Friday, January 26, 2007

Next. How Fitting is That Title?

So I've been studying up on what's heading our way in 2007 for future "most awaited" countdowns and I stumbled across this. Here's a production still from Next which stars Nicolas Cage and, um, someone else. It's about a man who can see briefly into the future and he's trying to escape the government. It's based on a Phillip K Dick story "The Golden Man" so it might be good. Dick stories have made films both spectacular and not



So, I don't wanna slam a movie I haven't seen from a director (Lee Tamahori) I'm not truthfully that familiar with but WHY is whatshername STILL signing up for mall pictures? Where are the heavy emotionally nuanced dramas she's so perfect for? I'm sorry but I don't buy her holding a gun and being badass. She's so beautiful and tiny --that translucent skin and that spindly Safe frame... they just don't say: action star. I dealt with it in Hannibal (2001) because back then --you know, benefit of the doubt. She deserved it. But why, now, still in 2007? And mostly I'm just sad because she's starring opposite Nicolas Cage...which means I gotta watch him again. I have successfully avoided 13 of his last 15 pictures and I believe that my life is the better for it (apart from the Scorsese outing Bringing out the Dead which I should have seen).

The preview blurbs for this action/sci-fi thing are a little confusing. The way they read it sounds like the woman in the photo above is not only Cage's pursuer that he's trying to escape but also his love interest and the future mother of his child (which he knows because he can see the future, get it?) but I'm willing to bet that the capsule descriptions are off since they sound so contradictory and that it's actually Jessica Biel who plays his love interest. Why do I think this? Two reasons but they're the same reason. The first: Both of the leads (pictured above) are in their 40s and Hollywood no like that. The second: Biel is only 24 which means she's young enough to be Cage's daughter and is therefore the perfect age to play the mother of his love child (sarcasm intended).

Your thoughts in the comments. Have any of you read "The Golden Man"?

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

You still hate Nicolas Cage because he (deservedly) won the Oscar over Sean Penn?
I think he is just an awesome actor who lost track oh his career, but his Wild at Heart, Bringing Out the Dead, Adaptation and Leaving Las vegas are just undeniable.

-cal roth

Anonymous said...

While the title of the film only induces horrible MTV dating show related flashbacks, I'm going to have to side with Cal in the defense of Nick Cage. He's a pretty talented actor, who we can only assume, straight up doesn't give a fuck. He's done some really terrrific stuff, but has no problem dumpster diving for films like Ghost Rider. That kind of indifference (or difference to money) has something of a charm to it. Or maybe that's just me.

The very fact that everyone's favorite sassy redhead is co-headlining makes me think this film might actually have a high level of watchability. While you're right, she does look a little silly with that gun, I think Children of Men proved that she can pull off the more hardened, action-y type character (although I realize that was a small sample size).

Anonymous said...

Uh-oh, avoiding calling Miss Moore by name are we? Could she officially be falling out of your favor (a la Zelly and Swank)?

True, she has laid a lot of rotten eggs -- 'The Forgotten,' 'Freedomland,' 'The Prizewinner of...oh, hell, everything since 'Far From Heaven' -- but maybe 'Next' is the last turd before she gets it together and gets back in top form.

Wonder how well she's faring in 'The Vertical Hour' on Broadway? Times like this I really wish that I lived in Manhattan!

Marco

NATHANIEL R said...

i think Penn should've won the Oscar in 1995 yes. though it's a close call: both gave remarkable performances. two of the best of the decade.

I just don't respect actors who make tons of garbage. I figure once you've made millions for NOT working -- As Cage has (that pay or play superman contract) -- you should really not be in so much garbage. i mean how much money does one really need? Once you have hundreds of millions is it really necessary to do things just for a paycheck?

Cage could've been a legend. Instead he's the guy who stars in lots of garbage and who was once kinda genius. basically he's of the John Travolta school. Coulda been classic. instead is just kind of an embarrassment

So I just worry for my Julie is all. I don't understand her career. I never minded it when Pfeiffer was in stupid crap like Up Close and Personal because she was always first and foremost a mainstream star. But Julie's bread and butter is the more esoteric challenging stuff and she's just wasting her last years of lead roles (once you're in your 50s --this year is a fluke with so many silver foxes --you're a supporting actor)

Anonymous said...

At no time in his career was John Travolta ever going to be a classic.

Anonymous said...

To give people like Cage and Moore the benefit of the doubt though, some people just don't like to be not working, and that could go for actors as well as anyone else. Another job comes up, they take it. It doesn't necessarily have to be a matter of making more and more money.

NATHANIEL R said...

oh i don't know. didn't people think John Travolta was going to be classic after the one-two punch of Grease and Saturday Night Fever?

right at the beginning mind...

Amy said...

I love you, Nat.

The only film I've ever liked Cage in was "Leaving Las Vegas". Have you seen "Matchstick Men"? It's actually pretty good. Well, okay, it kind of blows. But Lohman is really good in it.

Agustin said...

Matchstick men is a rip-off of Nine Queens (Nueve Reinas)

J.D. said...

I have to comment now after a passing mention of Nausicaa.

Wait, Paycheck was based on a Dick story? Makes sense, and it proves that in the hands of different people, one great writer can range from mind-boggling brilliant to suckish and pointless.

A Scanner Darkly was quite good. Not excellent, it still freaks me out.

