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Moriarty Takes A Trip INTO THE WILD With Emile Hirsch and Sean Penn!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Hey, everyone. “Moriarty” here with some rumblings from the Labs.
Sean Penn is, of course, an icon as an actor. For most of my life, he’s been considered one of the great risk-takers of his generation, and I can quickly rattle off at least a half-dozen of his performances that I think are true genius, that affected me profoundly while growing up. Michael O’Brien in BAD BOYS, Meserve in CASUALTIES OF WAR, Spicoli in FAST TIMES, “Pac-Man” in COLORS, David Kleinfeld in CARLITO’S WAY, his ungodly great work as Matthew Poncelet in DEAD MAN WALKING... he’s able to walk these incredible tightropes as an actor, and I think the performances of his that I can’t stand (like in I AM SAM) are still noteworthy because he lays himself out there. I think you have to be willing to court disaster to accomplish true greatness, and Penn’s proven that time and again.
As a writer/director, I think he’s shown great promise in the past, but the only film of his that I totally connected with was THE INDIAN RUNNER. I don’t think people give that one the credit it deserves. For me, that was ground zero for Viggo Mortensen, whose work opposite the great David Morse was a revelation. Everything about THE INDIAN RUNNER worked for me... I thought it was beautifully photographed, perfectly performed in every role, and Penn’s use of score and songs in the film was precise and powerful. I’ve been waiting for a while now for him to come up with another film as good as that debut.
And now, finally, the wait is over.
INTO THE WILD, based on the non-fiction book by Jon Krakauer, is an emotional powerhouse, a film of great wisdom and real experience. It’s also the arrival of Emile Hirsch as a movie star, and I think it may well change the way the industry thinks of Penn as a filmmaker. It should, anyway, and I hope this one finds as broad an audience as possible. He’s pulled off something very difficult here, taking a frustrating, potentially depressing story and turning into a film that feels celebratory, uplifting, exhilarating at every turn.
I’ll warn you now... it’s hard to talk about this film without including spoilers. The book’s been out for years, but even so... consider yourself warned.
Hirsch stars as Chris McCandless, a young man whose rejection of the lifestyle of his parents (played here with precision by Wiliam Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden) led him to give away his life savings, burn all his money and his ID, and then hobo his way around the country for a few years before finally hitching his way into the unforgiving wilds of Alaska. His eventual fate reminds me of Werner Herzog’s amazing GRIZZLY MAN, but the difference between Chris and Herzog’s Tim Treadwell is vast. Treadwell struck me as a loser, a guy who retreated from reality into an anthropomorphized Disneyland of friendly animals, practically wishing to be one himself. By contrast, Chris is a guy who takes the messages of Jack London and David Thoreau to heart, and he pushes himself to a sort of monk-like ascetic lifestyle, trying to cleanse himself of the world’s corruption for genuine reasons. In the end, both of them made epic miscalculations that cost them their lives, but McCandless’s death doesn’t feel like a failure so much as an inevitable conclusion to a journey that Chris had to take, and Hirsch makes you sympathize with this kid. Hirsch makes you believe in the purity and the decency of Chris’s soul, and his journey never seems like a Hollywood movie. There’s a grounded reality that comes from Hirsch and his reactions to the situations and the characters around him, and by the time the film reaches its wrenching conclusion, I found myself in total empathy with the kid. I felt like I understood him completely, and I wanted desperately to change the ending, no matter how much I knew the reality of what happened.
In adapting the book, I think Penn did some remarkable work. This is not an easy piece to get your head around as a writer. Much of Krakauer’s book details his own attempts to follow Chris’s trail and make sense of the time he spent on the road, and it also details the stories of other adventurers and their hardships. Penn has excised Krakauer and the others completely from the film, and it’s the right choice. On the page, it was riveting to see how Krakauer pieced together the mystery of Chris’s life, but onscreen, it’s Chris that we want to see. I’d rather watch that mystery unfold than see someone follow the threads. That decision allows Penn to take his time and allow us to watch behavior instead of hearing about it after the fact.
Chris may be our guide through the movie, but part of what really works about the film is the way he touches all these lives along the way, the way he interacts with various other characters, and Penn’s been very particular about the casting of these roles so that each of the characters makes a huge impression, even in a very brief amount of time in some cases. If you’ve seen the trailer for the movie, you’ve got some idea what I’m talking about. You get a glimpse of Vince Vaughn as Wayne, a guy who runs a grain silo and farming operation. He hires Chris for a season, and Chris really bonds with Wayne. Wayne’s whole crew does good work, including the surprising Zach Galifianakis, who is an exceptional comedian, but who is almost unrecognizable here as Kevin, a strange, vaguely anti-social guy who passes along to Chris all of his techniques for hunting and cleaning his game. You get the feeling that Chris is simply picking up knowledge from people, filing it away so that he can leave for Alaska as soon as possible. He’s got his mind made up, and he’s determined to go, so it’s just a matter of how prepared he is.
