Ms. Schumer is a breath of fresh air. In a society that has become overloaded with young girls well late 20's - early 30's that take themselves wayyyy too seriously (talking to you, Gerwig and Dunham), it's refreshing to see a woman on TV who is totally blunt, completely unapologetic and viciously fearless. Her medium of choice is comedy and currently rules the landscape. The shooting in in Lafayette during her film Trainwreck showed us a very serious side of the comedy icon, when she allied with her uncle, Senator Chuck Schumer to take a stand against gun violence and the second amendment which just goes to show how incredible of a person that she is.
But I'd like to talk about Schumer the comic if I may. We were first introduced to her as the sweet-looking, baby-doll dress wearing comic on every deus at a Comedy Central Roast who shocked everyone considering she looked so sweet, but what subsequently would come out of her mouth was the best foul comedy we've heard in years. During her meteoric rise, she has shut down critics and haters, saying 'I'm 160 pounds and I can catch a dick whenever I want', and acknowledging that yes it's hard for female comics, I mean duhhhh. It's a man's world, but she has machete'd the status quo with her brazen material to show that she's just as good if not better in her outrageousness. She's almost like the female Chris Farley. She came out of the box with the whole 'I own this' attitude, and not afraid of anything or any body.
Never afraid to say what we're all thinking.
What I particularly love about her is that she's not one-note. Usually people that do sketch comedy aren't great at stand up, or the other way around. She's been able to nail both with her show Inside Amy Schumer (great pun bdtubs) as well as her stand-up special 'Cutting'. She's not afraid to be self-effacing either. This is usually a cop-out, but it works brilliantly for her; 'you'd sleep with me, but you wouldn't blog about it'. Bless her. She is also tackling some serious issues that women face today. Her 'Girl You Don't Need Make Up' song sketch is a brilliant satire of the whole 'you're beautiful just the way you are...as long as you're still conventionally beautiful' sentiment that seems so popular right now. When you're watching comedy and your first thought is 'I can't believe they're showing this on television' that's always a good sign. There are no limits with her. The whole 'you can't say that on television' has dissipated. I still remember when Jimmy Fallon asked her; 'what is your opinion on teeth?' and her response without even thinking about it was; 'I've been told to use less' The world would never be the same. She's brought her male comic counterparts to tears, showing that she's in fact not only just as good but superior.
From one of her funniest sketches about feminism.
In a society where women are really extreme in either being overly glamorized like Miley Cyrus to completely anti-glamour protest like Lena Dunham, Schumer has bulldozed those ideals and leveled the playing field. She comes out in heels and a designer dress and makes fun of the fact that we have to wear 'stilts' as she calls them and 'string in between our butt cheeks' to catch the attention of the opposite sex. She honestly doesn't give a shit, and that's very refreshing. Not only that, she's just really very funny. Genuinely so, because she does what she wants, on her own terms, and has turned the comedy cannon on its head. It's no longer the boy's club. She's proven that women can be just as provocative, incendiary, and shocking without getting on a soap box about it.
Not afraid to make fun of her vices.
Her rise has been based on her ability to be classy while acting ridiculously, and being crass but smart. She's a highly intelligent individual who has honed her particular comedic ability into brilliance. She's created her own comedy cannon, and shows no signs of calming down any time soon. She doesn't show any signs of slowing down or calming down any time soon and her career is blossoming. She has become a mouth piece for all of us girls who have things that they are too afraid to say out loud, in all respects, and that takes some serious balls. For that, and for everything else, I bow down at the alter of Schumer.
Below, some of my favorite Schumer moments and sketches.
'This is what you think is hot?'
'These are just metaphors girl, but they are about your face'
Is Schumer a feminist? Absolutely. She points out the hypocrisies on both sides
Amy on Jon Stewart.
Body-image issues are something she tackles brilliantly in her comedy.
