Bart and I felt it was our patriotic duty to make our first podcast of 2015 about Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's The Interview. It was, after all the biggest story of the holiday season. The great irony is that, had it not spurred an international incident, this would be a fairly amusing but ultimately somewhat forgettable film. There's plenty to laugh at, but it all feels fairly incidental. The Interview makes you chuckle, whereas Rogen and Goldberg's last movie This Is The End frequently made me lose my breath from laughing. Franco plays the whole thing SUPER broad, which most people will find either very funny or very off-putting. Bart is firmly in the latter while I err more towards the former, although I'm a bit of a Franco apologist.
We also delve a little bit into the Ant-Man teaser and Fast & Furious mastermind Justin Lin taking over as the director of the next Star Trek movie, as well as William Shatner's plan to drive cross-country in one of the strangest looking automobiles I've ever seen. But fear not, this is a relatively short episode. Next week we'll be committing to our new battle plan of two shorter podcasts: The Daley Planet will focus solely on movie news while The Daley Screening will break down a single movie each week. Who knows how long we can keep that going, but we'll soon find out.
I am completely dumbfounded by the events of the past 24 hours.
This is not going to be yet another think piece on the morally reprehensible position of capitulating to the childish whims of an insane foreign power, or a screed against sacrificing our most basic and essential American freedom, that of free speech and artistic expression, out of a position of fear. And make no mistake, that is precisely what has occurred here. But at this point, what's done is done. Sony has completely scrapped thier plans for any and all release of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's The Interview, and while I would have put good money on a digital release after some time had passed and the excitement had died down, it's now looking more and more likely that the film will be shelved entirely. You see, studios insure movies the same way that you insure your car. By completely dropping the film, Sony can essentially declare the thing a "total loss" and get a bigger payout. Granted that's tantamount to me telling Allstate that my car has been totaled because a 9 year old threatened to set it on fire, but still.
So where do we go from here? Sony and the theater owners can bend over for Kim Jong Un (the fact that we are legitimizing this clown is maybe the most maddening aspect of this entire affair) but that doesn't mean the rest of us have to. Yesterday I tweeted that regardless of your feelings about Franco or Rogen or even if The Interview was no damn good, it demanded to be seen on principle alone and you can bet your ass that I would have been first in line at the box office on Christmas Day to buy a ticket as the most effective statement possible that I'm not going to be pushed around by petty thugs. Now that option has been taken away. So what is a film fan and a patriot to do?
I've seen some people use the hashtag #RememberTheInterview, and I'm absolutely on board. It evokes "Remember the Alamo," which is appropriate considering that this particular battle is already over and we lost. So let The Interview be a rallying cry for those who refuse to stand by and let this sort of policy become standard operating procedure. It's an incredibly dangerous precedent to set. As Jordan Hoffman pointed out on Twitter, "What happens when the KKK threatens theaters showing SELMA?" If you don't think that's a valid point, you're nuts. The threatening of studios and theater chains simply for showing a film is nothing new, but never in the history of cinema have all parties completely caved like this. IT'S NEVER HAPPENED. We can not let it happen again.
My hat is off to those mad geniuses at the Alamo Drafthouse, who will be showing Team America: World Police on Christmas Day in place of The Interview. It's an inspired move, as the villain of Trey Parker and Matt Stone's absurd marionette action movie is none other than Kim Jong Il. I often lament the fact that there is no Alamo Drafthouse here in New England, but in this case I'm doubly pissed. If you live near a Drafthouse, you should really get on this.
Drafthouse also has a film distribution arm and I saw them suggest on Twitter yesterday that they'd be willing to buy the film outright. If Sony really is trying to turn the film into a complete insurance write-off, I'm pretty sure they can't actually sell the damn thing. But here's a suggestion: simply turn the film back over to Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg for no money and let them do whatever they want with it. Fuck it, use Kickstarter to launch an independent release. $10 bucks for a digital download, $20 for a Blu-ray? Shit yeah, I would pay that. If you thought the Veronica Mars thing was a big deal...
