And Some Open Space…
As always, when I am on the run, I try to leave some space for y’all to work it out.
Try to be nice to one another… or at least civil…
April 24, 2024
The Hot Blog
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movieman on: Review: Marriage Story (spoilers only in the broadest sense)
movieman on: BYOB Fall Back, Film Forward
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movieman on: BYOB Fall Back, Film Forward
movieman on: I Should Be Doing Box Office
Review: Little Women (no spoilers)
Why You Should Be Afraid Of The End Of The Paramount Decree
Review: Frozen 2 (spoiler-free)
Review: Marriage Story (spoilers only in the broadest sense)
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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” ā 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 ā 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 ā he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” ā and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging ā I was with her at that moment ā 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 namedā” “Yeah, sure ā 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 Iām on the phone with you now, after all thatās 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 didnāt seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. Thereās not a case of that. He wasnāt using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had ā if that were what the accusation involved ā 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. Iām not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, āYou know, itās not this, itās thatā? Because ā let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. TimesĀ piece, thatās what it lacked. Thatās 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
Am I the only one surprised that David hasn’t said a single thing about Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up? You were one of the primary early purveyors of 40 Year Old Virgin, and I’m sure you would have commented on his follow-up by now. Have you not seen one of the kajillion screenings they’ve done?
Anyone seen that new Geico commercial with the boy talking about putting some NASCAR driver “into the wall”? Very Wes Anderson-esque. I know he’s done a number of commercials; if its not him, then its someone channeling him.
Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_90tfqwXc0A
I like it.
Does anyone know how Knocked Up is tracking? Sometimes I get the impression that it could break out, and sometimes I feel like it is going to get overlooked.
Excuse me, but did Ben Silverman actually say “It’s good for the Jews”, regarding his new gig as honcho of NBC? DP asked us to be civil, but something about that comment rubbed me the wrong way. Anyone care to explain why he would say that?
Silverman is just happy that Jewish people are finally starting to break into the media business. It’s about time, I say.
I saw KNOCKED UP last night.
Impressions: It IS really funny, definitely two or three from-the-gut laughs. But, I’ll also agree with David that the media-hype surrounding this movie is going to hurt it. I laughed, but this film is not the “second coming” for pete’s sake. It stays in the usual 3-act structure of the romantic comedy. Seth Rogen is a funny, confident dude on-screen, but he’s not the next Vince Vaughn. Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann easily steal the movie. I’m half-serious that Universal should make a spin-off on that couple. The roommates are also funny, but by Act 3, it got a little tiresome. The celebrity cameos are cute, but nothing more.
In short, it’s good. Go See it. But the media has put Apatow and Rogen on a pedastal that is a little too high, and the film might get some bad word of mouth because of it.
I really did like 40 Year Old Virgin, and this doesn’t quite get there in terms of laughs. Close, but no cigar.
I don’t live in the U.S., so I don’t know about how KNOCKED UP is tracking or indeed its TV or print ads. But I saw the trailer on-line back in March and thought it was funny. I got the chance to see the movie about 5 weeks ago, and I was really surprised by its broad appeal (the audience I saw it with were male/female 30s).
Another thing is that the trailer barely gives you anything. I don’t know about you, but when the summer arrives, rather than waiting for months in anticipation for a block-buster to arrive, there is nothing better than finding a movie through word of mouth.
From the entries above it seems that, despite the great reviews (92% Rotten Tomatoes), KNOCKED-UP has yet to get advance buzz. However, I think audiences will love it all summer long.
I definitely enjoyed it, as did the audience I saw it with…but some of these reviews paint it like it’s the greatest comedy in history, and that’s a bit much.
Grindhouse, it should be pointed out, got overwhelmingly positive reviews too.
I think “Knocked Up” is going to kick major ass at the box office…it’s got so much going for it besides the Apatow angle.
Katherine Heigel is not only smoking hot, but couple a pregnancy movie with the “star” of “Greys Anatomy” and there’s a big ole chunk of money.
Adults haven’t had a movie to go see without their damn kids for months. I think “Disturbia” did so well because it was in that realm plus catered to the PG-13 crowd. “Knocked Up” is an adult movie for men AND women. That’s incredibly rare.
Plus, it’s really, really, really…funny. And also sweet and serious. It’s a chick flick for the refuse-to-grow-up man crowd.
One thing I do see hurting it is it’s length. The version I saw at SXSW was over 2 hours long which is surprising for a comedy. But I thought the film wokred big time and it’s not only going to pull in alot of cash this weekend, it’s going to be around for a while.
That’s just what I think though….
2 hours, 10 min. but it didn’t feel long for me.
I thought someone would bring up Mr. Poland’s column on the Hot Blog, “Summer II: The Sequel – Return Of The Relative Sanity.”
