March 7, 2008—Ty_Burr: Hi all -- Ty Burr here for the semi-monthly movies chat. Hope you're all well on this almost-sorta spring day.
Ty_Burr: Shall we talk films? Let's. Send in your comments and questions -- I see a few already in the queue so I'll get right to them...
qmpatco__Guest_: I found the ending of "No country for Old Men" very disappointing. It did not have to have a happy ending but to leave it so up in the air seems to be unnecessarily artsy. Your thoughts?
Ty_Burr: Well, qmpatco, that ending is built into the original Cormac McCarthy novel -- and if anything it's even *more* diffuse. The Coens tightened things up considerably while still following the novel to the letter (which was clearly their intent).
Ty_Burr: The point of the whole movie, I guess, is that dramatic closure's something we wish for in movies and books but that just doesn't happen in real life. (Which of course is weird when we see it in a movie)
Ty_Burr: It ties into Tommy Lee Jones' speech at the end and the scene earlier when he's talking to his uncle and says in your day men knew what was wrong and right and the uncle replies, BS, it's always been total chaos.
Ty_Burr: So, yeah, not an audience pleaser but true to what McCarthy wanted to say.
film_lover__Guest_: Do you see the use of Boston and the surrounding areas a vital place for film companies to use in the years to come and possible miny recession
Ty_Burr: Hi film lover. From your mouth to God's ear. I'd love to see more A) movies shooting here that aren't necessarily set in Boston or tell a Boston story, and B) Boston/New England-themed movies that break out of the Southie-gangster/Dennis Lehane box.
Ty_Burr: We've got a smart state film commissioner and the union difficulties of the past have been sorted out -- and it's cheaper to shoot here than in Canada for once. So I think we'll see a lot of action here for the next few years.
nate4077__Guest_: Hello - Just wanted to say I loved your book from last year and flip through it several times a week. Any plans for another book, focusing on another specific time/genre?
Ty_Burr: Thanks Nate -- much appreciated! I'm actually starting to research the next book, which is a bit more of a big-picture thing, about the rise and fall of movie stardom, from Chaplin and Pickford to Depp and Lohan. Talking about how the concept of a movie star has changed with the culture and with technological innovations.
Ty_Burr: So it'll be less a reference work but hopefully a good read with some nuggets of interesting history and some ideas to spin out vis-a-vis stardom in the internet age.
Cheesesteak__Guest_: I hear the Middleborough Cranberry bogs are being used for some sort of rambo film (j/k) ... though there was a manhunt after an escapee from Bridgewater Correctional, where the guy was found breathing through a reed in the bogs. Would make a good flick
Ty_Burr: Actually, the guy probably got the reed trick from the movies... it's an old one, goes back to the Lon Chaney "Phantom of the Opera" and probably before.
Ty_Burr: Gotta DV camera, cheesesteak? I think a directorial career is calling you.
Ty_Burr: Maybe you can get Ocean Spray to bankroll it...
Cheesesteak__Guest_: I just didn't know the reed trick actually worked. South Shore needs a good maniac flick to shake things up.
Ty_Burr: "It Came from Hingham". Something like that?
Ty_Burr: Oof, the question queue is empty.. maybe it's just me and cheesesteak today. Anyone else out there?
Cheesesteak__Guest_: Loved your review of 10,000 BC btw, you can treat cheese as cheese and have fun with it. Or maybe you're just mourning D&D founder Gary Gygax too, so opted for the epic tone.
Ty_Burr: Actually, to properly mourn Gygax, you need to get hold of a 1982 made for TV movie called "Mazes and Monsters" starring a very young Tom Hanks as a kid who goes psycho from too many role-playing games.
Ty_Burr: He becomes convinced he's actually "Pardu the Holy Man" -- great unintentional comedy.
fendawg: I'm here.. just lurking. can't think of a question. :(
Ty_Burr: 'at's OK, fendawg, pull up a chair anyway
Wundah__Guest_: Loved Mazes and Monsters!
Cheesesteak__Guest_: I saw that, it's based on a book called The Dungeon Master, but that title was already a bad horror anthology flick
nnc__Guest_: Hi Ty - what do you suggest I take my elderly mother to see this weekend? She loves a good movie and I'm clueless as to what's out right now.
Ty_Burr: I've got just the movie: "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" Stars Frances McDormand and Amy Adams and is set in WWII era London. Charming and nice.
Ty_Burr: Unless, of course, your elderly mother likes giant tree-climbing attack chickens, in which case, send her to "10,000 BC".
Wundah__Guest_: Hi Ty, I have to say your review of 10,000BC was one of the funniest I've read in a long time. Thanks for that. Question:What do you think the future of the movie theater is? That it, actually attending movies in a theater setting? Will they go the way of the dinosaur as everything becomes digital on-demand?
Ty_Burr: Good question Wundah (and thanks for the compliment). I think we'll see an evolution of the movie theater in the next ten years...
Ty_Burr: More 3D movies -- every blockbuster will come out in 3D as a matter of course. More upscale theaters with dinner or liquor and comfier seats and other perks to justify the higher price.
