April 20, 2024
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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?
So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.
And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.
There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.
I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.
But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”
My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher
“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.
~ David Simon
Now that it’s September, and I’ve caught up on just about everything I wanted to see, I couldn’t be more disgusted in this summer…letdown after letdown after letdown. I can’t remember another summer in my life where I didn’t really enjoy a single one of the big action tentpoles or comedies or anything. Maybe I’m just getting old. Iron Man 3, Star Trek 2, Now You See Me, After Earth, This is The End, World War Z, White House Down, Elysium and Pacific Rim all pretty much sucked. Only decent films I saw that were solid B’s that I’ll watch again are Man of Steel and Gatsby. And I always love Coppola but Bling Ring is probably my least favorite film of hers. Amazingly Lone Ranger, while admittedly a bit of a mess, was one of the few movies this summer where you got your money’s worth and didn’t feel totally ripped off. Some of the smaller stuff like the Woody and The Way Way Back I will watch on tv, and I haven’t seen Wolverine, but in general, great job this summer Hollywood! You didn’t release a big movie that an intelligent adult could enjoy all summer. Keep up the great work. Even my single most anticipated movie of the summer, Only God Forgives, sucked. Hell, Oblivion sucked! Everything sucks! Except The Place Beyond The Pines, still the best of the year by a long shot. God bless the Camerons, Spielbergs, Nolans etc. who know how to make a decent popcorn movie.
Who cares about summer with the awards season we are in for. I think it’s safe to say “Twelve Years As a Slave” and “Gravity” are Best Picture nominee locks. Boy, is it confusing after that…good notices for “Captain Phillips” and “Labor Day,” but possibly not enough for noms. “Dallas Buyers Club” has moved way up. So has “Rush.” “The Fifth Estate” is out of the race… “Prisoners” is a left-field wild card. So is “Mandela.”
With much still unseen, “Nebraska,” “Mud,” “Fruitvale Station,” “Blue Jasmine,” “Before Midnight” and “All Is Lost” are suffering in the main category a bit. “The Butler,” approaching $100 million, would be in the heart of the race any other recent year, but not sure anything except “Slave” and “Gravity” can be considered sure things with “American Hustle,” “August:O (today),” “Monuments Man,” “Her,” “Wolf of Wall Street” “Saving Mr. Banks,” “Walter Mitty,” “The Counselor,” and “Foxcatcher” unseen, and difficult to see “Llewyn Davis” left out.
Ojiofor and Nyong’o certainly seem like early frontrunners, though its hard to gauge the sentiment for Redford. The actress race is going to be a hot mess, just like Best Pic. Leto and Fassbender with the early BSA buzz.
Seriously though, this has to be the most stacked fall season since…2007?
It took me a couple weeks to decompress after watching IDENTITY THIEF because I was constantly plagued by one question:
When did comedies stop being funny?
I rented it on the advice of my babymama, who said I’d love it. Not only did I not love it, I came to accept Roger Ebert’s dictum that someone who doesn’t love the movies you love soon won’t love you. She’s never made it more than twenty minutes into PULP FICTION, saying it’s boring, yet she loves gang movies and prison movies and idiotic “comedies” like this.
Even before it started I predicted that the only way they could pad this story out to feature length is to make us hate the victim and love the victimizer. When they did precisely this halfway through the movie I shut it off. I never laughed once. The only moment I found even remotely humorous was when the Harold half of Harold & Kumar said he could find a bum in the alley with a higher credit score than his buddy, who had just been robbed by the identity thief.
Har-de-har-har.
How did this piece of shit make $173M? I’m glad to see it was savaged in RottonTomatoes, but a helluva lotta people ignored these sages of truth and decided to blow their money on this crapfest instead.
I don’t have cable so I can’t comment on Honey Boo-Boo, but this movie alone is a sign that civilization needs a reboot.
(BTW, the same thing happened last year with DUE DATE–babymama said it was great, I shut it off halfway through. Downey’s slow burns were the only thing that got me to even that point.)
EDIT: The movie was nominated for 4 Teen Choice awards…which makes the whole situation worse, because it means an assload of supposedly sober kids got on their computers to say that this was an awesome movie.
This just popped up on Reddit.
http://static.adzerk.net/Advertisers/3bfa4ee032ff48b08430156ed8483109.jpg
The campaigning has begun. And on Reddit no less. Really weird place to see Oscar campaign ads.
Breedlove: I suspect it’s not that you’re getting old — it’s that you’re growing up. There’s a difference. Anyone who manages to mature at a normal rate can’t maintain an intense interest in material that is designed to appeal to adolescents. That doesn’t mean a mature person can’t enjoy a superhero or fantasy film, of course — but they probably enjoy it as part of a balanced film “diet.” In the summer, there’s not much balance. My worry is that recent and current generations are giving up on film as they age, with the exception of those among them who remain perpetually adolescent.
SamLowry: The success of IDENTITY THIEF can’t be anything but a tribute to Melissa McCarthy’s ability to find the believable core in an unbelievable character, even as Hollywood seems determined to take everything that’s great about her, pump it up and shove it down our throats until we’re sick of her. The script is an odd duck that seems to put more work into plot and structure than delivering laughs. With lesser talents than McCarthy and Bateman, it would be completely inert.
Yup, mainstream comedy is pretty much dead. Other than “This Is the End,” “World’s End,” and Joseph Kahn’s acid-soaked love letter to the 90s, “Detention,” I haven’t enjoyed anything specifically comedic in the last couple years.
