IMO, it was the best season of any TV show ever produced in my adult viewing lifetime. I’m 46. Just brilliant stuff.
I don’t understand why you believe there was a backlash on dreamgirls. The way I saw it, everyone was hyping it, and it was the front runner until it came out and people saw it, and then they realized it didn’t even deserve to be a runner in the first place.
There is no backlash on my behalf, just complete resentment that this movie I was told was going to be the best movie of the year for months before it came out, was nothing spectacular, a good movie, maybe, a best picture winner… Pluh ease!
Moniker,
All of what you say about Dreamgirls is true IMO (although I would be harder on it) but none of that matters when considering who will win the Oscars. I think Hudson’s performance is sub-Movie of the Week level if you throw out her singing and even with the singing its just ok. The film is like a history of Motown done as if the real Motown never existed. And I don’t care about the Broadway show, the film has to stand on its own.
The AAs are now about hype, who has the best publicist, advertising, box office, predetermination and just a little bit about quality.
“I love how everyone…journalists especially..underestimate the emotional impact that Babel has on people who see it.”
It’s just a fact that not everyone gets out of it what some seem to be. Whoa, that was worded very poorly. Sorry. Umm… you get what I mean though, right?
“DG is dead – IMO, there’s a backlash starting across the internet.”
Of all the scenarios to come out of Dreamgirls winning Best Picture, being called “dead” was not one I expected. What will it take to please some people?
“Did Kyra Sedgewick not make a total fool of herself?”
If people can defend Forest Whitaker’s speech (HOW?!) then surely Kyra’s can be too. It’s her first major award, and she deserved it. I’m happy for her, she’s excellent on The Closer.
Ya know, for a bunch of people who seem adament that the awards should be awarded to the person most deserving, a lot of you seem to not want Hudson to win the Oscar purely because she’s from Idol and she might not be set for a Meryl Streep style career. People think she’s the best of the year and will vote for her accordingly. Geez. Is that so hard to believe?
“I don’t understand why you believe there was a backlash on dreamgirls. The way I saw it, everyone was hyping it, and it was the front runner until it came out and people saw it, and then they realized it didn’t even deserve to be a runner in the first place.
There is no backlash on my behalf, just complete resentment that this movie I was told was going to be the best movie of the year for months before it came out, was nothing spectacular, a good movie, maybe, a best picture winner… Pluh ease!” -Mozz
Exactly! I went in to it expecting a very good film, and afterwards I just thought, “this film isn’t very good.” It really doesn’t deserve to even be nominated. It has nothing to do with anything else except that the film doesn’t hold up to the hype.
And on Letters from Iwo Jima: Most deserved win of the night. I know many people haven’t had the opportunity to see this film, but it is amazing. I just wish the guilds had nominated it more. I honestly believe that if it were to get a BP nom for the Oscars (highly, highly unlikely now), it would easily win.
“This is almost as much a Members Only film as say Firefly. If you’re not keyed into the brand name from the get-go there’s not much here to jump on.”
I disagree about “Serenity” (Firefly). I kind of hated the one and a half episodes I’d seen of “Firefly” beforehand, but the movie knocked me out and sent me flying to the nearest store to get the show’s DVD. There’s some really fantastic and inventive dialogue (the lines about the albatross alone – come on!), Nathan “who should be the next Indiana Jones” Fillion, Gina “who should have played Storm” Torres, one of the best movie villains in the last few years in Chiwetel Ejiofor, and…yeah, I’m all fanboy for the thing, but it’s well deserved.
Chicago84, it seems to me that the people putting up a fight for Dreamgirls are mostly sentimental lovers of the Broadway show. And yes Miss Hudson is being graded on a biiiiig curve here… She may have fantastic pipes but you can practically see her hold her breath during the big acting scenes — I even get the feeling that when she starts bawling during her big number it was more out passion for landing this big role than any real, authentic character moment.
(And Hallick you are entering a world of pain with that Firefly shit!)
It’s nice seeing Eddie Murphy getting an award, but like Burt Reynold’s Golden Globe for BOOGIE NIGHTS, we know it won’t really lead to classier films in the future.
As for Hugh Laurie, he’s a brilliant actor and very watchable in HOUSE M.D. – someone give this man some movies (and I don’t mean bit parts in drivel like FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX).
