Unseen DVD Blog-a-Thon: Fatal Attraction

Cinexcellence is hosting the Unseen DVD Blog-a-Thon.
Synopsis: pick up a DVD you normally wouldn't, watch it, write a little something.

For those of you who've never seen Fatal Attraction, this is the movie that teaches you that cheating on your spouse leads to the death of your child's pet. Every time. If you cheat, Mr. Tiddilywinks gets put in the wood chipper. Every time.

In short, Michael Douglas plays a businessman who has an affair with a co-worker, Glenn Close. Shortly afterward, she turns into a crazy ass stalker. She does all the usual stuff: nighttime phone calls, creepy mixtapes, destruction of property, etc. But then she goes above and beyond her stalker duties. Wrist slitting, (fake?) pregnancies, and Whitesnake hair. She's a real sicko.

Right away, the title made sense to me. Anyone who finds Glenn Close attractive deserves to die. Period. Her name is GLENN. That's not a sexy actress name, that's a computer programmer name. Also, being born after 1960 automatically disqualifies me from understanding why Michael Douglas ever had a career. The man looks like a unhappy California Raisin. I watched It Runs in the Family. The next day Future Scott called and said the pain wasn't going away.

There are just too many sex scenes in this movie. I'm no prude, but Ernest Does Dallas was sexier than Fatal Attraction. The last time I saw Glenn Close naked, she was crying on the floor of a shower. Now, that's either a scene description from The Big Chill or a personal story that I'll end now. Glenn Close nudity is a lot like gym class nudity. You know it's inevitable but you do everything you can to divert your eyes. Also, watching Douglas struggle to get his tighty-whiteys off wasn't pleasant either.

Disgusting sex scenes aside, the movie turned out to be pretty entertaining. There are some really tense scenes when you realize that Close isn't playing a monster, she's playing a woman with mental problems. It screams Play Misty for Me but still works as a sex thriller. The director, Adrian Lyne, knows about sex flicks. He's made Fatal Attraction, 9 1/2 Weeks, Indecent Proposal, Lolita, and my favorite Diane Lane film: Unfaithful.

All in all, if you're looking for a well-made film about something that could actually happen (the stalker part, not the sex with Glenn Close part) then you might want to pick this up. But from the looks of his filmography, Lyne has quite a few other movies you might want to watch instead. Just take a look at this successful director's progress.


He went from this:
To this:
His movies may all be pretty similar...but least his casting has improved.

Thanks to Cinexcellence for hosting the Unseen DVD Blog-a-thon. Without it, I might have never seen Fatal Attraction. And without seeing Fatal Attraction, I would have had to think of another reason to put up another Diane Lane picture.

July's Been a Busy Month

July has been a crazy month. It wasn't until I looked through the archive that I realized just how busy it's been. Thank you to everyone who reads and comments here. We've been able to go from 1300 visits to 3900 visits in just one month. I'm truly, truly, thankful to all the supporters of He Shot Cyrus. This post has a lot of links. Click on them. Blogging wouldn't be as fun without these guys.

First off, the following blogs need a huge shout-out.
CultureSnob.com, Big Mike's Movie Blog,
My Stuff and Cr*p, and Lazy Eye Theatre
hosted blog-a-thons and movie memes I participated in.
(All About Me, Batman, Rugrats, 12 Movie Meme, respectively)
Blog-a-thons are lots of work, so my hat's off to these guys.

Second, a huge thanks to the blogs that featured us this month.
DVD Panache featured me in their Friday Screen Test series.
Film Experience linked to one of my posts and sent lots of traffic my way.
Someone added He Shot Cyrus to StumbleUpon, thanks to whoever did that.


New to He Shot Cyrus? Here's what you might have missed.

Guys I'd Go Gay For blew up like a Scanners head. It got 26 Comments, a record-breaking number. As it turns out, Kaleen and I have the same taste in women. Thanks to everyone who left their lists. And Piper...the "cool juice" is all yours, buddy.

We hosted our first He Shot Cyrus Top Comment Award (HSCTCA) ceremony and Keith from The Kinetoscope Parlor won. I'm working on getting a better looking trophy for next month's winner. The winning comment? "Doomsday was the closest I've come to walking out of a theater in a long time. It was AIDS in film form."

I've watched 3/5 of the movies I swore I'd never watch. Pride & Prejudice, The Gingerdead Man, and Last House on the Left. That just leaves Swept Away and Eraserhead. There will eventually be a post on LHotL, I swear.

