April 19, 2024
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BYOB: 235 Years Of Relative independence
BYOB Weekend: Hop, An April Fool’s Gag?
| Friday | Screens | % Chg | Cume | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Gross | Thtr | % Chgn | Cume |
| Venom | 33 | 4250 | NEW | 33 |
| A Star is Born | 15.7 | 3686 | NEW | 15.7 |
| Smallfoot | 3.5 | 4131 | -46% | 31.3 |
| Night School | 3.5 | 3019 | -63% | 37.9 |
| The House Wirh a Clock in its Walls | 1.8 | 3463 | -43% | 49.5 |
| A Simple Favor | 1 | 2408 | -50% | 46.6 |
| The Nun | 0.75 | 2264 | -52% | 111.5 |
| Hell Fest | 0.6 | 2297 | -70% | 7.4 |
| Crazy Rich Asians | 0.6 | 1466 | -51% | 167.6 |
| The Predator | 0.25 | 1643 | -77% | 49.3 |
| Also Debuting | ||||
| The Hate U Give | 0.17 | 36 | ||
| Shine | 85,600 | 609 | ||
| Exes Baggage | 75,900 | 62 | ||
| NOTA | 71,300 | 138 | ||
| 96 | 61,600 | 62 | ||
| Andhadhun | 55,000 | 54 | ||
| Afsar | 45,400 | 33 | ||
| Project Gutenberg | 36,000 | 17 | ||
| Love Yatri | 22,300 | 41 | ||
| Hello, Mrs. Money | 22,200 | 37 | ||
| Studio 54 | 5,300 | 1 | ||
| Loving Pablo | 4,200 | 15 |
| 3-Day Estimates | Weekend | % Chg | Cume |
|---|---|---|---|
| No Good Dead | 24.4 (11,230) | NEW | 24.4 |
| Dolphin Tale 2 | 16.6 (4,540) | NEW | 16.6 |
| Guardians of the Galaxy | 7.9 (2,550) | -23% | 305.8 |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | 4.8 (1,630) | -26% | 181.1 |
| The Drop | 4.4 (5,480) | NEW | 4.4 |
| Let's Be Cops | 4.3 (1,570) | -22% | 73 |
| If I Stay | 4.0 (1,320) | -28% | 44.9 |
| The November Man | 2.8 (1,030) | -36% | 22.5 |
| The Giver | 2.5 (1,120) | -26% | 41.2 |
| The Hundred-Foot Journey | 2.5 (1,270) | -21% | 49.4 |
Review: Little Women (no spoilers) - The Hot Blog
Box Office First Look - The Hot Blog
Why You Should Be Afraid Of The End Of The Paramount Decree - The Hot Blog
So what did people think of The Road trailer. Knowing that it’s directed by John Hillcoat and that the story (which I have not read) is far less action packed than they are selling still doesn’t dampen my anticipation. I hope I like Kodi Smit-McPhee this time as I found him to be another one of those precocious child actors in Romulus, My Father.
Once again the freakin rednecks apparently inherit the fucking earth. What the hell? Am I surround by the human equivalent of the roach? Seriously creative people of the world… the fuck?
Interesting trailer though, but it reminds me of Walking Dead and Crossed. So, yeah, it does not come across like The Juul Haalmeyer Dancers, but it’s something to see in October. Horray!
LOVE “The Proposition” so was super-stoked for The Road last year, and of course bummed when it got bumped. I thought the trailer was effective on its own, even though, yeah, I’m aware they’re pumping up the “I Am Legend”/action vibe that likely isn’t there.
But that is going to come back and bite them huge… as it always does when they pull that kind of bait-and-switch on essentially arty movies with JUST enough commercial elements to cut a very mainstream trailer. It only leads to frustrated/angry audiences who generally only see popcorn flicks and won’t know what to make of any of it.
Just as I imagine that masses went into “Lost in Translation” expecting big Murray comedy and May-December romance, “Sideways” expecting zany pratfalls with two wacky bachelors, “History of Violence” looking for a kick-ass action ride, or “Adventureland” for big yuks and “Superbad II”… I’m sure the morning of October 17th, you can expect 100,000 posts on the IMDB message board declaring “The Road” THE WORST FUCKING MOVIE OF ALL TIME!
