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David Poland

By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com

BYOB – Bermuda Prep

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112 Responses to “BYOB – Bermuda Prep”

  1. david ob says:

    We are ready for you Mr and Mrs P
    Some good films and some good weather and some good company are all organised

  2. David Poland says:

    I’m just glad that Justin Bieber agreed to present his film at the festival…

  3. LexG says:

    Not much discussion of the Bachelor finale round these parts.

    Looks like the mighty Womack got WOMACKED! by that icy NASCAR widow. Total bullshit. WOMACK RULES.

  4. Randy says:

    Holy Crap…. what does this do to the the release window set up…. and will it work….

    http://blog.movies.yahoo.com/blog/923-studios-and-netflixs-newest-threat-1-online-rentals-from-zediva?nc

  5. IOv3 says:

    Let me get this right: you give us shit for liking animation and video games but you watch the Bachelor? WHAT THE FUCK LEX?!?!

    Zediva is also the funniest fucking idea for a tech company ever. Seriously, they OWN DVD PLAYERS THAT PEOPLE CONTROL! WHAT THE HELL!

  6. LexG says:

    The Bachelor RULES.

  7. movieman says:

    Since everyone knows TV is better than movies these days, the ultimate compliment I can pay “Win Win” is to say that it’s just like really, really good television. And it doesn’t deserve its “R” rating any more than “The King’s Speech” did. What a travesty.
    “Source Code” is generally a good time–sort of like “Groundhog Day” played as a sci-fi action thriller–but is it too dime store metaphysical (shades of “Moon”) for the masses?
    Finally caught up with “Cedar Rapids” and liked it a lot. The Alexander Payne touch is very much in evidence (which is a very good thing).

  8. LexG says:

    It’s also the Arteta Touch (Cedar Rapids.)

    Thing is, I’ve liked most if not all the guy’s stuff, but it has such a nasty undercurrent, it’s kind of striking. Does any contemporary director other than maybe Spike Lee consistently find sex to be as EVIL and TRANSGRESSIVE and IN YOUR FACE and EMBARRASSING as Miguel Arteta? Most of his stuff (post STAR MAPS) falls under the realm of light comedy so it gets a pass, but with or without fellow provocateur Mike White, his films are always filled with these illicit hookups that are shot and scripted for maximum humiliation, usually this GOTCHA vibe of white hetero squares having really bad sex for a cheap laugh. Plus his stuff always has these really mean-spirited potshots at flyover hayseeds, out-of-shape shirtless men, and religious types…

    And I really did like Cedar Rapids and in some ways he’s preaching to the choir there with his provocations… I just find it odd he gets so much innocuous TV work (The Office, etc), when Arteta is closer to Larry Clark than he is to Judd Apatow.

  9. movieman says:

    Interesting take on “CR,” Lex. The “comedy of humiliation” reminded me of similar stuff in Payne’s “Sideways,” “About Schmidt” and “Election” more so than any particular Arteta movie. Quite honestly, I don’t recall that many details about Arteta’s films (“Star Maps,” “Chuck and Buck,” “The Good Girl”…and whatever he may have done between “GG” and “CR:” drawing a total blank this A.M.), even though I do remember liking most of them.
    Another problem “Source Code” may have in finding an audience is its TOTALLY FORGETTABLE/GENERIC TITLE. Half the time I don’t even remember what the name is. I keep wanting to call it “Timecode” or “Time Unknown.” And am I the only one who thinks that Vera Farmiga and Felicity Huffman’s must be related? Physically (and even vocally) they’re practically separated at birth. Whenever I see Farmiga in a movie I keep expecting her to make some passing reference to Wisteria Lane. Weird.

  10. JKill says:

    I actually don’t read Arteta that way at all. I’ve only seen bits of CHUCK AND BUCK and none of STAR MAPS, but at least from the other movies what I like about him is how not judgemental he is. He seems to be interested in presenting experiences and types of people we don’t normally see in the movies through a comedic lens. I think he wants us to feel for his character, not laugh at or judge them. In CEDAR RAPIDS, for instance, there’s a lot of behavior that could be spelled out as bad for the audience but it’s most played as just another flawed choice, as every human being makes. There’s a pathos and heart beneath the quirk that I really appreciate. Payne gets the same criticism, and I get it even less with him. I think maybe it has to do with a lack of represenation, in that USA movies rarely present people from certain economic classes, so putting them in a comedy feels somehow offputting or offensive.

  11. LexG says:

    I wish I could remember the forbidden mid-movie casual hookup in THE GOOD GIRL that seemed so button-pushing, but I haven’t seen it since theaters. Just seemed like there was some tossed-off bit with the wrong people fucking that, yeah, had that smirking wink-nudge Arteta/White provocation– everybody fucks! everybody’s dysfunctional! everyone’s a giant stoner and religious people are big assholes!– that is PRESENTED like it’s some “we’re all in this together” nonjudgmental shit, but IN ITS VERY NONJUDGMENT, it has a little of that baiting James Toback vibe where Toback’s always thrusting his camera in on sex like “LOOK! A RAPPER FUCKING TWO WHITE MODELS! ISN’T IT EVIL? DOESN’T THIS SCARE YOU, MIDDLE AMERICA???”