I really love the relationship he has with Jan (Catherine Keener) and her old man, Rainey (Brian Dierker), a pair of “rubber tramps” who teach him a lot about life on the road. They explain to him that they’re “rubber tramps” because they travel on wheels in their camper, while Chris is a “leather tramp,” using his feet and his thumb as his primary mode of transport. Keener’s at her natural best here, a woman whose complex feelings about her own failure at family strongly underline the way she reacts to Chris. Penn really struck gold with the casting of Dierker, though. He’s a non-actor, a guy whose family works on river units and underwater units for films like THE RIVER WILD. Looking at him, I can’t imagine them making an actor look like this... he’s a guy who has lived his life outside, permanently tanned, long hair tied back. He’s grizzled, and you can tell he’s the real deal by how he carries himself. He has several scenes with Hirsch playing Chris where he is effortlessly charming, like a real-life version of Jeff Bridges in THE BIG LEBOWSKI, but with more soul and more self-awareness. They figure in the film early, then return later, and both times, they bring this great warmth to their sequences.
Kristen Stewart, the little boy from PANIC ROOM, has actually grown into a fairly striking young woman, and she’s got some lovely scenes with Hirsch. He makes his way to a place called Slab City, located in the middle of the Colorado Desert in California, an abandoned air force base that has turned into a sort of squatter’s paradise for rubber tramps from all over North America. It’s near Salvation Mountain, a recognizable landmark, a manmade monument to one man’s love of Jesus that also featured in Donal Logue’s charming TENNIS, ANYONE? a few years ago, and Penn includes a side trip to Salvation Mountain that verges on the documentary. In fact, since almost all of his film is shot on the exact spots that Chris visited, this is as close as we could hope to see to a real document of the trip Chris made across the country. Part of what I love about the film is the way Penn and his cinematographer, Eric Gautier, manage to bask in the amazing landscapes and make you feel like you’re out there alone in nature just like Chris, but without making the movie feel like a tourism advertisement. I can only imagine that THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES is the film of Gautier’s that got Penn to hire him for this one. I think Gautier’s work is even better here, breathtaking at times, and there are times where I just got lost in what I was watching, the same way Chris seems to get joyously lost on his journey.
By the time he meets Ron Franz (Hal Holbrook), Chris is making his final plans for the trip to Alaska, and if there’s anything that almost stops him, it’s the kinship he feels to Franz. Holbrook is one of our elder statesmen as an actor, and he doesn’t really work a lot these days. His work in this film is probably going to win him a new wave of accolades, and people will be falling over themselves to praise him once again, but really, this is just a reminder of how incredibly good he’s always been. Chris finds himself drawn to this retired man with a small hobby workshop behind his house, and for me, the entire film came down to one silent moment, where Chris sits looking at Franz, and you can see a lifetime’s worth of longing for a real father summed up in his eyes. It tore me up, even more than all the material featuring William Hurt as Chris’s real father. It’s obvious that his miserable family life is a big part of what has motivated Chris to hit the road, and his rejection of their values and their lifestyle is more a desire to find something decent in the world... something that he finds in the form of Ron Franz.
But by that point, he’s already set on his trip, and his trip into Alaska is stirring, soulful stuff. One of the most important elements of the film, aside from Gautier’s photography, is the remarkable score by Michael Brook with Kaki King and Eddie Vedder. It adds a richness to the movie that I really can’t underestimate, and it reminds me of the score for DEAD MAN WALKING, and not just because of Vedder’s involvement. It gives voice to the turmoil that drives Chris, and when the film reaches its inevitable conclusion, it’s practically heartbreaking, but thanks in no small part to the score, it becomes transcendent.
We ran some reviews here a few weeks back from a test screening, and one guy complained that the film has about three or four different beginnings, and I wouldn’t say he’s wrong, but at the same time, I don’t care. Penn seems to be throwing everything he’s learned as a filmmaker so far at this film, and it’s that accumulated technique that makes it all so effective. Penn has finally matured as a filmmaker, and I think he’s given Emile Hirsch a real gift here. It’s got to be good for the kid’s soul to have done this, a film that’s all about location and genuine experience, just before he headed to Berlin to sit on a greenscreen stage for six months for SPEED RACER. No matter what happens with this film at the box-office or in the awards derby that some people think is so important, I think Penn’s made a film that will last, an experience that audiences will continue to discover over time. After the screening at Paramount, there was a small reception, and I had the chance to talk to Penn for a little while. It was great to be able to express to him directly how deeply the film affected me, and it was obvious that Penn is personally invested in it, that he poured himself into it heart and soul. The more we talked, the more I got the sense that there’s a bit of Chris in Penn, and he understands what it’s like to be driven to do something that others might not understand. In this case, I’m glad he was inspired to follow this particular muse, and I suspect the film’s going to impact anyone who feels their own call to adventure when it hits theaters at the end of September.
