Last Wednesday night, during 'American Idol's commercial break, a TV spot for the new film 'He's Just Not That Into You' aired that contained a very quick 'Beaver shot' so to speak. If you blinked, you may have missed it. A day later, I went to the Internet to find out if I really saw what I thought I saw. The TV spot was nowhere to be found on youtube, only the movie's official trailer, sans Beaver. Interesting? Not really. What I actually thought I saw in the TV spot amidst faces belonging to Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Connolly, Scarlett Johansson, Drew Barrymore, Justin Long and many others was a familiar Canadian face. An actor that I recognized from a lot of commercials as well a short lived sketch comedy show from a few years back. I wanted to figure out if I was right, since it's kind of a big deal to see a local guy that used to get by on commercials in with such a big Hollywood cast, but I had no clue what his name was. The Internet Movie Database has a cast list of about 80 members for this film, over ¾ of which have careers important enough to warrant headshots. I hadn't seen the film, I had no idea what the character's name was or how big of a role he even plays, not that it matters as there's no order to the long list anyway (the bit parts are all listed first with the stars all grouped near the bottom). Plus I didn't even remember the name of the sketch comedy show he was on, and commercial credits are not listed on IMDb. Since I didn't know what I was looking for, I was about to deem the task hopeless and certainly not worthy of the time I had already spent on it. But just before reaching the point of defeat, I thought to myself “I could look for a Canadian- sounding name” whatever that is. I kid you not, less than 2 seconds later my eyes landed on 'Mike Beaver.... Cousin Jay.' I clicked on it and sure enough it was him.
Born in Saint Catherines, Ontario, this Ryerson theatre school alum has actually done a lot more than I had previously given him credit for. He's written two films with Daily Show correspondent Jason Jones. 'Ham and Cheese' in 2004 and 'Cooper's Camera' in 2008. These films also featured Beaver in co-starring roles along with Jones, his fellow Daily show correspondent/ wife Samantha Bee, and David Foley rounding out the Canadian club, probably with a glass of it in his hand most of the time. Beaver can also be seen in 19 episodes of 'Billable Hours' and was a co-founder of the sketch comedy group 'The Bobroom' (IMDb calls this group 'famed' but I found their television show easily forgettable). Okay, so Beaver has popped up in more than just a couple commercials, but it looks like this new film is his first role in something that wasn't shot in Toronto. Even though I've never seen most of his work, he was memorable enough for me to want to find out more about his career. Needless to say, I would have never figured who he was if it weren't for the name association. I hope Mike Beaver's "Northern star" continues to rise with this new movie that I will never see. I will try to see those Canadian films he wrote though.
This video was brought to my attention by my friend Bobbo's blog, one that inspired me to start my own. I probably won't be posting for a couple days, so check out this awesome video, and many others at Action and Action.
While 'Killshot' may not have been playing in Toronto last Friday, The Killers were and I was fortunate enough to catch that show. A lot of people dis this band for being too poppy and mainstream, but I think they deserve respect for writing good songs and putting on a damn good live show. I couldn't stand 'Somebody Told Me' when it first hit the airwaves, but I fell in love with their second single 'Mr. Brightside' when I saw them perform it on SNL, and then seeing them perform 'When You Were Young' at the Brit Awards in 2007 really sold me on the band. Of course that song was from the much acclaimed second record 'Sam's Town' which still stands out as their best.
The only advantage to going to big arena shows like this one are the efforts and money put towards complimenting the music with light shows and pyrotechnics. These were impressive additions, but made me wish I was closer and higher. The highlight of the show was probably 'Mr. Brightside' as there's something about the drive of that song that works so well in a live performance. Brandon Flowers has to have one of the best concert voices I've ever heard. You could really appreciate it on the slower songs like 'A Dustland Fairytale.' They opened with their new single 'Spaceman' which they're currently promoting with this video:
Pretty excessive stuff. I guess part of reaching this level of rock stardom is having the flamboyancy and ego that Flowers seems to have in spades. It seems the band has re-invented themselves with each album thus far, but like I said, these often excessive, sometimes gimmicky personas are what's expected of our rock stars. It's all part and parcel with the design heavy arena shows where people pay hundreds of dollars and want to see something larger than life. This is why I find it hard to picture a group like the Sam Roberts band, who really don't seem as image conscious, doing arena shows, even though they had to add an extra night to their three at The Music Hall last November.
