Jackson and Knowles

email this story
read comments (33)
post a comment

Peter Jackson has produced an eight-minute video celebrating the marriage of Harry Knowles and Patricia Jones? I'm chummy with various directors, producers and screenwriters and I enjoy the access this gives me, but boundaries need to be observed and this obviously crosses it. Well...doesn't it?

Best wishes to the couple (the nuptials are apparently happening in Austin this weekend), but does the Jackson element cement impressions of AICN being grossly cozy with this and that heavyweight filmmaker or what? Is it fair to call Jackson an oozy glad-hander looking to keep his toast buttered? You tell me. These guys need to jump into a hot tub together during the post-wedding reception and massage each other's neck muscles.

Here's an excessively naive and mean-spirited video sature piece that was created last March. All marriages are based upon perceptions of opportunistic mutual benefit and financial upgrading, and impassioned fat guys are entitled to as much happiness as anyone else (if they can get it).

iPhone blender<< previous | next >>Ignoring "Sicko"

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 14, 2007 at 11:46 AM

comment #1

tholl-yung says ...

Good, he's gross and the reviews suck. Get him off the market looking for chicks on myspace.

Posted by tholl-yung at July 14, 2007 12:18 PM

comment #2

D.Z. says ...

Wait, I thought Harry's fiance was Asian.

Posted by D.Z. at July 14, 2007 12:51 PM

comment #3

Ian Sinclair says ...

Knowles and Jackson, both proud geeks, are longtime and genuine friends, sharing a lifelong passion for Ray Harryhausen and Willis O'Brien's KING KONG. Jackson making a short film about his pal's wedding is the same as one of your mates taking snaps of your own.

Posted by Ian Sinclair at July 14, 2007 12:51 PM

comment #4

David P says ...

Sounds like Jeffrey is a bit jealous - yet again, left on the outside by inside Hollywood. Maybe he'll be lucky enough to have Todd Solondz make a short film about his pedophilic tendencies someday.

Posted by David P at July 14, 2007 12:54 PM

comment #5

D.Z. says ...

Anyway, if we're gonna bash filmmakers, I'm up for some schadenfreude right now after noticing Bay's Transformers movie tank in less than a week. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/?sortdate=2007-07-13&p=.htm

Posted by D.Z. at July 14, 2007 12:55 PM

comment #6

MiraJeffAICN says ...

i dunno, kind of a classless post, jeff
the guy's found true love, shouldn't we be happy for him instead of taking sniping, low-blow potshots at his weight and his connections with jackson
sounds like jackson just did his bro a solid
i don't think it crosses an ethical line or anything
what's with HE putting AICN in its crosshairs lately?
i know we're the competition but hey, aren't we all in this thing together?

Posted by MiraJeffAICN at July 14, 2007 12:58 PM

comment #7

George Prager says ...

MiraJeffAICN's wedding present? His and Her blumpkins.

Posted by George Prager at July 14, 2007 1:06 PM

comment #8

drturing says ...

Who is MiraJeff? I can't remember anything written by him at AICN ever and all of a sudden he seems to be everywhere talking about how things are at AICN.

Listen Jeff, I'm sure that Harry is excited and happy and good for him.

But I'm a realist, and I don't believe that all marriages are founded as cynically as Wells puts it; maybe its the reason he's divorced.

But come on, there is something very very odd about a 19 year old girl marrying a 35 year old man who - forgive my limited imagination - I can't even comprehend how they might have sex.

It doesn't help that Harry for years has written on his site with pretty heinous glee his thing for nubile teenagers. Any movie featuring a young hottie gets written up by Knowles as a new chapter in the Bible. And yeah, sure, men do find young girls hot.

Does no one remember when Natalie Portman and her best friend had a slumber party and sent harry a card they made him together?

But I'm sorry, there is something quite suspect about this, and Harry's male friends I hope had a good bro-down talk about all this and were protective of him. Cause I'm sorry, but you take a moderately ok looking 20 year old girl, she's gonna get some attention from people other than a 35 year old guy who is literally incapable of certain things in the bedroom. It's just a biological fact.

Posted by drturing at July 14, 2007 1:17 PM

comment #9

gruver1 says ...

Wells to MiraJeff AICN: I like Harry personally and said "best wishes to the couple" but the cozy thing with Jackson made me see red. I just have this animal dislike of Jackson. Everything he's ever done (except for "Heavenly Creatures") has rubbed me the wrong way. Even the Skull Island portion of "King Kong" irritates me after seeing it again on DVD. It's absurdly over-cranked and manipulated beyond all measure -- it matters more to Jackson to show off with his "can you top this?" visual sense than to get you truly engaged in the action.

Posted by gruver1 at July 14, 2007 1:20 PM

comment #10

D.Z. says ...

gruver: "Everything he's ever done (except for "Heavenly Creatures") has rubbed me the wrong way."

What about Meet the Feebles?

Posted by D.Z. at July 14, 2007 1:39 PM

comment #11

Circumvrent says ...

