Weekend of Intrigue

By Evan Kessler

Scanning through the new releases hitting box offices this weekend one word sprung to mind: Intrigue. Whereas the last few weekends were littered with the odd flick that fans of quality film might be interested in taking in, this weekend seems chock full of options that are, at the very least, intriguing and run the gamut of genres.

Two comedies have positioned themselves for big box office bucks as the Tina Fey/Amy Poehler vehicle Baby Mama will no doubt capitalize on the star duo's SNL chemistry. I'm certainly not averse to catching that one in theaters but the one sticking point for me is that Fey didn't actually pen the script; not that that's a deal breaker, but I always find that when people with such comedic writing and acting talent such as Fey end up in other people's projects it tends to disappoint due to their being at the mercy of other people's comedic whim, sort of like Matt Stone and Trey Parker in Baseketball. (Even though I still kind of like that movie.)

The other sure-fire comic smash this weekend will be Harold and Kumar go to Guantanamo Bay, the sequel to the utterly hilarious Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle. Again, while I really like the chemistry between Kal Peen and John Cho, I'm a little worried about this being an exercise in joke repetition as evidenced by the presence of Neal Patrick Harris for the 2nd straight film. That said, I think this wins the weekend box office due to the potential for stoners to turn out en masse.

All laughter aside, the most intriguing scroll of film projected onto movie screens this weekend just may be a documentary. Errol Morris's Standard Operating Procedure takes a first-hand look at the Abu Ghraib prison scandal through the eyes of the people involved. Yes the infamous thumbs-up giver herself, Lynndie England, gives her accounts of the events and the photos in what probably amounts to an entirely new perspective on how things went down. All I can say is if Morris's other works are any indication of I'm just going to pre-state that this film will blow me away.

This weekend has a few other potential cash cows, though not really. The Helen Hunt directed Then She Found Me might get the NYC over 50 set desperate for a sensitive chick flick. Deal might pick up a few extra bucks from people whose friends told them to see 21 and just assumed that they meant this film. (Which is probably what the makers of Deal wanted- Ed.)

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What's The Big Deal?

\Well, it looks like I was wrong. George Clooney's Leatherheads couldn't get to the top of the charts on charm alone. The Blackjack thriller 21 was the ace-in-the-hole for the 2nd straight week at the box office for some reason and though it looked as the football flick was destined to hit #2 with the original Sunday projections of the box office take, something funny happened on the way to Monday.

When the votes were tallied during the recount it actually turned out that adventurous Abigail Indiana Breslin beat out the gridiron gag show with Nim's Island. I'm not sure what this says about Clooney's bank-ability, but I'm more inclined to say who cares?

Do you know how many kids there are in this country and how many parents would like them to be quiet for at least an hour and a half….about 13 million dollars worth. Furthermore, I'm not really sure why we need box office projections. Can't we just be patient enough to see what a film's actual take is? We're projecting projections before a weekend is over.

What if it a force majeur like an unexpected rainstorm hit a crowded street fair consisting of mostly rabid George Clooney fans directly outside of a multiplex and caused those numbers to be greatly shifted at the last second. I know entertainment is big business, but I see no cause for controversy over box office numbers when we're ultimately playing an unnecessary guessing game. Clooney isn't destined to become any less of a star after his movie opening in 3rd place. Men will still want to be him, women will still want to be with him, and he'll keep making films he believes in.

Bubble feature provided by Kyolo.com.

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21 Tops Gross. Superhero Movie, Just Gross.

First off, I was surprised to see "21" on top, taking in nearly $24 million. The trailer didn't so much as motivate me to get out of bed, so it was a bit of a shocker that it got that many people in the theaters. I fully expect to see Blackjack take over as the next televised non-sport, similar to what happened with Texas Hold 'Em after "Rounders," complete with boring semi-celebrity tournaments.

It was nice to see "Horton Hears A Who" still raking in the big bucks as well, with $17 million plus. In addition to it being my favorite Seuss story, I had a bit of a grudge against the past Dr. Seuss vehicles because of their live-action format. There's something really annoying about when someone tries to create live action magic with what is best served up as animation. I also like seeing the success of the new breed of comedic actors over the tired gimmicks of people like wacky accent-specialist Mike Myers and the 1970ish schtick of Will Ferrell (who I still think can be somewhat funny). So here's to the Seth Rogen's, Steve Carell's and Jonah Hill's of the world...or not of the world of the actual people.

