Day: June 24, 2020

This morning SoCal Edison shut the power off (not just my building but others in the immediate region) in order to install a new telephone pole. I asked a friend if I could use his rear pool house, which has all the comforts — good wifi, a nice TV, a serious bathroom, air-conditioning, etc. “No problem, come on over.”

I was immediately taken by the huge pink flamingo in the pool and the Helmut Newton-ish wooden sculpture. And then I was invited into the kitchen for some interesting chatter and a nice chicken-and-camembert sandwich. The bottom line is that it’s very nice here, but I haven’t gotten much work done.

Two days ago I posted a riff on Jan de Bont‘s Twister. It just, like, came to me out of the blue. I was thinking about the one and only time I saw the 1996 release (at an all-media screening in Westwood), and flirted with idea of watching it again for laughs.

Early this afternoon Variety‘s Justin Kroll reported that Universal Pictures is looking to reboot Twister, and is in negotiations with Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski to direct. Frank Marshall will produce, Kroll said. Uni is “currently meeting with writers to pen the script,” etc.

HE to readership: We all know how this works. I’ll sound like an egotistical blowhard if I demand an associate producer credit, but at the same time it’s a very curious coincidence. I for one suspect that some highly placed Universal hotshot read my piece two days ago and a 75-watt lightbulb went on. In short order Kosinki’s agent was contacted, a deal memo was hastily emailed, discussions with potential screenwriters immediately commenced, etc.

Is it a coincidence that Kroll’s story popped two days after mine? Of course it is! Universal reps, if pressed, will almost certainly claim this, and what could I say? It’s their company, their alleged initiative.

All I know is that the timing of the Kroll story sure seems fishy.

The subject at this Palm Beach County meeting was the wearing of face masks, and the alleged difficulties that humanity’s very own rightwing God might have with them. The stupidity of these anti-mask sentiments is absolutely radiant.

Why are these people being allowed to speak https://t.co/Oh2S0Ggbq9

— Guy Lodge (@GuyLodge) June 24, 2020

Will Smith as “Whipped Peter“?

I’m trying to think of an established, marquee-brand actor of color who would be a worse fit for this role in Antoine Fuqua‘s Emancipation, a fact-based, Civl War-era chase thriller currently being promoted as a Cannes Virtual Market title.

It’s not that the 51-year-old former superstar couldn’t or wouldn’t deliver a respectable performance, but the idea of the loaded, charismatic, alpha-vibey “Will Smith” attempting to merge with the real-life saga of an escaped African American slave, not to mention the subject of an historic photograph that not only showed he’d been horrifically beaten but opened the eyes of the would to the evils of slavery…I’m sorry but I just can’t buy the notion of Smith becoming this guy, no matter how hard he tries or what kind of approach or technique he pulls out of a hat.

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael B. Jordan, Chadwick Boseman, Denzel Washington, Mahershala Ali, Don Cheadle, Samuel L. Jackson, Idris Elbva, Terrence Howard, Jamie Foxx — I could and would buy any one of these guys as “whipped Peter” without the slightest hesitation. But not Smith.

Working from a script by Willam N. Collage, Emancipation will reportedly begin shooting early next year.