Sharon Waxman (The Post)

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Hollywood & Vine
Hosted by Sharon Waxman
Post Style Correspondent
Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2001; 2 p.m. EDT

Washington Post Style correspondent Sharon Waxman brings Hollywood & Vine Live Online for a discussion about the inner workings of the movie industry. There is a whole political universe behind how the movies happen, the tug and pull of egos, financial imperatives, a pecking order for privileges as well as genuine creative impulses.

Below is a transcript.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

Sharon Waxman: Here we are at Hollywood & Vine, waiting, wondering and worrying like everyone else in the country. So far we in Los Angeles seem spared the anthrax horror that has been creeping through media companies on the east coast, but it doesn't mean the studios aren't massively nervous. There was word over the weekend that a Sony employee had been hospitalized, but we've heard no more about that, nor if it had to do with anthrax. Everyone's guard is up.

As for movies: I saw "The Last Castle" last night, the new Robert Redford prison drama. Just the patriotic ticket for all of you hungering for heroic gratification. Rod Lurie, the writer-director (The Contender) tends to paint in black and white, and this film - though the tone is all grey - is no exception.

Also saw the abominable "From Hell." We're gonna have to send the Hughes brothers back to do Menace 4 Society instead.
Ok, here we go...

Washington, D.C.: My friend is an actor -- she does some film and a lot of small guest spots on TV shows like West Wing, The Guardian, Law and Order, etc. She said that it's getting really hard to find parts now. The shows are focusing more on central characters and are not bringing in new ones, even for "one or two" episode stints. Do you see the same trend from your perspective?

Sharon Waxman: Very interesting, a from-the-trenches detail that hadn't trickled my way. But that makes sense in the conservative tone of the day. None of the networks are making any money at the moment, so I'm sure they're watching every penny, and that includes hiring guest actors when they can make do with the central cast. Thanks for writing.

Washington, D.C.: Sharon,

I'm sending in early because a conflict at your regular time. Which "stars" are the most impressive when you meet them personally? I mean, I always assume that actors and actresses are much more bland in person than in their best roles. Is there any celebrity in Hollywood who really is impressive/has substance/exudes magnetism in person?

Sharon Waxman: News flash: there are a reason that movie stars are movie stars. Trust me, you'd notice if Tom Cruise or Sharon Stone walked in the room. Those folks have presence, have inborn charisma and something about them - not just beauty, not at all - that says, 'I've arrived.' The thing is that once they've achieved star status, they resent the loss of their privacy, so you may see them downplaying it, skulking around, hiding under hats. There are also very talented actors who are seriously shy (I'm thinking of, say, Johnny Depp or, prps, Michelle Pfeiffer) who hate the idea of all the world staring at them. It's rare when just an ordinary, nice-looking person really makes it in the movies because some mogul/agent/director took a shine to them. If they do, they're usually one-hit wonders. Penelope Cruz, she's another one; she has real star quality, but audiences don't seem to like her.

Wondering "From Hell": Could you elaborate on what you hated about From Hell? I have a friend who is really pumped to see it, and I have to go with them. I want to know what I am in for.

Sharon Waxman: Where to start. Imagine a movie about a serial killer that manages to be a gorefest but utterly boring at the same time. The plot is, at first, completely disjointed, and later, completely incredible. I mean laughably incredible. (I'm dying to give it away, cause I could hardly ruin this movie for anyone, but I'll refrain...) Johnny Depp does a workmanlike reprise of his Sleepy Hollow role, with British accent. He seems remarkably comfortable in the scenes getting high on opium. Heather Graham, actually, does a believable Cockney and is fine as a prostitute.
The story has a vaguely socialist bent to it, taking the working class cops and hookers as heroes and the upper class as despicably venal villains - it's all too ridiculous.

Washington, D.C.: Debra Winger seems to have dropped off the face of the Earth. What has she been up to lately? Will we see her on the screen again soon?

Sharon Waxman: I have no idea, but the list of women actors who have dropped off the face of the earth is too long to detail here. Debra Winger is just one of a multitude.

Washington, D.C.: Good afternoon Sharon!

I'm not sure if this question's being answered before, but why does a talent like John Cusack act in such dribble as Serendipity and America's Sweethearts? Is it just the money, or does he really think these movies are good?

