Day: April 15, 2020

Formerly Known as “Fonzo”

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Poor, dessicated, syphilis-afflicted Al Capone (Tom Hardy) near the end of his life. Plotzing in South Florida (he resided at 93 Palm Avenue in Miami Beach), shuffling around in a bathrobe, sucking on a fat stogie, haunted by his violent past. Capote was only 48 when he died.

Josh Trank‘s film, which began filming two years ago in New Orleans, is now called Capone. Trank directed, wrote and edited. Costars include Linda Cardellini, Matt Dillon, Kyle MacLachlan, Kathrine Narducci, Jack Lowden, Noel Fisher and Tilda Del Toro.

Hardy loves to play grotesques, obsessives, creepy oddballs. The Kray brothers in Legend. John Fitzgerald in The Revenant. Eddie Brick in Venom. Tommy Riordan Conlon in Warrior. The all-but-indecipherable Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. Leo Demidov in Child 44.

Over the last decade I’ve liked three of his performances — building contractor Ivan Locke in Locke (my all-time favorite), Farrier the Spitfire pilot in Dunkirk, and Max Rockatansky in Mad Max: Fury Road.

The “Bump” Has Already Happened

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I own a relatively recent 4K UHD Amazon version of Byron Haskin and George Pal‘s The War of the Worlds (’53). It’s one the most dazzling eye-baths in the history of upmarket restorations of Technicolor classics. Pure dessert. (There’s also a great-looking 4K version on iTunes.)

It was shot by George Barnes, whose dp credits include Spellbound, None But The Lonely Heart, The Bells of St. Mary’s, Samson and Delilah and The Greatest Show on Earth. The poor man died of a heart attack in May 1953, or roughly three months after The War of the Worlds opened in major markets.

I can’t imagine…no one can imagine how the upcoming Criterion Bluray version (July 7, “new 4K digital restoration”) could possibly top the Amazon or iTunes UHD versions. The Criterion disc will look fine, of course, but what’s the point? I’ll be surprised if any half-knowledgable film fanatic calls it a serious bump-level Bluray. It’s not in the cards.

Wait…is Criterion planning to add teal tints?

McCarthy Walks Plank

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As feared and forecasted, The Hollywood Reporter has made some top-level coronavirus staff cuts, and THR‘s chief film critic Todd McCarthy is among the casualties. Once movies and film festivals start happening again (presumably by August if not before) McCarthy would presumably get his gig back. Right?

Longtime veteran McCarthy is one of the most perceptive, eloquent and widely admired film critics in the realm today. Knows everyone and everything, has written books, directed a great doc about cinematography among others, etc.

THR‘s award-season pulsetaker and industry investigator Scott Feinberg has been spared, at least for the time being.

Excerpt of McCarthy statement, posted today at 5:13 pm on Deadline: “A month ago I was surprised, out of nowhere, to get a nice raise. Yesterday I got the boot. By guys I’ve never met. Apparently if you make over a certain amount, you’re suddenly too expensive for the new owners of The Hollywood Reporter, which has recently been reported as losing in the vicinity of $15 million per year. Dozens are being forced to walk the plank. It’s a bloodbath.

“What were the bosses thinking when they gave me a raise last month? What on earth are they thinking now? As I said to The New York Times when I was let go from Variety just over a decade ago, ‘It’s the end of something.’ What the next something is — for everyone is our business — seems less knowable than ever.”

Francis Coppola’s “The Conversation”

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Note: I posted the following because I believe that what “Friendo” said earlier today represents a certain current in the wind right now. Nothing more than that. I don’t share Friendo’s view on the matter, but between he and Joe Rogan this seems to be a bit more than anecdotal chatter.

Friendo: Jill Biden is being reckless. She should really tell her husband to step down from the nomination. She’s assisting in his death sentence.
HE: What are you referring to? Does he have the virus?
Friendo: Biden is going senile. Doesn’t Jill realize that? Does she really want her husband to go through this stressful ordeal? It’s not too late for him to step down and a better candidate to replace him. Imagine a Trump/Biden debate. Biden can’t string a full sentence together. He mumbles and slurs. Trump will eat him alive. America is not blind to this. I don’t understand how some can conceivably see this working out for Biden and the Dems. Biden should step down after he picks his vp and let Kamala or whomever take on Trump head-on.
HE: I would be enormously comforted if Biden were to withdraw and Gavin Newsom or Andrew Cuomo takes his place. I was calling him Droolin’ Joe for months. But there’s no chance Biden withdraws. No chance.
Friendo: Biden’s daily COVID streaming videos are cringe-worthy. And nobody’s paying attention to them. It’s all Trump.
HE: Biden gets in and serves a single term, and delegates wisely and affectively, and then Newsom or Cuomo run in ’24. The idea is to return to decency. I’m fairly to somewhat persuaded that Biden will win in November.