Though it would have been cool to hear a few songs from their b-side compilation 'Sawdust,' the new album-heavy set list combined with the singles of their first two still made for a pretty satisfying concert experience. Here's the full set list:
Spaceman
Losing Touch
Smile Like You Mean It
This Is Your Life
Joy Ride
I Can't Stay
Bling (confessions of a king)
Bones
A Dustland Fairytale
Neon Tiget
Human
Sam's Town
Read My Mind
Mr. Brightside
All These Things That I've Done
Encore:
For Reasons Unknown
Shadowplay
Jenny Was A Friend of Mine
When You Were Young
The Killers have earned their place among the many memorable shows I've attended in the last twelve months. Hopefully soon to join those ranks will be Ben Kweller (Feb. 22) and Bloc Party (March 14).
If you don't know his name or haven't read any of his books, you've probably at least seen a movie adapted from one of them. The 83 year old Elmore Leonard has over 40 novels to his name and almost as many film credits. Starting with westerns in the 1950s, and still going strong with his crime and suspense tales, these stories lend themselves so well to the screen that some have even found their way to celluloid more than once with as many as 50 years between adaptations ('3:10 to Yuma' was made into a film in 1957 and then in 2007, 'The Big Bounce' in '69 then again in '04). Pompous literature types, like Bernard Berkman of 'The Squid and the Whale' may deem Leonard's pulpy work as 'not serious' but they will always acquiesce that he is 'the fillet of the crime genre.' Unfortunately not many adaptations really meet the quality and tone the author presents. The period that really introduced me to the author was the time when, in my not so humble opinion, the best adaptations were being made. These films were 'Get Shorty' (1995), 'Jackie Brown' (1997) and 'Out of Sight' (1998). The latter having one of the coolest cameos of all time when Michael Keaton reprises his role as Ray Nicolette, a character that appears in 'Out of Sight' but plays a much more pivotal role in 'Rum Punch' (aka 'Jackie Brown'). One of the really fun things about getting into Leonard's books is seeing the many characters that crossover between them, with different levels on involvement in each story.
In case you can't tell yet, I'm a bit of a fanboy when it comes to Elmore Leonard. This is why I've been waiting for the release of the film version of 'Killshot', one of my favourite books, for over two years now. With rumors of the adaptation beginning in the late 90's (right after all those good ones I just mentioned), it's had its trials and tribulations, even after holding initial screenings in July 2006. You would think a movie produced by Tarantino, directed by John Madden ('Shakespeare in Love' not 'Monday Night Football), starring Mickey Rourke (as an Indian hitman), Joseph Gordon Levitt (as his crazy sidekick), Thomas Jane and Diane Lane (as a hot married couple being terrorized by the hitmen) wouldn't have its release date pushed back so many times. At one point it was even going to be a straight to DVD release. I gather the test screenings didn't go well, so they've been re-shooting and re-editing. All I've ever known about this film has been the changing details I see on the Internet Movie Database (imdb) whenever I check on it from time to time. I'm not sure when I had looked last before yesterday, but I have no idea when it got a January 23, 2009 release date (last Friday). I have not heard word one about its release or seen a single ad in place, but here's the trailer I found last night:
I can only presume they made a last minute decision to give it a quick and dirty release in time to capitalize on Mickey Rourke's 'Wrestler' hype. Right now it is only a limited USA release with no word on a Canadian release date yet. This is unfortunate, as much of the shooting was done here (and in Detroit). I can't wait to see if they actually shot at The Silver Dollar, a real Toronto location where we first meet Rourke's character in the book. In the years prior to production, other actors rumored for that role were Robert DeNiro and Viggo Mortenson, with Quentin Tarantino or Justin Timberlake as the sidekick. Though it would have been cool to see Viggo in that role, I've always thought the casting they went with was pretty good. Even though his name and face appear in the trailer, Johnny Knoxville is no longer listed in the cast on imdb. I read his role is one of the things that confused test audiences, but why would he still be in the trailer if he was cut out? Maybe one day I'll actually see this movie and it will all make sense. I haven't had to wait this long since 'Tideland.'
