Rousing Runaways

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For the most part Floria Sigismondi's The Runaways (Apparition, 3.19) is an absorbing, highly charged, better-than-average '70s rock saga. I'm giving it a solid B. Maybe a B-minus. The reasons for the voltage are Kristen Stewart's scrappy performance as Joan Jett, the Runaways co-founder who went on to become a solo rock legend in the '80s, and Michael Shannon's as L.A. rock impresario Kim Fowley. And the music, of course.

The Runaways costars Dakota Fanning (who plays Cherie Curie) and Kristen Stewart (who plays Joan Jett) at Eccles lecturn following this evening's screening of Floria Sigismondi's above-average '70s rock saga,

Former Runaways stars Joan Jett, Cherie Curie on stage during post-screening q & a.

As long as the film is focused on Stewart and Shannon and the generally pungent '70s atmosphere, it radiates badass attitude and seems authentically plugged in to the spirit of '70s rebel rock.

Unfortunately, Sigismondi's script is primarily based on Currie's autobiography, Neon Angel: The Cherie Currie Story, which tells of her background plus her drug and alcohol problem that arose from her success with the Runaways.

This means that in too many portions we're stuck watching Curie's fairly boring story, since no rock-industry cliche is more mind-numbing than the one about a famous rock star burning out on drugs. Which also means we're stuck with Dakota Fanning , who gives an opaque, space-case performance as Curie -- blankness personified. That's my opinion, at least. Some journalist pallies in the Eccles lobby were differing with me after the film, but that's what makes a ballgame.

Update: I was recalling this morning how Kim Fowley, Joan Jett and Cherie Currie bitch about each other in George Hickenlooper's Rodney Bingenheimer documentary The Mayor of Sunset Strip.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on January 24, 2010 at 8:19 PM

comment #1

CanCan says ...

"I'm giving it a solid B. Maybe a B-minus"

??? B+?

Posted by CanCan at January 24, 2010 9:25 PM

comment #2

Jeffrey Wells says ...

There's nothing wrong with a B-minus. I used to get B-minuses in high school all the time and I turned out fine.

Posted by Jeffrey Wells at January 24, 2010 9:28 PM

comment #3

DeeZee says ...

Jeff: But how does it compare to Sid and Nancy? All kidding aside, Stewart's Jett cover isn't an embarassment like the one from Britney Spears? Anyway, that doesn't even make sense that Fanning would be the focus of the flick, when she can't even sell a film.

Moving on, new Legion guy interview.
http://www.heatvisionblog.com/2010/01/legion-director-scott-stewart-talks-vampires-paul-bettany.html
Landis hires Fisher, Serkis, and Pegg for his new horror-comedy flick. [BTW, he actually showed up for the Wright-hosted Story of Ricky thing @ the New Bev a while back.]
http://www.heatvisionblog.com/2010/01/isla-fisher-andy-serkis-tom-wilkinson-in-burke-and-hare-.html
LG likes the idea of Ryan Reynolds turning in his grave.
http://tinyurl.com/yzgkq5b
Jett was @ Sundance too, it seems.
http://tinyurl.com/ygf3a7d
Anjelica Huston Q+A.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i6c797532f6c34f2947c2e47c8b989147
Daniel Craig and Naomi Watts in a Poltergeist- wannabe.
http://tinyurl.com/ykan2qf
Franco on Howl @ http://www.darkhorizons.com/interviews/1536/james-franco-for-howl-

Posted by DeeZee at January 24, 2010 9:33 PM

comment #4

DeeZee says ...

And the plagiarism accusations just keep on comin'.
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/58399,people,entertainment,avatar-director-accused-of-plagiarising-soviet-novels-noon-universe-strugatsky
On a related note, from http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/column/index.cfm?columnID=12465 :
"It's important to remember that Avatar is unlike anything we've ever seen, as the 3-D and IMAX element are completely skewing the numbers."

Posted by DeeZee at January 24, 2010 10:08 PM

comment #5

snowback says ...

Wells, you must be on more drugs than Cherie Currie. This movie was a dud. It was Whip It with microphones and quaaludes.

Posted by snowback at January 24, 2010 10:15 PM

comment #6

lazespud says ...

I remember Cherie Currie was in Foxes, with Jodie Foster, and she also starred in this science fiction film that had the exact same ending as John Carpenter's Starman, which came out like two years later. But after that, nothing. She had been in a prominent rock group and starred alongside Jodie Foster and Robert Carradine in films, all by the age of about 22.

When you mention the music, Jeff, are you saying it was any good? Because that's the one big drawback that I always felt to the Runaways' story; the music basically sucked donkey dingles. I mean they have the one quasi-hit, cherry bomb, and even that is barely enjoyable. There were mostly an attempt at a marketing phenomenon, right?

Did they sneak in some cover songs just so they can have a marketable soundtrack?

Posted by lazespud at January 24, 2010 10:31 PM

comment #7

LexG says ...

How was the rumored K-Stew-Fanning kiss?

Details, please.

Posted by LexG at January 24, 2010 11:10 PM

comment #8

CanCan says ...

"There's nothing wrong with a B-minus"

What I meant was that you can`t give it a solid B and then say maybe B-. B- is not a solid B it is a weak B, almost a C. I'm giving it a solid B-. Maybe a B makes sense on the otherhand. Not a big deal just was wondering if it was a typo...

Posted by CanCan at January 24, 2010 11:58 PM

comment #9

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

I wonder, if we all started posting a dozen random fucking links, would Jeff finally do something? Or are the rumors true that D.Z is just a pen name...

Posted by Deathtongue_Groupie at January 25, 2010 2:47 AM

comment #10

googs says ...

@ LexG

seriously that is so creepy dude. Dakota's 15 years old you pervert.

