What’s Catholic League president Bill Donohue upset about today? Oh, the usual: “In the 1950s, Hollywood generally avoided crude fare and was respectful of religion. Today it specializes in crudity and trashes Christianity, especially Catholicism. Enter The Three Stooges . The movie is not just another remake: It is a cultural marker of sociological significance, and what it says about the way we’ve changed is not encouraging.” A Fox spokesman responds: “I think we did the audience a favor by letting Kate Upton wear the nun-kini rather than Larry David — it could have gone either way.” [ THR ]
The film : “Dogville” (2003) Why it’s an Inessential Essential : It’s admittedly a little strange to think of this fairly well-known film as needing endorsement of any kind. However, Lionsgate recently released a new Nicole Kidman box set, packaging the first film in Lars von Trier’s acerbic but still incomplete “America Trilogy” in the same collection as more high-profile and easy-to-swallow Kidman roles like Cold Mountain , Rabbit Hole and The Others . The juxtaposition is striking, and as the clear odd film out in the four-disc set, Dogville emerges as perhaps Kidman’s most inessential essential. As von Trier guardedly remarks on the film’s audio commentary, the making of Dogville hinged on Kidman’s involvement. The film’s only began shooting when Kidman was able to fit the gig into her busy work schedule, frustrating Von Trier, who says that he understood and there was no real way around it. He had to have Kidman play Grace, the fugitive gangster’s daughter who finds refuge in the titular small town. Kidman’s performance essentially fuels von Trier’s rabid vision of America as a pseudo-Smalltown, USA. Dogville’s self-interested residents orbit her character as if she were the Sun and the consequences of her actions almost always eclipses everyone else’s. She is good-natured and that’s why von Trier stir the conniving Dogvilleians’ shit. It’s why von Trier’s camera (he’s credited as a camera operator in the end credits) always seems to cling to Kidman’s face. He loves that face (“She’s a very good listener,” he remarks to director of photography Anthony Dod Mantle during the audio commentary). Which in turn is why, according to the skittish but always provocative Danish filmmaker says that Kidman was put off by how physically close he would get to her during shooting. Kidman gives an indelibly nuanced performance here, making the film a barbed satire first and a showcase for Kidman a close second. How the DVD Makes the Case For the Film : Lionsgate repackaged their old DVD release of Dogville but that’s all right given how inadvertently revealing von Trier and Mantle’s audio commentary is. The two filmmakers go silent for a number of scenes as von Trier clearly doesn’t know what to say. This conversation seems to have been recorded in one take and sometime between the film screened at the Cannes Film Festival and its original 2004 American theatrical release. When it comes to Kidman, von Trier seems deliberately shy. But he does bring up certain things that hint at why Kidman didn’t reprise her role as Grace in Manderlay, like how Kidman didn’t like the idea of Grace dragging around a heavy weight around her attached to a collar with a bell. Von Trier says he doesn’t really mind as that was “the job, not to like it.” But while LvT generally sounds like he just wants to put Dogville behind him, his silence regarding Kidman seems like it was his way of trying to be diplomatic. He complements Kidman’s performance but also readily admits that working with such a big star frustrated him, too. When talking about working around Kidman’s schedule, he remarks, “She has to do what she has to do but.” Then he exhales dramatically and continues: “It kind of suffocates you in your creative process.” Other Interesting Trivia : Von Trier says a number of funny (ie: funny-peculiar, not funny ha ha) off-the-cuff things that reveal just how uncomfortable he is talking about Kidman and the film after-the-fact, like when he jokes about how much Stellan Skarsgaard, “loves to be naked, like me,” during Grace’s rape scene. In fact, the only remark he makes about Kidman or Grace during this scene is that her head is over the chalk line demarcating the borders of the house she’s being raped in. He also half-snorts, half-laughs at the absurdity of Kidman complaining about “[feeling] trapped” by having to wear Grace’s degrading collar. Von Trier’s point couldn’t be more clear: Dogville wouldn’t be Dogville if it were less venomous. But it also wouldn’t be Dogville without Kidman, too, and that’s something he sounds reluctant to admit. PREVIOUS INESSENTIAL ESSENTIALS The Last Temptation of Christ The Sitter Citizen Ruth The Broken Tower Simon Abrams is a NY-based freelance film critic whose work has been featured in outlets like The Village Voice, Time Out New York, Vulture and Esquire. Additionally, some people like his writing, which he collects at Extended Cut .
