list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around What Just Happened? on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/What_Just_Happened/284770/default.aspx Title: What Just Happened?
Year: 2008
Director: Barry Levinson
Plot: Inspired by the personal memoirs of Hollywood producer Art Linson, Barry Levinson's fictional showbiz comedy stars Robert DeNiro as a struggling movie producer who has just suffered through his second divorce, and slowly finds his soul being ground up into the mechanizations of the Hollywood machine. Sean Penn, Stanley Tucci, Bruce Willis, John Turturro, and Kristin Stewart co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 2
Number of Lists: 4
Number of blog posts: 12
Number of discussion threads: 1
SpoutRating: 2
]]>Thu, 07 May 2009 21:59:43 GMTWhat Just Happened?2008Barry LevinsonInspired by the personal memoirs of Hollywood producer <a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P____99859/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Art Linson</a>, <a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P____99530/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Barry Levinson</a>'s fictional showbiz comedy stars Robert DeNiro as a struggling movie producer who has just suffered through his second divorce, and slowly finds his soul being ground up into the mechanizations of the Hollywood machine. <a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P___106027/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Sean Penn</a>, <a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P____72023/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Stanley Tucci</a>, <a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P____76618/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Bruce Willis</a>, <a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P___114771/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>John Turturro</a>, and Kristin Stewart co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide2Slightly Tagged (1-5)41212http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/s284770.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/What_Just_Happened/284770/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/groups/Coming_Soon/2_27_Harrison_Ford_is_STILL_THROUGH_messing_arou/216/40602/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: SkyPilot
Post To: Coming Soon
Post Date: 2/23/2009 5:01:58 PM
Body: NEW TO THEATERS 2/27 The video game movie you never expected -- Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li Watch the trailer. What do you think? After the film, will we look like this: Or this: Harrison Ford is STILL through messing around! -- Crossing Over (limited) Starring Sean Penn, Ashley Judd, and Harrison Ford. The trailer makes it look like Crash, only all the stories are focused on immigration. And it looks like Ford's performance is another in his line of "I'm through messing around!" performance. Hey, he's sure good at this stuff, though... Harrison Ford's Top 3 "I'm Through Messing Around" Movies 1. The Fugitive 2. Clear and Present Danger 3. Air Force One 3-D Jonases, watchable at will! -- Jonas Brothers 3-D Experience Love 'em or hate 'em, you just can't deny that those Jonas Brothers made a concert movie. Want proof? Watch the trailer. Great concert films What's the best concert films you've ever seen? I highly recommend the Rolling Stones film Gimme Shelter (watch the trailer). Every time I see it, I'm chilled by the real violence that the Maysles captured with their cameras. As you may know, this was the concert where the Hell's Angels provided the Stones' "security." I also really enjoyed the Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense. Jonathan Demme is credited as the director, but I've heard that the film's style is very much a brainchild of David Byrne. _______________________________________________ NEW TO DVD 2/23 -- WARNING! THERE IS POTTY HUMOR! City of Ember -- Watch the trailer. The guys on FilmCouch liked this one. Listen to the FilmCouch review. Wooo, Bill Murray! Read the SpoutBlog review. What Just Happened -- Watch the trailer. This Hollywood-based comedy didn't get good reviews, but it stars Robert Deniro, Sean Penn, John Turturro, and Bruce Willis. How can it not be good, right? Huh, I guess everybody poops once in a while. Extreme Movie -- This parody of teen sex comedies stars Michael Cera and was partly written by SNL's Will Forte and Adam Samberg. I can't remember it ever even playing in theaters...but everyone poops, am I right, people? 88 Minutes -- Watch the trailer. Starring Al Pacino. Who poops. Splinter -- Watch the trailer. A virus infects people with an insatiable thirst for human blood. This could be good; but isn't there a rule of thumb that whenever an effects guru directs a movie, you should run for the hills? I'd be happy if Splinter proves me wrong.