Sharon Waxman: Well, John Cusack is a mid-level actor. He's not big enough to really open a movie, so he's not going to get offered the major roles that go to A-list actors. Which means he has to choose between roles in smaller movies that are interesting enough to him. I don't know who would have turned down a chance to be in an ensemble comedy by Billy Crystal with Julia Roberts. As for Serenditpity, it's not pure drivel, it's only middling drivel - though I confess I immediately lost whatever twinkle I had for Kate Beckinsale. (Maybe not her fault; her character was completely underdeveloped and had nothing to do but look cute.)
On the other hand, if a movie like Serendipity works, it's a shot for Cusack to climb onto the bottom rungs of the A list. And there's always this: actors like to work.
Ahhhh, the politics of Hollywood.

Arlington, Va.: Hey Sharon,

After seeing Demi with Bruce at Bandits' opening I wondered if people thought that Demi would be the bigger hit after their divorce. Or if Bruce would be. Bruce seems to be making half-way decent choices in films but Demi has basically become one of the many women on the dropped list.

Sharon Waxman: Well Demi suffers from the women-over-40 syndrome. Bruce doesn't have that issue. She also had a few duds in a row (GI Jane, anyone?). Funny you mention her, since I happened to catch her last movie on cable this weekend, 'Passion of Mind,' in which she plays a woman with a double life - one in New York, another as a widow in France - and can't figure out which one she's dreaming (she goes to sleep and wakes up in the other life). This movie was a total vanity project - Demi in a fabulous New York career woman outfit, Demi in a romantic, French farmhouse outfit - but I must say she looked great.

Hogwarts, U.K: Are you expecting a blockbuster from the upcoming Harry Potter movie?

I heard his pet owl is a good actor.

Sharon Waxman: Yes Hogwart. And wasn't I the clever one: I found Harry Potter hats at my local department store, marked down to $2.00 a piece!!! I cleaned them out.

Alexandria, Va.: In defense of John Cusack, who I "dig" -- come on! He did Being John Malkovich! Sometimes, they do the drivel, bank the cash, and do something that's worth their time. His next project is called "Hoffman," about an art dealer who meets Hitler in the 30s, when Hitler was a painter.

Sharon Waxman: I'm not dissing John Cusack, I feel his pain. Malkovich is one of my all-time favorite movies, ever, and Cusack didn't do it for the money, that's for sure. His next project sounds kind of weird, though. I never find screen portrayals of Hitler very convincing (except, of course, that Chris Kattan version of gay Hitler on SNL last week).

Indianapolis, Ind.: Movies don't seem to be getting much better this year. What do you feel are the realistic Oscar chances of Amelie, Ghost World, Royal Tenenbaums, and Memento?

For my money, no movie will have a better script than Ghost World this year.

Sharon Waxman: God you're so right, and I had so hoped that they would improve. We're all still waiting. (Also, I didn't like Ghost World. I felt like I got it after 15 minutes, and it was torture to sit through 2 hours of teen ennui.) We still have things like K-Pax and the Royal Tenenbaums to go, but my hopes and expectations are fading fast.

Also, I loved Amelie, and hope it finds an audience. It is a truly delightful film. As for Oscar hopes, I still need to see too many films before offering an opinion.

Boston, Mass: Gangs of New York must be a dog to have it's release moved to the Spring. I seriously doubt that Miramax is just being sensitive to the events of 9/11.

Sharon Waxman: That's what my gut tells me too.

NYC: Awwwwwww, nuts. Waxman, your taste in entertainment boggles. Your sensibility is a muddled, pseudo-intellectual hodge-podge that pushes talent like Cusack (who made some very respectable cash in both "High Fidelity" and "Grosse Point Blank") down while championing a middling talent like Rob Lurie. But I guess that's why you cover the politics of Hollywood (and do it well, I should add). A critic you are not.

Sharon Waxman: Did you call that earlier comment on Last Castle a championship of Rod Lurie? I champion Malkovich; I appreciate Lurie's efforts. Big difference. Lurie is strictly middlebrow, but succeeds at least in entertaining, which so few movies even bother to do these days.

But I love that you find my tastes in movies frustrating. And yes, I"ll never be a critic. Lucky for you. (But pseudointellectual? You'll have to defend that, dear.)

Nani/Texas: John Cusack was wonderful in Being Malkovich and the Grifters. I read something recently where he said he makes films like Serendipity and America's Sweehearts so that he can then afford to take the more interesting roles in independent films.

