How repellent can a strange bedfellows engagement comedy be? How unfunny? James Franco isn’t an asshole (I’ve met him a few times — he’s a good egg) but he sure does play assholes a lot! Why Him? is basically a reversal of the Meet The Parents formula only this time the future son-in-law is the oppressive grotesque figure and the peevish milquetoast dad is the victim. I would rather endure a ten-day stomach virus than sit through this thing. Trailers always make films seem more lowest-common-denominator than they actually are, but director John Hamburg (Along Came Polly, I Love You, Man) is obviously a lowballer.

The big Academy premiere for Kenneth Lonergan‘s Manchester By The Sea happened last night. There was a big after-party, of course. (North Shore working-class food — clam chowdah, baked beans, crab cakes, potato salad, etc.) I was roaming around with a friend, and for a short while we chatted with costar Lucas Hedges, who is totally locked for a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Sharp dude, just turned 20, friendly, slick-looking suit, preparing to do a play (“Yen“) at the Lucille Lortel.

Manchester By The Sea costar and all-but-assured Best Supporting Actor nominee Lucas Hedges.

About a minute into our three-way it hit me that my pal wasn’t following rule #2 from Ms. Manners’ Manual of Normal Celebrity or Filmmaker Chit-Chat (2016 edition). Rule #1 is that your opening remarks must express one of the following: (a) a deeply personal emotional reaction to the film, (b) generic gushing praise, (c) an inside-baseball industry observation about box-office or awards prospects, or (d) admiration for some outfit or garment that the celebrity or filmmaker is wearing. My friend chose (a) but she broke rule #2 by not expressing her thought within 15 to 20 seconds, 30 at the outside. She took well over 90 seconds.

Why 30 seconds max and preferably 20, or better yet 15 or even 10? Because industry parties are not The Charlie Rose Show. They’re about sound bytes, banter, ping-pong. If you have something extra-heavy to say, fine, but do it within 20 or 30. But my friend went on for over 90, and the expression on Hedges’ face as she passed the 45-second mark was priceless. His face was basically saying “okay, we’re going deep and heavy here, and that’s cool but…wow, okay, she’s still developing her thought, throwing in a little back-story, not even close to the crescendo…but hang in there, hold your eye contact, show respect, let her run with it.”

The great Michael Shannon on last week’s election of Donald Trump, as quoted today (11.15) by Metro‘s Matt Prigge (and a hat tip to Jordan Ruimy for highlighting):

Shannon #1: “I’m on tenterhooks here. I have two young children. Basically [Trump] is probably going to destroy the earth and civilization as we know it. It’s kind of terrifying. [Talking about this] is unavoidable. It should be talked about constantly. It should be the only thing anyone talks about.”

Michael Shannon, star or costar of Nocturnal Animals, Loving, Complete Unknown, Frank & Lola, Midnight Special, Elvis & Nixon, Werner Herzog’s Salt and Fire and Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming The Shape of Water.

Shannon #2: “These protests are so moving, but ultimately what are they going to accomplish? I’m so glad these kids are going apeshit, but at the end of the day the guy’s still going to be president. Maybe you need a civil war or something.”

Shannon #3: The wall isn’t between the U.S. and Mexico — the wall is between people who voted for Trump and people who didn’t. And we’ve got to do something about it. I don’t want to live in a country where people voted for Trump. I want to live some other fucking country. But I don’t want to run away. So we’re just going to have to bust this thing up.”