]]>Mon, 23 Feb 2009 22:01:58 GMTSkyPilotComing Soon2/23/2009 5:01:58 PMNEW TO THEATERS 2/27 The video game movie you never expected -- Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li Watch the trailer. What do you think? After the film, will we look like this: Or this: Harrison Ford is STILL through messing around! -- Crossing Over (limited) Starring Sean Penn, Ashley Judd, and Harrison Ford. The trailer makes it look like Crash, only all the stories are focused on immigration. And it looks like Ford's performance is another in his line of "I'm through messing around!" performance. Hey, he's sure good at this stuff, though... Harrison Ford's Top 3 "I'm Through Messing Around" Movies 1. The Fugitive 2. Clear and Present Danger 3. Air Force One 3-D Jonases, watchable at will! -- Jonas Brothers 3-D Experience Love 'em or hate 'em, you just can't deny that those Jonas Brothers made a concert movie. Want proof? Watch the trailer. Great concert films What's the best concert films you've ever seen? I highly recommend the Rolling Stones film Gimme Shelter (watch the trailer). Every time I see it, I'm chilled by the real violence that the Maysles captured with their cameras. As you may know, this was the concert where the Hell's Angels provided the Stones' "security." I also really enjoyed the Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense. Jonathan Demme is credited as the director, but I've heard that the film's style is very much a brainchild of David Byrne. _______________________________________________ NEW TO DVD 2/23 -- WARNING! THERE IS POTTY HUMOR! City of Ember -- Watch the trailer. The guys on FilmCouch liked this one. Listen to the FilmCouch review. Wooo, Bill Murray! Read the SpoutBlog review. What Just Happened -- Watch the trailer. This Hollywood-based comedy didn't get good reviews, but it stars Robert Deniro, Sean Penn, John Turturro, and Bruce Willis. How can it not be good, right? Huh, I guess everybody poops once in a while. Extreme Movie -- This parody of teen sex comedies stars Michael Cera and was partly written by SNL's Will Forte and Adam Samberg. I can't remember it ever even playing in theaters...but everyone poops, am I right, people? 88 Minutes -- Watch the trailer. Starring Al Pacino. Who poops. Splinter -- Watch the trailer. A virus infects people with an insatiable thirst for human blood. This could be good; but isn't there a rule of thumb that whenever an effects guru directs a movie, you should run for the hills? I'd be happy if Splinter proves me wrong. http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2009/1/16/39588.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 1/16/2009 10:00:41 AM
Body: Each day this week, Christopher Campbell will take a look back at a “classic” film that played the Sundance Film Festival. Today’s installment: Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton’s Little Miss Sunshine (2006). If you’ve ever wondered why there are so many big-budget films with all-star casts at Sundance in recent years, here’s why: the Little Miss Sunshine scenario. While this particular film is not the cause nor was it the first studio-like movie to arrive in Park City sans distribution, it is perhaps the most exemplary of a situation that’s currently very familiar at the festival. Sometimes a film can come out the worse for the scenario, as in the case of last year’s What Just Happened? But sometimes it can create a “Cinderella story,” as it did for Little Miss Sunshine. Here’s the gist of it: in past years, Little Miss Sunshine would have easily been set up and produced at a studio, at least at a specialty division. But all the majors passed on it save for Focus Features, which ultimately dropped the project after two years of pre-production. So, producer Marc Turtletaub made the film independently through his companies Big Beach Films and Deep River Productions. When Little Miss Sunshine premiered at Sundance, the film was an instant hit, receiving a standing ovation after its first screening. Suddenly all the distributors, most if not all of which had probably passed originally, wanted the movie. After an intense bidding war, Fox Searchlight nabbed the rights for an astonishing price tag of $10.5 million (plus 10% of the gross). The purchase price may have seemed like too much at the time, but it made a lot of sense in business terms. And not necessarily because Searchlight had the skills to turn a little dysfunctional family indie into a $100 million-grossing, multi-Oscar-nominated success. In the current Hollywood economy (not to be confused with the current global economy, because the scenario came way before the financial crisis), it is actually smart for a studio to avoid producing a film for $8 million (the cost of LMS) only to later pay more than $10 million for the finished product. As one prominent indie producer told me, “specialty companies are better off going to Sundance and outright overpaying for a great film than pay less for a something that might be good.” If you’ve read my list of Worst Sundance Sensations, you’ll know that I don’t exactly agree that Little Miss Sunshine is a great film. But enough people disagree with me to have made it a Best Picture nominee and an official Sundance Classic. Anyway, I do love every moment featuring Supporting Actor Oscar-winner Alan Arkin, so below is a clip of one of his greatest, most foul-mouthed scenes, courtesy of Hulu.com. Hulu also has the whole film available for free, which you can view here. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:00:41 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com1/16/2009 10:00:41 AMEach day this week, Christopher Campbell will take a look back at a “classic” film that played the Sundance Film Festival. Today’s installment: Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton’s Little Miss Sunshine (2006). If you’ve ever wondered why there are so many big-budget films with all-star casts at Sundance in recent years, here’s why: the Little Miss Sunshine scenario. While this particular film is not the cause nor was it the first studio-like movie to arrive in Park City sans distribution, it is perhaps the most exemplary of a situation that’s currently very familiar at the festival. Sometimes a film can come out the worse for the scenario, as in the case of last year’s What Just Happened? But sometimes it can create a “Cinderella story,” as it did for Little Miss Sunshine. Here’s the gist of it: in past years, Little Miss Sunshine would have easily been set up and produced at a studio, at least at a specialty division. But all the majors passed on it save for Focus Features, which ultimately dropped the project after two years of pre-production. So, producer Marc Turtletaub made the film independently through his companies Big Beach Films and Deep River Productions. When Little Miss Sunshine premiered at Sundance, the film was an instant hit, receiving a standing ovation after its first screening. Suddenly all the distributors, most if not all of which had probably passed originally, wanted the movie. After an intense bidding war, Fox Searchlight nabbed the rights for an astonishing price tag of $10.5 million (plus 10% of the gross). The purchase price may have seemed like too much at the time, but it made a lot of sense in business terms. And not necessarily because Searchlight had the skills to turn a little dysfunctional family indie into a $100 million-grossing, multi-Oscar-nominated success. In the current Hollywood economy (not to be confused with the current global economy, because the scenario came way before the financial crisis), it is actually smart for a studio to avoid producing a film for $8 million (the cost of LMS) only to later pay more than $10 million for the finished product. As one prominent indie producer told me, “specialty companies are better off going to Sundance and outright overpaying for a great film than pay less for a something that might be good.” If you’ve read my list of Worst Sundance Sensations, you’ll know that I don’t exactly agree that Little Miss Sunshine is a great film. But enough people disagree with me to have made it a Best Picture nominee and an official Sundance Classic. Anyway, I do love every moment featuring Supporting Actor Oscar-winner Alan Arkin, so below is a clip of one of his greatest, most foul-mouthed scenes, courtesy of Hulu.com. Hulu also has the whole film available for free, which you can view here. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/karina/archive/2008/10/17/36455.aspx Post By: Karina
Post To: Karina on SpoutBlog
Post Date: 10/17/2008 2:00:54 PM
Body: Hollywood has been making movies about movies almost as long as they’ve been making movies. But what’s the appeal of a movie about a movie? Assuming there is one; according to Box Office Mojo, a movie about a movie hasn’t grossed significantly over $100 million in twenty years, and that one had the obvious advantage of offering a glimpse into the marriage of a cartoon bombshell and a rabbit. But what is it that makes the legitimately great Hollywood movies––the Sunset Boulevards, the Bad and the Beautifuls, the Players –– legitimately great? Maybe at some point, they were able to convincingly offer the illusion that one had been temporarily invited into an inner sanctum, seen the secret lives of stars, given a lesson in how the sausage is made, but today it’s hard to imagine anyone really believing that a given film has the power to blow the lid off the dream factory. The great Hollywood movies do traffic in the illusion of taking the viewer “inside,” but by layering irony, melodrama, and critique, they never fully strip Hollywood of its inherent mystery, which verges on mysticism. Hollywood plays itself best when reinforcing the tenants of its own myth, particularly those involving stars. At the end of a serious film about the movies, even a bone-dry satire like The Player, we’re supposed to walk away remaining a bit mystified as to the way that world works, as if it’s beyond and above both the constraints and the moral codes of “real life.” Old Hollywood reinforced its structuring lies by making movies which pushed the tacit understanding that us mere mortals would be out of our league if ever asked to operate under Hollywood’s dark laws. What Just Happened? doesn’t feel like a serious film, but that’s not necessarily a reason to not recommend it. The reason to not recommend it is that it has no concept of that sense of mystery, and without it, it feels like there’s nothing at stake. And also, its best joke is the suggestion that Bruce Willis might be concerned with his own artistic integrity. Lacking any sense of connection to classical Hollywood meta-mythology yet filled with late 20th century cliche (Hollywood: it employs a lot of Jews!), Barry Levinson’s dramatization of real-life producer Art Linson’s memoir plays a lot like a feature-length episode of Entourage with a severe shortage of bimbos and hanger-on douchebags. If that sounds like an improvement on the Entourage formula, well, sort of. But the three sources of tensions entangled in Linson’s script never amount to much, which this isn’t a disappointment, exactly, because it was always clear they didn’t have any real weight to begin with. Sprinkled with sore-thumb julienne-cut transitions and the odd deadpan dream sequence, What Just Happened? is an impatient zoom through a couple of days in the life of a harried super-producer (Robert DeNiro) modeled on Linson (who also produced this film). DeNiro battles a number of roughly-sketched personal problems and completely mundane professional problems. Like the Hollywood blockbusters his Linson clone produces (but which the film never sufficiently skewers), each of Happened?’s conflicts can be boiled down to a single, high-concept, 20 words or less logline that leaves no loose end untied. He’s got two weeks to get an addled artiste to tone down his ultraviolent Sean Penn vehicle before