Monday, October 7, 2013

More Ben...


Well, Ben's new movie Runner, Runner made a whopping $7 million as compared to Gravity which made $55 million. Of course you have to take in the fact that Gravity was a "big" movie, special effects and all while Ben's movie was... uh... well I don't know.

US magazine says "it's a clunker of a script and a star with little gravitas and charm" (referring to Justin Timberlake).

Most reviews criticize the screenplay but I always felt neither of the two leads, Ben or Justin, have much presence.
 
What's presence?

It's that factor that you really can't understand. It's why Cher is much more watchable than Miley. It's why Montgomery Clift is more watchable than Ryan Gosling. And it's why Matt Damon is more watchable than Ben.

Presence is hard to understand but it's definitely there. We all have friends that, when they walk into a room, everyone turns their eyes to them. It's that "something" as someone once said about movie stars. You can't explain it but you can see it.

Johnny Depp has it in The Lone Ranger while Armie Hammer hasn't. 

And then there's Meryl Streep who has more of it than anyone should be allowed. I remember when she finished a very dark movie, Sophie's Choice and went right into Silkwood, which revolved around a white trash woman who discovered a problem with a nuclear power site. 

She, and others, can hide themselves in their roles until you forget they are there, only the character is present. Timberlake can't do it, Ben tries hard.

But anyways, I'm anxious to see Gravity as I'm a big science fiction fan. Although I don't think I'll go to see Ben as Batman. 

And I wonder what Warner's is thinking now, that their choice for Batman has made a clunker, as they say in this town. And what that represents to the Batman franchise.

But there's more important things to think about for now...