Hollywood cries
And it has nothing to do with the third Avatar's run time.
THE QUOTE š¬ š¬
āIt happens sometimes.
Friends come in and out of your life, like busboys in a restaurant.ā
hint: my favorite Rob Reiner directed movie
THINK THOUGHTS š
Rob Reinerās murder feels like an unavoidable topic this week.1
Itās created a conversation around him, his movies, his family and the way he died thatās unlike other deaths Iāve experienced of someone at his fame level. I wrote about our collective dealings with the death of famous people a few months ago when Robert Redford died. But of course, this is different. And I donāt really care to get into the details of Reinerās death. Except to say itās sad. Incredibly, unfathomably sad.
I thought I might possibly write about my favorite Rob Reiner movie, and one of my favorite movies ever, Stand By Me. But before I could, Stephen King beat me to it. The New York Times published his opinion piece, Stephen King: Why I Hugged Rob Reiner After Watching āStand by Meā
And instead of ācompetingā with him, I figured Iād steal some of his thoughts and quotes. Stand By Me of course is the story of four young friends on an adventure to discover a body of another young boy (Stand By Me was based on Kingās novella titled The Body). But what I didnāt know is how personal it was to Kingā¦
āThe Bodyā remains the only nakedly autobiographical story Iāve ever done. Those kids were my friends. We never walked down a railroad track to see a dead body, but we got up to other stuff. The story was about my reality as I had lived it on the dirt roads of southern Maineā¦.And there really was a kid who was accused of stealing milk money, although his name wasnāt Chris Chambers. He did borrow ā we wonāt call it stealing ā his momās Bel Air. With me riding shotgun, he drove it 90 miles per hour down Route 9 in our backcountry hometown. We were 11.
Itās funny then that, even if it was Kingās story, and set in 1959, it felt somehow autobiographical for me too, even though I watched it when I was around the age of the kids in it. But imagine seeing your life put on screen, not sure how itād turn out.
in Robās hands, it all rang true. The funny parts were really funny (including the barf-o-rama) and the dramatic parts hit me where I lived, or where I did live back in the days when John F. Kennedy was president and gas was a quarter a gallonā¦.When the movie was over, I thanked Rob and surprised the hell out of myself by giving him a hug. Iām not ordinarily a hugging man, and I donāt think he was used to getting them. He stiffened, muttered something about being glad I liked it, and we both stepped away.
You can imagine being nostalgic. Which King was.
I apparently wasnāt done feeling my feelings. I went into the nearest menās bathroom and sat in a stall until I got myself under control. Nostalgia can be dangerous when itās up close. I donāt exactly know what I mean by that, but it feels true.
Itās obviously extremely personal for King, but like I mentioned above, I have feelings that are similar when I catch even a scene from the film. A kind of intense longing.
And while there are a lot of movies out there, not all that many make you feel the way King is describing. But Reiner made multiple of those movies (see: The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally).
And yes, again, the way he died was painfully tragic. But hopefully weāll get to a point where we remember the feelings his movies gave us much more than these final headlines. And because of course he did, King summed it up best.
He was a political presence, a social commentator and a wicked satirist. But all that still pales for me when I watch Chris Chambers say to the weeping Gordie Lachance: āYouāre gonna be a great writer someday.ā
That weeping boy was me. It was Rob Reiner who put it on the screen.
NEWSY BITS š¾
Oscars Bolts From ABC to YouTube Starting in 2029 - ABC has been airing the awards since 1976. Why would the Academy want to switch? Because people have, to watching YouTube on their TV more than Broadcast. 13% of all TV viewing time is through YouTube and thatās the largest of any type. - Hollywood Reporter
George Clooney Says Heās No Longer āKissing Girlsā in Movies - Clooney says itās to make room for other actors, which, fair. And heās obviously allowed to do what he wants, but it is a bit of a bummer that he thinks men of his age are fit to be in āromantic movies.ā Love, sex, and romance happen at all ages, and heād probably be a great showcase for that if he chose to. Especially with people close in age to him. But maybe the markets not there, sure. Though if anyone could help build it up, it might be him. - Variety
NOTABLE NEW RELEASE(S) š & šŗ
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Suggestion.
Instead of adding a subtitle to the Avatar sequels, they couldāve just added more āaās.ā
Like, Avatar: The Way of Water wouldāve been Avataaar and Fire and Ash wouldāve become Avataaaaaar (additional aās added on top for itās place place in the series of course).
The thinking here is that even though there is an incredible amount of effort put in to each movie, theyāre *looks around to see if James Cameron is around, he obviously still isnāt, chooses to whisper anyway* kinda the same movie. Obviously thatās not true in the most literal sense, but to the average moviegoer, they do seem to all run together.