I'm also down with Devin Faraci's suggestion that the Acacdemy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences should award Rogen and Goldberg with some kind of honorary Oscar this year. I don't honestly believe such a thing will actually happen, (at least not this year) but wouldn't it be great if they spent a few minutes during the awards ceremony to praise these guys and maybe even show some footage or something? If we're really never going to see this movie, then air Kim Jong Un's death scene. Talk about a great "Fuck you."
But what about something more concrete and immediate? President Obama has urged people to go to the movies and I think that's a fine idea. Show Dear Leader and the Guardians Of Peace that you won't cater to their bullshit. My wife's family usually makes a trip to the theater on Christmas Day and you can be damn sure we'll be heading there this year. It doesn't really matter what you see, although I'd argue that if you want to make a statement with your ticket purchase, Selma is the Christmas release that's most appropriate. It may not be as cheerful as Annie or Into The Woods, but it's now without a doubt my first choice.
In the meantime, I recommend picking up a copy of This Is The End on Blu-ray or DVD. Aside from being one of the funniest movies of 2013, it's also a Sony movie from Rogen, Goldberg and much of the same creative team. It's basically the closest you can get to buying a protest ticket to The Interview. If you don't already own This Is The End, well, you really should. It's not only breathlessly funny, but it's also got a really sweet and endearing core. Now is the perfect time to fill that gap in your home movie library, and if there's someone on your holiday shopping list for whom you still don't have a gift, this is a great option. It's currently only $10 on Amazon and if you order by tomorrow then Amazon swears it will get to you in time for Christmas, even if you don't have Prime. I'm ordering mine right now.
This is not okay. Sony may have thrown in the towel, but I refuse. This is the closest I'll ever get to the front lines in the war on terror. I can't shoot a gun, drive a tank or hack a foreign government.* But I will scream myself hoarse in the name of artistic freedom.
#RememberTheInterview.
*Sidenote: If it's conclusively proven that the North Korean government did in fact order the hack on Sony, then I say such action absolutely merits U.S. retaliation. This could start an era of legitimate American cyber-warfare. Fucking crazy.
UPDATE: Sony has now officially canceled The Interview's release. There's no mention of any possible digital release, but the statement specifically uses the words "theatrical release," so I wouldn't rule anything out. I can't believe this is really happening. I can't believe we just legitimized Kim Jong Un.
I'm supposed to go to an advanced screening of The Interview tomorrow night at my local AMC. I've been looking forward to it all week long. Now I'm wondering if that screening is still happening.
Sony just confirmed that the five major American theater chains, including AMC, Regal, Cinemark, Carmike Cinemas and Cineplex Entertainment have dropped the film entirely in the wake of violent threats by Guardians Of Peace, the hacker group responsible for the now epic Sony data breach. GOP has named the Seth Rogen/James Franco movie as the motivation for the attacks on the Culver City studio (and my one time employer) and while many suspect that the group has ties to the government of North Korea, those claims have yet to be substantiated.*
You know what else has yet to be substantiated? Any evidence that the GOP has the ability to actually carry out any of their grammatically suspect threats of 9/11-style terror attacks. Look, I'm all about safety first, but this feels patently ridiculous. U.S. intelligence services and law enforcement agencies have found no credible threat against American theaters anywhere. So why the fuck are we caving to these assholes?
I honestly have no idea. I get that no one wants to be held responsible for another Aurora disaster and that the world is still reeling from the hostage situation in Sydney and the massacre in Peshawar, but at the end of the day we're talking about hackers, not suicide bombers. Al-Qaeda these guys are not. Besides, it seems unlikely that Sony would shelve the movie entirely. Whether it gets a limited theatrical run or not, Sony will almost certainly still release it on Blu-ray, DVD and digital platforms. Hell, I suspect that it could show up on iTunes and On Demand in the next few weeks if none of these theaters change their mind. (Ironically, digital platforms seem like far more likely targets for GOP than brick and mortar theaters.) So in the end, what's the real impact other than the unfortunate optics of Hollywood bowing to pressure from a bunch of demented fuckers who are likely halfway across the world?
