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David Poland

By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com

BYOB – Quiet Tuesday

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43 Responses to “BYOB – Quiet Tuesday”

  1. Sam says:

    Like many of you, I think this blog would be greatly improved if Chucky posted more often. So I decided I should try to solve that problem as best I could.
    Presenting, the Chucky-O-Matic In Jersey.

  2. LexG says:

    Serious question about JONAH HEX.
    We all pretty much assume it’s going to tank like C Thomas Howell this weekend, and every prognosticator is twirling their invisible stache ready to declare MEGAN FOX as “over”? You can sense the blood in the water, every blogger practically beaming at the prospect of laying all the blame at her (smoking hot) feet.
    How come it’s a 100% GUARANTEE, though, that Brolin will escape it unscathed?
    Don’t get me wrong, Josh Brolin is pretty much my favorite actor going at the minute, but there’s ZERO DOUBT that Hex will come out, bomb, Fox will be thrown into the pool like the Salem Witch Trials… and Brolin will mosey on along to the next Coen/Stone/Scott/Mann/Van Sant type movie with nary a blemish.
    Yes, it’s because he’s become a world-class actor, but HE’S JONAH HEX. If it flops, there will be NO merciless writeups of his lack of box office pull. Just “Megan Fox is done.”
    Basically it’s going to be like if SALMA HAYEK had been run out of town over WILD WILD WEST. How does the cheesecake eye-candy female lead shoulder the blame for a STAR VEHICLE in which SHE IS NOT THE STAR?
    And how come no one’s mentioning how OFF-PUTTING Brolin’s facial makeup is? That cheese quesedilla on the side of his face is gonna make this like watching a good-time summer popcorn movie about Oldman’s character from HANNIBAL. I’m sure it’s that way or worse in the comic, or video game, or whatever the hell HEX is… but did they really need to adhere to that?
    That makeup’s gonna cost them millions more in returns than Megan Fox.

  3. Stella's Boy says:

    The release date is probably a mistake. I think it looks like a lot of fun and really want to see it, but it does smell like a bomb. Fox bashing seems to be hot right now, though surely if it does tank it is not her fault.

  4. Foamy Squirrel says:

    True – but for better or for worse the publicity has revolved around Megan Fox rather than Josh Brolin.
    When the poster shots were revealed, whose face do you think 95% of sites chose for their thumbnail link to the page featuring the pics? That’s not really her fault though, and it doesn’t mean she’s “done” – but you’re right in that (if it flops – by no means a done deal) she’s going to get the snark while Josh Brolin walks free.
    …and, yes, the facial thing is fairly core to the Hex character. It’s a riff on “ugly doesn’t always mean evil”.

  5. CaptainZahn says:

    Kathy Griffin vs Elisabeth Hasselbeck
    AWKWARD (and awesome!).

  6. IOv2 says:

    Why does Brolin get off unscathed? He’s a dude, she’s a chick, and a lot of this is sexist bullcrap. While I could hypothesize about the possible motives of some people wanting to throw her under the boss. I still hold to what I felt about the way people reacted to her and Shia. The woman is always going to get the short end of the stick in these situations because dudes are not always accepting of the ladies who voice their opinions.

  7. storymark says:

    I’d think that a wee bit has to do with their careers to date. Once has at least a handful of really strong performances in a number of really good films. The other has been (unfairly or not) eye candy in a couple of big hits, and the lead in one flop.
    It seems one career can weather the strain of a likely-flop like Hex better than the other.

  8. IOv2 says:

    Brolin was nothing more than a Goonie until recently. He weathers it because people like him more than the alleged whorish Fox. Who apparently been with all of two dudes but what’s a little thing like truth to stand in a way of a perception?

  9. Cadavra says:

    This might not be relevant, but I don’t recall Brolin ever calling any of his directors “Hitler.”

  10. storymark says:

    Perhaps, but that recent change wasn’t by magic – it was by being a good actor.
    “He weathers it because people like him more than the alleged whorish Fox.”
    And they like him, as said, for being a good actor. Something Fox has yet to evidence.

  11. IOv2 says:

    The lady spoke up but apparently that’s a bad thing. Unless you are a shaggy headed actor that’s banging Carey Mulligan.

  12. IOv2 says:

    Uh he has plenty of evidence that he can be a crap actor and he beat his wife. Only recently has he found his groove and people totally forgot he beat his very famous beloved actress wife. Again, Fox is hated for things that have nothing to do with her acting, have more to do with her persona that she went out of the way to tone down, but she’s still pretty. So here’s to the people going after the pretty chick, while totally letting the other guy slide just because he’s a guy and guys get to get away with things.

  13. storymark says:

    All stuff that people who frequent internet movie sites may know – but no one in the general audience gives a tiny shit about.
    Sure, some of the ill vibe toward Fox comes from what she said in the press, and some of it from sexism – but a lot of it is simply apathy. She does not have credibility as an actress, no well-remebered roles, and no fans (in the sense that they’ll go see a movie JUST because she’s in it – Lex excepted).