Finally, in third place was "Superhero Movie," which, despite a the all things Weinstein boycott from Star Wars fanboys still managed to rake in $9.51 million even though it was probably pretty horrible. I think this proves one thing and one thing only: If you're not a film's target audience and you protest it's release, you probably won't affect the film's box office very much, even if it sucks. After all there are plenty of people out there who like laughing at dumb jokes for an extended period of time. Just ask anyone who watches MAD-TV.

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Loser Skywalker vs. Darth Weinstein

In the case that you've been living under a rock for the past few weeks or if you're of the select few that hasn't been scouring the web 24/7 for all of the Star Wars-themed news you can find (we'll assume the former), you may be unaware of the current feud going on between a group of Couch Jedis and The Weinstein Company, which happens to be the group responsible for the release of the Star Wars nerd-themed love-letter Fanboys..

Well, let me quickly bring you up to speed. It seems that last summer a whole bunch of Star Wars devotees got their underoos all urine- soaked when they caught a rough cut of the film Fanboys at the Star Wars Celebrations in both London and Los Angeles. Let me tell you they loved it so much it got a standing ovation, which is a surefire sign that a movie is Oscar-worthy.

However, they got all upset when they found out recently that the term rough cut actually ended up meaning rough cut and the movie changed from a heart warming tale about a " group of Star Wars fans who travel to Skywalker Ranch to steal an early copy of Episode I: The Phantom Menace so their friend can see it before he dies of cancer," to a film about a bunch of die hard fans who go on a road trip to break in to Skywalker Ranch, just because they want to see the movie a few months early with no mention of the cancer plot. The Superfans have since vowed to boycott the film and anything bearing the Weinstein's name due to the plot change.

While I understand their dismay at hearing that the film they loved so dearly got changed from their original viewing, I have to take issue with the naivete of these Star Wars supernerds. My first issue is that I question whether or not these people are the least bit familiar with the Hollywood machine. Have they never heard of rewrites or re-shoots before? Why should something that they hold dear be immune to the Hollywood process? Maybe if they'd actually watched films like The Player or The Big Picture rather than re-watching The Ewok Adventure for the 800th time they'd have some semblance of understanding of how the film industry works.

My other issue is that these superfans are so adamant about just how awful the other version obviously is, without having actually seen it. Let's pretend for a second that the only thing more important than being the first in line for the first showing of any new superhero or sci-fi release to a superfan is the health of his/her friends. You mean to tell me the film plot is only valid if someone has a disease as the reason to drive the plot? The only reason a fan would go to Skywalker ranch is because he has Cancer and hence the new plot is utterly unbelievable because Star Wars fans are the most pure of heart people in the world? Right, next you're going to tell me Revenge Of The Nerds would've been a lot better if instead of going on a midnight panty raid to the Pi's house, Booger Presley gave a rousing speech about his battle with hemophilia in it's stead.

I know what you think Fanboys, you think this film is about you…but it's not about you. This is the furthest thing from a based on a true story biopic about your life, though you seem to think it's the closest you'll ever get, so now it's personal. The film is actually about a bunch of kids who try to get a copy of Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace before it comes out by going to the Skywalker Ranch…Did you do that? Most likely you didn't.

I think Star Wars fans are guilty of a little anger displacement. Instead of being mad at the Weinstein Company, maybe they should be angry at George Lucas for the three lousy prequels he made them waste their money on.

Pathetically, on the day this post goes up…outraged Star Wars fans will be protesting in theaters in both New York and LA against the changes made by "Darth Weinstein"…right as if there's nothing else important in the world going on to protest.

P.S. I also think naming all of your enemies Darth something is pretty lazy and uncreative...and I heartily protest it's usage.

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Meet Eddie Murphy

Has anybody seen the trailer for the new Eddie Murphy movie, Meet Dave?

Well, in case you thought that Eddie Murphy had turned over a new leaf after years and years of fat suits and screwball comedies to pursue serious acting, thanks to Oscar nominated landmark films like Dreamgirls and Norbit so you can rest easy. Mr. Murphy is still trying to make us laugh for the first time since 1988's Coming To America.

Don't worry, he's still using his favorite comedic device... himself! That's right. Murphy will once again be playing multiple characters, his M.O. for just about every single one of his movies that didn't involve Axel Foley or a titled referencing an Australian frisbee. The only difference is that this time he'll be doing it in a brand new (old) way. He won't be getting into the ol' Klumps Fat Suit (or does he) or pretending to be a white guy (though he will be using his white guy voice!). This time Eddie Murphy in a wacky new turn of events is portraying a mini-himself inside a robot of himself.