With today’s theatrical opening of the documentary Hit So Hard , Movieline is pleased to revisit its coverage from the film’s New York festival premiere on March 28, 2011. — Ed. Courtney Love shrugged. “We’ve been in lots of rooms together,” she said to a packed theater of moviegoers at the Museum of Modern Art, where Hit So Hard , a documentary about her band Hole (and, more specifically, drummer/addict/survivor Patty Schemel) had its New York premiere Monday night. The crowd laughed, steeped in nostalgia and recognition — not that Love was talking about this room or this crowd. Love was talking about the members of Hole themselves — herself, Schemel, guitarist Eric Erlandson and bassist Melissa auf der Mar, reunited for the New Directors/New Films festival screening. Hit So Hard ‘s director, P. David Ebersole, had earlier repeated the fest’s talking point about the event being the first time all four had been “in the same room” in 13 years, and many of the evening’s attendees — casual viewers and die-hard Hole fans alike, many dressed in faded black merch-table artifacts from Hole’s 1997 Celebrity Skin tour — had been drawn in for the express purpose of seeing what drama might transpire. How would the quartet respond to the home-movie evidence of debauchery, chaos and self-destruction? How would the erstwhile intimacy and contemporary candor reflect on the band members and their work? Would Courtney Love even bother to show up? Indeed she would, because ultimately Hit So Hard isn’t a rock expos
This just in from the Avengers press conference in Beverly Hills, where Robert Downey Jr. may or may not be messing with the assembled press a la Tony Stark: “We are shooting one more scene [for The Avengers ]… tonight. Not kidding.” Aaand with that mysterious cliffhanger, Downey and his fellow superheroes exited the stage. What does it mean? UPDATE : Joss Whedon reacts: “He’s Robert, of course he’s kidding.” Well, it was fun while it lasted. And Downey did promise that nothing after his first answer would be sincere. Stay tuned for Movieline’s full report from the Avengers junket!
“Considering the vivid 3D effects, we fear that viewers may reach out their hands for a touch and thus interrupt other people’s viewing. To avoid potential conflicts between viewers and out of consideration of building a harmonious ethical social environment, we’ve decided to cut off the nudity scenes.” I presume this means Piranha 3DD can count the Chinese market out. [ IMDB ]
I’m not sure if Uma Thurman ‘s character Rebecca Duvall on NBC’s Smash is supposed to be all that convincing as Marilyn Monroe — the subject of the Broadway show-within-the-TV show, in case you’ve been living under a rock — but a sneak peek at next week’s episode offers a snippet of Thurman’s singing chops and, well… let’s just say, it’s good to know she’ll only be around for a five-episode arc. Watch Thurman in a musical scene from her upcoming guest turn, decked out in a platinum blonde wig and singing about Freud, after the jump. That’s not to say Thurman isn’t good here — she’s a decent singer and luminous as always, but the “Dig Deep” number is a far, far cry from the Monroe performance executive producers/songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman
“It sounds creepy, but basically I just enjoy looking at her face, and think about it a lot. Even when she was a child actor in Panic Room , she just always appears very, very tired. She looks like she has an old soul. There’s something about her presence on camera and how she carries herself. She’s very intriguing. A lot of times, it looks like she hasn’t slept for two days and it’s exciting to think about: ‘What were you doing? Why were you awake so long? What were you thinking about?'” Julia Vickerman’s MUCHOS KSTEW , comprised entirely of artwork inspired by Twilight ‘s Kristen Stewart , runs through April 20 at L.A.’s Meltdown Comics. [ Next Movie ]
Have you ever imagined how much better Inside the Actors Studio might be if it consisted entirely of awkward silences? (Culminating in a lightning-round through the Proust questionnaire, natch.) Me too! And thanks to the wonders of YouTube, now we know: A lot better . Let James Lipton and his special guest Johnny Depp enlighten you: May the Dark Shadows press tour be this rewarding. [ You’re a Nation Films via Videogum ]
After making just $30 in its initial limited release theatrical run in 2006, Leo Grillo’s indie noir Zyzzyx Road — which starred an on-the-cusp Katherine Heigl and an in-decline Tom Sizemore and also managed to misspell the California desert locale it was named for , unless that was intentional — will be released digitally this summer by the intrepid folks at GoDigital. “We love the story behind this film and are thrilled to be part of what we believe will be a happy ending, I am confident it will make us more than $30,” said GoDigital Director of Marketing Barry Daffurn of the distribution coup. Ba-dum ching! Oh, humor. What’s not funny: Actually watching any part of Zyzzyx Road . Here’s the trailer, see for yourself! Every time you curse Heigl for making yet another inane chick flick , just remember: She’s already paid her penance in advance. Zyzzyx Road will be available digitally via GoDigital this summer. [Press release]
An eagle-eyed reader of Warner Bros.’ exhibitors site passes along word today that The Dark Knight Rises has earned — wait for it — a PG-13 from the MPAA ratings board for “intense sequences of violence and action, some sensuality, and language.” Sensuality! I knew Batman and Bane were going to get close, but not that close. [ Nolanfans via Collider ]
