Random Factoid #580

5 01 2016

Given that North Korea may or may not have detonated a hydrogen bomb, I figured it was about time for this anecdote.

Back in December 2014, I was not afraid to get on my soapbox and decry what appeared to be cowardice in the face of a pernicious threat to free speech. In the wake of the Sony hack that nearly cancelled the release of “The Interview,” I even invoked Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” to express my disgust.

Trying to walk and not just talk, I immediately purchased tickets for the first Houston show once Sony rescheduled it for release. I even made the purchase confirmation my cover photo.

Longtime readers of this blog, or personal friends, are likely aware of my predilection for holding onto movie ticket stubs. I have made no secret of this collection, even making it the subject of my first random factoid back in July 2009. So surely the ticket stub for “The Interview” holds a treasured spot in the folder, right? Seeing a movie has rarely been such a political act.

Well, if that’s what you thought, you thought wrong. I left arguably the most important ticket in my collection at the theater. Since Alamo Drafthouse requires that stubs be placed on the table in front of the seat, for whatever reason, I simply walked off without it. Normally, I slide the stub into my wallet after it gets ripped. But in this case, I forgot it. Driving home, I realized what I had done. This pretty much summarized my mood:

tumblr_m3yjrgDA1t1qar5tro10_r1_1280





Random Factoid #579

3 08 2015

I have an X-factor when it comes to hunkering down to get stuff done.  It’s the ringtone from “The Devil Wears Prada.”

If you’ve watched the film, then surely you cannot forget the shrill tone that animates Andy’s phone when she gets the latest request phoned in from dragon lady Miranda Priestly.  (But in case you have, here it is anyways.)

I downloaded this ringtone and installed it on my iPhone.  It serves two purposes.

  1. An alarm.  When I hear this ringtone in the morning, it snaps me to attention and (usually) forces me to get out of bed.  Am I not such a millennial, animated primarily by the fear of falling down on the job?  Thanks, Great Recession!
  2. The ringtone for my boss.  Anyone who I work for and would be calling me about a job-related matter gets this ringtone.  That way, if I hear that tone, I know that I need to pick up as soon as humanly possible.  Other people (*COUGH Google Plus offers that won’t go away COUGH*) might not receive such a speedy response.

That’s all.





Random Factoid #578

28 07 2015

Scorsese iphoneOf course I can’t find any pictures through Google Image searches to prove my point here, but I have a gripe that I need to get off my chest.

I absolutely CANNOT STAND when movies show characters using iPhones incorrectly.

Surely you’ve noticed that often times, when a character takes a call on their iPhone, they are very clearly NOT taking a call.  I can see the light on the screen, and I can tell when the phone is clearly on the main menu.  Getting the phone screen would not be hard to fake – just take a screenshot and open it up in the Photos app.  Or just leave a white screen up or something!

When I can tell that the character is not on a call, it highlights the artifice of the scene and disrupts the illusion.  I’m instantly taken out of the scene.

So, please, filmmakers.  This is not a hard thing to get right.  I’m not saying you should actually endure the hassle of making a call to the phone in the shot.  Just don’t presume the audience watching is stupid enough not to notice that the phone is clearly not making a call.





Random Factoid #577

14 07 2015

There’s rumors, in the Twittersphere… (to quote the great “21 Jump Street“)

…that people are angry with Jesse Eisenberg.  The Oscar nominee for “The Social Network” – and villain of next spring’s “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” – was quoted saying something about Comic-Con that upset quite a few folks.  Here, to the best of my knowledge, are those remarks in context, courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter:

“It is like being screamed at by thousands of people. I don’t know what the experience is throughout history, probably some kind of genocide. I can’t think of anything that’s equivalent.”

IMG_0998 I would like to add some further context simply to explain Jesse Eisenberg, not Comic-Con.

“The Social Network” is one of my all-time favorite movies, so I have always been curious – naturally – to meet its star in person.  Almost two years ago at the 2013 London Film Festival, I got the chance.