Jeff (Mira, not Wells): I'm a fan of your site, but even I think this is a little ridiculous. If they're going to be friends, fine. But it does a huge disservice to you guys, as journalists, to be smoozing with the people that you're supposed to cover. I realize in this day and age that there's no such thing as unbiased reporting, especially when it comes to the movie business, but there's the way that Jeff has handled his friends with Del Toro, and Owen Wilson (and even Kit Carson writing the book about Mann, and how that connected with the MIAMI VICE release) that I think is just generally more tactful and more professional (though, to be honest, you guys and your unprofessionalism is what, to me, makes your site so worthwhile).

If Harry came out and said, "Hey, listen, this guy and I are buddies now, and I'm going to stop talking about his professional work. I'm sure the companies that finance his movies'll want to advertise on my site, because after all, my audience is their target audience, but from now on, I'm keeping my lips sealed" Wells would applaud it, or, even better, not make a story out of it at all. But the fact that Harry'll write a rave review of THE LOVELY BONES, with a "even though he's my friend, I loved it" preamble just makes the whole situation a little gross and, dare I say, unethical.

Posted by Circumvrent at July 14, 2007 1:43 PM

comment #12

BurmaShave says ...

Wells, didn't you date Bennet Miller for a few months back in the Fall of 2005? You'd probably be married by now if it hadn't been for the Transit strike.

Posted by BurmaShave at July 14, 2007 2:11 PM

comment #13

George Prager says ...

Burm, that post sucked.

Posted by George Prager at July 14, 2007 2:30 PM

comment #14

Moneypenny says ...

Christ, they happen to be friends and so the guy made a little wedding present for them.

Who cares? And anyway... what business is it of yours Wells? You gonna look up their Pottery Barn listing now?

Posted by Moneypenny at July 14, 2007 4:28 PM

comment #15

transmogrifier says ...

Wells, it's fine to dislike a guy's movies, but you seem hellbent in turning a distaste for someone's artisitic sensibilities into some sort of larger expose of what a degenerate, horrible, worthless human being Jackson is, from taking potshots at the weddings he celebrates (!) to ill-fitting tuxedos at the Oscars. It's petty and childish and something AICN would be proud of, to tell the truth. Maybe that's why you have been sniping at them recently; you realise you are steadily encroaching into their target audience.

Posted by transmogrifier at July 14, 2007 4:29 PM

comment #16

Geoff says ...

yeah that shitty shutter speed trick on Skull Island...and that annoying sequence on the boat with the typewriter...all really bad stuff. Isn't it called Jackson Cam or something like that? He really is the most overrated director working today.

Posted by Geoff at July 14, 2007 6:24 PM

comment #17

JapAdapters says ...

So, no one sees a problem with a director giving a gift to a journalist who's supposed to be objective about his work? That actually explains a lot.

Posted by JapAdapters at July 14, 2007 7:50 PM

comment #18

goodvibe61 says ...

I didn't know this place had become the Tom Leykis show!

"All marriages are based upon perceptions of opportunistic mutual benefit and financial upgrading,"

Really. Really. Do you care?

My goodness this is one of the most pathetic entries ever on this site. Jeff, are you merely jealous about Harry's site being bigger than yours, or is it that he's getting some at the moment? A little of both?

Really, how low can you go?

Posted by goodvibe61 at July 14, 2007 8:29 PM

comment #19

transmogrifier says ...

"yeah that shitty shutter speed trick on Skull Island...and that annoying sequence on the boat with the typewriter...all really bad stuff. Isn't it called Jackson Cam or something like that? He really is the most overrated director working today."

I'd say he's slowly coming to be the most underrated directors working today, given the backlash he is now receiving - no-one seems to be able to be objective about the man at all, he's either God or a soulless demon, when in fact he's someone with a great eye and a lot of energy who tends to embrace the broad emotion too often in his scripts and, yes, keeps on using that ridiculous "shutter" speed trick, which is a really horrible effect that should be banned from all cinema as soon as possible.

Still, I like King Kong, and LOTR (TTT most of all, because Jackson doesn't have the chance to succumb to his overly affective emotioning here - the sequences in Helm's Deep leading up to and including the attack are extraordinary), and love The Frighteners (seriously, it's a funny little Ghostbusters comedy that transforms into something dark and vicious and affecting), Brain Dead and of course Heavenly Creatures.

Posted by transmogrifier at July 14, 2007 8:39 PM

comment #20

Nate West says ...

//... impassioned fat guys are entitled to as much happiness as anyone else (if they can get it)//

That must be the warmest wedding toast from a best man I've ever heard. Hear! Hear!

Posted by Nate West at July 14, 2007 10:21 PM

comment #21

BurmaShave says ...

George, I love how you chase me across cyberspace with your pithy jabs. I'm going to have to start calling you Agent Smith.

Posted by BurmaShave at July 14, 2007 10:26 PM

comment #22

The Winchester says ...

Burma and George, get a room already.

Would this even be a big deal if the guradian hadn't talked about AICN losing it's heat?

Well, I take that back, because it's about Wells hating Peter Jackson, not about Harry getting married and receiving a gift from a friend.

