The Current Cinema

Over at MSN Movies, I review The Bounty Hunter. Yes, The Bounty Hunter. With Jennifer Aniston. And that fellow from...300. And The Phantom of the Opera. I believe that regular readers of this blog will find the notice eloquent testimony to my overall fair-mindedness. 

Comments

[Owain Wilson]

I'm all for fair-mindedness. I even think The Blind Side looks entertaining (it hasn't been released over here in the UK yet). But The Bounty Hunter has got two things going against it which means I have zero interest in seeing it.

First, the trailer makes it look absolutely abysmal.

Second, I simply cannot abide Gerard Butler. Just the very sight of his face makes me angry. It looks like a sweaty, swollen foot.

This last point lacks fair-mindedness on my part, I admit, but nobody's perfect.

[Jaime]

Butler strikes me as the kind of guy who would be just as just-rolled-out-of-bed-and-threw-on-whatever-was-on-the-floor in real life as he is in his movies. And I have to wonder, are these actors aware of how alcohol blows them up and gives them the look Owain describes? I mean, say what you will about the "good old days," and lord knows the actors of yesteryear knew how to party down, but a certain pride and professionalism usually intercepted the actors between life and screen.

[Michael Adams]

Peter Greene does his patented eeriness quite well in the opening scene of the pilot for Justified, a very promising series, though Green won't be making another appearance.

[Glenn Kenny]

It's a shame Greene's not working more. He can do so much more than "creepy" and "menacing." His work in Lodge Kerrigan's "Clean, Shaven" is as galvanic as movie acting gets.

One of my first tasks at Premiere in 1996 was editing Mark Ebner's harrowing tale of Greene's heroin addiction and recovery. Boy, was THAT an interesting project, and not because of Greene per se....

[Owain Wilson]

I remember that feature! Was that 14 years ago? Good grief.

Care to elaborate on your last sentence, Glenn?

[Glenn Kenny]

@ Owain: Let's just say that Mr. Ebner was not entirely forthcoming about the nature of his relationship with the subject at the time, and that when potential repercussions relative to that relationship seemed to be on their way, I had to do a good deal of hand-holding, negotiating, and much else on the author's behalf. My reward for this was to have Ebner call me "pompous" and "glib" in a couple of forums at the time of Premiere's shutdown, while also complaining that the magazine's subsequent disinclination to work with him was a sign that it had become afraid of "hard-hitting" journalism. Good times!

[James Keepnews]

Mr. Greene was easily one of the most talented actors to hit the Amerindie 90's movie screens, though he's been dogged by the aforementioned demons for some time after Mr. Kenny's early exercises in glib pomposity. Let's not forget his great work (and Edie Falco's, Adam Trese's, &c.) in Laws of Gravity, Nick Gomez' indelible, albeit derivative debut.

(WEHT Nick, anyway? Perhaps he was similarly, um, demonized?)

[Graig]

Very interesting story regarding Peter Greene and Mark Ebner. I remember reading that piece as well. I bet you could write a hell of a tell-all about your years at Premiere if you were so inclined.

Also, "Laws of Gravity" is pretty terrific, and still unavailable on DVD, unless I'm mistaken. Nick Gomez is currently paying the mortgage directing episodic television. He was slated to direct an Iggy Pop biopic (starring Elijah Wood!) but I think it fell apart. Kind of glad about that.

Also, I'd love to see Lodge Kerrigan make more movies. He doesn't work enough. That guy is seriously talented.

Also, what is James Keepnews talking about? Glib pomposity? Huh?

[James Keepnews]

James Keepnews is talking about this:

"...this was to have Ebner call me 'pompous' and 'glib' in a couple of forums at the time of Premiere's shutdown..."

James was also sorta afraid he might be misunderstood when he wrote it. Right again, James.

[Ben Sachs]

I second Graig's sentiments on Lodge Kerrigan. "Keane" could be my favorite U.S. film of the last ten years, but then, I've only seen it twice.

Having worked in mental health for several years, I should say I'm pretty biased to Kerrigan's depiction of mental illness. He's able to elicit sympathy for his characters (in "Clean, Shaven" as well as "Keane") without downplaying how difficult they can be. That's a rare talent.

[bill]

KEANE was a great movie. Damian Lewis killed in that. Most actors, when playing a role like that...well, I don't have to tell you. But their performances often seem completely dead, killed by their flamboyance. Lewis, however, was very much alive.

Hard to believe that movie came out six years ago.

Also, didn't Kerrigan lose an entire, or almost entire, film in a lab fire? And doesn't this account, at least in one instance, for the large gaps in his filmography?

[Bruce Reid]

Bill: "Also, didn't Kerrigan lose an entire, or almost entire, film in a lab fire?"

Not a fire; In God's Hands negative was damaged. I'm not sure if this was ever confirmed or just a rumor I'd heard (Kerrigan can't discuss the issue for legal reasons), but as I remember the film was shot with a faulty camera; tragically, due to the low budget there were no daily rushes printed, and the error wasn't discovered until the production wrapped. The project, about parents whose child goes missing, was reworked into Keane.

Kerrigan, one of my favorites as well, has a new movie coming out; a biopic on Grace Slick, believe it or not.

http://www.ioncinema.com/news/id/4838

[jwarthen]

For once, a wayward discourse of correspondents that doesn't bother me a bit: the Kerrigan/Gomez material makes me grateful Kenny threw out a lob-ball review of a movie no one cares about (even as he makes a case for modified interest).

[Graig]

Ahh, James, after I posted my little thing it occurred to me what you meant. You were being droll. And I was just being thick. Apologies.