I got a ticket to the gala screening of his film “Night Moves” (which wasn’t great but will almost assuredly be better than any movie Zack Snyder could ever concoct) and happened to be strolling around Leicester Square on my way to the theater when I noticed Eisenberg making his way down a line of fans to sign autographs.  Naturally, I jumped in.

Now, I’ve gotten the chance to interact with quite a few actors in my day, a fact I cite not to brag but to let you know that I speak with some mild authority when I say that Eisenberg moved particularly slowly down his wall of admirers.  He looked down towards the ground and made only the most meager of efforts to interact with the person in front of him.  Eisenberg signed whatever piece of paper a fan handed him but clearly ignored whatever praise they might heap on him.  In a mechanical fashion, he would mutter, “thank you so much,” essentially without being prompted.

IMG_1014(Seriously, I am not bitter about this, but when Eisenberg got to me, my Sharpie ran out of ink.  Rather than wait, he just moved on to the next person.)

I tell this story to let the film blog world know that Jesse Eisenberg is probably the most shy, introverted celebrity I have ever come across.  He sees fame as a negative externality of his acting prowess, not a reward for it.  I think his nightmares probably involve Facebook coming to life.

So if you are someone who regards Comic-Con as hallowed ground, just try to see it through his eyes.  All that attention, scrutiny, and adoration must feel so overwhelming, perhaps embarrassing, to Eisenberg.  Or think of it from the opposite extreme – Comic-Con for Jesse Eisenberg is what zero likes on Instagram is to Kim Kardashian.





Random Factoid #576

29 06 2015
IMG_1406

Freshman year

I recently graduated from college, and I will miss it for a number of reasons.  But one I did not realize until recently was how much I am going to miss the easy dorm room decor.  For me, it was all as simple as a movie poster and some sticky tack.  Now, I am actually going to have to buy frames … maybe even ones that match the color of the poster or the room.

(You might be asking how on earth I got these posters, and I’ll tell you that I was lucky to have a connection with a promoter and an exhibitor.  But if you don’t have those contacts, never fear!  Many iconic posters that you may well have seen in homes, bedrooms and offices now that they’re readily available through services like Fast Print posters.)

The posters in my room rotated from year to year, although I sadly only have pictures of freshman and senior year.

In my first year of college, I came armed with posters for two films that had yet to open, “Moneyball” and “The Ides of March.”  After the latter fell short of lofty expectations, I took it down.  For some odd reason, I turned down one of my hall-mates’ offer to buy the “Moneyball” poster for $10.  Why was I so stupid?  That would have paid for the ticket!

By sophomore year, I turned to a different mix: “The Social Network” and “Hitchcock,” with smaller posters for “Les Misérables,” “Black Swan,” “127 Hours,” and “Skyfall” adorning my radiator.  I mean, why have any white space?

I spent first semester of my junior year abroad in a dorm room where I was not allowed to hang anything on my walls.  That spirit, I suppose, came back home with me for second semester.  I hardly had any posters because most of them had torn and frayed from being well-loved.  When someone visited my room and saw the sparse decoration, they compared it to a prison cell.  I later added a “12 Years a Slave” poster, but that did little to alleviate things since it had a primarily white background.

Senior Year

Senior Year

Senior year, though, I went all out.  At one point, I had five 27×40 posters adorning the walls in my room, plus one in my closet and three smaller posters scattered throughout.  Oh, and a “22 Jump Street” poster in my suite common area.

The senior showcase included:

I only kept a few of these, knowing that the potential for them to actually hang in my apartment after graduation was slim.  Besides, I have much nicer framed Cannes Film Festival posters from my two years attending the event.

Movie posters served as a convenient expression of my taste in college, where no one cared if anything was ornate or fancy.  Now, I am going to have to step up my game to communicate the same thing about myself with pieces of paper that serve more as “art” than a piece of “marketing material.”





Random Factoid #575

24 06 2015

I have a problem.

Whenever I take Advil to relieve a headache, sometimes I act like I am Cate Blanchett’s Jasmine from “Blue Jasmine” tossing back a Xanax by way of a Stoli martini with a twist of lemon.