I’ve got more stuff for you this week, including a couple of pieces about FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL, the film that took me to Hawaii at the end of May. It’s good to be back in LA for now, though, and I’m going to try to get through as much of this backlog of material as I can before I have to dig into my next creative project in a few weeks.
Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles
Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles
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My first post n I'm first, yep I know I suck
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Been looking forward to this since I saw the trailer. Oscar bait...but the good kind.
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Not sure I wanted to see anything that even compares to that story again but Penn's directing has been too interesting to not want to check this out.
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I always thought The Pledge was a terrific little film. Looking forward to it.
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This film won't be as good, but Jon is a difficult writer to adapt. Bring on Kingdom of Heaven!
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Aug 06, 2007 6:49:42 AM CDT
He was staggering in Dead Man Walking and Carlitos Way
by col. tigh-fighter
He is a fantastic actor. He just grates a bit on the ol' liberal do-gooder front. He means well!
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Chris McCandless was clearly mentally ill and would have most likely been diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder. Here's the criteria, "A pervasive pattern of detachment from social relationships and a restricted range of expression of emotions in interpersonal settings, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by four (or more) of the following:
neither desires nor enjoys close relationships, including being part of a family;
almost always chooses solitary activities;
has little, if any, interest in having sexual experiences with another person;
takes pleasure in few, if any, activities;
lacks close friends or confidants other than first-degree relatives
appears indifferent to the praise or criticism of others;
shows emotional coldness, detachment, or flattened affectivity -
and he was killed by Bigfoot. I seen it.
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I shake my head too many times during their movies.
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You sound like a real film reviewer. That sucks. "I was touched by this and longing for a father and that", I prefer "When Ripley was in the mech suit, it was awesome", a bit too grown up for the real film reviews I am. BREAKDANCE
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It seems from your review you read the book. Krakeur's account is very powerful writing! I couldn't put it down. You start out convinced the boy is mentally deranged, but come out just thinking he was pure of heart but incredibly naive. This is the movie I'm most looking forward to this fall. By the way, what's happening with the weekly matinees?
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So this the movie about the moron who starved to death a day's walk from civilization, right? The one Alaskan wilderness rangers talk about the same way democrats talk about Bush?
Pass... -
... I was in Prague last week, so no matinee. But I'm planning to catch up with HOT ROD and RESCUE DAWN this week at some point, and I'll absolutely write them up.
And, yeah, great book. The film just does it differently, and it's equally powerful. -
I hate actors who are pale copies of other actors.
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ANYTHING! ANYTHING!!!
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I have a schizoid personality disorder....
I completed my first proper stint of travelling at the beginning of this year and so in some small way can empathise with McCandless. Hopefully there's a pulsing wanderlust to us all. Unfortunately some people discount that as a fear of work and relationships etc. Really it's the knowledge that there's so much out there to see and experience and it's excrutiating that you'll never get to see it all. -
... that's so patently not true, especially in this film. I don't care what else Hirsch has done... in this, he proves that he deserves to be taken very seriously. It's great, great work.
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That's why I agree with the Alaskans. To go into any situation unprepared is one of the many definition of dumb. When a park ranger in Alaska was asked about McCandless, he said "Chris McCandless committed suicide." From another article, the writer wrote, "You'd have to be a complete idiot, they say, to die of starvation in summer 20 miles off the Parks Highway."
Why should we seek to elevate someone who wanders into the wilderness with no foreknowledge or even basic training to do so? It will lead to more young, stupid people dying needlessly.
This is not a great story about a man looking for himself...it's a cautionary tale about being prepared for the journey you wish to take and the consequences that will befall you when you do not think ahead. -
and she's still a bitch for betraying our soldiers. Sean Penn is a doushe, and I refuse to see any more of his movies, especially after his weekend visit to Hugo "Americans are the cuase of all our problems" Chavez. Well, Hugo and Sean, lets see how well your country does economically if america doesn't buy your shitty citgo gasoline anymore. Got a whole lot of other exports there do ya Hugo? Got anything anything else to get you elected besides anti america bashing? You and sean penn can keep each other.
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is it just me or does the trailer look really bad, over the top super drama queen stuff with hirsch looking like they just picked some prettyboy face and dusted him up to make him look like a traveler? but... i love penn and trust you mori so i guess i'll take a look?
