Gibney's TOTALLY UNDER CONTROL isn't surprising but it is infuriating
Plus we positively wallow in some new trailers
It’s Friday, October 16, so let’s have a Free-For-All!
Who needs a cup of coffee in the morning when you could just watch the Jiu Jitsu trailer on a loop?
The filmography that Nicolas Cage is going to leave behind at the end of his career is going to be a testament to just how many tax shelter productions can exist in any given year as well as proof that he never just showed up to take the check without giving 1000% at the same time. It does not matter how ridiculous the movie; Cage is going to give it to you. He’s going to show up having made some VERY BIG CHOICES, and he is going to serve it up. My favorite part of that trailer? Although you wouldn’t know it from any of the branding on the trailer, that’s from Paramount. They’ve got an aggressive home video arm that releases a tone of stuff you wouldn’t think of as Paramount at all.
Hey, did you hear? They’re making another Mad Max movie, and it’s the first one without Mad Max. And the weird thing is, I’m totally okay with that. When George Miller decides to make any film, it is always a reason to rejoice.
Honestly, it’s the idea that we don’t get Theron again that is harder to swallow. It is heartbreaking that Charlize Theron isn’t the right age for Furiosa, the prequel that is now set to star Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Theron’s work in Fury Road is iconic, and she’s set a pretty high bar for Taylor-Joy, who is playing the younger version of the character in the film.
I’m not a huge fan of prequels and spin-offs, but that’s the business we’re in now. That’s what gets made, and in this case, I admit I am excited because it’s George Miller directing and once again co-writing. This isn’t just some studio-mandated thing that only exists because the marketing and merchandising numbers make sense. The world that Miller has created over the course of these four films so far is a big sprawling mythic landscape, and there are other stories to tell beyond the story of Max. What matters here is that it’s Miller telling the story, expanding that world. The chance to see him stage action scenes in that world again… that’s something that I can’t wait to see.
I can’t say I’m shocked by the news that Coming 2 America is on its way to Amazon Prime. Between that and the purchase of Borat: Subsequent MovieFilm, they’re carving out an identity this fall as the place where you’re going to get big new comedies, and I’m pretty desperate for both of those as soon as possible. I love that Amazon is going to be home to both of them. It sounds like the Coming 2 America deal is still being closed and the details are being hammered out, but we should be seeing the film at home by Christmas.
Paul “Not The Other Guy” Anderson has released a new trailer for Monster Hunter, and I’ll say this for him: no one else has spent this much time turning video games into movies. In terms of sheer man-hours spent on the venture so far, he is the king. Monster Hunter looks like a decent fit for his strengths. If anything, there’s a more enjoyable visual palette here than in his Resident Evil movies, and I’m always down for people messing up giant monsters with rocket launchers. I am a simple man of simple tastes.
There are a number of new trailers that were worth a look over the last few days. Casting Mel Gibson as anything is an automatic shortcut to a genuine controversy, and I am well aware of the weight he brings to anything. I’m not sure if that makes the makers of Fatman brilliant or suicidal. Black comedy is always tough to pull off, and when you add in Christmas, it’s even harder. Mel Gibson on top of that? It’s like they’re making it hard for themselves on purpose.
The casting of Tom Hanks is the direct opposite, the safest of safe moves possible, and I am here for Hanks as he enters the “irascible coot” phase of his career. I’m more interested here in the idea that this is Paul Greengrass movie. He and Hanks together seems like a volatile combination, even if this feels like a near-direct lift from True Grit based on just the trailer.
“Five rival agents. One elite team.” And a thousand giant yawns. It is possible to be all for the idea of inclusion and still think something like The 355 looks like pandering dull junk. “Ladies kick ass” is no longer enough of an idea for a movie, and after sitting through Ava this summer, I’m not sure I need another generic Jessica Chastain spy film with no plot. It’s a fine ensemble, and there’s absolutely nothing about this trailer that makes me care even a tiny bit about this film.
On the other hand, I really dig the trailer for Sylvie’s Love. There’s a part of me that is all about production design, and I love it when a movie looks this lush. Part of my addiction to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is just a strong attraction to the clothes and the colors and the furniture and all of the period detail, and Sylvie’s Love looks like it’s going to speak to that itch loud and clear. Tessa Thompson is stunning in the trailer, and I am curious to see how she manages the clout she’s been building. Lots of the Sundance titles from this year are finally landing, and this looks like another smart pick-up by Amazon, one that may find a much wider audience here than it would in theatrical.
You can count on Netflix to throw some serious muscle behind Hillbilly Elegy, the new Ron Howard film, and it seems like at this point, all of Hollywood has simply accepted that streaming is part of the future. Between this and Mank, it certainly seems like Netflix is just as good at Oscar bait as any studio in town. I haven’t read the source material here, but it is hotly debated, and with a cast like that, at the very least, Netflix can count on some spirited conversation.
