Category: Pop
Spidermen interview via VMAN.com
Over at vman.com: Tobey Maguire interviews Andrew Garfield about being Spidermen!
Sample text:
TM That’s very cool. A lot of what you’ve been talking about, the connectivity between you and the story and the fans, it seems like you have a great respect for the character.
AG Very much so. Peter Parker is such a positive character—he’s pure wish fulfillment, an underdog. I grew so much from him when I was a kid, from the comics all the way up to the first movie you were in. I was 19 when I saw [Spider-Man]. I got a pirated dvd at portobello Market with my friend terry Mcguiness, and we went back to my skanky apartment in North London and we watched it twice in a row and then practiced your final line in the mirror!
TM [Laughs]
AG Terry has this thick accent and every time I would recite that line he would laugh this very distinct laugh and say, “No, man, you could never be fucking Spider-Man. You’ll never be fucking Spider-Man!” I was so humiliated and upset. But, um…fuck you, Terry!
Amazing, right? The whole thing is very congratulatory and borderline obsequious, and of course you will learn that being Spiderman is very IMPORTANT, but it’s still worth a read. Go have a look.
The Great Gatsby trailer is out… at least we can all agree that the soundtrack is rad?
Bazz Luhrmann’s version of The Great Gatsby has been popping in and out of entertainment news headlines since he started casting, with rumours circulating that Ben Affleck would be playing Tom Buchanan (how great would that be!) and Blake Lively would be playing Daisy (how terrible would that be!). After settling on Leonardo DiCapprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton as the leads, we found out the whole thing would be shot in 3D, prompting a collective “WhaaaaaaaaaaaaTTTT?!?!” on Twitter and in college English classes.
The film is now in the can and set for a December release, but we have been given the first of many trailers that I’m sure will continue to generate firm opinions.
The movie looks sleek, visually rich, and certainly Luhrmann-esque… but part of me thinks Lurhmann should only be allowed to operate on a small budget to rein in his lasciviousness. Strictly Ballroom and Romeo + Juliet remain his best films, demonstrating Luhrmann’s knack for creating a unique visual style to frame genuine and powerful human moments. Unfortunately this trailer feels more like The Great Gatsby channeling Moulin Rouge. The aggressively ostentatious opulence of the aesthetics seems at odds with F. Scott Fitzgerald’s quietly complex characters. But I will try to reserve judgement until I actually see the finished film!
Meanwhile, I think we can all agree that the soundtrack to the trailer is completely great. Have a listen, on repeat:
Jay Z and Kanye West f. Frank Ocean – No Church in the Wild
Jack White (cover of U2) – Love is Blindness
Matt LeBlanc on “Matt LeBlanc”
For those of you who don’t watch Hollywood awards shows every year, you may have missed that Matt LeBlanc now has “, Golden Globe Winner” after his name.
LeBlanc has a brilliant, oddly career redefining role in Showtime’s Episodes, playing none other than… himself.
This is no Joey reincarnate; the show is surprisingly deft at skewering Hollywood nonsensery and narcissism, and above all takes aim at the impossibly ridiculous machinations of American Network broadcasting corporations and the process of bringing a show from pilot to air. Under the helm of Friends exec producer David Crane, you really get the sense that the writers and creators of the show are knowledgeably speaking from horrific-yet-comedically-rich experience.
The show is definitely worth watching, or you could just go ahead and read this spoilery interview in The Guardian here, where LeBlanc discusses the similarities and differences between him and his “character.”
The triumphant return of politics to scripted TV
North America has been suffering from a serious drought in politically focused television programming for the past 7 or 8 years. Not since the heady days of The West Wing and Spin City have audiences been presented with two fantastic comedies/dramedies with a political bent. (Why didn’t those successful shows spawn an era of copy cats? There were no Grey’s Anatomies to their ER if you know what I mean. But perhaps for this we should be grateful.) Armando Iannucci’s Veep and Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom are happily bringing politics back to scripted television. Well, HBO. Close enough.
