Hollywoodland

[KenK]

I'm not trying to be a smartass but this movie actually looks more interesting than Superman Returns.

Well for some of people, the George Reeves TV series is as much of a standard for all other live-action Superman incarnations as the Christopher Reeve films. And to this day, his death is one of Hollywood's biggest mysteries.

 

[TRWalter Kovacs]

it probably will be from an artistic view

 

[X-Punisher]

I'm seeing this movie.

 

[Mentok]

I didnt quite know what to think of this film. Nothing I had seen so far nterested me that much.up

The trailer is awesome though, I cant wait to see it now ::

 

[Dark Donnie]

Premiere Magazine posted a review of it, 3 out of 4 stars. They said Affleck is superb, i'll post the review if I can find it online

 

[Cinemaman]

^^^

Good news for good movie

 

[Triligors]

EDIT: NM, found it.

BTW, for those wondering- comingsoon.net has it has a 'limited' release Sept. 8th, while lots of other sites state that that is the wide release date for the film as well.

 

[aaron]

Premiere Magazine posted a review of it, 3 out of 4 stars. They said Affleck is superb, i'll post the review if I can find it online

I knew Affleck would rock this

 

[ROBOCOP CPU001]

If the Fleck is as good as they say..yo Oscars.. the Fleck is back!

 

[thealiasman2000]

This movie should be good because of it's good wrting and directing and interesting plot, NOT just because Ben Affleck is in it.

 

[ROBOCOP CPU001]

This movie should be good because of it's good wrting and directing and interesting plot, NOT just because Ben Affleck is in it.

the movie is improoved because of the Fleck!

 

[Cinemaman]

Official Poster

 

[Bad Superman]

Official Poster

Pretty cool!

 

[Sava]

Official Poster

love the tagline

 

[Bat Brain]

Official Poster

Great poster, it's got a nice old-school look to it.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Great poster,very old school

Edit: Damn me and Bat brain are sharing thoughts now

 

[Bat Brain]

Great poster,very old school

Edit: Damn me and Bat brain are sharing thoughts now

I'm frightened, will you hold me?

On second thought that would just make the whole thing weirder.

 

[skorponok]

Premiere Magazine posted a review of it, 3 out of 4 stars. They said Affleck is superb, i'll post the review if I can find it online

I must see this review

 

[skorponok]

Variety review

"Superman Kills Self" ranks as one of the most traumatic newspaper headlines of the 1950s to many Americans who were kids then, and the little-discussed sad and seamy aspects of the case are explored in "Hollywoodland." First-time scripter Paul Bernbaum's framing story, designed to stir up suspicion that George Reeves was a murder victim rather than a suicide, unfortunately proves far less intriguing than does the melancholy tale of a limited actor reaching the end of the line during a transitional period in Hollywood. Despite solid cast names and the notoriety of the subject matter, just moderate biz looms for this generically titled piece of Tinseltown self-reflection.
Real poignancy might have been wrung from the predicament of Reeves, a good-looking he-man type who started out prominently with a small role in "Gone With the Wind" but whose career did not soar until he started leaping off tall buildings in the '50s TV smash "Adventures of Superman." Even this inadvertent success was undercut by a certain feeling of ridiculousness, this on top of the fact that he was partly supported by an older mistress, the wife of a top MGM executive. At age 45 in 1959, there was the very real possibility that he was washed up, one more pretty face Hollywood had used and spit out.

Bernbaum uses the doubt that has swirled around the circumstances of Reeves' death as a framing device that serves to enumerate the other possibilities -- most prominently, that Reeves was whacked on orders from his scorned mistress's husband -- but that annoyingly distracts from the most flavorsome and involving matters at hand.

Adrien Brody rather frantically plays a young private detective, Louis Simo, who's close to washed up himself. Tipped off that foul play may have been involved in Reeves' death, Simo persuades Reeves' estranged mother (Lois Smith) to make a stink about an alleged cover-up, which puts the desperate dick at odds with civic powers-that-be.

Adding to Simo's woes is his separation from his wife (Molly Parker) and son (Zach Mills), who's withdrawn into a near-catatonic state over "Superman's" demise.

Simo's discoveries about and encounters with Reeves' intimates trigger flashbacks, although it soon becomes clear that Bernbaum should have taken a cue from "Citizen Kane" and realized that there was no need to beef up the investigator's story when the core material held so much more potential.

