The Screengrab : marilyn manson

Screengrab Review: "Religulous"

Leonard Pierce — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:55:00 GMT

One of the problems with being an atheist is putting up with the kind of people who carry the flag for you. Get annoyed at the likes of a Richard Dawkins, and there's a doofy polemicist like Sam Harris waiting in the wings. And hey, Camille Paglia and Marilyn Manson, don't do us any favors, okay? Back in the day, we had clever bastards like Gore Vidal to go on television and lay down careful traps for the likes of Jerry Falwell to step into; Gore would sit there, smiling his deadly little smile, while the defenders of various sky-gods would work themselves into a frenzy. It's good philosophy as well as good show business to make your target to all the work, while you just sit back and collect the laughs.

That's a lesson that could stand to be learned by Bill Maher, who, with Religulous, his new comic documentary about how religious people are a bunch of silly-heads, has done the unthinkable: he has made blasphemy boring. Maher, who, until he discovered the millions that could be made by playing to one side or the other in the never-ending culture wars, used to be little more than a hack comic with an unrequited love of bad puns and smirky asides. Those characteristics remain with him to this day (witness the title of the film, and his interminable playing to the camera as if he were an agnostic David Brent), but they'd be forgivable if he had an ounce of -- well, faith in the fact that his position is strong enough to let religious nuts hoist them by their own petards. Vidal (and Robert Ingersoll, and Clarence Darrow, and even David Cross) knew that religious people would say a lot of crazy bullshit if you just let them talk long enough; he knew better than to force the point. Maher has no such trust, and when the payoff doesn't seem to be coming fast enough for him, he kills the gag by adding subtitles explaining his real thoughts on the matter at hand, or by cutting to dopey stock footage which he then rolls into a tube and beats you over the head with it.

Maher may not know any better than this, but his director, Larry Charles, certainly does, and that's what makes the whole thing so unforgivable. Given such a wealth of material, all the two of them have to do is set 'em up and knock 'em down. But with the exception of a few scenes that can't help but work (hey, nobody can screw up a punchline as obvious as a gathering of gay Muslim fundamentalists), the whole thing is belabored, obvious, and telegraphed, and when Maher doesn't trust the nuttiness to come across without help from his screen crawls, he might as well be playing BOINGG! sound effects at us. As he might well have asked some of his Christian evangelist targets, if even you don't buy your premise, why should we?

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Morning Deal Report: MTV’s “Rocky Horror” Remake Heralds End of Civilization

Scott Von Doviak — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:00:00 GMT

Maybe “end of civilization” is overstating the case a tad, but surely no good can come of the news that MTV is producing a remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I’ve ever been part of the Rocky Horror cult. I went to one midnight show in Harvard Square more than 20 years ago, and that was enough for me. It was fun once, but I never felt the urge to return every week to chant “Lips!” and throw toilet paper. Still, I admire the fact that Rocky Horror developed its cult following the old fashioned way, as one of the last genuine “midnight movies.” It was comforting to know it was out there, even if I never intended to return. Now it’s just another item for the pop culture recycle bin, as Variety reports that Britain’s satellite channel Sky Movies will co-finance the remake. “Under the deal, the remake of the 1975 cult classic will premiere exclusively in the U.K. on Sky Movies before becoming available on VOD services Sky Player and Sky Anytime.” No cast has been named, although rumors have Marilyn Manson in the running for Dr. Frank N. Furter. Tim Curry wept.

Elsewhere in the recycle bin, we find sequels to both Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda in the works. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is imminent, but Dreamworks honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg doesn’t expect the franchise to end there. Katzenberg told the Hollywood Reporter that “there is at least one more chapter. We ultimately want to see the characters make it back to New York.” Don’t we all? As for Panda, nothing is official yet. “We've started conversations about it, and I think in the next 30 or 60 days, we'll be able to talk completely about that,” says Katzenberg. We’ll be waiting.

