Variety’s Anne Thompson interviewed “Twilight” director Catherine Hardwicke and “The Spirit” helmer Frank Miller for her latest column in the build-up to this year’s San Diego Comic Convention. But Miller pegged this overblown, over-infested blight when he offered:
It’s now turned into Disneyland, a multimedia congress astonishing in its scale.
No doubt. And sad, too.
And two more days to go before its back to the other side of the pond. Not that the readership is meant to care, but hey, this blog is the victim of my brain leakage from time to time.
I can’t, however, say that time seemed to fly by. These last two months have been very long indeed. I’m not entirely sure why, and I certainly had my fair share of fun. Sometimes, it’s just time to go home, I guess. And your mind knows it.
I’ve had a blast at The Times, one laid-back and classy atmosphere in which to work. If anyone has a passing interest in some of the stuff I cranked out while parked at the desk here at News International, have a look here. A lot of press release stuff, plenty of entertainment stories (and to think — I had hoped to peel away from that somewhat). Fun times throughout.
Cheers.
The press office of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF for future purposes) announced some new titles for the line up at this year’s festival yesterday.
Two Gala Presentation announcements include “The Secret Life of Bees” with Dakota Fanning, Paul Bettany, Jennifer Hudson and Queen Latifah, and “The Duchess” featuring Keira Knightley in the biographical role of a woman who brought sweeping political change to England with her progressive attitudes.
In the Special Presentations Program we have “Every Little Step,” looking to be a fascinating documentary about the making of the Broadway sensation “A Chorus Line,” which dominated American Theatre in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was royally screwed up as a film by the vastly over-appreciated Sir Richard Attenborough.
From the great Wong Kar-Gai comes “Ashes of Time Redux,” while Mike Leigh brings to us the highly anticiapted “Happy-Go-Lucky”. Guy Ritchie will unveil “RocknRolla” to audiences here with Larry Charles bringing to our fair city his new picture “Religulous”.
“Ghost Town” sounds promising, as the story follows a man portrayed by Ricky Gervais who dies unexpectedly and is revived with the powert to see ghosts. And as expected, “Waltz with Bashir” will make its North American premiere here at TIFF.
More often than not, I find Stu VanAirsdale to be a world class champ at blowing hot air. But even I have to admit he’s writing exactly what I’m thinking with this open letter to Quentin Tarantino.
The key excerpt, which sticks the landing:
Meanwhile, in a move pulled unusually early from the dogeared Weinstein Textbook, the press is doing your fundraising for you. We’d give you Provincetown if not for the embarrassing leaks that followed this week, one after another — the kickdowns to Nikki Finke (“Quentin Tarantino is talking to Brad Pitt”!) and now this Inglorious Basterds [sic] script over at Vulture, itself the venerated “basterd” offspring of your insolvent patron’s public studio-shopping. Mission accomplished, we suppose, if overexposure is what you had in mind. The anonymous media saturation is supposed to come just before the release, not just before the money runs out.
I’m not too privy to the behind-the-scenes drama of Hector Babenco’s “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” I haven’t even seen the film in close to a decade and it’s one of those that slips my memory more often than not, maybe because it hasn’t been available in any home medium for so long, but likely because I didn’t respond to the material originally.
I couldn’t deny William Hurt’s affecting (and Oscar-winning) performance, however. Ditto Raul Julia’s concentrated work. Regardless, I’ve been meaning to give it another look ever since.
Anyway, I was reading through Lou Lumenick’s recounting of the film’s rocky road to the screen (as detailed in the documentary “Tangled Web: Making ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’”), and my head was spinning. I never knew there was such turmoil going on off-camera. But nothing could have prepared me for this bit:
[Leonard] Schrader’s screenplay originally attracted the attention of Burt Lancaster, who wanted to play Luis, and consequently of the major Hollywood studios. But Lancaster left the project after Weisman refused to use a different script written by Lancaster himself — who had done his own costume test in drag.
[Producer David] Weisman went with Hurt, then an up and coming leading man. Hurt clashed repeatedly with director [Hector] Babenco, who thought he was going to be working with the British actor John Hurt.
W…T…F? And there’s more. I encourage you to give it a read if you weren’t already aware of all of this (something tells me I should have been).
“Kiss of the Spider Woman” is finally getting a DVD release this month, by the way. It hits the market as a two-disc collector’s edition and on Blu-ray (both of them apparently Amazon exclusives) on July 22.
British film magazine Sight & Sound has a nice new tradition of interviewing the jury president of the most recent Cannes Film Festival, which makes for interesting reading. (Last year’s prez, Stephen Frears, presciently predicted in his interview that “No Country for Old Men” would “do really well,” despite not winning anything at the festival.)
Unsurprisingly, 2008 president Sean Penn is rather more candid in his interview with Richard T. Kelly. After admitting that he had four clear favourites in the competition (two of which, “The Class” and “Che,” were unanimously awarded their respective Palme d’Or and Best Actor prizes), he then launches into an impassioned defence of Steven Soderbergh’s polarising opus, as well as an attack on the journalists who dismissed it:
Right through the festival I had no awareness of what the ‘buzz’ was, and I shut people down if they tried to talk about movies in front of me. But when I did a little bit of catch-up browsing afterward I read some of the stupidest, ugliest, most cynical responses to what had gone on, and I had the front-seat to be aware of their inconsistencies.