Sharon Waxman: No doubt.

Hitler's resume: I thought Hitler was Chancellor of Germany, Furher of the Third Reich, and all around Evil-Doer in the 1930s. He was a party hack, sometime painter, and loser in the late teens and twenties.

Sharon Waxman: Your question?

Bowie:

Demi Moore's not over 40; born 11/11/62.

Sharon Waxman: More to the point. Ok, it's the actresses-over-35 syndrome, then.

Arlington, Va.: Hi Sharon -

Speaking of Chris Kattan, is there a curse against SNL cast and movies or what? I didn't see "Corky Romano" but friends who did said it was d-r-e-a-d-f-u-l. One friend told me she had a better time getting a root canal. Ouch.

Personally, I can't wait for "Harry Potter" and I'm a good 20+ years older than the target book audience!

Keep up the good work.

Sharon Waxman: Thank you. Amazes me that after the long train wreck of SNL-skits-made-into-movies that anyone would be tricked into spending the price of a ticket on another one.

Re: Cusack : He opened movies like "High Fidelity" and the fabulous "Grosse Pointe Blank" -- but then again, those were through his production company. Maybe he's interested in being a craftsman rather than running with whatever pack is hanging at the Viper Room this week. Ah, well. He's fun to look at and smart, so I'm not complaining.

P.S. You're totally right on the Demi Moore movie -- I caught it on cable too and was both bored and amazed at how beautiful she really is.

Thanks, Sharon!

Sharon Waxman: Thank you. It occurs to me that my New York critic hasn't read my comments very carefully. I"m not giving my opinion when I say Cusack is not on the A list, and has to choose from lesser projects - that's just a fact. Same with Lurie - I just said his movie is patriotic, which it is; that's also a fact, not a judgement.

Thanks for commenting.

Washington, D.C.: Sharon, have you seen K-Pax? I love Kevin Spacey so much I actually sat through Pay It Forward in the theater (two hours of my life I'll never get back).

Sharon Waxman: Haven't; media screening is tomorrow, but I"m leaving town so I'll have to catch it in the theater. I'm starting to worry that he's taking too many cool/quirky roles a la Anthony Hopkins (who went overbaord on the historical imitations for a while). I haven't really heard any buzz on K-Pax. I'm like you, though - I'll see anything with him in it on faith.

Re: SNL Skits: Never mind people getting tricked into spending money on them ... how is it those flicks get made?

Sharon Waxman: Good point. They crunch the numbers, figure out how many numskulls will fork over the cash - based on performance of last SNL train wreck - and green light a budget accordingly. They must still make money, otherwise they probably wouldn't make these movies.

Doda Lia, Ohio: Hi Sharon,

Finally ready to go back to the theaters ... after the 9/11 events. What should I see? What do you recommend?

Thanks

Sharon Waxman: Doda!!!! At first I'm thinking this is a town I've never heard of.

I laughed at Zoolander - so sue me. Everyone I know loved Iron Monkey, for mindless diversion and absurdist fun. (Is that what you mean by pseudointellectual?) I highly recommend Training Day. There's a few right there, for a start. And don't miss Amelie when it comes out.
(PS love to Eva.)

Washington, D.C.: Apparently I upset a few people with my initial question about John Cusack. For the record, I think he's a terrific actor! I think he was great in John Malkovich, and to top it off, he's adorable! However, I guess it just upsets me to see him in movies like Serendipity (formulaic and dull) and America's Sweethearts (just goes to show that sometimes movie stars alone can't make a movie) when he can do so much better, and probably should.

Sharon Waxman: Ok. We can lay the John Cusack thing to rest now, right? We all agree, he's cute, he makes some interesting movies, some duds. We'd love to see him more often. We'd gladly have him to dinner. Onward.

Laurie: Okay, you have depressed me -- at 36, I am now a "woman of a certain age"?

Sharon Waxman: No, you are not. Emphatically not. And thank your lucky stars you're not an actress.

Arlington, Va.: Howdy.

Is there any word/buzz on the progress of Salma Hayek's Frieda Kahlo biopic? As she has matured as an actress, I think Hayek is perfect for the part, and Julie Taymor has the imagination and visual vocabulary to realize it. Has it wrapped shooting? Moviegoers could really use some intelligent escapism right now.

