Comments

1. mattyoung says:

   December 21, 2007 at 2:46 pm

   Oh, that’s hysterical!

2. mcbrennan says:

   December 21, 2007 at 10:32 pm

   Hey, I’d pay money to see that. He was great in Straight To Hell and Americathon.

   You know, I think I’ve just identified my own problem. You are a master of cinematic knowledge from Antonioni to the Bond and Bourne series to the Coen brothers and beyond. I am a master of cinematic knowledge from Straight To Hell to Americathon.

   • Todd says:

     December 22, 2007 at 1:59 am

     I dashed out to see Americathon on opening day, and was a manager of the theater in NYC playing Straight to Hell. In both cases, I thought the movie was going to be a big, big hit, but crickets heralded the release of both.

     The Coen Bros, I’d say, are very close to Elvis Costello in temperament (a fact they acknowledge by using him, incongruously, on the soundtrack to Lebowski). They have vast reservoirs of natural-born talent, they have soaked up knowledge and understanding of their media from a very early age, their works are dense, clever and overstuffed with references to their inspirations, and, in each case, their visions are probably too specific, inward and pessimistic to ever achieve true mass popularity. Rolling Stone, in the second addition of their Album Guide, referred to Costello as something like a “marginal but fascinating talent,” a choice of words that seemed dismissive and arrogant to me at the time, but which have since proven themselves prophetic.

     I would employ Costello as an actor in a flat second, but sadly his filmography is abysmal. His film roles are few, small, and not far-enough between. 200 Cigarettes is one of the few movies I’ve ever walked out of.

3. creepy_coyote says:

   December 23, 2007 at 3:54 am

   And “when did Tom Hanks start going bald?”

   Sorry… “receding hairline….”