More importantly, there's a reason that you don't give in or negotiate with terrorists. Because once that happens, suddenly threats of violence become a legitimate tactic that any criminal can use to actually achieve their goals. This kind of thing only brings the crazies out of the woodwork. As my wife texted to me upon hearing the news, "I want to start just demanding stuff. Send Daniel Radcliffe to my house or else! Put Benedict Cumberbatch in all the movies or else something something!" At this point her demands are just as valid.
I was already a fan of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, but after This Is The End (arguably the funniest movie of 2013) the two are now permanently in my good graces. Any movie they feel like making together, I'm more than willing to show up.
This fall they're giving us The Interview and the premise is kind of wonderful. James Franco and Seth Rogen play a tabloid TV host and his producer who are granted a rare interview with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. The two are subsequently recruited by the CIA to assassinate the Glorious Leader. Yes please.
Was that a nuclear missile taking off? I love that there's some decent scope to this story, and I expect some serious shit will go down in the third act. I also love that the Korean text on the propaganda poster above apparently reads, "Don't trust these moron Americans."
Chances are, as soon as you saw the first trailer for This Is The End, in which Seth Rogen and friends play themselves dealing with the end of the world, you knew immediately whether or not it was your cup of tea. Seth Rogen, James Franco, Danny McBride...these guys have all become pretty polarizing comedians at this point - either you think they're brilliantly funny or you're instantly turned off by their particular brand of shenanigans. I'll admit that I'm in the first camp, and even when they do something that doesn't really work (Green Hornet) or struggles to find its audience (Your Highness), they're so willing to dip into the realm of the truly weird that the results are almost always interesting at the very least. That being said, I think that This Is The End is going to be writer/director/star Seth Rogen's biggest commercial hit in years and pave the way for him to keep making the kind of modestly budgeted films that he seems so well suited for.
I want to try a new approach here, call it the Daley Q&A. To be clear, this is basically a conversation with myself, but the next time I go to an advanced screening, I'll try to gather questions from you trusty readers. Without further ado...
Q: Is it funny?
A: Hells to the yes, and in the most immature, sophomoric way possible. This movie might be the epitome of phallic humor. It feels like there was a lot of riffing in certain bits (particularly one back and forth exchange between Franco and McBride) that perhaps could have benefited from some sharper editing. That's not to say I wasn't laughing throughout, but every joke seemed to go on for two or three lines longer than necessary and I often found myself marveling that the scene was still going on. But I don't really mind a shaggy comedy so long as the jokes are hitting. And boy, do they ever hit. In terms of laughs per minute, this is probably the funniest commercial comedy* of the year so far, much to the chagrin of The Hangover Part III.
Q: Doesn't the whole, "everyone's playing themselves" bit feel a little self-indulgent?
A: Actually, no. Everyone's smartly playing a fictional, exaggerated version of themselves and in almost every case, that character cleverly pokes fun at their own public persona. McBride, Robinson and Franco each kind of take their own recognizable shticks to the extreme - Franco is annoyingly artsy, Robinson is big teddy bear with a dirty mind, and McBride is a post-apocalyptic Kenny Powers, with probably the best onscreen entrance(s) you'll see in a theater this summer. But I have to admit that the one who's stuck with me is Jonah Hill. He goes off at a complete right angle, playing something that's so wonderfully twisted you almost can't fully appreciate it as it's happening. It's the kind of performance that I expect will reward repeat viewings, getting funnier the second and third time around.
Q:Who's got the best celebrity cameo/death scene?
A: The first 20 minutes are absolutely packed with familiar faces. Some get extended sequences, while others literally show up for five seconds, but almost every one of them is both funny and on point, like Jason Segel complaining about how bad How I Met Your Mother has gotten while Kevin Hart laughs at the show's mediocre jokes. Everyone's going to be talking about Michael Cera and rightly so, ("Does this cocaine smell funny?") but David Krumholtz actually has my favorite of all the celebrity deaths. When Rihanna fell into a bottomless chasm, most of the theater cheered, although I couldn't tell you why. (Do people secretly hate her? Did I accidentally attend a screening for Chris Brown fans? I don't get it.) Oh yeah, and there's a brilliant cameo late in the film which absolutely DESTROYS. Don't look at IMDb and don't let anyone spoil it for you.