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chavez was elected to bring power back to his people, not because of anti american rhetoric, that came after the US goverment decided to kill him because he was not letting them roll all over his country anymore. see US likes to keep countries like venezuela in their pockets so we can get cheap gas labor and just have bushies big business buddies make tons of money off of them, so if you like rich fat cats getting away with exploitation and abuse down south then continue spouting hate but try to understand what it is you are fighting for
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see, guys like harold maude like to keep their populations uneducated and poor, and claim that they're giving power back to their people, when they really don't. that country still lives in poverty while the people in power still roll in the money from the oil sales, without actually reinvesting the money back into the country. Then, when guys like chavez come to power, they can then blame the fact that money doesn't trickle back to the people on the U.S. That way, socialist pricks like chavez can stay in power for however long they want, without actually having to give the money back to the people, and say that the U.S. rolls all over everyone. Chavez is a prick, so is Penn, and i'm sorry, I happen to like having upward mobility in this country. Has Chavez given that to his people? no, he's given them nothing but a bunch of anti-U.S. rhetoric.
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in venezuela. The poverty rate has hovered anywhere from 40 to 50% in venezuela, depending on how well oil is selling on the market. So even though chavez got elected on a platform of helping his country's "poor," would appear he hasn't done shit for them in eight years. Gotta love socialism.
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chavez is reinvesting, in his people. Chavez uses the money from all those oil companies to provide subsidzed food education and jobs to the poor of venezuela and he gives free gas to the US poor as well. maybe he should just keep letting some rich foreigners take their oil wealth out of the country. chavez already told the US if they attack him he will stop providing oil to US which he is our 4th largest provider. that is him trying to protect himself since all US cares about is oil (iraq)
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Saw the trailer during Sicko, not knowing anything about it, and was intrigued. Thanks for the review, Mori - it was one of your best. I'd make the journey to Alaska myself but THE MAN won't give me a year off. Wait, I'm self-employed ..
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Aug 06, 2007 10:52:37 AM CDT
As a rule, I watch anything Sean Penn is involved with
by bringingsexyback
Even that movie with Nicole Kidman was pretty good. Not great, but more entertaining than Spider-Man 3 was. As for this Hugo Chavez debate .. I hope the wingnuts are aware that the US backed a failed coup against him only a few years ago, at the height of the Bush Admin / Right-Wing's power-drunk stupor. So what Chavez said about Bush was correct. He's not Anti-American, he's Anti-Wingnut.
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I'd go to Alaska but I can't do without AICN for even one day.
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That's peculiar.
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and Pikagreg as the sexy green stripper alien. Discuss.
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educate yourself cunt. You seem like the kind of guy that supports today's soldiers, just to let you know, it's their choice to go and 'fight', if they get blown up, killed, that's their own problem. Like severed head of state says "No tears will be shed for the soldiers of war returning in bags". Fight a real cause then get back to me.
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Weta's CGI is so good that their soldiers are CGI and can actually kill, that's Jackson's army. Pixels. Photorealistic Pixels.
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Is what our government has to do to get oil. Here's an idea:
Lets drill here in the U.S., we have oil we just can't drill because of endagangered mashland animals....Pick a damn side democrats and republicans...renewable fuels just don't fall out of the sky, its going to take time..and until then we are going to be in hostile confrontations with other countries over oil because they don't like us....Its a vicious circle that can only be stopped by taking responsibility that all americans are preconditioned hypocritical materialists obsessed with instant gratification....
Career Politicians are our downfall -
maybe they do fall from the sky
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I think Sean Penn is a great actor and I like Emile Hirsch. I think he was very good in ALPHA DOG. I also think SPEED RACER will make a mega star. I just can't wait to see how that pans out.
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You didn't say you were gonna tell us the kid dies! I'm sorry, but that's kind of a doozy. Well, I guess I don't need to see this in the theatres now. You owe Sean Penn $12.
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It stands to reason that these alternative fuels won't really take a firm hold until the oil companies can figure out a way to transform their business model. If anyone wants to be at the forefront of the "new fuel/technology age", it's the oil companies. Trust me, as soon as they figure out a way to make it work for THEM, it's on. (At least that's my little theory.)
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The book starts out telling you he dies. It makes the story that much more tragic, knowing that he'll meet his doom. I was wondering if they would advertise the movie the same way as the story - telling you he dies in the end. And you pinkos can argue about pikagreg, and his hate for Hugo Chavez, but just remember, he couldn't write that in Venezula without fear of reprisal. I suggest you who love Chavez so much move there.
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I think Mori reviewed it once. Great doc. All the major car companies - no exceptions, including the Japanese - killed the electric car with pressure from the oil industry. Better than hybrids, we need that technology back.
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And are you kidding me? I have a fear of reprisal when writing shit about Harry.
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'I suggest you who love Chavez so much move there.'
