Month: January 2019

It would be entirely fitting and appropriately respectful if the Academy would include the late Leonard Klady in the forthcoming Oscar telecast “death reel”. It really would. For Len was as much a part of the soul and the fabric of Hollywood output and hoo-hah over the last 40 years as anyone else. As a storied Variety guy, LAFCA member and Movie City News box-office guru, Klady was right there, knee-deep in the trenches…absorbing, interviewing, tabulating and commenting every step of the way. The death reel always includes a few non-celebs — Klady’s life warrants this modest tribute and then some.

My first trip to the Cannes Film Festival was in 1992, and I owe the success of that adventure to Klady in part. He told me one night that the festival was too overwhelming for a first-timer — that there were too many angles and trap doors and necessary buttons to push, and that I didn’t have a prayer in hell of keeping up. As a result I doubled-down on my research and preparation, working extra hard at making the right calls and sending out letters to everyone, and as it turned out I did pretty well on my maiden voyage.

Seasoned Film Guy: “I love re-reading Len Klady‘s Cinefile columns in Variety, or his name on pieces like the Filmex tribute to the Garys in 1993 and that mention of his chat with Marcello Mastroianni in Palm Springs. Because they remind that he was doing what we all love best: being part of the greatness of film via these schmooze opportunities with the greats and [generally being] part of the hip Los Angeles film lover contingent, along with Len’s wife Beverly Walker. You know she’s the person who put Two Lane Blacktop on the cover of Esquire along with THE ENTIRE SCRIPT back in 19frickin71??? She’s a wonderful lady — so informed and passionate about cinema. All we need is film love.”

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This three-day-old essay examines the way things were 20 years ago — Harvey Weinstein, Shakespeare in Love, Gwynneth Paltrow. Hollywood values and how HW aggressively rewrote the book on Oscar campaigning. It runs almost 20 minutes but is wisely judged, astutely written and nicely edited. Kudos to the maestro of Be Kind Rewind, whose name (unmentioned in the “About” section) is unknown to me. I attended the Miramax Beverly Hills hotel after-party after Harvey’s big Shakespeare in Love triumph. It was in the Polo Lounge and in an adjacent outdoor area. I was actually following behind Harvey as he entered the soiree…garlands to the conqueror! Every heavy-hitter in town was there. Quite the night.

“To me, the real lesson on this government shutdown is that we found out that federal workers — [holders of] quintessential middle-class jobs — can’t afford to miss one paycheck. When did it get this desperate? This shutdown is not about the wall — it’s about the wallet. And it’s more proof that the great American middle-class is disappearing faster than R. Kelly‘s Facebook friends. All ‘middle-class’ means now is that you’re poor but you don’t do meth. Sorry but it’s not ‘middle-class’ when your retirement plan is a Lotto ticket. And that’s just how the Koch Brothers like it.”

Perfect analogy: “Vulture capitalism has done to the middle-class what airlines have done to their customers. Because we didn’t lose the comfort of being middle-class all at once. They took it away an inch at a time. Like legroom.”

After many years of mystifying delay, a Bluray of This Gun For Hire will finally “street” on 4.9.19. The Amazon page indicates that the Shout Factory release will offer no supplements.

Posted on 8.26.18: Frank Tuttle‘s This Gun For Hire (’42) is a violent thriller, but with flavor. A combination of frostiness and vulnerability in Alan Ladd‘s Raven, a professional assassin, feeds into a vibe of brusque empathy and existential despair.

Released two years before Billy Wilder‘s Double Indemnity, I’ve always regarded This Gun For Hire as the first high-impact film noir. Which puts it into the pantheon of 1940s releases. Pretty much every film-loving dweeb subscribes to this view.

For some odd reason Universal has never released a Bluray or streamed it in HD. Here we are in 2018, and the only way to watch this still engrossing, hard-boiled drama is on that same shitty DVD Universal released 14 years ago.

Why don’t they get the lead out and remaster it? It would be fairly criminal to just let it remain a 480p experience.

