February 3, 2003

It was a dispiriting weekend…

The shuttle disaster was more important than any movie disaster.  But movie disasters there were.  Now, I would have to be blind not to see all the problems in one movie I saw this weekend.  But I’m not daring enough to break the embargo on the picture, because it would create a devil of a time with the studio.

And, by the way, I went to the Daredevil junket this weekend.  Colin Farrell stole the show with his honesty, charm and good looks.  Michael Clarke Duncan continues to be a good guy with a sense of himself that is never as exaggerated as his shape.   Jennifer Garner seems a bit more like an overly enthusiastic cheerleader than you might expect, but she was perfectly lovely.  Even director Mark Stephen Johnson, perpetuating his second consecutive petty crime against cinema, seemed like a good, kind, and modest man.

I’ll go on record now as believing that Daredevil will open around $29 million and will total out at less than $90 million domestically.  So, it will not be a disaster.  Nor will it be cause for celebration.  And forget about the sequel that one on-line journalist seemed endlessly obsessed with discussing. 

But the shocker of the day was Ben Affleck’s press conference.  You know, the one he couldn’t bother to make on time… the one that stood in place of two hours spent at four roundtables… because Ben has not fallen into the trap of believing his own hype.  He doesn’t want all this press.  He didn’t want to be the Sexiest Man Alive in People Magazine.  He just doesn’t get it.  Hey, that appearance in the J-Lo video was their way of satirizing the press hype, not creating more!

You know, I’m sure that among the people he trusts and loves, he continues to be Good Old Ben.  But for Daredevil, a movie that needs every ounce of help it can get, that he is headlining, that he got paid a lot to make… something just rubbed me the wrong way about the Ben Affleck “I’m just a regular guy who got lucky” press conference. 

We work in an industry of massive self-delusion.  The simple truth is, there were a lot more journalists covering this junket who were anxious to get Jennifer Garner on tape than Ben Affleck.  Journalists walked away believing that Colin Farrell is a rising star.  And while Garner was talking about her ideal day, biking to the Farmer’s Market and cooking dinner for her husband, and Farrell was taking all the obnoxious Britney Spears questions, Ben was doing his “aw shucks” act in a press conference. 

This is your wake up call, Ben.  Either refuse the J-Lo questions or be a man and do the roundtables.  Don’t skip the roundtables and then tell us you aren’t going to avoid obnoxious personal questions.  Don’t expect us to think of you as a humble if you are going to act like a star so big that you don’t need to be bothered.

P.S.: Don’t even get me started on the big, wet kiss for Daredevil from Drew “Moriarty” McWeeney.  I respect Drew.  But he’s been defending this film from the day that Mark Steven Johnson got hired for the project.  Perhaps that gave him vision to see in the film what the rest of we blind men cannot.

ANOTHER LOSS:  It was announced over the weekend that Jersey Films has come to an end.  Very, very sad.  Pulp Fiction, Out of Sight, Erin Brockovich, Get Shorty, Ghost World and Living Out Loud are just a handful of the projects that Jersey has pushed through the system in its decade of business.  Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher. 

There seems little doubt that there is more to this story that will become evident over time.  Could be Sher or Shamberg heading for a major studio post.  Could be Barry Diller tightening the belt at Universal and the trio not wanting to move on to another studio.  Could be one of a million things.

Jersey Films was a company whose failures are often more interesting than other’s hits.  Hoffa, Matilda, Man on the Moon and others fit this category, at least financially.  Just this year, they had a legitimately independent film at Sundance and will release a John Hamburg comedy through Universal.  That is Jersey Films to me.  It will be missed.

READER OF THE DAY:  LESS THAN 666 writes:  “Yeah, you happened. I didn't listen to Michael Medved's radio show today, but read about it on the Internet. I think the lesson is that critics bring all kinds of baggage to their opinions, just as we all do. Apparently Michael Medved and Jeffrey Wells aren't comfortable with gay-themed films not only receiving critical accolades this year, but also (and presumably at this point) finding popularity with members of the Academy. Fine. But to suggest that these films are promoting a "gay agenda" is absolutely ridiculous. Yes, The Hours and Far From Heaven were made by gay filmmakers and, yes, they deal with gay subject matter, but what, exactly, is "the agenda"? Is either film promoting homosexuality as a lifestyle? I don't think so. The reason both films have succeeded is that they transcend the particulars of their stories. The Hours is a story about three women who are lonely in their lives and trying to figure out why. Far From Heaven is about the race/class/gen

I used to enjoy Jeffrey Wells, but I'm beginning to wonder. A couple of chick flicks take the lead in the Oscar race and all he does is whine. As for Michael Medved, the less said the better.”

THE OTHER SUNDANCE BOB wrote:  “A hidden gem at Park City was the winning grand jury short film at NoDance called "Shadowboxer".   This near half hour is a knockout of a dramatic piece showing how a tough latina girl in New York got to be in her jail cell, as you see why she and her mother have a very difficult relationship.    The girl is played by Melissa Martinez, from Jim McKay's "Our Song", and the filmmaker Vilka Tzouras (who got mistaken for Salma Hayek, when the latter was at the NoDance closing ceremonies) has crafted quite the powerful short film.    There is absolutely no reason why it shouldn't have been at a Sundance Shorts program down the street.”

E ME:  Any positive news expected this week?