Sure, you can say that about many big, epic action series, but Avatar is different in that you literally go for the visual experience. Or I do. And most people Iāve talked to. Indeed, there is a story, but can you tell me what it is outside of āhumans fight Naāvi (the big blue people), ready set go?ā
ā¦ā¦
Exactly. So the TL;DR is this is more Avatar, which likely means a shit ton more money for Cameron and Disney2, thanks to a whole lot of people saying in confusion ā3D movies still exist??ā as theyāre handed a pair of clunky glasses.
Out: Friday
Where: Movie Theaters
Details: 3 hrs 12 mins | PG-13 | š : 70%
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
Like the aquatic sea creature heās named after, Spongebob seems to keep soaking up all the joy in the world and squeezing himself so it squirts out all over us with each successive episode or movie.
ā¦ā¦.
The joy. He squirts the joy!
Right. Not the cleanest analogy3, especially considering this is a PG movie. But my poor metaphor stands, Spongebob continues to be a delight for kids and their parents in this pirate tale. Well, assuming parents can take the yellow cuboidās repetitious laugh and shots of his square behind.
Out: Friday
Where: Movie Theaters
Details: 1 hr 36 mins | PG | š : 90%
The Housemaid
Wanna get naughty?
Like reeeeal naughty?
Like super duper extra freaky deaky?
Well then gotta here ya creep! This is an R rated only newsletter!
Jk. We donāt yuck anyoneās yum here. But while this Paul Feig directed erotic thriller seems like itāll harken back *ahem* hard to the sexy 90ās, donāt expect full Skinemax. Think more twists and turns, where Sydney Sweeney gets in (too?) deep with a batshit Amanda Seyfreid as her maid, and a bit of sex tossed in for good measure. Because this movie is in part, about power, and we all know thatās exactly what sex is about. And everything else? Well, itās about sex of course4.
āThe Housemaid is the kind of movie that best serves its audience in a theater. Thatās where I saw it, with a full house of ordinary moviegoers who seemed to be having a blast. They chuckled, they clapped, they occasionally warned the characters to watch out. When a guy in the middle of the theater made a joke at the very end, the whole crowd burst out laughing, and we all left in a good mood. In line for the bathroom afterward, I listened as people talked about how much they enjoyed that movie.ā
Out: Friday
Where: Movie Theaters
Details: 2 hrs 11 mins | R | š : 81%
Is This Thing On?
Why are comedians so often good at drama? Is it because their souls are so tortured that they laugh because otherwise they would tear their eyeballs directly out of their sockets in despair cry? I mean yeah, maybe.
Or maybe, theyāre just not afraid of going for it because theyāve stood up in front of a group of strangers and bombed their asses off (not like that). But it happens so often, that a comedian takes on a serious role and youāre like āthat guy/girl?,ā it becomes less surprising in aggregate. Think Adam āStop looking at me swanā Sandler giving us some of the best acting of the last 20 years. And yet, still with each individual youāre like ābut really, that guy/girl?ā
āThat guyā here is Will Arnett, taking on the role of a man dealing with a divorce (to the always awesome Laura Dern), by stumbling into standup. Which turns out to be just the therapeutic reprieve he needs.
Whatās funny though, is that Arnett, besides never having done a ātrueā dramatic role, hadnāt ever done standup either. Turns out, kinda great at both. Well, at least in the cinematic sense.
Give credit to director Bradley Cooper, who has made three well regarded movies in a row, for seeing that Arnett could do both. While it may not hit the cultural heights of Cooperās A Star is Born, I could see this affecting those in the āhowād my life turn out this wayā kind mood.
Out: Friday
Where: Movie Theaters
Details: 2 hrs 4 mins | R | š : 92%
EXTRA CREDIT MOVIE(S) š
Gotta make the grade all by yourself this time.
THE TRAILERS āÆ
Disclosure Day - Steven Spielberg says hello again to his favorite friends. Aliens.
Street Fighter - Loganās yellow suit in Deadpool and Wolverine walked so Street Fighterās video game accurate outfits could run fight.
Digger - Tom Cruise + Alejandro G. IƱƔrritu = ā¦ dirt?
Greenland 2: Migration - they go into the bunker, they come out of the bunker. Whatās next, a space bunker? ā¦. Shit. Thatās it isnāt it?
The Sheep Detectives - Sheep investigate the death of their nice as hell (and rich AF) sheep herder, played by Hugh Jackman.
Hokum - Adam Scott dips into the weird world of trippy horror.
Dracula - itās a childrenās musical! Jk. Maybe though?
Killer Whale - I mean, itās right there in the name how could we have missed it!
Melania - *ahem*
Normal - Bob Odenkirk continues his ascent up Liam Neeson Type Action Hero mountain.
If youāve yet to see the news, or donāt know who Rob Reiner was, he directed a ton of well known movies like The Princess Bride, Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, A Few Good Men, Misery, When Harry Met Sally.
but enough for two more sequels? TBD
yes, that was a sponge pun
I donāt know that thatās true. Just like I donāt think itās true Oscar Wilde is said to have said that.