Every once in a while I like to back track a bit and get off the Bravo Real Housewives tittie. I normally don't like to throw my Ivy League degree in Film Studies into people's faces but, hey ya'll! I got an Ivy League Master's degree in Film Studies: Translation I got the world's most useless degree in one of the most prestigious Universities in the continental United States and am knee deep in student debt that will cripple me until the end of time. Ergo, I have somewhat of an encyclopedic knowledge of cinema that serves no purpose whatsoever and impresses absolutely no one. Yay me!
But once in a while I'd like to utilize that and open people up to something they might not be aware of or worse care about, but this is my blog and I get to do whatever I want so strap in. It's not an excerpt from my dissertation on Warhol so don't worry. I'll sprinkle some snark and fun facts all over it and make it readable.
A filmmaker that first put me on this useless track to no where was Billy Wilder. I was 10 and my dad made me sit down to watch Some Like it Hot one afternoon. Even though it's an oldie, most of you have probably seen it considering how iconic it is, if you haven't then it's about time you crawled out of that cave you've been living in. My dad was like that. If he had something he wanted to turn you on to, you didn't really have a say in it. And that's basically what I'm doing to you now, obviously you could stop reading but where's the fun in that? Also, I can't ground you if you do, so I have substantially less power. Nothing I can say will have as much resonance than his films on their own, but here's trying.
Wilder collaborated withMonroe on two films. In this scene all she had to say was 'where's that bourbon?' It took over 20 takes. He later quipped that Ms. Monroe had breasts like melons and a brain like Swiss cheese. You can say it was a love/hate relationship.
I don't think in the history of cinema there has been a director more consistent than Wilder. Even Hitchcock had his ehhh moments. But name me a Billy Wilder film that didn't really ride...I dare you. In my subjective (and well-informed) opinion, there are none. One after another, after another, Wilder never faltered and excelled in every genre he tackled from Film Noir to slapstick comedy to puckish satire. If I was to try to put into a syntax his films from best to worst I couldn't possibly because each shines in their own way. Sunset Blvd. is just as good as Some Like it Hot, Double Indemnity is just as good as Ace in the Hole, One, Two, Three is just as good as The Apartment, the list goes on. All of his films are excellent leave it at that. So let's reserve to talking about one in particular. I've had many arguments with people about this film, it's one of two in his catalogue to win Best Picture honors and one that I always mistakenly put at the bottom of my list as in; well I like it but that's as far as that goes. I was wrong I admit it.
Wilder with one of his favorite actors, Jack Lemmon. A man who really understood how to handle Wilder's material.
I'm talking about The Apartment. A film that most Wilder fans would say is their favorite so I by force of habit initially argued against it, but I no longer can, ok? You win people, it's genius, it's brilliant, it's everything, can I marry it? Considering Wilder was the king of making films with highly controversial themes and masking them so they slid right by the censors, this film really takes the cake. It concerns a mid-level insurance salesman of sorts C. C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) who basically pimps out his apartment for his higher ups at the company so that he can get ahead and they can quietly cheat on their wives. Things take a turn when an adorable elevator operator named Fran Kubelik (Shirey MacLaine) attempts suicide after a particularly bad break up in said apartment with none other than Baxter's boss. This sounds like something that Aronofsky, Bigelow, or Jarmusch would direct today and it would be highly depressing, make everyone feel like they wanted to blow their brains out and win all the Academy Awards for being the most bleak film of the year with the most good cry moments. Surprise surprise it's a comedy. And only Wilder could do that. Well, it's a romantic comedy, but a comedy none-the-less, and if you think about the plot, you have to wonder how on earth it got passed the rigid Hollywood censorship board of 1960.
C. C. Baxter (Lemmon) and Ms. Kubelik (MacLaine) share a moment.
Also you might have noticed it has an element of being anti-capitalist (definitely a no-no for those times) but with Wilder's wit and flair for farce and satire, it coupled better than buttercream and red velvet cake. It's served as the basis for many films and shows that followed, particularly of our generation, hence it was way ahead of its time. American Beauty, regardless of being a sweaty piece of turd modeled the plot and mostly the plight of main character after The Apartment; and Matthew Wiener used the film as a blueprint for how an office would function and how people within it would act when he created Mad Men. Perhaps because it's not so far out there like Sunset Blvd., that it flew under my radar, but in retrospect that's its beauty. A film that has a clear message that doesn't beat you over the head with it is always a good one. Subtlety is a very difficult film language, and Wilder was the master of it. Jack Lemmon, a frequent collaborator of Wilder's said that when one reports to set with the script, the script is treated like the bible. Not a comma or apostrophe can be changed.
