A Little Bit Dumb, A Little Bit Fun

Okay, don't admit it. Just keep telling yourself, "This is too dumb for me. This is too dumb for me."

I love it. They got it right.

So, It's A Tie? Or, They Die?

In Scott Bowles' write up about Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone's new romp 'Grudge Match' director Peter Segal mentions using old footage of both actors training for 'Raging Bull' and 'Rocky'. Cool. That alone would be interesting to see. I'm looking forward.

Segal also mentions shooting multiple endings in order to keep the real ending secret. In one, during the boxing match Stallone's character wins. In another, De Niro's character wins. In a third, they both die.

That's right. Die.

Here's a clip from the link above:

That also appeared in the printed newspaper.

I find it hard to believe either of these actors would agree to have his character die in the end. However, how could one win and the other lose? For comedic value, and seeing how there's not too many other choices, I could see both guys dying in the ring. That would be funny. I can hear them laughing now.

However, at this link it says they tie at the end.

Ties, not dies. Ties. T-ies.

Okay, that's better. How else could you end a movie like this? It has to be a tie, right? De Niro vs. Stallone = tie. Has to be.

But maybe, they both collapse and it looks like they're dead, and the crowd is shocked, then they wake up and realize what's happened and it's really embarrassing and they agree their boxing days are over, shake hands and go have a cup of tea. That would be good. That's what I'd go with. If it were me.

Now that that's settled, on to the really important stuff.

(I'm moving. My new blog is 101-to-la, as in highway 101 to Los Angeles. I'll be double posting here and at the new blog for a while, then retiring MoovyBoovy.)

Looking More Like Something Worth Watching

The campaign for 'The Family' got off to a rough start. Early trailers played up the movie as a standard fish-out-of-water caper and it was flat. So flat. I couldn't really watch them. The movie looked dumb.

Thing is, this was a classic case of trying to make an edgy (I'm guessing) comedy with some pretty hardcore violence, or at least graphics acts of violence, look like a fluffy comedy that the average person might like. And it is, except for the violence.

Sure, it's not gritty. This isn't an exposé of gang/mafia life, but it does depict some pretty brutal stuff. It may not replicate all those beatings and acid baths, but it makes like the real thing. So, those first trailers weren't being honest and, as usual, they came off like they had something to hide. I thought it because the movie didn't have teeth. Turns out it was that the movie does, in fact, have teeth, and it looks pretty damn funny.

Liking much better. I want to see this now.

Oh, and, dear Marketing: Don't pull your punches.


I'm moving. My new blog is 101-to-la, as in highway 101 to Los Angeles. I'll be double posting here and at the new blog for a while, then retiring MoovyBoovy. 

Shooting The Bad Life: 'Malavita'

Luc Besson directs from a script by Michael Caleo based on the novel by Tonino Benacquista. The logline from IMDb:

• A retired American gangster relocates his family to Normandy and lives under the witness protection program.  

Well. That could lead anywhere. However, with Robert De Niro (as the retired gangster no doubt), Tommy Lee Jones, and Michelle Pfeiffer it should be easy to watch.

Looks like it's easy to shoot what with all that red wine.

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Trailer for David O. Russell's 'Silver Linings Playbook'

Seems an odd choice for this director but, then, when you think about it, he probably brings a familiarity with the material other directors couldn't match.

Hard to tell anything, really, from this trailer. Could go either way. Love De Niro, though.

Thing is, though, (you know) flick opens Nov. 21, days before the annual family ordeal of Turkey Day, so not too many people are going to want to see a movie about a messed up family trying to cope with it all.

Just saying...they might want to bump it one way or the other.

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Red Band Trailer for Robert De Niro's 'Freelancers'

Love the VO at start, but not sure about the rest. Can audiences accept this level of violence from cops?

Have to say Forest Whitaker brings it, looks good. Good to see De Niro in his element again.
















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'Red Lights' Rollout...A Bit Creaky

At this point the campaign for 'Red Lights' is, well, anemic. We just got character posters with very on-the-nose taglines. Like this one.

"Your brain lies to you?" Really? And, printed over the guy's face? Really? (Told you they were on-the-nose).

Others are just as bad as what Cillian Murphy got stuck with. I won't bother to post them, but Elizabeth Olsen's says: 'Don't trust your eyes'. That just sits there. 

Robert De Niro's posters says: 'What do you think you know'? Not sure what that hopes to accomplish.

Sigourney Weaver got the best line: 'The truth is an illusion'. Okay. Yeah, sure. That fits. That's the fancy, conceptual version of 'Don't trust your eyes' and 'Your brain lies to you'. Really, that should be the tag for all the posters. That one works.