    That’s the reigning vibe I get off all the White/Arteta collaborations (I guess Solondz is a more apt point of reference than Larry Clark)– they just feel unwholesome and cruel… and the two post-White collaborations haven’t done much to change my mind. YOUTH IN REVOLT is innocuous on the surface but descends into the same shirtless young guys and hypocritical religious tools and stoner humor… Cedar Rapids opens with that repulsive hookup between Weaver and Helms.

    It’s weird, I’m arguing against a director and movies I basically like, but they all have this rub-your-nose in fairly innocuous signifiers vibe where it’s like Arteta has some unspoken axe to grind with the squares of the world.

    For what it’s worth, ORANGE COUNTY very much had this, with its tossed-off pan-sexual hookups and drug humor, presented as no big thing IF YOU’RE DOWN with it, but very much intended to upset the squares. That was White with Jake Kasdan, not Arteta; I don’t know, it’s a whole little side mini-franchise of really mean little comedies from people who all circle around the otherwise genial Apatow/Office/McKay/Hill/Carell/Helms crew.

  12. Paul MD (Stella's Boy) says:

    In addition to sleeping with Gyllenhaal in The Good Girl, at one point Aniston has sex with Tim Blake Nelson so that he won’t tell her husband about her affair. His character is a stoner moron and the sex is quick and awful. Sex is either adulterous or part of being blackmailed. She never has sex with her husband in the movie. I think Lex is on to something. I agree that there is a slight air of condescension in some of Arteta’s movies.

  13. JKill says:

    I guess what you find judgemental, I think is just honest. Interesting. Do you think it’s offensive when urban or coastal types are used in similar types of comedies? I see Arteta/Payne/Solondz as functioning in the type of low-key, more real to life comedic tone of Hal Ashby or Michael Ritchie (SMILE) or Altman.

    Although, the movie you’re really leaving out of the equation which seems to most fit your thesis would be YEAR OF THE DOG, Mike White’s directorial debut, a very wierd dramedy that many found to be condescending. (I thought it was very sad and interesting personally.)

  14. movieman says:

    Big fan of “Year of the Dog” btw. Molly Shannon gave one of the great unsung performances of 2007 in that movie.
    It’s funny that my innocuous comment re: “Cedar Rapids” seems to have sparked an early morning controversy, lol. But any earnest film discussion on this blog is a good thing, right?
    Despite the fact that I consider Payne a “comedy of humiliation” master, I also think that he’s something of a humanist. Ditto Arteta and even Solondz in his own inimitable fashion. Ashby, definitely; but Ritchie always felt more like a satirist in the Preston Sturges manner. And Altman was many things throughout his long, fabled career–including a genius–but “humanist” is a word I would have never used to describe him. Which is kind of the way I feel about the Coens, “Raising Arizona” notwithstanding.

  15. JKill says:

    Movieman, you’re right about Altman. Now that I go through his filmography there are more films where he seems to be if not critiquing his characters, at least watching them from a removed, amused distance (A WEDDING, for instance). A few I would argue he severely dislikes or is kind of apathetic towards his characters. (THE PLAYER, SHORT CUTS).

    Wes Anderson is someone who I think makes very humanist comedies. He adores his characters, flaws and all.

    I think this is a really interesting discussion. The obviously Coens-influenced Jared Hess (also a Mike White collaborator like Arteta) is I think the most extreme example of what seems to rub some the wrong way. I didn’t know what to make of GENTLEMEN BRONCOS, for instance.

  16. hcat says:

    You beat me to the punch bringing up Hess, but I would consider him more of a bully filmaker who hates his charecters. Most comedies about losers have affection for them and ask us to look at our own quirks and relate to them. Hess trots them out like they were on the Springer show and encourages us to laugh at them. Gentlemen Broncos has got to be one of the worst films I have ever seen.

    I would say Zwigoff is another person like Payne and Arteta who can humanize dispecable people. Bad Santa was like a live action Crumb cartoon but you still ended up rooting for the losers. Same with Ghost World and Art School. These people were social misfits but you could relate to them.

    As for the sex scenes in these films, isn’t the ‘ouch you’re on my hair’ style of it more realistic than some soft focused Adrian Lyne setpiece with a moaning saxaphone in the background?

    And the Urban/Coastal equivilent to these films are the Baumbach films.

  17. IOv3 says:

    The Hunger Games movies are going to feature a 20-something cast, so much for those films being challenging towards the audience in any way.

    ETA: No Aronofsky for Wolvie either. Seriously, why on earth would that movie take him out of the country for a god damn year? Fucking Fox. They can’t get shit right to save their god damn fucking lives. Universal at least tries. Fox just fails at every turn.

  18. JKill says:

    THE WOLVERINE news certainly puts a damper on my excitement for it. I can’t think of another director of Aronofsky’s stature that would cause similar anticipation and be an appropriate choice as well.

    Thoughts?

  19. hcat says:

    Well Cronenberg might not be commercial enough but I can’t think of a more natural director for a Wolverine film.

    I was watching Swamp Thing on Netflix the other day and enjoyed it quite a bit (hadn’t seen it in about a quarter century). There might be something to hiring horror directors for comic book adaptions. Craven, Raimi even Donner at the time was only known for his big fright film. Cronenberg did well with History of Violence, Fox could do worse than dropping a big payday his way to see what he could do with a more mainstream comic.