Comedies that have cracked $100 million this year:
The Heat
Identity Thief
Grown Ups 2
We’re The Millers
The Hangover 3
Combine the Tomatometer of “The Hangover 3,” “Grownups 2,” and “Identity Thief” and you get 46%. “We’re the Millers” (I laughed twice) stands at 47%.
We’re the Millers was that, down the middle, average comedy. The kind that tries so hard to please everybody that only the most bizarre gags seem to work. It felt like a movie afraid to commit to the material. Watching Aniston do the most PG strip routine ever is an apt metaphor for the movie. If this was a real, go for it comedy, you would have cast someone willing to go topless and get rowdy. But they went with the name and a routine out of a Victoria’s Secret runway show and took the money.
There are still great comedies out there, but like our summer blockbusters they have become little more than a bloated, inoffensive mess. A lot of people liked The Heat. I couldn’t even muster the effort to see it.
I hated This is the End because it was so predictable. And yet i thought the World’s End was fantastic even though i would also call it predictable (as Wrights films are all eerily similar in tone and cadence).
Comedies stopped being funny when the characters went from smart, charming and attractive to stupid, hateful and slovenly.
Comedies stopped being funny when writers stopped caring about story, characters and jokes and simply focused on bodily functions and groin injuries.
Comedies stopped being funny when they stopped making them for adults and started making them for barely literate teens with the attention spans of mayflies.
One reason I made IT’S A FRAME-UP! was to prove that an old-fashioned slapstick-and-snappy-patter comedy could still work despite all of the above. It won’t make a nickel–after all, it’s just a short–but at least it shows some of us still care about doing it properly.
That’s the thing that gets me–these “comedies” are designed to appeal to subliterate morons (teenagers, in other words), yet the only way to find any part of it funny is to be drunk or high.
So are these producers betting their bankrolls that kids will break the law? And considering a movie like PROJECT X, are they perhaps even encouraging it?
Only thing I’ll say about the Oscars, without having seen anything yet. Remember those years where there was an early, heavy favorite to win Best Pic and it ended up not even getting nominated? Thinking of stuff like The Crucible and Dreamgirls, I know there are others. Not saying they won’t get nominated, but I have a gut feeling August: Osage County and American Hustle won’t do all that great awards-wise, only because they seem almost too obviously and self-consciously Oscar-baity.
In all of this “the race is already over!” chatter, it’s probably best to remember last year when “Lincoln” seemed like a fait accompli, too.
Not saying that will necessarily happen w/ “12 Years” (for starters, the director is not only British, but black!).
Just pointing out it’s best not to make any deathless predictions so early in the season.
I’m not saying they’ll win, but there is no way “Gravity” and “Twelve Years” don’t get nominated in a 9-10 picture field. The level of acclaim for both films, and yeah I know it’s early, is far beyond that of other recent heavyweights. You have pretty much a universal “landmark in modern cinema” response for these movies.
I wasn’t singling you out, Et, lol.
I was actually responding to some of the more ferocious Toronto blurbmeisters whose proclamations of, “Done Deal!” amused (and annoyed) me to no end as they always do at this time of the year.
Well, having been fortunate enough to have seen AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY on stage, I can only say there was no way to make it and NOT seem Oscar-baity. Besides, the number of recent movies based on new non-musical Broadway plays has been slight indeed–CARNAGE, FROST/NIXON, DOUBT, maybe one or two others–so we should be thrilled whenever we do get one.
“One reason I made IT’S A FRAME-UP! was to prove that an old-fashioned slapstick-and-snappy-patter comedy could still work despite all of the above. It won’t make a nickel–after all, it’s just a short–but at least it shows some of us still care about doing it properly.”
I’d like to see that. I got a link i can send you if you’re bored. Half an hour one-act i did last year with the same goal: make something ridiculous with a rapid fire cadence and an old school comedic sensibility.
‘good’ comedy is so subjective but there does seem to be a growing dearth of so-called ‘intelligent, adult’ comedies in recent years, or even sheer tour-de-force comedic vehicles such as jack black madness in ‘school of rock’ or bb thorton in ‘bad santa’ (in terms of black comedy ‘the world’s end’ sort of qualifies for me re: pegg’s outstanding turn as gary king, or even theron’s mavis gary in ‘young adult’) — but thinking about it there have been a few rather sweet, endearing small low-key ‘adult’ comedies in the past few years that i’ve really enjoyed such as ‘ceder rapids’ (my god john c reilly is hysterical in that, did he get some major props? i hope so), and ‘our idiot brother’; or ‘young adult’ in terms of acerbic cringe-inducing black comedy (along with ‘bridesmaids’ of course, i still find it hard to believe that men never poop their pants in real life, but whatevs). hell i even found the admittedly low-brow buddy movie ’21 jump street’ suprisingly funny in terms of juvenile humour, it gets messy and loses the plot in the last act but there’s a bit of a sweet core there in terms of the friendship between Hill and Tatertot, nothing to rival ‘superbad’ but weird and offbeat enough to be a compulsive watch on cable. in terms of great ‘blockbuster’ adult comedies, apart from ‘bridesmaids’ it’s been disturbingly thin on the ground lately, maybe i’m forgetting something good.
I would think the Millers success is mostly due to the lack of comedy offerings. With what the studios have been offering, the summer felt like a BBQ where everyone brought the exact same side dish, and people are going to see we’re the millers not because they like potato salad but jeez at least it’s not more beans.
As for comedy getting worse, does no one remember Ice Pirates? Six pack? Hollywood has been making terrible comedies since its inception, it’s just that they are so forgettable the current crop always seems like the weakest.
