A Spielberg-ian Dilemma
Hmmm….I just saw the trailer for Steven Spielberg’s upcoming movie Terminal, and I’m torn. I can’t decide if I wanna see it or not.
On the “wanna see it” side, it’s another collaborration between Speilberg and Tom Hanks who have a pretty good track record together. Spielberg’s last movie was one of the best of his career. Plus, this is based on the amazing true-story of an Iranian refugee who lived spent more than ten years living at the Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris, France because no other countries would accept him.
On the “looks like crap” side, I see that Catherine Zeta Jones is in it. Why would they wanna get all You’ve Got Mail on such a cool story? This seems like it will play on Spielberg’s biggest weakness : That he treats his audience like mindless retards. He’s one of the most skilled filmmakers out there when he isn’t intellectually and emotionally dumbing-down his subject matter (which admittedly is just about everything he’s ever done).
So, it looks like this one might be a rental after a-
Wait a second….is that who I think it is???
It’s Kumar!!! What the hell is he doing in this trailer? I can understand Stanley Tucci’s appearance (who’s become an expert at slumming in it big movies), but Mr. LittleJeans?? Hmmmm……
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I’m a pretty big Spielberg fan (I even liked A.I.) and I’m not afraid to admit it, although this trailer doesn’t do anything for me. Although, on the Catherine Zeta-Jones tip, it was Spielberg who saw her in some British miniseries and decided to cast her in Mask of Zorro, which is still her best role even if she’s lost most of the “who IS that?” goodwill she earned since then. So maybe he has very specific ideas about how to use her best.
Comment by Kyle — April 16, 2004 @ 5:23 pm
Would have been better if Speilberg had told the real story, instead of white-breading it up with that asshat Tom Hanks. It’s a shame that some poor innocent schmuck somewhere is going to be the victim of Spontaneous Human Combustion, and Hanks will remain spark-free. Gimme a match.
Comment by Mark Spittle — April 17, 2004 @ 8:11 am
God damn, I love Mr. Littlejeans. The scene in “The Royal Tenenbaums” when he helps Royal carry his bags to the curb, sets them down, unfolds his pocketknife, and stabs Royal in the gut is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.
Comment by Megalodon — April 17, 2004 @ 1:14 pm
I watched a doco on the real guy called “Waiting For Godot in De Gaulle”. Good title, DULL film. I mean, the concept of it is interesting, but the guy is boring and really, sitting at an airport? Not all that exciting, apparently.
I’m not a Spielberg, anyway, but it seems to me that if the real story wasn’t even as exciting as it sounds, it’s a stretch to expect a Hollywood film to be much better.
Comment by Ruth — April 18, 2004 @ 8:04 am
i don’t know… i finally tried to watch minority report this weekend… after suffering through the first hour, i looked at the box to see the total running time. when i realized i had another hour and a half to go, i turned it off… that movie was ass. along with A.I. both are great ideas for stories, with great visuals and concepts, that totally sucked ass when handled by the pandering-to-the-mainstream-audience Spielberg. i’ve liked many of his movies… but he’s been on a losing streak for a while.
i’m also done with Tom Cruise… he’s just plain awful.
Comment by tom — April 19, 2004 @ 11:43 am