The Questionable Ethics of Rust Resuming Production

On Thursday, October 21st, 2021, actor Alec Baldwin pulled the trigger on what he thought was a 'cold gun,' a real gun on the set of a movie that is not loaded. Unfortunately, this particular weapon was loaded and when Baldwin pulled the trigger, a bullet struck Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and killed her. It also wounded director Joel Souza who was looking over Hutchins' shoulder as the shot was fired. Hutchins died on the way to the hospital. 

A subsequent investigation of the shooting still has not been resolved nearly one year later. Nevertheless, on October 5th, 2022, Director Joel Souza and the production team behind Rust, a western starring Alec Baldwin, will resume production of the film soon. The decision was made to continue after reaching a financial settlement with the family of Halyna Hutchins. Director Souza released a statement accompanying the announcement that claimed that resuming filming of Rust would be a tribute to Halyna Hutchins. 

Honoring Halyna Hutchins 

Regardless of the platitudes, resuming production of Rust is a cold and calculated business decision. For all of the supposed tributes and dedications to Halyna Hutchins, the cold hard reality here is that the people who invested money in making Rust want to make their money. Not only that, but the film now has a higher profile than it would ever have had had this on set tragedy not occurred. While we can only speculate about the motivations of the Rust production team, they can't escape the fact that Rust went from a likely candidate for the vast Video on Demand Rental market to a movie that carries a morbid curiosity around it. 

Of the many issues that must be wrestled with is the idea that due to the death of Halyna Hutchins, Rust has a higher profile than ever before. The New York Times, arguably the biggest of the big in American journalism announced the resumption of production on Rust in a Breaking News blast. That's coverage normally reserved for high budget blockbusters, not for obscure westerns starring Alec Baldwin. Prior to the death of Halyna Hutchins, most film consumers were unlikely to ever know Rust had been made. Now, with the tragedy, the film is front page news. 

Morbid Curiosity 

No matter what Alec Baldwin, Director Joel Souza, or the production team behind Rust says, the reality is they are capitalizing on the death of Halyna Hutchins. They can blame the media, they can blame the film consuming public for only wanting to see their movie out of morbid curiosity, but they can't escape the fact that any dollar made on this movie is now blood money. The entire profile of this film is now related specifically to this tragedy. 

Click here for my full length article at Geeks.Media

Classic Movie Review All About Eve

All About Eve (1950) 

Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz 

Written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz 

Starring Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm, George Sanders, Gerry Merrill, Marilyn Monroe 

Release Date October 27th, 1950 

Classic on the October 10th episode of the Everyone's a Critic Movie Review Podcast 

A question that plagued me as I watched and loved All About Eve for the 100th time was what the modern story equivalent of All About Eve might be. The original finds a cunning ingénue snaking her way into the inner circle of Broadway's elite with career advancement her sole motivation. I love Broadway, but it hasn't been as relevant recently as it was in 1950s where All About Eve occurs. The modern All About Eve would not be set on Broadway. Nor would it likely be set in Hollywood. No, the new All About Eve would center on the social media world. 

Today, the Eve of All About Eve would have come up as a fan of Logan Paul's Team 10 v-loggers or a fan of Charlie D'Amelio and her family. Eve would arrive at the Tik Tok Hype House and wait outside everyday in hopes that one of Charlie D'Amelio's family will see her dedication and introduce her to her idol. She would become Charlie's assistant and help film her Tik Toks and then, when Charlie could not make it to a big Hype House brand deal meeting, Eve would take her place and dazzle the owner of Bang energy drinks with her talent for branding his awful drink. 

Okay, that's not exactly a one to one comparison. It's more like what He's All That is to She's all That really. That said, I am just struggling for a way to bring the supremely witty, ingenious and utterly brilliant All About Eve into a context that might intrigue young people to watch it. It is my all consuming desire to get more people to watch and remember All About Eve so that they can experience the full breadth of the talent of Bette Davis and writer Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Together, Davis and Mankiewicz might rescue the concept of wit in the day and age of Tik Tok. 

Sadly, All About Eve remains bound to its New York in the 50s aesthetic. It belongs to a time when people were devoted to the New York stage in a fashion that today people are dedicated to a vast cross-section of media. The ambition of Eve remains timeless, that type of striving will never not be in fashion, but the circle that this Eve strives to be part of will never be the same. This witty, drunken, catty and brilliant circle, revolving around superstar Margo Chandler (Bette Davis), is lost to time. 

Perhaps that's the point? Perhaps the modern reflection of All About Eve is how a bad person with ambition still thrives while genuine talent, fondly remembered, recedes slowly but inexorably into time. Indeed, Bette Davis is the kind of talent who stuck around for a very long time, but well after her talent was most fondly remembered. She was the kind of actress who bravely accepted roles like Margo Chandler because her talent and smarts far outpaced any sense of vanity or perception. 

Indeed, many Eve Harrington's have come and gone over the years, they've found success but without respect. They were popular and idolized but never became icons. Their ambition brought them the trappings of celebrity minus the things that make life whole like the respect of ones peers or the secure notion of self that is so rare and valuable. The Eve Harrington's of the world spend their careers forever uncertain if they have actual talent or a bit of luck that could run out. 

