...Where the Sidekick Deserved the Oscar and the Lead's Salary

 

Source: 10 Book-to-Movie Adaptations That Outshone Their Source Material (startefacts.com)

Saving Rooster Tobey Maguire

 On a regular basis (every workday and sometimes even in the weekends) I do a search for anything new Tobey. With Tobey being very happy in the background news tends to be slow and repetitive. Today however I found a new website and it's surprising in a number of ways.

First of all, surprising thing is, it has its origin in German and I read the whole article in German without too many problems. I'm proud of myself. Though I needed a second reading to get the whole story. 

The second it's not actually about the Tobey Maguire I'm searching for, but rather another Tobey Maguire. 

Third, it's about a rooster, Tobey Maguire the rooster. I love chickens, roosters usually not so much, because they tend to be much more aggressive and quite loud, very early in the morning. I don't like aggression and I don't like to be woken up very early in the morning. 

The fourth surprising thing was, once I finished reading the article, I was invested. Now I want to know on a regular basis how Tobey is doing. This rooster just seemed uncharacteristically endearing. After reading his story, or what they know about his story, I couldn't help but feel bad for the poor animal. In the end, to me, he's a bit like the Tobey he was named after. For both I wasn't sure at first; neither of them seemed naturally particularly nice, but in the end they both won me over. And both turn out to be quite sweet, actually....

Does that make sense? Probably not, but I don't care and I'm sticking to it. It must be in the name...

I just realized another similarity, they both had difficult youths, but with a bit of help eventually blossomed.

Yeah, I don't know. Let's not think too much about it and just enjoy both of them.

Here is the article: DIE RETTUNG von Hahn Tobey Maguire

Note: The article is in German, so you either need to be able to read German or use Google translate. I guess I could add a translation here, but I'm not even sure how many people are going to read my blog or the German site.

Babylon review

 As you can guess I was looking forward to seeing Babylon, the new Damien Chazelle movie, because, you know, Tobey. I’ve been watching the trailers, featurettes and reviews ever since the first trailer was released and ever since the first screenings were held. The mixed reviews at first worried me, because they were not quite all over the place, but in extremes. People either loved or hated the movie. Over time, as I watched and read more reviews, it started to intrigued me. I read and watched the reviews carefully, comparing other people’s notes and opinions. There’s something interesting happening here.

 Because I’ve seen so many reviews I had some expectations, but I tried to be careful. Mainly, because most reviewers avoided spoilers, which made getting the plot difficult. I didn’t want to walk into the cinema with an idea about the plot, more than that we got to follow five characters. My expectations did influence how I experienced the movie, but it didn’t necessarily spoil it for me. For instance, the movie wasn’t quite as extreme as I expected; there was definitely not as much nakedness as I expected. However, I might have been desensitized to nakedness through my slash fanfic writing and regular trips to spa’s and nudist beaches. Also, I’m European; usually more desensitized to a lot of things compared to Americans.

 The ending(s)

There are too many endings (not starting at the end to be contrary, but this is the one point most people talk about no matter if they liked the movie or not).

 Duration

The movie is too long. I only partly agree with that. The pacing for me was just fine; I wasn’t a moment bored and somehow Tobey, who appears to the end of the movie, managed to creep up on me. However, I watch a lot of Classic Doctor Who where the pacing can be that of a snail. So, don’t take my word for it.

 Performances

The performances are great by the whole cast. This is the point where I did experience some underwhelment. Obviously, in the trailers and featurettes, they showed the best clips and with that the best part of the performances. Tobey really shone in the trailers and it made me really look forward to his performance. Me being underwhelmed had nothing to do with Tobey’s performance; he really is brilliant. I just somehow expected more (quality, not quantity) from Tobey.

The person who underwhelmed me the most was Brad Pitt, because to me it felt like he was playing Brad Pitt. Diego Calva was great, especially since it was his first Hollywood (leading) role and he held his own among the more experienced big names. My favorite performance (besides Tobey’s) was from Jean Smart. She has some of the best lines and wonderfully funny delivery like (paraphrased): “To be a witness of moving pictures and magic…Ah, who am I kidding; look at these idiots!!!”