other recent Leonard adaptations.
Sparks (2009)
'Killshot's Joseph Gordon Levitt is currently making his filmmaker debut at Sundance with his adaptation of the short story 'Sparks' from Leonard's compilation 'When the Women Come Out To Dance.' I re-read it when I heard about this, and to be honest, I think the story is a little dull. The short film stars Eric Stoltz as an insurance investigator and Carla Gugino as a celebrity widow suspected of arson. Levitt is seen below at the film festival in a picture (courtesy of Craig Macrae) with girlfriend (?) and actress (?) Zooey Deschanel, who's father was the cinematographer on 'Killshot,' and has worked with some of the best in Hollywood, including John Cassavetes. Zooey's mother was an actor on 'Twin Peaks'... I wish I knew all these people.
The Tonto Woman (2007)
Another short film based on a short story, this one was nominated for an Oscar last year. The Academy and/ or the film companies need to get their shit together and figure out a way to make the nominated short subject films more accessible to the public.
Freaky Deaky (2010)
I was fortunate enough to meet Elmore Leonard when he was promoting 'Be Cool,' his follow-up to 'Get Shorty.' I inquired about a story I had read about Quentin Tarantino getting caught shoplifting a Leonard book when younger, and asked if the author knew which one it was. Apparently it was 'Freaky Deaky' the very same book I was having the author sign, and what the story didn't print was that Quentin went back and was successful in his second attempt. I've since done some research and deduced that Quentin was about 25 when this book came out, and though it would still be 4 years 'til his first film credit, it's a little less innocent when it's a grown man stealing and not the pre-teen I was originally imagining. All this to say that this is another one of my favourites soon to join Leonard's film canon. This one involves 60's radicals and bombs.
Tishomingo Blues (?)
This was listed as 'in pre-production' for a while on imdb, with Matthew McConaughey starring and Don Cheadle directing and co-starring. McConaughey would be perfect as the ex-stunt man turned high dive performer at a Casino. The third act of the story unfolds during a civil war re-enactment, these old-meeting-new themes made it feel like instant vintage Leonard, though the book only came out in 2002. It's too bad that it appears plans for this movie have been scrapped, it looked promising.
Elmore Leonard's next book 'Road Dogs' comes out May 2009.
Released on DVD this week was 'Repo: The Genetic Opera.' This film hardly seemed to have any press when it was first released. In fact, I would have never known about it if it weren't for The Bloor cinema (refer to 'Toronto is Godless' posting below) when they were advertising their upcoming run of the film (to my knowledge the only theater in Toronto to even show it outside of a festival program). Even though key descriptives like 'goth musical' or 'from the Director of Saw II-IV' wouldn't normally catch my attention, the trailer did.