Q:So can Seth Rogen actually direct?
A: Impressively so. Despite appearances this is a really ambitious film, which makes its ultimate success all the more impressive. Not only do Rogen and Goldberg tackle the apocalypse with gusto, but they also throw in monsters, exorcisms, roving cannibals and all sorts of other fun genre staples. It might sound like they're just throwing everything against the wall to see what sticks, but it actually escalates in such a way that, by the time you get to the final conflict, it somehow feels earned. Not only that, but they employ a really effective tactic to keep the film moving along. Whenever the emotional conflict between the two leads starts to escalate, the argument will be abruptly interrupted mid-sentence by some kind of explosion or earthquake that hurls everyone into the next challenge while propelling the story's momentum. It's a smart choice that actually feels somewhat fresh and innovative.
Q: How much apocalypse do we really get to see?
A: Most of the film keeps it pretty small scale, limiting the action to in and around Franco's house, although the third act goes pretty damn big, including one image that will sear itself into your brain for days. You can tell that Rogen, Goldberg and producer/star Jay Baruchel are real fans of the apocalypse sub-genre because they really treat that part of the film with tremendous respect, evidenced by the hiring of Greg Nicotero and the guys from KNB EFX. They also cleverly tackle the small scale survival problems, like rationing scarce food and water, helping outsiders and addressing a potentially creepy gender dynamic. I was legitimately afraid that the end of the world was going to get shortchanged and just turn into the backdrop for a series of penis jokes, but the amount of care and thought put into this stuff really shines through.
Q: So what brings about this version of global destruction? Meteor strikes? Nuclear war? Aliens?
A: I'm gonna leave that one be. The answer isn't really a spoiler, but the characters spend a decent chunk of story arguing about what's actually going on and it's a pretty good source of tension in the group, even if the answer feels pretty obvious to the audience. It's the kind of choice that inherently comes with a certain type of baggage, but they kind of shrug that stuff off - the actual "why is this happening" part is never addressed but also never missed. Instead the method of apocalypse is used as a prism to dissect the nature of friendship and what it means to be a good person.
Q: Wait, what? Are you still talking about the same movie?
A: I know. The sneaky truth about This Is The End is that it's actually a love story. Believe it or not, amidst all the raucous comedy and mass destruction lies a genuinely sweet treatise on the modern bromance. You see, Seth and Jay are old friends from Canada, but while Seth has become a big Hollywood success with lots of money, Jay remains wary of Los Angeles and despises the crowd Seth's fallen in with. All Jay wants to do is chill out with an old friend for a few days, smoke weed, drink beers and play video games like the old days, but Seth really wants Jay to get along with his new friends and ends up dragging him to a party at Franco's house. So when the shit hits the fan and they're all trapped together, Seth sees it as an opportunity for Jay to bond with the rest of the guys, while Jay just sees himself trapped in the last place he wants to spend the end of the world. Lies are told and trusts are betrayed, but it rarely feels forced or gimmicky. We've all had close friendships that have slipped away over time. I've had more than I care to admit, particularly every time I've changed schools or moved across the country. Everyone likes the idea of "BFF" but in reality friendships are extremely temperamental and far more "of the moment" than we'd like to admit. New friends and old rarely mesh the way we'd like and eventually we all drift apart, whether it be physically, emotionally or both. At its core, This Is The End is a movie about two people coming to grips with the idea that they may be clinging to the memory of a friendship that doesn't really exist anymore. That's a tough reality to face, and the older the friend the more it truly feels like the end of the world. The good news is that it's never too late; since moving back to Boston, I've gotten back in touch with a lot of old friends that I hadn't seen or spoken to in almost 15 years. The movie agrees - Jay's climactic speech to Seth is a truly touching moment that really makes you feel the weight that comes from the many years of their real and fictional friendship. It's the same speech given in countless middle-of-the-road romantic comedies, but here it's actually believable.