Then again, “No Country” beat that hurdle and aside from maybe the very ending, seemed to be generally well-liked by the hoi polloi.
Those kind of “in between” movies must just be a nightmare to market, because you can’t sell abstract or subtle, but if you sell thrills and deliver abstract and subtle, the audience resents you for it. Damned if you do…
“There Will Be Blood” seems like the best recent example of the studio just kinda saying “fuck it” and marketing it as EXACTLY what it was, austere and weird and epic and commanded by DDL. No trailers with “Click Click Boom” or “Bodies,” no spoonfeeding a narrative that wasn’t there.
“you can expect 100,000 posts on the IMDB message board declaring “The Road” THE WORST FUCKING MOVIE OF ALL TIME!”
That bit is true, but Sideways and Lost in Translation did quite well for themselves at the box office, no? And I’m sure they’d be happy with History of Violence‘s $30m gross.
I don’t think the studio would be happy with $30 million. While the budget is listed as $20 million at IMDB (and I have no idea how accurate that is), I imagine that the P&A budget will be considerably more than that due to the Oscar push. That and the fact that it’s based on such a popular novel, I don’t think the studio would be too pleased with $30 million.
Speaking of Oscars, the Academy Award Winner curse strikes again.
“So, yeah, it does not come across like The Juul Haalmeyer Dancers…”
Santa bring ma babay back to may! Santa bring ma babay back to may!
Juul Haalmeyer Dancers = SCTV greatness!
In other things, can we all at least agree that if Scorsese does cast DiCaprio as Frank Sinatra that he is now finally worthy of the derision that George Lucas gets for the prequels?
I’m a little disappointed in the cinematography. Everything looks too slick and razor sharp. I was hoping for a grittier 70’s texture to the imagery, with a filthy air vibe.
“Speaking of Oscars, the Academy Award Winner curse strikes again.”
Yeah, because nothing like that happened to all of the other kids who WEREN’T in the movie. Jesus effing Christ, man…
I just did a search on The Road at IMDb, and the first choice that came up was La Strada…
I didn’t think the trailer was that bad, but it also wasn’t that great either. The flash-frame “news montage” is really old and tired and so is the “attacked by angry rednecks” bit. Especially when the story is probably a lot more meditative and quiet (I’m assuming — haven’t read the book).
I don’t mind them selling the thriller/action aspect, but I do hope they put out another trailer with a different approach at some point.
I pity any well-known actor trying to make a convincing Sinatra. DiCaprio was great as Howard Hughes, but not that many people know what Hughes looked and sounded like. DiCaprio doesn’t look like Frankie, and I doubt they’ll want to cover him in latex. And even if they use Ol’ Blue Eyes’ original tracks for the music, the speaking voice could be a problem (Leo’s natural tone seems much lighter and higher-pitched). But hey, the guy’s a good actor, so who knows? Anyway, I’ll believe it when I see it — right now, it just seems to be one of the producers wishing out loud.
Wonder whatever happened to Scorsese’s intention to make a Dean Martin bio with Tom Hanks, based on Nick Tosches’ book?
I think Hanks got too old for it.
And to play Sinatra, it seems like the best strategy would be to cast an unknown, or little-known guy. DiCaprio’s obvious miscasting, but anybody else who’s big enough of a star would be distracting.
The Road trailer is frustrating. I mean, it’s clear enough to me that the footage is heavily juiced up by intense music and editing to make it into something that it really isn’t, and as Lex said, that’ll bite them in the ass down the road. They’re trying to straddle that same highbrow/middlebrow divide and will end up satisfying nobody.
Movie looks good though, albeit maybe they spent too much money on CGI vistas.
“So what did people think of The Road trailer.”
Loved The Proposition, and love, love, love this book, though it’s one of the most wrenching books I’ve ever read. Still haunts me. The book is very introspective, looks like they’ve gone for putting more action in the adaptation — or at least, they’ve cut the trailer to indicate that there’s more action and fighting than there is. Also appears (again, from the trailer) that they’ve made the wife more pivotal to the plot to give Theron something to do.
Based on the trailer, looks like they’ve decided show more of what happened to bring things to the post-Apocalypse, beefed up the beginning, cut much of the slower middle and emphasized the hiding, running and fighting to bump the fear factor. Very curious to see the film as a whole now.