The careers of Cuba Gooding Jr., Eddie Murphy, and Chris Tucker were all evaluated. Who knew Chris Tucker would come out on top? He only made three movies in ten years? I guess that does count as charity work.

Oh yeah, I also want to post the results of "Who's the Hottest Guy I'd Go Gay For" Poll Question.

John Cusack --- 4 votes
Gael Garcia Bernal --- 10 votes
Sidney Poitier --- 0 votes
Jason Bateman --- 7 votes
Denzel Washington --- 1 vote
Taye Diggs --- 5 votes
Jonah Hill --- 0 votes

Once again, thanks everyone!
There's some exciting stuff in the works for August.

Rug Rats Blog-a-Thon: Catinca Untaru

My Stuff and Cr*p is hosting the Rug Rats Blog-a-Thon. Children have been in movies since the beginning of cinema. 19th century French labor laws aren't my specialty, but I'd bet at least some of those Lumiere workers were kids. A century later, the kids are still acting. Salvatore Cascio, Jean-Pierre Léaud, and Peter Billingsley have served up some of the most memorable performances this side of the Shirley Temple franchise.

Catinca Untaru has cemented her spot on the list of impressive child actors. Starring in Tarsem's The Fall, this young actress makes Dakota Fanning look like Gilbert Godfrey in a Uwe Boll film. To better understand the specialness of Untaru's performance, you have to first understand the specialness of The Fall.

The Fall was a dream project for director Tarsem. Famous for his commercial and music video work, the Indian filmmaker had an idea of letting a child guide the film. He decided that he needed a four-year-old for his idea to work. Years later, he was given a tape with a young Romanian girl (Untaru) and was so capitvated by her that production started immediately.

The film follows a Untaru's character, Alexandria, as she tries to occupy her time in a hospital while she recovers from a broken collarbone. During her stay, she meets a depressed silent film actor/stuntman named Roy Walker (Lee Pace) who was recently paralyzed after a stunt went bad. Recently dumped by his girlfriend, Roy wants out of life. Contained to his bed, he enlists the help of Alexandria to get the morphine he desires.

Roy tells Alexandria an epic story filled with fantasy elements and mythical heroes. Each day he tells her another section of the story. As the two bond together, he pursuades the little girl to get him some morphine from the medical center. The film cuts between the 1920s hospital and the timeless fantasy world. Alexandria's character shows up in both worlds and Untaru's performance in The Fall overall, is incredible.

Catinca Untaru was born in Bucharest in March 1997. Eleven now, only six when filming started. Another fact, she didn't speak English when she landed the role. But the director used her language barrier to the film's advantage. He wanted a four-year-old for the role because of their societal innocence, but Tarsem found that Untaru worked perfectly, her inability to speak English made up for her age.

"One day I got a tape of this girl at a school in Romania, in the middle of students talking. I was amazed. She was perfect. She didn't speak English. The penny dropped. She was six, but if she didn’t speak the language she would be using, the misunderstanding would buy me the two years that I needed. Because she had to seem four." (Ebert Interview with Tarsem)

One of the scenes everyone's talking about involves Roy asking Alexandria if she is trying to save his soul. "Are you trying to save my soul?" Her reply is indescribable. In my opinion, this is one of the most amazing moments captured on film. She smiles, pauses, opens her mouth, smiling. It just has to be seen. As it turns out, Untaru didn't know what the word "soul" meant and reacted naturally. That's the innocence Tarsem was looking for.

"It's true. One of the treasures of the film is the sound of the dialog by Catinca Untaru. We understand every word, but she sounds as if she's inventing them as utters them." (Rober Ebert, possibly replying to what I just wrote)

Only Tarsem and Lee Pace knew that Lee Pace could walk. Hoping to capture people's real reactions to a handicapped person, the director kept the secret until shooting wrapped. When filming ended, they told everyone the truth, to mixed reactions. Some people were upset, others took it as good news. Tarsem remarked on Untaru's reactions to pace when she first met him.

They met while shooting their first scene together. To her knowledge, Pace was actually paralyzed and she was nervous because of that. That nervousness comes through in her performance. But as the film progresses, it's easy to see how much the young actress has bonded with her co-star. A lot of the dialogue was improvised and spontaneous. Tarsem claims that by the third or fourth take, Untaru would nail the scene. The director allowed flexability and freedom in his film and let the little girl craft the story.