  14. David Poland says:

    The truth? And I like Brolin a lot, based on the time I have had to kibbitz with him… and choose to assume that he has cleaned up his life since he was being an abusive drunk…
    The public doesn’t give a shit about either of these actors. Neither has ever opened a movie. Brolin has the chance – a chance – of being another Mark Wahlberg. But right now, he can’t open a studio movie. The idea had to open this movie and WB has kinda thrown it out there like last week’s fish heads.
    She doesn’t deserve to be abused if the film flops. And neither does he.
    The difference, long term, is that she is a product of what she looks like and she has never done anything much more than hint at the idea that she can be An Actress. Brolin went from being a hood looking kid to becoming a pretty damned good Actor in my book. His style leans more towards Movie Star than Actor… very low key… soft spoken… but compelling. Better actors could have played Dan White, but I don’t think anyone could have done any better than Brolin did.

  15. IOv2 says:

    She’s not a product as much as she’s a good looking chick that’s been the selling point of the last two films she’s been in. Megan Fox has to have something going on beyond that face that makes two different studios want to make her the key selling point of two different films.
    Again, she’s getting the short end of the stick right now because of that face and because of the persona of a girl that, dare I type it, enjoys sex. This means she should either do some sexy comedy/drama or do an action film because Rhona Mitra cannot do them forever.

  16. IOv2 says:

    Okay, I disagreed with David about the PRODUCT thing, when I agreed with him. My bad.

  17. aris says:

    Non sequitor:
    I’ve been placing my flaming hot Mac laptops on my crotch, while sitting on a couch, daily, off and on for hours, for at least 5 years.
    Should I be worried?

  18. Foamy Squirrel says:

    Yes. It probably reduced the life of your laptops by at least 6 months.

  19. LexG says:

    Aris, I worry about that kinda thing ALL the time. How do we know all our pocketed cell phones aren’t giving us genetic mutations straight out of THE BROOD?
    As a result, I never put the “laptop” on my lap. How do you know the BATTERY ACID from the computer battery isn’t giving you radiation?
    Put it on a table and hope for the best.

  20. Blackcloud says:

    Anyone here paying attention to E3? Sony seems to be making a real push to bring gaming into the world of 3D starting next year. Whether that creates critical mass for home 3D I can’t say, but there’s no doubt Sony is hoping so. And Samsung, Panasonic, LG, and the rest of the TV makers.

  21. Foamy Squirrel says:

    Well, Sony misread the top-end of the gaming market with the PS3 – I’m honestly not sure that 3D is the right tech for their focus on fps, racing and sports.
    And this is, what, the 3rd? 4th? attempt at controllerless games with the Kinect… the main problem, demonstrated with the Wii, is that heavy users quickly stop making large sweeping gestures and start going for small, economy of movement, wrist motions because it’s too damn tiring.
    Both of those are fine for casual gamers, where comfort takes a backseat to novelty, but casual gamers aren’t going to fork over $400 for the systems.

  22. Jerry Colvin says:

    Still think Josh Brolin should have played Superman about six years ago. Whatever.

  23. a_loco says:

    Aris: Yes, I worry about that all the time, but it’s way too comfortable to lie down and watch an episode of True Blood than it is to sit at my desk in a shitty chair with no back support and do the same.
    Besides, I’m not planning on having kids anytime soon.

  24. IOv2 says:

    Foamy, Kinect has zero controllers and is at least based around you performing a set functions. While Playstation Move takes the Wii controller up a notch and really makes you have to go all out because everything is one to one movement. The whole one to one thing really intrigues me because golf games may now finally have ball scratching, and that only adds to the realism!
    What really gets me about E3 this year, is Nintendo once again depending on it’s past to sustain it’s future. I have no idea when their run of nostalgia will end but it has to end one day, and that will not be good for the folks who seemingly have an inability to create a new franchise. Hell. They may even lose motion controller to the ps3 and 360 this year, so Nintendo may be heading back to the glory days of the Gamecube. When the hand-helds kept the company going.
    Oh yeah aris, they have done test with the batteries and they do effect the testicles. So, yeah, I would re evaluate that whole putting them on the lap thing.

  25. Foamy Squirrel says:

    Apparently you missed the part where I said the connect was the 3rd or 4th attempt at having zero controllers. :p
    I’ve seen both the demos of Kinect (previously Project Natal) and the 2nd gen stuff being developed at MIT, and they suffer from ever greater movement problems than either the Wii or the Move because there isn’t a dedicated signal device embedded in your hands. With the 2nd Gen stuff you explicitly have to wear special gloves to get the fingermovement gestures… but it’s still less economical in terms of effort than mouse and keyboard.
    Kinect is priced at $150 just for the detector while Move is priced around $99, putting the minimum you’re going to have to put down in you don’t already have a console at $400. Compare that to the Wii at half the price for casual gamers, and the cut in reaction time for motion-detecting in hardcore games and I just don’t really see them dominating the market. PS3 has had sixaxis controllers for ages without making a dent in Nintendo’s dominance.

  26. Foamy Squirrel says:

    *said the Kinect was the 3rd or 4th…
    Damn homophones.