Star Trek’s total after six days: $99,002,539
Wolverine’s total after six days: $99,152,810
I’m thinking Star Trek will have much better legs, 200 million seems more likely, but this weekend’s numbers will tell us whether or not that’s going to happen.
“And to play Sinatra, it seems like the best strategy would be to cast an unknown, or little-known guy. ”
Agreed. This does seem like a time where a real director could pony up and make an unknown a real star. And I do not buy all that “no one can sing like Sinatra” bupkus.
If Stone and Kilmer can do the amazing job they did on the Doors, someone, somewhere, somehow can do a decent Frank.
Personally, I think that is just a lob to prep us for DiCaprio. Which will really suck. Easily the most overrated actor/poseur working today.
Damn, too bad movieman is around rather infrequently lately and likely won’t see this. Probably no one else will care or be familiar enough with the area to notice, but wanted to ask him re: “The Road” trailer… Is rural/suburban Pennsylvania “the new Vancouver”? Seems like every third movie lately is either set or shot in Western PA — Zach and Miri, Smart People, Adventureland, Mysteries of Pittsburgh. Those “Road” clips are very clearly the outskirts of Pittsburgh.
I’m assuming there’s some awesome tax break or incentive there? I grew up in various east coast states and that’s a great part of the country, great people… but just seems so un-Hollywood and unpretentious, it’s just so arbitrary/random that like a dozen productions have all been made there in such a short period of time. (And as movieman said elsewhere, no one in these movies remotely looks or sounds like anyone from the area.)
I agree with what Kim and Hallick said. And I too thought the trailer had an “I Am Legend” vibe going on….a little TOO much. But, I did get a little misty eyed when Viggo gave the kid a soda in the trailer. That was one of the most touching moments in the book and it’s inclusion in the trailer seemed to signify a little nod to the literary fans. And, fans of product placement.
Coke! The official soda pop of the apocalypse!
“Easily the most overrated actor/poseur working today.”
To put this bit of Nicol D idiocy in perspective for anyone who takes the bait, he’s parroting the general consensus at his beloved “conservative film blogs” (Libertas, Big Hollywood, DH’s Place), where the common opinion is that Leo is to “girl” and “lily-livered” — he’s a pussy environmentalist to boot — and thus isn’t fit to front big movies, like their one and only idol The Duke. Matt Damon gets the same complaints, and in both cases, I’m SUUUUURE it has nothing to do with their left-skewing politicals. Conversely, Robert Downey Jr. is THE GREATEST LIVING ACTOR because some of those tools intuited that maybe, possibly, Downey’s politics are vaguely more conservative lately than they used to be. (No idea if that’s true, but it was hilarious to see the Dirty Harry Brigade tripping over themselves to claim RDJ as some sort of Voight-meets-Limbaugh superhero.)
Yeah, sorry, Nicol, that some of these leading man can’t be as RUGGED and MANLY as, say, JOHN FUCKING NOLTE, who looks like a light breeze would knock him on his exhausted-looking 119-pound ass. Also, isn’t all that “poseur” and “girly” shit kind of borderline homophobic? Ironic considering the fetishization of THE DUKE and the MANLY AMERICAN MALE and 300 that Nicol no doubt engages in is, like, you know, kinda gay in and of itself.
I thought the D-Cap hate died down with The Departed. There are actually people who thought he wasn’t great in that? I haven’t seen a portrait of paranoia and anxiety that good in ages.
I’d comment on the Paradjanov double feature I saw at the New Beverly last night, but I doubt anyone cares.
Libertas, Big Hollywood, DH’s Place = biggest circle-jerk sites on the internet (maybe tied with AICN). Some people on those sites sound seriously demented and dangerous.
“So what did people think of The Road trailer.”
as a big fan of the book, i’m hoping for the best but if this trailer is any indication, it’s not the book…..
i’d be inteested to know if other readers of the book got the impression that the end was wide open for a sequel…it seemed to me that there were several indicators…..
