Grammatical Life in the Subliminable City

I read recently that Matt gave his five favorite books of 2006 as Christmas presents last year. The books were Imperial Life in the Emerald City (Rajiv Chandrasekaran), Freakonomics (Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner), The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time (Jeffrey Sachs), Revolutionary Road (Richard Yates) and The Men Who Stare at Goats (Jon Ronson). From this, I gather that Matt is quite literate, which gives me a warm feeling deep inside. Language is important to me. It’s how we communicate, after all.

So I’d like to shine a light on something that makes me crazy, in the vain hope that someone who regularly commits one (or all) of these crimes may learn from his mistake(s) and become more skilled in the art of communication. The English language is difficult, to be sure. There are words that sound alike but mean completely different things (like fair and fare) and words that are spelled similarly but not pronounced the same (like rough, cough and though). If it’s your second language and you’re struggling with it, I certainly feel your pain. But if you were taught the language in your early youth and given the opportunity to study it throughout your educational process, I can’t forgive you for your total disregard of certain simple grammatical rules.

Of course, it’s not entirely your fault. Participation in the internet’s chat rooms, forums and email services, as well as the practice of texting via cell phones and Blackberries all seems to promote abbreviation. As does Prince, come to think of it. Maybe it started with him? His liner notes used to drive me nuts with the lyrics printed out as “U say u want a leader, but u can’t seem 2 make up your mind” and “This is 4 the cab u have 2 drive 4 no money at all.” So we’re all getting and sending messages like “ur str8, rnt u?” and “y cant ne1 tell me wut I did rong?”

And then rap singers with names like Schoolly D, Eminem, 2pac and Ludacris came along and we were all sentenced to a couple of decades of mispronunciations, misspellings and misusage. The horror, the horror! Of course, I can’t forget the current resident in the White House whose Good Ol’ Boyisms include phrases like “smoke ‘em out of their holes,” “we’re turnin’ a corner” and “I know how to put food on my family.” Also, I can’t forget the early days, when a GOP attack ad aimed at Democratic candidate Al Gore allegedly flashed the word RATS across the screen for a microsecond as a suggestive appeal to voters’ subconscious minds. In response, Mr. Bush said “The idea of putting subliminable (sic) messages into ads is – it’s ridiculous. You know, we need to be debating the issues.” Actually, we need to be debating his credentials for holding office. Twice!

So who are we now? A nation that abbreviates, misspells and generally mangles the English language. I’ve got a few all–time pet peeves in this department, and if you’re American and proud of your mother tongue, perhaps you’ve got a few of your own.

I feel if I read the word “loose” as a substitution for the word “lose” one more time, I may loose my mind. And by that I mean, allow it to roam freely in the ionosphere where it will do me less damage. The latest instance of this unfortunate swap was on a forum where Broadway shows are discussed. The person in question was making a reference to the Stephen Sondheim song Losing My Mind (from Follies). Now I ask you, don’t you think it’s reasonable of me to believe a fan of that particular song - someone who’s actually involved in musical theater, and who likely sang or perhaps at least played through the song - should know how it’s spelled?

Another maddening switch for me is when “lead” is typed in place of “led.” It’s true when you’re talking about toys that came from China and were recalled due to lead-based paint, the word is pronounced the same as “led.” But it doesn’t mean the same thing at all. “Led,” you see, is a past tense form of the word “lead.” So when you write “he lead me downstairs,” it would only be correct if it were written as a phrase spoken by a character whose education is unfinished…or perhaps by a rap artist. But it would still be ludacris, wouldn’t you agree?

My last pet peeve regarding the misuse of words has to do with possession. I don’t mean possession by the devil, although it’s tempting to think that may be the cause of the errors and not simple laziness or apathy. Here’s a little tip that might help you in your writing: It’s always true that “it’s” is a contraction for “it is.” Its use in any other way would be incorrect. If there are any other contractions you need help with, I’m sure they’re on the tip of your tongue and I’d be happy to help you with their spellings and usage. Just let me know. And don’t feel embarrassed to have to ask for assistance. There, there, we all need help sometimes.

Well, How Is It?