From what I’ve so far heard of Shrek III, I probably catch it on DVD or not at all, but I wasn’t a fan of the first two anyway. I’m not particularly excited about any other sequels/three-quels right now. I think Spidey III and Pirates III have exhausted me (the prior especially). I’m more interested in seeing new things. The possible exception is Live Free and Die Hard. I love the first Die Hard. I recently watched it again and, I must say, it has been able to stay ‘fresh’ after almost 20 years!! I’ve never read Nancy Drew as a kid, but I’m interested in it. The one I want to see most right now is Stardust. I love fairy tales and I’ve been deprived of one for so long. I can’t even recall the last one that came out in theater.
Yeah, on behalf of the women who couldn’t care less about Apatow or Rogen…we just know that Katherine Heigl from Grey’s Anatomy (the show has 20 plus million viewers) is in and that’s good enough to want to see it.
It didn’t feel long to me either, but for a comedy…that’s long.
Sandy-if you’re being sarcastic, you’re just silly. EVERY time I go to the video store, I see couples renting movies based solely on who is in the film. If you don’t think that people (men and women) rent or see a movie based on the star, you’re nutty. If you were being serious, then I apologize š
The thing about TV stars is that they don’t always translate to box office success. Wasn’t Heigl in that Johnny Knoxville flick a while back, after Gray’s Anatomy had become a hit? That didn’t exactly become a major hit.
Exactly what I was going to say, Me. Starring in a hit TV show does not automatically translate to box office success. Remember the seemingly constant barrage of flops from the “Friends” cast – at the height of the show’s success?
While it’s true that TV stars don’t always become movie stars, I hardly think that applies to Knocked Up. It will do well and that may have little to nothing to do with Heigl. I believe it will make at least $25 million this weekend, and wouldn’t be surprised at all if it does much more than that.
Agree with Stella’s Boy– Knocked Up seems to offer more than the usual TV star-wants-to-be-in-movies flick. Heigl is not the focus of the marketing that I’ve seen. It’s not a nakedly desperate career move, which is what I think was the problem with most of the Friends movies.
The thing about TV stars is that they don’t always translate to box office success.
Wasn’t Heigl also one of the star in that infamous $30 grossing movie a few months back?
Stars don’t mean squat. I remember having lunch with a co-worker one day in spring ’95. Tom Hanks had just won his second consecutive Oscar, and DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE had just opened to the then-astronomical figure of $30 million. Co-worker: “Man, if you could get Hanks and Willis together in a picture, can you imagine what that would be like?” Me: “Yeah. BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES.”
Petaluma – Uhhhh….I WAS being serious š – but then again, I never wanted to see a movie just because Jennifer Aniston was in it…I just never liked her all that much. I think the movie will do well enough since we’re tired of the big noisy blockbusters of May.
I didn’t mean to get snippy, Sandy. I just feel people sometimes rent or see movies based on the stars OR based on the previous films. Kind of the whole “straight to DVD” idea. Ya know, make a cheesey sequel to a movie that did so-so at the box office OR make a movie with a TV star and make money renting it at Blockbuster.
No idea which way the wind is blowing on KNOCKED UP. In fact, I asked this very question last week. Seems the studio tried and tried to engineer the hype and buzz for this to be some sort of pretend-sleeper, so we could all fake getting caught off guard if it made 200 mil.
But I just don’t see the plan working, at least not yet. Trailers and TV ads were/are minimal, and despite their best efforts, I don’t think Joe Multiplex is really making the 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN connection. I’ve had to badger friends with, “But you liked 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, shouldn’t you be excited about this? It’s the SAME PEOPLE AND THE SAME MOVIE!” And still they don’t care. It’ll get great word-of-mouth, but it’s not going to open big. People think it’s some low-rent, one-joke comedy, and the spots I have seen don’t do much to combat that view: even the FILM STOCK LOOKS SHITTY.
I have a nagging suspicion that SUPERBAD will end up being the movie that the studio wanted KNOCKED UP to be.
On an unrelated but not dissimilar subject, was scheduling HOSTEL PART 2 as a SUMMER RELEASE kind of a bad idea? It’s opening up against two bigger, more mass-appeal blockbusters– OCEAN’S and SURF’S UP. What was up with THAT choice? Where it would’ve cleaned up in January-thru-April, now it’ll probably be relegated to low-rent, Dimension-on-Christmas Day status. Is there any way it’ll possibly do well this time of year?
I keep hearing the reviews: “Funniest movie ever, etc” yet the trailers don’t really have any punch to them. I mean, I LOVED the 40 Year Old Virgin, but the trailers don’t show it….
It’s NOT the funniest movie ever, but it’s really funny. I have to say my pick for personal “funniest movie ever” is “Dumb and Dumber.” I know that’s stupid, but that movie is frigging hillarious.