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I swooned over New York, I Love You and Paris, Je’taime, and I’ll almost certainly love Berlin, I Love You. (Which wouldn’t have the same ring if it were called Berlin, Ich Liebe Dich.) I’m more of a laid-back Munich guy than a Berlin lover, but I’ve been to the latter city three times (in ’12, ’13 and ’14) and I understand the charm, history, layout, transportation system and atmosphere. I especially love the neighborhood of Charlottenberg.

Directors: Dianna Agron, Peter Chelsom, Fernando Eimbcke, Justin Franklin, Dennis Gansel, Dani Levy, Daniel Lwowski, Josef Rusnak, Til Schweiger, Massy Tadjedin, Gabriela Tscherniak. (What’s happening with Mostly Martha‘s Sandra Nettlebeck?) Cast: Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren, Luke Wilson, Mickey Rourke, Jim Sturgess, Dianna Agron, Diego Luna, Iwan Rheon, Charlotte Le Bon, Sibel Kekilli, Emily Beecham, Jenna Dewan, Hayden Panettiere, Rafaelle Cohen.

Quick — the name of the river that flows through Berlin’s center? You had to look it up, right?

In other words, is there enough Netflix animus among the PGA membership to turn the tide? Or will most of them decide to give the Daryl F. Zanuck award to, you know, the Best Film — i.e., Roma? As opposed to the one that sold the most tickets? Meaning a split vote between A Star Is Born and Black Panther? In the words of Paul Newman‘s Butch Cassidy, “Who are these guys?” What do they care about? What matters to them?

Journo pal: “Who are they? Very Oscar predictive and first whiff of industry sentiment. I would be shocked if Roma wins. More likely Green Book, Star Is Born or Bohemian Rhapsody, which has the best ‘producer’ story of the lot. But who knows? They ARE the only group that chooses Best Pic with the same weighted system of votes that AMPAS does.”

5 pm Update: Robert Mueller‘s office has issued a statement that Buzzfeed‘s Trump-Cohen story is “inaccurate.” What? Is Mueller splitting hairs? Buzzfeed‘s Anthony Cormier said earlier today on CNN that the story was 100% solid based on two sources plus others corraborating, etc. Is this like the H.R. Haldeman / Hugh Sloan grand jury story in All The President’s Men?

Earlier: Last night’s Buzzfeed bombshell, written by Anthony Cormier and Jason Leopold and sourcing a pair of federal law enforcement officials involved in the Mueller investigation, says that President Trump personally directed former attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about the Moscow Trump Tower project.

If the story checks out (and let’s hope it does), it means that Trump committed a federal crime and a potentially impeachable offense. “Potentially” as in “depending on the backbones of D.C. legislators.” There might be a little bit of fallout among Trump’s Senate Republican supporters, but most, I suspect, will do the old shilly-shally sidestep.

During the summer of 2016, or two and two-thirds years ago, Terrence Malick shot principal photography on Radegund, a fact-based anti-war drama set in Austria and Germany. Directed and written by the press-shy auteur, the German-language drama is about Franz Jagerstatter (August Diehl), an Austrian conscientious objector who was executed by the Third Reich for refusing to fight.

Between 2010 and 2017, during which time the reclusive and mercurial Malick shot and gradually released To the Wonder, Knight of Cups and Song to Song, he’s averaged about two years of post-production editing per film. So when Radegund costar Matthias Schoenaerts told The Independent‘s James Mottram last July that he expected Radegund to premiere at the 2018 Venice or Toronto film festivals, the timing seemed feasible.

Terrence Wackadoodle (upper left, white beard, safari hat) shooting a scene from Radegund sometime during the late summer of ’16.

I’d been told a few weeks before the Independent piece that Radegund probably wouldn’t pop at the early fall festivals and would continue to hide out until the February 2019 Berlinale, and perhaps beyond that.

Radegund didn’t appear anywhere last fall, of course, and yesterday it was announced that barring some last-minute surprise announcement it will be absent from the Berlinale. Now the next likely festival is Cannes, but who knows with Malick?