Cannes! He’s got three days to get Bruce Willis to stop throwing tantrums and shave his beard before the cameras roll! He’s got an open invite for nooners with his ex-wife, even though she’s clearly sleeping with a screenwriter with an argyle fetish! Of course, the best moments have nothing to do with any of these ticking time bombs; DeNiro is able to momentarily resucitate interest when animating Linson in his down time–when he quietly breaks out the Just For Men, when he slips into an angry fantasy at a funeral and then slips right out again. Otherwise, he’s just playing connect the dots. That the bulk of the narrative streams out from a disasterous out-of-town test screening is unfortunate. As you may have heard by now, What Just Happened premiered at Sundance in January as a title with “buzz”, but once unveiled it was greeted with general indifference. Its Cannes premiere went a bit better, but an American distribution deal still proved elusive, and producers 2929 Entertainment eventually gave up the hunt for a suitor and decided to release the film through sister company Magnolia. You almost wonder if a cataclysmic premiere in another town would have been preferable — at least distaste or disgust might have aroused curiosity. You’d imagine there’d be more gravy to milk from anger than from a shrug. As it is, you can understand why buyer interest would be restrained. What Just Happened? is rarely unpleasant, but it even more rarely feels like it’s doing much of anything at all. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth
]]>Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:00:54 GMTKarinaKarina on SpoutBlog10/17/2008 2:00:54 PMHollywood has been making movies about movies almost as long as they’ve been making movies. But what’s the appeal of a movie about a movie? Assuming there is one; according to Box Office Mojo, a movie about a movie hasn’t grossed significantly over $100 million in twenty years, and that one had the obvious advantage of offering a glimpse into the marriage of a cartoon bombshell and a rabbit. But what is it that makes the legitimately great Hollywood movies––the Sunset Boulevards, the Bad and the Beautifuls, the Players –– legitimately great? Maybe at some point, they were able to convincingly offer the illusion that one had been temporarily invited into an inner sanctum, seen the secret lives of stars, given a lesson in how the sausage is made, but today it’s hard to imagine anyone really believing that a given film has the power to blow the lid off the dream factory. The great Hollywood movies do traffic in the illusion of taking the viewer “inside,” but by layering irony, melodrama, and critique, they never fully strip Hollywood of its inherent mystery, which verges on mysticism. Hollywood plays itself best when reinforcing the tenants of its own myth, particularly those involving stars. At the end of a serious film about the movies, even a bone-dry satire like The Player, we’re supposed to walk away remaining a bit mystified as to the way that world works, as if it’s beyond and above both the constraints and the moral codes of “real life.” Old Hollywood reinforced its structuring lies by making movies which pushed the tacit understanding that us mere mortals would be out of our league if ever asked to operate under Hollywood’s dark laws. What Just Happened? doesn’t feel like a serious film, but that’s not necessarily a reason to not recommend it. The reason to not recommend it is that it has no concept of that sense of mystery, and without it, it feels like there’s nothing at stake. And also, its best joke is the suggestion that Bruce Willis might be concerned with his own artistic integrity. Lacking any sense of connection to classical Hollywood meta-mythology yet filled with late 20th century cliche (Hollywood: it employs a lot of Jews!), Barry Levinson’s dramatization of real-life producer Art Linson’s memoir plays a lot like a feature-length episode of Entourage with a severe shortage of bimbos and hanger-on douchebags. If that sounds like an improvement on the Entourage formula, well, sort of. But the three sources of tensions entangled in Linson’s script never amount to much, which this isn’t a disappointment, exactly, because it was always clear they didn’t have any real weight to begin with. Sprinkled with sore-thumb julienne-cut transitions and the odd deadpan dream sequence, What Just Happened? is an impatient zoom through a couple of days in the life of a harried super-producer (Robert DeNiro) modeled on Linson (who also produced this film). DeNiro battles a number of roughly-sketched personal problems and completely mundane professional problems. Like the Hollywood blockbusters his Linson clone produces (but which the film never sufficiently skewers), each of Happened?’s conflicts can be boiled down to a single, high-concept, 20 words or less logline that leaves no loose end untied. He’s got two weeks to get an addled artiste to tone down his ultraviolent Sean Penn vehicle before Cannes! He’s got three days to get Bruce Willis to stop throwing tantrums and shave his beard before the cameras roll! He’s got an open invite for nooners with his ex-wife, even though she’s clearly sleeping with a screenwriter with an argyle fetish! Of course, the best moments have nothing to do with any of these ticking time bombs; DeNiro is able to momentarily resucitate interest when animating Linson in his down time–when he quietly breaks out the Just For Men, when he slips into an angry fantasy at a funeral and then slips right out again. Otherwise, he’s just playing connect the dots. That the bulk of the narrative streams out from a disasterous out-of-town test screening is unfortunate. As you may have heard by now, What Just Happened premiered at Sundance in January as a title with “buzz”, but once unveiled it was greeted with general indifference. Its Cannes premiere went a bit better, but an American distribution deal still proved elusive, and producers 2929 Entertainment eventually gave up the hunt for a suitor and decided to release the film through sister company Magnolia. You almost wonder if a cataclysmic premiere in another town would have been preferable — at least distaste or disgust might have aroused curiosity. You’d imagine there’d be more gravy to milk from anger than from a shrug. As it is, you can understand why buyer interest would be restrained. What Just Happened? is rarely unpleasant, but it even more rarely feels like it’s doing much of anything at all. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/10/17/36454.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 10/17/2008 2:00:44 PM