“Che” is a great example. I pray it finds distribution in the four-hour-plus form I saw, because otherwise people will be missing out. The film-making is stellar: there are so many details in the execution of that huge story. Every sentiment about Guevara I’ve heard passionately expressed when I’ve travelled in Cuba and South America was not only dramatised, but without exposition, seamlessly, fulfilling the narrative. Then you have one of the first tour de force performances in film history that doesn’t rely on the close-up.
This is a film, I later find, that had some negative responses…I was in a jury room of nine people with more expertise in their big toenails than any of the people writing in these papers: nine out of nine wanted to go out and change the world afterwards.
I stumbled onto this today at /film, but it turns out the “Dark Knight” viral marketing campaign, thoroughly concocted and carried out by 42 Entertainment, has paid off in spades for Bat-fans who stuck it out.
A wave of Tuesday noght screenings across the country was announced on the WhySoSerious.com viral site, and each of them: free. So if you’ve been huffing it about your metropolitan area participating in those crazy scavenger huts and paying close attention to every nuance the viral sites have put out there, now’s your chance to step up and get your cookie.
Personally, the viral stuff wore out on me long ago. It became something of a burden to even feel informed at one point, and the overall depth kind of left me for wanting. But maybe I’m getting old. All of that said, I’m actually very happy to see the end result pay off for loads of committed fans who clearly have a passion for this character and this franchise. It’s a special symbiosis.
And in a strange sort of way, the whole episode rings as a nice au revoir to Heath Ledger. The Joker has been “behind” all of the viral shenanigans, after all. So congrats to all the fans who stuck it through. Enjoy the early show (and come on — when you’re just a fan and not stuck in the cynical world of film criticism and journalism — an early screening is pretty much the greatest thing on earth).
So according to Deadline Hollywood Daily, Jon Favreau is officially directing “Iron Man 2.”
While I may not have been as gung-ho for “Iron Man” as most, I’m more than glad to see him come back. The first film, to me, felt like a good movie begging for a great sequel, and I think the same could be said of Favreau as a director. He’s been improving from picture to picture and I think “Iron Man 2” could be the moment where he really comes into his own as a filmmaker.
With “Iron Man” currently the highest grossing film of the year (probably just for a few more days until “Crystal Skull” finally overtakes it) and Robert Downey Jr. undeniably becoming the A-lister we all knew he could (and should) be, it was simply ignorant of Marvel to think they could get away with anyone but Favreau in the director’s chair.
I’m wondering when Marvel will start moving the pieces more definitively in place for the rest of the inevitable “Avengers” flick. Edgar Wright is the only confirmed director (for “Ant-Man,” which he’ll go into post-“Scott Pilgrim,” and which I’d guess Marvel will want to throw into “The Avengers” just for gluttony’s sake). But for anything beyond “Iron Man 2,” I think we’ll be hearing announcements in the coming months, specifically at Comic-Con.
On a side note, it looks like “The Incredible Hulk” will narrowly sneak past “Hulk” at the box office some time this month. I’m guessing that’s probably not good enough for another sequel
As a film critic, the questions most often put to me concern performance, especially when folks find out I have a background in acting. I was a terrible performer, but I think I can spot talent, which has helped me in my work as a stage director.
However, film was where my heart was and all I really wanted to do was write about the silver screen. And performances make the greatest impact on me — always have.
So with that, I thought I’d offer up my picks for the greatest lead performances of all time:
Male
1. Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood”
2. Robert Duvall in “The Apostle”
3. Marlon Brando in “Last Tango in Paris”
4. Jack Nicholson in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”
5. Dustin Hoffman in “Tootsie”
6. Marlon Brando in “On the Waterfront”
7. Robert De Niro in “Raging Bull”
8. John Wayne in “The Searchers”
9. Denzel Washington in “Malcolm X”
10. George C. Scott in “Patton”
Female
1. Meryl Streep in “Sophie’s Choice”
2. Jane Fonda in “Klute”
3. Katherine Hepburn in “Long Day’s Journey into Night”
4. Vivien Leigh in “Gone with the Wind”
5. Holly Hunter in “The Piano”
6. Gloria Swanson in “Sunset Boulevard”
7. Charlize Theron in “Monster”
8. Elizabeth Taylor in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
9. Anjelica Huston in “The Grifters”
10. Ellen Burstyn in “Requiem for a Dream”
His vast experience gives him an air of good-humored calm that you could almost mistake for complacency until the camera rolls, and you see his focus and efficiency nail each scene on the first take. He once told me that he’s never asked for a second take — he’s happy to do one if you have an idea for him to try, but he brings a definitive interpretation to every line.
From Christoher Nolan’s appraisal of the great Michael Caine at Variety, part of a collective of similar sentiments.