[James Keepnews]

Mr. Kerrigan is for sure a great director, and someone whom I'm sure we all wish could work more. Including himself -- I took a film class at the New School in the mid-90's where he guest lectured and showed some of the forthcoming Clean, Shaven (something of a classic, truly, and strangely echoed in Keane without being lesser for it or markedly derivative). It was intriguing, he's one very self-possessed, cool customer, but I particularly remember one admonishment he gave all budding filmmakers: if you ever get a film into a big festival and you don't have a new project ready to be pitched to whomever might offer you money, "you should be shot."

I'll be most intrigued to see precisely how much -- and what kind of -- cinematic sensitivity towards mental disorder(s) he can muster for the After Bathing at Baxter's recording sessions.

[The First Bill C]

From the horse's mouth, our own interview with Mr. Kerrigan: "I didn't really want to get into this but I guess we have to mention it. After Claire Dolan and before Keane I shot another film about child abduction called In God's Hands, but that one was about a middle-class family and the disintegration of it after this event. And unfortunately there was irreversible negative damage so the insurance company stepped in and reimbursed production, but there was no way to salvage the production, it was gone. But I had shot all the footage, the film had wrapped, and as you can imagine it was a difficult period."

(If you want to read the rest--he's a fascinating subject, and was kind enough to write the foreword to one of our Annuals--it's here.)

[The First Bill C]

Oh, guess Typepad prohibits HTML; here's that link - http://filmfreakcentral.net/notes/lkerriganinterview.htm

[Mark Ebner]

The Greene piece ("Career High," Premiere, '96) had nothing to do with my calling you pompous or glib when referring to the Premiere shutdown Glenn, and I object to your assertion that I wasn't forthcoming about my relationship with Peter Greene. I was completely upfront with my original editor (Holly Sorenson) about the fact that I was hired by Caravan Pictures to essentially babysit the actor on (and off) the set of The Rich Man's Wife. Greene agreed to do the story, but seeing the condition he was in on that production, I told him that I would not set pen to paper until he was clean for 90 days. To his credit, Greene got his 90 days, and I went to work on the story with him. As raw as that story turned out (and I like "raw"), I will confess that - of all my stories - if I had the chance to do that one again, I would take a pass for the simple reason that I should not have played God when it came to judging his sobriety on balance with the truth he was clearly not emotionally prepared to deliver. When the story was published, and Greene saw his life jump back at him off the page, well,it wasn't pretty.

Anyway Glenn, I believe that my knee-jerk comments about you being glib had more to do with your saying something like "Don't flatter yourself Ebner," when I made mention on a Hollywood,Elsewhere thread about what a headache I was on editors when I was writing for Premiere. You of all people would know that to be true, because I think we can both agree that my copy was pretty damn messy. Thanks for the clean edit, my friend!

My comments about Premiere being afraid to do hard-hitting journalism proved true. I don't think you were involved when I was assigned to do a "gonzo" production piece on Gilliam's Fear and Loathing, and the chief editor at the time refused to back me when I quite naturally raised the hackles of Depp and his publicist. And then there was Premiere's jingoistic response to 9-11, but that's something Tom Roston can remind you of.

We can agree on one thing, and that is that Peter Greene is a fiercely talented actor. Someone, once told me, "Guys like Greene never die; they live forever." I wish the same for you. Enjoy your forever. - Mark Ebner.

[Joseph B.]

So glad at least 2-3 other people saw and admire "Laws of Gravity". I still hold that as one of the top 4 or 5 films of the 90's and a complete shame it's not on DVD. That final scene is a gut punch.

And let's not forget Greene's intense performance in "Permanent Midnight", thrusting himself against a high rise window just for fun! Hell, he even made "The Rich Man's Wife" kinda watchable back in the day. Hope he makes a comeback someday.

[Glenn Kenny]

@ Mr. Ebner: Well, Mark, I wish this had come up before (he said, almost fifteen years after the fact) because, as it happens, when the story DID get passed on to me, the information that Holly Sorensen had about your situation...DID NOT. (My jaw is on my desk at the moment.) It would have been nice to know, and I don't think it would have had any kind of effect on my own handling of the story. I was always entirely confident throughout the process that the goods you had were genuine. (Which is one reason I believe you now.) So I apologize. And I apologize again.

Sigh. The rest is water under the bridge and internet flame war stuff. Premiere's jingoistic response to 9-11? Are you talking about the flags on the covers for a month or so? I think that was Hachette-wide, not just Premiere. Unless I'm missing something.

Again, Mark, sorry. I honestly wasn't told. As for the rest, it's like I said. Be well.

[Mark Ebner]

Thanks Glenn. Towards the end, as a critic and editor, you were too good for what was left of Premiere. (He says from the sidelines so many years later...)

[Joseph Tornatore]

i read your movie review on the bounty Hunter. I was an extra in this film. I was used in the pedicap scene on the boardwalk and nearly swallowed my tongue when I heard the dialogue of the pedicab driver asking aniston to show her boobs. They say never look at the camera...my eyes were far from the camera at that moment. hope I made the final cut wearing my american flag shirt and red bandana.

[Glenn Kenny]

@ Joseph: I did not spot you. You'll forgive me if I say that I'm reluctant to give the film another viewing in order to do so!

[Dan Coyle]

Greene appeared briefly in the Justified pilot this week. He looked terrible, and spent his entire scene sitting.

[ben]

Mr Ebner was even rewarded with an on-screen credit for his efforts on The Rich Man's Wife

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1607606/