Exhibition scholar and aspect-ratio authority Bob Furmanek has posted what appears to be the most fully researched and most definitive study of the aspect ratio changes implemented by the major studios in 1953, a.k.a. “The First Year of Widescreen Production.” The study will “hopefully help to dispel many of the myths associated with this era,” Furmanek writes. He’s done some very good work here and hats off, but it won’t dispel the HE aspect-ratio theology any time soon. Because Furmanek’s work will be used to justify 1.85 and 1.75 aspect ratios for 1950s films on Bluray and Hi-Def streaming, and that is just wrong. The Movie Godz will tell you it’s better to open things up and let the light and space into the frame. Boxy is better and beautiful. The 1.37 version of Sabrina on Vudu is much more captivating than the 1.75 Bluray version that recently popped. For the 167th time, nobody needs to give a shit any more about the fear of television that was motivating the major studios 60 years ago. That was then and this is now. Just throw the research out the window. We can remaster old films any way we want these days. Screening Shane at 1.66 was an abomination, but Furmanek simply reports that it was presented that way in all the big urban theatres without comment. Those who care about this stuff need to wean themselves off history. At the very least alternative versions of ’50s films (1.37 plus 1.66 or 1.75 or 1.85) need to be presented. Free your mind, free your souls, and reject the office-of-Orson Bean-in-Being John Malkovich cropping that Furmanek and his ilk are still pushing for. Remember the triple-aspect-ratio Criterion Bluray of On The Waterfront, and move forward.
Forget Hamill Cameo?
Due respect to J.J. Abrams, but it seems like a terrible idea to cast Mark Hamill in a cameo role in the currently-shooting Star Wars Episode VII. Right now, Hamill looks more like Jabba the Hut than Luke Skywalker, and it’ll just be too great of a shock. Harrison Ford looks like an older-but-still-studly Han Solo and that’s cool, but Hamill looks like a wreck. I’m not chuckling or gloating at this. From Hamill’s Wikipage: “In September 2013, Robert Englund said that Hamill, a longtime friend, was currently working out in the gym. ‘Mark now…they’ve got Mark in the gym, because Mark’s coming back as Luke Skywalker. They’ve got him doing his sit-ups.’ It was previously reported that both Hamill and Fisher had been assigned nutritionists and personal trainers to work with ahead of production.”
Chef Is Deft and Likable
I finally saw Jon Favreau‘s Chef today…one of the last press guys on the planet to do so. (The Wall Street Journal‘s Joe Morgenstern, Salon‘s Andrew O’Hehir and grumpy Lou Lumenick were at the same noon screening.) I had gotten an impression from speaking with Indiewire‘s Eric Kohn that Chef is negligible fluff, but it’s too engaging to be dismissed as such. It’s basically a celebration-of-good-fortune movie…a celebration of perfect, scrumptious art-food (the cooking and serving shots are to-die-for), of clever guy humor and pothole-free narrative charm, of Favreau’s acting and writing skills (as well John Leguizamo and Robert Downey, Jr.‘s)…okay, it’s fluff but it’s very tangy and alive and well-constructed fluff. It never once reached in and got me in that deep-down place, but I never felt the least bit irked or antagonistic toward it. It’s a nice easy cruise, this film. There’s really no substantial reason to put it down with any passion. In fact, Chef is so well crafted and engaging and satisfying that I forgot about the weight issue that I’ve mentioned once or twice. I still say that if Downey had Favreau’s role instead of a cameo, Chef would be that much more engaging. Because it would be. There’s something about a guy with a weight problem that goes against the basic grain of escapism, which is what this movie is basically selling. But I forgot about it. Or at least, it didn’t get in the way. Coming from me, that’s a serious compliment. Cheers also to costars Sofía Vergara, Scarlett Johansson, Oliver Platt, Bobby Cannavale and Dustin Hoffman.
Herman’s Shake-The-Tree Strategy Worked
A second lawsuit filed by a former teenaged “twink” against Bryan Singer was announced yesterday by attorney Jeff Herman. The plaintiff is anonymous and British and younger than the first plaintiff, Michael Egan, as he claims to have been violated at a tender age at a Superman Returns after-party, or eight years ago. A statement reads that the plaintiff has only recently become cognizant of the “psychological and emotional injuries, mental anguish and loss of enjoyment of life” as a result of the alleged sexual abuse. Translation: the plaintiff read about Egan’s lawsuit against Singer and figured he could join in.
Singer has led a libertine life over the past 18 or so years. No one’s disputing that. Perhaps an age-of-consent line was inadvertently crossed once or twice, but powerful Hollywood types have been liberally partaking of sexual opportunities with young, looking-to-break-in partners for a long, long time. It’s how things have operated since the days of the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company and the 1914 release of The Squaw Man. Favor for favor. An industry friend believes that Herman is on to something and that many more plaintiffs will be coming forward once the momentum really starts.