Body: Hollywood has been making movies about movies almost as long as they’ve been making movies. But what’s the appeal of a movie about a movie? Assuming there is one; according to Box Office Mojo, a movie about a movie hasn’t grossed significantly over $100 million in twenty years, and that one had the obvious advantage of offering a glimpse into the marriage of a cartoon bombshell and a rabbit. But what is it that makes the legitimately great Hollywood movies––the Sunset Boulevards, the Bad and the Beautifuls, the Players –– legitimately great? Maybe at some point, they were able to convincingly offer the illusion that one had been temporarily invited into an inner sanctum, seen the secret lives of stars, given a lesson in how the sausage is made, but today it’s hard to imagine anyone really believing that a given film has the power to blow the lid off the dream factory. The great Hollywood movies do traffic in the illusion of taking the viewer “inside,” but by layering irony, melodrama, and critique, they never fully strip Hollywood of its inherent mystery, which verges on mysticism. Hollywood plays itself best when reinforcing the tenants of its own myth, particularly those involving stars. At the end of a serious film about the movies, even a bone-dry satire like The Player, we’re supposed to walk away remaining a bit mystified as to the way that world works, as if it’s beyond and above both the constraints and the moral codes of “real life.” Old Hollywood reinforced its structuring lies by making movies which pushed the tacit understanding that us mere mortals would be out of our league if ever asked to operate under Hollywood’s dark laws. What Just Happened? doesn’t feel like a serious film, but that’s not necessarily a reason to not recommend it. The reason to not recommend it is that it has no concept of that sense of mystery, and without it, it feels like there’s nothing at stake. And also, its best joke is the suggestion that Bruce Willis might be concerned with his own artistic integrity. Lacking any sense of connection to classical Hollywood meta-mythology yet filled with late 20th century cliche (Hollywood: it employs a lot of Jews!), Barry Levinson’s dramatization of real-life producer Art Linson’s memoir plays a lot like a feature-length episode of Entourage with a severe shortage of bimbos and hanger-on douchebags. If that sounds like an improvement on the Entourage formula, well, sort of. But the three sources of tensions entangled in Linson’s script never amount to much, which this isn’t a disappointment, exactly, because it was always clear they didn’t have any real weight to begin with. Sprinkled with sore-thumb julienne-cut transitions and the odd deadpan dream sequence, What Just Happened? is an impatient zoom through a couple of days in the life of a harried super-producer (Robert DeNiro) modeled on Linson (who also produced this film). DeNiro battles a number of roughly-sketched personal problems and completely mundane professional problems. Like the Hollywood blockbusters his Linson clone produces (but which the film never sufficiently skewers), each of Happened?’s conflicts can be boiled down to a single, high-concept, 20 words or less logline that leaves no loose end untied. He’s got two weeks to get an addled artiste to tone down his ultraviolent Sean Penn vehicle before Cannes! He’s got three days to get Bruce Willis to stop throwing tantrums and shave his beard before the cameras roll! He’s got an open invite for nooners with his ex-wife, even though she’s clearly sleeping with a screenwriter with an argyle fetish! Of course, the best moments have nothing to do with any of these ticking time bombs; DeNiro is able to momentarily resucitate interest when animating Linson in his down time–when he quietly breaks out the Just For Men, when he slips into an angry fantasy at a funeral and then slips right out again. Otherwise, he’s just playing connect the dots. That the bulk of the narrative streams out from a disasterous out-of-town test screening is unfortunate. As you may have heard by now, What Just Happened premiered at Sundance in January as a title with “buzz”, but once unveiled it was greeted with general indifference. Its Cannes premiere went a bit better, but an American distribution deal still proved elusive, and producers 2929 Entertainment eventually gave up the hunt for a suitor and decided to release the film through sister company Magnolia. You almost wonder if a cataclysmic premiere in another town would have been preferable — at least distaste or disgust might have aroused curiosity. You’d imagine there’d be more gravy to milk from anger than from a shrug. As it is, you can understand why buyer interest would be restrained. What Just Happened? is rarely unpleasant, but it even more rarely feels like it’s doing much of anything at all. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:00:44 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com10/17/2008 2:00:44 PMHollywood has been making movies about movies almost as long as they’ve been making movies. But what’s the appeal of a movie about a movie? Assuming there is one; according to Box Office Mojo, a movie about a movie hasn’t grossed significantly over $100 million in twenty years, and that one had the obvious advantage of offering a glimpse into the marriage of a cartoon bombshell and a rabbit. But what is it that makes the legitimately great Hollywood movies––the Sunset Boulevards, the Bad and the Beautifuls, the Players –– legitimately great? Maybe at some point, they were able to convincingly offer the illusion that one had been temporarily invited into an inner sanctum, seen the secret lives of stars, given a lesson in how the sausage is made, but today it’s hard to imagine anyone really believing that a given film has the power to blow the lid off the dream factory. The great Hollywood movies do traffic in the illusion of taking the viewer “inside,” but by layering irony, melodrama, and critique, they never fully strip Hollywood of its inherent mystery, which verges on mysticism. Hollywood plays itself best when reinforcing the tenants of its own myth, particularly those involving stars. At the end of a serious film about the movies, even a bone-dry satire like The Player, we’re supposed to walk away remaining a bit mystified as to the way that world works, as if it’s beyond and above both the constraints and the moral codes of “real life.” Old Hollywood reinforced its structuring lies by making movies which pushed the tacit understanding that us mere mortals would be out of our league if ever asked to operate under Hollywood’s dark laws. What Just Happened? doesn’t feel like a serious film, but that’s not necessarily a reason to not recommend it. The reason to not recommend it is that it has no concept of that sense of mystery, and without it, it feels like there’s nothing at stake. And also, its best joke is the suggestion that Bruce Willis might be concerned with his own artistic integrity. Lacking any sense of connection to classical Hollywood meta-mythology yet filled with late 20th century cliche (Hollywood: it employs a lot of Jews!), Barry Levinson’s dramatization of real-life producer Art Linson’s memoir plays a lot like a feature-length episode of Entourage with a severe shortage of bimbos and hanger-on douchebags. If that sounds like an improvement on the Entourage formula, well, sort of. But the three sources of tensions entangled in Linson’s script never amount to much, which this isn’t a disappointment, exactly, because it was always clear they didn’t have any real weight to begin with. Sprinkled with sore-thumb julienne-cut transitions and the odd deadpan dream sequence, What Just Happened? is an impatient zoom through a couple of days in the life of a harried super-producer (Robert DeNiro) modeled on Linson (who also produced this film). DeNiro battles a number of roughly-sketched personal problems and completely mundane professional problems. Like the Hollywood blockbusters his Linson clone produces (but which the film never sufficiently skewers), each of Happened?’s conflicts can be boiled down to a single, high-concept, 20 words or less logline that leaves no loose end untied. He’s got two weeks to get an addled artiste to tone down his ultraviolent Sean Penn vehicle before Cannes! He’s got three days to get Bruce Willis to stop throwing tantrums and shave his beard before the cameras roll! He’s got an open invite for nooners with his ex-wife, even though she’s clearly sleeping with a screenwriter with an argyle fetish! Of course, the best moments have nothing to do with any of these ticking time bombs; DeNiro is able to momentarily resucitate interest when animating Linson in his down time–when he quietly breaks out the Just For Men, when he slips into an angry fantasy at a funeral and then slips right out again. Otherwise, he’s just playing connect the dots. That the bulk of the narrative streams out from a disasterous out-of-town test screening is unfortunate. As you may have heard by now, What Just Happened premiered at Sundance in January as a title with “buzz”, but once unveiled it was greeted with general indifference. Its Cannes premiere went a bit better, but an American distribution deal still proved elusive, and producers 2929 Entertainment eventually gave up the hunt for a suitor and decided to release the film through sister company Magnolia. You almost wonder if a cataclysmic premiere in another town would have been preferable — at least distaste or disgust might have aroused curiosity. You’d imagine there’d be more gravy to milk from anger than from a shrug. As it is, you can understand why buyer interest would be restrained. What Just Happened? is rarely unpleasant, but it even more rarely feels like it’s doing much of anything at all. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/karina/archive/2008/6/11/31103.aspx Post By: Karina
Post To: Karina on SpoutBlog
Post Date: 6/11/2008 10:01:30 AM
Body: It’s been all-but-confirmed for awhile, but thisVariety story nails it: Magnolia will self-distribute What Just Happened?, Barry Levinson’s Hollywood satire which the studio produced through 2929 Entertainment but were hoping to unload at either Sundance or Cannes. “There were offers,” Eamonn Bowles told Anne Thompson, “But we can make more money doing it ourselves.” They’re planning a platform to medium-wide release for October. Brazillian novelist Paulo Coelho is a MySpace addict! But at least the one-hour-a-day user has found a way to funnel his obsession into something productive: he’s planning to “‘curate’ a Web-generated film based on The Witch of Portobello from MySpace video and music submissions.” Warner Brothers says Speed Racer wasn’t *that* much of a disaster after all––toy sales have apparently been “comparable to the last Batman.” Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth
]]>Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:01:30 GMTKarinaKarina on SpoutBlog6/11/2008 10:01:30 AM It’s been all-but-confirmed for awhile, but thisVariety story nails it: Magnolia will self-distribute What Just Happened?, Barry Levinson’s Hollywood satire which the studio produced through 2929 Entertainment but were hoping to unload at either Sundance or Cannes. “There were offers,” Eamonn Bowles told Anne Thompson, “But we can make more money doing it ourselves.” They’re planning a platform to medium-wide release for October. Brazillian novelist Paulo Coelho is a MySpace addict! But at least the one-hour-a-day user has found a way to funnel his obsession into something productive: he’s planning to “‘curate’ a Web-generated film based on The Witch of Portobello from MySpace video and music submissions.” Warner Brothers says Speed Racer wasn’t *that* much of a disaster after all––toy sales have apparently been “comparable to the last Batman.” Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/6/11/31101.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 6/11/2008 10:01:20 AM
Body: It’s been all-but-confirmed for awhile, but thisVariety story nails it: Magnolia will self-distribute What Just Happened?, Barry Levinson’s Hollywood satire which the studio produced through 2929 Entertainment but were hoping to unload at either Sundance or Cannes. “There were offers,” Eamonn Bowles told Anne Thompson, “But we can make more money doing it ourselves.” They’re planning a platform to medium-wide release for October. Brazillian novelist Paulo Coelho is a MySpace addict! But at least the one-hour-a-day user has found a way to funnel his obsession into something productive: he’s planning to “‘curate’ a Web-generated film based on The Witch of Portobello from MySpace video and music submissions.” Warner Brothers says Speed Racer wasn’t *that* much of a disaster after all––toy sales have apparently been “comparable to the last Batman.” Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:01:20 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com6/11/2008 10:01:20 AM It’s been all-but-confirmed for awhile, but thisVariety story nails it: Magnolia will self-distribute What Just Happened?, Barry Levinson’s Hollywood satire which the studio produced through 2929 Entertainment but were hoping to unload at either Sundance or Cannes. “There were offers,” Eamonn Bowles told Anne Thompson, “But we can make more money doing it ourselves.” They’re planning a platform to medium-wide release for October. Brazillian novelist Paulo Coelho is a MySpace addict! But at least the one-hour-a-day user has found a way to funnel his obsession into something productive: he’s planning to “‘curate’ a Web-generated film based on The Witch of Portobello from MySpace video and music submissions.” Warner Brothers says Speed Racer wasn’t *that* much of a disaster after all––toy sales have apparently been “comparable to the last Batman.” Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/6/10/31054.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 6/10/2008 2:00:32 PM
Body: After showcasing the well-timed TV spot for The Incredible Hulk, which reveals the film’s Tony Stark/Iron Man cameo, I was hoping to find something for M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening that could similarly turn my (and likely your) low expectations upside down. And I found it: a trailer that reveals the film’s cameos from Raj, Rerun, Dwayne and Shirley, all from TV’s What’s Happening!!. OK, so unfortunately it isn’t real, and it’s not even put together all that well (what’s with the strobe effect?), but it’s still probably more enjoyable than the actual movie (especially if that twist spoiler is legit). With the popularity of trailer mash-ups, the ease of YouTube distribution and the internet’s ability to expose the synchronous one-mind of a pop-culture-reared generation, it’s not surprising to find that the above video was not the only combination of The Happening and What’s Happening!!. There’s also this one, which only features the What’s Happening!! theme music and no footage from the show (also it boldly makes light of the more graphic footage from the film’s red-band trailer), and there’s this one, which does the opposite by including the audio from the Happening trailer over footage from the TV show. I’ll let you decide which of the three is the best/worst. Hopefully YouTubers will do better when mashing up What’s Happening!! with Barry Levinson’s What Just Happened? (obvious title: What’s Just Happening!!). Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:00:32 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com6/10/2008 2:00:32 PM After showcasing the well-timed TV spot for The Incredible Hulk, which reveals the film’s Tony Stark/Iron Man cameo, I was hoping to find something for M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening that could similarly turn my (and likely your) low expectations upside down. And I found it: a trailer that reveals the film’s cameos from Raj, Rerun, Dwayne and Shirley, all from TV’s What’s Happening!!. OK, so unfortunately it isn’t real, and it’s not even put together all that well (what’s with the strobe effect?), but it’s still probably more enjoyable than the actual movie (especially if that twist spoiler is legit). With the popularity of trailer mash-ups, the ease of YouTube distribution and the internet’s ability to expose the synchronous one-mind of a pop-culture-reared generation, it’s not surprising to find that the above video was not the only combination of The Happening and What’s Happening!!. There’s also this one, which only features the What’s Happening!! theme music and no footage from the show (also it boldly makes light of the more graphic footage from the film’s red-band trailer), and there’s this one, which does the opposite by including the audio from the Happening trailer over footage from the TV show. I’ll let you decide which of the three is the best/worst. Hopefully YouTubers will do better when mashing up What’s Happening!! with Barry Levinson’s What Just Happened? (obvious title: What’s Just Happening!!). Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/karina/archive/2008/5/27/29998.aspx Post By: Karina
Post To: Karina on SpoutBlog
Post Date: 5/27/2008 10:01:28 AM