In gangster movie news, “Lucky” Luciano is getting a big screen biopic. Crash co-screenwriter Bobby Moresco has been tapped to pen the script, which will detail “Luciano's rise from Lower East Side street hood to architect of the organized crime syndicate,” according to Variety. Producer Joseph Isgro, once rumored to have ties to the Gambino family, claims “his project benefits by having rights and input from a true ‘guy behind the guy’ figure, a longtime Luciano confidante Isgro wouldn't name.” So much for omerta.

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Rose McGowan in Chains!

Scott Von Doviak — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:30:00 GMT

As a certified member of the film blogosphere living in Austin, Texas, I get a text alert every time Robert Rodriguez sneezes or Richard Linklater stubs his toe. It could be worse – if I wrote for the Austin Chronicle I’d be obliged to give those sneezes and toe-stubs four stars each. I am, however, required by law to pass on the following tidbits concerning Austin’s favorite sons.

Next week the Paramount Theater in connection with the Austin Film Society will present the world premiere of Linklater’s latest, the documentary Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach. It’s “an intimate look inside the world of University of Texas baseball coach Augie Garrido, the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history in any sport… The film profiles this remarkable coach's career and unique approach to teaching the game with unprecedented access to his team meetings, practices, and conversations with players during games.” Surely only the director of the Bad News Bears remake would attempt to interview players while they’re trying to complete a double-play. The premiere is June 3rd (details are here), but if you miss it, don’t fret; the doc was commissioned by ESPN and will no doubt air on the network sooner than later.

Now onto somewhat sexier news. It’s not every man who leaves his wife of 16 years for a woman who has seen Marilyn Manson naked, but when that woman is Rose McGowan, well, you can understand how that would mess with Robert Rodriguez’s mind. So confused was Rodriguez that he at first planned a remake of Barbarella starring his new love. But that’s on the back burner now, supplanted by Women in Chains!, the pilot for a proposed women-in-prison series. “McGowan is set play one of five chained women at the center of the show, which Rodriguez is expected to direct,” according to the Hollywood Reporter. Citing Ain’t It Cool News as its source, the Reporter notes that the “new show also is rumored to be fashioned with a 1970s exploitation sensibility, with such staples like mud wrestling.” We can’t think of anyone more qualified to keep such a grand tradition alive.

Let’s Get Weird with Werner Herzog and David Lynch

Scott Von Doviak — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Why do we get the feeling Werner Herzog arrived in Cannes early, hit the open bar and woke up in an alley 17 hours later with a splitting headache and a pocketful of deal memos scrawled on cocktail napkins? Apparently he’s a guy who just can’t say no, but whatever the case, he’s definitely been a busy bee. Yesterday we told you about his highly dubious plan to remake The Bad Lieutenant with Nicolas Cage. This morning brings news of yet another project, this one a collaboration with David Lynch.

The two offbeat auteurs are teaming up for My Son, My Son, “a horror-tinged murder drama based on a true story.” According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Herzog and his longtime assistant director Herbert Golder co-wrote Son, loosely based on the true story of a San Diego man who acts out a Sophocles play in his mind and kills his mother with a sword. The low-budget feature will flash back and forth from the murder scene to the disturbed man's story. A guerrilla-style digital video shoot on Coronado Island is tentatively set for March.”

Lynch will executive produce the project, but that’s not all he has on his plate. His Absurda label will also bring us the return of a director who could out-weird both Herzog and Lynch with one hand tied behind his back: El Topo maestro Alejandro Jodorowski. Asia Argento, Udo Kier and Nick Nolte will star in the “metaphysical gangster movie” King Shot. The Reporter notes that “Marilyn Manson is touted to appear as a prophet in the Sin City-style film, which producer Eric Bassett said has enough sex and violence to guarantee an NC-17 rating.”

Now it’s time for Werner to get some sleep, before we find out he’s agreed to do the next version of The Hulk or something.