Lex, that was excellent. Great post about Leo. As for filming in Pennsylvania, PA enacted the Film Tax Credit Law in July 2007. Apparently it has been a big success.
http://www.bringfilmtodelaware.com/assets/reports/pennsylvania_2008.pdf
A few years back, Kevin Spacey played Bobby Darin in a biopic. Not too bad but even though the music pieces weren’t that big & involved for the flick, I thought the film lost something because there was no magical redemption the character would otherwise have when hitting the stage to sing. I don’t know if it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a singer first, actor second to play Frank. In a perfect world, I don’t know if I wouldn’t long and hard at soon-to-be Idol winner Adam Lambert to play the part.
I don’t know if the guy can act or not but he owns the stage and you can’t tell me this guy hasn’t done a few Sinatra impressions in his bathroom mirror. Unfortunately, I bet too many people (ticket buyers) would wonder how many impressions he’s done of Liza as well to ever be considered.
I don’t think I’d call Leonardo soft but I’d think an actor w/more of an edge would work better. Is there a Mickey Rourke in his early to mid 30’s these days? A young Kurt Russell? Either edge or some super slick guy. Don’t have an example in mind but a different kind of charm than I think what Leo has.
Could Hugh Jackman pull it off?? I don’t know, I’ve got no names.
“To put this bit of Nicol D idiocy in perspective for anyone who takes the bait,…”
Which you do all too easily. Really…shall I look up on UTube for an insulting video about me now?
If you want to disagree, disagree, but to just parrot a bunch of tired old insults and ad hominem attacks (I know you aren’t that bright Lex, so maybe take a minute to look up what that means) doesn’t make you any more correct or make DiCaprio any better an actor.
That has nothing to do with politics, my friend. It comes with having watched a hell of a lot more films than you and having an opinion not rooted in whatever is fashionable in the day.
And for someone who claims to not like those “right wing” film sites…you sure seem obsessed them. Maybe you fetishize them and the people on them? Maybe the true homophobia is in someone denying who they are by writing degrading, misogynist comments about women and obsessing over their own sexuality. Really Lex, I have long ago put you in the “thou doth protest too much” category, if you know what I mean.
I’ll give you some time to get sufficiently liquored up before you write your response. You’ll find the huffing glue supply in your apartment in the cupboard right next to the untouched deoderant.
As you were.
That was a very long-winded “Nuh-uh” that managed to avoid addressing any points, or give any explaination whatsoever as to why so many right-wing movie sites hate Leo. Kinda hard to claim it’s purely about the art when the trends are so painfully obvious, Nicol.
Personally, I’ve always liked DiCaprio, but wasn’t a “fan” untill the Departed. He was just awesome in that.
And for the talk of all the filming in PA and Canada, no mention of all the filming that’s shifted of late to my state – New Mexico? They’re filming a shitload of stuff around here the last couple years. Luckily, our landscape is diverse enough that you can’t always pick it out right away. At least, not yet.
And of course Michigan has seen a big increase in filming lately.
If you actually look at DiCaprio and think he is suitable for the roles that he is afforded…then you real do not know that many people in the world’s those films depict. Talk to some police officers. Talk to some mob men. Talk to some gang members.
There is such a thing as aesthetic truth. DiCaprio mimics the “tough guy” performces of DeNiro and Pacino and those from the 70’s…but those guys grew up around tough types. Leo did did not. Hence his performances in those roles always feel fake if you have any realistic perception at all to the world in which they depict.
Leo was best in Catch Me If You Can because he played best what he is. A young cad who is not that deep and loved by gorgeous women. He brought an air of reality to that role that he has never brought to his work with Scorsese.
Now you defend him. Just saying…wow he’s great! doesn’t cut it.
Yes, there’s a definite level of grit and verisimilitude when they put scrappy, street-smart guys like Caan in “Thief,” De Niro in “Mean Streets” or Pacino in “Serpico.”
But pretty sure Daniel Day-Lewis didn’t grow up around any turn-of-the-century Texas oilmen, I’d wager Ryan Gosling’s peer group doesn’t include crackhead school teachers… and for that matter, Johnny Depp likely wasn’t rolling with a posse of middle-aged East Coast goombahs during his Sunset Strip formative years. To paraphrase Oliver, that’s why it’s called ACTING.
Obviously no one’s going to convince you of anything other than your preset notion that Leo’s a lightweight Hollywood kid “poseur,” but the idea that he’s fundamentally unacceptable in anything other than roles that reflect YOUR skewed perception of his real-life essence is pretty ridiculous.
