Edge of Darkness, by William Monohan and Andrew Bovell
To be paid six figures for screenplays that use lines from your other screenplays kind of makes me sick. Enough with "You gotta decide which side you're on. Hanging on the cross or banging in the nails." Mr. Monohan has used it twice by my count and it's a little irritating. For one thing, what if you don't believe in Christ?
Another writer who did this was Lawrence Kasdan with Raiders of the Lost Ark and some other flick I've forgotten where he had the woman kissing him in one spot then another until he finally reached the lips.
It wouldn't surprise me if Mel Gibson asked that the line be added even though it was in another screenplay because from his body of work, it's clear that he thinks of himself as Christ, or wishes he could have been. In this movie everyone's a martyr and the body count is about twenty or so -- I wasn't going to count but there were so many it started to feel absurd. A cop out of control, totally abusing his authority in trying to find out who killed his daughter. Eh. Whatever. The movie felt strangely dull and emotionless, although tense at times. Body of Lies, the other movie to use the cross/nails choice metaphor was better but there you had an actor/artist who does not have an agenda. Gibson's agenda is to portray himself as victim/martyr and it dulls the ability to feel for the character.
His homophobia makes it a strange choice to fist a puppet in his latest movie, but perhaps he just thought of it as fisting a beaver. I can't believe they allowed that movie to be called The Beaver. And I can't believe there aren't more jokes going around. Go figure.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Oh by the way
In case you thought the death of Agatha Laurents, I mean Arthur Laurents, was a sad occasion, let me just tell you the shrimp was a bitch. I put up all the front money for what he called "his greatest and most public flop" and obviously, I lost all the money I had put up for it. When I was invited to a private performance by Richard Maltby, Charles Strouse and Arthur Laurents in Charles's apartment, the three of them started screaming as soon as Charlie Strouse was out of the room. The apartment was on Central Park South (Charles Strausse's apartment) and as soon as the "performance" broke up, Arthur Laurents walked up to me and asked me what I thought. And he knew I was the primary investor so maybe this was my fault. But all I said was that the show needed a second act. He turned around and walked away from me like the sad little midget he was. I hated him. The other guys: Richard Maltby and Charles Strouse were cool in a certain way, but as soon as Arthur Laurents looked up at me and said, "What do you think,"I knew he was fishing for praise. He had also previously trashed a play I had semi-financed called "Mountain," and he said "Len Cariou is in it, so it can't be good."
The big problem with Nick & Nora is that there was never a writer. Arthur Laurents said that he always hated the Nick & Nora movies, so why did he agree to write one? He never wrote a second act, but tried to imitate Hal Prince in creating a sung-through musical, which is basically a form of musical theatre opera.
He died recently, as we all will do, and he said that Nick & Nora was his greatest and most public flop. I'm glad I got to pay for it.
The big problem with Nick & Nora is that there was never a writer. Arthur Laurents said that he always hated the Nick & Nora movies, so why did he agree to write one? He never wrote a second act, but tried to imitate Hal Prince in creating a sung-through musical, which is basically a form of musical theatre opera.
He died recently, as we all will do, and he said that Nick & Nora was his greatest and most public flop. I'm glad I got to pay for it.
Water For Elephants
Water For Elephants by Richard LaGravanse.
I love Mr. R. G. He was born 15 days before me. We're both Scorpios of 1959, and every movie and adaptation of his that I've seen I've loved. So maybe I was being a total queer for wanting to love this movie, but it's only because I've wanted to be fucked by R.LG for just about ever.
This movie got really bad reviews which I didn't know because I had no intention of spoiling my experience with reviews or movie vs. book comparisons. The first time I saw it, I thought it was spellbinding and sort of gorgeous. The second time I saw it, I had a lump in my throat that I thought was going to come out in the form of tears, but I was with someone, so I swallowed it down. I finally read the reviews after the third time I saw this and I have still not read the book, but I thought for a movie to convey what it was able to convey (movies can never completely capture a book, so to compare them is not really fair, IMHO), it deserved way better reviews than it got. You get the sense of what it must have been like for "entertainment" to come to town, (the circus); you understand how frustrating it must have been to be a struggling Ringling Bros. competitor (Cirque du soleil and the Big Apple Circus are the only remaining ones.) And what you really get a great sense of is the absolute desperation and poverty that these people (1931-1936) lived in. There was no one to take care of them. If they failed at their job they were thrown off the train. The beautiful GORGEOUS Reese Witherspoon is absolutely willing to give up her fantasy relationship with the Vampire guy. And he is too. (Robert Pattinson). The romance doesn't actually resolve itself until the last frames of the movie, which is a brilliant move, in my opinion, kind of like finding out what Rosebud means at the end of Citizen Kane. Oh and the elephant is one of the most extraordinary characters ever. I loved this movie from start to finish, and I love Richard LaGravanese. Living Out Loud. The Fisher King. and other great movies. He is a great writer.