Well said man, in fact I live in Venezuela and all of you assholes talkin' about Chavez and how he fights for his people should really come in here and see for yourselves how we live here. How you are afraid to go out at night because of the freakin high crime rate, dude, more than 100 people die on a weekly basis on violent crimes alone, check the unemployment rate, etc,
Oh and you should see the government people, their luxury lifestyles, their cars, houses, etc, socialist revolution my ass. I guess that from there you can imagine how a beautiful paradise this socialist country is, fighting the good fight against the US, dude give thanks to god you were born there and not in one of our guettos. -
Yeah, I've seen it work, too. Dan "Big Red" Rather drove around in a cell car that had a top speed of 100mph, a range of 200 miles, and emitted nothing more than water (clean enough to drink) as exhaust.And I've also heard the near-urban myths that the US military had demonstrated the ability to run vehicles on butter!The technology is definitely here and the methods with which to begin implementing it are just now being realized. But I agree, it will not really happen until the oil magnates figure out a way to monopolize it. After all, that is how they will stay in business...
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Aug 06, 2007 12:51:54 PM CDT
Gaius - that car was featured in WHO KILLED THE ELECTRI
by bringingsexyback
C CAR documentary. Check it out. See ya later, I'm moving to Venezuela for the hot girls and socialism.
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Aug 06, 2007 1:17:23 PM CDT
The Girl Next Door Made Hirsch A Star...And Fuck Chavez
by darth fabulous
I don't care what your political leanings are...why does Sean Penn need to go visit a Venezuelan dictator? What is that going to accomplish? He should save a trip next time and just meet Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a summit at the UN. Or maybe Cuba? Viva la fucking Revolucion! I wish I could nationalize transnational oil companies, keep the government's portion of the profits for myself and my cronies and keep the 37% living below the poverty line there where they belong.
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Socialist chicks have to give it up to everybody.
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Ummm Mori, I hope you are aware that Kristen Stewart did not play a boy in Panic Room. She played a girl named Sarah Altman. Meanwhile I am really looking forward to this film and your statement that it is as good as Indian Runner leaves me with high hopes. Indian Runner is a terrific movie. Of course my opinion might be biased because I am a major Bruce Springsteen fan and the video that Sean Penn did for Bruce's song, Highway Patrolman using shots from Indian Runner is, in my opinion, the best Springsteen video ever made.
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Side note: Just watched Letters from Iwo Jima yesterday. Thumbs up.
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It's also 'so patently' my opinion, Drew. And, in my opinion, there are a lot of young actors running around who look like other established actors - and sometimes act like other actors, too, copping their mannerisms and facial expressions. When I saw this guy in THE GIRL NEXT DOOR (which was all-around dreadful), I thought he looked and acted like DiCaprio; I believe that factored into why they cast him, and I haven't really bought him in anything else I've seen him in since. I think it's awesome that you love this guy in this movie, and maybe he'll do something for me this time. Sean Penn directed it, Kaki King plays on the soundtrack - there are many reasons for me to see this film. Emile Hirsch is not one of those reasons. I'll give him a chance. But, I'm pretty sure I'll still have the right to not take seriously an actor that you really, really want me to like.
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Have you seen Blood Diamond? Fantastic movie that deserves any Oscar accolades it got. Best career performance from DiCaprio and Djimon Honsou was incredible.
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I need a vacation from Shia.
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I work with a left -wing moonbat from Chapel Hiil. The other day I heard talking about how Chavez is "bringing power to the people"
I asked if by "power to the people" he means: ruling by decree, abolishing any term limits, shutting down television and radio stations that might be critical of you, abolishing the poitical opposition party, and firing all government workers who are not onboard the "socialism or death" platform. He had a confused look on his face, and he went back to listening to his Alex Jones conspiracy pod cast. -
Damn, I'm stupid. That's what I meant. Great Book, forgive my fudging the title.
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and he gotta crack some heads to do it. Vive la Revolucion!
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Well, there is something to be said for the balance of the global economy. A seismic shift in the nature of a global resource paradigm could mean catastrophic consequences for other nations.Let's say the US finally cracks the "How to Implement the Alternative/Clean Fuel Code". It gets monopolized by the oil industry (saving their asses and those of their shareholders), it's made affordable to the average consumer, and America suddenly takes charge of the new Earth-friendly green-technology revolution. What happens to those nations whose oil-based economies begin to see a drastic decline in the export of their only commodity? (Nevermind the fact that this particular resource was already marked for extinction long ago.) Someone is going to get left holding the bag.
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Aug 06, 2007 2:23:01 PM CDT
Nations with oil-based economies might use their own
by bringingsexyback
natural resource to develop their infrastructures. Unheard of, I know. Even if the West were to implement new energy technologies and reduce reliance on oil, there will ALWAYS still be a need for oil, as well as any energy source, until it is depleted. The oil companies are saving electric car technology for the day we finally run out of oil, then you'll see electric cars everywhere. We are but sheep at their mercy. Vive la revolution!