Last July I wrote that “I actually wouldn’t be surprised if Radegund turns up closer to next year’s Cannes Film Festival or even, don’t laugh, during Venice/Telluride/Toronto of ’19.” Who’s laughing now?

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In the comment thread for yesterday’s “Beto Needs To Get On The Stick” piece, a dude named Otto wrote that Beto O’Rourke‘s seeming hesitancy (i.e., thinking things over during a solo road trip) indicates that the former El Paso Congressperson “will be the perfect VP pick for someone like Biden. [Accepting this status] would show (1) authenticity, (2) modesty (I’m not yet ready) (3) lack of the super-ego that drives most narcissist who want to be President and (4) wisdom in understanding that he has more to learn about national/international affairs.”

Persuasive HE response: “A malignant sociopath is in the White House right now, and you’re quibbling over fractions, resumes and modes of experience? Remember all the crap in ’07 and ’08 about how Barack Obama, a wet-behind-the-ears junior senator from Illinois, was too young, too naive, not seasoned enough for the Presidency? Beto (currently 46) is a year older than Obama was when he announced in ’07, and he knows his way around. But the bottom line is that THERE’S NO TRAINING ACADEMY FOR THE PRESIDENCY. You just jump into the pool and swim as best you can.

“Do you think JFK was supremely qualified when he took over? Do you think Clinton was? Do you think Dubya was wonderfully qualified and super-knowledgable? He was a brash ignoramus who leaned on his father’s friends. Do you think Abraham Lincoln of the Illinois legislature was exquisitely trained and ready to run things when he moved into the White House in March 1861? You either live up to the demands of the office or you don’t.

“And right now an animal who’s polluting the Oval Office is running the show. A bloated pusbag sociopath and unregenerate liar…a guy who’s brought into Washington the worst pirates and grifters since the Harding administration and who believes that climate change is a hoax…the head of a lying, grifting crime family is running the country. And the only name of the game is “getting him out of the Oval office by January 2021 if not before.” That means two things: (a) impeachment by the House and (b) nominating a younger X-factor charisma candidate (who’s incidentally taller than Trump) to oppose him. Period. Not a shrill SJW libtard but someone with a moderate human touch.

I followed up with a comment about Biden: “Uncle Joe is a good, likable guy with a settled vibe and a history of practical, sensible liberalism. Obviously superior to Trump in every way imaginable. And a human being. But he’s too old (76 as we speak, 78 during the ’20 campaign), too yesteryear, too gaffe-prone, too withered. The Democratic 2020 candidate has to be about the future. I’m sorry, but the culture is demanding the absence of Oval Office neck wattles, at least for the foreseeable future.”

Commenter “Jeff”: “Democrats don’t win with old vetted ‘sure things’. Hillary, Kerry and Gore all felt like battle-tested sure things. The last three Dems elected were on their 40s or early 50s. If you acknowledge that LBJ really won Kennedy’s second term, then it’s four in a row. Hell, even FDR was barely 50 when he was first elected.”

HE correction: FDR was just shy of 51 when he was elected in November 1932. LBJ was 56 when he beat Barry Goldwater in November ’64. The Democrats really, really don’t want a candidate in his or her late 70s running for the White House.

Variety‘s Dave NcNary has reported that Annapurna is bumping the release date of Richard Linklater‘s Where’d You Go, Bernadette from March 19th back to August 9th…fine. But he omits the fact this is Bernadette‘s third release-date adjustment. On 6.7.18 I reported that Linklater’s domestic discord flick was initially slated to open on 5.11.18, then was pushed back to 10.19.18, and then again to 3.22.19.

McNary also ignores the fact that Linklater’s name is absent from the latest trailer. That probably means something, no?

An Annapurna rep told McNary “that August has served well as a launching pad for release of female-skewing films such as Crazy Rich Asians, Florence Foster Jenkins and Julie and Julia and that Bernadette,” blah blah.

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