Sharon Waxman: Everything I"ve seen of Selma Hayek convinces me she's a flash in the pan who has worked her, um, assets, to get the parts she has. She's been window dressing in every movie I've seen her in up to now; I have no idea if she's up to playing Frida Kahlo.

Re: star quality: Audiences don't like Penelope Cruz because she can't act. She's beautiful, yes, but try to imagine her in a real role -- Lady Macbeth, or Abigail from "The Crucible." It's laughable.

Sharon Waxman: Don't know. If perhaps she were to act in Spanish, and if we all understood her, we might feel differently. I find her accent distracting.

Herndon, Va.: Ms. H&V: It's absolutely amazing how some of your audience has been able to see through your facade and found out you have no taste. It's also amazing that you have no taste because yours is different than theirs. Until they get brain transplants -- we'll stick with you. Now a really important matter -- when will they broadcast the Emmys?

Sharon Waxman: Oh Herndon, my heart. They've definitely announced that the Emmys will be broadcast at some point - unabashadly saying they didn't want to forfeit the money - and unless I missed it, I thought the date was still up in the air.

Phoenix, Ariz.: Re : Portrayals of Hilter ... The only one I can think of that really worked is the one by Alec Guiness in "The last Days of Hilter' (or something like that). By the end, the total unreality of the mindset of those in the bunker was creepy beyond words.

Sharon Waxman: Tx. (I'm over time here, but trying to post some of these final comments.)

Florida: Speaking of female actors who have fallen of the face of the earth, it's been nice to see Marisa Tomei in small parts again. After winning an Oscar for "My Cousin Vinny," you would think her career would have skyrocketed. I read that this didn't happen because she has an enormous 'tude and ticked off all the wrong people. However, isn't it almost expected that stars have attitude? I'd think you'd have to be really beastly to not get work, especially if you're marketable.

Sharon Waxman: Ok.

D.C.: Hi Sharon,

Maybe this is a better question for Rita, but I'm going to try you. I watched "Breakfast at Tiffany's" for the first time this weekend and loved it EXCEPT the awful portrayal by Mickey Rooney of Audrey Hepburn's Asian neighbor. It was truly offensive. I'm wondering if this is because I'm young and grew up in a P.C. time, or was there any uproar at the time of the film's release? I'm sure that was before your time, young Sharon, but do you know anything about this?

Sharon Waxman: Way before my time, and I don't even remember that offensive portrayal - I probably saw it too long ago. I would ask Rita, but my guess would be that nobody cared at the time. There were tons of similarly offensive portrayals of Asians and African-Americans, in tons of films that I wince at when I see these days (I remember even wondering at the time why the Chinese launderers and workers in those old Westerns were so infantile). Just goes to show you how radically our sensibilities can shift in a relatively short period of time.

Arlington, Va.: All right, Sharon, we'll lay off John Cusack, but do tell about Mark Ruffalo in "The Last Castle". Is he going to live up to all the "You Can Count On Me" hype?

Sharon Waxman: Ok! Thanks for a new topic! As we close out here, I will just say that I adore Mark Ruffalo, I can't help it. He is perfectly cast in this movie as the morally ambiguous, slacker-prisoner. I actually think Lurie sold his character out by not making him more morally conflicted, would've made for a far more interesting film (that's what I meant by black and white at the beginning).

D.C.: Sharon, I'm intrigued by the Last Castle ... I get that the inmates are former soldiers, but also that we're supposed to be rooting for them ... So how does the movie handle the notion that in order to be incarcerated, these guys must have done some bad stuff? As in, how can we root for guys (soldiers or not) who are in prison for rape and other violent crimes? Does the movie give the audience an out -- like making all the former soldiers innocent or only guilty of 'victimless' crimes?

Sharon Waxman: You'll have to see it to get it. The prisoners are former soldiers in jail for crimes after being court-martialed; could be anything for dealing drugs to maiming a fellow officer. In Redford's case, of course, he's in for a pseudo-crime that weighs on his conscience. He couldn't actually have done something wrong. And film takes the politically enlightened (liberal? wrongminded? depends on yr view) stance that these are salvageable souls who yearn to be better than their worst qualities.

Gotta go now. Next week I will be touring the new Oscars facilities, this trillion-dollar construction project in the heart of Hollywood. I've seen some of it from the outside - huge elephants, a walkway that frames the Holywood sign - and will be happy to give you a preview.

All the best, signing off now....

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