Pic begins clicking when Reeves, appealingly played with evident depth of sympathy by Ben Affleck, meets Toni Mannix (Diane Lane), showgirl-turned-BevHills grand dame who's all over Reeves within minutes.

The openness of Toni's marriage to Metro "fixer" Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins) is neatly illustrated in an amusing scene of the couple dining together with their respective lovers; the relationship between Reeves and Toni is a civilized and mature one with needs tended to on both sides; the only slightly eyebrow-raising element is Toni's purchase of a lovely Benedict Canyon home (for $12,000!) for Reeves.

Reeves takes the Superman role -- initially for a low-budget 1950 movie, "Superman and the Mole-Men," that a year later morphed into the TV show -- out of near-desperation at the insistence of his practical agent (Jeffrey DeMunn). Toni attends the shooting, both to support and keep a close eye on the new "star" -- and behind-the-scenes glimpses reveal near-Ed Wood-level production values, from the grungy gray-and-brown Superman costume to a flying rig that causes the Man of Steel to crash ignominiously to the floor.

Nevertheless, the show becomes a sensation, a universally shared experience for kids of the era. It's never stated how much (or little) Reeves was paid but, whatever it was, it clearly wasn't enough. He also suffered the curse of the public's total identification of the actor with the role, to the point where his taking other parts became nearly impossible.

All the same, pic errs in implying Reeves was cut out of "From Here to Eternity" due to a preview audience's reaction (a doctored clip from the 1953 Oscar winner shows Affleck in a scene alongside Burt Lancaster); Reeves received 21st billing for his brief part.

Eventually, Reeves dumps Toni and takes up with a younger woman, Leonore Lemmon (Robin Tunney). Trying to get to the bottom of the murder possibilities, detective Simo invades the Mannix home and has sporadic encounters with Leonore, enabling him to imagine scenarios in which Reeves is murdered by a Mannix goon and, alternatively, is accidentally shot by Leonore. It hardly supports the time given over to Simo's investigation that neither theory plays out very plausibly.

The film's strengths lie in the unstated assumptions and emotional undercurrents developed among Reeves, Toni and, to a lesser extent, Eddie Mannix, along with its unstressed but vivid portrait of a Hollywood still dominated by big studio grayhairs but in the midst of a major overhaul to youth and television.

Detracting are not only the mess of Simo's life but the lack of resonant period feel. First-time feature helmer Allen Coulter, responsible for many impressive episodes of "The Sopranos," "Sex and the City," "Six Feet Under" and "Rome," juggles the action competently but without real flair, and the drably brown images suppress the sort of strong atmospheric charge that can still be achieved on modest budgets, such as in "Auto Focus."

Along with Affleck's happy change-of-pace turn, Lane impresses strongly while riding the emotional rollercoaster from self-assured seductress -- she at one point acknowledges she's got seven years left to trade on her looks -- to devastated woman scorned. This is not Brody's finest hour, to put it kindly. Stand-out supporting work comes from Joe Spano, who with great subtlety suggests the supreme power of veteran MGM publicity man Howard Strickling.

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117931332?categoryid=31&cs=1

Big kudos to tha fleck

 

[skorponok]

Hollywood reporter review

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/reviews/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003019160



Hollywoodland


By Michael Rechtshaffen

Bottom line: This noir take on George Reeves' death has its high points but doesn't quite fly.


The prospect of recasting the 1959 death of TV's "Superman," George Reeves, as a noir murder mystery holds an undeniably intriguing allure, but despite some terrific performances and finely detailed period touches, "Hollywoodland" ultimately falls short of reaching the pleasingly pulpy heights of an "L.A. Confidential" or a "Chinatown" despite those obvious aspirations.

First-time feature director Allen Coulter, whose extensive TV credits include multiple episodes of "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City," effectively soaks up the tainted atmosphere provided by newcomer Paul Bernbaum's script, but there is a stifling lethargy hanging over the production that prevents it from ever taking on an organic life of its own.

With its release scheduled to follow a week after its Aug. 31 premiere at the Venice Film Festival, the Focus Features film will get an early head start out of the awards-season gate and a savvy marketing push, combined with the enticing subject matter, could yield some lofty business.

Known at one point as "Truth, Justice and the American Way," the picture finds a way into Reeves' life and disturbing demise through the investigation conducted by Louis Simo (Adrien Brody), a scrappy, low-rent private detective hired by Reeves' mother (Lois Smith), who refuses to accept that his death was a suicide.


