The depth of your analysis is truly awe-inspiring. I didn't notice Glen Powell until Everybody Wants Some!!, but once I learned (probably from IMDb) that he was in The Dark Knight Rises, I immediately remembered which character he played. He said in a profile that he and Christopher Nolan are still in touch, and I would love to see them collaborate again. Also hope good things come Zoey Deutsch's way; her post-Everybody Wants Some!!/Set It Up career suggests that Hollywood has no idea what to do with female actors who aren't model-pretty.
Thank you so much for reading and commenting! Everybody Wants Some was definitely an attention-getter - and I love those moments where someone gets my attention and when I look them up I realize they had already made an impression on me in something else. like Great Debaters. and that stupid NCIS episode! I was like "oh okay this guy is really good".
Ooh, that actually happened to me with Adria Arjona. After watching Hit Man, I realized that she'd impressed me before in Triple Frontier. Need to rewatch the movie, but I remember her giving nuance to a small role that could easily have been disposable and stereotypical. Love those moments. Anyway, I don't think I've read your review for Everybody Wants Some!! yet, so I'm excited to check that out.
I think it's more a problem that ZD is naturally FUNNY and comedies just aren't something Hollywood knows how to do at all anymore! they're so great together in set it up - I'd love to see them pair up again. I highly recommend checking out Buffaloed - which nobody saw - but it was really good and she's the star! I reviewed it here! https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/buffaloed-movie-review-2020
I second that it's always a treat to see you do some deep dive star analysis Sheila. Also I didn't think I was all that attached to politeness but holy shit, this "discourse" about actor's looks is sour milk rotten. Calling men rats because what, they haven't had nose jobs? Leading an obituary of Donald Sutherland with "no one's idea of a heart-throb"? Am I blind? Were we supposed to think he was ugly? He WAS a sexy leading man. It's like people have become so used to seeing factory perfect nipped and tucked celebrities that they have no idea what an actual human face looks like, much less admitting that they might be more attracted to that than the other thing. Can everyone just be normal about sexual attraction, please? It's all so bizarrely aggressive.
Imagine a similar headline about "hot rodent girls". It's gross all around. Acting isn't just about being beautiful. And "beauty" now - the standard is fake. Gleaming veneers, plumped lips, etc. Brigitte Bardot didn't have/do any of that. Neither did Diane Keaton. Both were leading ladies. The homogeniety (?) of stars' looks now is really really weird - and something very recent. I follow an Instagram feed about late 90s/early2000s celeb culture - pre-internet - so it's Charlize Theron and Keanu Reeves and all of them partying at the Viper Room etc. - and it lOOKS different because these weren't filtered photos for Instagram - you see them just as people. Gorgeous, yes, but just people. The responses in the comments are all along the lines of ".... wow, everyone looks so real." It's really sad. and yeah "no one's idea of a heart-throb". speak for yourself. You're right. it's aggressive. It's like there's this idea we all need to AGREE. or someone's attracted to Mike Faist and these nimwits worry about "what it means" in the pages of US Weekly. (Meanwhile: Mike Faist is cute! and talented! he sings, he dances, he's a good actor - what is not to find attractive about him?) It's really weird and gross.
Veneers are not good! and having everyone look the same - even down to the hairstyles on women - is so disheartening. I remember Julianna Marguiles on ER with that wildly curly hair. Then suddenly she's doing something else and her hair is ironed flat with that little flip curl on the side, like everyone else has. It's like - the thing that makes her unique and memorable is deemed unacceptable by unimaginative suits, or PR people, or maybe even Julianna herself. Stars are INDIVIDUALS. Joan Crawford would have fired anybody who made her look like Bette Davis or Marlene Dietrich - these women were proud of being uNIQUE. I love that Patricia Arquette never got her teeth straightened. It's such a small thing but ... it makes her look like a PERSON, not some BOT. It's really bad out there right now.
Jack Black is super sexy! Sexiness isn't about looks, or about meeting some standard of beauty. It's about who you are!
It's really weird because on the face of it I wouldn't call Glen Powell "sexy" - but then I watch him dance - horribly and hilariously - in this one scene in The Set Up - and suddenly he's the most attractive person ever because he *does not care* about looking silly. I love that.
"I pay attention to such moments, moments when I get interested."
Felt that one in my bones.
But as always, it is a TREAT to read you go deep on specific scenes as you do throughout this essay. In the end, this is a guy who is terrifically entertaining and makes it all look so easy, and that's how you know he's a capital-m, capital-s Movie Star.
The great ones make it look like they're not working, which is the hardest work of all. Glenn Powell is awesome, and it'll be fun to see what comes. I'm locked in for Twisters on opening night.
He's interesting because just recently he was literally doing one television episode a year where he played a shallow rich prick, in whatever it was. Like, he wasn't even in the conversation. this is INTERESTING. and then suddenly ... Finnegan in Everybody Wants Some!! but the talent he showed in that role is not at all easily transferable to other parts. so it'll be interesting to see - I have hopes. He's good romantically, too - although he's only done a couple of those so far. He's good with women - so there's hope in that realm as well.
and yeah, he's just fun to watch. Not a lot of bull shit. pretty simple.
so far he's produced and/or created Devotion and Hit Man - which speaks well of his taste. Fingers crossed!
I did not know that! Yeah he's smart, he's after making what Cary Grant called "lying down money" meaning, you're lying in bed doing nothing and still making money. lol
The depth of your analysis is truly awe-inspiring. I didn't notice Glen Powell until Everybody Wants Some!!, but once I learned (probably from IMDb) that he was in The Dark Knight Rises, I immediately remembered which character he played. He said in a profile that he and Christopher Nolan are still in touch, and I would love to see them collaborate again. Also hope good things come Zoey Deutsch's way; her post-Everybody Wants Some!!/Set It Up career suggests that Hollywood has no idea what to do with female actors who aren't model-pretty.
