The Screengrab : jackass

Morning Deal Report: Sofia Coppola Goes “Somewhere”

Scott Von Doviak — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:00:00 GMT

Sofia Coppola’s latest directorial effort Somewhere has secured the participation of a jackass. Chris Pontius of the Jackass crew “will play Sammy, best friend of the character played by Stephen Dorff, a decadent, bad-boy actor living at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood who begins to re-examine his life after a surprise visit from his 11-year-old daughter (Elle Fanning),” per The Hollywood Reporter.

That Dreamworks dream may be deferred. Yesterday we told you the studio had the blessing of the King family to proceed with their MLK biopic. Two of King’s children disagree. “Bernice King and Martin Luther King III have been embroiled in a legal battle with brother Dexter King, who is chairman-CEO of the King Estate, over who controls the personal papers of their late mother, Coretta Scott King,” Variety reports. “Bernice King told the Associated Press on Tuesday: ‘This is a deal that Mr. Spielberg and his people ... have entered into believing that they have the blessing of the King Estate. They don't have the blessings of Bernice and Martin King.’”

And we can all breathe a sigh of relief: the new Footloose has found its Bacon. You’ll recall that Zac Efron dropped out of the project, which had us all worried there for a while, but now Chace Crawford has stepped into his dancing shoes. “With a more mature, edgy version of Footloose than the original, Paramount will likely benefit from the fact that Crawford's Gossip Girl following skews a bit older than Efron's High School Musical audience.”

Trailer Review: Humpday

Paul Clark — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:00:00 GMT

Up to this point, I could sort of take or leave the indie-film movement that’s become known as “mumblecore.” While I respect the scruffy lo-fi aesthetic of these films, I’ve never quite bought into the “voices of a generation” hype that’s followed such adherents as Andrew Bujalski and the Duplass Brothers. However, ever since I first heard about Lynn Shelton’s Humpday in reports from Sundance this year, I’ve been pretty eagerly anticipating the film. Part of the reason is the premise itself- two straight friends co-starring in an amateur gay porn more or less on a dare. For one thing, I like the twist this premise brings to the usual comedy-of-homoeroticism formula, perhaps because I don’t find it funny when characters are oblivious to the “gayness” of their actions, but hilarious when they acknowledge the homoeroticism, and their feelings about same (the jackass movies have much the same approach, albeit without so much tentativeness). Add to this the fact that the Joshua Leonard character bears an almost uncanny resemblance to an old college friend- the kind of friend who would have been totally down for a stunt like this- and this looks to be right up my alley.

Vanishing Act: Harmony Korine

Scott Von Doviak — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Attention Diablo Cody: you are not the first oddly monikered young screenwriter whose first script became an indie sensation. Way back in the 20th century, there was a fella name o’ Harmony Korine, no more than a teenager when his screenplay Kids became photographer Larry Clark’s 1995 directorial debut. An instant controversy, the documentary-style look at the sexually-charged, drug-fueled life of a group of New York teens was slapped with an NC-17 rating that prevented its distribution by Miramax (then as now owned by Disney). The Weinstein brothers released Kids on their own to a mixed reception; some critics swooned, others proclaimed it exploitative sleaze.

Still, Korine made enough of a name for himself to secure his own directorial debut two years later with Gummo. A fragmented, impressionistic ode to white trash, the film was if anything even more divisive than Kids. Janet Maslin of the New York Times opened her review with the line “October is early, but not too early to acknowledge Harmony Korine's Gummo as the worst film of the year.” But while sophisticated metropolitan tastemakers were busy pointing out how condescending and hateful Korine was toward his “nonprofessional actors, often freakish individuals” (jeez, no condescension there, Janet!), Gummo was well on its way to becoming the cult favorite of the trailer park. And why not? Among other things, it featured the greatest battle of man versus chair ever captured on film:

Korine followed Gummo with his Dogme 95 entry, Julien Donkey-Boy (1999), an uneven tale of a schizophrenic that garnered the now-predictable mixed reception ( I offered qualified praise: “Shot on digital video, with blown-out colors and punishing graininess, Julien Donkey-Boy has the look and feel of something unearthed in an archeological dig - a primitive piece of folk art.” Admittedly, I haven’t revisited it since.) That was nearly a decade ago, so where has Korine been?

For a while, there was talk of a disturbing movie in the Jackass vein, wherein Korine would antagonize random people on the street into fighting him and document the resulting damage done to him. In 2002, Clark directed Korine’s script for Ken Park, but that had been written years earlier. There were whispers of heroin addiction and, perhaps even more disturbing, a friendship with doofus magician David Blaine that resulted in the British television special Above the Below. But there were no new Harmony Korine movies...until now.

Mister Lonely, which will have its U.S. premiere at South by Southwest in March, is exactly what you’d expect: a Michael Jackson impersonator (Diego Luna) meets a Marilyn Monroe impersonator (Samantha Morton), who brings him to a commune full of faux celebrities and historical figures. Having shown at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, the film breaks no new ground as far as its critical reception: it’s as divisive as ever, sometimes within the same review. The UK Telegraph describes it as “by turns idiotic, over-extended, childish and half-baked.” Then, in the very next sentence: “But when it’s not those things, and sometimes even when it is, the results are brilliantly bold, moving and tenderly, rhapsodically beautiful.” Sounds like a Harmony Korine movie alright.

And Now, Movies With People in Bear Suits

Gwynne Watkins — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 15:00:00 GMT

This week, Ames, Iowa resident Daniel Stender posed the following question to Roger Ebert's "Answer Man" column:

I am a fine arts student at Iowa State University. Currently I'm painting a series depicting movie scenes with people in bear suits. So far I have painted a scene from The Shining and a scene from the The Science of Sleep. I am really proud of what I have created so far, but I've hit a creative road block; I can't think of any more movies with people dressed as bears.

Not to worry, Danny — The Screengrab has got your back!

Here are some off-the-cuff suggestions from our bloggers:

Paul: The Avengers. That scene, bad as it is, is sort of unforgettable.

John: Jackass and Encino Man, both of which involve panda bears. Given Jackass’ status as a serious documentary, I’m not sure it counts. However, Pauly Shore and Caveman-Brendan Frasier slapping around a guy in a panda costume in a theme park most certainly counts.

Matthew: The more recent version of The Wicker Man, as in:

For the record, Answer Man suggested Jean Renoir's Rules of the Game. I'm personally gonna go with Grizzly Man. Damn those bear suits looked real.

Morning Deal Report: This Is Not Like The Penis On The "Little Mermaid" Poster

Peter Smith — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 16:00:00 GMT

Look closely at that Indy IV poster. . . there's an alien face! Or maybe just a completely irrelevant abstract shape. In fact, even if Indy IV *is* about aliens (cringe) I'm going to go with the latter possibility.

Good news, everybody: more Jackass. Jackass 2.5 will compile the unused material from Jackass 2 -- you see, there was such a bounty, the cup overflowethed. The interesting thing is, the title will be released exclusively on the internet. Of course, we'll just have to wait and see if online content like this will turn a profit, right?

Pedro Almodovar's next film, Los abrazos rotos (now, forgive my high-school Spanish, but is that. . . Broken Hugs?) will be "shot in the style of '50s American film noir at its most hard-boiled."

— Peter Smith