Why does James Franco try? Annapolis, Tristan & Isolde, Flyboys? Good thing 3 is comming out soon to counteract the sh*t.

Nausicaa forever.

Beau said...

Bringing out the Dead was a trip.
But a glorious, mind-boggling, extremely well crafted trip that I dug whole-heartedly.
Cage just needs to do better shit. WTC was schmaltzy to no end, and you just need to check out YouTube's recap of The Wicker Man to get that that film sucked.
Guy just needs to get his hands on good material, and stop doing shit like "Ghost Rider".

Beau said...

And Lohman is the shit.
Stole the scene from everyone in Oleander,
including La Pheiffer, IMO.
(even though she rocked the house and was robbed of an Oscar nom herself.)

And Moore, despite the crap she's put herself in, seems like she's coming up on a resurgence of sorts. What with her brief but memorable turn in Children of Men, and her reunion with TODD F***ING HAYNES!!! in "I'm Not There" (and 'Savage Grace' looks to be right up her alley), Moore may have her Oscar yet. And reclaim that glory so rightly due her.

Anonymous said...

You really SHOULD see BRINGING OUT THE DEAD. In his last four films, it's the best Scorsese has made. A film with a real heart as well as a brilliant stylist in control.

Anonymous said...

How can someone not like Nic Cage? Are his choice of roles to risque for you?

NATHANIEL R said...

risque. WHA...?

Glenn Dunks said...

Not risque enough, I would presume.

Matchstick Men was great fun.

adam k. said...

Why does Juli keep making mall movies? She has a family to feed, that's why. She cares more about her family than her career - she's said so herself - and she's clearly the breadwinner therein.

I actually give her a lot of credit for not giving up on Savage Grace. She looks to be having a good year now coming off of Children of Men onto the sure-to-be-at-least-pretty-good I'm Not There and Savage Grace... plus a possible box office success in Next.

Basically, I have no problem with Juli making mall movies; the problem is that they're just never even good mall movies, and they make no serious money. So what's the point? Though I guess she still gets her $2 mil or whatever and goes home happy.

Whatever. Juli has fallen down a tier with me. Meryl and Kate now stoke my fire.

NATHANIEL R said...

there's feeding a family and then there's making lots of bad movies you aren't suited for. i mean fer crying out loud. it doesn't cost millions and millions to feed a family -she's made a lot of these movies now and she has major corporate ad contracts. etc... she's rich. go back to the art for a few years. that's all i'm asking.

anyway. i'm just bitching... feel free to ignore me

adam k. said...

Don't get me wrong, I basically agree with you. But once you get used to a certain lifestyle, it's probably hard to go back to "the art." With the lifestyle of a celebrity who's constantly award-show-hopping and whatnot - even if you aren't a tabloid whore - I don't think the money goes as far as it seems.

One of the things they taught us in film acting is that it's really hard to get legitimately rich as a movie star - between taxes and your super-nice NY loft apartment, and then especially with kids who you have to not only feed but also clothe and house and send to college and send to the doctor and buy nice things for, money just doesn't go that far. And then there's her "what does he actually do with himself all the time?" mediocre director husband, who I'm sure is a great guy but doesn't exactly help her out with the dough. I mean, yes, she's obviously very wealthy, but she doesn't have this infinite supply of money. I'm pretty sure that if she just made Far From Heavens all the time, she'd feel the burn.

Also, she seems to have this weird creative need/desire to be an action star. Whatever floats her boat. Her problem is that, unlike most major stars, she's totally unsuited for anything outside of the arthouse. It must get frustrating.

But anyway, I'm looking forward to Savage Grace.

Beau said...

exactly.
after receiving all the acclaim she got for 'far from heaven' and 'the hours', hollywood got hold of her and never gave her back.
she got used to that certain kind of lifestyle and, to quote p.clarkson from 'the dying gaul', things she thought once were luxuries became essentials, perhaps. regardless, i still hold a torch for her. girlfriend isn't out of it yet.

Anonymous said...

Funny how Hollywood liberals (among them, I bet, is Juli) talk about deploring corporate greed, the growing disparity between rich and poor, and limiting waste and excess, but then don't seem to even make the connection that their lavish lifestyles and seeming aversion to moderation totally eliminate any credibility they might have on the subject whatsoever.

I don't begrudge them their success but good lord, don't pretend to be of the people or be a champion of the average folks (of which I am one) who annualy make a small fraction of what movie stars make per day, and yet still consider ourselves very fortunate and extraordinarily blessed compared to the rest of the world.

Nat's right, Juli doesn't need millions and millions of dollars to put food on the table, but like many of her peers suggests an inability to keep it real vis-a-vis the rest of us who work hard and do our best to sacrifice and make ends meet just fine, thank you very much. What a bunch of deluded hypocrits -- that's all.

NATHANIEL R said...

well i probably shouldn't have made it personal. Who knows what she does with her money --not my business even remotely. I just miss her as an "artist" as opposed to a celebrity. Honestly I wouldn't even care if she would just do what she used to do.

One for the malls
One for her art
One for the malls.
One for her art and so on and so on... it's a pretty good system, that. Good for the bank account. Good for the legacy.
Now it's just all for the malls --- hopefully Savage Grace will turn this around...

but anonymous: wealth and fame shouldn't lose you credibility when you speak against social injustice and economic problems. it's a blessing --it gives you a platform to speak out. Beter to speak out for justice, no matter how unrealistic/lucky your life is in the economic department.

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