And given the reviews I have read for captain Phillips, why the hell did we not see this in July? Do people not like tightly wound tense thrillers in the summer? Having the critical hit of the season would have gone a long way to counteract the negative pr that Sony had to slosh through. Plus a few extra months as the Oscar front runner certainly wouldn’t have hurt its chances at awards or box office and would have put it in the position as popular favorite. Its a shame that things would be held from summer just because they are worried that it might be too intelligent.
Never mind was a scam….. sorry for the inconvenience
i think the problem with the ‘there have always been bad comedies though’ line is that while that’s undoubtedly true, there have also been a decent number of really good ones on the other end of the scale to balance it out, some of which go on to become classics of the era, whereas nowadays it seems the scale is tipped heavily to the ‘generic and bland mediocrity to outright lousy’ end in terms of mainstream comedy, with fewer gems to make it seem like ‘all is well’.
another sort of related thing i was talking about with my boy, who’s been watching lots of 80’s/90’s comedies from my dvd collection, is that female leads/protagonists were fairly commonplace in popular mainstream comedy through the 80’s – jen jason leigh in ‘fast times’, ringwald and co in johh hugh’s oeuvre, etc etc, movies that were popular with both genders and a female lead was no big thing – but this began a steady decline in the 90’s to now, to the point that when a mainstream female-lead comedy like ‘bridesmaids’ gets made and becomes successful it’s considered some sort of omg big deal, which is ridiculous, and says a lot about the current culture (none of it good).
I thought 21 Jump Street was the best mainstream comedy in ages. It made me learn to love Channing Tatum. It was stupid and endearing in the best possible way. We need more Superbads and 21 Jump Streets. Some studio needs to reclaim the teen comedy.
I agree with you wholeheartedly with the whole boys films vs girls films mentality being a huge problem for Hollywood and audiences. I don’t know when the term chick flick came into being but it’s so dismissive and reactionary. I was in high school in the late eighties early nineties and I can’t think of anyone I know that would have outright dismissed going to see something like pretty woman or say anything because they were Icky girly flicks. Same with something like working girl, she vacuums in her skivvies for chrissakes what man doesn’t want to see that.
However there seems to be some reluctance on the part of male stars nowadays to participate in romantic films. Where is Leo and Adams recreating their catch me chemistry? Where is Tom Cruise’ s next Jerry maguire role?
Ugh, “21 Jump Street” wasn’t much more than a series of sight-sags made tolerable by Hill and Tatum’s winning performances IMO, and grew tired an hour in. However, you’ll get your wish. “22 Jump Street” drops next year.
Its a shame that things would be held from summer just because they are worried that it might be too intelligent.
…or already forgotten by Oscar voters.
21 JUMP STREET’s big finish gag is a disembodied penis. O Comedy!
I actually liked ICE PIRATES (space herpes, dumbass robots fighting each other, the aging sequence!), but I thought 21 JUMP STREET was forgettable. Sure, better than IDENTITY THIEF, but that’s like saying syphilis is better than AIDS.
And anyone else think it odd that fifteen years ago Ally McBeal gave us a co-ed bathroom and STARSHIP TROOPERS presented us with co-ed showers, presumably because Gen-Xers were comfortable with men and women being equal, but Gen-Y hit the brakes on that so hard that any unsecured objects would go flying through the windshield, giving us the “Bitch, make me a sandwich” meme, which I actually saw a lad wearing on a T-shirt today.
You guys are some of the most faint-hearted bunch of seniors-at-heart I’ve ever read collected together on the internet. All of this because some of you maybe caught up with Identify Thief six months later and noticed that it sucked? Stop the fucking presses.
It has been a somewhat comedy-light year, but mostly compared to the back half of the 00s, when there were a lot of surprisingly freewheeling and unusual studio comedies — thanks in large part to the Apatow-circle people you guys are calling the death of the medium.
We’re the Millers was no great shakes, but I can see why it’s a hit: good hook, some funny performances, a couple of memorable-ish set pieces. Not nearly as tight or smart as it should be, but likable enough.
Outside of that, though, This is the End(you guys really found that one “predictable”??) and The Heat both parlay the improvisatory feel of modern comedy into well-sustained features. The World’s End is masterfully constructed. And if you want to look just slightly further than the biggest studio stuff, Frances Ha, In a World, Drinking Buddies, and Afternoon Delight are all basically comedies, and good-to-excellent ones at that. The To Do List was a lot of fun, too.
Last year was pretty light, too, but I’ve enjoyed a ton of recent studio comedies: 21 Jump Street, Bridesmaids, Bad Teacher, The Sitter, The Other Guys, Get Him to the Greek, Easy A… none of them are perfect, but how often do we get a perfect anything?
Love cadavra’s complaint that comedies are no longer about ATTRACTIVE people. Ah yes, nothing says comedy like an extremely attractive person being decent and likable. That’s a Jeff Wells complaint if I’ve ever heard one. Or SamLowry’s charming brag about constantly turning off movies in the middle. Real cinema-lover there.
“STARSHIP TROOPERS presented us with co-ed showers, presumably because Gen-Xers were comfortable with men and women being equal”
There hasn’t been a case of Not Getting It this bad since Glenn Kenny read Premiere’s mail after the Schwarzenegger hatchet job.
21JS is a splendid movie if your idea of great comedy is the fat guy bumping into things, the idiot taking drugs and then trying hard to act like he’s not high, someone drawing a penis on a baby picture, the ancient gag about two men positioned in a way that it looks like one of them is blowing the other, a guy graphically telling another guy about having sex with his grandmother…aw, hell, do I even need to go on? This is not funny–unless you’re ten.