Posted by googs at January 25, 2010 3:00 AM

comment #11

Gordon27 says ...

DTG - we can't; posts with multiple links get submitted to Jeff for approval, and he only approves DZ's.

"It's important to remember that Avatar is unlike anything we've ever seen, as the 3-D and IMAX element are completely skewing the numbers."

Yeah, if only you'd known it was in 3-D when you made your prediction that it would make $130 million worldwide at the maximum, four days before it was released when all the tracking numbers were already in, maybe you might've had a chance to be more accurate.

Now comes the part where you pretend that what I've quoted above is proof that 3-D is a dead format that nobody's interested in, right?

Posted by Gordon27 at January 25, 2010 3:10 AM

comment #12

Gordon27 says ...

"And the plagiarism accusations just keep on comin'."

By people who don't know anything about plagiarism? Sure. [That article's information is ridiculous; one, only one of the novels takes place on Pandora, and two, only one character is named "Nava", not an entire race.]

But by the author of the work? Nope.

http://www.russia-ic.com/news/show/9468/

Posted by Gordon27 at January 25, 2010 3:23 AM

comment #13

dogcatcher says ...

Jeff, Could you please write up something about "Blue Valentine"? I'm dying to hear more about it and it premiered yesterday.

Posted by dogcatcher at January 25, 2010 4:08 AM

comment #14

Floyd Thursby says ...

"solo rock legend in the '80s"

Why are rock and country singers over 40 always described as legends? Why does no one ever recount these supposed legends? Elvis is a legend. Dylan is a legend. Maybe even Johnny Cash. But Joan Jett?

Posted by Floyd Thursby at January 25, 2010 4:41 AM

comment #15

DeeZee says ...

The Hobbit gets delayed again.
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/16161/-the-hobbit-delayed-til-late-2012-

Posted by DeeZee at January 25, 2010 4:45 AM

comment #16

thatmovieguy says ...

Believe me, Currie was not the only one who had a drug problem. In 1982, I had to cover a Joan Jett solo concert, and my editor pestered me to get backstage and get some candid quotes from Jett, who was then hot stuff with "I Love Rock and Roll" and "Crimson and Clover." I managed to get backstage and was assured by one of Jett's handlers that she'd be in to talk with me soon. Indeed, she was: Minutes later, she staggered in, looking completely Twilight Zone-ish and asked me, "Where's the bathroom?" I pointed in the direction of the bathroom, and she walked over to it, still murmuring, "Where's the bathroom? Where's the fuckin' bathroom?" She closed the bathroom door and I waited, patiently. After half an hour, I gave up, assuming she had either passed out or needed some private time. When my editor asked me for juicy quotes, I told her I had three god ones: "Where's the bathroom?"; "Where's the bathroom?" and "Where's the fuckin' bathroom?" That said, her concert was actually pretty good.

Posted by thatmovieguy at January 25, 2010 4:52 AM

comment #17

... says ...

comment #3:

"Jett was @ Sundance too, it seems."

Yes we saw her in the photograph on the post above YOU MASSIVE GAY SHITE. FUCK OFF!.

Posted by ... at January 25, 2010 5:10 AM

comment #18

Eloi Manning says ...

googs:

"seriously that is so creepy dude. Dakota's 15 years old you pervert."

Don't be naive. You think the producers and both actresses weren't well aware of the reaction it'd receive on the internet when they filmed it? They're practically touting it as a highlight of the film.

Posted by Eloi Manning at January 25, 2010 6:26 AM

comment #19

Jeffrey Wells says ...

Wells to googs: Because Dakota Fanning is 15 years old, LexG is crossing the creepy line by asking about a lesbian make-out scene between her and Kristin Stewart? That's a curious attitude, given the subject matter. I didn't mention this due to the hastily written response (which I tapped out in the almost freezing conditions in the Yarrow lobby), but there is a mildly steamy sex scene between the two. It initially involves a puff of cigarette smoke. It's not a new-regime Disney film.

Posted by Jeffrey Wells at January 25, 2010 6:37 AM

comment #20

corey3rd says ...

how creepy were they able to make Kim Fowley?

Posted by corey3rd at January 25, 2010 7:09 AM

comment #21

googs says ...

@ Jeffrey
Yes. It is creepy to anticipate such things with such eagerness. "Details please" as if your sensuous description of it would have tie him over until someone uploaded it to Mr. Skin.

Posted by googs at January 25, 2010 8:32 AM

comment #22

dogcatcher says ...

Seriously, Blue Valentine?

Posted by dogcatcher at January 25, 2010 8:47 AM

comment #23

LexG says ...

Jeff claims there's a "sex scene" between Stewart and Fanning. NOW, why is it if I were to make an offhand quip like, "D.F. is one to watch; She'll be cute in a few years," I'd have googs ALL over me about how I'm a perv and whatnot, like I'm making some lecherous, evil comment about some poor delicate young flower...

...who at age 16 is doing *lesbian scenes* in major movies.

When I was 16, I was listening to Warrant and L.A. Guns and bagging groceries and trying to shoplift Cophenhagen chewing tobacco.

So my question is, when movies, directors, corporations present such things with probable full support of the parents/family, why am I, or some gas station attendent who hangs up a tame, genteel pic of Miley Cyrus, suddenly some kind of perv or eternal scumbag for merely making note of it?

Christ, Dakota Fanning was rolling around darkest Mexico City when shooting a Hollywood movie when she was, what, eight? I'm sure most showbiz kids have seen shit that would make a Tijuana donkey show proprietor blush. If their "handlers" and people are so OK with presenting them in a sexualized fashion, isn't the onus on them, not the spectator?

Posted by LexG at January 25, 2010 5:10 PM

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