The script was ever-changing. In the scene where Lee Pace writes M-O-R-P-H-I-N-E, Untaru mistook the actor's "E" for a "3" and they changed the story to suit that. When she read "3," Tarsem told the prop man to fill the morphine bottle all the way up. Then when Alexandria steals the pills, she only grabs three, not enough for Roy to kill himself. This flexability allowed the film to remain fluid and capture all of the special moments that only a child can create.

You can credit Tarsem for directing an amazing film. You can be in awe of the shooting locations, spanning 28 countries. You can love how the story weaves betweens worlds of the real and the fantastic. But without Untaru's performance, none of that would tie together. Untaru appears to be the glue that holds The Fall together. Quite a lot of responsibility for a six-year-old, but after watching the film, it'd be hard to argue that she didn't get the job done.

Ain't It Cool News has been covering The Fall with more attention than anyone else. Capone, a member of the AICN staff interviewed Tarsem, the links are listed below. Moriary, another staff member, gave his feelings towards Untaru and her performance in the link below. I got a lot of my information from them, so I'm givng credit where credit it due. Thanks, guys.

Part One: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/36903
Part Two: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/36915
Moriary's Thoughts: http://www.aintitcool.com/?q=node/36407

The 12 Movies Meme

Lazy Eye Theatre is hosting the 12 MOVIES MEME. I had the honor of being selected in the first group of writers. Here's the mission: Diablo Cody got to program 12 movies at the New Beverly Cinema. If she can do it, we can do it.

List your programming schedule. Which 12 movies and why. Then nominate 5 other writers to contribute their lists. My selections will be at the bottom of this blog. Read on to see if you made the cut.

Here's my schedule. Feedback and poll question voting is a must. One simple question: which nights would you attend and which ones would you skip? Thanks in advance for all your comments.

Monday-Tuesday
Peter Jackson Double-Feature
Meet the Feebles [Link] - Muppets on Crack creation starts this off.
Dead Alive [Link] - The most entertaining zombie film of all time.Wanna fight about it?



Wednesday-Thursday
Gael Garcia Bernal Double-Feature
The Motorcycle Diaries [Link] - A young Che Guevara, years before he led the Cuban Revolution, and his friend travel through South America.
El Crimen del Padre Amaro [Link] - A Catholic priest has an affair with a teenage girl. This one'll knock you on your ass.


Friday-Saturday
The Raddest Cult Films Ever Made Double Feature
Assault on Precinct 13 [Link] - Awesome premise, incredible synth music, and one of John Carpenter's best films.
The Warriors [Link] - My favorite movie of all time. The coolest, most quotable cult film to date.


Sunday-Monday
Bring Your Kids Double Feature
Escape to Witch Mountain [Link] - My favorite kids movie. Magical tweens outwit an evil millionaire and his bald henchman.
Rad [Link] - This one is CULT. The kiddies might not get through this one, but it's worth showing because it's so hard to get ahold of these days.


Tuesday-Wednesday
Hip-Hop Documentary Double Feature
Style Wars [Link] - Mind-blowingly amazing doc about the Golden Years of Graffiti.
Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme [Link] - The movie contains: Dope emcees spitting off the dome hotness. If that made any sense to you, watch this movie now.


Thursday-Friday
The Hottest Double Feature
High Fidelity [Link] - John Cusack.
Unfaithful [Link] - Diane Lane.

There's the schedule. Which nights would you attend?
Which ones would you skip? Why?

Also, my official selections for contributors are:
Whitney @ DearJesus
Daniel G. @ Get A Film
Ross Williams @ What I Watched Last Night
The Mad Hatter @ The Dark of the Matinee
Keith @ The Kinetoscope Parlor

1. When you finish your post, let me know so I can let Lazy Eye Theatre know.
2. If you don't want to do it, let me know so I can ask someone else.

Guys I'd Go Gay For

It's Man-Crush Thursday here at He Shot Cyrus. This just couldn't wait for Man-Crush Monday. Caitlin over at 1416 and Counting just created a mega-post dedicated to the men in her life. All those interested in looking at picture of attractive fellas, go check it out. But not before you leave some comments listing your most beautiful beaus.

Remember, every comment you leave makes you eligible for next month's He Shot Cyrus Top Comment Award. This month's winner, Keith from The Kinetoscope Parlor, will continue to receive publicity like this along with his JPEG trophy.