Ultimatum has opened at last, and to the best reviews of Matt’s career! It brought in $70.1 million in its first weekend, which turned out to be the biggest August opening of any film, ever (also outperforming the debut of any James Bond flick). Ratings of the movie broke down to 80% Excellent or Very Good, 40% Excellent and 55% Definitely Recommend. That’s 175% by my count, but that’s what Deadline Hollywood Daily says, and I wouldn’t argue with Nikki Finke – she’s written the Deadline Hollywood column for LA Weekly since 2002.

The reviews are great, the box office is great and Universal is one very happy studio. But how is it, really? Well, the film buffs I saw it with didn’t really buy the chemistry between Julia Stiles (Nikki Parsons) and Matt (Jason Bourne) this time around. In one truck stop scene in Spain, Bourne asks Nikki: “Why are you helping me?” and Nikki replies: “It was difficult for me, with you” before gazing thoughtfully into his rugged face and adding, “you really don’t remember, do you?” Duh! That’s only the point of like, all three films, Einstein! No, he doesn’t remember. And you seem to be implying there was something between the two of you that perhaps he should be remembering. But here’s the thing – if there were something to remember, shouldn’t Julia Stiles have had the opportunity to have played that as an underlying motivation in The Bourne Supremacy? But she didn’t. Do you know why? ‘Cause it wasn’t in the script! Was it in the Ultimatum script? I don’t think so, considering the script was still being written during filming. Matt said in Entertainment Weekly: “In any given scene I didn’t know where I’d just come from or where I was going. Which, as an actor, you kind of need!” He added “There wasn’t a single day where we didn’t have new pages!”

So it says a lot to me that the movie is as good as it is when it was being written and filmed simultaneously during a 140-day shooting schedule. If you don’t generally read about Hollywood stuff, let me just fill you in – that’s longer than most shooting schedules. And they never left well enough alone. They kept calling everyone back for reshoots (Edgar Ramirez, who plays Blackbriar assassin Paz, joked that the filming took so long they should have called the movie The Bourne Eternity). Julia Stiles admitted on Late Night with David Letterman that the truckstop scene was filmed multiple times, and yes, reshot later. So, was Nikki feeling a deep sense of loyalty to a former lover, or was she feeling extremely tired and ready for bed? Of course, when I look into Matt’s eyes, I’m ready for bed too, but that’s another kind of shooting schedule altogether.

Does the idea of The Bourne Improvisation bother me? No, not really, but I do wish they had been a bit more careful about continuity. The imdb.com and rottentomatoes.com boards are filled with thread after thread of people questioning whether the conversation between Bourne and Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) in Supremacy was the same as the one in Ultimatum. I believe it was intended to be the same scene, as the dialog is so similar. But I’m at a loss for why they bothered to shoot the scene again, thereby risking the continuity errors they succeeded in making. For example, Landy’s cell phone rang in Supremacy, but it vibrated in Ultimatum. And the weather was somewhat warmer in Supremacy than it was in Ultimatum, as evidenced by the lack of snow on the ground.

Still, without a script and filmed over a five-year period (I kid because I love), Paul Greengrass brought Ultimatum in on time and on budget, and since the film’s reviews were pretty much the kind of thing that happens in fairy tales (“the slipper fit and they had a 94% positive rating on rottemtomatoes.com”), it’s likely Universal will be asking Mr. Greengrass and Mr. Damon to try to repeat this success. Will they want to sign on again? Hard to say. Matt was using words like “the story we set out to tell has now been told” and “from the creative side, this is definitely the end of the story of this guy’s search for his identity” during early interviews. But recently, his stance hasn’t been quite so clear cut. What does that mean? It all comes down to money, kids. If they offer enough money to Greengrass and Damon, there’s likely to be a Bourne Redundancy.

But first, there are other projects vying for Matt’s attention. One is The Fighter, about Boston Irish fighter Mickey Ward and his half-brother, Dicky Eklund (Matt), who gets strung out on crack, goes to prison and redeems himself as Mickey’s boxing coach. Jude Law played against Matt as a character named Dicky in The Talented Mr. Ripley, so I think it would be nice if he played a character with Matt’s Ripley name (Tom) in this film. I like symmetry. Another film Matt signed onto is Imperial Life in the Emerald City, matching him up again with director Paul Greengrass. That one concerns another Dicky (Cheney, this time) making some mistakes during the installation of a new administration in Iraq in May 2003, until, as one former staffer put it, “it all blew up in our faces.” Rajiv Chandrasekaran (Baghdad bureau chief for the Washington Post), wrote the book on which it's based.

