DIY De Niro

Like this photo of Robert De Niro?
























Good, yes? It's actually not a photograph, but a CGI sculpture done by Hossein Diba. Here's some of the foundation work.

Now With More Weapons Proficient Strippers

Wow. 'The Bag Man', with John Cusack, Crispin Glover, and Robert de Niro. Flashy neon bit of candy directed by newbie David Grovic.

Cheesy yet, somehow, endearing. Again, wow.

Kinda Dumb But, Yeah, It Looks Good

Okay, don't admit it. Just keep telling yourself, "This is too dumb for me. This is too dumb for me."

I love it. They got it right.

In 'Grudge Match' Somebody Dies In The End Or Ties In The End?

In Scott Bowles' write up about Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone's new romp 'Grudge Match' director Peter Segal mentions using old footage of both actors training for 'Raging Bull' and 'Rocky'. Cool. That alone would be interesting to see. I'm looking forward.

Segal also mentions shooting multiple endings in order to keep the real ending secret. In one, during the boxing match Stallone's character wins. In another, De Niro's character wins. In a third, they both die.

That's right. Die.

Here's a clip from the link above:

That also appeared in the printed newspaper.

I find it hard to believe either of these actors would agree to have his character die in the end. However, how could one win and the other lose? For comedic value, and seeing how there's not too many other choices, I could see both guys dying in the ring. That would be funny. I can hear them laughing now.

However, at this link it says they tie at the end.

Ties, not dies. Ties. T-ies.

Okay, that's better. How else could you end a movie like this? It has to be a tie, right? De Niro vs. Stallone = tie. Has to be.

But maybe, they both collapse and it looks like they're dead, and the crowd is shocked, then they wake up and realize what's happened and it's really embarrassing and they agree their boxing days are over, shake hands and go have a cup of tea. That would be good. That's what I'd go with. If it were me.

Now that that's settled, on to the really important stuff.

So Much Better. Wow, So Much Better

The campaign for 'The Family' got off to a rough start. Early trailers played up the movie as a standard fish-out-of-water caper and it was flat. So flat. I couldn't really watch them. The movie looked dumb.

Thing is, this was a classic case of trying to make an edgy (I'm guessing) comedy with some pretty hardcore violence, or at least graphic acts of violence, look like a fluffy comedy that the average person might like. And it is, except for the violence.

Sure, it's not gritty. This isn't an exposé of gang/mafia life, but it does depict some pretty brutal stuff. It may not replicate all those beatings and acid baths with a sense of vérité, but it makes like the real thing. Makes like. So, those first trailers weren't being honest and, as usual, they came off like they had something to hide. I thought it because the movie didn't have teeth. Turns out it was that the movie does, in fact, have teeth, and it looks pretty damn funny. Not so politically correct, maybe, but funny.

Liking much better. I want to see this now.

Oh, and, dear Marketing: Don't pull your punches.