All hail the king on his throne.
And all for the better. When Wilder finished a shooting script, there was no need to change a goddamn thing. He's one of the few that when the words went from his brain to the page, they were perfect. If we look at contemporary filmmakers, they seem to have one thing that they are good at, one genre that they shine in, or just one film that we can call 'flawless'. Wilder had about 40 of them. Think about that for a hot minute. On his tombstone is written 'Billy Wilder; I'm a Writer, but Then, Nobody's Perfect'. Even in death, the man had a joke for us and if you know where that joke came from, let's be besties. As I said before, there's little I can say about his films, or The Apartment in particular that the film can't tell you itself so do yourself a favor and watch them!
Perhaps one of the best marketing strategies for this film was to sell it like something out of time, something surreal, keeping in touch with its Neo Noir roots.
Except for a few 10 Best of the Year critic's lists, and some outcry here and there that Jake Gyllenhaal was robbed of an Oscar nomination, this film barely made returns upon release and flew quietly under our radar until it reappeared last month on Netflix instant. It's been in the 'Trending Now' category holding firm ever since, and everyone is kicking themselves for not seeing it earlier.
This was truly a sleeper hit. I can only imagine that dreaded pitch in any executive producer's officer in Hollywood. 'Hey, so yeah, it's a neo-noir...I'll explain later what that is, anyway film about a sociopath who undertakes a career in crime news as a stringer who eventually kills everyone who stands in his way of achieving his dream of exploiting the absolute worst in all of us. It's an indictment...I'll explain that later too of the news industry, and a satire, yes I'll explain later, on our vicious need for sensational news. Who do I see in the lead role you ask? Well I'm really hoping Ryan Gosling will return my phone calls. How long have I been waiting by the phone? About a year'.
Lucky for us, appropriately named Bold Films, finances the project, and the man who eventually returned the phone calls was none other than the extremely versatile Jake Gyllenhaal who's acted in everything from niche cult classics like Donnie Darko, to Oscar caliber films like Brokeback Mountain, to just absolute shit like The Prince of Persia.
The way that particularly Gyllenhaal is photographed gives such a window into the thematics of his character. Against the bleak darkness of an unforgiving world, he illuminates the worst part of what we can't see amongst it. (Ooooh that was poetic)
We know the man has chops, also we know he's experimental and fearless. He might be a pretty boy, but god damn, if his performance in Brokeback didn't make you well up, then check yourself for a pulse. Sorry Ryan Gosling. Once he was on board, it was an easy break. Filmed on location in LA, where permits and state tax laws make it almost impossible to afford shooting there, somehow they pulled it off. The setting was such where it had to be the third main character, and that's exactly what they achieved. The opening montage of LA landmarks in the middle of the night was wordless visual poetry. First time filmmaker Dan Gilroy wrote such a flawless script, I can't understand why he had trouble selling it, wait yes I can. It's seedy, it's dark, and it's an indictment of LA culture in particular, the likes of which we haven't seen since Sunset Blvd.
When it finally landed on Netflix, that's when we all took notice. but it was too late. Open Road had run such a piss poor Oscar campaign, that the film barely garnered a nod for Best Screenplay. And of course, everyone finally understood that outrage we read about that Jake himself lost out an Oscar nom to Bradley Cooper; in the film community Cooper was vilified of not only costing Jake the nomination, but also costing David Olyelowo the nod for Selma, the latter of which perhaps being more of an outrageous happening.
In one of the more grizzly parts of the film Lou Bloom beats the police to an active home invasion and what he does next is completely shocking and yet portrayed with an unapologetic spirit.