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..he had the ring he wanted thrown into the fire. I can see Chavez saying, "The precious! The precious!"
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The guy is so grim and takes himself so seriously. Lighten up! The movies he directs are so depressing.
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Cheney and Emma Watson as the Chancellor of Germany. Discuss.
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... one must first take it away.And with that, I nominate myself Emperor of the Known Universe. Thank you.
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The universe is in balance. Vive la Revolucion!
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I love how Chavez Senior Prick Face gives a speech at the UN saying how disgusted he is at seeing all the cars driving around with one person in them.
That is really funny, seeing how he is one of the one of the world's biggest oil producers. If he is such a steward of the environment, how about using Ethanol instead like Brazil?
Oh, that is because, being socialist and making some Bush Jokes = pass from liberals on the environment. Much like Gore gives China a pass, even though they emit more emission that the US does now. Welcome to Crazy World..
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"under the banner of heaven" is a terrific book, made even more interesting when you live in Utah. The mormon church has told their members not to read it, because it is not "faith inspiring." interestingly enough, just recently there was a poll in the local newspaper where members of the mormon church have said they don't want their history sanitized.
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No mention of the movie - just Chavez and electric cars!
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Just so you know.
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I would love to have Ginnifer Goodwin as a 3rd wife. Fucking hot ass in a nice girl package.
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No pain or fear required. Just make it cost the same or cost less. Instead of "carbon taxes" give more "green tax breaks". If people had a choice of having the money they spend on powering their car go to farmers in the midwest or brazil, or going to President Tom in Iran to help him with the costs of his next "Holocaust Seminar", I think they will choose wisely. By the way, The Bratz: The movie talk back is now on the subject illegals using federal programs
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Just like Shia Lajew they're both little boys.
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His personal loss of his brother aside which must hurt him very much, seriouslly. Most people, can laugh at themselves. Even in puppet form. But Sean Penn, in the way he reacted (or over-reacted) to the Team american skit is indicitive of why I cant stand the guy. What happened to him in his life that he ended up a sour-puss. I dont agree with name calling normally, but the title Posion penn seems apt. I loved his performance in Richard Nixon and thought he should have won the oscar for it. He seemed perfect for it. He always looked so wound up. I think he has gone too far with this whole chaves business.
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seen it. wasnt bad. Got tired towards the end. and a bit repetitive.
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must be a real barrel of laughs. I dont think.
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and Karl Rove and Fox know it. Before you point fingers at Sean Penn, first point them at Sean Hannity.
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He read too much Charles Bukowski.
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Sounds like Penn knocked this road movie out of the park...
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... I don't believe we need a "world-wide, all-encompasing catastrophe" at all. In fact, that's what would disrupt the global balance of economy and bring about the catastrophic consequences I hinted at earlier. That's what we don't want. What is needed is a reasoned and efficient implementation of the new technology (fuel) so that it's quickly absorbed into the mainstream. In my opinion, the best case scenario is for the conversion to happen in mid-stride.I think the urge to get this alterna-fuel ball rolling is already there. It's primed and ready to go. All the industry (and government) has to do is show that it works, that it's convenient, and that it's affordable. When they start making it readily available (like the CD, the cellphone, or the Hybrid) people will flock to it. Rolling it out across the rest of the world might be a bigger problem. But I don't believe it's one that mankind can't solve.
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along with his buddies Mahmoud Ahmadienjad, and Fidel Castro. Oh, I'm so stupid for thinking so!! So fucking Eurocentric!! Such a product of institutional western bias!! Gnashing of teeth!! Self flagellation!! If I only understood!!
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He also chose HD-DVD but would not tell me why. He used to have 7000 myspace friends but he had them all killed or jailed because they became political dissidents. Now he just surfs AICN looking for this years Little Miss Sunshine.
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I may send Dale Gribble after him.
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that's right.
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You may be right. But I think it's high-time we start believing in humanity because there is no one out there who can help us but ourselves.
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it's all well to bang the drum about sean penn, dictators, and, uh, oil, but the real frustration here is this is another story about a dumbass who goes into the wilderness with rose-colored glasses. i get so frustrated with the glorification of people like that. remember the rockclimber who was climbing alone, got his arm stuck in a crack and fucking amputated it himself? and it was like 'when's the movie coming out, what a hero' but the truth is that no responsible climber climbs alone, and now the dude's got a plastic arm. well done you. there's a difference between a kerouackian journeyman and a fool who's basically saying 'bear, please eat me, i am the weakest member of the herd.' i would say it sends a bad message if anybody gave a shit about the message, but i know nobody really does, so i'll just say it's a really aggravating thing to glorify.