Jasmine 1

I don’t think that being an alcoholic or a manic depressive is something worth imitating, to be clear.  But somehow, I think acting as put up and frustrated as Jasmine will drive away my headache.  Or maybe it provides me some comfort to think that my life is playing out like some kind of scripted tragedy, like there is some grander plan to all these headaches.

Jasmine 2

And generally, I imagine this song is playing behind me:





Random Factoid #574

11 02 2015

50I’m trying to kill some time before a 7:30 P.M. press screening of “Fifty Shades of Grey” tonight (currently posted up with my laptop in Whole Foods), so I thought maybe a factoid was in order.

Yes, I am about to watch the cultural hot potato itself.  No, I didn’t pack an extra pair of underwear, pregame, bring toys, etc.  I’m simply curious to see what all the fuss is about.  When something like this comes along and gains such traction among the masses, it has to be hitting some kind of nerve.

Thanks to landing on a press list in North Carolina, I am now about to catch a free advanced screening.  That’s the ideal way to watch “Fifty Shades of Grey,” I assume – with no payment required.  But, due to the “anticipation” of the film, I was not allowed to bring a guest.  (The only other times I’ve had to roll solo to an event like this was when the screening was strictly held for critics’ eyes only.)

So, I am seeing “Fifty Shades of Grey” alone.  I won’t be able to live snark or make sassy comments to a friend.  Instead, I’ll just feel smutty knowing that I am living out a glorified version of what perverts did in the ’70s when they wanted to watch titillating pornography.  The only upside is that I am an hour away from anyone who would recognize me seeing this movie.

Oh, well – can’t win ’em all!





Random Factoid #573

1 02 2015

For what it’s worth, I have actually stuck to my New Year’s Resolution to eat healthier for a whole month.  (No better way to jinx it than to put it in print, though.)  I now stock my tiny dorm room refrigerator with all sorts of healthier choices, in everything from 10 calorie Jello-s to fresh fruit to protein shakes.  And no Diet Coke, which is the bigger deal.  I still wonder what on earth I’m supposed to drink at movie theaters now…

Perhaps most surprisingly, I have also taken to eating string cheese after workouts, which is apparently a smart way to replenish your body after heavy exertion.  I used to scorn this style of consuming dairy, ranking it only slightly above aerosol spray cheese in the hierarchy of forms it can take.  But now, I find myself actually craving them.

Which, of course, always makes me think of one movie and one character.  Emily, my soul sister…

Diet

I also relate to “The Devil Wears Prada” now in many more ways than I did when I first saw it at the age of 13.  Back then, naïve Marshall had no idea what the corporate world was like.  If you want me to elaborate on how my life has resembled the movie, you’ll have to find me in person because there is NO WAY I will ever put that in print.





Random Factoid #572

19 01 2015

Welp, the Oscar nominations have been announced, and it looks like Jennifer Aniston is going to have to try again if she wants people to start calling her “Academy Award nominee Jennifer Aniston.”  (For what it’s worth, I am seeing “Cake,” her failed awards vessel, tomorrow night.)

A lot of people have hurled ridicule at Aniston for her formulaic rom-coms or her tabloid personality.  Some of the vitriol resembles the phenomenon of “Hatha-hate,” the extreme and baseless revulsion towards Anne Hathaway. I have certainly been critical of some of her less than stellar roles like the ones in “Just Go With It” or “The Bounty Hunter.”  For the latter title, I began my review with this sentence: “Have you ever watched a movie and wondered what could make an actor’s standards drop so low?”

But I have also noted Aniston’s slow move towards quality, such as her roles in “Horrible Bosses” and “We’re The Millers,” which are at least attempting to do something out of the ordinary.  Moreover, I featured an Aniston title in my “F.I.L.M. of the Week” column that highlights lesser-known films: “Friends with Money,” a superb indie that should have provided her with more credibility as a respectable actress.  (I thought I had written about “The Good Girl,” but I guess I did not.)

If I am just being honest, though, Aniston’s lasting impact for me consists of two scenes in two mediocre films, “The Break-Up” and “He’s Just Not That Into You.”  For whatever reason, the illustrations her characters give of complex situations are infinitely reusable and applicable to daily life.  Just ask anyone who knows me well, I have probably quoted one of these two scenes to them.

