The Doctor in the Hallway News Report 12.05.07
Posted by Ben Moser on 12.05.2007
Strike talks go on without resolution, State of Play goes on without Pitt, Pitt goes on with being better than we are, and much, much more in this week's edition of The Doctor in the Hallway News Report. Read it, or Britney Spears will drunk dial you while you're trying to get some well-deserved rest.
Hi kids, and welcome back to the Doctor in the Hallway News Report, where I tell you what to think about whatever might still be happening in Hollywood with no new material being written.
I just finished watching part to of Tin Man. I know what you're thinking. "Ben, why are you watching part two? Part one I can maybe forgive, because you might have thought it wouldn't suck, but part two means you willingly went back for more...what's more, you DVR'ed it so you could go back for more!" And you have a point. The dialogue is awful, the story seems pretty hackneyed, and the acting is so below par that Tiger Woods is jealous...but I'm totally fascinated by how it ties into the mythology of the original Wizard of Oz story. Even moreso after part two. So, yes, I'm watching part three. Yes, I'll be ashamed. No, you don't have to hear me talk about it any more.
Onto the news!
Without writers, who's going to make a "hug it out" joke?
Talks resume [Tuesday, the 4th] after a four-day respite, and both writers and the AMPTP are anxious -- but few are optimistic.
Exactly one month after the strike began, Writers Guild of America leaders are expected to deliver a counteroffer, with a focus on new-media issues, in response to the offer the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers presented Thursday.
WGA West president Patric Verrone, speaking at a picket line Monday at Paramount, underscored the guild's displeasure with the AMPTP's proposal for a fixed $250 annual residual on streaming video for one-hour network dramas -- without any additional compensation for use -- compared with the current $20,000 figure for TV reruns.
"We have to get a better proposal on the table," he said.
The AMPTP said its latest proposal isn't a "take-it-or-leave-it offer." The org says, "It is designed to allow both sides to engage in the kind of substantive give-and-take negotiation that can lead to common ground. The WGA leadership asked for five days to respond. So with the ball in the WGA's court, we look forward to what they have to say when we meet today."
The tone is markedly different from the hardnosed stance the org used in many of its prior public letters. Notably absent is the finger-pointing that marked company execs' reactions in previous missives. And the execs' private frustration at the writers is substituted with a benign "We look forward to what they have to say."
Whether it's for appearances(because the general public seems to be firmly in the WGA's corner) or a genuine attempt to work towards some sort of deal, the softer stance of the AMPTP can only be a good thing. No one negotiates well when the other side is taking pot shots.
While I doubt that Tuesday's talks will yield a resolution, I'm pretty certain that any time spent at the negotiation table is better spent than making witty YouTube movies that make fun of television without writers or taking out full page ads to call the other side whiney and unreasonable. Then again, I neither run a studio nor write movies and TV shows, so those alternate routes of negotiation might be totally worthwhile. Just like maybe Hayden Christensen will rebound from his horrible performances in the Prequels That Shall Remain Nameless and really turn into a critical darling and box office gold in Awake.
Movie no longer the Pitts, now just for the Birds
Russell Crowe has committed to star for Universal in State of Play in a development that keeps the Kevin Macdonald-directed film on course to begin production this year.
Crowe joins Edward Norton, Helen Mirren, Rachel McAdams, Jason Bateman and Robin Wright Penn, who were all locked into pay-or-play deals when Brad Pitt abruptly exited the project just before Thanksgiving.
While I'm happy that the movie is still on track, I am a little sad that I won't get to see Norton and Pitt in the same movie again anytime soon. I will cop to being a little uneasy that the guy who thought that Mr. and Mrs. Smith sounded like a romp wasn't pleased with the script for this one. And before you flood my inbox with pictures of Angelina Jolie, just remember that she wasn't the first choice to play that role.
Peter Pan can't Crowe like I can Crowe. See what I did there?
Don't look now, but Brad Pitt is doing something helpful. Again.
Brad Pitt launched a campaign on Monday to bring to lifeblocks of New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward that are still languishing more than two years after the devastation from Hurricane Katrina.
Unveiling a series of designs meant to evoke the neighborhood's rich traditions and at the same time push forward environmental building techniques, Pitt said that the first of planned 150 homes will break ground in March.
"When we get as far as we can here, this will be one of the greenest progressive communities in the U.S., on an affordable level," Pitt said by phone from New Orleans.
Russell Crowe: I've taken your part Brad Pitt! Eat my Australian shorts!
Brad Pitt: Hey, that's great. Would you like to help me in my efforts to rebuild a community that was abandoned and then forgotten by their government?
Russell Crowe: I...You win this round, Pitt.