Ty_Burr: And the arthouses will carry on with "indie" movies and foreign fare -- they'll become more like jazz clubs, catering even more to a self-selective audience.
Ty_Burr: What'll get lost are the mid-level medium budget movies, which is too bad. I do think that it's in our wiring to come together and share entertainment in a crowd. I just hope the economics of the business can support it.
film_lover__Guest_: Have you reviewed "The Bank Job" Your thoughts
Ty_Burr: Didn't see it,FL. Wesley screened it and gave it a lukewarm review today but other critics are more positive. Sounds like one of the smarter Jason Statham movies.
Sandy__Guest_: Isn't the movie where the students count cards in Vegas opening this weekend? Any thoughts on that movie?
Ty_Burr: You mean 21? It opens at the end of the month, March 28. I haven't seen it yet so no comments for now.
film_lover__Guest_: Any advice for a night time film student who wants to make the leap into the industry in a year or two
Ty_Burr: You want to direct, film-lover? Then get out there with a camera and make a movie -- short or long, the barrier to entry is incredibly low these days. At least that way you have something to show even if you want to break in to commercial work.
P-Dawg__Guest_: Hi Ty! I just watched a movie I think is incredibly underrated--Fritz Lang's "Fury" with Spencer Tracy. What do you think of the film and why is this not talked about more as part of the canon of great American movies?
Ty_Burr: Great movie, P-Dawg, and Tracy's intense in that one. ("I could smell myself burning..." Yikes). It's known to film geeks like me but you're right, it could have a wider appreciation. All of Lang's American films could, they're so incredibly tough. He's an underrated master.
Jedi__Guest_: BTW i luved your top100 star of all time in '98. i still have it =P. would u change the #1 from that book today? re: ur upcoming book, are you going to focus on gossipy stuff like Chaplin's obsession w/teen girls? >)
Ty_Burr: Hi Jedi -- I didn't think that book was still out there! That was an Ent. Weekly assignment from when I was still working there. Would I change the #1? Nah, it's still Bogart in my book. Remy next book, it's going to talk a lot about the star's personas, which comes as much from their public life as from their movies. So, yeah, I'll touch on Chaplin's scandals but only as they relate to his larger image.
Jedi__Guest_: did you just mention smart and jason statham in the same sentence?
Ty_Burr: Yes, sorry. I won't do it again.
Ty_Burr: Whoa, now the questions are coming fast and thick... I'll try to answer as many as I can...
Cheesesteak__Guest_: Will your prophecy change the distribution scene as well? The "megaplexes" getting digital distribution of stuff, while the arthouse curates the old timey prints, you could picture the industry splitting if that hasn't happened already.
Ty_Burr: Interesting point, cheese. I do think we'll see wholly digital distribution with new studio releases in the next 10 years -- they spend millions on prints that it doesn't make sense not to. The bigger arthouses will probably be able to show both prints and digitally delivered films. To me celluloid is like vinyl LPs, a noticeably warmer experience.
Wundah__Guest_: Ty, have you heard anything re: Cormac McCarthy's the Road? I had read somewhere that Viggo Mortensen was slated to play the dad - any truth to this or word in general? Thoughts on a film adaptation of such an amazing book?
Ty_Burr: It just started filming two weeks ago, Wundah. Viggo's the dad, Charlize Theron's the mom, some kid's the kid. John Hillcoat's directing, and his last film, the Australian western "The Proposition," was amazing. So fingers crossed. I haven't read the book, so can't comment there.
Jedi__Guest_: re: film_lover. Canon makes a HV30 1080p hi-def cam that's under $1k.
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=177&modelid=16206
Christopher__Guest_: Any idea what direction the Coen Bros are headed in? Last time they enjoyed critical acclaim like they do now (post-Fargo), they followed it up with Lebowski -- which may be my favorite of all their movies. Maybe they'll do a Lebowski sequel!
Ty_Burr: They've got a full upcoming slate: "Burn After reading," with Clooney and Swinton (together again!) plays this year's Cannes and opens in theaters in September. I'm really excited that they've signed to do Michael Chabon's "The Yiddish Policeman's Union" for 2010.
P-Dawg__Guest_: Ty, what did you think of David Denby's piece about the films of the Coen Brothers in the New Yorker recently? I have to say, I agreed with some of his criticisms about No Country. I though Chigurh had too much character to be a force of nature, and too little to be a real person. And what's with blowing off Llewellyn's death scene (even if it wasn't in the book)? But is the Big Lebowski really a masterpiece?
Ty_Burr: Mmph. Denby's one of the few critics I disagree with on a regular basis (although he's a perfectly nice fellow in person). Myself, I thought the movie preserved the essential mystery of Chigurh -- every time you pin him down as force of nature or character with backstory, he slides away. *That's* what's so creepy about him -- he's the random factor.
Ty_Burr: As for Lebowski = masterpiece? Nah, but endlessly quotable and a hell of a lot of fun. My heart has always been more with "Raising Arizona." ("Do these balloons come in funny shapes?" "Not unless round is funny.")
