Month: January 2020

Last night’s Virtuoso panel was an all-Millennial affair — the oldest of the eight panelists were 33-year-old Aldis Hodge (the death-row guy in Clemency) and Harriet‘s Cynthia Erivo, and the youngest was 24 year-old Florence Pugh (Little Women, Midsommar).

And in the annals of SBIFF ’20, it was easily the most entertaining. In HE’s…hell, everyone’s estimation the funniest or most spirited were (in this order) The Farewell‘s Awkwafina (31), Erivo and Hodge.

Holding down the moderate middle-charisma fort were Pugh, 1917‘s George MacKay (27), Booksmart‘s Beanie Feldstein (26), Rocketman‘s Taron Egerton (30) and Waves‘ Taylor Russell (25).

There was a two-minute musical portion in which Hodge, Egerton and especially Erivo totally killed a capella. Erivo delivered a note-perfect imitation of Tina Turner singing the Beyond Thunderdome theme song, Hodge sang two or three lines from Kanye West‘s “Gold Digger” and Egerton imitated George Michael singing “Faith.” [Around the 14:00 mark.]

Moderator Dave Karger pronounced George Mackay’s last name as “Mc-KEYE“, by the way. News to me.

Four of the group — MacKay, Awkwafina, Feldstein and Russell — starred in truly exceptional releases last year. No debate about this, I presume.

Pugh gets special points for Midsommar, a bit less so for Little Women. Rocketman was good, not great. (And Karger didn’t ask Egerton if Jeff Sneider‘s mention about his having inviting the Hollywood Foreign Press Ditto to his birthday party was true or not). The respectable Clemency was overpraised — be honest.

The only bummer part came when Karger asked everyone to name a seminal movie from their youth. Hodge mentioned Lost Boys and Bad Boys. Erivo cited Mahogany and The Color Purple. Feldstein mentioned Funny Girl (and was then advised by Erivo to see Funny Lady). Egerton’s big childhood movie was The Muppets Christmas Carol. MacKay recalled The Jungle Book and Gladiator. Pugh mentioned Bend It Like Beckham. Pugh named My Cousin Vinny and Scary Movie. Russell mentioned Brendan Fraser‘s The Mummy.

Due respect but the Movie Godz are weeping. What a communal film heritage! As in decline and fall of everything, Western civilization included.

Following its decisive win at the Producers Guild of America Awards Saturday night, Sam Mendes’ 1917 appears fated to win the Best Picture Oscar. Maybe. Probably. Don’t look now but the Gold Derby spitballers need to recalibrate their Best Picture predictions. Out of 21 forecasters, only five are currently predicting Mendes’ World War I epic to win the top prize. Most of the GD “experts” have Quentin Tarantino‘s Once Upon A Time in Hollywood in their top slot. Who knows how it’ll finally shake out?

22 days before the 2.9 Oscar telecast, 11 out of 19 Gold Derby spitballers believe that Once Upon A Time In Hollywood will take the Best Picture Oscar. Is 1917 surging more than some of us realize? Has the “Parasite could take it” cheering section finally given up? And why not Joker?

I blew off the Bad Boys For Life all-media screening, and since arriving in Santa Barbara I haven’t found the time or motivation to buy a ticket. Partly because I know what a 75% Rotten Tomato rating of an allegedly harmless-but-mediocre AA comedy means. It means 25% of the critics are being honest and the other 75% are playing it safe.

Then again the Will Smith-Martin Lawrence comedy is expected to bring in close to $70 million over the four-day Martin Luther King weekend. If it’s all the same I’ll catch it when it goes to streaming.

What’s the HE community consensus?

How did Elizabeth Warren help anything or anyone by claiming that Bernie Sanders privately told her he didn’t think a woman could be elected President? Or, as Bill Maher put it last night, “playing the woman card”?

My guess is that Sanders might have said something that sounded like “a woman can’t beat Trump in 2020” but wasn’t specifically that. Maybe he meant that Warren’s ability to beat Trump in the 2020 election was limited because of the schoolmarm thing, or that Kamala Harris didn’t have it either because she’s too short (5’2″) or something else. The kind of blunt shop talk that people share with each other behind closed doors.

Maybe Bernie is a secret sexist, but he sure hasn’t spoken that way over the years. He wanted Warren to run in ’16, you’ll recall, but she demurred.

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If you have a spare 50 minutes, please watch last night’s Adam Driver interview at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. Indiewire‘s Anne Thompson asked the right succinct questions and stayed out of the way for the most part, allowing the Marriage Story star and Best Actor nominee to dispense his dry, amusingly honest, occasionally self-deprecating patter.

I was sitting in the third row and realizing that I’d never really paid attention to Driver’s interview shtick and muttering “wow, great stuff…he’s so smart and fleet and hip to the bullshit.”

The easiest way is to just watch Driver in action, but if you insist on a description…okay, here goes. He’s a brilliant raconteur. He’s also a clever and darting conversationalist, almost on the level of a stand-up comedian. He constantly digresses and frequently re-defines what he’s saying, and I mean in a way that’s very off-handed and matter-of-fact and quite funny.