And, again, I read the blogs we’re talking about. Because I enjoy other perspectives, and I skew right on more than a few issues. And because I like to know what I’m talking about, so to paraphrase Cruise, I do the reseach. “AND YOU SHOULD TOO!” But “conservatives” and “film” are a queasy match, because it’s ALWAYS about the politics first with you guys. ALWAYS. Hell, even when Nolte reviewed “Che” on its own merits as a film, his comments section nearly rioted and called him a traitor. Because it’s not an artform the majority of them respect. Maybe on some level you do or Dirty Harry does, but you’re going to get party-line loons first and well-read film people a distant second. “Preaching to the choir” is the only accepted mode of communication.
As for your argument about judging acting through the prism of an understanding of film history instead of what’s “fashionable”: Look, I have a Film Studies degree (too?) But you’re talking about films from, and beloved leading men from, an entirely different era. Cooper, Cagney, Bogart, The Duke — I’m sure these are the icons against whom you’re comparing these fair-haired “girly men” you’re always oh-so-classily ranting about.
But to flip that, what would anyone think of The Duke today? Look, Clint is a GOD to me, but I’m sure younger audiences were tittering away at some of his old-school mannerisms and tics in “Torino.” Imagine the Duke rolling into some 2009 movie runnin’ that “Pilgrim” shit with that stilted voice? THAT’s not as affected and hard-to-swallow now as DiCaprio’s brilliant Serpico echoes? Half those guys would be laughed off the screen.
I appreciate that you’re learned about and have a love for Classic Hollywood cinema, and there are (SELF INCLUDED) too many younger (Gen X and since) film fans who have an Aspergian knowledge of EVERY TRIVIAL MOVIE since 1970 and know jack and shit about 90% of what came before.
But you’re being a disingenuous when you say politics have nothing to do with it, considering how much venom I’ve seen spewed on your regular haunts at Leo, Damon, LaBeouf, etc. Which usually descends into “pussy, blah blah blah, Hollywood pretty boy, blah blah blah, sissy, girly man, libtards, Commies,” etc.
And anyway, you’re Canadian.
“Maybe the true homophobia is in someone denying who they are by writing degrading, misogynist comments about women and obsessing over their own sexuality.”
So wait, LexG is homophobic because he hates women??
???????????????????????????????????????????????????
And the idea that you “know movies better” because you’ve seen more is idiotic. Anyone who’s been around here knows that Lex knows his movies. Even McDouche admits to that. And if you really did know movies, Nicol, you would know that realism is rarely the goal of a filmmaker or actor.
Does anyone else find it ironic that the most conservative dude on this comment section is Canadian?
Not really. Conservatism is probably much more of an individualistic stance in Canada.
I’m pretty sure Nicol is to the right of mainstream Canadian Conservatives.
Anyway, it’s not clear if Nicol is complaining about Leo being a poor actor or simply being miscast in a number of his roles, which are two separate issues. Plus, the guy’s only been in ten movies since Titanic, so he could have only been miscast so many times. I’d agree he was mediocre at best in Gangs of New York (a casting and screenwriting problem) but terrific in The Aviator and The Departed, to name his other Scorsese roles. Never saw Blood Diamond, so I have no opinion on that, but then just a few months ago he gave what might have been his career-best performance in Revolutionary Road (which, to be fair, falls into the same charming-boy-gone-wrong type as his Catch Me If You Can role).
Sorry for the ramble, it’s Friday.
Lex
“But “conservatives” and “film” are a queasy match, because it’s ALWAYS about the politics first with you guys.”
Is that why mediocre rubbish like Crash won best picture and a TV film like Milk won accolades? Is that why film schools talk about Marxist and “feminist” film criticism like a mantra? Is that why there always politics mentioned on the Oscar telecast? Is that why Hollywood has given us wonderful complex biopics about people like Ronald Reagan or Pope John Paul as big budget features?
Really.
You actually stand by this statement. Did you not read this or any other left wing film blog during the election?
“And because I like to know what I’m talking about, so to paraphrase Cruise, I do the reseach.”