  20. Paul MD (Stella's Boy) says:

    I like the horror director idea. There are some young, promising horror directors I’d like to see get a shot at a major studio movie. Not saying they’re all a fit for Wolverine, but guys like Christopher Smith and Adam Green have shown a lot of ingenuity and talent with small to microscopic budgets.

  21. NickF says:

    Reeves is everyones darling, isn’t he?

    The news sucks for sure. I’m not going to blame Fox, because there’s no reason to do so.

  22. JKill says:

    I love the Cronenberg idea.

    But if we’re going with a young horror filmmaker my vote is for Alexandre Aja or Neil Marshall.

  23. Paul MD (Stella's Boy) says:

    Aja and Marshall are good too. I was thinking more about guys who haven’t been given a shot by the studios yet. Not that Fox is going to give a franchise to someone like that.

  24. yancyskancy says:

    movieman: I see literally zero resemblance between Vera Farmiga and Felicity Huffman. Funny how subjective something so seemingly objective can be.

  25. LexG says:

    I see Vera Farmiga as some middle ground between Cate Blanchett and the long-MIA Claire Forlani.

    Putting aside the fact he probably wouldn’t wanna do it anyway, I don’t know about Cronenberg re: Wolverine. Has there ever been any inkling that he can direct action, at all? Or even has any desire to do so?

    Even his most commercial, pop movie– The Fly– was basically Goldblum and Davis standing around a warehouse in dim lighting.

    Since Christopher Smith came up: How is that BLACK DEATH movie? The newspaper ad is the most METAL, sinister looking thing ever. I thought it was a documentary on Mayhem. No, just some innocuous backwoods Sean Bean adventure movie. Striking campaign though; Trailer looks a little like a Hallmark Channel production though.

  26. Paul MD (Stella's Boy) says:

    Black Death is pretty good. Nothing groundbreaking, but it’s got a solid cast, it moves along at a nice clip, and Smith builds decent tension in the final 10-15 minutes. I enjoyed it.

  27. JKill says:

    The fight scene in EASTERN PROMISES is one of the best of that decade, and the action is great/quick/brutal/funny in HISTORY OF VIOLENCE. Plus, a lot of the people who have made these movies have zero expereince with this stuff beforehand (Singer, Nolan, Faverau ect.) I think the real question is whether or not he’d want to. He’s one of the greatest living filmmakers (imho), and I know he has a Dellilo adaptation on the burner and Eastern Promises 2 and another Fly remake (?!).

    I haven’t seen any of Chris Smith’s work, so I’ll have to check him out. Up to date on most young horror writer/directors but not him.

    I just hope they don’t go the director for hire route and give THE WOVERINE to John Moore.

  28. Paul MD (Stella's Boy) says:

    Regarding Smith, Creep, Severance and Black Death are all pretty solid, low-budget horror flicks. I hear Triangle is good too but haven’t seen it. He’s shown some real promise thus far.

    Insomnia has a little action in it, doesn’t it? Haven’t seen it since theaters.

  29. JKill says:

    INSOMNIA has suspensful sequences but nothing I would really classify as an action scene. By that standard, Cronenberg has a lot of them.

    Also I didn’t know Smith did SEVERANCE. I’ve seen that. That’s a fun movie.

  30. LexG says:

    John Moore RUUUUUUUUULES. PAYNE POWER. Like how for that one he switched from his usual YELLOW FOX TINT (Omen, Enemy Lines, Phoenix) to this inky black. That movie’s really awesome and shiny looking, even when it’s not very good.

    Plus two other things I enjoy about John Moore is he’s a giant fat guy, and on all his DVDs he comes off like a MASSIVE asshole, browbeating his casts and hurling obscenities at everyone like he’s making Stone- or Peckinpah- or Herzog-level works of grueling genius, and not a bunch of totally generic Fox remakes and popcorn action movies.

  31. Paul MD (Stella's Boy) says:

    Can’t something be a suspenseful action scene?

  32. hcat says:

    Exzistenz, that creepy toothgun movie Cronenberg did with Jude Law was a chase movie with a good bit of action in it. I agree Marshall or Reeves would do well, but Wolverine lends itself to that particular brand of body horror that Cronenberg excels at. And seeing how they gave the last addition of the franchise to the guy who directed Tstosi I can’t imagine anyname is really off the table. I am not all that emotionally invested in the x-men films but it would still be a shame to see Paul Anderson’s name attached to this.

  33. Paul MD (Stella's Boy) says:

    As in W.S. or PTA?

  34. hcat says:

    W.S. otherwise known as the second generation Stephen Hopkins.

    And given the circumstances wouldn’t they change the location for the shooting. I would think it would be poor form to be out scouting locations in Japan in the next six months.

  35. Hopscotch says:

    Anyone really shocked by the Aronofsky news? I never really thought that project with him would go forward. Seriously, think about his movies and think about X-Men.

    And I don’t buy “oh I’d have to be away from my son” line they feed. Like politicians retiring to spend more time with their family. Why then? Who knows.

    Didn’t see the last Wolverine movie, and the few minutes of it I have seen on HBO are just bad.

    $10 says Bryan Singer swoops in.

  36. Paul MD (Stella's Boy) says:

    Aren’t creative differences more likely? Maybe Aronofsky was going to get a little too arty with it? I’m not shocked either.