Thank you so much for reading and commenting! Everybody Wants Some was definitely an attention-getter - and I love those moments where someone gets my attention and when I look them up I realize they had already made an impression on me in something else. like Great Debaters. and that stupid NCIS episode! I was like "oh okay this guy is really good".
Ooh, that actually happened to me with Adria Arjona. After watching Hit Man, I realized that she'd impressed me before in Triple Frontier. Need to rewatch the movie, but I remember her giving nuance to a small role that could easily have been disposable and stereotypical. Love those moments. Anyway, I don't think I've read your review for Everybody Wants Some!! yet, so I'm excited to check that out.
I think it's more a problem that ZD is naturally FUNNY and comedies just aren't something Hollywood knows how to do at all anymore! they're so great together in set it up - I'd love to see them pair up again. I highly recommend checking out Buffaloed - which nobody saw - but it was really good and she's the star! I reviewed it here! https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/buffaloed-movie-review-2020
Nailed it. Again. As usual. Amazing write up, Sheila.
thank you Cate!
I second that it's always a treat to see you do some deep dive star analysis Sheila. Also I didn't think I was all that attached to politeness but holy shit, this "discourse" about actor's looks is sour milk rotten. Calling men rats because what, they haven't had nose jobs? Leading an obituary of Donald Sutherland with "no one's idea of a heart-throb"? Am I blind? Were we supposed to think he was ugly? He WAS a sexy leading man. It's like people have become so used to seeing factory perfect nipped and tucked celebrities that they have no idea what an actual human face looks like, much less admitting that they might be more attracted to that than the other thing. Can everyone just be normal about sexual attraction, please? It's all so bizarrely aggressive.
Imagine a similar headline about "hot rodent girls". It's gross all around. Acting isn't just about being beautiful. And "beauty" now - the standard is fake. Gleaming veneers, plumped lips, etc. Brigitte Bardot didn't have/do any of that. Neither did Diane Keaton. Both were leading ladies. The homogeniety (?) of stars' looks now is really really weird - and something very recent. I follow an Instagram feed about late 90s/early2000s celeb culture - pre-internet - so it's Charlize Theron and Keanu Reeves and all of them partying at the Viper Room etc. - and it lOOKS different because these weren't filtered photos for Instagram - you see them just as people. Gorgeous, yes, but just people. The responses in the comments are all along the lines of ".... wow, everyone looks so real." It's really sad. and yeah "no one's idea of a heart-throb". speak for yourself. You're right. it's aggressive. It's like there's this idea we all need to AGREE. or someone's attracted to Mike Faist and these nimwits worry about "what it means" in the pages of US Weekly. (Meanwhile: Mike Faist is cute! and talented! he sings, he dances, he's a good actor - what is not to find attractive about him?) It's really weird and gross.
Right, I find Jack Black sexy, am I supposed to go ask the committee for approval for that?
I can't wait for the veneers trend to end. I never thought I could miss crooked teeth so profoundly.
oops, I mean Glen Powell dances at a party in Set It Up, not The Set Up - a film noir from 1949.
Veneers are not good! and having everyone look the same - even down to the hairstyles on women - is so disheartening. I remember Julianna Marguiles on ER with that wildly curly hair. Then suddenly she's doing something else and her hair is ironed flat with that little flip curl on the side, like everyone else has. It's like - the thing that makes her unique and memorable is deemed unacceptable by unimaginative suits, or PR people, or maybe even Julianna herself. Stars are INDIVIDUALS. Joan Crawford would have fired anybody who made her look like Bette Davis or Marlene Dietrich - these women were proud of being uNIQUE. I love that Patricia Arquette never got her teeth straightened. It's such a small thing but ... it makes her look like a PERSON, not some BOT. It's really bad out there right now.
Jack Black is super sexy! Sexiness isn't about looks, or about meeting some standard of beauty. It's about who you are!
It's really weird because on the face of it I wouldn't call Glen Powell "sexy" - but then I watch him dance - horribly and hilariously - in this one scene in The Set Up - and suddenly he's the most attractive person ever because he *does not care* about looking silly. I love that.
"I pay attention to such moments, moments when I get interested."
Felt that one in my bones.
But as always, it is a TREAT to read you go deep on specific scenes as you do throughout this essay. In the end, this is a guy who is terrifically entertaining and makes it all look so easy, and that's how you know he's a capital-m, capital-s Movie Star.
The great ones make it look like they're not working, which is the hardest work of all. Glenn Powell is awesome, and it'll be fun to see what comes. I'm locked in for Twisters on opening night.
He's interesting because just recently he was literally doing one television episode a year where he played a shallow rich prick, in whatever it was. Like, he wasn't even in the conversation. this is INTERESTING. and then suddenly ... Finnegan in Everybody Wants Some!! but the talent he showed in that role is not at all easily transferable to other parts. so it'll be interesting to see - I have hopes. He's good romantically, too - although he's only done a couple of those so far. He's good with women - so there's hope in that realm as well.
and yeah, he's just fun to watch. Not a lot of bull shit. pretty simple.
so far he's produced and/or created Devotion and Hit Man - which speaks well of his taste. Fingers crossed!
And he co-produced the new Blue Angels IMAX doc, which I’m told is GREAT!
I did not know that! Yeah he's smart, he's after making what Cary Grant called "lying down money" meaning, you're lying in bed doing nothing and still making money. lol