- Robert Elswit: How to make 'Blood'
- As the DVD for the instant classic There Will Be Blood is released today, CNN.com profiles one of the men who helped bring the film to life. Not director Paul Thomas Anderson, and not Best Actor Daniel Day-Lewis, but cinematographer Robert Elswit, who won an Oscar for his work on Blood. You don't often hear much about the people behind the camera, and I found it quite interesting that Elswit was one of the camera operators for Shine A Light. The full cast and crew of many films number in the hundreds, and people like Elswit don't always receive due credit for their masterful work in shaping the cinematic experience.
- Bush biographers mixed on script for Oliver Stone's 'W'
- The Hollywood Reporter kicks off the controversy about an upcoming George W. Bush biopic, W, directed by Oliver Stone and due out as early as Election Day this November. Stone wrote the screenplay (with some hilarious lines) and submitted it to four Bush biographers for proofing. The response? "...if Stone wants to portray this as an accurate accounting, he has some serious work to do." Though I mentioned Stone as a possible director for a future MLK, Jr. biopic, I also recognized that he's probably way too political to be involved. The guy thrives on controversy, and my personal opinions of Bush aside, I don't see the point in rushing this if he's going to be gone in a year anyway. Also, Josh Brolin as Bush? Ehh...doesn't fully click for me. Maybe I'm too accustomed to Will Ferrell as Bush. Actually, I think I'd almost rather see an exaggeratedly goofy, lampooning Bush movie than a poorly timed and overly dramatic one that can't be taken too seriously.
"I think I'd almost rather see an exaggeratedly goofy, lampooning Bush movie"
ReplyDeleteNo, no you don't. Did you ever see American Dreamz? Or, heaven help us, that Li'l Bush show that comes on Comedy Central? If ever there were two harbingers of the coming apocalypse, those two are it.
Haha, sorry, Evan. I've seen neither, but I'm fully aware of all versions of really bad Bush impressions. If anything, I should restate it as "I think I'd almost rather see Will Ferrell in an exaggeratedly goofy, lampooning Bush movie," but even that might not be entirely true. I've got no problem with a serious Bush biopic, but W doesn't sound particularly promising to me, regardless of its motive (and it must have one).
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait to get my hands on the Blood DVD, seriously!
ReplyDeleteI am so unenthusiastic about this Bush biopic, I do not care about it in the least. Wait until he is dead and gone I say.
Hope you don't have to wait too long for a compatible region disc, Nick. I don't really know how that works, but I expect something as big as Blood should get there soon. It's got to have some of the most enlightening special features in the last few years.
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely see W if and when it arrives, but my expectations are as low as your desire to see it.
Oliver Stone is clinically insane. That is a fact...
ReplyDeleteMany would say so. He really seems to be obsessed with Vietnam still, too, though you can't blame him after having served there. Our favorite soldier/jock/lovable lunk Channing Tatum is in Stone's Pinkville.
ReplyDeleteMy DVD player is region free, most of my DVDs come from Amazon, lol. In SA, we do not get many special edition and collectors’ edition DVDs so I always order my favourites from the US.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder you can keep up so well, Nick!
ReplyDeleteJust a note about W. You can keep an eye on the ever expanding cast here.
wow, w as early as november, that'd be crazy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the visit, RC. I see you've rounded out the cast on your blog as well. The only one I'm somewhat OK with is Burstyn as Bush.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the date - yeah, I don't know if it's going to happen. That's SO soon in terms of production and release, and Stone doesn't seem like the type to rush something out that isn't ready. It would add some entertainment to and already intriguing election, but - wait a minute, no it wouldn't. Bush isn't running. Maybe somebody should tell Stone.