  37. LexG says:

    X-MEN is the WHO CARES? franchise of ALL time anyway. Only thing that was really good about the series was the rapport between Jackman and Paquin in the first two, that element of this cool 30-something guy with great chemistry with an awesome teenage girl who idolized him, and their flirtatious relationship. That was the main event everyone liked. Everything else was pretty TV-movie and chintzy.

  38. IOv3 says:

    Yeah guys, not wanting to spend a year abroad is a CREATIVE DIFFERENCE. He probably stayed with the project for as long as he could, until the YEAR AWAY made him stop.

    This is another example of FOX just not getting it. You cater to the talent, especially a talent like Aronofsky, whose the only chance you have to flip the perception on this franchise. Now they have to scramble to find someone else, when they should just cancel the film all together. It’s over, move on, and hope First Class takes off. Oh better yet, sell the rights back to Disney/Marvel.

    Now that aside, the Hungers Game thing is sort of a big deal fellas. It’s a movie featuring kids killing kids, that’s now about young adults killing young adults. This basically fucks over the entire concept of the books.

    ETA: Lex, stick to the Bachelor.

  39. Paul MD (Stella's Boy) says:

    But he has been on the project for some time now. Did he really just learn that it was going to take a long time to make a major studio movie? I mean I know it’s easy to just blame it all on the studio, but it’s easy for me to believe that there’s more to it.

  40. LexG says:

    What is the HUNGER GAME?

    NO ONE has ever heard of that. Where do you hear about this shit? Come on, IO. Even the two ‘good’ X-MEN movies look like they were made for USA Network on some cheesy Calgary soundstage. Even the “State of Liberty” was phony as hell, and PROFESSOR XAVIER’S STUPID SCHOOL is the lowest-rent shit ever.

    Also, what’s the deal with 40-year-olds Jackman, Halle Berry and Taylor Mane staying AT A SCHOOL FOR LITTLE KIDS? What a bunch of fucking LOSERS. Wolverine can’t rent a one-bedroom in the city? Why are ADULTS LIVING AT A BOARDING SCHOOL? IT’S SOOOOOO LOW-RENT AND DEPRESSING.

    They’re TV movies with NO style.

  41. Paul MD (Stella's Boy) says:

    I think Hunger Games is a series of books for tweens.

  42. LexG says:

    Whatever it is, they couldn’t get a hipper director than GARY ROSS?

    That thing’s doomed from the jump. Though Jennifer Lawrence in a movie for tweens sounds like something I’ll enjoy.

  43. Paul MD (Stella's Boy) says:

    Gary Ross is probably a household name for Hunger Games fans. They’re also big into Seabiscuit.

  44. IOv3 says:

    Yeah, you guys, really are up on the next biggest franchise. It’s not a book for tweens, Paul. It’s a book written from teens on up to adults. It also has a killer fucking concept that the casting of Jennifer Lawrence has pretty much killed.

    Paul, I am thinking that Aronofsky stayed on hoping that the year abroad would change, but Fox did not budge. So he left. He’s pretty much the main reason that Wolverine film got anyone excited. Now he’s gone because they couldn’t shoot the flick on a soundstage somewhere in LA, and that’s that for THE WOLVERINE.

    Lex, ha… ha.

  45. Paul MD (Stella's Boy) says:

    I stand corrected. I didn’t hear about Hunger Games until the movie was announced. I’m sure I will be more aware of stuff like that when my son is older.

    So he stayed on knowing full well it was going to be a lengthy shoot and then suddenly dropped out? Isn’t that kind of a dick move?

  46. LexG says:

    Maybe he just decided, all things being equal, he’d rather not go work in a radiation zone for the next year.

    Seriously, should ANYONE be going to Japan under any circumstances?

  47. IOv3 says:

    Paul, I am going with him trying to work out the schedule and FOX didn’t want to budge on it. Aronofsky did pull a dick move by backing out, but it seems to have been a dick forced by scheduling. Again, this film, should just be scrapped now. There’s no point to it existing without Aronofsky at the helm.

    Lex, if there’s a meltdown, no one should head up to Northern Japan.

  48. LexG says:

    They should have a female Wolverine called Wolfgirl and have her be played by Kristen Stewart, and then give her a LITTLE ENEMY played by Emma Watson, and they could claw at each other in little catsuits.

    I am giving this idea A LOT of thought.

  49. IOv3 says:

    Here name is X23, she’s Wolvie’s daughter, and she has pissed off some young adult female mutants.

  50. actionman says:

    TONY SCOTT FOR WOLVERINE

  51. Black Death is fine, just the sort of thing that’s fun to watch at home on VOD. But Chris Smith’s Triangle is quite remarkable. I was genuinely surprised at not only how technically solid it was, but how damn-well haunting and weird the picture is. No spoilers, but if you want ‘director-to-DVD’ sci-fi/horror that doesn’t feel or play cheap, go rent it now.

    As far as Wolverine, I imagine today’s most pissed-off person is David Slade. He was all set for the gig under Black Swan took off and Aronofsky muscled in. And, not two days ago, Slade signs on to do Consolation Prize (ie – the needless Daredevil reboot), when he damn-sure would have been first in line had Aronofsky left last week. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Slade try to trade up and Fox give someone lower on the totum pole a shot at Daredevil (yes, Chris Smith would be a decent choice, as would any of the up-and-comers that have been mentioned above). But since I’m one of eight people that actually likes the first Daredevil (the director’s cut, that is), I don’t see this as all that necessary. If its a rights issue, I wonder why Fox doesn’t just make a cheapie movie and then just lease the characters out to other films as desired. IE – if Marc Webb wants Kingpin to cameo in the next Spider-Man, they pay Fox $500,000. Is that even a plausible idea?

