* * * We were watching Taking Lives last night, and Ethan Hawke came onto the screen. We always mock Ethan Hawke when we see him, because of the award shows we’ve seen him on wherein they introduce him as “Actor and Novelist Ethan Hawke”, because hello? How pretentious is THAT? You KNOW he’s got it written into his contract (do they have to sign a contract to appear on an awards show?) that they have to introduce him that way. “Oh look,” I said when Ethan Hawke appeared on the screen. “It’s actor and novelist Ethan Hawke!” “Actor, novelist, and philanderer Ethan Hawke,” Fred corrected. A minute later, as Ethan Hawke’s character was sketching a picture, I said “Oh, is he supposed to be an artist too?” When the sketch was finished – and a pretty good one, at that – Fred said “Actor, novelist, philanderer and ARTIST Ethan Hawke!” Ten minutes later, when Ethan Hawke was charming the pants off of Angelina Jolie’s character, Fred ammended the title. “Actor, novelist, philanderer, artist, and LADY’S MAN Ethan Hawke!” Which for some reason struck my funny bone, and I laughed until I cried. That Fred, he’s a funny bastard. Taking Lives is not great cinema, but it wasn’t horrible, either. It had a nice little twist – two of them, actually – at the end, but too bad we figured both of them out before they were revealed. Do Canadian police often ask for help from FBI profilers? That seems odd to me – I would think that Canada would have their own version of the FBI and their own profilers. Anyone know? The oddest thing about this DVD is that it actually has a gag reel on it. It’s very unusual to see a gag reel on a suspense/ thriller type movie – you almost always see them on the comedies. I watched the gag reel this morning and it’s nothing to write home about, nothing terribly funny, but that Angelina Jolie sure is a giggler, isn’t she? Speaking of Angelina Jolie, Fred LURRRRRRRVED her in Hackers, but thinks she’s gotten weird-looking since. I’m kind of the same way with Ethan Hawke – I loved and adored him in Dead Poets Society, but hasn’t really done anything for me in any of his movies since. I’m sure he’d be heartbroken to know that.
I don’t believe I’ve mentioned that Spanky loves to sit in the sun, have I?
]]>