Friday, March 30, 2018

Blind Item #3 - Himmmm

It's been a while since this (former A list mostly movie actress who is a multiple Academy Award winner/nominee) has done any acting of note.  Her entire career really went over a cliff when she and this director tried to make their passion project which was so bad it helped sink an entire studio.  He says he's never claimed to be a genius auteur, but could barely get any work after allowing her to make all the decisions for them both back then.  Last week, she called him at the office.  He put it on speaker phone, and I heard every word.  She tried to convince her ex, this same director, that they should re-team and do a new project together.  She swore it would re-ignite both their careers.  She even hinted that they could "re-ignite our own passions too".  The Director looked like he'd seen a ghost; he adamantly refused, and told her he'd spent nearly 15 years having to rebuild his own career from scratch all because he let her dictate that disaster of a movie to him.  He politely wished her well, and after ending the call, he put her number in the "Blocked" list of his mobile phone. I told him I doubt the world would weep for that reunion.

40 comments:

  1. Geena Davis and Renny Harlin?

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    1. +1-Cuthroat Island-Mediterranean Studios In Malta

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  2. Renny Harlin has an office?

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  3. Jon, that was literally my first thought.

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  4. I always thought Renny had major sway over Geena, not the other way around. But everything fits with this.

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  5. Anonymous7:11 AM

    Cutthroat Island bankrupted Carolco. Harlin was a rising horror/action directorin the 80s/90s. Potentially explains the crap he made in 2000s-- taking whatever he could get.

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  6. I liked Cutthroat Island. I still do not understand why it is considered to be that bad compared to, say, anything that Michael Bay has made. His movies made lots of money and they are absolutely terrible plot and acting-wise.

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  7. 'Cutthroat Island' was released in 1995.
    In the blind, Hmmmm says, "15 years ago."

    So, around 2003?
    Hmmmm...
    (Sorry. Play on words.)

    =)

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  8. Anonymous7:25 AM

    Cutthroat Island set the stage for Pirates of the Caribbean. Except POTC got it right: make one character jokey so the audience can get engaged.

    Cutthroat Island had no such degree of abstraction. Took itself too seriously.

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  9. He can't blame her for that mess. Harlin is a shit director.

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  10. I've never seen Cutthroat Island (I just remember the stories about how bad it was and how hugely it bombed.)

    But The Long Kiss Goodnight is a fantastic movie, and I'll fight anyone who claims otherwise. Speak for yourself, Himmmm.

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    1. Anonymous7:32 AM

      What did you think of the bit where her old boss tells them the Muslim terrorist angle is a set up because their budget was halved? 5 years before 9-11. Written by Shane Black. Who also used the fake terrorist angle for Iron Man 3.

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    2. The Long Kiss Goodnight is one of my favorites as well. Perhaps a sequel wouldn't be a bad idea.

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    3. I liked Long Kiss Goodnight too. Shane Black recycles a lot of his scripts though.

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    4. I fucking loved that movie.

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    5. @Alli, I also loved The Long Kiss Goodnight. Samuel L. Jackson was great in it.

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  11. Director/script/whatever couldn't save that. I like Geena Davis, BUT, she was so miscast for that role.

    Could another actress have saved it? Possibly. But forced dialog and a reliance on reaction shots made it painful to watch. Maybe even bring in in another editor and just lock her in a room for a couple weeks without any "input" from Davis or Harlin.

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  12. Well, this times right for both Gigli and Catwoman (obvious busts) but I can’t make the multiple-award-winning bit fit to the actresses.

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  13. David Howes, maybe he meant it took 15 years for him to start getting decent regular work again. If you look at Harlin's directing timeline on IMDb, it did take him about 15 years to get steady work.

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  14. @cheesegrater, you're right.

    I misread and didn't realize until after posting when I re-read the blind.

    Oh, well.

    Thanks!

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  15. PS:
    Geena Davis' brother owns a civil engineering firm here is Las Vegas.

    When I met him, years ago, he implied there was no love/friendship between him & Geena.

    I remember him saying something about Geena & his relationship changing when she won her Oscar. And, not for the good.

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  16. Should have made Pirate Girls are Easy, instead.

    Chances are it would have been a better movie, too.

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  17. I’m sure if the movie was a success he’d be giving her all the credit. Sounds like he’s the d-bag here.

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  18. You guys are fast. Great job Jon!!

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  19. Madonna & Guy Ritchie-- Swept Away

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  20. Swept Away is a really good guess, but I can't imagine anyone using "Actress" to describe Madonna.

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  21. 'her entire career went over a cliff'------geena davis for sure with that 'thelma and louise' reference.

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  22. "Blocked" has to be significant, right?

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  23. I also loved the Long Kiss Goodnight.

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  24. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  25. There's "bombed" and there's Cutthroat Island

    Budget:$98,000,000 (estimated)
    Opening Weekend USA: $4,381,000, 24 December 1995, Wide Release
    Gross USA: $10,017,322

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  26. Sahara fits the timeframe, with Penelope Cruz being the multiple academy award nominee, but I'm not sure if it was a passion project for her.

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  27. If it were released for the very first time now I think 'Cutthroat Island' would do just fine. Because we're finally at a point where a heroic female action hero is a totally acceptable thing (Gal Gadot & Wonder Woman).

    That film was fine. Timing was all wrong.

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  28. sure you did
    Thanx for proving again that you are full of it.

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  29. Long shot but who came to mind immediately is Demi Moore & the Passions movie that was a huge flop...

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  30. You leave my girl Davis and that enjoyable flick CTI out of this *throws manatee poop and slowly swims away*

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  31. @VDOVault "we're finally at a point where a heroic female action hero is a totally acceptable thing (Gal Gadot & Wonder Woman)"?

    Finally? Female heroes have been accepted for ages, they just used to be less common. 1995 was also the year Xena: Warrior Princess started and that was popular, no one complained about its female lead. Hell, Aliens came out a decade earlier and was a huge success.

    Wonder Woman might have seemed like some big turning point for female-led movies to you, but if anything that's only because there are more loud anti-feminists now for it to contend with...

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  32. It took Renny Harlin several years to get Cutthroat Island into production. During that period Geena Davis' career began to cool because she was turning down other projects to keep herself available for CI. It's box office failure was due to the fact that the producers went broke, sold off the movie and the new owners dumped it into theatres with NO marketing. Artistically it was OK, neither great nor horrible, with a reasonable plot, decent action scenes etc. The weaknesses were in the characters, Geena D was chewing the scenery and Matthew M was wimpy for a pirate but that is also how their characters were written. I'd put the blame on Renny for that script and keeping Geena away from other projects.

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