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i love the clear directness of his work and am literally holding my breath for some intrepid filmmaker to tackle 'under the banner of heaven,' which is undoubtedly one of the most horrific things i've ever read.
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Especially those that sympathize with Chavez only because of his anti-Bush rhetorics. Now, don't do like Sean Penn that spent his vacations on a 5 star hotel and protected by the country's national guard. Also, stay away from the snobbish east side of Caracas, dammit! Go stay some place in downtown Caracas. You'll love it there. Oh, those that support Chavez love Americans, just make them understand you don't like Bush.
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i meant that shooting a flashy movie (never mind the low-key style, anything involving sean penn is flashy) about it is glorifying it...
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In America ,as this book and movie prove, we continue to reward the stupid and weak (not that being ill makes you weak). The great land of the mediocre and where simple is ,oh so good. Go to sleep America your goverment is in control. By the way I do love this country ,but damn it stop the stupid.
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what paradigm shift ever came about without it?
Hello, the thing we are using now, the internet.
And BringingSexyBack, nothing, I mean nothing, that Hannity ever did will reach the heights of moronic self-importance as Sean Penn's "fact finding mission" to Iraq. If I have to explain why then you need a live at home therapist. -
It is a waster of good suffering. So says Pinhead.
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... I guess I could just eliminate everything else and get right to the "THUMBS UP!" if that would make it easier for you. I'm sorry I actually put time and energy into crafting a review that tries to place the film in a larger context or that tries to set it into the continuum of the careers of the people responsible for it. How silly of me. How very fucking silly indeed.
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... it's thirteen paragraphs. The first is just Sean Penn. The fourth picks up the actual film. And the rest deal directly with the movie. So your example is "clever," but it's also sort of full of shit.
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... I can only imagine how incredible Alaska is in person. The people I know who have been seem slightly humbled by it when they return.
And I'm not "bent out of shape," per se. I just think it's a cheap shot that Bodet posted, and inaccurate. If that review above is me talking around the subject aimlessly for, as he put it, "4 pages," then I'd like to see what he considers focused. -
I read the book years and years ago, and always viewed McCandless as either mentally ill, or a pompous asshole. I was afraid Penn would make him a kind of romantic hero, and apparently he has.
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Unbelievably great work by Eddie Vedder and Sean Penn. I need this soundtrack ASAP. Vedder howls like I imagine the Alaskan wild to sound. This movie could be no less than very good, but Vedder's music makes this move great. Emile Hirsh does a fine job, Hal Holbrook will make you cry. Great American movie.
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She is so damned hot, I want a taste of Alaska through Jewel, if you know what I mean.
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I haven't read the book, mostly because of the self-imposition of the author into the story. It might be a great device, but that is one of the things I dislike about our current hierarchy of writers; the hype of the author as opposed to the work itself.
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Mori really makes a great effort to give us a thorough, thought-out, insightful review, only to have it demeaned and ridiculed unfairly. But Drew, you should know that TomBodet just likes to hear himself type, nothing personal about it. He's queer that way.
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But I would sleep with her if I had too.
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this kid is about to get his thunder stolen. I'm glad Emile is making real, entertaining movies. Alpha Dog was surprisingly good, and he was great in it. I'm watching this movie just for him, Sean Penn is just a plus.
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Venezuela with Sean Penn and Danny Glover by the subject line of this here story. I love Sean Penn! What a commie! What a traitor to his country. First her married madonna and then he went "red"...at least he used to know how to throw a decent right hook!
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with that "taste of alaska" line...do I hear NEW AICN CATCH PHRASE ANYONE?!?
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Jesus, even the left wingers make fun of this asshole. Penn, a p.r. parasite, kindled the arrogance to remake ALL THE KINGS MEN which turned into another one of his commercial flops.
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wasn't all the king's men more notable for being Jackie Earle Haley's comeback vehicle which has thus far led to play motherfucking Rorschach. Worth it existing I say.
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While I don't think Krakauer glorified this idiot, it seems pretty obvious that what Penn's doing.
Like Treadwell, McCandless was warned MANY times that he was committing suicide by not respecting what he was getting himself into. Both, in my opinion, got exactly what they deserved and neither should be romanticized as idealistic, courageous or brave. Arrogant, irresponsible, self-righteous and stupid are more appropriate adjectives for anyone who runs off to Alaska from somewhere else and ignores the warnings and advice of the people who have lived and survived there. Come to think of it, those adjectives seem to increasingly describe Sean Penn as well. -
shia is making some big movies. and transformers wasn't entertaining? what the fuck?