“I want you to want to do the dishes” works great when trying to explain that you desire a genuine gesture, not an empty one.

And “I just need you to stop being nice to me unless you’re going to marry me” works well for flaky, noncommittal people outside the realm of marriage and courtship.

I also love the line from “He’s Just Not That Into You” where Aniston is told by a friend, in a supposed gesture of comfort, “There are many people who never get married – look at Al Pacino, never been married, happy as a clam!”  And Aniston, flabbergasted, responds, “Would I be Al Pacino in this scenario?”  I also tend to feel like the Al Pacino in plenty of supposedly helpful illustrations about my life, though maybe that will change one day.





Random Factoid #571

30 12 2014

2014, for me, was the year of the typo correction.  For whatever reason, I felt emboldened to act as copywriter for the world.  (Just not for my own work, which I often find full of errors upon reexamination.)  Much of my Larry David-esque perceived need to correct other people’s harmless mistakes or typos stems from an empowering NPR segment about a book called “The Great Typo Hunt.”  Yes, I am enough of a nerd to call an NPR story about grammar “empowering.”  Get at me, world!

It began as early as January, when IndieWire ran a story called “The 20 Best Films of 2014 We’ve Already Seen.”  This highlighted festival films from the previous year due for release in the upcoming calendar year, and the original list inexplicably omitted “The Immigrant.”  Foreshadowing (or stemming from) my being a warrior for this film, I commented about this egregious exclusion.

IndieWINNING

The post is now called “The 21 Best Films of 2014 We’ve Already Seen,” but the URL still says “20.”  Point, Marshall.

It continued with the website for “Obvious Child.”  I was trying to find a poster to add to my PowerPoint aggregating all the films I saw in a year (as chronicled in Random Factoid #200) on the website when I noticed a pretty egregious typo.  I emailed the admin listed on the Tumblr, and I wound up getting a personal response from the film’s producer, Elisabeth Holm.  The correction can be seen below.

Obvious Child Email

Then, as I am often prone to do, I was scouring the pre-order section of iTunes to see when I might be able to rent certain titles I missed.  I noticed that “Laggies” was up – and that its star, Keira Knightley, had her name misspelled on the cover.  I sent the studio a quick email and, sure enough, the cover changed!

A24 Laggies

 

And the gentle, metaphorical red pen did not limit itself to spelling errors.  I also tackled factual inaccuracies, such as one that I found in a piece by Scott Feinberg, the lead awards analyst at The Hollywood Reporter.

Feinberg

Now, just so we’re clear, I am far from perfect and actually made plenty a pretty embarrassing error while thinking I was correcting someone else’s error.  See that comment from The Dissolve?  It was in reply to a comment that I deleted, which was calling them out for misspelling “Slave” when it was referencing the video’s misspelling.  Had I watched the video, I would have known that.  Had I really been paying attention, I would have also noticed that they also “misspelled” Brad Pitt’s name.

Salve

I decided not to let the comment live on and shame me, like a coward.  Perhaps in the new year, I will limit myself in my quest to make the world a safer place for proofreading to only correcting errors which I am completely certain are wrong.  Or, rather, I can just shake my head in dismay at every typo I see online (cough, IndieWire – you’re the worst offender) and hope they feel the same shame that I experience when I realize a similar gaffe in my own work.

P.S. – How can I tell AT&T about this bad typo?

Gaurdians





Random Factoid #570

29 10 2014

InterstellarI figured in order to break myself out of my recent writing slump, I’d bring back an old favorite … the Random Factoid!

Because I go to the movies and have a brain, I am a huge fan of Christopher Nolan and eagerly await his upcoming feature “Interstellar.”  Because I have such confidence in Nolan, I don’t need to be sold on the movie’s plot or marketing materials.  Thus, I am trying to avoid them at all costs.

This is nothing new for me.  Back in 2010, I wrote of my efforts to pull off a similar feat in the wake of the opening of “Inception” in Random Factoid #275:

“I am attempting to do the impossible: avoid the media blitz surrounding Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” and walk into the theater on July 16th without knowing anything about the plot.  I am not going to read plot summaries, watch trailers, or read any sort of specific review.