Q: ...But it's funny, right? A: SO MUCH FUNNY! Q:So do they end up saving the world, or what?
A: It's not really that kind of movie, although it is sort of implied that an enemy is slain. But I must admit that, while I'm not exactly the target audience for this particular joke, the film's final scene is a moment of such pure, unadulterated joy that I defy you to walk out of the theater without a big dumb smile on your face.
If you have any interest in seeing This Is The End, do yourself a favor: don't wait for it to come out on blu-ray and watch it alone on your couch. Grab some friends and go this weekend while the theaters are sure to be packed. Trust me.
*To be fair, Cheap Thrills is just as funny and probably a better film, but it's dark as hell and probably won't get a wide release.
--------------------------------------- Title: This Is The End Director: Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride, Emma Watson Year Of Release: 2013 Viewing Method: Theatrical - Showcase Revere
Lou: Hey Margot! I just bought a new melon baller and I'd like to gouge out your eyes with it.
Margot: Yeah, me too.
A few years ago I saw actor/director Sarah Polley's heartbreaking film Away From Her and it pretty much wrecked me. It's the story of a older married couple whose relationship slowly deteriorates as the wife, masterfully portrayed by Julie Christie, slips further and further into the mental abyss that is Alzheimer's disease. It's especially tragic because the couple is truly and completely in love, but the husband is rendered powerless in the face of his wife's mental erosion. He watches her slip away and there's nothing he can do to stop it.
Polley's follow up, Take This Waltz, also deals with a crumbling marriage, albeit a much younger one. However, here Polley grapples directly with the issue of choice, as well as slippery slope of emotional infidelity. What struck me most is Polley's ability to frankly and honestly capture the terrifying, exciting, fragile, passionate, and ultimately destructive nature of a relationship where one person continues to deceive not only their partner, but also themself.
Michelle Williams plays Margot, a young Canadian travel brochure writer who is five years married to Seth Rogen's Lou, a nice guy focused on writing a cookbook entirely of chicken recipes. While on assignment, Margot has a chance encounter with rickshaw driver Patrick (Luke Kirby), a guy with a peculiar mix of both laid back charm and smoldering intensity. After some idle flirting on the plane ride home, Margot confesses that she's married, at which point Patrick confesses that he actually lives across the street from her.
The two begin to spend time together and their attraction is undeniable, but Margot is seriously conflicted. After five years of marriage, she and Lou have settled into a groove as best friends who live together and care for each other. When the two are lying in bed in the morning, or entertaining Lou's family for Sunday dinner, they have a strong emotional connection and appear by all rights to be completely adorable. They care for one another and love to make each other laugh using silly voices or private jokes like a running gag where they describe all the ways they want to physically torture each other to express their love, e.g. the melon baller quote at the top. And yet, something is missing. Their sex life has gone adrift and whenever a sweet moment turns to physical romance, a single stray word or reaction freezes the moment cold.
Lou and Margot's caring but stagnant relationship absolutely resonated with me. Over the years I tended to jump from one long term relationship to another and I've definitely been in that position before, maintaining a relationship that on one level simply isn't working because on another level everything is hunky dory. It's just exhausting to bounce back and forth between the two states, perfectly content one moment and wholly frustrated (sexually or otherwise) the next. There's a part of you that is terrified to leave something comfortable and familiar, so you convince yourself that if you just stick with it long enough, eventually you'll find your way back to happiness. Then there's the part of you that's so desperate for connection that you'll accept temporary pain and heartbreak (yours and/or theirs) and even the possibility of serious regret for a chance at finding happiness in someone new.
And so Margot is drawn to Patrick, and while they never physically consumate their desires, there's no question that she's cheating on Lou. She wakes up hours early just to be alone with him. They go to an amusement park and ride on the twister together while listening to "Video Killed The Radio Star," rocking back and forth in the cart and always on the verge of kissing. They even go for afternoon martinis one day, with Margot suddenly blurting out, "I want to know what you'd do to me," and Patrick quietly describing exactly what he'd do in prurient detail.