That's perhaps the secret of Bette Davis, security. A secure sense of self. That is reflected in her performance as Margo Chandler. She wins in the end after briefly doubting herself by remembering that she's Margo Chandler, she has the respect of her peers, the love of the man of her dreams, and a tight circle of friends who see past her talent and what that talent can do for them. Margo needs not for ambition, people recognized her talent and she never had to ask for their attention, no seeking, no striving, a full arrival of a complete person. 

Similarly, Bette Davis didn't need to strive for respect, she had it from the first moment. She didn't need the adulation that some sought, she had the respect of peers and directors who sought to work with her even if they may not have liked her. They knew and she knew that she was the best at what she did. If they didn't like her, it was because she possessed incredible talent and she knew it. They couldn't do what they did without her but she could damn well do what she does without them. 

All About Eve is a story about duality, two performers as two contrasting states of being. Eve Harrington represents insecurity, a life built out of sticks and threads haphazardly strung together to create a life. Margo Chandler is self actualization, she's confidence. Margo is a life built on talent and accomplishment. It's a life built on an earned respect. And it's a life built around finding people who can similarly claim security and confidence and bolster each other's security and confidence. 

Click here for my full length review at Geeks.Media 

What I Saw at Fantastic Fest At Home

I would have loved nothing more than to travel to Austin, Texas to be part of Fantastic Fest as it unfolded September 22nd to September 29th. Sadly, I was not able to be there in person. Instead, I settled for covering Fantastic Fest At Home which offered selections from the Festival that were made available online. This included features and shorts, documentaries and a wild selection of new release movies that fit the uniquely avant garde reputation of Fantastic Fest. I've already had the chance to write about a pair of documentaries that I adored at Fantastic Fest, you can find my reviews of the wild A Life on the Farm and Lynch/Oz linked here. And I could not resist writing about the bizarre experience of the horror film All Jacked Up and Full of Worms, a full length review you can read linked here. 

But sadly, I can't write full length reviews of everything I saw at Fantastic Fest at Home so here are several capsule reviews of movies I saw at Fantastic Fest. Two of these I was lucky enough to interview the director of the movie and you can find those interviews on my brand new Sean at the Movies YouTube Channel linked here. Like, subscribe, share and all that YouTube stuff. 

Give Me Pity 2022 

Directed by Amanda Kramer 

Written by Amanda Kramer

Starring Sophie Von Haselberg

Release Date Unknown 

Played at Fantastic Fest 

Give Me Pity is a strange and bold movie that captures both the bizarre nostalgia of 70s and early 80s variety shows centered on celebrities and a fever dream of horrific proportion. Bette Midler's incredibly talented daughter, Sophie Van Haselberg as superstar Sissy St. Clair. There is no narrative per se in Give Me Pity, rather the film begins with Sissy St. Clair performing a lavish opening number for her very first variety special. 

Director Amanda Kramer never breaks the spell of this gauzy nostalgia. Instead, she introduces visual elements, dreamscapes and nightmare imagery that can lead you to your own conclusion about what you are watching. For me, I settled on the idea of Hell and how this character, Sissy St. Clair's version of Hell was being forced to perform in this variety show for eternity as her mind slowly begins to crack and madness begins to set in. Again, that's just my interpretation based on a surface level observation. I'm not writing a full length review of Give Me Pity only because I need to see it again to ponder the many, many layers of Meta and Irony and deeper meanings behind the many songs and skits in the movie. 

Sophie Van Haselberg is a revelation. She's incredible in this movie. I kept wondering why she looked so familiar and when I saw that she's Bette Midler's daughter, it clicked, I've seen her mom perform on shows not unlike the variety special in Give Me Pity. I can recall Bette Midler wearing similar costumes and crooning in the same way Sissy does in this movie. That's not to say that Van Haselberg is in her mother's shadow but rather that being Bette Midler's daughter adds a delightful layer of meta-commentary that requires another viewing to fully unpack. Give Me Pity is a must see when it becomes available. 

Give Me an A 

Directed by Anthology 

Written by Anthology 

Starring Virginia Madsen, Alyssa Milano, Milana Vayntrub, Rachel Torres, Regina Ting Chen 

Release Date Unknown 

Premiered at Fantastic Fest 

Wow! I really should leave the review as that one word, Wow! Give Me an A is the most in your face and pointed horror satire I've ever seen. Nakedly political, the anthology of short films from female directors with female stars makes serious points about the debate over abortion or, more specifically, about how the abortion debate is really about women's bodily autonomy. While the extreme voices would like to say this is about 'killing babies' or other such nonsense, the reality of the debate is about whether or not women get to make decisions regarding their own body. 

It's more than merely whether to carry a child to term. This debate in full affects whether women should be able to make any number of decisions about how they use their body. It's also about the rippling effect of these nakedly political decisions, masquerading as moralism, and the ways in which women's behavior are under attack, largely by a group of men whose oppressive conservatism, brought to its most powerful affect would prevent women from making decisions about their private lives, their healthcare, and other important aspects of THEIR life. 

Give Me An A uses a series of fiery and supremely intelligent short films to make these points dramatically, horrifically, through science fiction, and through a scathing satire that demonstrates both humor and a stinging rebuke of those who would stand in the way of women making their own decision about their bodies. This is one of the most exhilarating and exciting anthologies to come around in some time and a rare one that uses the form to make a trenchant and fearlessly political point. 

Find my complete article at Geeks.Media