    It’s no secret that I adored Cedar Rapids, but I didn’t find the film’s views on sex to be all that negative. (vague, but possible spoilers) The film didn’t condemn certain characters for engaging in what might constitute sexually immoral behavior and went out of its way to humanize its comic-relief screw-up character. The film seemed to be, above all else, a non-denominational religious fable in the ‘those in glass houses…’ vein. IE – it was an R-rated character comedy with the same philosophy as Veggie Tales. But that was just my take on it.

  52. storymark says:

    I’m wondering about the “year in Japan” line…. Was it really going to take that long to shoot? Was post going to be done in Japan? Just sounds too much like a cover story.

  53. storymark says:

    Oh, and I thought Triangle looked good on a technical level, but I thought the story itself was a complete cop out and cheat. After hearing so much good about it, I was rather pissed that it doesn’t even work.

  54. JKill says:

    PaulMd, of course. I would hope action scenes are suspensful. I was just defining them very strictly as to what they tend to be in these big movies. Considering that Fox hired Gavin Hood for the last WOLVERINE means they’re probably not that strict.

    MAX PAYNE is such a slog and is so incredibly derivative, visually and thematically. I watched it on Blu, and it’s pretty but there’s nothing else to it.

    Oh, and Lex’s rant about why Wolverine doesn’t get a one bedroom made me laugh out loud. (Although I’m assuming that’s because they teach at the school, are not safe anywhere else, and have relationships with the others at the academy…)

  55. Martin S says:

    Lex – Maybe he just decided, all things being equal, he’d rather not go work in a radiation zone for the next year.

    Hey! We got a Winner!

    IO, How the fuck you couldn’t put 2+2 on this one before jumping to the “Fox Bad” card…wow. Just wow.

    Marvel won’t let Cronenberg near a property. Had the chance several times, but they be afraid since he really doesn’t need them at this point in his career. You put him on X-Men, you have an Oscar contender, but it’s going to be a Cronenberg movie.

    It’s Jackman’s call moreso than Fox. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Singer bail on Giant Killer since “The Wolverine” is a guarantee. My choice would be Brad Anderson.

  56. Martin S says:

    Scott, Re: Outsourcing characters. In a reverse strategy, that could be Fox’s approach some day since they don’t have to give the rights up. Sort of like a team trading players for cash and future considerations, which in this case would be distribution rights or co-productions.

  57. Jeffrey Boam's Doctor says:

    Cronenberg has already made a superhero movie.

  58. Pete B says:

    Okay, I may regret asking, but the curiosity is killing me…

    What’s wrong with Jennifer Lawrence being cast in Hunger Games?

    (I’ve seen the books at Borders and B&N, but know nothing about them.)

  59. LexG says:

    “Cronenberg has already made a superhero movie.”

    Stephen Lack for Wolverine! Or at least 1981 Lack in full crazy-eyed no-inflection monotone, with Michael Ironside as Magneto.

  60. leahnz says:

    considering darren r. has just recently separated from rachel and he’s going thru what is no doubt a painful period of personal adjustment in terms of family and dealing with ongoing child custody issues, i suspect it’s entirely possible that this is indeed the main reason he doesn’t want to be overseas for a big stretch at the moment; he and jackman are apparently close mates so a creative parting of the ways seems unlikely so late in the game, but who knows (nobody, except those involved – pretending you know otherwise is blowing smoke out yer bum). filming in nippon could be a factor but really, if the meltdown continues it’s unlikely the production would go ahead there anyway, i’m sure aronofsky’s not the only one who might have second thoughts about shooting where there is a risk of radioactive contamination (and the subsequent lawsuits that could result i would imagine would be prohibitive).

    (yes i’d think ‘history of violence’ is about as close to a superhero flick as cronenberg is ever likely to make)

  61. Krillian says:

    I read the Hunger Games books. I don’t see a problem with her in those movies. She’ll do great. They’re YA fiction and so there will be Twilight comparisons. They’re squarely aimed at teens.

  62. Martin S says:

    Oh Jeffrey, you’re so clever.

  63. Jeffrey Boam's Doctor says:

    Leah, you could also say THE FLY is another Cronenberg superhero flick.
    It’s the bizarro version of SPIDERMAN.

    Martin S. Yes.

  64. leahnz says:

    brundlefly even has his own opera

  65. IOv3 says:

    Spirit is not a crazed Repcon, so he wins in that department. Fox also could have accommodated the man but now, they did what Fox they always do, and once again screwed up a genre film. Again: UNIVERSAL HAVE TRIED WITH GENRE! Why people got on their case when FOX is the studio that deserves nothing more than scorn from folks is beyond me.

    Pete: when you have a book featuring teenagers involved in battle and replace that with YOUNG ADULTS, you basically kill off any power the story has by replacing it with pretty people with machine guns. Those movies are going to be totally safe now and much like The Wolverine… totally pointless. You put Steinfeld in there, and then you are talking about a really interesting franchise instead of this pretty people bullshit.