I saw Cruise (whom I love) on the actor’s studio a few years ago. He is from the old school acting tradition where you observe and then learn. DiCaprio like Penn is a modern method actor. He does not observe, he takes from within. Penn like Depp succeeds however because he takes roles that reflect his worldview. Leo wants to take up the DeNiro/Pacino throne and he is not worthy. Really, neither I nor only conservatives are the only one who notice this.
“As for your argument about judging acting through the prism of an understanding of film history instead of what’s “fashionable”: Look, I have a Film Studies degree (too?) ”
And you are going to insist that left wing politics does not dominate modern film scholarship? I have taught at one. Brave-man.
“But you’re talking about films from, and beloved leading men from, an entirely different era. Cooper, Cagney, Bogart, The Duke — I’m sure these are the icons against whom you’re comparing these fair-haired “girly men” you’re always oh-so-classily ranting about.”
No I am not. I am not taking about those films at all. You are. I never brought them up. I merely stated I thought Leo was not right for the roles Scorsese was given him. If you think only conservatives feel this way you do not read too many film essays. I never used the term “girly-men” nor did I invoke any other past male actor. You just indulged in stereotyping me. And as for me hating left-wing actors…I have championed Sean Penn and Tom Hanks here in the past two weeks. When do you ever champion any right wing actor? My god, you just trashed Robert Downery Jr. You think that gives you cred? You think you’re not political.
“Half those guys would be laughed off the screen.”
Isn’t John Wayne still in America’s top 10 actor’s according to virtually every poll? And just because the pop tween crowd who loves DiCaprio would laugh them off the screen does not make them bad. If you really know film, you should know that. A true cineast does not trash the past because the tween crowd would laugh it off the screen. If you really know your stuff, you would have confidence to go against the crowd. Nolte does.
“Hell, even when Nolte reviewed “Che” on its own merits as a film, his comments section nearly rioted and called him a traitor. ”
And – you – trashed Nolte too. He has forgotten more about Hollywood history than most of the commenters on this blog will ever know. Sorry, but that’s the truth.
“…considering how much venom I’ve seen spewed on your regular haunts at Leo, Damon, LaBeouf, etc.”
First off…this is my regular haunt. I rarely if ever post on any other site. And you know what…I love LeBeouf. Again…Your side is the easy one friend. If conservatives hated film, they wouldn’t be so passionate about it. It is you on the left who have become polticized and dropped the ball. You have put ideology above story telling and can’t even tell the difference. If you went to a film school (I am not sure you have) then you would know this.
“And anyway, you’re Canadian.”
And your American. Last I heard your president was going around the world apologizing for what a horrible thing that was. Sorry. I disagree with him.
Best.
“I’m pretty sure Nicol is to the right of mainstream Canadian Conservatives. ”
How would you know?
From your statements.
I should add that I’m a big old liberal, and I fucking hate Crash. Big pile of steaming platitudes.
On the other hand, I thought Milk was the best or second-best of the 5 movies nominates for Best Picture this last year.
“My god, you just trashed Robert Downey Jr.”
Wh-wha-what???? Where? I’ve liked Downey since Back to School and Weird Science? WHERE did I trash him? I pointed out with a bemused chuckle that right(wing)-minded film sites were suddenly sort of claiming him as “one of their own” last year, and in conjunction with that, championing IRON MAN as a “conservative film.” Sometimes you guys are so obvious… Throw you a bone (Carrie Prejean) and you immediately have a new HERO.
I don’t know (or care) the first thing about RDJ’s politics, just that he’s an awesome talent, but was only pointing out how quick your “crew” was to instantly rally behind him as an authentic American hero and acting genius once he because perceived as skewing slightly right, as a contrast to the usual treatment of Leo/Penn/Damon/Commies, etc. If Matt Damon came out in support of Sarah Palin in ’12, you guys would rewrite the history books and consider him a legendary talent on par with Bogart.
I know a few people who tow that line and follow BH and formerly Libertas, and let me tell you, if tomorrow some Z-list DTV star made a slightly pro-Republican comment somewhere, he’d immediately go from being Chad McQueen to being THE MIGHTY CHAD MCQUEEN: AUTHENTIC AMERICAN BAD-ASS RENEGADE, complete with Nolte-Photoshopped drawing of an American flag behind him, Patton-style.