As Simo plunges himself into the case, Reeves' life and times unravel in a series of alternating flashbacks, with a heavier Ben Affleck doing the honors.

Despite landing a role in no less than "Gone With the Wind" immediately after landing his first studio contract, Reeves is just another struggling actor at the outset of the 1950s, when television and a certain caped superhero first beckon.

Before the series begins to air, his private life also is looking pretty rosy as he embarks on a live-in affair with the older Toni Mannix (Diane Lane), whose husband, Eddie (Bob Hoskins), happens to be GM of MGM, not to mention an ex-mobster from New Jersey who hasn't exactly left his past ways behind.

For a while George is content being a kept boy, but by the time "The Adventures of Superman" runs its illustrious course, he has dumped Toni for the much younger Leonore Lemmon (Robin Tunney), a New York socialite and budding starlet. A year later, at age 45, he was found dead in his bedroom, succumbing to a single gunshot wound.

As Simo proceeds to connect the dots, "Rashomon"-style, he whittles down the motives to three possible scenarios: Reeves' death was a suicide, he was shot by Lemmon, or he was "taken care of" by Eddie Mannix in retaliation for hurting his wife.

Of course, nobody will ever know for sure, but all the guesswork makes for a compelling scenario. It's in the execution that "Hollywoodland" stumbles.

All that back-and-forth between Brody's investigation and the Affleck flashbacks doesn't always make for smooth transitioning, and though a hard-working Affleck gained 20 pounds for the role, he still doesn't have that convincing Reeves heft.

There are standout moments, though, that hint at a greater potential, including a personal appearance made by Reeves in front of a group of kiddie fans. One is brandishing what looks disturbingly like a real gun and is keen on finding out if bullets will actually bounce off of him.

But other aspects of "Hollywoodland" don't work, including the decision to digitally put Affleck's Reeves in a scene opposite Burt Lancaster during a screening of "From Here to Eternity," which comes across as a cute but distracting "Forrest Gump" novelty.

There certainly is no shortage of keeper performances, from Brody's hustling gumshoe to Lane doing her best Norma Desmond to Hoskins' casually menacing studio exec. And the fading luster of production designer of Leslie McDonald's declining Hollywood is evocatively matched by Jonathan Freeman's cinematography and costume designer Julie Weiss' period perfect wardrobe.

Hollywoodland
Focus Features
A Focus Features and Miramax Films presentation of a Back Lot Pictures production
Credits:
Director: Allen Coulter
Screenwriter: Paul Bernbaum
Producer: Glenn Williamson
Executive producers: Jake Myers, J. Miles Dale, Joe Pichirallo
Director of photography: Jonathan Freeman
Production designer: Leslie McDonald
Editor: Michael Berenbaum
Costume designer: Julie Weiss
Music: Marcelo Zarvos
Cast:
Louis Simo: Adrien Brody
Toni Mannix: Diane Lane
George Reeves: Ben Affleck
Edgar Mannix: Bob Hoskins
Helen Bessolo: Lois Smith
Leonore Lemmon: Robin Tunney
Art Weissman: Jeffrey DeMunn
Howard Strickling: Joe Spano
MPAA rating R
Running time -- 126 minutes

 

[skorponok]

IMDB User review

Excellent drama, compelling, and about as truthful as drama can be., 9 August 2006

Author: JimB-4 ([email protected]) from Hollywood, California


As someone who has spent a number of years preparing the definitive biography of actor George Reeves, I approached this film with great trepidation. I had previously turned down several offers for the film rights to my own book because I felt it unlikely that those projects would result in a film truthful to the essence of the man I had come to know so well. All I can say is that the makers of "Hollywoodland" came as close as is humanly possible in the real world of movie-making to achieving exactly what I would have hoped for -- an examination of George Reeves's life and death that is true to the times he lived in, true to the kind of man I found him to be, and as true as possible to the most likely scenarios that have been projected to explain his death. While this is not a biography nor a documentary, and while adhering to each and every fact of Reeves's life would have resulted in a film exactly as long as his life, the artists here have done a powerful and affecting job of telling Reeves's story, and have framed it in a fictional setting that illuminates rather than obscures the truth.