  66. LexG says:

    IO, how well did LAST AIRBENDER do with its cast of 15-year-olds?

  67. Don R. Lewis says:

    If Ed Zwick doesn’t take over WOLVERINE, I’ll eat my hat. Mediocre, somehow still well thought of director….has done Japan….”does” odd romance. Zzzzz. But I won’t eat my green Jets hat cuz that’s lucky. For the SF Giants that is. I’d simply cry if the studio had the balls to have Cronenberg step in but that’ll never happen. Anywaaaaay…

    Hopscotch: Try having a kid and then say you can’t imagine being away or in any way compromised from your area.

  68. IOv3 says:

    Lex, one has nothing to do with the other.

  69. hcat says:

    IO,you realize teenagers and Young Adults are the same thing right? When someone talks about the young adult market they are talking 15-19.

    Since the people familiar with these books are in that age range don’t you think they will be going for a pg-13 rating? That will cut down whatever bloodthirst the books had regardless of the age of the cast.

  70. Krillian says:

    Gary Ross has said he’s aiming for a PG-13. And in The Hunger Games one of the more developed characters is this fragile 12-year-old girl that Katniss tries to protect but ultimately fails.

    Lawrence may be 20, but Katniss is 16.

  71. yancyskancy says:

    My choices for WOLVERINE: Lena Dunham, John Waters, Danny Leiner, Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

  72. IOv3 says:

    Hcat, Hailee Steinfeld is just a better choice for the role of a character that’s not lily-white. This is just the worst kind of casting, where they cast a lily white girl for a role that features some color, and a role that should have gone to a younger girl. This is just horrible casting all around and all they need to do is hire I AM NUMBER FOUR for the double double of suckage!

  73. hcat says:

    Costner as Jonathan Kent, now thats some smart casting. Almost makes me interested in the movie.

    Caught the second half of Untouchables on BBCA last weekend. Just a fantastic movie, Costner was just born to be on horseback. But it got me thinking that with the so-called “End of the Moviestar” era we have been getting less of the extreme ego related flops like Hudson Hawk, Last Action Hero and Wyatt Earp.

  74. IOv3 says:

    Wyatt Earp remains an under-appreciated bit of greatness. Also, Untouchables is hard for me to watch as soon as ELLIOT NESS THROWS A GUY OFF A BUILDING! Seriously, much like Batman shooting a guy, Ness throwing Frank Nitti off the roof just destroys the whole suspension of disbelief for me.

  75. IOv3 says:

    seriously, SXSW and BERMUDA kill this place. What the hell.

  76. JKill says:

    Am I the only one a little distraught at Oliver Megatron of TRANSPORTER 3 infamy directing TAKEN 2?

    Also, this is one of the rare weeks where I’m quite looking forward to all three new releases. (LIMITLESS, LINCOLN LAWYER, PAUL) Excited for JANE EYRE too when that opens wider. Watched SIN NOMBRE this week and loved it.

    I’ll read the Hunger Games trilogy before the movies come out, but right now I don’t have an opinion on any of that either way. In general, I always prefer a great movie to a faitful adaptation, which goes against a lot of fandom, in my opinion.

  77. IOv3 says:

    Katniss is an important character and instead of staying true to the material from which she sprang, they cast Jennifer Lawrence. Whose not even close to being Katniss. It’s not like Lawrence can’t act but when you have girls that suit the material better, then go with those girls. Again, if they cast Prettyfer, then they are basically casting a post-apocalyptic film with super pretty people. Which is pretty damn funny.

    ETA: Just type Katniss into google and click on Camilla Bella’s picture. It’s funny how fans still get this shit more than casting directors.

  78. LexG says:

    Camilla Belle is like half a decade or more older than Jennifer Lawrence.

  79. IOv3 says:

    Yeah you WOULD think of the age before anything else :D. Notice that all of those actresses are brunette and not super duper WHITE GIRL like Lawrence. It’s like they couldn’t help themselves, they had the super duper white girl, and had to put her in a movie where a brunette with olive skin would have worked better.

  80. LexG says:

    IO your posts on this matter are halfway to making me wish they’d cast the bleach-blonde UCLA chick who made the Ching Chong Ling Long video.

  81. IOv3 says:

    Unlike you, I have never been a fan of the white blonde chick. Seriously, the less blonde chicks the better. MAY THE BRUNETTES INHERIT THE EARTH!

  82. JKill says:

    That UCLA girl is unattractive physically and, more importantly, intellectually, spiritually and morally.

    Lex, your taste is really going down hill.

  83. JKill says:

    Lawrence is awesome in everything I’ve seen her in. I’m sure she’ll be great.

    And apparently no one wants to discuss how Megatron derailed the TRANSPORTER franchise. Sigh…

  84. storymark says:

    Too bad we live in a world where hair dye was never invented.

  85. Krillian says:

    I did see Alex Pettyfer’s name floated somewhere for Peeta, and that would be egregious.

    I get what you’re saying about Lawrence, but she can get a tan and dye her hair. They’re supposed to transform her for the games and pretty her up, maybe they’ll have some fun with that. Katniss needs to be tough and we know Lawrence can do that.

    FYI, Hunger Games is probably the best book of the trilogy compared to the other 2. Book 2 deals with the aftermath and ends abruptedly, then Book 3 is the little people in full revolt against Big Bad Capital City and ends with a fizzle.