Uninvited__Guest_: So what is the deal with Iron Man? Is Robert Downey Jr. playing a superhero? Is this for real? And is there a buzz surrounding this bizarro possibility?
Ty_Burr: Yes! Bob Downey gets to put on the iron suit! I'm pumped, actually, because now that he's settled down and is off the stuff his performances are marvelous (cf. last year's "Zodiac"). Jon Favreau is directing and Gwynnie Paltrow plays "Pepper" Potts. Sounds like it could be ludicrously good summer fluff or could also just not work. But we'll know on May 2nd.
trimalu__Guest_: Hi Ty, I miss listening to you on WZLX on Friday mornings! I'd like to know if you heard a lot on the upcoming "Mlik" with Sean Penn?
Ty_Burr: Hey, ZLX was fun, call and tell 'em to put me back on. I think I trashed the big studio movies too much for their liking. "Milk," the Harvey Milk story, is shooing right now, should wrap later this month. Penn is Harvey Milk and word is he's doing really good work. Josh Brolin is playing Dan White; no word on who's playing the Twinkie.
Ty_Burr: It's already slated for the NY film festival in September and should hit theaters in November, just in time for Oscar. Gus Van Sant's directing, probably in his commercial style.
P-Dawg__Guest_: Regarding the future of the movie theatre... I was just watching 300 in HD on my 32 inch LCD. I'm sorry, but the more I watch big screen TV, the more it seems like a cheap imitation of the movies. Xerxes' armies riding on on their horses would have been truly horrifying on the big screen. Here, not so much. Home theatre isn't a substitute for the movies. It's just better TV!
Uninvited__Guest_: As a 41-year-old, I'm wondering: do they make ANY mainstream movies targeted toward anyone over the age of 20?
Ty_Burr: Mainstream? Nah, except after Labor Day. Rest of the year's for kids and teens. The studios have stopped being in the grown-up business, although I wonder if that'll change after this year's Oscars. The studios ceded the film to their own boutique divisions and the result was a dark, uncommercial bunch of movies and low Oscar telecast ratings.
Duderino__Guest_: Lebowski not a classic/masterpiece? You clearly need a white russian. Nobody ****s with the Lebowski!
Ty_Burr: Spoken like a dude.
Jedi__Guest_: p-dawg... unless u have a 100" front projection w/7.1 surround sound+ 300 in Blu-Ray w/studio master 1080p video and uncompressed lossless studio 5.1 audio.
Ty_Burr: Uh-oh... out come the drool cups.
Ty_Burr: The scary thing is that I understand what you're saying, jedi.
Uninvited__Guest_: This reminds me: Zodiac was awesome. Why no love from the Oscars? And while I do love Robert Downey Jr. as an actor (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was hilarious), he just doesn't seem the "superhero" type.... Unless it's mostly tongue in cheek?
Ty_Burr: Zodiac came out too early in the year, I think, and is a hard movie to warm up to (one reason it's so good). It got respectful reviews but not over the moon, and did diddly in box office. So I think it fell through the cracks, which is a shame. Fincher deserves more than that, maybe he'll get it when "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" opens at the end of the year.
Jedi__Guest_: i have that home cinema ty, but it still doesn't beat the cinema cause of audience reactions. my fav. part of watching films is experiencing the audience's DIFFERENT reactions than what i react to. i usually snicker a lot... but most people laugh @the stupidest things... anyways. that's just me though =D.
Lost__Guest_: Will the decision to kill the HD DVD (for the Blu-ray) have any effect on the movies we see? Probably not, I would imagine....
Ty_Burr: Well, along with HDTV, the image quality is going to be so crisp that it's going to affect what actors get cast -- ones with no blemishes -- and I bet it'll send the plastic surgery industry in LA through the roof. Seriously. Otherwise it's just another way for the electronics industry to convince us we need another new box.
Ashweck__Guest_: What young actors and actresses are you most excited about right now? Who do you think is really going to have a career worth following?
Ty_Burr: I think we're in a transition era, Ash. For every Ellen Page and Michael Angarano, there are many more actors who aren't getting cast or flourishing only on TV/ I think the reality genre has been bad for stardom, in that the buzz is around people "like you and me" coming to fame. The old-fashioned movie star (Clooney, Depp, Roberts, etc) may be thing of the past. Though all it takes is one or two new arrivals to start it up again.
trimalu__Guest_: Ty, what's your take on the box office for Batman the Dark Knight? Do you think it will be higher due to the unforunate and unexpected eah of heath ledger?
Ty_Burr: Yes, I do -- although I think excitement was high even before Ledger died. What we saw in the early trailers seemed a completely fresh take on the character. I just saw a new trailer and the movie looks very, very good -- it stands to be one of the year's biggest successes but the actor's death has given it a tragic aura as well.
Ty_Burr: I think it may be a bigger "event" than the new Indiana Jones movie.
Ty_Burr: With that I have to scamper. Sorry if I didn't get to your question -- ask me again in two weeks! Have a good weekend all!
