The Liz Smith Column | 08/18/2009 12:00 am
Liz Smith: A Villainous Brad Pitt to the Rescue?
And more from Our Gossip Girl: Quentin Tarantino has his standards … Cindy Adams does good for the ASPCA … Catch the ‘3:10 to Yuma’!
Brad Pitt © Shutterstock
Channel-surfing I came across the 2007 film "3:10 to Yuma," which is a remake of a 1957 movie with Glenn Ford. As you may know, this latest one starred Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. I’d missed it on the big screen. It’s a western about a desperate rancher (Bale) who agrees, for a much-needed $200, to help escort a bandit (Crowe) to the Yuma train, which will carry Crowe to a much-deserved hanging. It’s great!
But be prepared, "3:10 to Yuma" is a real movie-movie that makes no sense. You know, simple things like why is the super-dangerous Crowe handcuffed in front, rather than behind his back? Answer? He couldn’t keep killing and getting away with outrageous stuff if he was properly bound. The film is beautifully photographed, there is absurd violence galore – 20 people shooting at two fleeing men and everybody misses?! Both Bale and Crowe are brilliant. (Russell is especially appealing as the bloody, charismatic villain who has some sort of twisted good heart. You want him to escape the noose, though he truly is a bad guy.)
But the best bit of "are-you-kidding" lunacy is provided via Peter Fonda. Peter is very good as a grizzled Pinkerton guard determined to see Russell die. But early in the movie, Fonda is shot at point-blank range with a 44-caliber pistol. In the gut. He’s kicked around a lot, too. (By Ben Foster, playing one of the most delectably psycho sidekicks in movie history.) Two scenes later, the town doctor digs the bullet out of Fonda without benefit of anesthesia – just pours some hooch into the gaping wound. Soon, Fonda is upright in his saddle, vigorously trading insults with the captured Russell Crowe. Fan-tas-tic! Cinema purists blanch at such diversions from reality. Me? I’m just a popcorn-munching movie lover.
And I actually got out of bed and made popcorn for this one.
But be prepared, "3:10 to Yuma" is a real movie-movie that makes no sense. You know, simple things like why is the super-dangerous Crowe handcuffed in front, rather than behind his back? Answer? He couldn’t keep killing and getting away with outrageous stuff if he was properly bound. The film is beautifully photographed, there is absurd violence galore – 20 people shooting at two fleeing men and everybody misses?! Both Bale and Crowe are brilliant. (Russell is especially appealing as the bloody, charismatic villain who has some sort of twisted good heart. You want him to escape the noose, though he truly is a bad guy.)
But the best bit of "are-you-kidding" lunacy is provided via Peter Fonda. Peter is very good as a grizzled Pinkerton guard determined to see Russell die. But early in the movie, Fonda is shot at point-blank range with a 44-caliber pistol. In the gut. He’s kicked around a lot, too. (By Ben Foster, playing one of the most delectably psycho sidekicks in movie history.) Two scenes later, the town doctor digs the bullet out of Fonda without benefit of anesthesia – just pours some hooch into the gaping wound. Soon, Fonda is upright in his saddle, vigorously trading insults with the captured Russell Crowe. Fan-tas-tic! Cinema purists blanch at such diversions from reality. Me? I’m just a popcorn-munching movie lover.
And I actually got out of bed and made popcorn for this one.
Read more about: Animals, ASPCA, Barbara Walters, Ben Foster, Brad Pitt, Celebrities, Christian Bale, Cindy Adams, Cynthia O'Neal, Doris Duke, Film, Glenn Ford, Gossip, Guy Ritchie, Jude Law, Liz Smith, Mike Nichols, Movies, News, Peter Fonda, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Downey Jr., Russell Crowe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Liz Smith Column, Tommy Tune
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- Jenny Sanford: The Perfect Role Model for Spurned Wives, by Sybil Adelman Sage
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8 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
I’ve never read gossip columns before, but love reading what you write here on WOW. It is interesting to learn about celebrities in our world now and those that you have known before. Interesting insights.Your energy level must be incredible.
Thank you!