  27. Blackcloud says:

    “Kinect is priced at $150 just for the detector . . .”
    Not so. Microsoft hasn’t announced an official price yet. Any prices you’ve see bandied about on the internet are pure speculation. That includes Gamestop’s Kinect product page.

  28. The Big Perm says:

    So I went to grampa’s website today (Jeff Wells) and read about Jonah Hex. I might see it. Anyway, over there they’re all complaining about not wanting to see it because of his facial scarring, that they can’t stand to look at him for an entire movie because he offends their delicate sensibilities. Does anyone think that is how the general audience thinks, or is it that everyone at Hollywood Elsewhere is a bunch of whiny old ladies? I’d think if people don’t go to Jonah it’s because the movie looks kind of typical and bland.
    Anyway, Brolin is awesome.

  29. Without going into yay/nay details (re – embargo), the facial scarring isn’t the least bit detrimental to the viewing experience. Besides, you only have to look at it for 73 minutes (plus credits).

  30. Stella's Boy says:

    Wow so Hex was in fact butchered in the editing room.

  31. IOv2 says:

    Foamy, if you are counting that thing the AVGN used to play Punch Out, then it may be the 3rd or 4th time. If not, this is the future time with the current Gen, and it seems promising at least in demos. Hopefully it’s on the E3 floor and someone can play it. Nevertheless, the Wii may have sold a lot of units but Nintendo had two under performing consoles in a roll. This alone makes any supposed dominance they had null and void because you cannot dominate, when your console division put you so far in the hole, that it required 52 versions of the gameboy to keep you in business.
    The future is Apple, Microsoft, and Sony. Nintendo could be include if they, I don’t know, stop whoring out their past. Seriously, I want to play a suped up Goldeneye but come on, they have to start developing new stuff and they seem to lack the ability to want to do it. Sure, it’s got them to where they are with the Wii but Nintendo has to try harder for the good of gaming.
    That aside, yes Biggie, the people at Hollywood Elsewhere are a bunch of ninnies and Jonah Hex appears to be on it’s way to an “UNRATED DIRECTORS” cut BD in the future. Hopefully the film is cut better than a freakin Pierre Kirby film but you never know with Hollywood these days.

  32. Foamy Squirrel says:

    I’d fully agree that the Kinetic is probably the way forward in the long run, but the problem is price and positioning. Just take a look at the original Project Natal vaporware ads – it’s absolutely ideal for family entertainment (and laugh how they try to pretend that it will be able to scan pictures through people’s hands). However, that’s not where the XBox360 currently sits (just look at the reputation of XBoxLive users), and if they keep premium pricing then the more likely result is that it’s going to slow adoption.
    (And, incidentally, using an historical perspective of Nintendo would show they had a decade where they ruled the console world before Sony and MSoft even entered the market)
    I think Nintendo has the right idea with the 3DS – it’s a personal experience and it adopts the mobile trend (it even comes with a 3D camera), but I do think the Wii is going to lose share because the new tech is shipping right before Christmas.

  33. christian says:

    Brolin is all kinds of awesome. I can’t get enough of him in GRINDHOUSE. Post-Stalinist Purge, HE has turned into a petri-dish of angry white guy DNA. Still amusing to read but when people complain that Hex’s scar should be CG to make it look better…

  34. LexG says:

    Christian, what’s up, buddy?
    How come you stopped updating your blog?
    I got a whole slew of JOJO videos to post in the comments section.

  35. Hallick says:

    “How come it’s a 100% GUARANTEE, though, that Brolin will escape it unscathed?”
    Really? I was thinking that if JOnah Hex tanked, that would pretty much signal the end of Brolin’s renaissance period. Sort of like, “okay, nice streak, but you’re still Josh Brolin, yep”.

  36. Stella's Boy says:

    Seriously Hallick? Not a chance. Later this year Brolin has Woody Allen’s latest, Wall Street 2, and True Grit. Men in Black III is down the road. The streak is fine.

  37. Stella's Boy says:

    It’s too bad that Hex has been chopped down to 73 minutes. That means an extended or director’s cut DVD in three months and no reason to see it in theaters.

  38. I guess the embargo has been lifted. Amusingly, the one ‘fresh’ review is from Roger Ebert, yet it’s a two-star negative review.
    If you care – http://scottalanmendelson.blogspot.com/2010/06/review-jonah-hex-2010.html

  39. Stella's Boy says:

    Good review Scott, though it leaves me bummed because this really sounds like a missed opportunity for a cool movie. Still, with Brolin, Malkovich, and Aidan Quinn plus the inevitable director’s cut, I eagerly anticipate the DVD release.

  40. CaptainZahn says:

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  41. Chucky in Jersey says:

    The World Cup is in progress and “Knight and Day” comes out next week, so Tom and Cameron try their hand at the footie.

  42. Hallick says:

    “Seriously Hallick? Not a chance. Later this year Brolin has Woody Allen’s latest, Wall Street 2, and True Grit. Men in Black III is down the road. The streak is fine.”
    The streak is still going, but it just isn’t curving upward anymore. Three of the films you just named, while notable in their own individual ways, probably aren’t going to be on the plus side for his career.

Quote Unquotesee all »

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