 The Extravaganza, gore and dirt

In one review someone said: “In some scenes, he goes too far and somehow doesn’t go far enough at the same time” I agree with that. And this coupled with another reviewer who said: “A Scorsese coke film by a squeaky clean director.” sums up the problem with Babylon, I think. It feels like Damien Chazelle put things in there just for shock value, but doesn’t understand how to do this engagingly, or something. I don’t know. It just didn’t quite work for me.

 Characterization

Several reviewers felt the characters weren’t explored quite enough. Especially Sidney Palmer, played by Jovan Adepo, and lady Fay Zhu, played by Li Jun Li, got lost in the movie. I think they were there to highlight the roles different ethnicities played in early Hollywood and maybe how they got sidelined? I don’t know, the movie is not really clear about what it wanted to say about these two characters.

 Story telling

Quite a few reviewers complained there’s not enough focus and therefore the storytelling is all over the place. I can see why people felt like that, but to me it felt like a natural (chronological) flow of people going through life. To me it felt like I (time) travelled with them into the talkies era till it all ended for every single one of them. I do understand the criticism, because it’s not always clear what a character is doing at a certain time or why a character is doing something at a certain time. The story can feel a little dislodged and random at times because of this. But isn’t that how life works as well?

 Legacy

It’s not the greatest movie I have ever seen, but it’s definitely not the worst either. I believe this movie will have some staying power and build up a cult following. I hope it will.

In one review the reviewer, who did not like the movie, said he would change his opinion if Damien Chazelle, in about 5 years time, comes forward and says (paraphrased): “I intented this movie to be meta and ironic in the light of today’s movie climate”. I think this might happen. Apparently Chazelle anticipated the mixed reactions and even welcomed it. And the movie climat is rapidly changing at the moment with streaming services taking over. Some reviewers pointed out we are in a similar transition right now and the box office results of Babylon are a result of this. In other words, this is a movie about suffering the fate of great transition itself suffering a similar fate of another great transition. That’s why I believe this movie will eventually be seen as a masterpiece.

The Pussy Posse in Babylon

 There is one thing I don’t like about Tobey’s behaviour (and his good friend Leo’s) and that is his insistence to go out with girls that are half his age or less. It’s creepy and weird. On the other hand, I am wondering what women my age still go out to clubs like the ones Leo and Tobey visit? I don’t anyway, not anymore. However, it does look like these two haven’t grown up much when it comes to going out and chosing their company. At least in Tobey’s case, they don’t have to be super models whereas for Leo that seems to be a must. That is full on Hollyweird.

 Just like everybody I’m (eagerly) watching the Babylon trailers and featurettes. Just like a lot of people I’m looking forward to seeing more Tobey.

 Yesterday, YT comments. Most comments are like: “Looks like a combination of <insert Leonardo DiCaprio movie> and <insert Leonardo DiCaprio movie>.”

 Most listed Leonardo DiCaprio movies:

-       The Great Gatsby;

-       Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

-       The Wolf of Wall Street;

-       The Aviator.

 One comment asked: “Why isn’t Leo in this?” and my reply would be: “Because Leo thought ‘I’ve already done this 4 times…Why don’t you cast Tobey? …. And Lukas!”

 When they were younger they were so proud in stating they were outside of the Hollywood clique. It’s also widely known they help each other getting roles. It almost looks like that is what happened with Babylon which puts two of them right in the middle of the clique with another one already there, just not in the movie. Their lifestyles might not be quite as wild as depicted in Babylon, but they still have their asses firmly planted in Hollyweird! HOLLYWEIRD!

