Day: April 20, 2021

Fattycakes

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From the very get-go (i.e., from the time I saw the very first trailer) my basic Mank feeling was that however accomplished the film might be as a whole, 63 year-old Gary Oldman is too old and too fat to be playing a guy in his mid 40s who was not Oliver Hardy-sized. And I hated the floppy haircut with the nine-inch locks.

Herewith a director speaking to Indiewire‘s Anne Thompson about Oscar preferences:

“Oldman was too old to be in Mank. If he was playing this 20 years ago, great. But there’s something a bit weird, when watching the scene with Tuppence Middleton putting him to bed drunk and pulling off his pants — that’s his wife? She’s [34], Oldman is [63]…is she supposed to be a young wife? It turns out she was the same age as Mank. Why not cast an older actress to play Oldman’s wife?

“Things like that distract from the craft and great performances in that movie. It would have been better with someone else playing that part. He’s an incredible actor, but there’s nothing in the movie to explain why he’s 20 years older.”

Over Much Too Quickly

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Respect and salutations for the late Monte Hellman, a ’60s-era Roger Corman protege who went on to become a formidable director of (a) Warren Oates, (b) the legendary Two-Lane Blacktop (’71), (c) a couple of acid westerns — The Shooting, Ride in the Whirlwind, (d) Cockfighter, (e) the Italian-lensed China 9, Liberty 37 and (f) the Steven Gaydos-penned Road to Nowhere.

Hellman served as editor on Corman’s The Wild Angels (’66), Bob Rafelson‘s Head (’68), Sam Peckinpah‘s The Killer Elite (’75) and Jonathan Demme’s Fighting Mad (’76). Hellman also was an exec producer on Quentin Tarantino‘s Reservoir Dogs (’92).

Hugs and condolences to Hellman’s friends, colleagues, fans and family. He was 91 — born on 7.12.29.

“Yo…Donnie Brasco!”

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The Many Saints of Newark, which allegedly deals with racial relations between Newark-residing Italian-Americans and Blacks in the late ’60s, has been delayed so often it looks like up to me. But this is the kind of undercurrent-of-tension scene I’d love to see more of. Saints began filming on 4.3.19, and was initially slated to open on 9.25.20, even with Covid. But re-shoots happened, and then it was bumped to 3.12.21. And then again to 9.24.21. Apparently there’s a degree of faith in award-season contention. It’ll open simultaneously in theatres and on HBO Max.

Not A Big Thing

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I didn’t realize this at first, but now I do. When I noticed in a recent Mare of Easttown trailer that Kate Winslet‘s “Mare Sheehan” character was limping like Dustin Hoffman‘s Ratso Rizzo character, I subconsciously decided that I was less interested in catching this seven-episode series. This doesn’t mean I was uninterested — just that I didn’t feel a great urgency. I intend to watch episode #1 (“Miss Lady Hawk Herself“) this evening and go from there. Presumably the HE community has already given it a looksee.

Great Phrase — “Horrible Town Car Parade”

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Alissa Walker, the urbanism editor at Curbed.com, to THR‘s Kirsten Chuba: “It just seems like [Oscar night at Union Station will be] one of those nights where it’s going to be hugely chaotic. It would be worth it if at least more celebrities took the train to the event, a promise to take transit in solidarity with transit riders.

“Otherwise you’re just going to have this horrible town car parade of people trying to come up to a train station, which is just so comical. It gives us another great reason to make fun of Los Angeles.”

Things Are Different Now

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“Perhaps in one sense this guilty verdict will be remembered as the inverse of another landmark verdict — in O.J. Simpson’s 1995 murder trial. When O.J. was found not guilty in 1995, public response split along racial lines. The reaction to today’s decision, by contrast, could be fairly unified — a largely shared feeling of relief that justice has been done. After all, the protests after the killing of George Floyd last summer had broad public support.” — N.Y. Times‘ Emily Bazelon, posted around 2:20 pm Pacific.

“At George Floyd Square, the memorial to where Floyd was killed, a woman nearly collapses in tears. When she straightens, she manages to croak out, ‘We matter. We matter.” — N.Y. Times‘ Shaila Dewan.