The movie also presented co-ed bunks, so I’ve always presumed equality was the point. What did you think it was about, a simple T&A show? The military had segregated bunks in STRIPES but there was still sex going on.
And like I said before, I don’t waste my time on bad movies. I was tricked into thinking it was good, found out it was bad, so I’m done. My lifespan isn’t long enough to sit through another hour of garbage just so I can say “Yep, that was completely and totally shitty, all the way through.”
Oh, and Jesse, this isn’t about just this year. Apatow & Co. do indeed share much of the blame for flooding the market with stoner movies featuring characters I wouldn’t want to be around, ever, while Seltzer, Friedberg, and the Wayans Bros. are responsible for a glut of horrible movies that can’t even be called parodies because they just toss out taglines and memes and expect us to convulse with laughter.
ZOOLANDER was the last movie I laughed most of the way through, and though DODGEBALL has many good moments there are also many dry moments (I hold Vaughn mostly responsible).
The simple truth is that comedies just haven’t been all that funny for a long time.
Nothing more pointless than arguing about comedy. For what it’s worth, no one has more esteem for the classic comedy of old–from the silents through the Marx Bros. and Sturges and McCarey and Jerry Lewis, ad infinitum–than me, but I’m also a big fan of many Apatow films, and have no major problem with many of today’s studio comedies, which aside from their increased vulgarity aren’t appreciably inferior to a lot of their forebears. All due respect to cadavra, why compare 21 JUMP STREET’s apples to the oranges of “slapstick and snappy patter”? Even back in the day, there were those who did it well and those who didn’t. Either way, very little in, say, an Abbott and Costello movie had anything to do with attractive, smart characters. And they were possibly better-loved by ten-year-olds than grownups. We can’t really help what makes us laugh and what doesn’t, but I take my laughs where I find them, whether it’s brilliant wordplay, low vulgarity or something along that vast spectrum.
Switching it up, anyone know the story on INSIDIOUS 2? The buzz is very quiet considering its James Wan, who had the biggest horror hit in many years earlier this summer. No reviews yet…was this filmed before or after “Conjuring?” Was it an afterthought?
Just had to share this.
Only 3 more episodes to go. Boo!
http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/home/Breaking-Bad-Inspired-Kids-Toy-Outrages-Some-Parents-222961391.html
As an example of a current comedy I DO find funny, see THE WORLD’S END. Kind of the same plot as THIS IS THE END, but made with talent, intelligence and wit–in the right hands, a hundred fucks can be hilarious, not annoying. Of course, it’s not an American picture, but hey, we takes our pleasures where we finds them.
“I agree with you wholeheartedly with the whole boys films vs girls films mentality being a huge problem for Hollywood and audiences. I don’t know when the term chick flick came into being but it’s so dismissive and reactionary. I was in high school in the late eighties early nineties and I can’t think of anyone I know that would have outright dismissed going to see something like pretty woman or say anything because they were Icky girly flicks. Same with something like working girl, she vacuums in her skivvies for chrissakes what man doesn’t want to see that.”
yeah, totally this hcat, what the hell is going on with the ‘new gender lines’ re current cinema, very disheartening and bizarre
the issue here (in this thread) seems to boil down to ‘high-brow’ vs ‘low-brow’ comedy, a duality that’s always been around, but it does seem ‘low-brow’ content is currently by far in the majority in mainstream pop cinema – maybe it really is the onset of the idiocracy, i dont know.
personally like yancysk said i enjoy both low and high-brow sensibilities; i laugh at both ‘animal house’ and ‘raising arizona’, ‘dumb and dumber’ and ‘the royal tennenbaums’, ‘there’s something about mary’ and ‘in the loop’, ‘airplane!’ and ‘annie hall’, ’21 jump street’ and ‘the world’s end’ — but there does seem to be a general creeping decline in originality, flair and cleverness in both comedic sensibilities lately, from the writing on up, but hopefully it’s reversable
I tell ya one thing though, I love that cadavra is putting his money where his mouth is with IT’S A FRAME-UP! Gonna try to get it considered for a Best Live Action Short nomination maybe? Either way, best of luck with it!
I’m trying to get an indie feature off the ground that’s sort of a dark screwball comedy, nothing particularly vulgar, with quite a bit of physical comedy and a female lead. If we’re lucky enough to get it made, I hope it’s perceived by potential distributors as a marketable breath of fresh air rather than “too niche.”
jts good luck to both Cadavra with ‘it’s a frame-up’ and YancySk in your venture — if i had any ‘fuck you’ money i’d invest in both your thingees, i’d be a fantastic rich person
Not to go back to harping on the comedy thing; Yancy is right, it’s kind of silly to argue about. But cadavra, surely you must understand that categorically dismissing “a fat guy bumping into things” or “an idiot taking drugs and trying to pretend he’s not high” and the like as inherently unfunny makes you sound like a tutting moralist. When on earth did you learn that those things just *can’t* be funny because it’s just not *decent*? Gee, I guess I was laboring under the delusion that the way a comedy approaches gags is more important than the quasi-objective morality or tastefulness of those gags. You can make almost any comedy sound infantile if you just provide literal description: The World’s End absolutely has a gag about a fat guy bumping into things, and about an idiot taking drugs, as well as public drunkenness and sexual harassment. I mean, the movie (SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER) basically ends with characters DRUNKENLY HARANGUING alien visitors until they give up and lay waste to the planet. This idea that “comedies today” are just base tastelessness… seriously, you sound like a seventysomething.