Posted by The Winchester at July 14, 2007 10:50 PM

comment #23

BurmaShave says ...

Winchester, how I want to. Aren't we all on here to meet guys? No?

Posted by BurmaShave at July 14, 2007 11:52 PM

comment #24

jeffmcm says ...

Let me play both sides:

Peter Jackson had to produce the video because of the extensive CGI necessary to make it look like there was actually a human woman kissing Harry Knowles;

Jeff Wells would _never_ do something like promote a movie that a friend had directed for months on his site, above and beyond all other web coverage, while earning income from ads placed for it at the same time.

Posted by jeffmcm at July 15, 2007 3:17 AM

comment #25

corey3rd says ...

Congrats for Harry using the internet to meet a woman that didn't lead to him also encountering Chris Hansen in the Dateline kitchen.

Posted by corey3rd at July 15, 2007 6:10 AM

comment #26

JaySmack says ...

"I'm up for some schadenfreude right now after noticing Bay's Transformers movie tank in less than a week."

Amen to that DZ! But Bayformers is one of the reasons I lost some respect for Knowles. Bayformers wouldn't have made even half the money it did if people like Harry et al weren' running interferance for Bay & Co. Knowles' site shamelessly pimped that flick, which we all knew would be garbage, and he only allowed glowing reviews from people who (I SWEAR I'm not making this up) said shit like Bayformers was, "the best movie since Crank," and was "better than the Godfather." Hell, if those aren't informed, intelligent reviewers then who is? These are the people who Harry allowed to dominate his homepage for weeks on end.

All negative reviews of Bayformers, or reviews that refused to give Bay a big sloppy kiss, simply didn't appear. It was only after the movie's Monday-night opening that Harry posted his own review of the movie he'd been supporting so feircely. And he panned it. Talk about closing the barn door after the horse have already bolted.
Look, being supportive of a friend's work, even if you're running a movie/entertainment blog is okay by me, I get it, but you need to be honest. And if you're pimping a film in order to ensure some moviemaker will schmooze with you, or invite you to this junket or that early-showing, or buy a banner on your site, then you either need to come out and admit you're a shameless propaganda organ (in this case, a dick) or you need to quit. If this is the price of "access" (and given Don "El Diablo" Murphy's pissy attitude on these pages, it clearly is) then that's a price that's too high. If stupid studios and talentless filmmakers want good reviews, then let then get them the right way -earn them!

Posted by JaySmack at July 15, 2007 6:45 AM

comment #27

DarthCorleone says ...

Not to minimize the importance of journalistic integrity, but I just don't see this as a big deal. Peter Jackson is a geek just like us. (And by "us," I don't include you, Jeff.) I don't believe Jackson's friendly dialogue with the AICN geek crowd is purely self-serving or disingenuous.

Does this create a potential conflict of interests? Certainly, but if it's out in the open, what do I care? Am I going to go see a Peter Jackson movie solely because Harry Knowles says that I should? Absolutely not. I'll go to another website for a more objective perspective.

As I posted on the AICN thread the other day, the reviews aren't even the strength of the site or its prime mandate. It's a site to give geeks their cool news, and frankly being buddies with Peter Jackson seems like a great insider way to get me some of that cool news. If you're not a Peter Jackson fan, I can see how that's a plus, but it's a plus for me. (Oh, and I hated Jackson's King Kong.)

Posted by DarthCorleone at July 15, 2007 1:18 PM

comment #28

DarthCorleone says ...

"not a plus", rather

Posted by DarthCorleone at July 15, 2007 1:24 PM

comment #29

christian says ...

" journalist who's supposed to be objective about his work?"

harry? he's a fan.

i think it was sweet and down to earth of jackson to do this.

Posted by christian at July 15, 2007 3:10 PM

comment #30

Pete Zha says ...

Meanwhile, where'd that Mike Binder movie ad ("The Search for John Gissing") that was running on this site a few days back go?

Posted by Pete Zha at July 15, 2007 7:06 PM

comment #31

Aunt Sassy says ...

"These guys need to jump into a hot tub together during the post-wedding reception and massage each other's neck muscles."

Considering all of the space he's devoted to PJ, I guessing Jeff's hoping there'll be room in the hot tub for him...and some fat, Hispanic chick.

P.S. I'm fully expecting Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens to die in a suspicious foam latex explosion at the Weta workshop prior to the opening of THE LOVELY BONES. Soon after, Hollywood-Elsewhere will fold and Jeff will spend his spousal support checks stalking PJ around the world. This will culminate in PJ's abduction and forced participation in a committment ceremony to be filmed by George Hickenlooper. S.W.A.T. teams will storm the warehouse, killing everyone inside. Sideshow Collectables will produce an exclusive diorama of the final assault, while Spielberg will direct the HALO movie as a tribute to his friend. This is my latest fantasy about Jeff's unhealthy obsession with Peter Jackson, and my favorite to date!!

Posted by Aunt Sassy at July 16, 2007 11:14 AM

comment #32