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I disagree that Alaskans in general would see McCandless as tragic. I think most would lump him with Tredwell as as someone who, either through mental defect or outright stupidity, didn't respect nature and paid for that lack of respect with his life. McCandless falls into the same category as the dozens of people who go hiking in Alaska every year without taking the necessary precautions and have to be rescued when they get lost or hurt. There's nothing tragic about that. It's the inevitable result of arrogance.
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Then pay my money to see this pile of crapola
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...who meets with some maniac dictator and gets taken hostage. Some right wing actor or talk show host will personally attempt a rescue and also get taken hostage. Then, they have to team up to escape. It's one of those, whaddya call 'em, buddy pictures.
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...their both stupid. Got it! Left wing actor rescued by right wing country singer. What could be stupider than that?
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They're both stupid. Stupid lack of edit feature once again wrecks poetic justice on the bored and snarky.
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"An actor? Is it that Tomas Hanks? He is muy likable!""No, your rebelliousness. It's--""Is Matt Damon? Bourne, perhaps?""Not exactly, you Che Guevaraship--""It cannot be Al Pacino? Scarface himself to meet me?""It's Sean Penn, sir.""Ah! Bond. James Bond!""That would be Sean Connery. Sean Penn is...Spicoli.""Even better! People on luudes should not drive, eh? Eh? Ha-ha-ha! Awesome, totally awesome?""Yes, sir.""He married Madonna. Evita Peron herself. Will the First Lady be accompanying Presidente Penn?""No, sir, they are not--""Antonio, that is not the answer I want to hear. You know what happens when I hear the answer I do not want to hear. Now, will Madonna be visiting with her husband?""Uh, yes, El Presidente.""Excellente! Excellente! Perhaps, I can get her alone. Ah, if only Al Pacino were coming. To steal Michelle Pffeifer from him would be the greatest victory for our way of life!"
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...and the guy that got eaten by bears. They think they're A-OK. In fact...Alaskans? That's different.
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McCandless was not naïve. He was warned repeatedly how dangerous it was to hike into the Alaskan wilderness alone and unprepared. He ignored the warnings and went anyway. I do agree that Treadwell was by far the bigger asshole, though. (Sorry to speak ill of the dead but really, that guy was a douche.) The reason I lumped them together is because they have both been portrayed by Hollywood as innocent idealists when, in fact, they were either mentally ill or incredibly stupid. I think Krakauer's book leaves that question kind of open-ended regarding McCandless but whichever the case, he had no more business in the Alaskan wilderness than Treadwell did playing with bears. Nature didn't kill them; they killed themselves as surely as if they had jumped off a cliff. They would make great cautionary tales if they were portrayed the way they really were: reckless. Instead they are both deified as enlightened and in harmony with nature whey they were anything but. Nobody's making movies romanticizing people who jump off cliffs (excluding the documentary about the people who jump of the Golden Gate) so why do people romanticize these two?
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Soylent, I think you were more likely to realize how dangerous Treadwell's situation was because you'd been to Alaska and heeded the caution and warnings of the people who lived there regarding bears. Treadwell wasn't romanticized as much as McCandless but I've still heard the movie described as a "tragic tale" or about the "unfortunate fate" of a "remarkable man". I think the overwhelming feeling in Alaska is that it was more of an inevitable end to someone who refused to listen to warnings about the danger of what he was doing.
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yeah, shia was about the only entertaining part of transformers. I like him, but come on, judging from those pictures his role in indy 4 is going to suck...i would have liked to have seen him in something more substantive. Nevertheless, Emile should be (and hopefully will be) getting just as much, if not more credit for his work.
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Werner Herzog = Hollywood, UnCool...
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I love being different places, I just despise the getting there part intensely. Teleportation can't come fast enough for me...Oh, and this movie looks good.
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Trazadone's not just my favorite hangover inducing sleep aid, he's a guy with good points. The protagonist stikes me as mentally ill much like Treadwell although it isn't as obvious or at least not obvious in the same way. There's a lot of things that pull us into the wild and they're not all easy to put your head around. Sounds like a good movie.
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who couldnt make a good movie if castro gave him advice
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Aug 11, 2007 3:24:08 PM CDT
Sean Penn went INTO THE WILD to find his sense of humor
by mrmysteryguest
'Nuff said.
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Aug 11, 2007 3:26:22 PM CDT
Hugo Chavez is the ugliest man on the face of the Earth
by mrmysteryguest
He's someone Jack Kirby would've drawn as one of Darkseid's minions. :P
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his sense of humor, but found Chris Rock making fun of him (Jude Law couldn't be reached for comment).
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This movie looks pretty good, I just watched the trailer at www.intothewild.com, I'm happy to see that it got such a good review here.
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of an episode of MILLENNIUM Season 2.. I think the name of that episode was "Luminary"
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