Someone asked last night what the most widely-shared statement might be among families or roommates, regardless of country, culture or economic station. Something that people say every day to others living under the same roof, millions of times daily, in every corner of the globe. And I said that the most common one of all might be “I wouldn’t go in there if I were you.”

My father taught me long ago by example that adulthood was a fairly grim calling — a state of mind that allowed for very little joy or spontaneity, that was mainly about duty and drudgery and — although he’s been in AA since the mid ’70s — a fair amount of drinking on weeknights and weekends. So I’ve been fairly averse to the idea of fulfilling my father’s idea of adulthood for most of my life.

from Adam Sandler’s You Don’t Mess With the Zohan

But sometimes I feel as if the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction, as N.Y. Times critic A.O. Scott points out in this piece about perpetual male adolesence as exemplifed by Adam Sandler‘s screen roles.
Adam Sandler, who will turn 42 on September 9th, “did not invent the archetype of the overgrown man-child, which has been around at least since the silent era,” Scott writes. “Nor has [he] been alone, over the past 15 years or so, in turning male infantile aggression into the basis of a lucrative and long-running movie career. The male rejection of adulthood is now the dominant attitude in Hollywood comedy, even (or perhaps especially) in movies whose sexual frankness makes them officially unsuitable for children.
“Occasionally you will see a functioning if beleaguered dad, usually a widower, like Steve Carell’s character in Dan in Real Life. And sometimes, as in Little Miss Sunshine, a coeducational, multigenerational ensemble will carry the therapeutic and satirical burdens of the genre. But far more often the center of attention will be a guy, his buddies and his toys. He will, most of the time, be nudged toward responsibility, forgiven for his quirks and nurtured in his needs and neuroses by a woman who represents an ideal amalgam of supermodel and mom.
“It would be hypocritical of me to dismiss the appeal of this fantasy and silly to deny that a lot of these movies manage to be both very funny and disarmingly insightful about the male psyche. But I suspect I’m not alone in growing weary of the relentless contemplation of that psyche in its infantile state, and of the endless celebration of arrested development as a social entitlement.”

“Working in a self-consciously quirky key that owes a strong debt to Wes Anderson‘s Rushmore, [director Garth] Jennings keeps his busy pieces in harmonious play, creating a miniaturized world as detailed, painstakingly determined and insulated as an ant farm. He crams the frame with bright colors and comic bits of business; tosses in an interloper, a French Billy Idol called Didier (Jules Sitruk); and makes room for the occasional melancholic stretch. And although the film√ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨√¢‚Äû¬¢s visual style feels more borrowed than organic, there√ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨√¢‚Äû¬¢s enough truth to [the lead characters’] actions — and to the uninflected, touching performances of the two young leads — to keep the film humming along, even when Mr. Jennings veers into sentimentality and lets one too many tear drop.” — from Manohla Dargis‘ N.Y. Times 5.2 review of Son of Rambow.

It’s not on Amazon.com as we speak, but there’s an unusual-sounding book by Chicago Sun-Times columnist Cathleen Falsani arriving in the spring of ’09 called The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers. It will look at the “serious existential and theological questions using the dark, intelligent humor and epic storytelling that have been their trademarks in more than a dozen films during the past 25 years.”

Cathleeen Falsani; Joel and Ethan Coen

I’ve never detected any theological questions from the Coen brothers movies whatsover — only conclusions. These guys see the world as a fairly dark and unforgiving place, redeemed only by random glimpses of beauty, occasional moments of compassion and serendipity and all that other catch-as-catch-can existential stuff that can brighten the day of even a Walter or Madman Mundt or an Anton Chigurh.
The Dude Abides “will be a chronological examination of the Coen brothers’ oeuvre — every film they have directed together, as well as the films for which they have written original screenplays and those they have adapted from
existing material,” the copy says. “Falsani will investigate the theological, mythological, moral, ethical, religious and philosophical content and what their overarching message — their Gospel — might be.”
The Coen brothers’ gospel is that life is shit except when it’s not, and that it’s almost always fascinating or even heart-stopping to watch and listen to and experience.

It’s mostly the title, which says exactly what’s happening right now. The tone doesn’t feel right, though — good-bad Star Wars mythology argues with the complex and malevolent unfoldings of this campaign. Even without this, someone should have taken the time to refine the facial-pasting a bit more.

I finally heard from someone about the Picturehouse/ Warner Independent situation. A story posted Thursday evening by Variety‘s Anne Thompson said that Picturehouse topper Bob Berney and Warner Independent chief Polly Cohen are “likely” to accept a bicoastal power-sharing arrangement that will preside over a merged operation. Then I heard this morning Berney “is leaving Picturehouse.”
Now I’ve been told by someone very close to things that the latter scenario is not true. Berney has “been open to Warner Bros. proposals, but they actually haven’t made any real decisions yet on how much they want to be in this ‘indie’ part of the business.” They haven’t made any real decisions? In my experience that means they’ve made a decision but lack the character to express it…no? “So this thing may drag on for some time,” the insider comments. Okay, good enough…and thanks.
From: Hollywood Elsewhere [mailto:gruver1@gmail.com]

E-Film Critic’s Eric Childress is wondering why Paramount is using Iron Man quotes from the relentlessly elastic and seducable Peter Travers along with old-time accomodators like Jeffrey Lyons and Gene Shalit plus Moviemantz‘s Scott Mantz. “Couldn’t find anyone better than that, Paramount? Seriously? You may not wanted to associate your superhero flick with the online geek sites, but at least some of them write more than just dumb-dumb phrases like Lyons and Shalit.”