Oscar Night Tip-Off

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Sunday, 2.9.20 feels like a century ago. Nine weeks have actually passed. Imagine yourself at the Neon/Parasite Oscar-viewing party at Soho House. You’ve been there six and a half hours, Bong Joon-ho has won four Oscars (Best Picture, Best Int’l Feature, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay) and the whole party is whoo-whooing and sipping the champagne. You’re thinking BJH probably won’t show until after midnight or even 1 or 2 am, and that hanging around for another three or four hours isn’t worth the exhaustion.

So you say goodnight to some friends and walk down the staircase and step into the elevator. You arrive at the ground-level parking lot floor and suddenly a younger, tuxedo-wearing guy you kind of “know” but whose name escapes smiles and shakes your hand and says “got a minute?” He pulls you over to an empty corner in the parking area. You’re half intrigued. His right hand is resting protectively on your left shoulder as he leans forward and begins to half-whisper the following:

Tuxedo Guy: “This is going to sound weird and maybe even mind-numbing but what I’m about to tell you is God’s honest truth. I can’t tell you how I know but I do. I’m not bullshitting and I wish I was…”
HE: “Okay.”
Tuxedo Guy: (Exhales) “There’s no easy way to say this but in a few weeks’ time your life will all but totally stop. All of us, everyone, the whole thing. Europe, Asia, everywhere. You’ll continue with the column but everything else will stop. No more incomes, no more travelling, no more restaurants, no more socializing, no more screenings or film festivals, no more wandering around Amoeba Records, no more Aero theatre, no more hiking or beach-walking…it’s all going to screech to a halt.”
HE: “That’s the punchline?”
Tuxedo Guy: “It’s real, man.”
HE: “You heard this today?”
Tuxedo Guy: “I know. Believe me. I’m telling you the truth.”
HE: “Caused by what? A nuclear attack?”
Tuxedo Guy: “No bombs, no terror, not a sound. When it happens you’ll be able to hear a pin drop.”
HE: “When what happens?”

Hughes Portrayed As A Tool

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Books, stories and documentaries about Howard Hughes are fascinating, but the two big films about him — Martin Scorsese‘s The Aviator (’04) and Warren Beatty‘s Rules Don’t Apply (’16) — left me (and, I’m presuming, millions of others) disengaged and dispirited. Especially in the case of The Aviator, which may be Scorsese’s least enjoyable film, Cate Blanchett‘s Katharine Hepburn performance aside.

I just re-watched the Beverly Hills plane crash sequence, and I don’t believe a frame of it — every shot is pushed and amplified and CG’ed to a fare-thee-well — visual intensity for its own sake. And for me, Leonardo DiCaprio‘s performance was a whiff — emotionally on-target but otherwise about “acting.” I know Hughes spoke with a flat Midwestern accent and was never mistaken by anyone for an urban sophisticate, but DiCaprio over-channelled the Clem Kadiddlehopper. (His Hughes and Once Upon A Time in Hollywood‘s Rick Dalton are peas in a pod.)

Jason Robards‘ cameo-level performance in Melvin and Howard was the only Hughes I ever liked, and that was 40 years ago.

The bottom line is that The Aviator and Rules Don’t Apply have killed the Hughes legend, certainly among 21st Century movie audiences.

Incidentally: Hughes was born in December 1905. He was 41 when he testified before Congress in 1947 [after the jump]. He looked 51 if a day. By today’s standards he could be 55 or even 60.

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What A Personality!

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Posted five weeks ago — just caught it this morning. Reptile face twitch, mouth flare, cocaine comedown, etc. I honestly haven’t seen this kind of “that’s what you are but what am I?” since I was nine or ten. One of Trump’s best guys. Soldier, mafioso…”fuck you,” “little bitch,” etc. I’d like to know the specifics, but otherwise what an eye-opener.