On to the Guys I'd Go Gay For list:

John Cusack - I recently figured this one out. I want to be Rob Gordon. He's owns a record store. He used to be a DJ. Making mixes for people is his greatest joy. He's dated gorgeous women. Also, he is constantly making Top 5 lists. What more could I guy want? Plus, he's hot.

I like going record shopping. I dream of being a DJ. People get mixes from me even when they don't ask for them. I'm dating a gorgeous girl right now. I make Top 5 lists all the time. Want to know my Top 5 John Cusack Performances? 1. Rob in High Fidelity 2. Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything 3. Martin Q. Blank in Grosse Point Blank 4. Gib in The Sure Thing 5. Eddie Thomas in American Sweethearts

Gael Garcia Bernal - Not only is this guy the hottest man alive, he also takes the best role choices. He's the adulterous priest in the imaginative dreamer in The Science of Sleep, and the young Che Guevara in The Motorcycle Diaries. He's the type of good looking that makes you convince yourself you'll die looking like John C. Reilly.

Sidney Poitier - An oldie but a goodie. He's hotter than Clark Gable. Hotter than Gregory Peck. Even hotter than Cary Grant. That's right, I said it! And in the heat of the night, he'll make you call him MISTER Tibbs. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Jason Bateman - John Krasinski didn't make the list because when he's not on The Office, I could go either way. I have more of a man-crush on Bateman than on his character from Arrested Development. Juno, Hancock, and Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium proved that. This man is adorable. Adorable.

Denzel Washington - This man has charisma like no other. He could talk anyone into doing anything. And I do mean anything. Now he's remaking one of my favorite 70s thrillers, The Taking of Pelham 123. This just keep getting better and better.

Taye Diggs - There hasn't been a better looking couple since Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan reminisced about watching Slick Rick, Doug E. Fresh, and Dana Dane in a cypher circle circa 1984. Wait, you didn't see Brown Sugar? Shame. If you love hip-hop and talking about hip-hop, you should. Back to the man of the moment, you probably know him as the announcer from Chicago. Smooth, good looking, nice smile. Not as charismatic as Denzel, but pretty close.


Jonah Hill - If you don't think this guy's sexy, I'm taking it personally. He's attractive, damn it!


There you go, the guys I'd go gay for. EVERYBODY, leave a comment with your own lists. Thanks!

The Dark Knight: If Heath Ledger Hadn't Died

If Heath Ledger hadn't died:

The Dark Knight still would have made hundreds of million of dollars.

Maybe it wouldn't have broken all the records it did, but it's still be ridiculously successful.

Nicholson supporters wouldn't have to hide from fear of fanboy !!!OMGz!!! and FUK U's.
There would still be a debate as to who was the better Joker, instead of a one-sided hype machine.

The ending would have worked better.
TDK became the Heath Ledger movie the moment he passed. So why leave The Joker hanging from the side of a building for the SWAT Team to take care of? Why have the movie go on for another twenty anti-climatic minutes? Granted, the VERY end, was rad, but the third act left a bad taste in my mouth.

No one would be screaming "GIVE HIM THE OSCAR" like a bunch of maniacs.
His performance was great, but by the time award ceremony season rolled around, we'd all be distracted by something else, forgetting about the superhero movie that got released half-a-year ago.


But if I'm being honest, if Heath Ledger hadn't died, I wouldn't have been half as excited about The Dark Knight.

He was a fine actor (with more bad movies in his past than people care to remember) but the fact that people are freaking out about this movie like they (we) are says more about humanity than any of the messages found in The Dark Knight.

The Perseverance of Chris Tucker

Chris Tucker

Eddie Murphy's movie flop at the box office.
Chris Tucker's don't.

Cuba hasn't made good money for years.
Chris Tucker still does.


How does he do it?

(1998)--------------------(2001)-------------------(2007)

Chris Tucker hasn't made a non-Rush Hour film since 1998.
Don't believe me? Go check his filmography.

It's all about supply and demand.
Apparently, someone was demanding Chris Tucker.
He was smart and refused to supply that demand.

Now he makes 20 million dollars per movie.
He makes a movie, chills until his money's gone, and then calls up Jackie Chan.

Rush Hour 3 earned him another 20 million dollars plus 20% of the gross.

That's how you do it, fellas.
Lock into a successful franchise and squeeze out every last drop of success.