Words in Passing

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From “Scott Rudin ‘Stepping Back’ From Film, Streaming Work Due to Abuse Allegations,” a 4.20 Variety story by Brent Lang and Matt Donnelly:

“Rudin is one of the most successful producers in entertainment history, having won an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy, and 17 Tony Awards. His films include No Country for Old Men, The Social Network, Lady Bird, The Firm and The Truman Show. He was still active in the prestige space, recently acquiring the rights to the best-seller ‘Shuggie Bain,’ but no longer had the major studio support that he once enjoyed.

“Tastes [have] shifted from the pedigreed dramas and comedies that Rudin preferred to make in favor of superhero fare, though he’s continued to work regularly.”

Rephrasing: “Taste in movies has shifted from movies written and directed by the Coen Brothers, David Fincher, Greta Gerwig, Sydney Pollack and Peter Weir to blow-the-doors-off popcorn fare directed by Zack Snyder, James Gunn, Taika Waititi, Jon Favreau, Adam Wingard, Ryan Coogler, etc.”

HE reaction: Stab me in my carotid arteries with a pen knife.

We Want You Out

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Variety‘s Matt Donnelly and Brent Lang are reporting that Searchlight co-chairpersons Nancy Utley and Stephen Gilula are “retiring” — i.e., have been shown the door by Disney management.

Another way to put it is that Gilula and Utley have been whacked like Joe Pesci‘s “Tommy” in Goodfellas. Disney management comment: “And that’s that. We had a problem, and there wasn’t nothin’ we could do about it.”

Gilula-Utley will be replaced by David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield, who are now co-presidents. They will report to Disney Studios Content chairman Alan Bergman and chief creative officer Alan Horn. Disney purchased Searchlight as part of its 2019 deal for the Murdoch family’s entertainment assets.

Excerpt from 1.14.20 interview with Gilula by Box Office Plus‘s Kevin Lally:

Intro: Much of the credit for Fox Searchlight’s remarkable performance must go to Gilula and Utley, co-chairmen of the studio since July 2018. Twenty-year veterans of the company, they were named presidents in 2009, succeeding Peter Rice, who took the helm in 2000. Now they’ve entered a new era with Disney’s acquisition of Fox this past March. Gilula, a former exhibitor who co-founded Landmark Theatres, recently took time out of his busy schedule to talk about Searchlight’s latest chapter and its highly successful run.

Lally: Here we are, nine months into the merger with Disney. Can you give me a status report on how things are going and what has changed?

Gilula: Well, the status report is all signs are really positive. It’s been really quite good. At a top-line level, as far as the kinds of movies we’re making and acquiring and how we’re releasing them, there’s a hundred percent unequivocal support. What was represented to us in the year-plus before the deal closed has all come true—everything that Disney indicated that they liked about Searchlight they want us to continue.”

HE comment: Either things suddenly changed or Gilula, not surprisingly, was wearing a “political” hat when he spoke to Lally.

Gilula: On the practical side, the logistical and organizational side, as with any merger we’re working through all the bureaucratic and administrative things in terms of policies that we operate under. But the core business of the kinds of movies we make, how we release them, and what our campaigns are, we have full support and we continue to have the same independence that we had under Fox. So that’s been fantastic.”

HE comment: I think it’s fantastic that things were so “fantastic” 14 months ago.

Bergman and Horn statement to Variety about the booting of Gillula and Utley: “Thanks to the stewardship and pitch-perfect creative instincts of Steve Gilula and Nancy Utley, Searchlight has cemented itself as one of the finest film studios in history, and we commend and thank them for their incredible leadership, especially throughout the integration of Searchlight at Disney. They are leaving the studio in the talented hands of Matthew Greenfield and David Greenbaum, who have been a critical part of Searchlight’s success over many years and we’re confident they will continue to set a course that keeps Searchlight on the industry’s leading edge.”

HE comment: Whatever prompted Disney to eject Giulula and Utley, Bergman and Horn aren’t inclined to share at this point in time. They felt a certain rapport with Greenfield and Greenbaum that was lacking with Gilula-Utley?