Poor Bruno Ganz has left the planet at age 77. Launched by Wim Wenders as the king of European ennui and weltschmerz in The American Friend, and then re-fortified ten years later as a mortality-envying angel in Wings of Desire. 14 years ago Ganz scored big-time as Adolf Hitler in Oliver Hirschbiegel‘s Downfall, and then … Read more
Last night I attended a Green Book screening + after-party on Mt. Olympus Drive. Director-cowriter Peter Farrelly was there; ditto costars Linda Cardellini and Joe Cortese. A pleasant time was had by all. I was talking to Film Threat‘s Chris Gore about the prevailing climate of woke political terror, which we both despise, and about … Read more
Last night I asked HE’s own Mark Frenden to assemble new HE:(plus) banner art. I said I wanted to use a sliver of a revised American Friend poster that Frenden created three or four years ago, in which I substituted for Dennis Hopper. I think it came out pretty well. Still a fair amount of … Read more
Yesterday Sasha Stone rode to the rescue and singlehandledly saved the Hollywood Elsewhere redesign, which wasn’t on a good footing earlier this week. She threw together some Armory-based roughs in two or three hours, and right away I knew she was on the right track. I’m feeling enormous relief that a friend whose taste I … Read more
I’m visiting the Wilton-Fairfield-Georgetown area this weekend, mainly to attend a tribute party/concert for the recently departed guitarist Tommy Schulz. Born into wealth, Tommy grew up on a sprawling horse farm in Wilton. Distant father, badgering control-freak mom. He lived for decades on a modest inheritance, and of course had been influenced by the usual … Read more
Last night I asked HE Photoshop guy Mark Frenden to attempt a paste job over Dennis Hopper and/or Bruno Ganz‘s face on an original American Friend poster from Germany. I’ve long felt an affinity for the noirish, neon-lit mood and ambiance in this poster. “That’s me,” I told myself when I first saw it. “That’s … Read more
Mountain High Eight or nine movies with gay-themes and prominent gay characters will be playing between now and early December. But only three have serious weight, and only one is unequivocally front-and-center about two guys in love with each other — Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain (Focus Features, 12.9). The other two — Bennett Miller’s Capote … Read more
Hacked Again For the second time during the Xmas holiday, Hollywood Elsewhere has been hacked. But it’ll all be back to normal within hours, maybe only two or three. For the record, this is being written at 3:06 pm Pacific, on Tuesday, 12.28.04. The most recent Hollywood Elsewhere column (the one that went up on … Read more
Obsessions It’s said to be a problem when gifted filmmakers (and only the gifted fall prey to this) get caught up in the jib-jab of their brushstrokes and lose sight of the painting. You know what I mean…movies that always seem to be emphasizing how hip and clever the director is, or how vast and … Read more