The movie's Facebook page isn't exactly on fire, either:

Okay, at least they can count on 50 ticket sales for sure and, possibly, another 20 after that.

These new talk-throughs with Sigourney Weaver, though, encapsulate the tone of this marketing effort fairly well.









You know, this is the kind of movie I like. Footage has looked good, I like these actors, I'll see this (on disc) -- for sure...promise. But, it won't be thanks to this rollout.






















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Turns of Phrase by David Mamet

Forgive me for stating the obvious, but he's got a way with words. I love the 'That's why they call it money' bit from 'Heist', written and directed by Mamet. Probably my favorite part of the movie. I like how Mamet had DeVito pause in the middle of a sentence to eat a pretzel.



I didn't care much for 'The Spanish Prisoner'. A tad overly crafted, or perhaps over indulgent would be more correct as Mamet directed his own script. Here's a clip, complete with several interruptions, repeated dialogue, pauses in the middle of sentences, stilted made-for-TV camera work, poor lighting, and crash and slash editing. All of which, however, is balanced out by some very elegant non-verbal writing at the end of the scene -- one of the perks of directing your own script: you keep everything you wrote whether it's excessive or not...and sometimes you get lucky.



This is from 'Wag the Dog', directed by Barry Levinson. Mamet shares writing credit with Larry Beinhart and Hilary Henkin. Scene has the Mamet touches. Here, though, the repeated dialogue carries more meaning. It's reiterated for emphasis, with growing emotional energy from Dustin Hoffman, and is the primary source of energy, the scene's backbone.



This is from 'Ronin'. JD Zeik wrote the script but Mamet got a pass. This scene has the same markers: repeated dialogue (amped by De Niro's performance -- he loves to repeat dialogue no matter who wrote the script, so I'm guessing we're getting repeats on repeats) and good non-verbal elements. The combination of styles yields re-emphasized dialogue that is practically weaponized, but it adds good depth of character. Visuals by John Frankenheimer.



Possibly the purest Mamet: 'Glengarry Glen Ross'.


















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Poster for 'Killing Season'

Thing is, this is directed by Mark Johnson (Ghost Rider) and written by Evan Daughtery (Snow White and the Huntsman). Along with Robert De Niro and John Travolta, that's enough. I like this storyline:

• ...set in the Smoky Mountains about an American military veteran (Robert De Niro) who has retreated to a remote cabin in the woods. When a rare visitor, a European tourist (John Travolta), appears on the scene, the two men strike up an unlikely friendship. But, in fact, the visitor is a former Serbian soldier bent on revenge. What follows is a tense, action packed battle across some of America’s most forbidding landscape that proves the old adage: the purest form of war is one-on-one. 

I know...but it's got something. Here's hoping.

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'Red Lights' UK Trailer

Bit of new footage. Seems to me to have better energy, but that could be cause it's been a while since we've seen a trailer for this.
















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The Bickle/Hydell Taxi Driver/Lock Out Thing

This shot of Hydell from 'Lock Out' (played by Joseph Gilgun)...

...could fairly be considered a combination of these two shots of Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) from 'Taxi Driver'.

It looks to be the same caliber/barrel-length revolver, there is a 'tunnel/hallway' element, and Gilgun even seems to be doing a hammy De Niro impression.

If Hydell says anything akin to 'You talking to me' in 'Lock Out' it'll be straight homage. The guys would have known that Hydell looked like Bickle post mohawk and would have joked about it. It'll be fun to see what reference to 'Taxi Driver', if any, makes it into 'Lock Out'.
















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4 Clips from Paul Dano and Robert De Niro's 'Being Flynn'

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Character Posters for 'Red Lights'

Even though she wasn't mentioned in the first posters I knew Elizabeth Olsen would get more attention in the US campaign.

These are nicely done.

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2nd Trailer for 'Killer Elite'

De Niro gets a good line in each one of these.

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'Killer Elite' Poster

Totally, totally works.

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'Killer Elite' Trailer

'Based on a true story'? Huh? Whatev, who cares. Robert De Niro back in tough guy mode. With Jason Statham and Clive Owen. Yes. Oh, yes. Yes yes yes. Thank you dear lord for movies like this.

Trailer rocks. Rocks you like a hurricane. (No, I'm not that cheesy. Watch it, you'll see what I mean).

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Monica Belluci and Robert De Niro on 'Manual of Love' (L'Amour a ses raisons aka Manuale d'am3re)

Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal on Charlie Rose

Here's an interesting clip



The adaptation of I Heard You Paint Houses is called 'The Irishman'. With Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, and De Niro, directed by...Martin Scorsese. Good news. Good to hear the gang's doing another crime thriller.

'Taxi Driver' Featurettes

Clips from 'Limitless'