SpoutBlog on spout.com

Under discussion:

I'm Not There  (2007)

• Nikal Saval has an admittedly cranky but masterful takedown of I’m Not There at N + 1. Calling Todd Haynes’ pastiche the Worst Movie of 2007, Saval scratches particularly aggressively at Haynes’ habitual referencing and naked larceny: “Haynes is drowning in his film school education, just as his audience is drowning in allusions, and not a single original idea floats by to rescue him or us.”
• I still haven’t received my copy of Berlin Alexanderplatz (I know you’re concerned; right now, it looks like the problem is with UPS and not Amazon, and I’m working on it), so I’m going to avoid Ed Howard’s episode-by-episode recap of Fassbinder’s series, for the time being. Via The House Next Door.
• Erin at Steady Diet of Film has a helpful translation of what Jason Reitman, John Sayles, Adam Shankman and Joe Wright were REALLY saying on a recent episode of Sunday Morning Shootout. Useful information gleaned: Reitman, who “hates going to awards shows because he has to stop dressing like he’s homeless,” has a masterful death stare, but Sayles is not impressed.
• Lots to report today on the Berlinale front, including the news that Martin Scorsese’s long-delayed Rolling Stones doc Shine A Light will finally make its premiere at the festival–and on opening night, no less. David Hudson has two roundups.

Under discussion:

Snakes on a Plane  (2006)

Cloverfield  (2008)

Forget about betting on the NFL playoffs. Forget about betting on the Oscar nominations. In fact, forget about betting on whether the Oscars will even happen. The only thing you gamblers should be betting on right now is whether Cloverfield is going to be a box office hit or a box office bomb. Because right now, it’s any body’s game. If the monster movie ends up being the former, it will most likely only be only a modest hit. But if it’s the latter, it will be legendary. Actually, some people think the movie is going to be this year’s Snakes on a Plane. I have a feeling it has more appeal on its own than did Snakes, mainly because people are curious about the monster. There was nothing in the marketing of Snakes on a Plane that made us wonder, nothing that wet our appetites for surprises. Now, if we had already seen a visual of Cloverfield’s monster it would be a different story. And after the opening weekend, after somebody posts a photo of the monster on the web (instead of simply a rendering), moviegoers may no longer be as interested in going to see it. So, the real bet is that Cloverfield will make a decent amount of money in its opening, but like most Hollywood product will suffer a huge drop in ticket sales afterward.

I think that a lot of people are really hoping for Cloverfield to crash and burn, though. On Sunday, the New York Post featured an article detailing why Cloverfield will bomb. Of course, the Post is owned by the same people who want you to believe Cloverfield exploits 9/11. The article was also written before the first press screening, which is apparently tonight (I won’t be there, unfortunately). So far, though, some people have managed to see the movie, including Harry Knowles, that other hilariously nutty AICN dude, Jeffrey Wells and E!, and everyone seems to love it. So, I’m putting all in for Cloverfield to win at the box office this weekend. We’ll see on Sunday if I’ve gone for broke or won the pot.

Oh, the things I miss not having a TV. On Good Morning America this morning to promote the unwatchably bad-looking chick heist flick Mad Money, Diane Keaton snuck “the f word” into a tossed-off, backhanded comment directed at GMA host Diane Sawyer. You can watch the relevant segment here, but here’s the money quote:

Keaton: (gesturing) Those lips! I love ‘em. I’d like to have lips like that.

Sawyer: (laughs uncomfortably at the complement–what’s she gonna do, offer the number of her Botox dealer?)

Keaton: Then I wouldn’t have worked on my fucking personality!

(Whole studio erupts into nervous, shocked laughter)
Keaton: Or my — excuse me — my personality! If I had lips like yours, I’d be better off! My life would be better. I’d be married!

As if we needed another reason to love Diane Keaton, not only does she casually curse like a sailor on morning TV, she does so whilst basically accusing Diane Sawyer–who, it should be noted, is a year older than Keaton–of coasting on her looks like a bimbo. Keaton grumbles about having had to “work on her personality,” but it seems like it worked for her??????didn’t she famously date every eligible bachelor in Hollywood between, like, 1975 and 1983? And that line about how if she had Sawyer’s lips, she would be married??????is she jealous that the other Diane nabbed Mike Nichols? Was he considered a catch in the 80s?

Sigh. It doesn’t really matter. No one does unaccountably crazy like you, Diane Keaton, and for that, I salute you.