Clear the Cobwebs

When was it announced Tobey was going to be Spider-man? If it was well after 1999, then this comment is hilarious:

"Ulrich is good, too, although Tobey Maguire's tone--tight, inward, controlled--is beginning to wear on me after this and "The Cider House Rules." It's time for him to make a dumb teenage comedy (not because I want to see it, but more to clear the cobwebs)." 

Source: Ride with the Devil movie review (1999) | Roger Ebert

And what we got was more "tight, inward, controlled" tone with a lot of cobwebs.

Tobey Rant - His Reputation (possibly Part 1)

 Every time I think my crush is diminishing I find something that completely endears Tobey to me all over again. Yes, I’m still talking about him with rose colored glasses on. But him coming to the rescue of a girl who lost her bikini in the ocean or his involvement with ServiceNow is just sweet and wholesome. You can’t disagree with that, surely.

 However, all the things written about him that don’t make him look good keep popping up from time to time. Funny thing about that is, there’s never much substantial evidence nor, if you look properly at it, it doesn’t actually put him much in a bad light. His occasional spats with paparazzi is a good example of that.

 One thing that pops up on a regular basis is, that he’s a diva. This is always based on accounts from exactly two people, Charlize Theron and James Franco. Looking into it (a little bit), these two have their own reputation problems and a lot more rumors of bad behaviour and not getting along with people. So, because Charlize Theron and James Franco had some problems with Tobey (and many other people) and that makes Tobey a diva? Right….

 The second point Tobey’s diva behavior is based on are his back problems and accompanying demands on the Spider-man 2 set. Asking more money, yeah, seems greedy. Asking to have a doctor present and have the amount of steps counted, seems to go a bit far. However, health is important, and some demands I wouldn’t mind accepting, like the doctor present on set. However, there are many more options he could have gone for, which in the end, I believe, he did go for, like changing his exersizes. He also apologized later and admitted he made a mistake.

I’m not going to say anything about him firing his agent shortly after. It might have to do with what happened then, but it’s also very possible it was just something that was bound to happen anyway. I don’t know what happened there nor why.

 Then there’s his poker history and rumoured bad behaviour around the table. I will say one thing, I do believe Tobey was the best player and a sour loser. I watched him play Connect 4 with Jimmy Kimmel and he was a bit too keen at some point almost playing before his turn. And from what I understood from an account from Tobey’s friend Houston Curtis, Tobey did demand Molly Bloom to bark like a seal for a $1000 tip. Apparently, he was trying to make a point that he felt she was taking away too much money from those games. I don’t know how that explanation is supposed to redeem Tobey. So by humiliating someone he was trying to make the point that she was greedy in a game he had originally set up to feed his own greed. Yes, that sounds great.

 I do believe Tobey wasn’t aware of the Ponzi scheme one of the other players was running, nor that the money he won came from that. I believe at that point Tobey had left the organization of those games completely to Molly Bloom and it makes sense he trusted she had done her background checks properly, because she was also the bank depended on clean noses. However, he could easily have paid up those $300.000 instead of the settled amount of $80.000. It wasn’t as if that would make him bankrupt.

 That’s the only gripe I really have with Tobey’s behaviour; his greed. Other than that, he seems like a normal man to me, trying to do the right thing. He tends to take some time out for his fans, he’s usually very nice and polite and he has tied his name to some charitable organizations and actions.

 And when you look at the dirt that comes up from time to time, it’s always the same short list of stuff, with questionable sources and/or pulled out of context.

 I omitted the whole Don’s Plum saga, because I still don’t quite understand what happened there. Also most people involved were very young and a lot of mistakes were made by all involved including Tobey. But they were very young and very naïve; I’m not willing to hold that over his head forever, nor any of the others involved.

James Leer

 It is safe to say I’m a dreamer. To me dreaming is not just a fun way of spending some of my time, it’s also a safe way of exploring social situations, of exploring new ideas, of exersizing my analysing of situations, people and ultimately myself. It’s a safe way of learning. Having said that, I’m aware it should not be the only way to do all that. And if I’m being honest, for me, it has also often been an escape from reality.