CHLOE MORETZ FEET FEET FEET CHLOE FEEEEEEEEEEET
CHLOE MORETZ FEET I LOVE HER I LOVE HER FEEEEEEEEEEEET
DO OTHER PPL LIKE CHLOE GRACE MORETZ’S FEET?
FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET
CHLOE FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET
I forget the exact period that Hollywood stopped being able to make funny comedies……but I do recall it was around the same time I saw that group of orphans get devoured by wolves.
Early reviews trickling in for INSIDIOUS 2…not only is it a regression for Wan, but supposedly it’s an abject, lazy misfire. Good thing he scored the FAST & FURIOUS gig a few months ago!
Speaking of potential misfires: AUGUST:OSAGE COUNTY. Notices I’ve seen criticize the pic for enhancing the melodrama of the play into borderline camp. Ruh roh.
Also, OMG, they finally made POMPEII? Paul W.S. Anderson with a no-name cast? Hah! Remember when this was a Roman Polanski project with Orlando Bloom and ScarJo as the leads? Wow, that was long ago…and then it was a Ridley Scott miniseries for a time.
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Honestly, when people rail on something like 21 Jump Street for being dumb, i think back to the comedies i enjoy the most. Anchorman, Caddyshack, Animal House.
I like dumb.
It did seem that if you dug a little this summer you got those old school style teen comedies: Way Way Back, The To Do List… but they were below the radar. The To Do List (which i wanted to see) never came within 100 miles of my market.
And I’m not big into pimping links. but if anyone’s bored, this is what i find funny:
https://vimeo.com/50106819
” the fat guy bumping into things”
Uh, weren’t you just talking about how you wanted to bring back prat-fall comedy? So, what, his weight is the issue, then?
And for idiots taking drugs, isn’t that just a decent excuse for their behavior, when before charecters were just Wacky?
And its not like humor falls flat just because their inebrieated. I would think even the Marx Brothers would have loved the wordplay in “Dave’s not here Man.”
ANIMAL HOUSE doesn’t have a single fart joke. It’s quite witty and darkly political in the National Lampoon style. It started the trend but it’s smart. CADDYSHACK is dumb but funny.
Lord knows that exploding zit jokes are far more high-brow than a lowly fart.
I’m with anghus. I keep rewatching THE BLUES BROTHERS on cable and love the fact it’s so dumb. It’s many other things too but first and foremost, it’s like a live action warner brothers cartoon.
Love Caddyshack of course, Vacation was a family favorite growing up as well. I would say that most of Ramis’s stuff stradles the dumb funny line quite nicely. Even something wildly uneven like Year One has an undercurrent of religious satire that I was not expecting.
And Stuart Saves his Family has a strangely raw and honest feel to it, with the humor coming from a real place of pain. Ironically the downfall of the movie is that Stuart never fits into the real world, its like staging a chekov play and having a role played by a person in a minor league mascot costume.
And what more could be said about Groundhog Day?
Ramis’ stuff always struck me as smart. There was dumb stuff in them but he was always working with levels.
I love Animal House, and i understand the intention behind the idea that it is ‘smart’, but i could not legitimately call it a smart movie.
Just playing back the best bits:
Belushi on the ladder breaking the fourth wall… Shooting the horse… Food fight… the entire action packed finale/parade sequence where the guy steals the baton and marches a band into the alley… Belushi’s motivational speech at the end…
There’s some clever stuff in there, but weren’t the funniest bits lowest common denominator stuff?
That’s not a jab. I consider myself part of that group.
I’m not a moralist. Hell, I just said I love THE WORLD’S END, and that picture certainly earns its R. I have no problem with anything as long as it’s funny, and most of the time that means there has to be justification for the action. A fat guy bumping into something can be funny if there’s a reason for it, even something as simple as “take that valuable Ming vase over there and don’t drop it.” Jonah Hill or Kevin James generally bump into things and break them for no reason other than someone thought it would be funny for them to do that. Too often the “gag” comes out of nowhere and has no point; textbook examples would be the projectile-vomiting walrus in FIFTY FIRST DATES or Mike Tyson singing in HANGOVER. (“Hey, wouldn’t it be fuckin’ AWESOME if we had Mike sing that Miami Vice song?” “Yeah, but why would he sing it? What’s the point?” “No point, dude, it’s just fuckin’ AWESOME!” And so it goes.)
I’m not a prude. I just want a reason to laugh.
“(you guys really found that one “predictable”??)”
Oh my god, yes. A bunch of Apatow produced comedy guys playing themselves. Other than the “Left Behind” concept, it was basically a movie about stoner celebrities humorously dealing with the apocalypse. There wasn’t a beat from that movie that wasn’t telegraphed so far in advance.
Also, OMG, they finally made POMPEII? Paul W.S. Anderson with a no-name cast? Hah! Remember when this was a Roman Polanski project with Orlando Bloom and ScarJo as the leads? Wow, that was long ago…and then it was a Ridley Scott miniseries for a time.
Et- Can’t wait to see Armond White proclaim it’s a good thing talentless hacks like Polanski and Scott didn’t get their hands on “Pompeii” because we might not have been privileged to witness the masterpiece a true cinema artist like Anderson made from the material.
Speaking of quiet, the lack of any early reviews for “The Family” are disconcerting to say the least.
I actually thought the trailer looked promising, and I’m a big fan of
’80s/’90s Besson (particularly “The Big Blue,””La Femme Nikita” and “The Professional”). I was really hoping he’d come back (as a director) in a big way with this.
And Pfeiffer looked like a total hoot channeling her “Married With the Mob” performance.
We need a thread devoted to this shocking Billington affair, Mr. Poland (BYOBILLINGTON).
Friday estimates by Call the Cops Klady, etc.