In any event, in any life, there is what happened and then there is the truth, and the two may not always equally serve our understanding of the event or life in question. It is true that "Hollywoodland" takes occasional liberties with specific facts, in no less way than Shakespeare took liberties with the real life facts of Hamlet or Julius Caesar. But as Alfred Hitchcock said, drama is life with the dull bits left out. What matters is not whether a costume is the right shade of blue or whether there's really a gas station at the intersection of Sunset and Benedict Canyon. What matters is whether the essence of a true story has been faithfully told. And "Hollywoodland" does a superb job of portraying that essence, who George Reeves was, what his world was like, and what impact he had on those who knew him and those who only knew of him. Allen Coulter, the director, has done a splendid job capturing the era and has paid enormous attention both to period detail and to the details of the lives of the real-life characters. Only Reeves's fans (and not even many of them) will notice the pinkie ring on Ben Affleck's finger or the widow's peak in his hairline or the exotic Alvis auto he owns, yet these are all completely authentic to the actual Reeves. More importantly, Coulter has done an exemplary job of making Reeves into a human being, one whose dreams we ache for almost as much as he does in the story.

Adrien Brody, as the fictional detective whose story provides the audience a window into Reeves's life, is solid and manages to bring a little charisma to the comparative low-life he plays. Diane Lane is superb as Reeves's lover, the sexually hungry but aging Toni Mannix. And Ben Affleck does certainly his best dramatic work ever as George Reeves. In makeup, and with his own matching cleft chin, Affleck sometimes looks astonishing like the real Reeves. But more importantly, he captures the haunted quality of the actor on a treadmill to oblivion, as well as the immense charm for which the real Reeves is widely remembered in Hollywood. Although the script does not give any of the actors the kind of deeply meaty scenes that win Oscars, some of the hardest work to do is for an actor to excel in scenes that don't require fireworks. Affleck in particular does so in this film, and I think it does him credit. He is reported to have researched the role intensely, and it shows. The performances of Larry Cedar, Bob Hoskins, and Lois Smith also stand out especially distinctively.

The cinematography is stunning, with the frequent flashbacks clearly distinguishable from the "present day" scenes without the distinction being glaring or even obvious. And the musical score is elegant and very evocative of the time.

It is perhaps inevitable that die-hard Superman fans, for whom George Reeves is not so much a human being as he is a sort of superhero himself, will find things to carp and cavil about in this film. As a researcher with over thirty years of in-depth study of Reeves's life, I can split hairs over details pretty easily myself. And I suspect, too, that some of the complaints will be about the depiction of things that are actually true, but which don't show Reeves in a worshipful light. All I can say is that I have spent my adult life studying, admiring, and trying to understand the man whose story this film tells, and I think George Reeves would be touched and proud of the care these filmmakers have taken. I highly recommend "Hollywoodland."

 

[Cinemaman]

I liked Variety's review more.

This movie sounds AMAZING!!!

Damn, Brody and Affleck looks just excellent, can't wait to see them in so great movie

 

[Darthphere]

The Fleck is back.

 

[skorponok]

Review at cinemablend

http://www.cinemablend.com/reviews/Hollywoodland-1707.html

FOUR AND A HALF STARS OUT OF FIVE

Judging from Superman Returns’ box office receipts, America has had enough of Superman. While the hero does fantastic business overseas, he’s stuck settling for barely profitable here in the US. So maybe now’s not the time for a George Reeves biopic. Fortunately, that’s not what Hollywoodland is. At least not entirely. Instead, it’s a murder mystery that explores the TV Superman’s untimely demise from two completely separate perspectives, wrapped in two distinctly different stories told in parallel within the one movie.

In the first, the film tells the story of Reeves’ (Ben Affleck) rise to pseudo-stardom in the 50s and then his subsequent struggle to find without his Superman cape. It’s the story of a man living two different lives, a public one where he happily embraced his Superman persona, and a private one where he was completely miserable.

In the film’s second storyline, hard boiled private-eye Louis Simo (Adrien Brody) investigates George Reeves’ death. At first he does so at the behest of Reeves’ mother, later he does it for himself. The police believe the case to be an open and shut suicide; Simo tackles it as a possible murder, working the national news media to force the cops into re-opening their files.