 I fantasized for as long as I can remember. When I was a young child, around 4 to 6, I had an imaginary friend named ‘Anders’. Reflecting on that, the name of my imaginary friend, tells you what I was grappling with at the time. In Dutch ‘anders’ means ‘different’. I was different from the other children I grew up with. Superficially that came down to me being adopted and being the only child in school with a brown complexion. On a deeper level, I had trouble relating to and connecting with the other children. I often played alone, not because the other children didn’t want to play with me, but because I felt more comfortable by myself. I did not engage much with other children, especially if they left me to my own devices.

 In an earlier post I wrote my next post would be about James Leer, and it wasn’t, though in my mind the last little post didn’t really count. I’ve been thinking about what I wanted to say about James Leer and couldn’t really find an angle that interested me. I had also forgotten why I decided to write a post about James Leer. It must have been something hidden deep inside me that already knew I needed to write this post. Yes, this post will be, partially, about James Leer.

 Let me first discuss the character of James Leer.

 James Leer is a character in the movie ‘Wonder boys’, which is based on a book with the same title written by Michael Chabon. The movie is about a professor, Grady Tripp played by Michael Douglas, who is a novelist and teaches creative writing at an University. One of his students is James Leer, played by Tobey.

 James is a enigmatic, brooding, quiet and dark character and Tripp’s best student. Nobody really knows anything about him and because of plot Tripp gets to spend some time with him. One of the first things we learn about James is that he’s a quick writer, because he comes up with his stories when he’s in bed and can’t sleep.

 This is my angle, because he sounds like a dreamer. I even dare to say he is making up stories when he’s not in bed trying to sleep, because he spins quite a few stories when Tripp asks about his life, like where he lives, or why he has a gun in his pocket. It doesn’t become clear why James doesn’t seem to be able to tell the truth and we never really get to know him. That’s for a great part, because the story is not about him, nor is it about what makes him tick. James is there to help kick start a process Tripp needs to go through. But there’s a story to James too.

 There are only a few things we can say for sure about James Leer: He’s the best writer in Grady Tripp’s class. He doesn’t connect, nor enage with any of the other students, except for with Hannah. And he constantly makes up lies and little stories, not just for his novels, but about his own life. To me it seems like a mechanism to keep people at arms length, a defense mechanism to avoid getting hurt perharps. However, he is very happy to stick to Tripp’s side when the story gets rolling. In the movie he even says: “I just wanted to stay with you for a little while.” We don't learn much about James, not just because he lies about his life all the time, but he needs some prodding to start talking at all, and then it's all "horseshit that leaves his mouth" as Tripp puts it.

 I suppose I relate to this character, not just for the obvious reason he tries to become a professional writer, but because of his relationship with the other students and because of his relationship with his professor. I also should admit to having lied about my personal situation to people. In 2008, for example, I was a mother of twins, two boys. I talked to other mothers about how my boys were doing. In another group, they never knew my real name and it took a little getting used to responding to ‘Noa’. As you can guess, I don’t have twin boys, I don’t even have children, nor is my name ‘Noa’.

 You could say James Leer held up a mirror for me, somewhat. My situation wasn’t exactly the same, nor was I ever as brave as James, nor did I ever manage to finish a novel. We both do like old music and old movies though, you know, the kind from the 40’s and 50’s. No, he was there to hold up the mirror to professor Grady Tripp and in the process it was made clear to me to get back to reality and to make some choices in my life, take charge.

I'm known for keeping people at arms length as well. In my case, you won't find out if you don't ask; the lying only happened in a brief period of my life, but yes it happened. Nor do I engage much with other people. I don't think I'm really known for my sunny disposition, but neither do people describe me as moody. Probably "scary" is more often used. I don't know. Not a 100% match, but still he pretty much held up a mirror for me.

It's only now sinking in, so this James Leer post was necessary. I need to kick this Tobey crush.

 By the way, the movie is about making choices. So....let's make some choices.