  86. LexG says:

    The white blonde chick is the pinnacle of human greatness, and all that is right about the world.

    Though technically the greatest woman of all time is not really blonde.

  87. LexG says:

    Transporter 3 had the Russian chick peeing on the floor, and what’s-his-name from Prison Break as the villain.

    I think it might’ve been the best of the three.

  88. storymark says:

    I really only liked the first. I hated the second, and don’t remember a thing about the third.

  89. JKill says:

    The second is genius-level insanity, and amazingly over the top. It’s brilliantly self aware and as ridiculous as the hearlded, more obvious CRANK films.

    The third, however, is so pedestrian and lifeless with not one memorable action scene or moment. Just totally lacking in energy, something the first two had an excess of. There was zero chemisty between Statham and the leading lady. A waste and a disapointment.

    Maybe there were other forces at work for why the movie was so terrible, but it seems weird to give TAKEN 2 to him, considering I’m sure that’s a pretty good gig for a lot of directors into that kind of stuff.

    Lex, I spotted K-Stew (whom I’m assuming you’re referencing) in WHAT JUST HAPPENED?. Didn’t know she was in that one beforehand. A pleasant surprise.

  90. anghus says:

    They’re supposed to be filming a Transporter TV show. I thought it was a rather brilliant idea.

  91. movieman says:

    Was pleasantly surprised by “Limitless” for a variety of reasons.
    Surprised that such a smart, original script could have been penned by the writer of “Mrs. Doubtfire.”
    Surprised that Burger was able to overcome his sophomore jinx after the barely released clunker “The Lucky Ones.”
    Surprised that Bradley Cooper, one of my two least favorite actors (Cam Gigandet is the other), didn’t annoy me as much as usual. (The normally unctuous Cooper was perfectly OK here, but Colin Farrell would’ve killed in this role.)
    Surprised to discover that Abbie Cornish has clearly been working on her “American” accent since “Stop/Loss.” (Thank you, Abbie.)
    Surprised that DeNiro didn’t seem to be phoning it in for once–and that he’s still able to muster a modicum of menace onscreen.
    My only real gripe with the film is the “PG-13” rating. Were they really that afraid of losing the “family” audience?
    This thing should have definitely been a hard “R.”

  92. JKill says:

    THE LINCOLN LAWYER is a very entertaining movie with a strong, engaging, charismatic performance from Matthew McConaughey and a terrific supporting cast. Furman’s direction is solid and stylish, servicing the story and never distracting. The screenplay is quick and to the point without sacrificing character. A compelling, funny, smart old-school thriller. Very, very enjoyable. The kind of movie I wish they would make more of.

    Refreshing to see McConaughey do this kind of thing again, and I hope he keeps it up.

  93. Monco says:

    Lawrence is fine for Katniss. The books make it apparent that she is a pretty girl but she just doesn’t act like it or notice it. Steinfel would have the perfect choice but this is more than acceptable. What’s gonna be bad from the artistic stanpoint is the pg-13 rating. These movies need to be violent. But it is unreasonable to expect an R rating for the next big franchise film. It’s just not going to happen. Anyway the first book is the one I like the least. I didn’t get into it until the second book, which is the one I think is best.

  94. torpid bunny says:

    I see these books in the kids section where my little girl colors. It seems like 50-90% of youth fiction is now some variation of fantastical romance involving super beings. There are still plenty of high school drama/comedy series, but the fantasy stuff is considerably more prominent now. I can only suspect that many such sagas, often more than a trilogy of thick books, are driven by female readers. Protagonists are a little more likely to be female. I don’t know but I would guess the males in the same age group are mostly playing video games, not reading 2000 page romances.

    I’m talking not just vampires and werewolves but angels, of course wizards, fallen gods, unknown members of a race of superior beings, sons of royalty, etc. Dark covers with gothic fonts are common.

  95. Don R. Lewis says:

    Just saw PAUL and wow. What a huge, huge pile of crap. It’s exactly as advertised I guess but I thought they might push the envelope with the “R” rating and all. Nope. Just a stupid, asinine, unfunny movie. I was stunned as I really, really like everyone in the movie.

  96. IOv3 says:

    Yeah, I am in total disagreement with Don. Paul is a little bit of magic with a truly memorable character for all-time with Paul. He’s awesome, Kristen Wiig continues to be one of the best actresses working today, and it’s not fat. It’s power.

  97. Don R. Lewis says:

    God, you’re a moron IO. Can’t you see when a film or corporation is co-opting your precious little comic-con movie blogger nerd shit and regurgitating it back out to the masses? And to YOU and your ilk?? Is there ANY geek friendly movie or movement that you DON’T like? Does freedom of mind and intelligence ever figure into your pro-geekery or are you only into towing the company line?

    Obviously the first part of my statement is how I feel and I’m being a dick (because you are an idiot) but honestly…is there any geek franchise you have any issue with? “Paul” is not funny at all and I agree Wiig is terrific. Too bad she’s totally wasted here as is everyone.

  98. yancyskancy says:

    Haven’t seen PAUL yet, but I’m hoping I like it as much as IO’s fellow ‘idiots’ Glenn Kenny and Kent Jones do.