Speaking of drug addiction dramas, the 4K anniversary restoration of Requiem For A Dream is coming out, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that second viewing yet. It is uncommon that I see a film I respect as much as this one and then never ever watch it again, but that’s how much it disturbed me the first time I saw it. I still remember intensely what it felt like walking out of the theater, reeling from the full-force physical assault of the film. Alison Wilmore put together an amazing oral history for the film that you can read now, and as you read it, why not throw on this new recording of the remarkable score by Clint Mansell, performed by the Kronos Quartet?
OCTOBER NOT-A-SURPRISE
I wish I was shocked by Totally Under Control, the new documentary by the Alex Gibney documentary factory. He’s had an incredibly busy year with both Agents of Chaos and Crazy, Not Insane also reaching audiences this fall. Both of those were in the works for a while, though, while Totally Under Control is entirely a reaction to the moment in which we’re living. Gibney approached Tom Quinn and Neon Films about documenting the unfolding COVID-19 crisis and Quinn countered with the idea of releasing the film before the November election. The result is an absolutely infuriating movie, not because it contains any giant revelations about the government’s response to this health crisis, but because of the way it lays out such a meticulous timeline for what we did, what we knew, what the world did, and how we failed.
I kid Gibney about being an assembly line in human form, but it is truly superhuman how much work he’s involved in at any given point. He worked here with two co-directors, Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger, and I can’t imagine what a Herculean task it was to put this together safely while it was actually happening. It’s not a particularly graceful film, but that’s not the point. The film is a record, a clearly-laid-out case for just how poorly handled things were and how much of the damage we could have avoided in the US. It’s not a film about the global epidemic, and it doesn’t touch on every single facet of the health crisis. Instead, it is focused on the specific difference between our response here and the response of South Korea and the resulting impact on both countries. It’s largely built around talking-head interviews, and it’s interesting to see how they put those together while being very careful to observe careful health protocols. The film appears to cover things up through the start of August or so, and they actually finished production the day before Trump was diagnosed with COVID, which they note in a final title card.
The film’s greatest value comes from showing exactly how the public message and the private knowledge were not the same and how the political landscape of 2020 America was a perfect storm to turn this into the worst-case scenario. The film is insightful and empathetic, and it allows the people who actually saw all of this happening, the ones who were right there on the front lines, to tell the story in real-time. Rick Bright is one of the most impressive overall speakers in the film, talking about his time as BARDA director, and Dr. Taison Bell from the University of Virginia’s COVID ICU unit makes some powerful points about who was hit hardest here.
What frustrates me is that there is no question that corruption and an almost pathological aversion to letting science take the reigns are the reasons we are where we are, and yet I don’t see any chance that there will be any consequences for the people who made those choices. Even knowing that Trump got the virus doesn’t begin to shift those scales because the medical care he received as the President of the United States is unequaled. No one else is going to have that same degree of medical care. It’s not the same as someone in a nursing home in New Jersey getting it in March. There’s no way there will ever be a Scrooge’s ghosts moment for Trump where he realizes what he’s done and tries to make it right in any genuine sense, and I don’t believe the law will ever land on him with the force he deserves. It’s enough to make you downright cynical.
That’s dangerous, though. Disengaging is never the answer. I’ve already voted this year, and I think my shirt on the day I dropped off my ballot was appropriate…
… and if you’re having a hard time keeping yourself from being cynical about the way government works right now, let me suggest you make time for What The Constitution Means To Me on Amazon Prime. This is a live recording of the Broadway show by Heidi Schreck, directed by Marielle Heller and Oliver Butler, and it’s a knockout. Between this and American Utopia, it’s a big weekend for recent Broadway shows making their debut as films, and this one really works. Schreck’s almost-one-woman show built around her memories of participating in a series of contests about Constitutional knowledge when she was a teenager, and it covers a stunning amount of emotional ground in a mere 1:44 running time.
Intensely personal, much of the piece deals with women’s rights as defined by the Constitution and the way women inherit trauma on a generational level, and it’s amazing how funny it is, even amidst profound tears. Schreck is a terrific writer and performer, and while I wish I could have seen it live, I feel like this is a beautiful record of what that live performance was. It respects the original staging and it includes just enough of the audience to establish how much give and take there is in the performance Schreck’s giving. It seems unlikely that a discussion of a few sub-clauses of a document might somehow lead me to quiet tears repeatedly, but this is a beautiful piece of writing.