I am prepared to do whatever it takes not to have this movie spoiled.  I will start bringing either headphones or earplugs to tentpole summer movies where previews will most assuredly play.  If I see any feature on the movie, I will shield my eyes and go away.”

I’m still doing the same with trailers at the movies; last night, I even walked out of the theater for three minutes while the “Interstellar” trailer played (to the complete bafflement of the rest of the crowd).  But this abstinence has taken on a new battlefront in 2014: social media and trade websites.  Because the embargo has broken and people can start talking about the content of “Interstellar,” I have sworn to myself that I will not take the risk of having anything spoiled for me by visiting these sites.

I unfollowed The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and IndieWire on Facebook so their posts don’t appear on my News Feed.  (Like I was going to give up Facebook entirely?  Please.)  I won’t check any sort of awards handicapping site because they are most assuredly breaking “Interstellar” down in those terms.  It’s essentially like a miniature Lent for the Church of Christopher Nolan.  Who knows what I’ll do with all this time I’m saving in avoiding these sites?

Maybe start writing reviews again … actually, make that definitely!





Random Factoid #569

2 08 2014

It’s been about 5 years since Twitter became a huge part of modern communication, and I’ve resisted it ever since.  Though my philosophy on the social media site has become more complex over time, here’s an excerpt from Random Factoid #258 back in April 2010 that pretty thoroughly explains my opposition:

“I hate Twitter and I will NEVER get one.  Ever.

Anyone who knows me or reads me is surely aware that I am a massive Facebook-er.  So why am I so opposed to Twitter?  Here’s my reason.

My least favorite part of Facebook is the status update.  I’m sorry, but I don’t want to know what you are doing at all times of the day.  If I do, I will go look at your profile.  So why on earth would I want to commit to Twitter, which is basically ONLY status updates.  Unless you are Jason Reitman, who fascinates me, I don’t want to know every little thought that pops into your head.

So, I will never get a personal (or blogging) Twitter.  You will NEVER catch me Tweeting.”

I don’t maintain a Twitter profile for “Marshall and the Movies,” yet I notice a few hits from the site every once in a while.  So, out of pure curiosity, I decided to search for my name and website on Twitter to see what was redirecting traffic to my site.

Well, as it turns out, Drafthouse Films saw my glowing review of their new film, “Nothing Bad Can Happen,” and quoted me in a tweet to hype up its release!  To my knowledge, this is the first time I’ve been quoted by a studio in promotional material.

Drafthouse Films

And on top of that, the stars of “Gimme the Loot” found my review and tweeted about it!

Gimme the Loot

So on an entirely self-serving level, maybe Twitter isn’t so bad!  I’m glad my writing is making small waves over there even though I remain a conscientious objector.





Random Factoid #568

25 04 2013

les-miserables-dvd-blu-ray1Been a while since you’ve seen one of these, hasn’t it?

I discontinued daily random factoids back in 2011 because, well, they were becoming a lot more of a stretch.  Usually they weren’t really factoids, they were just random cultural tidbits with a little bit of Marshall commentary.  I definitely enjoyed doing that, but it became a lot more of a hassle than it should have been.  So I stopped.

But now, I have a real factoid to share with you all, so it felt like a good time to resurrect the series for the first time in two years.

I actually watched a movie with the commentary track on.  For the first time ever.

Aren’t you proud of me?  I sat for 2 1/2 hours and listened to Tom Hooper talk all over “Les Misérables.”  He had some fascinating insights into the film, and I learned a lot from it.  But I didn’t really get to watch the movie, per se.  Is that how they all are, or is Hooper just incredibly long-winded?

By the way, a big ol’ whoppin’ defense of the film’s close-ups is coming your way soon.  Get ready, blogosphere.





Random Factoid #567

27 05 2011

Back in Random Factoid #332, I wrote for the first time about using Netflix.  It’s funny to read in retrospect because over the last year, it has become such an integral part of my moviewatching habits.  Check this out:

“My dad recently got an iPad for his birthday, and he managed to get a free trial of Netflix through the iPad app.  He told me about the offer, so I started fidgeting around and discovered a whole heaping lot of movies available to stream straight to the iPad.  So I watched ‘Memento’ for the first time, and I loved it.  Not just the movie, but the fact that I was streaming it!

