One news item that Nikki Finke broke this week was that the long-delayed Jodie Foster film, which she costars in and directs, “The Beaver” looks to be getting a Spring 2011 release date. Confirming the news, Summit released a trailer yesterday, and here it is. To my surprise, this seems to be less of the black comedy I expected, and more of a straightforward psychodrama with some comedic elements.
Of course, the issue here is the film’s star, Mel Gibson, who you may have heard saying a few very impolite things. Of course, the eternal question is will audiences forgive said impoliteness. As Russ Fischer noted, there are some parallels that might help wary audiences over the hump. Who doesn’t love a redemption story? In any case, I think most people who say they’ll never see X star’s movies after X episode of misbehavior, alleged or proven, are people who weren’t fans to begin with. If the movie is something audiences think they’ll like, they’ll show and, though I’m not sure Mel Gibson is a guy I want to have the proverbial beer with anymore, I don’t believe that should be the first criteria for film attendance.
On the other hand, I seriously wouldn’t hold my breath regarding that Oscar qualifying run, at least as far as Gibson is concerned.
I’m overtired and miles from home in a West L.A. Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and I probably should have just thrown up another embed and gone for home and some sleep, but the movie news is just not waiting tonight…
* Johnny Depp is apparently wanting to star in a new version of Dashiell Hammett’s “The Thin Man,” or perhaps the series of really fun movies starring the great William Powell and Myrna Loy that the original 1934 movie adaptation spawned. I’ve no particular clue why he’d want Rob Marshall — not a bad director at all, but also not a great one and prone to ADHD editing — when he could have his pick. Of course, selecting a Nora Charles to go with his Nick will be half the fun — the possibilities are pretty endless though for some reason the only person I can think of right now is Cate Blanchett. She’s great, but don’t ask me why she comes to mind. It’s probably the fatigue. One big problem: Nick and Nora are a couple of merry alcoholics — or at least huge problem drinkers. It’ll be interesting to see how they handle that aspect of the property in today’s more abstemious world, although I suppose Nick Charles isn’t that far removed from Jack Sparrow or Keith Richard.
* Cinephile’s cinephile uber-blogger David Hudson, who is based in Germany, gives us a fascinating post-mortem look at a writer and filmmaker I’ve never heard of until now, Thomas Harlan. The key fact here: Harlan’s father directed “Jew Suss,” the most notorious narrative antisemitic film produced by Joseph Goebbel’s Nazi UFA, and had been actively dealing with the legacy.
* Sometimes an actor blends so seamlessly into a part you wonder whether she is really even acting at all.
* In the battle of Hobbit-man Peter Jackson versus the NZ/Oz/U.S. unions, it sure looks like the unions blinked. This is probably the first such battle where I’m glad of it.
* “Giallo” is the name for the subgenre of bloody horror flicks from Italy that predated American slasher films with more mature characters and a heck of a lot more style from directors like Mario Bava and Dario Argento. Apparently wanting to get in on the whole self-awareness thing, Argento, who unbelievably is only just turning 70, made a movie actually called “Giallo” starring Adrien Brody. Brody says the producers didn’t pay him and is suing them and blocking the release of the movie for the time being. That’s always a mistake — not paying your star, I mean.
* Ben Affleck is considering switching from character-driven crime fiction adaptations to a character-driven fantasy-drama adaptation, “Replay.” I gather the book by the late Ken Groomwood is an old favorite of my highly esteemed colleague Will Harris and won a World Fantasy Award in 1987. Why have I never heard of it before?
It was thundering and lightning today briefly, unusual in Southern California, where we like our rain nice and quiet. Actually, it barely rained at all, which made if feel weirder. Of course, the really weird thing was all the people who died that you’ve been reading about here and we actually left out a few, including the guy who said this…
Anyhow, here are a few more items from this long, strange week of movie news.
* As much as I complain about the way Comicon has gone, taking it out of San Diego would only make it worse and even more impersonal. I never really thought it was going to move, but I’m glad I can be sure about that now. I know this is a controversial statement, but I’m going to go out on a limb: San Diego is nice.
* Even though I admit to not knowing the property all that well, I have a hard time imaging Ron Howard pulling off something like the proposed mega movie/TV adaptation of Stephen King’s massive “The Dark Tower” series. The memoir “My Stroke of Insight” with, perhaps, Jodie Foster in the lead seems much more up his alley. I’m all for people getting out of their comfort zones, but sometimes we have comfort zones for a reason.
* Regular readers here know I’m no gorehound, but a PG-13 “Alien” prequel makes as much sense as an R-rated “Mary Poppins” reboot.
* The late Stanley Kubrick’s attempts to forever suppress his first film have, it seems, come to naught. The semi-legendary “Fear and Desire” has been found in a film lab in Puerto Rico and will be making it’s way to DVD. I’ve seen Kubrick’s little known second film, “Killer’s Kiss” and I’m here to tell you, don’t get too excited. It’s gorgeous but, in terms of storytelling, as dull as dishwater. Kubrick’s career as a film great probably started with his third film, the noir-heist classic “The Killing.”
* The foreign language category for the Oscars has been supremely screwed up for decades because the Academy allows each nation to submit one film, and just one film, for consideration. No surprise that the choices tend to be heavily politicized. It’s only October and we already have twocontroversies.
* I think’s it’s an enormous stretch to characterize “Cast Away” as a classic, as Mike Fleming seems to think. I also think “Back to the Future” is fun but, well, not a classic either. Robert Zemeckis returning to the world of live action and time travel, and thereby having less time for creepy motion-capture, is nevertheless probably a good thing.
* A bit of inside-baseball. Executive Bob Berney caused quite a ruckus with his sudden departure from indie Apparition earlier this year. His new gig, which seems like it’s seeking to help fill the huge gap in middle-brow low-to-mid budget films, interests me.
* A Beach Boys jukebox musical seems to be in all of our futures. I love musicals and I love about half of the Beach Boys catalogue, but the jukeboxers annoy me. I’d almost rather watch this.
Whilst I dither over just what kind of “Bruno” related pun to put in my headline for tomorrow morning’s box office preview, Steven Zeitchik has an item that sort of defies belief in the possibilities it offers for of the potential for ribald and/or truly offensive jokes and puns, and not just the innocent fur-bound animal and classic TV sitcom-based gags Zeitchik mentions.
The script has been floating around for some time and been associated with such funnymen as Jim Carrey and Steve Carrell, but now it looks as if Mel Gibson may play the not-quite title role in “The Beaver.” It’s an edgy comedy about a man whose (presumably imaginary) friend is a beaver hand-puppet. Gibson might be a walking disaster area in many respects, but does have an underused gift for antic comedy. This could work.
Written by newcomer Kyle Killen, the comedy will team the sometimes blatantly homophobic Gibson with another director-actor, Jodie Foster, who will also costar. Did I mention I have tremendous amount of respect for Ms. Foster, as well as lifelong crush. (I like my film star infatuations on the unattainable side.) I now respect her sense of humor more than ever.