Little Chopper
I haven’t bought a juvenile toy since the kids grew out of it. I don’t think I’ve ever bought one for myself outside of squirt guns. But today I’m seriously thinking of getting a Syma S107 toy helicopter. Tom Risch, an old friend and a renowned inventor (he created Misto, the gourmet olive-oil sprayer) demonstrated the Syma 107 during a dinner last night at his Westport home. Other than that earth-shaking development there isn’t a whole lot to say this morning. I’m in Connecticut, the temperature is on the cool side, etc. (Observational aside: I hate sitting in restaurants and occasionally watching people eat. Especially older folks. Eating is a very unattractive activity from a purely visual standpoint. Every time I watch someone else eat I tell myself to never eat anything other than small portions of fruit, and sparingly.) Maybe I’ll have another look at Ida this afternoon. Dinner with a director friend this evening in Soho.
Meanies & Friendlies
On 4.30 Vocativ.com‘s Adam K. Raymond and Matan Gilat posted a curious, data-based chart of the friendliest and meanest film critics. Curious because it’s based upon Metacritic scores for the 200 biggest-grossing films of the last decade, which kind of narrows things down. The biggest-grossing 21st Century films have tended to be those made, naturally, for the easy lay carbs-and-sugar crowd — young CG-worshipping idiots, conservative-minded families and girly-girls. The chart is therefore calculating which critics have been the friendliest, the most mainstream and most hostile to the biggest corporate megaplex popcorn flicks, for the most part. Reviewing films of this sort is not why most critics got into this line of work, trust me. It’s not what floats their boat. I also can’t trust a chart that suggests that Wall Street Journal critic Joe Morgenstern is the most inclined-to-dismiss. Knowing Morgenstern’s writings as I do, he’s hardly the grouchiest or most dimissive and quick-tempered. Other Metacritic meanies are N.Y. Times critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott, The New Yorker‘s Anthony Lane and N.Y. Post critic Kyle Smith. The top friendlies, according to the chart, include ex-EW critics Owen Gleiberman and Lisa Schwarzbaum, The Oregonian‘s Shawn Levy and The Hollywood Reporter‘s Todd McCarthy.
Not Funny But Decent
Joe Biden looks pretty good and handles himself like a grade-A smoothie. The car is cool. Michelle Obama arguably delivers the best performance. Nancy Pelosi is…she’s fine. I don’t get the John Boehner panda bear gag.
Bloom Is Off Grace Rose
L.A. Times reporter Steven Zeitchik has explained what the Grace of Monaco conflict between Harvey Weinstein and director Olivier Dahan is basically about. Their dispute has resulted in two Graces — a darker French version vs. a somewhat lighter “Harvey Scissorhands” American version. Dahan’s French version will open the Cannes Film Festival, as if anyone cares. I don’t believe that anyone in my realm gives a toss…really. In my head all hopes for Grace of Monaco went south many months ago once the U.S. opening began getting bumped. Everyone smelled trouble, and nobody was all that interested to begin with. DOA, VOD…forget it.
“The Weinstein version of Grace apparently shows Grace Kelly‘s story as a light fairy tale with a strong dose of wish fulfillment,” Zetichik reports. “Dahan and producer Le Pogam have fashioned a more melodramatic account that highlights Kelly’s hardships upon her arrival in the monarchy.” Zeitchik adds that Dahan’s original director’s cut “was far darker than either cut and is no longer in play.”
Here Comes Fatty
Compared to the 1954 original, it’s quite obvious that the new Godzilla in the 5.16 Warner Bros. release is plus-sized. This has been noticed and complained about by Japanese fans. The visual evidence is irrefutable. It’s almost certainly an allusion (subconscious or otherwise) to the obesity levels in this country, which have gone through the roof over the last two or three decades. Are you telling me that designing a fat Godzilla was…what, arbitrary?
Current version in Gareth Edwards’ film
Original model in 1954 Gojira.
The Gambler
TMZ and RadarOnline reported yesterday that on 4.28 Ben Affleck was allegedly banned for life from playing blackjack at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas. Affleck’s crime was counting cards, i.e., “advantage play” and/or “moving his money with the count.” Big deal. What got me was a sentence about “the 41-year-old actor [being] in Las Vegas earlier this week with wife Jennifer Garner so the pair could spend some quality time together before he heads off to Detroit to film the new Batman movie.” If there’s one place a married couple can’t find quality time under any circumstance, it’s Las Vegas. That toxic Vegas vibe I’ve written about several times is based upon attracting the most wasteful, emotionally immature, physically unattractive, spiritually undeveloped people in the universe 24/7. What husband or wife says to the other, “Hey, honey, we need to hit Vegas together so we can settle down and just be with each other and be gentle and intimate and nourish our marriage“?
Sherpa Reach-Out
Last January Everest star Josh Brolin and a 40-member crew shot scenes in Nepal (i.e., at a Mount Everest base camp, local airports and in Kathmandu) before moving on to Pinewood Studios. On 4.18.14, while an Everest second-unit crew was shooting remaining scenes at Camp II on Everest, an avalanche in a nearby area killed at least twelve Sherpa guides. Yesterday Brolin and s.o. Kathryn Boyd mass-mailed the following plea for Sherpa relief. “Any help (even the lowest number available) is greatly appreciated. We have never done this before but having just recently worked with many Sherpas, all of whom knew or were related to those recently killed on Mount Everest, we know this to be a very personal and serious situation. Please give anything you can and feel free to pass this email along to your friends and loved ones. We will make absolutely sure that monies donated will be received by those families directly affected by this tragedy.” Everest will open on 9.18.15.