Body: Not content to let IFC walk off the Croisette as the big buying ballers of Cannes 2008, Sony Pictures Classics set a number of deals in the last days of the fest, including distribution pacts for the Israeli animated doc Waltz With Bashir, Lorna’s Silence by the Dardenne brothers, and James Toback’s Tyson. Meanwhile, the people at Magnolia have all but resigned themselves to distributing What Just Happened?, the Barry Levinson Cannes closer which they produced through 2929 Entertainment, but have been attempting to unload on another distributor since Sundance. Ewan McGregor will play Gore Vidal’s dad/Amelia Earhart’s lover in Amelia, a biopic set to star Hillary Swank as the famous missing aviatrix. Blah blah blah Indiana Jones, blah blah blah $311 million worldwide. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth
]]>Tue, 27 May 2008 14:01:28 GMTKarinaKarina on SpoutBlog5/27/2008 10:01:28 AM Not content to let IFC walk off the Croisette as the big buying ballers of Cannes 2008, Sony Pictures Classics set a number of deals in the last days of the fest, including distribution pacts for the Israeli animated doc Waltz With Bashir, Lorna’s Silence by the Dardenne brothers, and James Toback’s Tyson. Meanwhile, the people at Magnolia have all but resigned themselves to distributing What Just Happened?, the Barry Levinson Cannes closer which they produced through 2929 Entertainment, but have been attempting to unload on another distributor since Sundance. Ewan McGregor will play Gore Vidal’s dad/Amelia Earhart’s lover in Amelia, a biopic set to star Hillary Swank as the famous missing aviatrix. Blah blah blah Indiana Jones, blah blah blah $311 million worldwide. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/5/27/29997.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 5/27/2008 10:01:11 AM
Body: Not content to let IFC walk off the Croisette as the big buying ballers of Cannes 2008, Sony Pictures Classics set a number of deals in the last days of the fest, including distribution pacts for the Israeli animated doc Waltz With Bashir, Lorna’s Silence by the Dardenne brothers, and James Toback’s Tyson. Meanwhile, the people at Magnolia have all but resigned themselves to distributing What Just Happened?, the Barry Levinson Cannes closer which they produced through 2929 Entertainment, but have been attempting to unload on another distributor since Sundance. Ewan McGregor will play Gore Vidal’s dad/Amelia Earhart’s lover in Amelia, a biopic set to star Hillary Swank as the famous missing aviatrix. Blah blah blah Indiana Jones, blah blah blah $311 million worldwide. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Tue, 27 May 2008 14:01:11 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com5/27/2008 10:01:11 AM Not content to let IFC walk off the Croisette as the big buying ballers of Cannes 2008, Sony Pictures Classics set a number of deals in the last days of the fest, including distribution pacts for the Israeli animated doc Waltz With Bashir, Lorna’s Silence by the Dardenne brothers, and James Toback’s Tyson. Meanwhile, the people at Magnolia have all but resigned themselves to distributing What Just Happened?, the Barry Levinson Cannes closer which they produced through 2929 Entertainment, but have been attempting to unload on another distributor since Sundance. Ewan McGregor will play Gore Vidal’s dad/Amelia Earhart’s lover in Amelia, a biopic set to star Hillary Swank as the famous missing aviatrix. Blah blah blah Indiana Jones, blah blah blah $311 million worldwide. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/karina/archive/2008/4/17/27397.aspx Post By: Karina
Post To: Karina on SpoutBlog
Post Date: 4/17/2008 10:00:53 AM
Body: Barry Levinson’s meta Hollywood comedy What Just Happened?, which premiered at Sundance to a chorus of shrugs and remains undistributed, had been selected to close the Cannes Film Festival. SAG has announced nine interim deals with indie production outfit The Film Department, in an effort to put pressure on the major studios to settle on a new contract in advance of a threatened strike. Variety says the studios are “unlikely” to be scared enough by the prospect of Catherine Zeta-Jones going back to work without them to be moved into immediate action. Women in Film, “a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women within the entertainment, communication and media industries,” will honor Salma Hayek, Diane English, Ginnifer Goodwin and Sherry Lansing at their 35th annual awards ceremony in June. The title for the long-awaited (apparently; if you’re acquainted with an awaiter, let us know) X-Files movie sequel has finally been released. The X-Files: I Want to Believe opens on July 25. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth
]]>Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:00:53 GMTKarinaKarina on SpoutBlog4/17/2008 10:00:53 AM Barry Levinson’s meta Hollywood comedy What Just Happened?, which premiered at Sundance to a chorus of shrugs and remains undistributed, had been selected to close the Cannes Film Festival. SAG has announced nine interim deals with indie production outfit The Film Department, in an effort to put pressure on the major studios to settle on a new contract in advance of a threatened strike. Variety says the studios are “unlikely” to be scared enough by the prospect of Catherine Zeta-Jones going back to work without them to be moved into immediate action. Women in Film, “a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women within the entertainment, communication and media industries,” will honor Salma Hayek, Diane English, Ginnifer Goodwin and Sherry Lansing at their 35th annual awards ceremony in June. The title for the long-awaited (apparently; if you’re acquainted with an awaiter, let us know) X-Files movie sequel has finally been released. The X-Files: I Want to Believe opens on July 25. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/dog/MemberTagFilms.aspxdog
Number of films tagged: 1373

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