J. Edgar
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Written by Dustin Lance Black
imdb USA 2011
Clint Eastwood has a deceptively simple formula for filmmaking:
Start with a great script. Work with a talented crew that you have known for decades. Hire talented actors and let them work. Work quickly. Go home at a reasonable hour every night. Finish the film on time and on budget.
It is the formula of a craftsman, the measure twice, cut once philosophy of a master carpenter. If Woody Allen is a film archaeologist, using film to peel back the bones of a city and Martin Scorcese is a crazed chef, blending ingredients that seem like they should never work together, than Clint Eastwood is the filmmaker as cabinet-maker, turning out solid, useful films built according to classical blueprints.
In this case, Eastwood takes us from 1919 to 1972 in the life and career of J. Edgar Hoover, but not in a straight line.
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Written by Dustin Lance Black
imdb USA 2011
Clint Eastwood has a deceptively simple formula for filmmaking:
Start with a great script. Work with a talented crew that you have known for decades. Hire talented actors and let them work. Work quickly. Go home at a reasonable hour every night. Finish the film on time and on budget.
It is the formula of a craftsman, the measure twice, cut once philosophy of a master carpenter. If Woody Allen is a film archaeologist, using film to peel back the bones of a city and Martin Scorcese is a crazed chef, blending ingredients that seem like they should never work together, than Clint Eastwood is the filmmaker as cabinet-maker, turning out solid, useful films built according to classical blueprints.
In this case, Eastwood takes us from 1919 to 1972 in the life and career of J. Edgar Hoover, but not in a straight line.
- 11/17/2011
- by Michael Ryan
- SoundOnSight
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar Adam Sandler in Drag/Jack And Jill Below Sandler Box-Office Average; Tower Heist Down 45% At no. 5 on the domestic box-office chart this weekend, Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar raked in $11.47 million — at the very lower end of expectations — as per studio estimates found at Box Office Mojo. The J. Edgar Hoover biopic starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Hoover, Armie Hammer as his associate and intimate companion Clyde Tolson, and Naomi Watts as FBI secretary Helen Gandy averaged an acceptable — though not very promising — $6,005 at 1,910 locations. As mentioned in a couple of previous posts, comparisons to Gus Van Sant's Oscar-nominated Milk, which were possible on Wednesday, are impossible to make at this stage. Written by J. Edgar's Dustin Lance Black, the 2008 drama starring Sean Penn as gay San Francisco politician Harvey Milk never played at more than 900 North American sites — and that expansion took place around Oscar time,...
- 11/13/2011
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, J. Edgar Henry Cavill/Tarsem Singh Immortals May Reach $38m: Box Office At no. 5 on the domestic box-office chart on Friday, Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar raked in $4.25 million as per Box Office Mojo. If the J. Edgar Hoover biopic starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, and Naomi Watts reaches $12 million for the weekend, that means an acceptable — though not very promising — $6,312 average at 1,901 locations. Comparisons to Gus Van Sant's Milk, which were possible on Wednesday, become trickier at this stage. Written by J. Edgar's Dustin Lance Black, the 2008 drama starring Sean Penn as the gay San Francisco politician Harvey Milk never played at more than 900 North American locations — and that expansion took place around Oscar time, more than two months after the film's late November debut. Made for a reported $20m, Milk went on to gross only $31.84m at the domestic box office; J. Edgar...
- 11/13/2011
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
Armie Hammer as Clyde Tolson, Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover, Judi Dench as Anne Marie Hoover, J. Edgar Jack And Jill/Adam Sandler in Drag: Second-Lowest-Grossing Sandler Comedy in Past Five Years? According to unproven — and quite possibly unfounded — rumors, FBI emperor J. Edgar Hoover enjoyed wearing some nice-fitting dresses every now and then. Ironically, this weekend the all-powerful Hoover will surely be beaten at the Us/Canada box office by another cross-dresser: Adam Sandler in Jack and Jill. How the mighty have fallen. At no. 5 on the domestic box-office chart, Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar will likely rake in $10-$12 million for the weekend after grossing $3.5-$4 million on Friday. Even if the Hoover biopic reaches $12 million, that means an acceptable — though hardly very promising — $6,312 average at 1,901 locations. (Deadline has $13 million for the weekend, but that could be a typo, unless Warner Bros. is expecting the adult-oriented J. Edgar...
- 11/12/2011
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar Hoover biopic J. Edgar grossed $52,645 according to Box Office Mojo. The Warner Bros. release starring Leonardo DiCaprio as the FBI honcho and Armie Hammer as his intimate "friend" Clyde Tolson is currently screening at seven locations. The film's average was a not-too-impressive $7,571 per theater. For comparison's sake: on November 26, 2008, Gus Van Sant's Milk, another biopic about a gay figure written by J. Edgar screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, collected $268k at 34 locations, averaging $7,897 (about $9,150 today) per site. Remember that all things being equal, the lower the number of theaters, the higher the per-theater average should be. In other words, Milk had a considerably stronger first-day opening than J. Edgar. But then again, Milk opened the day before the Thanksgiving holiday; that could have made a difference. Milk, which stars Sean Penn as slain gay San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, went on...
- 11/10/2011
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover, Naomi Watts as Helen Gandy in Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar As J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI's notoriously corrupt, rabidly power-hungry topdog, Leonardo DiCaprio looks very much like Leonardo DiCaprio in the above still from Clint Eastwood's Hoover biopic J. Edgar. As Hoover's secretary Helen Gandy, Naomi Watts looks like Nicole Kidman without makeup. Watts certainly looks nothing at all like the real Gandy. The Big Question: Will J. Edgar delve into Hoover's alleged homosexuality and his relationship with protégé Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer)? Considering that the J. Edgar screenplay was written by Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black of Milk fame, I can't see how it wouldn't. That might also explain Hammer's casting: the Social Network actor looks as much like Tolson as, say, Tom Cruise looks like Joseph Stalin, but Hammer and DiCaprio do make a nice-looking couple. In addition to DiCaprio,...
- 8/16/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
In 1935, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made cinema history with their most successful film partnership, Top Hat. However, it wasn’t Astaire’s headgear that got people talking; it was Rogers’ ostrich feather dress worn in the Oscar-nominated song ‘Cheek to Cheek’.
The fact remains that this is quite possibly the most memorable, beautiful and romantic musical number ever captured on film, and Rogers’ dress contributes to this greatly.
Whenever Astaire and Rogers dance, they are making love without undressing, without even kissing in the majority of their films; “they is angels” remarks unfairly condemned criminal Kofi as he fulfils his dying wish of watching the lovers perform ‘Cheek to Cheek’ in the film The Green Mile (1999).
In this scene, Rogers certainly does look like an angel in her now-famous dress, accessorised only by a glass panel-style bracelet (costume jewellery in enamel or glass was very fashionable in the 1930s...
The fact remains that this is quite possibly the most memorable, beautiful and romantic musical number ever captured on film, and Rogers’ dress contributes to this greatly.
Whenever Astaire and Rogers dance, they are making love without undressing, without even kissing in the majority of their films; “they is angels” remarks unfairly condemned criminal Kofi as he fulfils his dying wish of watching the lovers perform ‘Cheek to Cheek’ in the film The Green Mile (1999).
In this scene, Rogers certainly does look like an angel in her now-famous dress, accessorised only by a glass panel-style bracelet (costume jewellery in enamel or glass was very fashionable in the 1930s...
- 8/11/2010
- by Sarah H
- Clothes on Film
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