People don't like dark films, people in Hollywood that finance most films definitely don't like dark films that point a mirror at their own culture and show them the ugliness of their own black souls. But we forget the main points. When Sunset Blvd. (perhaps one of the best films ever made) was released the only Oscar it won was for writing, but it lost literally everything else. Writers know good shit when they see it, too bad their a niche minority in Hollywood.
We want to believe we're noble, and heroic human beings who overcome unsurmountable odds to achieve mental and emotional clarity; hence the Bradley Cooper nomination. Did you really think that Gyllenhaal's Lou Bloom; a straight up vicious sociopath who commits atrocities in order to further himself in a business that glorifies violence, as an antihero could stand up to that? Not with the Academy being 80% old white dudes. And Eastwood, his director being one of their own.
Not since Ace in the Hole has there been such a taught satire of using the news to better one's own career with the subjects of the news being those that pay the ultimate price have we seen such a bleak look into the duality of man, and not since Network has there been such a quippy satire of the news industry; where if you can't find the news, you create it, and the bloodier the better. As Rene Russo ever so eloquently puts it 'picture our news cast as a screaming woman running down the street with her throat cut'.
'I always say if you're seeing me, you're having the worst day of your life.'
All of those thematic elements that give every film studies student a boner aside, the writing is absolutely perfect. Everything is right there on the page, and writer/director Dan Gilroy really fused his directing ability with putting it into the script first so that the actors who read it would know exactly how to play their characters. One rule of making a film about an anti-hero or an antagonist front and center is that no matter how vile they are, the audience has to find something within them that they can relate to. You cannot have a full on villain that is completely unrelatable carry your film, because the audience will hate you, and they'll hate the film.
Take Network par example. Faye Dunaway's character of Diana Christensen; the ruthless head of the TV station that goads everyone around her into the realization that the news is what they tell people it is, and if it's not there, they'll create it, is a total monster. Faye even asked her director Sidney Lumet what her character's vulnerability was, and he told her 'she doesn't have any'. This was coupled with two other characters who did (played by William Holden and Peter Fitch) the latter of which finally realizes that his life has been bullshit and gives that iconic speech of 'I'm Mad as Hell!' to a shocked audience.
the "I want something people can't turn away from" in parentheses (no matter how violent) notion was first galvanized by Faye Dunaway the ruthless station head in Network (seriously watch it, can't believe you haven't yet)
Does Lou Bloom have vulnerability? Probably not, few sociopaths do, but we are attracted to him nonetheless, because we all know what it's like to be hungry, ambitious, and at times ruthless, we've all done something we're not proud of to get what we want, because we want it so much, not to Lou's extent, but we've been there...especially if you live in LA. He's a great antagonist because it's not his vulnerability we relate to, or any weakness he might have, but his motivation. Out of loneliness, anger, and frustration, Lou Bloom dehumanizes himself so that he can utilize a robot-like systematic means of climbing to the top without any second thoughts to his actions.
On top of which, the story albeit heavily saturated with elevated themes doesn't push any of that into your face. It's Neo-Noir at its best. It's shot against a bleak backdrop of the bad neighborhoods of LA to accentuate the bad parts within the characters; a rusty environment leads to questionable choices. Noir is not supposed to be easy to watch. By definition, it's dark, it is not uplifting, and more importantly, it's the 'bad guy' that usually comes out on top. And if there is no such resolution, then there is none to speak of at all. A hallmark of Noir is ending it ubiquitously without giving the audience the answers it hungers for; so is the world going to be ok? Probably not, Noir dictates. Because there will always be people like Lou Bloom in the world.
Me personally? I love films like that, that's what I was raised on. The great noirs of the 40's like Detour, Kiss Me Deadly, and Double Indemnity coupled with the death and lunacy laden films of Ingmar Bergman made me the finely well-adjusted adult I am today. This isn't Robert Zemeckis or Frank Darabondt, and Tim Robbins will not finally get to stand in the rain after being incarcerated for 40 years at the end of it (I'm talking about Shawshank Redemption for all you novices). This is the real world, where people aren't born malevolent, but their environment forces them into a desperation that brings out the worst in all of us. We don't want to admit it, but we'd go there too if we were hungry enough.
