Christopher Nolan Directs New Movie!
Just got back from an early morning dog-walk and as we're going down Stanley Street, there's three neer'-do-well types sitting on the porch of one of those trash houses on the corner of Stanley and Horn, laughing loudly and drinking out of coffee mugs.
As we pass, one of them, a particularly scruffy-looking sort, calls out to me - "Hey, you wanna buy a TV? Only seven bucks."
Kinda of an odd fixed-price, I thought. He obviously needed only $7 to top up the total of whatever he wanted to purchase in the near future of the next hour or so. It was only 7:00, so the liquor store wouldn't even be open for another three hours. The methadone clinic across from Beal High School wouldn't be open till 9 o'clock. Then I remember reading in the paper last year about how the price of cigarettes had gone up to $7.
Well, I certainly would have been willing to take the fellow down the street to Tim Hortons and let him order anything he wanted for under $6.99 - but I draw the line at supporting his addictions. Because I know darn well, just what that "only seven bucks" would have been spent on.
Besides, I have all the TV sets I need. Me and my pal, Moses Znaimer collect them.
So's instead, I said, as politely as possibly, "Thank you, no. I don't watch television. I have a library card."
Much guffawing ensued.
But it's true. I've had my own library card for years. I highly recommend them. For one thing, they're free.
As a matter of fact, I used it just last week when I took out a novel called 'The Prestige,' by this English guy, Christopher Priest.
The reason I wanted to borrow this particular volume was because I had seen the movie it was based on just a few days earlier, the ending of which had ever since been preying on my mind and much perplexing me.
It was a movie of the same title and one of those direct-to-video things which by-pass the motion-picture theatres on their release. Which surprises me - because I had seen a previous movie by the director, one Christopher Nolan, some time before and had been very impressed by his use of flashbacks, plot twists, multiple surprise endings and the way in which Nolan constructed this multi-layered story so that it peeled away like layer after layer of an onion.
That movie was called 'Memento,' and it was all about this gangster guy, 'Keyser Soze,' with a hidden identity that none of the other characters in the movie know about. I won't tell you the end, but it blew my mind and had me thinking about it for days afterwards. It starred Kevin Spacey and Gabe Byrne, two *real* actors and so I couldn't understand why 'Prestige,' had to go the direct-to-DVD route.
Because 'The Prestige,' too, had a good strong cast. Christopher Bale, from that cowboy movie that came out last summer. And from Australia, a new young talent named Heath Ledger. You can't get much better than that when it comes to new talent in Hollywood.
Anyway, it's about these two feuding magic guys at the turn of the century, right around the time of Houdini. They're always playing mean practical jokes on each other and are all like "Oh yeah? Well I'm a better magician than you." And the other guy is like, "No way, I'm better than you." And the first guy is saying, "Yeah, right. You can't even pull a rabbit out of your hat." And the other guy then says, "Oh yeah, how'd you like to see me make YOU disappear?!"
And then he does just that.
**** SPOILER ALERT ****
... And then does it to himself.
Like I say, the ending bothered me for days. It was quite a good movie, all about alter-egos, doublegangers and secret identities.
And that's when it hit me - wouldn't it be cool if Nolan (who also co-wrote the screenplay,) could team up with the same actors and do a new movie, but with the same themes?!
It just so happens, I have the perfect idea for such a project.
Heath Ledger has already established that he's a good sport when it comes to being in superhero movies. So far, of all the 'X-Men' movies, he played the definitive 'Wolverine.' He's no stranger to when it comes to playing a guy in tights.
So, I'm thinking - with Heath's wholesome good looks - complete with square jaw, tousled blue hair and proven ability at playing someone with a secret identity, why doesn't Nolan put him in a new version of 'Superman'? It couldn't be any worse than that last big-screen version starring Brenden Fraser.
And to make it all the better, get Christopher Bale to play Heath's doubleganger, 'Bizarro Clark Kent.' Top it all off with casting Verne Troyer as the villain, that mischievous 'Mr. Mxyzptlk,' and we're right in business.
Now THAT'S the kind of movie I'd PAY to go and see. This thing has "Blockbuster" written all over it. And I'm not talking about the Video store. If not, at least the art-house crowd would eat it up - especially when it came to Supe's finally tricking Mr. M into saying his name backwards. It would be one of those rare superhero movies that make you think and appreciate good dialogue.
Anyway, it sounds like a good movie to me. I'd go see it. But what do I no?
I'm just a guy with a libary card - and no seven-dollar televisons.
... Getting back to that fellow I was accosted by on my dog-walk this morning, upon learning of my library card, after he stopped laughing, his riposte was to bray like a braggart - "Ya, well I don't know HOW to read. But I do know how to SPELL. And I know there's a HOLE in ASS!!! And that's 'U,' Buddy!"
Well, I guess he told ME!
And that's how I started my day. It can only get better from here.
As we pass, one of them, a particularly scruffy-looking sort, calls out to me - "Hey, you wanna buy a TV? Only seven bucks."
Kinda of an odd fixed-price, I thought. He obviously needed only $7 to top up the total of whatever he wanted to purchase in the near future of the next hour or so. It was only 7:00, so the liquor store wouldn't even be open for another three hours. The methadone clinic across from Beal High School wouldn't be open till 9 o'clock. Then I remember reading in the paper last year about how the price of cigarettes had gone up to $7.