I love Mr. R. G. He was born 15 days before me. We're both Scorpios of 1959, and every movie and adaptation of his that I've seen I've loved. So maybe I was being a total queer for wanting to love this movie, but it's only because I've wanted to be fucked by R.LG for just about ever.
This movie got really bad reviews which I didn't know because I had no intention of spoiling my experience with reviews or movie vs. book comparisons. The first time I saw it, I thought it was spellbinding and sort of gorgeous. The second time I saw it, I had a lump in my throat that I thought was going to come out in the form of tears, but I was with someone, so I swallowed it down. I finally read the reviews after the third time I saw this and I have still not read the book, but I thought for a movie to convey what it was able to convey (movies can never completely capture a book, so to compare them is not really fair, IMHO), it deserved way better reviews than it got. You get the sense of what it must have been like for "entertainment" to come to town, (the circus); you understand how frustrating it must have been to be a struggling Ringling Bros. competitor (Cirque du soleil and the Big Apple Circus are the only remaining ones.) And what you really get a great sense of is the absolute desperation and poverty that these people (1931-1936) lived in. There was no one to take care of them. If they failed at their job they were thrown off the train. The beautiful GORGEOUS Reese Witherspoon is absolutely willing to give up her fantasy relationship with the Vampire guy. And he is too. (Robert Pattinson). The romance doesn't actually resolve itself until the last frames of the movie, which is a brilliant move, in my opinion, kind of like finding out what Rosebud means at the end of Citizen Kane. Oh and the elephant is one of the most extraordinary characters ever. I loved this movie from start to finish, and I love Richard LaGravanese. Living Out Loud. The Fisher King. and other great movies. He is a great writer.
Borrowed
Well I can't find a photo to accompany this almost worthless piece of trash movie, but any romantic 'comedy' that manages not to make a man cringe is worth talking about. Women, especially single women, love this stuff. I don't know why, but i think it satisfies the Cinderella or Barbie fantasy, while men hate it, because almost every RC reduces men to gas station pumps. Good for one or two babies, but not much more than that.
Romantic comedies always make me question female sexuality and in this one, there is Goldie Hawn's daughter (who is finally starting to look pretty), and Ginnifer Goodwin, who has a single way of acting in every single series or movie she has been in. Kate Hudson is the slutty active go-getter, and Ginnifer is the woman who holds the coats. The men (there are 3, and the 3rd is the only reason I went to see this stupid movie) are xxxxyyyyxxxxyyyxxxyyy (I can't remember his name but he is as bland as white bread), another guy xxxxyyyyxxxxyyyyxxxx (I also can't remember his name because he is as bland as white bread, toasted), and finally Jon Krasinski, who gets shafted.
What impressed me about the movie in the overall scheme of things is that not everyone ended up happy, not all friendships were renewed, no plots really came to a happy ending, including the pregnancy of one and the marriage or the other. But if Kate Hudson wants to save her career she needs to start playing really bad bitches. Like Joan Crawford like villains. I know she loves her blond hair, but when she gets angry on screen, it's almost frightening.
Romantic comedies always make me question female sexuality and in this one, there is Goldie Hawn's daughter (who is finally starting to look pretty), and Ginnifer Goodwin, who has a single way of acting in every single series or movie she has been in. Kate Hudson is the slutty active go-getter, and Ginnifer is the woman who holds the coats. The men (there are 3, and the 3rd is the only reason I went to see this stupid movie) are xxxxyyyyxxxxyyyxxxyyy (I can't remember his name but he is as bland as white bread), another guy xxxxyyyyxxxxyyyyxxxx (I also can't remember his name because he is as bland as white bread, toasted), and finally Jon Krasinski, who gets shafted.
What impressed me about the movie in the overall scheme of things is that not everyone ended up happy, not all friendships were renewed, no plots really came to a happy ending, including the pregnancy of one and the marriage or the other. But if Kate Hudson wants to save her career she needs to start playing really bad bitches. Like Joan Crawford like villains. I know she loves her blond hair, but when she gets angry on screen, it's almost frightening.
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