I want to believe in progress. I want to believe that this is a country that truly has space for everyone, where we can have equal freedoms, equal opportunities, and equal protection. In the end, even when it feels like things are heading in the wrong direction or power is held in the wrong hands, I want to believe that there is a system in this country that will allow us to redress and to eventually get things right. Watching Totally Under Control, it is easy to get overwhelmed by all the ways the system can be used to grind down common sense and good intention, but that doesn’t mean it will be that way forever. What The Constitution Means To Me left me feeling optimistic that we are indeed capable of still taking control of things, and that we were built to weather this storm. Gibney’s ability to get in there and tell this story and get that information out there is not a political act except in the sense that we should be informed about things as fully and as honestly as possible. Gibney’s film may fill you with a deeply-rooted frustration or even despair, and I get it. Shreck’s work, though, takes the same anger and transforms it into art that asks hard questions and that suggests there are indeed answers baked into the very heart of who we are.
AND FINALLY…
Margot Robbie is going to be making movies long after I am dead and buried, which may be sometime mid-2023 the way things are going.
There are plenty of movie stars who have started their own production companies. I think it’s smart, particularly for young women who want to have some kind of control over the way they’re used on film, and a good example of someone who needs to have that kind of control is Millie Bobbie Brown. Enola Holmes was a good fit for her, age-appropriate, and it didn’t feel like it was dreamed up by a 35-year-old creep somewhere after he binge-watched too much Stranger Things. Robbie is building an incredible resume for herself, and she has aggressive taste in material. She reminds me of Leonardo DiCaprio, who followed that early Tom Cruise model. Everything’s chosen based on working with strong filmmakers or opposite big movie stars at first, and then as soon as there’s some control, start digging in. Find material that is not only going to show your range, but that also attracts even bigger collaborators. Be aggressive about chasing down the filmmakers you want to work with.
Robbie’s efforts to create a screenwriting lab would be commendable enough. Christina Hodson, who wrote Birds of Prey, is the co-creator of the lab with Robbie and Morgan Howell, and the purpose was to find and foster women who wanted to write big action movies. A lab like this not only workshops material, but it teaches you how to handle yourself in a room, how to build a pitch, how to write things that attract talent in the right ways. The more practical industry experience you can benefit from heading into these situations, the better, and the proof seems to be in the pudding here. All six of the writers chosen for the first round of this screenwriting lab have now sold their projects to studios and they’re all in active development.
That’s amazing. There’s no guarantee they all get made, but for Sue Chang, Charmaine DeGraté, Eileen Jones, Faith Liu, Dagny Looper and Maria Sten, this is moment where they get to push themselves now and see if they’re built for the studio system in 2020, whatever that is. This isn’t some selfless act on the part of Hodson and Howell, whose companies Hodson Exports and LuckyChap Entertainment are attached as producers on all six projects, but rather a canny way of creating a farm league for talent to see what works. The writers benefit because these projects take on a sort of group heat during the roadshow presentation to pitch all of them, and it sets a stage they might otherwise never have. The companies benefit because they have young writers they can get at a price, but backed by some serious experience. And the companies benefit because they’re building these relationships that could pay dividends for years as these writers all go on to other work.
Mainly, though, it’s the industry that benefits. New blood is always a good thing, and new perspectives are what keep pop culture moving forward. Every major revolution in white popular culture starts somewhere else, and the more we mainstream every voice, the less it becomes an act of appropriation and simply becomes appreciation for what we all offer to the larger conversation. Action films are, at the studio level, largely boring because they all feel like they’re cut from the same template and that template shifts every couple of years based on what some market research group tells you every 14-year-old wants to see. The more new voices and perspectives we bring to action storytelling, the more vital and exciting it will remain.
Hey, did you know today is Friday? Well, it is, so I’m going to wrap this up with a question like we do every Friday: what actor do you think has done the best job as a producer, not only in terms of making themselves look good but also in terms of making great films?
You don’t have to just reply to today’s question! The Friday-Free-For-All is open to discussion of pretty much anything, with the one rule being that you’ve got to be decent to one another. Otherwise, what’s on your mind? What are you watching and enjoying? What are you looking forward to?
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This is why Drew is a cut above other critics. I've seen several pushing the "Paul Anderson is king of the video adaptations" narrative, when any sane individual knows that crown belongs to Dr. Uwe Boll. Drew sidesteps this controversy, however, by qualifying that Anderson spent more time on his video game adaptations. Clearly Anderson spent more time on one film than Dr. Boll spent on the eleven or so video game movies he made. I do worry that Dr. Boll will take this slight personally, he has been known to fight critics in the past.
The question you pose is interesting, because it feels like a lot of actors kind of seem to go into producing for the purpose of their own films more than those for others. I think Brad Pitt probably stands out the most as someone who has used their clout for a variety of interesting projects, not just for themselves, but for filmmakers they want to help elevate. George Clooney has a fairly great slate, as well.
My wife and I just finished a binge of "Alias," which I never finished watching, and I've been busy with screeners and horror movies. "Totally Under Control" was extremely infuriating, and I was impressed with how Gibney kept it under wraps, given some of the lengths he seems to go to when it comes to getting his interviews.