gdp's Comments

Big Hollywood : 84th Academy Awards Open Thread

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 04:50:54 +0000

At least Meryl Streep knew what the entire country was thinking about her when she won. Insufferable - that's what the Oscars broadcast has become. A breezy three hours that felt like five, with no winners the actual, paying customers of these self-important a-holes give a damn about. I'm, like, moderately happy for Octavia Spencer, and that's about it. The rest is a giant sucking bowl of who cares.

Big Journalism : Blaming Grassroots for the Failure of Inevitability

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:27:05 +0000

As an aside, it's always nice when your opposing, though innocuous, comments get deleted for moderation here. I guess an echo chamber feel is what Big Journalism must be going for, then. Pretty sad.

Big Journalism : Shorter John Ziegler: 'That Crazy Tea Party Will Ruin America'

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:14:36 +0000

I can see your point. Me, I think Ziegler is a guy who's pretty much unfiltered, and that sometimes comes across in childish and even self-destructive ways.

Big Hollywood : Spike Lee Blasts Media for Glorifying Gangsters, Tells Blacks to Embrace Education

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:19:09 +0000

Not that I can recall, although I may not have seen every single movie Spike Lee's ever made. Closest I can think of is Do the Right Thing, which doesn't glorify gangsters or gang violence, but could be interpreted as to advocate civil unrest. Lee doesn't generally make movies about gangbangers and what-not - it isn't really what he's known for. While there has been the occasional gangster in Lee's films, they're usually portrayed as villains or fools - not someone to look up to.

Big Hollywood : Spike Lee Blasts Media for Glorifying Gangsters, Tells Blacks to Embrace Education

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:15:27 +0000

Not really, no. In fact, some films of Lee's like Jungle Fever for example, do a pretty good job of showing the downside of drug use. I can't image anyone wanting to smoke crack after seeing that. Clockers is another one I can think of off-hand that shows the dangers of gang life. He's also made films like Crooklyn, which show the positives of having at least one strong parent in the household. Lee's comments aren't at odds with the kind of films he's made, in my opinion.

Big Hollywood : Marvel Studios Now Making the Lazy Comic Cash-Ins It Was Founded to Replace

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 22:47:45 +0000

Yeah, I've never quite gotten the hate for Iron Man 2 either. It's not as good as the first film, but considering its shortened production/release time, and the number of balls it had to juggle to keep the Marvel Film Universe up in the air, it's still a solid piece of entertainment. I very much liked what both Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell brought to their characters, ScarJo made a decent little subplot addition, Favreau expanded his own character to comedic effect, and Downey Jr. was as charming as always. The initial critics' reviews were also mostly positive. Somewhere along the way, though, online fanboy b*tching about this detail or that seems to have tainted the whole film to the point where most seem to dismiss it as a giant POS now, like the above reviewer. It's clearly not - I'd have killed for a comic book movie as good as Iron Man 2 back in the quality wasteland of the '80s. I thought Captain America and Thor were pretty good, too. Thor, in particular, had to have been an extremely difficult character to adapt, so the fact that Marvel pulled it off at all says something. Heck, many predicted Thor was going to be a box office bomb, and it went on to be the biggest comic book movie of the summer - $450 million worldwide. Not too shabby for a B-list character. Mr. Leeman is clearly off his meds, or something.

Big Hollywood : Oscar Nominations Announced: 'Hugo’ Leads with 11, ‘The Artist’ 10, ‘Moneyball’ and ‘War

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:43:01 +0000

That's what The Departed winning was for. 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, so I'm not sure which reviews you've been reading. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hugo/

Big Hollywood : Oscar Nominations Announced: 'Hugo’ Leads with 11, ‘The Artist’ 10, ‘Moneyball’ and ‘War

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:54:23 +0000

I respect Malick, and I'm glad he seems to have found his filmmaking mojo again, but his recent films - while beautiful to look at - haven't really connected with me. That said, it wouldn't surprise me if he won for his overall career, and how admired he is by people in the industry. I don't know if I see The Tree of Life winning top prize, though, so an award would have to split with Best Picture. Hugo or The Artist I could conceivably see winning Best Picture.

Big Hollywood : Oscar Nominations Announced: 'Hugo’ Leads with 11, ‘The Artist’ 10, ‘Moneyball’ and ‘War

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:20:48 +0000

I'm actually pulling for Alexander Payne, just for a having an almost perfect track record of quality films under his belt. If it becomes a night for The Artist though, I could see Hazanavicius snagging it. I also wouldn't rule Scorsese out. Hugo is probably more deserving than the Oscar he did win for The Departed.

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: Why Studios Hate Streaming and America Doesn't Care About Sundance or '30 Rock'

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:42:21 +0000

Could be, then - it would fit if the Director's Workshop stuff happened after Tarantino wrote his initial screenplays that sold and after Keitel had come on board Reservoir Dogs himself, since QT credits him as the catalyst who got the film made. Now that you mention it, I do seem to recall reading somewhere once about Keitel bringing Tarantino and Bender to Sundance with him. That could have been '91. Obviously, Sundance at that time would have been a good place to hook up with Buscemi.

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: Why Studios Hate Streaming and America Doesn't Care About Sundance or '30 Rock'

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:03:31 +0000

Those are all good films - The Descendants, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and a few others were worthy efforts as well. It actually hasn't been a bad year for film in the overall, but if you listen to Nolte and a lot of people here at the Big sites, Hollywood hasn't made a movie worth seeing more than once (if that) since the days of John Wayne. Kinda silly.