Aaron Eckhart dropped by “The Tonight Show” Monday night. Of course, I wasn’t able to catch it, but here’s the “Dark Knight” stuff (Michael Caine will be on the show tonight):
…I could honestly care less about “Inglorious Bastards.” I don’t care who is losing their shit over the screenplay. If Mr. Tarantino wants to show us something worth our time, I’m happy to be first in line. But enough of the foreplay.
I was working on this piece yesterday (nothing major — just pulling together the YouTube clips), but I wasn’t aware how the list was going to pan out. “Carrie” at the top? Not so sure about that.
But The Times critics like to be contrarian. Just take a look at their Top 100 Films of All Time list, which places Paul Thomas Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood” rather brazenly at #2.
Anyway, debating and sussing out the best of movie endings ever could have us chatting into the night. Most of my favorites are recent examples, but that’s probably due to what the 1990s did to the screenwriting form.
Scribes began giving a lot more thought to how the audience would feel when leaving the theater. Twists and emotional-punches became a currency of sorts, which is probably why there are more films from the decade than any other on The Times’ list.
I will say I’m glad there was room for “Seven,” “Memento” (which I re-watched recently and absolutely adore) and “E.T.,” three (perhaps) out-of-the-box choices that don’t leap to mind when the subject comes up. And it’s impossible to argue against “The Usual Suspects,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “Planet of the Apes.”
If I were to suggest a some additions, I might begin with “Heat,” “Citizen Kane,” “A History of Violence,” “Jacob’s Ladder” and “Boogie Nights,” to name a few.
The Times’ list of the best movie endings of all time:
1. “Carrie”
2. “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”
3. “Casablanca”
4. “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial”
5. “Chinatown”
6. “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”
7. “Some Like It Hot”
8. “The Italian Job” (1969)
9. “The Usual Suspects”
10. “The Sixth Sense”
11. “Thelma & Louise”
12. “The Wizard of Oz”
13. “Les Diaboliques”
14. “Dr. Stranglelove”
15. “Gone With the Wind”
16. “The Shawshank Redemption”
17. “Planet of the Apes”
18. “Memento”
19. “The Blair Witch Project”
20. “Seven”
I might pull together my own top ten soon enough.
What are your favorite movie endings?
A couple of Bat-stories around the web this morning (both of which I first came across at Hollywood Elsewhere).
The first is this New York Times piece from Michael Cieply, about “Dark Knight” screenings rolling out as early as 6:00 a.m. in some cities due to the blast of ticket sales for showtimes around the clock. Here’s a look:
Movie theaters have sometimes opened their doors at odd hours for their most highly anticipated films, say, an entry in the “Star Wars” series, and midnight shows have become part of the summer blockbuster ritual.
But all-night sellouts far in advance of an opening have come only with the near ubiquity of online ticket sales. Fandango.com, for instance, reports well over 1,500 wee-hour showings for “The Dark Knight” in theaters that typically do not open their doors before about 10 a.m.
I expect to be a wee hour guy. Despite the fact that the press screening drops Monday (the day I return to the states), I don’t think I’ll make the show. So Thursday at 3:15 a.m. I’ll be with the masses over at Universal CityWalk.
Meanwhile, Reel Geezers star Lorenzo Semple Jr. has cranked out a remembrance for Variety detailing his days as a scribe for the “Batman” television series. If you can get past his woeful ignorance of the character int he first half, you might actually have a laugh at the direction he and Bill Dozier took the material and why. Check it out:
Days of innocence, days of Andalusian heaven! From the very beginning, Bill Dozier and I had seen millionaire Bruce Wayne and his Bat regalia as classy comedy, hopefully appealing to kids as an absurdly jolly action piece and to grown-ups for its deadpan satire, entirely nonfraught with psychological issues. I mean, golly gee!
Personally, I love the old “Batman” show. I recognize it for what it is and have a lot of fun with it. I think it also says a lot for the character, that it has given way to so many (vastly) different interpretations. But I was a kid once. And pre-Tim Burton, I was plopped in front of the tube watching reruns of King Tut wreaking havoc — and tuning in, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel each and every week to see what happens next.
The special edition of the old “Batman: The Movie,” by the way, is out on DVD and Blu-ray. I’ll be picking it up sometime next week I’m sure.
Slightly. Here’s a taste:
I wanted that movie that Nolan was chasing. I really wanted that movie. But as is the nature of the dramatic arts, there is a mystical and undeniable gut feeling when you know that even the best film has come to its natural end. And in The Dark Knight, this occurs more than half an hour before the picture actually ends… maybe an hour…
But he makes a mistake positing that Nolan would ever offer a “director’s cut.” The director has infamously debunked such ideas, making it clear that his definitive vision of a film is what is on the screen.
Read the rest of Poland’s review here.
It’s a question that just came to me this evening when talking with some friends. What would you say is the most watched film of all time? How many films would even be on that list of contenders?
Off the top of my head I would have to consider “The Wizard of Oz” and “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Maybe “Titanic,” given the givens.
We could maybe be so bold as to propose “The Shawshank Redemption” or “The Lord of the Rings” films. And isn’t “Finding Nemo” the best-selling DVD of all time? I guess that means it has to be on the list.
“The Lion King?” “Fantasia?” “Gone with the Wind?” What do we think?