Yikes, I just read Scott Spencer’s account of the double-butchering of his novel, Endless Love. First we hear how Zeffirelli left off the novel’s ending, which showed both characters moving on with new partners, proving their psychotic attraction wasn’t endless after all, and now how it got turned into a cornpone romance (starring two Brits, of course), to be released on Valentine’s Day.
Aww!
Spencer unwisely signed away all control over the story decades ago, even the remake rights, and can do nothing but warn us of impending disaster. This only proves that authors should establish a trust fund to keep a hit-man on retainer, just to convince any lackadaisical producer or director that they had best not stray from the source material, if they know what’s good for them. It would be a shame if something…unfortunate…should happen to their beach house in Malibu.
(Maybe I’m in that sort of mood because I just saw the latest Breaking Bad–about damn time Walt laid the smack down on Jesse, and Hank, and Steve….)
LEXG SAYS…
BILLINGTON.
Billington has about 1% of my film knowledge, probably never seen CRUISING, JEKYLL ’82, or UNDER THE RAINBOW, but I’d AT THE VERY LEAST give him the glad hand if I saw him in public. Why?
BECAUSE HE GETS TO SEE MOVIES FOR A LIVING.
Like I’d high five Billington and Ben Lyons beside a Criterion Collection bonfire if it meant not having to go to my JOE VS. THE VOLCANO dungeon job. ANYONE here who says they aren’t INSANELY JEALOUS of Billington is straight up LYING.
100K.
LEX WILL BE ON YOUR PAYROLL FOR 100K.
fwiw when i used ‘animal house’ as an example of a low-brow comedy i enjoy, i didn’t mean ‘dumb’; i don’t think low-brow humour is necessarily analogous with ‘dumb’ – though it certainly can be dumb – but rather unsophisticated in terms of content/theme; i think low-brow humour can be well written and executed (but often isn’t)
i’d like a movie about authors who keep hit-men on retainer and then open a can of fuck-you when movie people have the audacity to change their stories, it would be a bloodbath
LEXG SAYS…
BILLINGTON GETS TO MEET MORETZY and be FETED and shacked up at The Four Seasons.
What are you doing tonight?
Firing up some pizza flavored pringles and watching Comedy Central on some ball-stink frat couch.
shut the fuck up Donny
JOE LEYDON SAYS…
Umm, hate to break it to you, Lex, but I seriously doubt Billington gets put up at The Four Seasons.
Leah, in that situation I always figured the producer would have to go first, then the director, because if it was vice-versa the producer would almost certainly realize he’s next and run; the director, on the other hand, would be too dumb or self-centered to think that anyone who was angry at their producer might feel the same about them.
Oh, and according to Todd VanDerWerff I guess I wasn’t supposed to be rooting for Walt. Oops. My only mistake, though, was waiting, waiting, WAITING for sniper shots to quickly take out Hank and Jesse during the lengthy “We got him!” scene.
sam you’re a twisted sister (what about the writer? they’d surely get it right between the eyes, sniper-style – pew pew! the double-tap, thunk)
CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ CHLOE MORETZ
Who cares if they stick to the endless love source material, when what matters is are they remaking the song. You can blame napstar and file sharing all you want but the real reason the music industry collapsed in the late nineties is they stopped putting out soundtrack complelations. Those syrupy Bryan Adams ballads were propping up the entire industry.
Finally got around to Amour a few nights ago and Christ that has to be the scariest damn movie I have ever seen.
Nic Cage finally got a dp30 – Nic talks about his crazy acting . pretty good dp30 .
if u love movies u should watch.
Nic Cage – Joe – dp30
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHdMS4aIe2E
PIRATES 5 pulled from the schedule, and ANT-MAN moved up to the last week of July…3 months after AVENGERS 2 and two weeks after BATMAN V. SUPERMAN.
Everyone ready for Marvel over-overload starting next year? CAP April 4, SPIDEY May 2, XMEN May 23, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY August 1, BIG HERO 6 November 7, FANTASTIC FOUR March 6 2015, AVENGERS MAY 1 2015, ANT-MAN July 31 2015. Oh and AGENTS of SHIELD.
The RE-writer, Leah? Definitely deserved. It’s like the scene in CLERKS: if you agree to work on a mobster’s roof, don’t act so surprised when you become collateral damage in a drive-by.
And I always expected a Gus Fring-style exit for Hank, even had the scene blocked out in my head! While Hank is standing there during Walt’s arrest, that smug look on his face disappears with a POP–his entire head is GONE and we cut to Steve, staring in stunned horror at this newly vacated space, with a light spatter of Hank’s blood covering his face.
I think I need to take a vacation.
Why did you delete my innocuous comments?
Gimmie some guidelines at least.
“Gimmie some guidelines at least.” //// it has to be funny and not repetitive; that whole wells thing was so two years ago … has anybody watched Southland Tales lately?
I thought we were pals, berg! You rascal!
p.s. “Gimmie some guidelines.” wasn’t addressed to you.
p.p.s. Teach me to be funny. I’m serious.
Teach me to be funny. I’m serious.
what is the evolution of the entire wells/poland meme? … a reality show where the contestants drive around in limos bemoaning each other’s existence … I would say that after the next three week cluster fuck of one-word movie titles – Gravity, Rush, Prisoners – people will be so ready for a few super hero sandwiches … Thor leads to Hobbit, which leads to Mitty
Ugh, Southland Tales…all that really stands out in my memory is JT lip-synching to the Killers for 5 solid minutes while pouring bud light over himself.
It was regular Bud.
