Day: April 14, 2023
An Affair Sure to Detonate
Obsession (Netflix, 4.13) is the second filmed adaptation of Josephine Hart‘s “Damage,” a 1991 novel about a self-destructive affair between a British politician and his son’s fiance.
The newbie is a four-parter, and, in my judgment, far less appealing than Louis Malle’s 1992 feature version for the simple reason that Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche, as the doomed lovers, are much more attractive and dynamic that the Netlix duo, played by Richard Armitage and Charlie Murphy.
I don’t especially want to see the latter couple get it on — it’s really that simple. They just don’t have it.
Plus Malle is and was, I gather, a much more gifted and accomplished director than Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sathe, the co-helmers of the Netflix series. That said, I’ll be watching the Netflix just to compare and quibble.
Heartbroken About Having Missed Last Night’s 4K “Rio Bravo” Restoration Screening
Okay, not “heartbroken” but kinda sorry. FOMO’ed. I never really thought there was anything especially irksome or substandard about the 2015 Bluray version, but I love the idea of watching a richer, more vibrant version inside the big Chinese and basking in the whole Hollywood lore of it all (Steven Spielberg, Paul Thomas Anderson, Angie Dickinson).
Rio Bravo was shot in the summer of ’58, and released in April ’59. Russell Harlan‘s lensing used the Technicolor process. A restored Rio Bravo means what…punchier colors and richer black levels? Fine.
Like most invested film buffs I’ve appreciated and respected Rio Bravo for decades, of course, but I’ve never been a panting cultist like Quentin Tarantino. Rio Bravo is one of those oddly over-praised Film Catholic westerns that many if not most of the holy rollers have lost sight of, I suspect, because it’s been a long while since they’ve actually sat down and watched it. The cultists have been chanting and “ohm”-ing for so many years that the rep has overpowered or obscured the actual film.
Plus there’s something a tiny bit deranged about losing your shit over Rio Bravo to begin with. It’s a film about community and character and dependability, but that Ricky Nelson “I’ve Got A Feelin'” vibe gets in the way…that image of a teen idol sitting around the jailhouse with those holstered six-guns and that high-pitched voice of his. I love those Howard Hawks signature bits, but the film never feels truly dependable or genuine in any kind of “this is how it really was back in the Old West” sense. It’s just a comfortable, laid-back, easy-going Hollywood hangout film…a lot of talking, a bit of understatement and not that much shooting.
Plus I’ve always been more of a High Noon guy.
“You’re Not A Kid Anymore”
Bupkis (Peacock, 5.4) feels like The King of Staten Island, Part II…no? Starring and co-written by Pete Davidson…same Staten Island deal. A “heightened, fictionalized version of Davidson’s life”…ditto. Davidson has a strained relationship with his mom (Edie Falco), as his character did with his Staten Island mom, played by Marisa Tomei. He occasionally hangs with a snappy father figure, played in Staten Island by Bill Burr and by Joe Pesci in Bupkis. Girlfriend: “You run away from people who love you,” etc.
Costarring Joe Pesci and guest-starring Bobby Cannavale, Ray Romano, Brad Garrett, Kenan Thompson, Sebastian Stan, Steve Buscemi, Method Man, Jon Stewart and Al Gore.
Who isn’t down for this?
Since When Did Brian Cox Become A “They”?
What am I missing?
Who Spotted This Years or Decades Ago?
I honestly hadn’t noticed it until Facebook‘s Robert Chandler posted about it yesterday. Be honest — don’t “say” you knew all along unless you really did.
Cowardice In The Face of Controversy?
After stating that Woody Allen‘s Coup de Chance had not been officially submitted to the festival, Cannes topper Thierry Fremaux has revealed in a Le Figaro interview (page 33) that he did see it unofficially.
Fremaux also said — this is a real shocker — that even if it had been officially submitted he might have had reservations because showing it would rip the festival apart into pro- and anti-Woody camps.
Fremaux: “The Polanski, we have not seen it. The Woody Allen, it’s a bit special. I saw it without seeing it. The film was not a candidate. We also know that if his film was shown at Cannes controversy would take over the fest, both against him and against the other movies.”
Was this Fremaux conveying what he himself is actually fearful of, or was he sharing the view of the Woody camp? Either way this is flat-out cowardice. The statement essentially says “there will be too many Woody haters attending the festival, and there are serious concerns about the spectacle of the festival being convulsed by Woody hate vs. Woody defenders.”
Imagine if the Cannes Film Festival had voiced similar concerns about showing Michelangelo Antonioni‘s L’Avventura and wimped out? After screening that classic film in May 1960, it drew howls of derision. Ditto, in 1977, Marguerite Duras‘s The Truck (Le Camion) — following the Cannes showing, “Duras stood atop a flight of stairs while a crowd yelled insults at her.” Or Vincent Gallo‘s problematic but certainly brave The Brown Bunny, which screened in Cannes 20 years ago? Or, a year earlier, Gaspar Noe‘s Irreversible, which would almost certainly not be screened now due to squeamishness about the #MeToo community.
And Allen’s film, to judge from earlybird reactions posted by Showbiz 411‘s Roger Friedman and resturateur Keith McNally, is hardly an envelope pusher but a tart and crafty 90-minute noir about infidelity and murder.
Ten years ago Fremaux and the Cannes Film Festival would have been delighted to screen Coup de Chance. Now they’re letting the woke banshees control things, at least in this instqnce.
(Thanks for World of Reel‘s Jordan Ruimy for providing the Le Figaro link.)