Then I started scrolling through the other movies available to stream – and it had me at ‘The Pianist.’  I haven’t had time to watch it, but I certainly hope the free trial doesn’t expire any time soon!  I’m dying to watch that and “Letters from Iwo Jima,” one of the two Best Picture nominees from the last decade I still haven’t seen.

And then, while still experimenting with the technology, I wound up ordering the discs of ‘Road to Perdition’ and ‘Hustle and Flow.’  Now, they are sitting on my desk.  What my dad wants to do with them is up to him – the trial expires in a few days.  Soon enough, they’ll start charging.”

Oh, the days when streaming was new and novel!  It’s still exciting now, and I still have over 60 movies on my queue – most of which I intend to watch … eventually.  Meanwhile, that other services Netflix offers, DVDs by mail … um, yeah.  I’ve used it some.

Ok, that’s a lie.  Today I finally made myself return “Traffic” and “Mulholland Dr.” because I didn’t have the motivation to watch them because they didn’t have to be returned to the library in 14 days or watched in the next 30 days on iTunes.  So guess how long those two movies sat on my desk in their crinkled paper sleeves?

Six months.  For a half a year, those two movies sat there unwatched.  So clearly, I should stop using the DVD by mail portion of the family’s Netflix subscription unless I really want to see what I’m getting.  We also made the decision to cut down on our monthly bill by moving from two to one DVDs out at a time.





Random Factoid #566

26 05 2011

With “The Hangover Part II” now in theaters, I thought it would be as good a time as ever to revisit some slightly old news from the series’ director, Todd Phillips.  In an interview with Elvis Mitchell of Movieline, he had this to say about the unrated edition of the original film:

“Warner Bros., they’ll make your movie; your movie does well, and they want to create an unrated version, which is entirely against DGA rules because it’s not your cut. And they can’t call it the ‘Director’s Cut’ — they’ll call it ‘Unrated’ or some ridiculous term. Really all it is, is about seven minutes of footage that you cut out of the movie for a reason.”

I certainly loved hearing someone in the biz back up my opinions as stated in Random Factoid #11:

“I hate watching unrated cuts of movies.  I always want to see the theatrical cut because after seeing ‘Bruno,’ I found out that anything can get an R-rating.  The director could include practically whatever he wanted, but there is a reason that he did not include it in the version that the masses go see.  So I figure that the rated version, while tamer, is probably what the director wanted you to see.”

And when I watched the unrated cut of “Date Night” last August, as reported in Random Factoid #386, I felt much of what Phillips described:

“I have a feeling that the word ‘3D’ is headed the way of the word ‘unrated.’  About a decade ago, ‘unrated’ was something fairly unique.  Now it has become a marketing gimmick to make a little extra profit off some unsuspecting consumers.  See the correlation?

Why did I decided to give this extended edition, basically a tamer way of saying unrated, a whirl?  The theatrical cut of ‘Date Night’ was so short that I wanted to see more.  And more I got.  Not sure if it was worth the 13 minutes of my sleep, but I still enjoyed some of the extra bits.”

His cameo in "The Hangover."

There’s a rhyme and reason for what directors do.  Pacing and timing is incredibly important, lessons I’ve learned from acting on stage, watching the play I wrote get directed, and from seeing plenty of movies where the two concepts are handled terribly wrong.  Especially in comedy, where timing is everything, the director has to establish the rhythm of the movie.

The material for unrated cuts belong in deleted scenes; if this were so, the viewer could still appreciate the humor without disrupting the structure of the film itself.  As much as a director may like something, it sometimes doesn’t work in the grand scheme of things.  I had to learn this lesson in the production of my play as several of my favorite dialogue snippets got axed.  But you do it because you care about how the work functions as a whole, not in one special moment, and Phillips seems to care about preserving the integrity of the whole.  Warner Bros. should respect the wishes of someone in the business who actually has such interests in mind.