The story was originally a play mounted in New York and L.A. Darren Lynn Bousman had directed a stage version in 2001 before cutting a ten minute trailer to pitch it as a film. The existence of this cool trailer proves it was a successful pitch. Unfortunately I wasn't in town for The Bloor's first run of the film in November, but I did catch it on its second run a few weeks ago. Now, normally for something to obtain 'cult' status it needs to fail upon its initial release and be dubbed thus after some time has passed for it to gather a loyal following, but there's no other word to describe what has happened with this film. I went to a matinee screening, but had I known what was happening at the evening show, I would have rearranged my schedule. The Bloor was hosting the world's first shadow cast of 'Repo.' This is where a fully costumed cast of characters re-enact the film onstage, in real time as it screens. I always associate this with 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' of which The Bloor hosts shadow casts monthly. But keep in mind, the DVD was just released this week, which means that these dedicated fans are going from memory of however many times they saw the film in theatres (as I write this I recognize my naivety with regards to the downloading options, but I'm still confident we're dealing with multiple cinema presentation attendees here). For the occasion, one of the film's stars and co-creators Terrence Zdunich was flying into town for a Q and A following the shadow cast.
Well I missed that, but in retrospect, it's probably not the best way to see a film for the first time anyway. I did however see some of the elaborate make up and costumes, as well as the surprising line-up forming early for the event. Though I knew there was no way I would like it as much as the trailer, the film definitely had some good stuff in it. What I enjoyed most was the dark humour of it. Paris Hilton was well cast; her part has little acting required and benefits from her persona, as she is 'addicted to the knife' (plastic surgery), which has ironic consequences. My mistake was not taking the 'Opera' part of the title literally, as there is no spoken dialogue, which I find off-putting at times, particularly when coming from non-singers like Paul Sorvino. The third act Opera staged within the film is a great way to complete the theme though. Overall, a pretty cool affair, though certainly not for everyone. I'm not surprised those that like it, really like it. It will be interesting to see if the almost oxymoronic claim of the "instant cult classic" holds with time.
Two of America's least liked presidents were portrayed in Hollywood films this year with much liked performances. A day after one left office, the other gets a Best Picture nomination. Coincidence? Yes.
So my question to David Frost is how long do we have to wait for 'Frost/ W.' ? I know that won't happen for many reasons. One being that Bush doesn't really have much to admit. Unlike Nixon, the recent ex-president was making his mistakes publicly and operating on "bad intelligence." Another reason being that Nixon agreed to the interview primarily for the big paycheck, whereas Bush is probably far from exhausting his recession rations yet.
But back to the Oscars; years of perfecting the role in the stage version payed off for Frank Langella who was nominated for his excellent Dick (Nixon). I think Josh Brolin deserved a nomination for his spot-on Bush, even if the film was kind of weak. I thought both of these performances were far better than the over-hyped, steroid popping Micky Rourke. Brolin did get nominated in the supporting actor category for 'Milk' which I have yet to see. Seriously, when the hell did the older brother from 'Goonies' become such a good actor? I hadn't seen him in much else 'til his star suddenly skyrocketed to the top of the A-list in 2007. I looked at his filmography and he actually has been working pretty steadily all along, with supporting roles in b-movies. I recognized some of the titles, but couldn't tell you who directed any of them. In the last couple years, he's worked with Robert Rodriguez, the Coen brothers, Ridley Scott, Oliver Stone, Gus Van Sant and Paul Haggis. All high profile films with meaty roles that Brolin pulls off well.
Anyway, Brolin is competing with Robert Downey Jr. for his role in 'Tropic Thunder.' This was one of the two surprises from the predictable as usual nominations, but it doesn't matter because Heath Ledger will win. The other surprise was Richard Jenkins in the best actor category for a film called 'The Visitor' which I hadn't heard of until today, but sounds pretty good. I think this was the only nominee in a major category who wasn't already nominated for a Golden Globe last month.
Did you know that the Academy Awards were started just as a way to market films? Did you know that Academy is made up of the same people making these films? This is why it's easy for them to ensure that most of the nominated films are still in theaters during the lead up to the ceremonies. We are in the midst of “Award Season” that conveniently begins just in time for Christmas, when we get all the films the studios know will win awards released at once. In fact I believe that the fan favourite summer blockbusters ('Wall-E' and 'The Dark Knight') were likely excluded from the best picture category in place of ones that are still in theatres (all 5). Most of these films are what I call 'pandering,' the worst offender being 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.' This is a not so short film inspired by an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story and adapted for the screen by Eric Roth, the same man that provided that service for 'Forrest Gump.' Please watch.