Beautifully written, beautifully acted, beautifully marrying neo-noir gritty realism with (excuse the cliche) heart-pounding echo of a good-old-fashioned action thriller, Nightcrawler is definitely one of the greatest films of that year, if not in fact my subjectively favorite one. Birdman: Or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance (which won Best Picture last year) might have a lot of sappy sentiment that it masks in unique and brave directing techniques and indelible performances, but a man who overcomes tremendous odds to succeed in the liberation of his soul is much more appealing to viewers than a man who without a second thought brings mayhem and sadistic cruelty to the world around him and effectively makes his environment more ruthless simply by being in it. Brings new cadence to the phrase; 'If you can't beet 'em, join em'.
Below clips of aforementioned films and trailer for Nightcrawler. Also the shooting script is available online. All it takes is a good Google search. Or ask me, fuck it.
Adorbs...and flawless Ombre I might add. Better than mine.
Alright, my blog has been rather silent lately, so let's just write some shit shall we? Especially after a sex dream, that's the best time to do it. Salvador Dalà and Luis Buñuel used to do that in order to make one of the treasures of Experimental Cinema - Un Chein Andalou (1929) so why not? Yeah, I just compared myself to Dali and Bunuel, I'm definitely sex-crazed enough. I think I would have fit right in with their trifecta at Residencia de Estudiantes with Lorca hanging out watching the Spanish sunrise over a bottle of champagne talking about art before Franco's revolution chased them out...ok getting way off track here.
Let's talk about the obvious thing I want to talk about. The prettiest Oscar winner we've seen in a while...no not Lupita N'Yongo, and quite honestly there's a celebrity cult around her and if you're at all on twitter or follow indiewire on Facebook you'll notice that every other post is about her, so let's just not even. She's awesome, good for her, the end. No I'm talking about the scruffy-poet looking, bow-tie wearin', mom-lovin' slice of heaven that was Jared Leto at the Oscars. I mean it couldn't have been more perfect. During award season, he was playful and at times borderline offensive, getting seriously scolded for his 'insensitive' remarks after winning his Golden Globe, but for the Oscars he really stepped up to the plate. And quite frankly I'm against the rumors that someone was paid to write that Obama-esque speech for him. There were tears in his eyes when he gushed about his mother, and you just can't fake that...unless you're an actor and you're really good which he obviously is, but still. Those were some real tears. Aside from that he had some good ol' fashioned fun. Whom else would you rather photobomb if not Anne Hathaway? She deserve to get photobombed basically every time she poses in my opinion, and Jared looked so much hotter than her anyway, I was embarrassed FOR her. He took selfies with him and the Oscar sign, and even participated in the silly pizza ordering gimmick, giving his slice to (again) his mommy. I was just melting.
Leto as Rayon (light on the weight, but a heavy character to carry with him all the time which is actually what I heard he did during the production of Dallas Buyers Club (2013))
Most of us don't really remember Jared Leto since his arm slicing days in Requiem for a Dream (2000) considering he was barely recognizable in Chapter 27 (2007) where he played John Lennon's killer Mark David Chapman and weighed roughly 100 pounds more (I wonder if he went off veganism for that, probs).
Considered ever the method actor, and always very dedicated to his roles, his weight loss and ahem...waxing for the role of Rayon in Dallas Buyer's Club (2013) was not the first in which he had to go a dramatic transformation. Poor man, he's been at it longer than Christian Bale, and doesn't get any notice for it like the latter does.
Again, barely recognizable as Mark David Chapman in Chapter 27 (2007)....yes co-starring Lindsay Lohan, now acting opposite her is a feat for anyone.
I remember him as the flannel clad, always strumming an acoustic guitar, pretty boy in the short lived 90's cliche'd series My So Called Life (1994 - 1995) and then maybe some easy-to-digest softy 90's films before he reappeared ripped and cut with bleach blonde hair as Angelface in the quintessential movie of the 90's; Fight Club (1999) For which I'm sure he had to really work out. I mean he played a mean fighter until Edward Norton kicked his ass.
We all remember THIS guy...I think some of us dated this guy in high school.