SOUTHLAND TALES is so bizarro and unique I keep thinking it must be my fault I don’t get it…
I knew there would be just too much money on the table to leave the Hogwarts world alone. Screw the JLA, this is going to be Warners go to cash cow.
isn’t there also a Breaking Bad spinoff with an ancillary character? It’s the Maude of the new millennium
Saul is apparently getting spun off, given the less than spectacular ratings and response for AMC’s last few shows (though I do know Hell on Wheels has a pretty strong cheering section around here) and since Mad Men is ending soon as well, the network is probably pretty desperate for ways to keep all their viewers. With all the press and acclaim they get AMC is a mom and pop operation compared to the other cable monsters, and with more channels putting up more original series lately they are going to have to move a lot quicker and smarter to maintain their reputation (and current carriage rates).
Anyone feel that a “Re-verse Wag the Dog” scenario just happened? Actually, that’s my fantasy to explain Obama’s incompetence on Syria.
But still…we are 18 days from a government shutdown. This delayed House Republicans a few days at least. The House Republicans are on the verge of a coup against Boehner unless they get to destroy Obamacare in funding the government. So very cinematic….
apropos of nothing: apparently, there was a bloodbath over at msn…
http://tinyurl.com/kd9yco9
Obama threatens Syria who claims they have no chemicals weapons. A week later Syria acknowledges they have chemical weapons. Putin blinked. The spin is weird considering that Obama got what he really wanted. The GOP literally will change their position in a second now based on what Obama does or says. Watching the GOP (and some on the left) lick Putin’s boots is a new low in their Obama Derangement Syndrome. Colbert shredded Rand Paul last night on this flip-flopping:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/09/12/colbert-takes-on-rand-pauls-syria-incoherence-and-slumbering-wombat-hairstyle/
Please. The Obama response to Syria was a mess.
But we are about to be subjected to a massive implosion of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives.
I know that Obama always steps out of the box his critics put him in. Syria admits they have chemical weapons. The world is now involved. No shots from the US yet. There is no “clean” response to this madness.
The whole thing has been astounding, when was the last time we fell ass-backward OUT of a potential militairy engagement?
Be funny if for the next war, they drafted all the movie bloggers.
Seeing This is the End and The World’s End side by side on the box office charts is kinda freaky good.
Oh, and kudos to Joe Leydon for calling the re-release of This is the End early.
Who cares about Syria? Watch the GOP be unable to pass a budget through its own party in the next 2 weeks and you’ll realize how inept it’s become.
Leaders being called traitors worthy of execution by fellow GOP members.
hcat, AMC has a little show called The Walking Dead, which makes them a lot more money than Breaking Bad or Mad Men, and will force the continuation of their carriage fees. Don’t cry for AMC.
It might make more money, but when was the last time you heard Walking Dead mentioned by anyone who wasn’t a fan? I’ve heard two media mentions since the end of the first season, each a year apart, and both were announcements that the show runner was being fired.
Not a good sign.
Breaking Bad, however, has the zeitgeist by the nads, with mentions appearing everywhere, viral vids, an art exhibit, video of a fake 8-bit game, video of at least two fake Lego games…yet where’s all the Walking Dead love?
Thought I’d share a personal anecdote…I was at a family gathering last night, when my uncle, a talk radio afficianado who knows I’m “into movies,” asked me if I was disappointed that “The Butler” was such a failure. I asked him what he meant, since “The Butler” is on the verge of making $100 million, a major milestone for a period drama film, and was one of Harvey Weinstein’s biggest hits ever, as well as a Best Picture candidate. He told me that might be, but it’ll be lucky to make half as much as “The Blind Side” and much less than “The Help” made, and refused to believe these were probably the biggest outliers for historically set dramas in the last decade. Hollywood expert Sean Hannity made no note of that in his program, apparently.
So new rule for those of you with ultra-conservative relatives: if a film contains political or historical views those relatives disagree with, it’s a failure unless it makes more than “The Blind Side” or “The Help.”
I also asked my uncle if he’d heard of “Instructions Not Included.” He hadn’t, and I decided not to foul up the evening by exacerbating his fear of encroaching Latin American culture.
I’m surprised he didn’t throw in THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS, which apparently proves that it is possible for black people to get rich, if they’re incredibly lucky, and willing to work 6 months for no pay.
That was the part that pissed me off the most–that this company and presumably many others conned 20 people into working their asses off full-time, for six months, for no pay, knowing that only one of them would get a job. And now companies are shitting themselves at the thought that they might have to pay their interns?
“The people are revolting!”
“You said it, they stink on ice.”
Wow Etguild, your uncle is a piece of work. So this little movie trumps A Good day to Die Hard, Pacific Rim, Lone Ranger, Elysium, After Earth, Oblivion, White House Down, and soon Hangover 3 and maybe GI Joe, and yet it’s still a failure. He’s only proving the mantra that black people say about blacks in the workplace, that they have to work twice as hard to get to achieve the same level of success and recognition.
Did anyone else’s jaw drop when “Insidious: Chapter 2” dropped its “Psycho,” er, homage?
As if being lazy, dull and redundant (at least for anyone who saw the 2011 original) weren’t bad enough, this crap-fest had to piss on one of the greatest films ever made.
Talk about “insidious.”
I actually rather enjoyed “Insidious 2.” I thought it felt more like an immediate continuation of the first film than most horror I’ve seen in recent memory, almost as though the films were meant to be watched back to back (which I did). Yup, there are rip-offs left and right, and the movie isn’t really good by any means, but I didn’t find it dull.