Well, I certainly would have been willing to take the fellow down the street to Tim Hortons and let him order anything he wanted for under $6.99 - but I draw the line at supporting his addictions. Because I know darn well, just what that "only seven bucks" would have been spent on.
Besides, I have all the TV sets I need. Me and my pal, Moses Znaimer collect them.
So's instead, I said, as politely as possibly, "Thank you, no. I don't watch television. I have a library card."
Much guffawing ensued.
But it's true. I've had my own library card for years. I highly recommend them. For one thing, they're free.
As a matter of fact, I used it just last week when I took out a novel called 'The Prestige,' by this English guy, Christopher Priest.
The reason I wanted to borrow this particular volume was because I had seen the movie it was based on just a few days earlier, the ending of which had ever since been preying on my mind and much perplexing me.
It was a movie of the same title and one of those direct-to-video things which by-pass the motion-picture theatres on their release. Which surprises me - because I had seen a previous movie by the director, one Christopher Nolan, some time before and had been very impressed by his use of flashbacks, plot twists, multiple surprise endings and the way in which Nolan constructed this multi-layered story so that it peeled away like layer after layer of an onion.
That movie was called 'Memento,' and it was all about this gangster guy, 'Keyser Soze,' with a hidden identity that none of the other characters in the movie know about. I won't tell you the end, but it blew my mind and had me thinking about it for days afterwards. It starred Kevin Spacey and Gabe Byrne, two *real* actors and so I couldn't understand why 'Prestige,' had to go the direct-to-DVD route.
Because 'The Prestige,' too, had a good strong cast. Christopher Bale, from that cowboy movie that came out last summer. And from Australia, a new young talent named Heath Ledger. You can't get much better than that when it comes to new talent in Hollywood.
Anyway, it's about these two feuding magic guys at the turn of the century, right around the time of Houdini. They're always playing mean practical jokes on each other and are all like "Oh yeah? Well I'm a better magician than you." And the other guy is like, "No way, I'm better than you." And the first guy is saying, "Yeah, right. You can't even pull a rabbit out of your hat." And the other guy then says, "Oh yeah, how'd you like to see me make YOU disappear?!"
And then he does just that.
**** SPOILER ALERT ****
... And then does it to himself.
Like I say, the ending bothered me for days. It was quite a good movie, all about alter-egos, doublegangers and secret identities.
And that's when it hit me - wouldn't it be cool if Nolan (who also co-wrote the screenplay,) could team up with the same actors and do a new movie, but with the same themes?!
It just so happens, I have the perfect idea for such a project.
Heath Ledger has already established that he's a good sport when it comes to being in superhero movies. So far, of all the 'X-Men' movies, he played the definitive 'Wolverine.' He's no stranger to when it comes to playing a guy in tights.
So, I'm thinking - with Heath's wholesome good looks - complete with square jaw, tousled blue hair and proven ability at playing someone with a secret identity, why doesn't Nolan put him in a new version of 'Superman'? It couldn't be any worse than that last big-screen version starring Brenden Fraser.
And to make it all the better, get Christopher Bale to play Heath's doubleganger, 'Bizarro Clark Kent.' Top it all off with casting Verne Troyer as the villain, that mischievous 'Mr. Mxyzptlk,' and we're right in business.
Now THAT'S the kind of movie I'd PAY to go and see. This thing has "Blockbuster" written all over it. And I'm not talking about the Video store. If not, at least the art-house crowd would eat it up - especially when it came to Supe's finally tricking Mr. M into saying his name backwards. It would be one of those rare superhero movies that make you think and appreciate good dialogue.
Anyway, it sounds like a good movie to me. I'd go see it. But what do I no?
I'm just a guy with a libary card - and no seven-dollar televisons.
... Getting back to that fellow I was accosted by on my dog-walk this morning, upon learning of my library card, after he stopped laughing, his riposte was to bray like a braggart - "Ya, well I don't know HOW to read. But I do know how to SPELL. And I know there's a HOLE in ASS!!! And that's 'U,' Buddy!"
Well, I guess he told ME!
And that's how I started my day. It can only get better from here.
posted by Sonny Drysdale at 4:42 AM
4 Comments:
I liked The Prestige, it had that English actor that used to play James Bond in it, and he's always cool.
You're right, Rev.
Michael Caine has always been my fave Bond too.
My favourite James Bond was swashbuckling Ted Wernham.
When Ted rode around town in Big Jim Donnelly's Dodge Viper (a convertible), Ted was the epitome of cool.
Once I even saw him doing pinwheels in a downtown parking lot to blow-dry his red hair.
Ted was chairperson of the Environment & Transportation Committee at city hall at the time, so having the use of Aboutown president Jim Donnelly's $135,000 muscle car when Ted was bankrupt, shows you how helpful friends can be.
Every time that Ted's ETC dealt with taxi, limousine and paratransit issues, the public interest was always well served.
Bond ... James Bond.
And thanks to Ted, all London taxis are equipped with ejecto passenger seats, machine-gun headlights and oil-spraying exhausts.
Not as cool as a Bondmobile taxi that can become invisible but maybe Ted will run again.
Post a Comment
<< Home