HOLLYWOODLAND" - Diane Lane, Brody, Affleck - looks good (1 Viewer)

[norrisMc]

HOLLYWOODLAND" - Diane Lane, Brody, Affleck - looks good Post #1

Hearing good things about "HOLLYWOODLAND". It was well received at the Venice Film Festival and has pretty good reviews so far. 70% at Rottentomatoes.com

DIANE LANE is getting very good reviews as is (wait for it) AFFLECK.

Anyone plan on going to see it?

 

[Tino]

Hey Martin, how are you?

 

[norrisMc]

Hmmm.

 

[Tino]

C'mon Martin. Ya know that every time Diane Lane is mentioned so favorably, we all know it's you posting under one of your pseudonyms, right?

It's kinda amusing actually....although I wonder how Ms. Lane would feel?

 

[Ruz-El]

Actually this film is a complex metaphor of the cold war, with George representing the post WW2 American ideal, "Superman" the liberal Jewish conspieracy, and "hollywood" the russian controlled communist media...

Oh, sorry about that, wrong thread! Parden me, but this section of the HTF has been a little wonky lately...


this movie looks awesome! Ben Afflick looks great as George, I can't wait to see it!

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I'm a little baffled by this film, it's about the death and ensuing cotroversy of George Reeves, right? So why the strange title that doesn't really reflect that at all?

Am I missing something? I mean to watch the trailer you'd never know it was about him at all, and I know because I saw the trailer in the theater and had no idea it was about George Reeves.

 

[Tim Glover]

Nice theater John. Very nice

 

[Craig S]

The title actually makes perfect sense. The film is about more than Reeves - his story is just one vehicle used to explore the way that Hollywood/LA eats people up and spits them out. There is a parallel story featuring Adrien Brody investigating the case which actually gets more screentime than the Reeves scenes. The "controversy over Reeves' death" is really just a McGuffin. A review I read said the film is about failure, and that is pretty much it in a nutshell.

Fine performances all around. Affleck, who won the Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival yesterday, is superb.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I thought Diane Lane disappeared into the role of Toni to good effect, but overall, the film drags a lot in the final act after a promising start. Ben Affleck was good as Reeves, but he never did get the openness of the eyes, the charm, that the real Reeves imparted, and Affleck has a hard time losing the smirk he has. Adrien Brody does a good job in a low key role as Lou, but I wasn't all that interested in his subplot, even with the attempted parallel storylines drawn between Reeves' relationship with his father, and Lou's relationship with his own son.

I give it 2.5 stars, or a grade of C+.

 

[norrisMc]

We saw it last night and we both really enjoyed it.

It wasn't the fastest action-packed movie you'll see but I think it fulfilled on it's promise. I was pleasantly surprised by Ben Affleck, but (biased or not) I thought Diane Lane was terrific. She is such a good actress.

Hoskins, Brody and particularly Robin Tunney were also excellent. The film may have flaws but the acting was flawless. Affleck deserves his award.

 

[Henry Gale]

I agree with most of Patrick's comments. I went into this very enthusiastic, not about Ben of course, but I love Diane Lane and anything in (semi) old Hollywood has me hooked.
They used (unrealistically) some of the very best music from the era.
I remember the incident well; I was 12 at the time.
And finally I thought it would never end.

 

[Steve...O]

I agree with Patrick as well. Affleck never came across as Reeves to me in either mannerisms or (especially) voice. Diane Lane's potty mouthed character didn't do much for me but Bob Hoskins was brilliant as her even more potty mouthed husband. On the whole it seemed too contrived and too simplistic to be an effective noir/drama. The entire subplot with the PI's ex and kid should have been ditched as it drug down the movie.

Actor Jim Beaver is writing a book on Reeves' death, a topic that he has researched for many years. I look forward to reading it to be able to determine how much of this movie was embellished Hollywood style.

 

[Henry Gale]

The IMDB has this item regarding Reeves in From Here To Eternity.

A false rumor has been circulating for years that George Reeves, who played Sgt. Maylon Stark, had his role drastically edited after preview audiences recognized him as TV's "Superman". According to director Fred Zinnemann, screenwriter Daniel Taradash and assistant director Earl Bellamy, the rumor is false. Every scene written for Reeves' character was filmed, and each of those scenes is still present in its entirety in the film as released.

 

[norrisMc]

That's interesting...

 

[Jason_V]

Very much enjoyed it on Saturday. Part of me likes how open ended the movie was while the other part wants an answer! I'd like to think this'll get a Best Pic nod from Oscar, but I don't know. Definately some acting nominations, though.

 

[norrisMc]

I agree. I liked the ambiguity too. And the acting (Affleck, Diane Lane) was special.

 

[Sam Favate]

Saw this over the weekend and really enjoyed it. Much better film than The Black Dahlia, although both are very similiar. Both films deal with a real-life unsolved murder in post-war California, both center on someone investigating those crimes. But Dahlia is too convoluted to really enjoy, while H'woodland kept my attention throughout. I thought the actors in H'woodland acquitted themselves much better than Dahlia. H'woodland deserves recognition and should be remembered as a fine film. Dahlia deserves to be forgotten.

 

[norrisMc]

Sadly, I think it's been forgotten already.

Seems like "serious" films like "HOLLYWOODLAND", "ALL THE KING'S MEN", even "BLACK DAHLIA" are not what people want to see. They choose "JACKASS 2" instead. It's so sad.

 

[Jason_V]

^ I can understand why, when stuff like "All the King's Men" is an alternate.

 

[Ruz-El]

What the hell does seeing Jackass have to do with any of these films??? I plan on seeing hollywoodland and All The Kings Men, so I shouldn't of seen Jackass 2 instead?? Ever think the returns are different because people live in cities like mine where films like "Hollywoodland" play in one theater across town, or worse in the shithole art house refurbed theaters while Jackass plays in every theater, including the one 10 minutes from my house?

Elitist comments like this really stick in my craw. And for the record, I'll probably be seeing "Borat" before any of the above mentioned "serious" films as well since I doubt they well play in a decent theater before Nov 3.