Now we can add 'most nominated film of the year' to the list of reasons why Benjamin Button is Forrest Gump re-hashed. I'd say the least deserving of these nominations would be the aforementioned scribe followed closely by Brad Pitt for his non-performance, but it doesn't matter because Mickey Rourke will win.
For any Jazz buffs who had their interest aroused by the headline, there will not be anything in this posting pertaining to the famous Miles Davis record. What the title actually refers to is Orson Welles' artistic love affair with the country he's buried in. This often eccentric, multi-talented man had several high profile yet unrealized projects at the time of his death, most notorious of which is probably his adaptation of Don Quixote. I believe he shot in Spain intermittently throughout most of the 1950s and 60s, piecemealing footage as budget and schedules allowed. After his lead actor died in 1969, it's said that Welles spent the next decade trying to put together a cut of the film from what they had. As if this film wasn't already plagued enough, apparently much of the work he did with these subsequent edits was somehow lost as well.
In 1992 however, seven years after Welles' death, the second unit director (Jess Franco) released an incomplete version of this film. I'm not sure what format it was released in (laserdisc?) or what region (Europe?) because few have ever seen it. Even when North America had a DVD version of this cut released last fall, it was still very difficult to find. When I asked for it for Christmas, I received an appropriate substitute called 'Les Bravades.' This is a book of artwork Welles put together in 1956 inspired by a annual festival celebrating St. - Tropez's saint's day. His drawings and paintings were put to a few words as a retelling and gift for his daughter Rebecca. The morality of her then selling it to a book company is not for me to judge, especially as I'm now reaping (and sharing) some of the rewards.Now, embarrassingly enough, when I first began this writing, I believed St.- Tropez to be in Spain, which would have tied this whole entry together perfectly. But it's in France, another favourite European hang out of the director. I was quite disappointed at this discovery, particularly how it voided my once clever headline. I almost abandoned the whole thing, but instead I decided to not leave it unfinished like so many Quixote films.
I was eventually able to get a copy of the DVD and it was an even rougher cut than I had anticipated. It was comparable to looking at sketches of what Welles wanted from this project (see where I'm going with this?). The sound was particularly alienating, as there was no location sound, very few sound effects, and characters voiced by several noticeably different actors. He doesn't go very far beyond the very basic elements of the book and includes several anachronistic divergences with modern day. The longest of which comes in the third act and involves Sancho Panza stumbling around a city looking for the director of a Don Quixote film he saw on television (Welles as himself), this footage is cut together with an actual running of the bulls ceremony. Although this unfinished film is a challenging view at times, it's certainly a fertile document for those interested in Welles' life work and different interpretations of Cervantes' famous story.Now I have to mention our own modern day Welles/ Quixote figure, Terry Gilliam, as it was reported this week that he has reclaimed his “Man who Killed Don Quixote” script from the insurance company that seized ownership once production fell apart almost a decade ago. This was well documented in the 2002 film “Lost in La Mancha.” Like Welles' version, this script also has a modern day element, as I believe the protagonist is an ad agent who travels back in time to Quixote's era. With so many events and characters in the Don Quixote source material (there were actually 2 books), it's a wonder that almost every interpretation seems to shed most of these other than the windmill incident and several other insignificant plot points. One event I'd like to see portrayed is Sancho Panza being tossed up and down in a blanket as retribution for Don Quixote refusing to pay an innkeeper. The squire is humiliated by this and brings it up often throughout the rest of the story. But to include everything that happens within the history of this Knight of rueful countenance would be beyond the scope of any film, so I'll settle for these creative re-imaginings and modern day twists from some of the finest artists to commit their visions to film.
As a side note, I've never seen the famed musical “Man of La Mancha” or the 2000 TV version starring John Lithgow and Bob Hoskins, but I'm not sure I want to.