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: Why Studios Hate Streaming and America Doesn't Care About Sundance or '30 Rock'

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:46:35 +0000

That's definitely not correct. Tarantino had been schlepping it around Hollywood as a screenwriter prior to making Resevoir Dogs. He sold True Romance and I think Natural Born Killers, as well. On the basis of his writing, he hooked up with producer Lawrence Bender and got his script for Reservoir Dogs to Harvey Keitel. It was Keitel coming on board that most likely allowed Reservoir Dogs to be made - he's also credited as a producer on the film as a result.

Big Hollywood : 'Daily Show' Brilliantly Exposes President of 'Civility Project' Who Smeared Tea Partiers as 'Terror

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:35:35 +0000

She's obviously in on the joke, but still.

Big Hollywood : Big Movie Flashback: 'The Howling' (1981)

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 09:36:41 +0000

It's a shame Joe Dante had a few misfires over the years, and never really got the chance to make a lot of films in Hollywood. You'd think after the success of The Howling and Gremlins he'd have been in demand to do just about everything. Many of Dante's box office disappointments like Small Soldiers, Gremlins 2 and The 'burbs are worth viewing - they just never found a big audience. He's a talented filmmaker, and should definitely have made a bigger impact.

Big Hollywood : Trailer Talk: 'Moonrise Kingdom' Offers Vintage Anderson Quirk

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 08:27:44 +0000

You're not a Wes Anderson fan then, Toto, because The Life Aquatic is great, and Darjeeling Limited is at least pretty good. Anderson has yet to make a bad film. Never understood the critical pile-on on The Life Aquatic, in particular. It's like they all came out with the long knives because Anderson kept hitting a lot of the same notes in his films and it was time to take him to task for it. Aquatic arguably contains the best performance of Bill Murray's career, and is endlessly quotable to boot. I guarantee that repeat viewings will give people who may have dismissed the film initially a new appreciation for it.

Big Hollywood : Liberal Comic: 'Chipmunks' Producer Personifies Everything Negative About Jews

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:16:52 +0000

Cross does realize this, and he's as much as said so when he's been criticized in the past by his peers for being in the Chipmunk movies. More people know him from those films than anything else he's done in his entire career, including Mr. Show and Arrested Development. The dog-biting-hand moment over "Chipwrecked" is likely Cross' guilty conscience at play, It's hard being an edgy comic when you're cashing checks for being in a silly kids' movie. Probably makes him feel like a sell-out deep in his liberal heart. Embrace it, David - the haters only wish they could pay for a new home off the money earned by interacting with singing, digital chipmunks. Doesn't make you dirty at all.

Big Hollywood : Rather than Make Better Movies, Hollywood Increases DVD Wait Time for Redbox and Netflix

Sun, 8 Jan 2012 07:58:22 +0000

The quality of today's movies is a subjective thing. I've yet to have anyone define for me when this magical time was when all the movies put out were amazing, four-star experiences. It doesn't exist, except in people's minds - Hollywood cranked out stinkers right alongside their gems in every single era. The problem is that a lot of people try to compare movies that came out in the past few months to all the great movies that have ever been produced in the history of cinema. Yeah, maybe the quality of the films that came out in 2011 doesn't compare to AFI's Top 100 list - shocker. Some years are better than others, but if you happen to get one or two movies a year that have a shot of maybe making that list one day, I'd say Hollywood's doing average or better in the quality department. That said, I totally agree with you regarding the home theater experience. No doubt studios are planning for the day when theater owners are cut out completely and the pirates have to compete with day-and-date release streaming and download directly into people's homes - for whatever price the market deems that's worth, of course. I've written here before about how the cinema might wind up being a curio for film buffs in a matter of a few decades. Given the looming potential changes in technology and distribution, it seems entirely possible.

Big Hollywood : Rather than Make Better Movies, Hollywood Increases DVD Wait Time for Redbox and Netflix

Sun, 8 Jan 2012 00:11:59 +0000

Great series of posts. I think you've pretty much nailed it. I still disagree about the overall quality of films being released today. It's unrealistic to expect every single film that comes out will be worth owning, let alone going to see in a movie theater. But every year Hollywood does crank out a handful of worthy pictures - Rise of the Planet of the Apes was one in 2011 - just as they pretty much always have. If people are starving for quality entertainment, and that's the only or primary reason for the downturn in sales, then Rise's sell-through numbers would be blockbuster. They're not, so that tells me there are other factors at work determining people's buying habits.

Breitbart.tv : Allen West: Biggest Mistake Was Voting For Pigford Settlement

Sat, 7 Jan 2012 23:51:57 +0000

That mistake personally disappointed me, congressman, as it should have disappointed your constituents. Nice to hear you're at least willing to admit the blunder and take responsibility for your vote. Too many of those, however, and it's a believe-what-I-do-not-what-I-say situation. Trust the people to hold your feet to the fire.

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: Oscar Trailer, Duke as Dirty Harry, More Stupid Studio Moves Against Netflix

Fri, 6 Jan 2012 22:31:27 +0000

HBO is shooting themselves in the foot, as their model, across all platforms, appears to be getting consumers to subscribe to HBO. For the one or two shows I'd like to watch on that network, it's never going to happen - I'll illegally download off bittorrent first, if necessary. They don't offer an option to purchase individual episodes of, say, Game of Thrones on iTunes, Amazon, Zune, or any other download or streaming site. They hold back the DVD/Blu releases for-damn-ever, then expect people to pay $50 or more to get a single season. In this day-and-age, that kind of greed just doesn't cut it. My cable provider doesn't offer me AMC, but I can watch episodes of The Walking Dead on Zune within hours of their original broadcast. Via Zune, and the embracing of current technology and the viewing habits of their consumers, AMC got my $20-some-dollar season pass money - sold. All HBO gets is my scorn.