Then he was smart enough to work with Mary Harron as Patrick Bateman's doppleganger who gets brutally murdered by an ax in perhaps the funniest murder scene that exists on cinema; American Psycho (2000). But that's as far as I'll go on listing his credits, basically he took a 4 year hiatus from acting to focus on his band, all fine...but seriously Jared you robbed us of a good 4 years of material here. Now that we all know what you're capable of please don't ever do that to us again. And may I remind you that he was actually the oldest to be nominated in is category. He's older than Fassbender, yeah if that's what you're wondering only he looks like he's about 5 years younger. I guess all that Yoga and vegan diet does him good. I couldn't do it though...because when (not if) we date, I need cheese. Fancy, French, stinky cheese. It might come down to a Sophie's Choice of Jared Leto or cheese...and quite honestly I can't answer that right now. Anyway, again getting off track. Jared proved to us Oscar night that he is one of the best in the business and not just a pretty face that can put on or lose a tremendous amount of weight for a project with a killer voice, he's a captivating talent and also in a class by himself. You know me and my penchant for comparing contemporary actors to dead actors of the Golden Age, but I just can't here. Which is probably a good thing. Keep at it Jared...also call me.
Dallas Buyer's Club (2013) Trailer
Chapter 27 (2007) trailer
Leto as Paul Allen in one of the best films (if not the best film of the new Millenium; American Psycho (2000)) 'Try getting a reservation at Dorsia now you fucking stupid bastard!'
Music video for 'City of Angels'; off 30 Seconds to Mars' latest album...he's a Renaissance man.
Seriously ya'll, there are certain books that I refuse to read because they are either 'Children's Books' or 'Young Adult Books' or 'Stupid'. But you know what? I'll still make it out to the theater and watch Hunger Games: Catching Fire (whistling noise). Not to blow my own horn or anything but I tend to gravitate towards books that Stanley Kubrick once turned into a film in fact, my favorite book of all time was turned into a film by Kubrick...I'll give you a hint, the author's Russian. I mean I gave The Hobbit a glance through while stoned in high school, and once at the Columbia Bookstore I actually picked up a copy of 'Twilight' before screaming and running out of the store like a mad woman, after which, taking a series of cold showers. But that shit doesn't wash off people. That's why I was hesitant to pick up the 'epic' books that The Hunger Games are based on. First of all, it gets so much criticism for basically being an amalgam of all kinds of shit, specifically the film Battle Royale (2000).
I found it to have a little touch of Ayn Rand dystopianism, a dash of Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery', and basically every gladiator film that's ever been out since the camera was invented. But I finally watched it, I did, and though every extra of Panem looks like they're late for a Lady Gaga concert, and the narrative was somewhat fuddled I enjoyed myself. J-Law strikes again.
And I am looking forward to the sequel. And no I won't be reading the second book before I watch it so there. You know what I like about some movies? No reading involved. And you know what I hate? The phrase 'the book was so much better than the movie you guys', tell me you haven't wanted to punch the lights out of that pretentious assmunch.
Aesthetically the marketing is fabulous, it appeals to the serious fashion crowd, and we know they don't read shit...unless you count Vogue...which I do.
You can see that the story is very 'Young Adult' and clearly not the model of post-modern dystopia and communist allegory we all know and love as literate individuals who once took an English class (O, Captain, my Captain), but hey, it's a children's book for fuck's sake. Girls that are no older than 15 will dress up like Katniss Everdeen for Halloween. Girls over 20 will go for 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo', which I HAVE read (oh holy shit).
The worst example of film or literature ever. Like ever. Also the best example of accidental marketing.
So basically what I'm saying is that some books are not worth reading, just watch the effing movie and get off on Peeta and Katniss having moments of awkward teenage love as they try to not kill each other. Don't read the motherfucking 'Notebook', in fact, don't read anything by Nicholas Sparks nor watch any movies that his books are based on. Just get your popcorn on and hush up screaming teenagers sitting next to you when you shamelessly as an adult over 25 buy your ticket to Catching Fire (2013) rather than something actually thought provoking like 12 Years a Slave (2013), also based on a book and a really good one, but let's face it how many of you are going to watch 12 Years a Slave and exclaim that you know all about Solomon Northup, slavery in America, and the Civil War. A lot of you, and I will be super annoyed. So let's put on our Katniss pins, do the three finger salute, and just have a little bit of illiterate fun while we still don't get judged for it.