  99. bulldog68 says:

    Saw Paul, and the theater I was in looked like a pretty diverse group, and they were rolling in laughter. There were some truly funny moments and I thought the ‘punch’ line at the end was delivered with the right oomph. There was actually applause at the end of it. Sorry Don. It was fucking funny. The entire cast delivered, Wiig and Bateman ruled. A classic comedy, no. Worth the trip, fuck yeah.

  100. IOv3 says:

    Wow Don, you really cannot handle someone liking a movie you do not like. Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, you fucking baby.

  101. Don R. Lewis says:

    I really WANTED to like it, honestly. I genuinely like every person in it. I thought it was derivative and stupid. I mean really? 3-4 time s Pegg and Frost get accused of being gay, 3 people get kicked in the balls….people get scared and fall over backwards? Really? That’s funny? Wow.

    I mean, let’s be honest. Rank PAUL next to SPACED, SHAUN OF THE DEAD and HOT FUZZ. I guarantee PAUL was at the bottom of Frost and Pegg’s desk drawer and they struck while the iron was hot to get it made. And Glenn Kenny is friends with Greg Mottola as he professionally stated in his blog entry.

    It’s not a good movie. It’s not funny. At all.

  102. leahnz says:

    i’ve grown hugely fond of wiig. can’t wait for a girl’s night out piss-up for ‘bridesmaids’ and what looks to be some good raunchy chicks-behaving-badly antics (and non-bloke-centric for a change, thank christ, i can’t think of anything apart from ‘whip it’ that even remotely fits the bill of late). also looking forward to ‘paul’ for that matter, it looks off the wall and goofy as hell, and i tend to laugh at the mere sight of simon and nick together so i guess i’m probably something of the target demographic in that respect.

    (i do worry about using the title ‘bridesmaids’ tho, it reminds me far too much of ‘bride wars’, which just thinking about makes me break out into an itchy rash and have breathing difficulties. but perhaps it’s a bit of a bait-n-switcheroo that could pay off)

  103. Don R. Lewis says:

    And IO…back to my question. Please give us a sentence or 2 about the following:

    THOR

    Captain America

    Land of the Lost

  104. leahnz says:

    re: ‘paul’ (as per by far the best aggregate reviews site i’ve yet to come across)

    http://moviereviewintelligence.com/movie-reviews/paul_2011/

    it looks like ‘paul’ is not universally reviled at any rate

  105. Don R. Lewis says:

    I actually went to Rotten Tomatoes and read a BUNCH of reviews and nope, it’s not reviled. It’s also not loved. At all. 95% of the positive reviews I read came with major disclaimers, excuses and comments about “well, look. I know it sucks/is lazy/isn’t funny…buuuut…”

    Whatever. Get on with your bad selves. Comic-Con is just a few months away!!!!!!!

  106. IOv3 says:

    Yeah it’s not about comic-con or being pandered to, even though you think it is. You thinking it does not make it real and does not represent the truth in anyway. Seriously, Paul panders like a motherfucker, but I could care less about the pandering because I really dig Paul as a character. I really dig the Christianity subplot that Wiig pulls off well. The fact that I and other people dig this movie, pisses you off that much, is fucking ridiculous.

    Now you want me to discuss Thor, Cap, and Land of the Lost. Well Land of the Lost has it’s moments, Anna Friel in hot pants is good and all, but the movie has a mean streak to it that’s super unnecessary for a comedy.

    Cap is my second favorite superhero of all-time. Of course I am looking forward to a movie about Steve Rogers because Steve Rogers is fucking awesome.

    Finally, Thor, he’s the god of thunder, who wields a magical hammer, and hangs out with Beta Ray Bill. What’s not to love.

    Oh, one last thing, you do know that I dig movies like Michael Clayton just as much any superhero movie? The fact that I have to explain this to people like you time and time again, when you are being mean to me for SIMPLY LIKING A FILM or a FILM THAT YOU DON’T (I really fucking like Easy A, is that a hangable fucking offense there Don), is tiresome but this is the hot blog and you are just being typical of a hot blog poster.

  107. Don R. Lewis says:

    I just feel you ALWAYS jump to the defense of geek friendly properties and not all of them are the ark of the fucking covenant. And it was my bad to call you out on PAUL, sounds like you really liked it. I don’t get it, but whatever. To each their own.

  108. IOv3 says:

    Don that’s mighty nice of you and I do love an aspect of pop culture that could be considered rather geeky. This does not mean I love it blindly. This also does not mean these are the only films that I love or live for seeing. Seriously, anyone reading this, it’s not only Captain America that gets me all excited. I get as excited for something like the Adjustment Bureau or any good drama. I love film and that for me is a rather wide range that might not work for you, but it does for me. Hell, my fave film so far this year is about a gecko with an existential life crisis.

  109. sanj says:

    i’m waiting for new DP/30’s to show up

    are actors so busy they can’t take 30 minutes to do a interview ..

    also it’s time for Leo Dicarpio to stop doing good films – just do lots of average films and still get paid the big bucks … Inception / Shutter Island should have won him an oscar but didn’t. good acting is a waste of time cause some other actor will beat you too it…

  110. RAQUEL BIBELIANA says:

    MEU JUSTIN DREW BIEBER É MUITISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISIMO GOSTOZÃO MEU SUPERULTRAIPERMEGAFBULIFANTASTICO!

  111. yancyskancy says:

    Lex’s most interesting alter ego yet?

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