As for the show this year…pretty boring, something stale about the Golden Globes now, not that many stars show up and the ones that do (Angelina, Brad etc) aren’t that interesting. The true star quality people that do show up such as Eastwood, Hanks etc are unfortunately overexposed, they attend everything these days and appear everywhere, diluting much of their gravitas, unfort.
Meryl Streep was classy, indeed.
“Loved how ethnically diverse the winners were yesterday (too bad Masi Oka couldn’t pull out a win, though).” — me too. I’m glad to see Will Smith become a real power player in Hollywood. The older whiter establishment in Hollywood is going away and incoming are the Latinos/3 Mexicans and African Americans.
Now for all the naysayers about JenHud, I think you have to see the movie again for little acting nuances, not just from JHud, but also Jamie Foxx – who I’m not a big fan of – but he was very understated and played it just right.
As for JenHud, watch her facial expressions. And then head over to Youtube and watch Jennifer Holiday at the Tonys. They’re playing the same character.
I think you didn’t like the ‘character’ and not J-Hud’s interpretation of the character. A lot of people had problems with Effie, who is definitely flawed, but all the characters are flawed. Including Lorrelle – the mistress!
Alright sorry for the double post. About DG – you know what this movie is? Nothing more than a Judy Garland-Mickey Rooney, ‘we’re going to put on a show’ type movie.
It may be a B movie, but it’s an entertaining movie and people leave the theatre with a smile on their face and a song in their heart (sorry!). I have the soundtrack CD and play it over and over and can sing-along, even though the song lyrics are way hokey and make no sense – they just rhyme. But remember this is a Broadway play on film – how hard is it to do that successfully – very HARD.
Also, you can tell by watching the movie that everyone put their heart/soul and hard work into it and were having a blast doing it.
I saw Pan’s and actually, it was very disturbing. I walked out thinking about that final scene and it took me back to some bad childhood memories. Now, if I want to escape, do I want to see singing and dancing or do I want to see blood on the screen?
“As for Hugh Laurie, he’s a brilliant actor and very watchable in HOUSE M.D.”
I think it’s the exact opposite. I can’t watch that show because of him. Well, not HIM, but the character. He’s so annoying and Laurie’s voice grates. I can’t sit there for an hour and listen to it. Plus, it’s just like CSI and Law&Order. Same patern every week. You know when they think they have the answer 30 minutes in that they’re wrong.
Kamikaze, when you’re right, you’re right. House is crap and so is Laurie. I can’t believe the praise heaped on both.
Can I ask what everyone’s problem is with Jamie Foxx? Perhaps he has a somewhat undeserved Oscar, but that makes him just one of thirty or so folks who fit. He’s a talented actor, and the best thing about Dreamgirls aside from the showstoppers and the costumes.
Jamie Foxx to me is a better supporting actor (Collateral, DG) than a leading man. He comes off as arrogant at times, and his ebonics drives me crazy. Whenever I read his interviews, his English is so hip-hop street, it just gnaws me. I think he still has to prove himself musically. Gifted pianist yes. Good Singer? – jury is still out. Comedy is what he came up on and I saw him in person on the Def Comedy Jam way back and he was the best one on the show.
I liked him in DG esp. when I saw it the second time.
everyone here has interesting things to say, but i wish the movies were more interesting. overall, the year has been very good, and it seems that the globes rewarded some good movies (BABEL, DREAMGIRLS), but i thought awards were all about GREAT movies. that’s what i crave and covet as a movie lover. so, with that in mind, i still hold out some hope for the Oscars. maybe they will actually reward greatness in a year when some actually achieved that status–LETTERS, UNITED 93, PANS, DEPARTED, CHILDREN/MEN…even CASINO ROYALE.
ill second the Jamie Foxx arrogance thing. I don’t have a problem with the guy, i don’t even know him. But i can say from the appearances i’ve seen him on, he comes across as acting too good for wherever he is. He used the same speech for every award he won for Ray, which to me is a classic sign of someone trying to oversell the room. There is nothing about him that doesn’t feel like a front. It seems like he’s acting even when he’s being interviewed.
That perceived lack of honesty is what prevents him from being a leading man. Will Smith comes across very honestly in every interview you see him in. Real or not, he does a great job of seeming like a regular guy. People want to root for the regular guy. They don’t want to root for the guy who is always ‘on’.
House is not an easy character to love, but he’s played brilliantly by Hugh Laurie, who I was rooting for (alongside Michael C. Hall).