Emma Stone (left) portrays ring leader Alexis Neiers (right) in Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring (2013)
So much has gone down in the past few days people. Wendy Davis stood in hot pink sneakers in a sea of Republican Texans without pee-breaks or trips to the vending machine for 13 hours to run out the clock so that most abortion clinics in the greater Texas area wouldn't be shut down. The supreme court overturned Prop 8 in California as well as ruled DOMA unconstitutional (while also overturning the Voting Acts Right) that last part being something people have totally seemed to ignore, but still huge strides made for freedom of sexuality and freedom of individual liberty. Meanwhile, Paula Deen is still a huge racist, and Kim Kardashian had Kanye's baby way too early, but not like dangerously early, and gave it literally the dumbest celebrity name, which is totally expected. So my brain is going through a lot of duress right now.
So let's talk about other stuff...all this news is overwhelming and I need a break. I've been watching previews for The Bling Ring (2013) and pre-ordered it on iTunes. It will be the first Sofia Coppola experience I had since I nearly shot myself after watching Marie Antoinette (2005) so obviously I'm hesitant. I've made sure I have a watching partner and the house is cleared of all poisonous and sharp objects. So I should be fine, but let's draw some kind of comparison, just for the fuck of it.
In the trailer there's a very interesting moment that I kept thinking of. Emma Watson plays the Alexis Neiers-based character we all know as the ring leader behind the infamous Hollywood Hills burglaries which shocked...absolutely no one and why the fuck did anyone care that Paris Hilton was now missing three pairs of Chanel sunglasses? I do believe there are still children starving in Sudan but whatever you want to make a film about Sofia is fine by me. Then it hit me, Sofia has always been somewhat of a failed satirist, and perhaps this will be her redemption.
both women love to watch themselves.
I couldn't stop thinking about another pitch perfect satire about a woman who strives to be famous by being infamous, clawing her way up a ladder and leaving others hurt and disturbed along the way; Suzanne Stone the ruthless murderess of Gus Van Sant's brilliant black comedy To Die For (1995). The character is played perfectly by a pre-botoxed Nicole Kidman, and there's a great scene when she's about to basically get away with concpiracy to commit murder and says to hoareds of press who surround her (just what she wants) that 'life, liberty....and all the rest of it still stand for something'. For some reason this immediately popped into my head when in the trailer we see Emma Watson as Nicki swarmed by a similar hoard of photographers desperately speaking into every microphone hiding her actual pleasure with the whole situation by huge Nicole Ritchie-type sunglasses that she's 'a huge believer in karma, and this is a learning experience for her' after which she takes a pause to think of something at least remotely sincere and ends it with 'I want to lead a country one day...for all I know'. The statement seems as misguided as Stone's but harkens that though acquitted in the actual courts, in the court of public opinion, these two broads are screwed because they wanted superficial things (namely fame of any sort, no matter how long the 15 minutes would last) and did really despicable and cruel things to achieve it, not understanding in the end that in their moment of redemption at least to the people that they had fought so hard to get on their side, they totally screwed it up because all in all, they are pretty soulless individuals.
Both are extremely aware of their own sexual power.
Now, I am not comparing Gus Ban Sant to Sofia Coppola, I mean I haven't seen any pigs fly through my window, nor any of the horesmen of the apocalypse so that will not happen not now and not ever. But in terms of satire, I think if Sofia was directing Watson towards any extension of Alexis Neiers it was probably to play her as one of the greatest bitches in film history, or at least of the 90's and that of satire itself, and that is Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman). That is, if she's any kind of smart, and that's a reach. But let's hope that we see some more of Van Sant's themes in Coppola's teenage epic. It could work to her benefit, or land her right on her ass. Just like the rest of her films.