Using The Ringer as an example of Katherine Heigl’s box office potential is so, so wrong. The female demographic from Gray’s Anatomy wouldn’t have seen that film anyway. A film starring the guy from Jackass (a boy’s club if there ever was one) who lies his way into the special olympics? Not going to get a lot of girls to see that one.
Knocked Up, however, is a romantic comedy, and though it may be more about Rogen’s character becoming a man, facing a pregnancy with someone who may not be the ideal husband is a situation a lot of girls may be able to imagine, if not outright relate to. That it’s funny on top of it is an even greater selling point.
I think the word-of-mouth is still going to be great, and it doesn’t really have much competition in its category. It might not make 40YOV numbers, but it can still be a success regardless.
I’m pretty sure Knocked Up will pull its wieght. Like Wedding Crashers, word-of-mouth will be the key factor.
There are two types of TV actors. There are those who make it in movies (Clooney, McQueen, Meg Ryan), and those who can’t (Caruso, Patrick Duffy, everyone on an Aaron Spelling show). I think Geigl can be a breakout star. Unlike Pompeo and Dempsey, she can do big and small emotions with great ease. It seems now more obvious that Pompeo was a TV star trying to be a movie actor. Remember when some critics were hailing her as “better than Zellweger”?
There are some actors who are fully aware of what they can do on both TV and in the movies. Sarah Jessica Parker is a perfect example. She knows a movie like The Family Stone is perfect for her. She doesn’t bother trying to go after a role like Swank in Million Dollar Baby. caruso would’ve be perfect for the movies in the heyday of film noir. He has an Alan Ladd quality. (Anyone who saw him in King of New York knows what he’s capable of.) Gary Sinise and William Petersen are two other examples of screen actors showing they can transition quite smoothly to TV.
The Friends cast members are an interesting case study. Schwimmer does fine stage work. He can play great assholes in something like Band of Brothers. His little-seen alcoholic drama is remarkable. Kudrow can do comedy quite well. Aniston is best in small-scale movies like Office Space and The Good Girl.
I actually think someone like Ray Liotta would be amazing on a TV show. His Smith was poorly executed, but he was solid. Give him CSI: Chicago. I would love to see Walken in a HBO sitcom.
Is there anyone else who should try to transition from TV to movies? Or, is there a movie actor who should try their hand at TV?
I’m looking forward to what James Gandolfini will do once The Sopranos ends. He used his notoriety to take on some smaller character roles (the gay hitman in The Mexican, the other man in The Man Who Wasn’t There, the fascist warden in The Last Castle)since the show started, but what next? He’s arguably the biggest presence on television, and if anyone has a chance it’s him.
I just noticed on IMDB that he’s working on an untitled Ernest Hemingway project, playing Papa. I guess there’s our answer.
I’ve also been really impressed with Matthew Fox the longer Lost goes on; last week’s season finale had some extremely impressive work, and I imagine his hunk status would give him a pretty good standing with the ladies. Guys don’t seem to mind too much either. Maybe not now, but after another season of the show, before the numbers really start to drop? He should make his move while he’s on vacation. The only thing I’m worried about is his (seemingly) lack of a sense of humor, but that may be carryover from the obnoxiously, terminally weepy Party of Five, and his current Dudley-Do-Right (albiet a fucked up one) character.
Lazarus, I was wondering the same about Gandolfini the other day. It’s going to be very difficult for him to do anything outside of the shadow of Sopranos— he’s just been too perfect in the role, you can’t see him anymore as anything but. I’d bet he’ll have to work for ten years before he gets a movie review that doesn’t mention the show.
I’m sort of worried the same thing is going to happen soon to Steve Carrell. He’s just so perfect in The Office that audiences are going to have a hard time separating him from his character.
It’s like they’re both too talented for their own good.
I’ve given this a little thought and would like to submit that the reason TV stars don’t always translate into movie stars is accessibility. An actor in a TV show under heavy rotation is readily available to anyone who likes to watch him or her. I think Clooney is a good example of this
Lazarus, I’m not sure women see Rogen, in his gross, under-washed appearance from the tv commercials and trailers, and think he’s any better than Johnny Knoxville. And this may be a romantic comedy, but it also has a gross-out comedy feel to it, too (whether that is reflective of the actual movie, or not). I don’t think the comparisons (marketability-wise) to The Ringer are all that far off.
Personally, I think this is a movie that’s going to rely on word-of-mouth. If it doesn’t do better in its second week than its first, it could be in trouble.
Then again, it could bigger than I think. I just don’t know how this one is going to go.
Personally, I liked the trailer for SuperBad a lot more than the ones for Knocked Up.
The other thing about 40YOV is that it has literally, one of the funniest One-Sheets in movie history. I nearly got into a car accident the first time I saw that thing.
Knocked Up is funny, and I’m telling my friends to see it. But I told my friends they HAD to see 40YOV.