Also, the audience was REALLY into it (I suspect because I saw it last night which also probably lead to the strangely high CinemaScore for a horror film) and I’m sure I wouldn’t have had such a good time seeing it today.
Man, are we having a strong year commercially for horror or what? Five $25 million+ openers including three at $34 million+. Seven films grossing over $50 million in total if you include HANSEL and WARM BODIES. Most people point to 2006 as the seminal year for commercial horror, with a ridiculous ten horror films grossing at least $39 million domestically–but the top earner was SAW 3 at just $80 million. 2013 is quietly giving it a run for its money. Expect CARRIE to land huge.
I could barely stay awake, Et. It bored me unconscious.
The only nice thing I can say about “Chapter 2” is that at least it didn’t have any of the religioso mumbo jumbo that pissed me off in “The Conjuring.”
Speaking of movies that “play,” the (paying) audience I saw “The Family” with really ate it up. Its “C” Cinemascore rating seemed awfully low based on, admittedly, anecdotal evidence.
I liked it well enough, but it’s tonal shifts could definitely give you whiplash. Thought the cast was first-rate from top to bottom (even the “Glee” chick is surprisingly strong). Pfeiffer reminds you just how great she is, DeNiro and TML don’t phone it in even though both of them could play these roles in their sleep and the teenage son steals every scene he’s in.
Despite all that the movie is never entirely satisfying. Not sure what’s wrong (or what’s missing).
It’s funny. Wan has two huge horror hits this year and basically says this week that he’s more of an action guy who happened to stumble into success in this genre.
The entire genre is basically pinned to this guys’ coattails and he’s like ‘oh, thats cute. i want to make a fast car movie not. BYEEEEEEEEE”
Really nice start for “Wadjda,” Saudi Arabia’s first official Oscar submission, that was directed by a woman no less! Progress…
On the other hand, really disappointed with the lack of a campaign for “Short Term 12.” One of the best of the year that will be overlooked….
Also this weekend, “Despicable Me 2” officially became Universal’s biggest domestic hit ever (not counting re-issues) and “Instructions Not Included” became the biggest Latin American Spanish-language film ever domestically, breaking “Like Water for Chocolate’s” 20-year record.
Movieman, I wonder how many of those FAMILY audience members who low-balled their CinemaScore ratings were under-25s who found it slow and boring…
Funny you should mention that, Cad, since my audience (a nice-sized crowd for a Saturday matinee in these parts) seemed to be comprised entirely of 40 uppers.
The things that are great about THE FAMILY– Besson’s reverential cinema love, the mooney/lovelorn touches with Agron, the throwback-Melville stylings, his impeccable framing– are going to SAAAAAAAIL over the heads of the audience like the Concorde ’79, who are just going to be baffled why it ISN’T more shticky and Analyza This/Fockers-like. I think it’s a good movie, but every single review, even from its fans, makes note of how schizophrenic it is; I think the audience is expecting “wacky,” and instead it’s a lot of gangland violence and body parts and near-rapes and a lot of swooning cineaste references that aren’t really a mainstream sensibility. And even though I was fine with all that, there’s nary a SINGLE LAUGH in the entire movie, so it makes the long “comedic” stretches feel like a bit of a drag.
I was laughing out loud during the French film society speech scene
I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE I AN A VIRGIN I HAVE NEVER HAD SEX WITH A WHITE WOMAN BUT NEITHER HAS RAY PRIDE
Jesus, you never went to college Lex?
Movieman: And how did it seem to go over?
Just saw the breezy, bouncy NY love letter “Gimme The Loot.” It really put me in a good mood…what a delight! Shades of Spike Lee circa mid-80’s with a dash of “The Sandlot,” Woody Allen and Peter Sollett, and dynamic chemistry among the two young, untested, streetwise leads.
Between this, the flip-the-script “My Brother the Devil,” the heartbreaking “Fruitvale Station,” and the neo-neo realist “Welcome to Pine Hill,” it’s been an outstanding year for urban cinema.
IFC did not apparently know how to sell the gem they had with the SXSW Grand Jury-prize winning “Loot,” which is a pity, because we really really REALLY need more smart urban comedies. Do yourself a favor and Netflix this:)
They seemed to be having a blast, Cad: there were audible shrieks of delight every now and then, lol.
Of course, “Red 2” played really well w/ a similar (middle-aged) crowd I saw it with, too.
Anybody else think a “Prisoners” spoiler thread is in order?
Kind of a withering thread but THE FAMILY, also:
Was that SOME CAME RUNNING/film society thing kind of a weird red herring? The organizer is lit in kind of a nefarious way and really, why does he spring GOODFELLAS on De Niro… ultimately he’s not working with the bad guys (as we might vaguely assume) to out him…. It’s just a total coincidence? He suspect RDN is a gangster? He just assumes every American would be an AUTHORITY on gangster cinema? Or is the print-switch all on the level?
It’s a very bizarre digression in the movie.
Finally got around to “Place Beyond the Pines.” Cianfrance is undeniably talented, but the film’s tripartite structure doesn’t do it any favors. The first two acts end just as they begin to jell, and the third never does at all. Unfortunately, the appearance of scope doesn’t necessarily mean there’s scope in the narrative itself. The symbolism of Gosling riding in the cage in the opening minutes sums the theme up nicely though.
The movie just didn’t work for me overall, but Cianfrance is only 38, technically astute, thematically ambitious, and makes good use of his actors, and though he overreaches and under-cooks here, I’m excited for his next movie still.
Lex, I agree about the digression. Seems like the whole thing is a labored effort to get in the lame in-joke of De Niro’s character watching and commenting on a movie in which De Niro the actor appeared.