That’s not to diminish the talent of a Downey, or Gary Sinise (awesome), or Jon Voight (ONE OF MY FAVORITE ACTORS OF ALL TIME and should be an Emmy contender for 24 this season.) If anything, someone like Voight IS, to me, kind of a badass for not towing the company line and speaking his mind. Again, I skew right more than you think, Nicol… Perhaps you missed my 8 billion pro-Bush posts, or that I’m not a particularly huge Obama superfan? Or that I watch The Factor and Beck almost nightly? I don’t agree with all or even most of their stuff, but I like to hear differing perspectives. And BH and Nolte’s sites are a fucking toolshed of epic proportions.
To be honest, Lex, none of your pro-Bush posts were meant to be taken seriously.
Nicol, I grew up around a lot of Canadian conservatives, Stockwell Day was my MP for chrissakes, and I can honestly say that the vast majority of the ones I knew were anti-Bush (before it was cool to be anti-Bush) and very few of them would say that “Obama is apologizing for being American”
I still wonder whether Nicol D is the child of some guy who fled to Canada to avoid the draft. Sort of like Mel Gibson’s father fled to Australia so Mel wouldn’t be drafted.
DiCaprio IS too soft to play Sinatra. COme on, you need a man to play that role, and no matter how many guns he runs around with, Leo comes off like a boy. Interesting that Daniel Day-Lewis was mentioned since they shared a movie…and while DDL didn’t really grow up in old-timey days, he seemed like a legitimate tough guy from that era and was really threatening, while Leo seemed like an actor playing a scruffy kid. Not that Leos really a bad actor mind you…but the guy plays young and not tough and not street. It’s a good thing in Gangs that DDL just lowered his knife and let Leo murder him…because if they had to square off man to man, I wouldn’t believe it if Leo won.
Is it just me who thinks it’s funny that Lex is getting on Nicol’s case because Nicol seems to want a certain type of actor (i.e. manly) when Lex has about two thousand posts jizzing over untalented pretty faces over actual good actresses who may be too old to too fat or too unfuckable?
Mostly for Joe Leydon but anyone else can chime in too:
Anyone have a take on Bogdanovich’s THEY ALL LAUGHED? Joe, I don’t know if this’ll make you angrier or happier after I semi-dissed Bringing Up Baby the other day (or K-Hep’s character at least)… but They All Laughed was seriously excellent, if admittedly not for everyone.
I’m checking out some of the vintage P.B. movies, as he’s one of the only “movie brats” who’s films I somehow didn’t watch in my formative film geek years. As I said the other day, I’m not a fan of screwball comedy, really, and a lot of the movie seems like a bit of a (the director’s self-?)justification for middle-aged crazy promiscuity… and it’s fantastical as hell, with these BEAUTIFUL WOMEN basically falling for these sleazy dudes and kind of politely tittering as they get cheated on by lovable scoundrel BEN GAZZARA.
But, man, they’d never make a movie like that today, first and foremost because they don’t shoot anything in NYC anymore. The New York locales and setpieces add such a layer of grit and magneticism to the proceedings. It’s seriously like the WORST THING TO HAPPEN TO MOVIES in the last two decades that NYC is prohibitively expensive to shoot in now. Vancouver’s a nice town but it just doesn’t cut it, and THEY ALL LAUGHED is one of those quintessential NY movies of the late 70s/early 80s, with the giant-ass yellow cabs and the endless street scenes and thousands of extras — think Nighthawks, Tootsie, King of Comedy, Fame, Endless Love, Taxi Driver.
These days we either get South Pasadena suburbia or some fucking Canadian forest. NOT THE SAME.
Totally melancholy and sad to see John Ritter (great in this, looking exactly like Bogdanovich) and Dorothy Stratten so delightful together, one a comedy legend who died way too soon, the other tragically killed before she’d become a star. But Bogdanovich’s direction is like 1980 DePalma filming screwball comedy like it was a Hitchcock flick, with long setpieces and brilliant depth of field shots with changing perspectives.
Who the hell was that straight-up GODESS who played the cab driver chick?
Lex: Haven’t seen the movie in ages, but pretty sure the cab driver was a young Colleen Camp, who also was one of the USO Tour Playboy Bunnies in APOCALYPSE NOW before she moved on to Eve Arden-type roles once she gained some weight and married a closeted studio exec.