It's all pretty similar to the final skit in Woody Allen's "Everything You Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask" but (most likely) without Burt Reynolds having any say over this being's erection. Yes, Eddie Murphy will play the roll of the commander of the crew aboard the S.S. Eddie Murphy…a robot he steers through what might be a romantic comedy or a man vs. machine type storyline. We're not exactly sure what it's angling for. All we can tell from the trailer is that the film centers around Eddie Murphy's robot getting to know Elizabeth Banks in New York City, while his Robot Crew fall in coffee and befriends police. In any case we hope the uncertainty we feel towards the film might be salvaged if Mr. Murphy were to dress up as a fat guy inside himself and let loose bodily functions. Because if it's one thing Eddie Murphy does well is dress up like a fat guy and rail on fat guy stereotypes. Or maybe he could just go back to being funny.

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2008 The Year Oscar Got It Right

With the 80th Academy Awards just a couple of weeks behind us, I figured that this was as good a time as any (because it’s my first post for the NYFA) to evaluate this year’s Academy Awards. Let’s forget for a few minutes that every individual’s love of film is a subjective matter and perhaps giving awards to movies proclaiming the best this and that doesn’t necessarily make it so to the general public. After all I bet you could find a few people who have said that their favorite movie of the year is National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets and those very same people probably find most of the films nominated for Academy Awards to be utterly insignificant in their lives.

That being said, often times those with ballots seem to pick the award winners based on politics and appeal to that same general public, choosing the nominee that would make the best story come Oscar time. Perhaps the best example of this trend was several years back, when Julia Roberts took home the Best Actress nod for Erin Brockovich over an astonishing performance by Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for A Dream. The issue here isn’t necessarily that Burstyn’s performance was exponentially better than Roberts, (even though in my estimation it was) but that everyone and their mother knew that Roberts was taking home that statuette due to Roberts’ status as America’s sweetheart and the fact that she had been denied two previous times.

The fact of the matter is that Hollywood likes to play favorites and while this time was no different, as there were certainly favorites heading into the Oscar ceremonies; the major award winners were favorites not because of who they were but more so because of what they had done. With each scene in No Country For Old Men, Javier Bardem’s every move left the audience wracked with tension, so much so that it was hard to recognize that he was an actor playing a role. Ditto for Daniel Day-Lewis, whose mesmerizing turn as Oil prospector Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood carried an entire film on it’s shoulders. There was no running subplot that these guys should win because they’d been there before. They simply won because they had done their jobs and done it well. They lost themselves in their roles and we got lost with them…and maybe became a little scared of them at the same time.

On the female side of the acting categories there were two nominees that seemed to have a potential storied path to Oscar glory in Ellen Page of Juno.and The Savages’ Laura Linney. Page, A young actress in her breakout role was semi-destined to take home Oscar gold. Everyone marveled at the fact that she was such a young actress who turned in an above average performance in an overly smart-alecky film. Barbara Walters tried to illustrate the chasm in the generation gap between Page and the rest of America by quizzically pondering about her ability to understand the music of the Moldy Peaches. Laura Linney’s story was that she was that of Oscar spotlight veteran faced with her 3rd nomination and thusly the 3rd time must in fact be a charm. More than lost in the shuffle of all of that were Marillon Cotillard and to a lesser extent Julie Christy. Both Cotillard’s portrayal of Edith Piaf and Christy’s turn as a woman struggling with Alzheimers were scarcely seen within the North American border. However, that didn’t stop the voters from recognizing truly unique performances and sterling acting ability. In the end relatively unsung Cotillard came away with her first statuette.

When it came down to it for the biggest awards of them all, Best Picture and Best Director maybe it wasn’t such as surprise or shock that No Country For Old Men took home the coveted bald guy honors as it was nearly universally predicted as the odds on favorite. However, this wasn’t a case of a mega-grossing movie such as Titanic that earned a statuette because of its astronomical box office performance and universal epic appeal over movies that were perhaps all around better films. No Country For Old Men took home Best Picture, simply because of the fact that it’s a timeless meditation on right and wrong, good and evil, and the price we pay for being even slightly on the wrong side of that line. Above all, it was simply a great movie and that’s what the Oscar’s are supposed to do: Focus on giving out awards to great performances and great movies not to the circumstances surrounding them.

This post was written for the NYFA Film Industry Blog by Evan Kessler.

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