I wasn’t crazy about House the first time I caught a random, mid-season episode, but once I finally started watching them from the beginning, it grew on me very quickly. Yes, it’s repetitive, but that’s almost part of its charm. Also, I think it’s far less “assembly-line” than it was first season, though I do think the supporting characters have been shortchanged recently. That being said, taking the medical and mystery genres and combining them was a masterstroke. Choosing a misanthropic codger with a bum leg and a Vicadin addiction to spearhead such a show was either genius or insanity, but as House himself proves, the two are not mutually exclusive.
I do think it helps if you’re a bit misanthropic yourself (ahem), but it’s not necessarily a prerequisite to enjoying the series. Still, I can see how some might tire of a protagonist who actually seems meaner with each passing season. For folks like me, it just makes for more exciting viewing.
Overall, however, the Globes really blew it when it came to the TV nominations. Some great series were completely overlooked: The Wire, Battlestar Galactica, Friday Night Lights, Veronica Mars (more Season 2 than Season 3), The Shield, and several others.
Forest Whitaker’s blisteringly brilliant performance on Season 5 of The Shield (a show that just keeps improving even as its awards attention fades into oblivion) has been criminally overlooked. I suppose the same can be said for the show itself. As I go back and rewatch the first season (which garnered all the glory), it’s amazing how far the show has come.
Anyway, I’m sure Poland doesn’t want me continually cluttering his film blog with TV discussion, so I’ll keep quiet…as soon as I mention one last time that The Wire is the greatest TV series of the decade and deserves much more attention than the occasional A+ from Entertainment Weekly. If you haven’t seen it, I demand that you go to your local video store and rent the first disc of Season One, keeping in mind that you need to watch the entire season before you make your official judgment of the show. It works like a visual novel with each episode simply a chapter in a larger, greater story. Do yourself a favor and take a trip through the fierce and heartbreaking universe that David Simon and Ed Burns have been quietly and consistently creating for HBO while the rest of the viewing world has had its back turned.
Wow, people are actually hating on Jamie Foxx because he speaks in “ebonics”??? Kramer, who knew you were commenting on this site? Pathetic, please, get thee out of the closet you’ve been living in and out into the real world.
As for The Wire, it’s a great, great show and deserves mention anywhere anyone wants, in a movie column, politics, whatever. Fact is if it was up for Best Picture, it should win hands down. Better than anything at the theatre this year…
(And Hallick you are entering a world of pain with that Firefly shit!)
Pain me, babe.
Speaking of The Wire, why don’t they ship an entire season to Cannes or something? The Europeans do that kind of thing all the time at festivals (e.g, Kieslowski, VonTrier, etc). I’d be lovin’ to see it get a jury prize.
You should read his quotes from the NYdailynews.com Monday. I said, if Jamie Foxx said this to his live audience, he needs to quit right now. He’s a professional actor, he’s not in the country anymore. Speak ENGLISH, you don’t have to articulate, but speak it!
He also has a quote on Darkhorizons where they interviewed him. And he was just all over the place.
I’m happy to see him get to the top, but I wonder how long he’ll stay there…and I agree, Will Smith comes across (now) as just an average guy…with a family…and happy to be working…and I betcha the reason Will is always working and making movies is because he’s smart and people like him.
So objecting to ebonics is now racist. Interesting.
Will Smith has stayed at the top for so long because people geniunely like him. He doesn’t come off as arrogant and he doesn’t seem to be appearing everywhere all the time. Jamie Foxx has no reason to act the way he does. And I agree he needs to give up the overly “ghetto” way he speaks. Like, please. You’ve been in Hollywood long enough and been given enough Louis Vetton bags and free spa packages to not speak like that anymore.
Plus, I didn’t even like him in Ray (Collateral on the other hand? He’s great in that)
Plus, Reverse Racist is just as bad as regular racism.
Oh, and also
http://kamikazecamel.blogspot.com/2006/08/i-hate-jamie-foxx.html
LOL
How much ego is TOO much ego in Hollywood?
Did you see the listings for the Cinema Audio Society Nominations. It’s nice to know “American Pie 5: The Naked Mile” got its due during awards season with a nomination. There is such a thing as too many awards for too many things.
Babel? Nah. The Departed? NO WAY. American Pie 5: The Naked Mile? BEST FILM OF THE YEAR.
Clearly the best sound of the year, too.