EX-cellent writing. Its very nice to read proper writing….. with a positive theme. CLASSY
My Comment: Very Happy to have found this website… My brain exclaimed "There THEY are!!!!!!
My Question: Why are jon&kate POPULAR? I do not find it entertaining or relaxing to tune into watch 8 kids in a REALITY setting?
Thank you!!!!
Another winning column, Ms. Liz! I am impressed by the Tarantino position on children acting in harrowing films. Puts me in mind of the bad old days when kids were told their dog died just before a shot requiring tears … yes, I would say that it would be fascinating to delve into the impact of being a part of a violent, or disturbing film at a young age. I am positive it has to have some deep impact on a child’s mind.
I was lucky enough to read a copy of the Inglourious Basterds screenplay last winter, and it is just brilliant. Cannot wait to see it on screen, particularly for Christoph Waltz’s performance, which, by all reports, is amazing.
Cindy Adams has always been one classy dame in my book, and her work on behalf of the ASPCA proves it again. I have always adopted my cats from local shelters - and the reward is true love (cat style). Cindy, you are an angel!
In reference to casting children in violent films. I just recently watched "The Good Son" with Macaulay Culkin. I was shocked. In this film he drowned his little brother in the bathtub, he tried to kill his little sister (who was played by his real life sister) and then tried to kill him mother.
How could any parent allow their children to star in such a film. That explains a lot about what happened later on in Macaulay’s life.
This is one of the very films I had in mind as well, Eldebbo! Such a disturbing film. Culkin was a truly remarkable child actor - and is still an excellent actor - but what a character for a little boy to inhabit, even as a game of "let’s pretend for the camera." I also think about Linda Blair in "The Exorcist", and the child who starred in the film "Pan’s Labyrinth", which is one of the truly great films I’ve seen in recent years. But so deeply disturbing that on the day I saw it, every single person who left the theater at the end was literally either in tears or in a state of utter shock and sorrow. Another brilliant film is "Night of the Hunter" - two young actors being hunted like prey by a deranged Robert Mitchum … one of the most visually stunning films of all times, but wow - what a terrifying scenario was depicted. And in my book, the single greatest performance ever recorded on film by a child actor was Christian Bales’s performance in "Empire of the Sun." And the brutality and graphic violence of the film was unceasing as we followed Bales’s character, Jim, through an epic journey in an internment camp in Japanese-occupied China. I’m sure Spielberg’s direction was as attentive as possible to the impact on Bales - but still … a very rough concept was being drawn from a boy barely in his early teens.
I suppose some child actors can be carefully led through these disturbing roles, and taken care of afterward so their well-being is ensured. But I still feel that those roles WILL leave some impression, and a lot of it will be hard to deal with in the future.
I’m sorry but Cindy Adams has made a mockery of Henry Bergh’s legacy. Bergh heroically founded both the ASPCA and the Mass. Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children. He was a wealthy man who turned his attention to the plight of the unprotected. Nothing could be further from this ideal that Cindy Adam’s "zany biting humor"—which is often cruel and snarky. Bergh was not a pet person—his motivation was justice for the unprotected. That Ms. Adams show celebrates the comings and goings of the rich and famous in the name of the ASPCA would have Mr. Bergh turning over in his grave.
Further, how can Cindy Adams serve on the ASPCA’s Board when she does not follow NYC laws regarding her dogs. She writes in her book how her dogs eat in the finest restaurants like LeCirque. From their web site…"The ASPCA believes pet owners should follow all local laws regarding vaccinating, leashing, licensing, cleaning up after and other aspects of responsible pet keeping". Dogs are not allowed in NYC restaurants—it is the law—plain and simple. This law is there to protect the public health. One of her dogs already died of-ecoli contamination. What if that dog had pooped in a restaurant and got people sick?? The fact that Ms. Adams lets her dogs lick her mouth is just plain gross (and I am a dog lover) and reason enough to not let her kiss you.
It is hypocrisy that the ASPCA should have such a public law breaker on their board—what example does that set for everyone else? If a non-rich and famous person tried to bring their dog to LeCirque, what response would they get?