Here's one more point of interest I can leave you with from recent press clippings. Matt, it turns out, is not like Paris Hilton. I think that goes without saying, but an interviewer in Entertainment Weekly thought it worth mentioning. He clarifies the analogy: “I don’t go on the internet and see grainy images of your crotch as you’re getting out of a car.” Matt replies “Maybe you’re not looking hard enough.” Well, Matt, I know that was a joke, but all I can say is, yes, I am looking hard enough, and no, it simply isn’t out there.

The Bourne Comeback

Did ya miss me? I feel just like Dolly Levi coming back to Harmonia Gardens. If you don't get the reference, chances are you haven't arrived here from a link at Talkin' Broadway. But however you got here, you'd better hang onto something, 'cause I've got great news!

The Bourne Ultimatum opens in two days!! Well, depending on when you read this. It could be sooner. Or it could already be open. It could even already be up for the Oscar! Oh, who am I kidding, they don't nominate action thrillers for Oscars. But they ought to, right? Especially when they're as fantabulistically birlliant as this one. Or so I hear...

There's lots and lots of good stuff being spread around about Matt's latest Bourne epic. James Berardinelli of Reelviews says Ultimatum's stunts are "no less preposterous" than those in Live Free or Die Hard (what a ride that was, by the way), but what Ultimatum ultimately offers is "grittier and more visceral." Victoria Alexander in filmsinreview.com says Matt "doesn't talk, eat or sleep and goes around the world on a fake passport and ten bucks! He beats a guy to death! (um, spoiler alert?) It's non-stop excitement." David Denby in New Yorker says "you come out of the movie both excited and soothed, as if your body had been worked on by felt-covered drumsticks." Remind me not to invite Denby to give me a massage. David...drumsticks? Really? Who's been working on you? Nathan Lee in the Village Voice goes so far as to say it's "simply put, some of the most accomplished filmmaking being done anywhere for any purpose."

Cool stuff, huh? And it's gets cooler. Matt and producer Frank Marshall travelled to Oklahoma City for a premiere of the film to benefit The Children's Center, raising $192,000 for the hospital. They also visited Boise, Idaho for the premiere at the Egyptian theater. Why? Well, it's become a little good luck ritual. It seems to have worked quite well for The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy, so why mess with a good thing?

Am I the only one who's completely gaga for Matt? That's a big negative. The fans in Boise and Oklahoma City naturally went crazy when they caught a glimpse of the Damonator, but get this: Joan Allen (co-star in Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum - tell me you didn't know that!) said recently "When I look at some of the moments that he has, I can't believe the number of things he has going on simultaneously. Here's a character that has these super powers, he's very smart, he doesn't really understand, he's confused and he's tortured. And sometimes, I see all that in Matt in just a look..." High praise indeed, no? But wait, that's not all! Joan added "I think he's also very sexy as he does it. Even though there's very little overt sexuality, these are very sexy films, and he is very sexy in them." Well, tell me something I don't know, Joan! Of course Matt is very sexy! He was very sexy in The Brothers Grimm with a really bad wig and he's very, very sexy in The Rainmaker (due out any day now on a special 10th anniversary edition DVD!), so why shouldn't he be sexy as an amnesiac assassin who gets the girl, loses the girl and beats most of the world's spy citizenry to a bloody pulp?

By the way, have you been playing the Google Search for Bourne game? It's great fun and it gets us all ready for the big day (this Friday, August 3rd!!!) as you learn to use Google's stuff like You Tube and Image searches and what have you. Am I a Google shill? No, I swear it! I'm just having fun playing a little game. In preparation for a very big film!

Hey, have I told you The Bourne Ultimatum opens this Friday? Here's to a brilliant opening weekend, Matt! Break a leg!

We're bringing Jason ba-ack...yeah...them other movies don't know what they la-ack...