Sample Driver riff, imagined by HE: “The guy looked like a walrus with long brown whiskers and the body of an under-inflated beach ball…well, not a beach ball exactly but he had what anyone would describe as exercise and dietary issues…well, I don’t really know what his diet is but if you told me he eats nothing but pasta and banana cream pies and pints of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream I wouldn’t be surprised…okay, maybe surprised as I don’t believe anyone could stay alive after eating that crap day after day but either way he looks like Mr. Creosote…I hope I never look that way.” **

No questions about “Please Mr. Kennedy” — too familiar, over-discussed.

I don’t care what Driver says about Kylo Ren. Trust me, he doesn’t miss him a bit. He likes the money but that’s par for the course.

Marriage Story costar Scarlett Johansson (aka “ScarJo”) was also supposed to sit down with Thompson, but she bailed at the last minute. She was in Santa Barbara yesterday afternoon, staying with b.f. Colin Jost at the five-star Miramar but became “violently ill” around dinner hour.

Whatever actually happened is her business, but I’m generally suspicious of people who use the term “violently ill.” It’s overly dramatic. Sounds like they’re trying too hard. I’ve been ill from time to time, but never “violently” ill. What is that anyway? You’re so ill you start turning over tables and slugging people?

I tried to file yesterday afternoon about Thursday night’s Renee Zellweger tribute, but I fell behind. She’s a very skilled performer in all senses of that term, social included. She’s unfailingly demure, gracious, low-key but always with a chuckle or a quip. She has the Best Actress Oscar in the bag so it’s all smooth sliding at this point. THR‘s Scott Feinberg handled the interview like a pro.

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Vikings-inspired tapestry on second floor of Santa Barbara Inn. Do you think anyone involved with this hotel has ever had the first clue about historic tapestries? Or remembers or even cares about the opening credits for Richard Fleischer‘s 1958 film? Only people like me notice this stuff.

After 85 years, there ain’t no more “Fox” in 20th Century Fox. It’s been retired by Disney, presumably because they don’t like the Fox News/Rupert Murdoch association. Disney’s de-balled name for the once-proud, self-branded company is now 20th Century Studios.

20th Century Fox Film Corporation was formed in 1935 or thereabouts when Joseph Schenck and Darryl F. Zanuck left United Artists over a stock dispute and merged with Fox Film, under president Sidney Kent. What breaks everyone’s heart is that you can no longer say “Fox studios” or “the Fox lot”, and that Jim Morrison‘s “20th Century fox” will no longer have that ring, that coolness. Morrison, Daryl F. and Richard Zanuck, Spyros Skouras, Alan Ladd, Jr., the whole Fox gang…almost all dead and gone along with that three-letter name.

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Is it okay to fat-snicker at an ISIS psychopath, or is it verboten no matter what, who or whatever? I suspect it’s the latter option. I’m nonetheless going to confess something that may provoke punitive measures from the wokester Khmer Rouge, or at least some form of pushback.

My confession is that I had my first good laugh today from today’s [1.17.20] New York Post story, written by the eloquent Yaron Steinbuch.

“He put the fat in fatwa.

“A morbidly obese ISIS fanatic dubbed ‘Jabba the Jihadi‘ has been captured by Iraqi forces, who loaded him onto a flatbed truck because he couldn’t fit in a police car.

The 560-pound mufti Abu Abdul Bari, also known as Shifa al-Nima, was nabbed Thursday by an elite SWAT team of the Nineveh regiment in the city of Mosul, according to Stars and Stripes.

“The jumbo jihadist was known for ‘provocative speeches against the security forces” and is considered one of the top leaders of ‘ISIS gangs,’ Iraqi security officials said in a statement.”

Part 2 of America’s Great Divide (PBS Frontline) is instant history, the last three-plus years, spelled out plain and with all appropriate glumness. Nothing new but I submitted to the depression for 75 minutes, and I’ll probably return to it later tonight or tomorrow.

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In a promotional event for Hulu’s Hillary, Hillary Clinton to Television Critics Association: “It’s going to be up to every voter, not only people who vote in Democratic primaries, to recognize this is no ordinary time. This is an election that will have such profound impact. So take your vote seriously, and for the Democratic voters, try to vote for the person you think is most likely to win because at the end of the day, that is what will matter. And not just the popular vote, but the Electoral College, as we’ve learned.”

In other words, everyone should shake off their favorites and join the tens of millions of African Americans who are irrevocably glued to Typewriter Joe.

I hate the way this is going. It’s so dispiriting. Long slow downswirl.

Yesterday the Trumpies announced federal measures “aimed at protecting religious freedom and reducing discrimination against people and groups of faith”…bullshit. Trump just wants to stem any possible thinning of support among evangelicals in the wake of Christianity Today‘s Mark Galli recently calling for Trump’s removal from office and urging rightwing religious nutters not to support him.

In line with the protection con, Trump has claimed that “there’s a growing totalitarian impulse on the far left that seeks to punish, restrict and even prohibit religious expression.” Wrong — there’s a growing conviction among mainstream lefties that evangelicals’ support of The Beast is beyond despicable. In light of this and in honor of Woody Allen, HE reiterates that if Jesus were to return to earth and see what is going on in his name, he would never stop throwing up.