D.C.: Nah, sorry, Colleen Camp was the country singer who pined after Ritter and Gazarra for half the movie, only to end up with the Ferrer relative at the end… Recognized her from when she later turned up in Die Hard 3 and other character parts in middle age.
Apparently the cabbie was Patti Hansen, who at some point married KEITH RICHARDS.
Dennis Hopper once played Frank Sinatra. Let’s hope he never does it again.
Lex: Shit, that’s right! Patti Hansen! I completely blanked on that. Mega-babe. I think they’re still married, actually. They have a daughter who models and, thankfully, looks more like the mom than the dad.
Before you start planning to invent a time machine to bag her, take solace in the fact that even if you achieved TWICE the level of fame and wealth you’ve presumably always hoped for in your wildest dreams, you’d still never come close to attaining the master status of primo pussy magnet that merely BEING KEITH RICHARDS could bestow. At least she didn’t marry a douche….
LexG: This one’s for you:
http://www.movingpictureshow.com/archives/mpsTheyAllLaughed.htm
THE NO-GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE, LEX EDITION:
Completely sober tonight because a plumber is coming at *8am*, so here’s a night I won’t get back at the end.
So this isn’t a drunken, whiny self-loathing late-night rant, but just something about which I’m kind of bemused, and this is a BYOB that’s past its expiration date, so hopefully it’s not hurting anyone, even if it’s not particularly movie-related:
I was at the Arclight Theater Sunday, had a half-hour to kill before my showing, and just kinda stood first in the lobby and later in that outdoor area? With the fake rocks by the kiosks and fountain? I’m there like 20 yards in every direction free, and to a PERSON nearly every single couple would pass me at a proximity of mere centimeters… In some instances I would literally stumble or have to actively leap out of their way, even though they had breathing room in every direction.
Is this complete lack of observance and respect for personal space strictly an L.A. thing, or am I just so particularly unspectacular as to be literally invisible now? In the lobby, same deal. I would stand and look up at the showtimes, and every large group or weird heavy-breathing middle aged man would come and literally standing inches from ME, again causing me to move. If you’re ever there by yourself (which of course you wouldn’t be because you have friends and lives, but I actively hate seeing movies with people unless it’s a girlfriend…) But if you ever are, try standing out there. Just hold court away from everyone, in your own little area, and see if people still don’t walk right up into your space and cause you to move out of the way.
For a charming tag to that pointless anecdote, tonight I was at the grocery store, stuck in a long express line buying only my 12-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon that I was doomed not to drink, thanks to the aforementioned plumberial intrusion.
In front of me is this Anne Hathaway-type chick, but only if Anne Hathaway wasn’t as hot. But she’s standing there in her LITTLE OUTFIT on the phone, being cute and clearly DELIGHTING someone who gets to TALK TO HER. And I’m standing there like a shambling tool in my untucked shirt (for the not-fooling-anyone beer gut move), unshaven, bald spot shining through, carrying a dripping wet cardboard 12-pack of a 6-dollar beer.
If this were a James Toback or Peter Bogdanovich movie, she’d say something witty and I’d unleash some charming Robert Downey Jr.-esque “patter,” but instead I’m just standing there stewing like a total loser, thinking, there’s not ONE THING I could say to this woman in a million years even if an earthquake hit and we were locked in the produce cooler together that she’d find interesting or appealing.
Oh, and I wear glasses. Anyone else wear glasses and can’t wear contacts, so when you’re in proximity to an attractive woman, you pull the move where you TAKE OFF YOUR GLASSES like you’re somehow gonna be transformed from Clark into Superman?
Yeah, well, NotHathaway didn’t really care.
Bad night all around. On the plus side, the cashier at El Pollo Loco was female. So when I said, “I’d like rice and pinto beans for my two sides,” I can now at least technically claim I have spoken to a woman this week.
FIN.
re: your first problem with rude passers-by and strangers crowding your space, you could do like ‘dammers’ in ‘the frigteners’ and seethe at them, ‘you’re violating my territorial bubble!’, that would likely get & keep people at bay; tho this would likely hinder your effort to appear suave for the ladies so may be inadvisable when on the pull