Iron Man did $37.9 million yesterday, and is on track to finish Sunday night with $93.9 million. (This presumably includes Thursday night’s business.) Made of Honor is projecting $15.5 million for the weekend, and Baby Mama will come in third with $10.3 million — off 41%, a not-great-but-decent hold. Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo will be fourth with $6.4 million. And Forgetting Sarah Marshall with come in fifth with $6.2 million.

Forbidden Kingdom will make almost $4 million. Nim’s Island will be seventh with $2.7 million. Prom Night will finish with $2.4 million, 21 will make $2 million even. 88 Minutes, the Al Pacino embarassment, will make $1.7 million, but it’ll also have a cume of $15.4 million by Sunday night. There are many superior indie films out there that would be delighted to make one third of that amount, all in.

Penn Jillette rambles for over seven minutes in order to deliver a cynical suspicion — i.e., that the Obama-Wright relationship might have ended due to a deliberate scheme. Please. Obama’s dad left when he was two, and Wright filled that vacuum when Obama came of age in his mid 20s, and family is family.
Americans always vote over character issues and they don’t get the hold that fathers have over their sons? You don’t need a master’s degree to suss this stuff out, but a lot of baboons out there are still hung up on why Obama stayed with Wright for as long as he did.
How many guys out there have cut ties with their dads because their political beliefs aren’t in synch with his, or because his views on this or that are extreme or perverse or impossibly retrograde? Not one. If your father’s philosophy is asinine or astonishing, you might argue a bit once in a while but you always let it go after four or five minutes of pointless debate because his jerkweed beliefs are set in stone. You suck it in and change the subject and say “please pass the mashed potatoes.” Anyone who says they don’t play it this way is a liar.
There’s also this view from Chicago Tribune reporters Christi Parsons and Manya A. Brachear:
“In Chicago, the choice to attend [Rev. Wright’s] Trinity for so long is a little less of a puzzle, given Obama and Wright’s shared history on the city’s South Side and the spiritual and cultural haven the church and pastor offered the aspiring politician.
“Membership at Trinity is often taken as a progressive credential, a sign that a person is attuned to issues of social justice and equality and supportive of issues important to its gay and lesbian members.
“‘Rev. Wright is more sophisticated intellectually than many pastors,’ said Kwame Raoul, the state senator who took Obama’s place in the Illinois legislature and who is a member at Trinity. ‘He’s well-read, he takes the theology seriously. He doesn’t just make quick references to the Bible but offers a very deep analysis and an application to current events.’
“In an interview in early 2007, Obama said Wright had affected his politics by nurturing his connection to the historically black church and how he understands the obligations of his faith.
“‘He’s been somebody who has helped me feel comfortable with some of my doubts when it comes to faith and how to work those through,’ Obama said at the time. ‘His scholarship is very rigorous, and his sense of social justice is very keen.'”

Most of the hardcores will have seen Iron Man by late this evening. I agreed two or three days ago that it’s a pretty decent ride and that Downey’s performance is as good as it gets with this kind of thing, but I’d like someone to explain to me why it’s so damn great. I know it’s not. Anyone who comes out of this thing doing cartwheels has a need to express him/herself along these lines.

Some TV commentators’ insistence on staying with the Rev. Wright clamor despite Barack Obama having totally put that issue to bed earlier this week has been making me more and more angry. I’ve been thinking about tapping out something that makes more or less the same points as this 5.2 piece by Huffington Post contributor R.J. Eskow, but I may as well just link to it. Says it just right.
“Suppose a small group of people controlled the press, and they wanted to ensure a Republican victory in November,” Eskow begins. “If this group were to write a memo to the media, what would it say? (1) Extend the Democratic primary race as long as possible; (2) Remind the public that the seemingly ‘post-racial’ Obama is a black man, [and] make him seem as scary-black as possible; (3) Strengthen Hillary Clinton‘s image with white working-class voters by making her appear populist, folksy, and one of them. Conversely, characterize Obama as an elitist who is out of touch with ‘real people’; (4) Break down Obama’s post-partisan appeal to independents and Republicans by linking him to the divisive left/right politics of the 1960s. Bingo — mission accomplished!”
Of course, you need to be an under-educated dumb-ass prole to be swayed by this horseshit to begin with. But this country has plenty of those.
This 4.29 Bob Cesca Huffington Post piece says almost the same thing.