The whole thing culminates in a hypnotic sequence where Margot steps outside her house one night and says, loud enough for Patrick to hear from his porch, "I'm going for a swim." She walks to the public pool, Patrick silently following a few steps behind her. They don't acknowledge each other until they both jump into the water, swimming circles around each other, one floating above and the other diving below until Patrick eventually reaches out and touches her ankle. The spell is instantly broken and Margot quickly apologizes and retreats home.
As much as she wants Patrick, Margot says she can't bring herself to hurt Lou. She doesn't seem to consider the idea that she essentially already has, even if Lou doesn't know it yet. I don't think this attitude is out of naivete, but rather a defense mechanism of emotional dishonesty. During their initial airplane encounter, Margot tells Patrick that she a sort of phobia about connecting flights. It's not that she's afraid of missing her flight, it's that she's afraid of being afraid. She therefore pretends to have a leg injury so flight attendants will ferry her from terminal to terminal in a wheelchair. This is essentially a reflection of her dual relationships. She knows that her marriage is broken but she's afraid of both being alone and of missing a potential connection with Patrick, and that fear has driven her to bend the rules to the absolute point of breaking.
Eventually it's Patrick who realizes that the situation is untenable and one morning he packs up his car and moves out. His departure finally forces Margot to admit the truth, both to herself and to Lou. It's a really well executed sequence where we never see the actual conversation, but instead just get a series of quick-cutting close ups as Rogen runs through a dozen different emotions in reaction to her bombshell. In a moment that's equally funny and heart wrenching, he finally suggests that Margot take a shower. You see, there's been a running gag where whenever Margot is in the shower she gets a momentary blast of cold water. While she thinks the plumbing is broken, Polley shows us that in reality Rogen keeps a cup of cold water nearby and splashes her sight unseen from over the shower curtain. After he's convinced her to get into the shower once more, he again dumps the cold water on her but immediately pulls back the curtain. When she realizes the truth, he says, "I thought, when we're 80 I'll tell Margot I've been doing this her entire life and it'll make her laugh. It's kind of a long term joke."
Having admitted marital defeat, Margot runs off and finds Patrick and we're treated to an extended montage of the two making love in his new home as time passes. The sex gets adventurous, including some pink fishnets and the presence of a few different third parties, until they too find themselves sitting wordlessly on the couch, watching dull TV interviews. When Margot tells Patrick that she "wuves him" in the same silly baby voice she once used with Lou, he tiredly says he loves her back. She's once again found herself stranded in yet another relationship that's left her feeling somehow unfulfilled.
The crux of the film is actually articulated by Sarah Silverman, playing Lou's alcoholic sister Geraldine. Margot is called back to Lou's when Geraldine falls off the wagon and goes missing. She soon returns and pulls Margot aside to call her out on her shit. Geraldine isn't just sticking up for her brother, but really articulating some harsh truths that Margot's been loathe to admit to herself. Equating her own alcoholic mistakes with Margot's fear of missed connections, she says, "Life has a gap in it, it just does. You don't go crazy trying to fill it like some lunatic."
I don't think the ultimate message here is to settle for the middling, but rather to recognize that no matter what you do, there's always going to be some part of your life that isn't quite where you want it to be. It's that pursuit of happiness, the struggle to square our own individual circles that continues to drive us forward in this world and allows us to grow as individuals. The key is to appreciate the love and happiness we've already been lucky enough to discover in our lives. Otherwise we risk losing one joy in pursuit of another.
That's probably good advice for me, as I embark on this cinematic mission that was at least partially conceived to fill in the gaps in my own life, like some lunatic.
--------------------------------------- Title: Take This Waltz Director: Sarah Polley Starring: Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Luke Kirby, Sarah Silverman Year Of Release: 2011 Viewing Method: Netflix Instant (TV)