Hollywoodland’s first story moves towards Reeves’ demise, working forward while the second works backward from his point of death to figure out how he died. Brody’s Simo deconstructs Reeves’ life by creating likely scenarios that point towards murder while Affleck’s understated portrayal builds Reeves as a man with unfulfilled hopes and dreams. Suffering personal and private disappointment he’s unhappy, discontented, and he seems like a guy who just might have offed himself.

After a busy career in television this is Allen Coulter’s first stab at directing a significant feature film, and while his picture doesn’t ooze with big screen visual flair, it’s dripping with steady self-assuredness. Where others might try to weave these two separate stories together, Coulter is confident enough to put them directly at odds with one another. Simo’s version of what he believes to be the truth bears little resemblance to the life we watch playing out on screen. As he fights to uncover a conspiracy, we’re watching a charming, funny, sometimes sad man going through the motions of life with an air of almost inevitability. In doing so, Coulter doesn’t solve of Reeves’ death, but he does explore every little nook and cranny of his mystery.

Brody and Affleck split the film’s screen time almost 50-50, though they don’t spend their time together. Adrien is a scene stealer as the weasely, media ****ing Simo while Affleck is more subdued as Reeves. Both men fight their private demons. For Simo it’s a tumultuous home life, for Reeves it’s his constant battle for recognition and independence. If there’s any intersection between the stories told in the film, it’s in these men, suffering in their own way and looking for answers to life’s problems. By the end of the film you’ll feel like you really understand Reeves, but Simo remains something of a puzzle. When Reeves’ mother stops paying, why does he keep investigating? Is it because he loves the publicity, or is it because he, like so many, simply refused to believe Superman could shoot himself in the head? Ultimately, figuring out Louis Simo proves as invigorating as uncovering the mystery of George Reeves’ life.

Hollywoodland is one of the most complex, original, based on a true story movies of the year. By avoiding the usual pitfalls of other straight biopics and turning Reeves’ life into a multi-layered, gumshoe murder mystery, it achieves something altogether unique. Coulter’s compelling film is thick with intrigue and full of energy as it plows headlong into a heavy exploration of fame and failure in Hollywood.

 

[skorponok]

slashfilm.com

http://www.slashfilm.com/article.php/20060808hollywoodland-review

Hollywoodland arrives in theaters with the extra benefit of being on the heels of Superman Returns. After that reminder of the enduring screen presence of the Man of Steel, this film about what’s behind the fantasy is timely.


.






The true story is that George Reeves, the star of the television series Superman from 1951-1957, died at age forty-two when he proved that he was not bulletproof. It was called a suicide, and the fact that Reeves’ career was on the skids added validity to the conclusion.

Still others thought that he was offed. Some friends and colleagues pointed to his longtime affair with the wife of MGM executive E.J. Mannix as a motive for foul play.

Hollywoodland is that mystery viewed from two completely separate and parallel perspectives, that of Reeves’ (Ben Afleck) and that of Louis Simo (Adrien Brody) a private detective hired by Reeves’ mother to investigate the death.

Reeves’ story is the easiest to understand. Being Superman is as much a career ender as a career booster. Once typecast as the most famous resident of Krypton, he couldn’t get other work. George Reeves, meet Bob Denver.

More opaque is the journey of Simo, the hard-boiled private-eye. The cops figure it to be an open and shut suicide, but Simo sees a possible murder and forces them to re-open their files, and not everyone is happy about that.

As a noir mystery, it’s a good tale. If you’ve seen L.A. Confidential, this will seem like familiar territory. (And watching Bob Hoskins as Eddie Mannix will even remind you of Who Killed Roger Rabbit.) Hollywoodland isn’t new ground, but it treads the turf with style.

One of the possible titles of Hollywoodland was Truth, Justice and the American Way. The studio insisted on a shorter title, and that decision is reflective of the abbreviation of the film’s themes. Reeves we get. Superman's suicide is about as easy a symbol as you’re going to find. But Simo remains as much of a mystery as Superman’s demise.

Brody is an actor gifted with the ability to convey an excess of emotion right below the surface. His Simo carries a weight, but we have a hard time understanding why his character is so driven by this investigation. Still, Simo is real enough that we’re willing to believe that there is something there worth figuring out.

Director Allen Coulter (The Sopranos, Six Feet Under) has created an assured film of craft and character, and Brody could be up for another Best Actor Oscar. Even Afleck holds up his end. Hollywoodland stands a good chance of making all the year-end top-10 lists. And it beats the crap out of Superman Returns.