Yes, we all know that you're a better person and better at everything than we are, Brad Pitt. Quit flaunting it.
Depp from the heart of the criminal underbelly...
Johnny Depp doesn't shy away from blood in the upcoming Sweeney Todd, for which he's being touted as a major Oscar contender, and he might again find himself awash in blood if he opts to join up with producer-director Michael Mann for a film about the Depression-era crime wave.
Mann has long been interested in mounting a screen adaptation of Brian Burrough's nonfiction book Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34 for Universal; at one point, Leonardo DiCaprio was attached to the project, but DiCaprio is headed into Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island.
But Mann -- who has considered taking the helm of Columbia's spy thriller Edwin A. Salt but has not committed to that project because he believes it needs a rewrite -- has an open slot.
As for Depp, he was to have starred in Warner/Initial Entertainment's Shantaram followed by Warner Independent's The Rum Diaries, but both of those projects were postponed last month, leaving the star with an opening in his schedule.
So Depp and Mann are sitting down this week to discuss the possibility of joining forces; Depp is said to be eyeing the role of bank robber John Dillinger.
So that's a long way to go for "two guys might make a depression-era crime movie." Still, it's worth pointing out because of the writing delays behind the possible collaboration. We may be looking at the first happy result of the WGA strike here.
And with the strike possibly having a hand in bringing about Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew, Farmer Wants a Wife, and Lady or a Tramp; I need all the silver lining I can get.
Kingsley shutters to think of this movie without him
Ben Kingsley has joined Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo in Martin Scorsese's drama Shutter Island for Paramount.
The film, adapted by Laeta Kalogridis from Dennis Lehane's 2004 novel, centers on a U.S. marshal (Ruffalo) who along with his new partner (DiCaprio) travels to a Massachusetts island to investigate the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane. During their inquiry, the two encounter a web of deceit, experience a hurricane and become involved in a deadly inmate riot that leaves them trapped on the island.
Kingsley will play Dr. Cawley, the hospital's enigmatic chief physician who must reluctantly play host to the two U.S. marshals.
Johnny Depp: I've taken your part Leonardo DiCaprio! Eat my adopted French shorts!
Leonardo DiCaprio: Hey, that's great. Would you like to help me in my efforts to rebuild a community that was abandoned and then forgotten by their government?
Johnny Depp: I...wait, you're not doing that. Brad Pitt is.
Leonardo DiCaprio: You win this round, Depp.
Actresses can't drive, we get it.
Actress Eva Mendes avoided a charge of hit-and-run over the weekend after accidentally dinging a car as she attempted to park her own vehicle - she left a note with her contact details on for the other driver. Hitch star Mendes was running errands in Los Angeles when the traffic offence occurred, and although no damage was caused, she decided to leave a message for the car's owner instead of risk legal action from her crash victim. According to Tmz.com, the handwritten note reads: "This person slightly hit your right front tire (sic) but nothing happened. Just wanted to let you know. Happy Holidays. Call with questions if any."
No one famous ever hits my car. Just some high school girl whose life I probably ruined by filing a claim to get my air bag put back into my steering wheel.
"Anyone who says 'I'd like to hit THAT and run' will be punished. Not in a fun way, either."
This week's installment of CHEER UP, BEN AFFLECK!
Matt Damon may have "edged you out" for People Magazine's sexiest man alive, but CHEER UP, BEN AFFLECK! People have at least heard of you before.
From Digital Spy:
Casey Affleck has admitted that he is shocked by the reaction to his new movie The Assassination Of Jesse James.
The actor - who is the younger brother of Ben Affleck - has read a number of reports which refer to the Western film as his "debut", despite the fact that he has appeared in movies for the past ten years.
Casey told WENN: "You slog away for years on end then, suddenly, everyone goes, 'Wow, where'd you come from? Out of the blue. Amazing!' And you go 'Out of the blue? I've been f**king doing ten auditions a week.'
So remember, when you're crying yourself to sleep at night because your little buddy is considered much, much sexier than you are; remember that it could be worse. Then again, if no one knew about your past movies, Reindeer Games would finally pass from my memory...
That'll do it for this week...
Well, Heroes is finished for now. I know the hiatus was planned, but it seems more like the first and most graceful victim of the WGA strike anyway. With Heroes gone, I may yet actually check out the 15th anniversary Monday Night Raw special. I hear Jericho is back, and if anything can get me to put my disintrest in wrestling compounded by the Benoit mess to the side long enough to give it a fair chance, it's Jericho cutting a good promo. So there's what I'm up to in the coming week. For you, whatever you're up to, I'd encourage you to not do anything I wouldn't do...
