News & Notes Inside the Week in Film

Young’s Millions

Brewster’s Millions showed it was near impossible to spend tens of millions of dollars and have nothing to show for it.  Former NFL quarterback Vince Young proved it can be done.

by Chris Neumer

In 1985, Richard Pryor starred in a movie called Brewster’s Millions. In this (seventh) adaptation of George Barr McCutcheon’s 1902 novel, Montgomery Brewster (Pryor) learns that he had a long-lost great uncle—so long-lost, Brewster never met him—who decreed in his will that should Brewster be able to spend $30 million in 30 days, Brewster will go on to inherit $300 million. Much the way parents threaten to make their teenagers smoke an entire pack of cigarettes to deter them from future smoking, Brewster’s uncle hoped that forcing him to spend wildly and carelessly would cause him to show more fiscal restraint in the future.

The whole point of the movie was that it’s downright difficult to spend significant amounts of cash when, at the end of X amount of time, you have nothing to show for it but good times and hopefully better memories. When you think about it, it’s almost impossible to have access to something like $30 million, spend it all and not have anything to your name when you’re done. I mean, even if you purchase a ridiculously expensive castle ala Nicolas Cage and the real estate market then tanks, you’re still in possession of said castle. At least it’s something.

Well, if Brewster wanted some tips on how to blow through cash at an almost unprecedented rate, he could have taken some advice from former NFL player and kind of 2005 Heisman trophy winner, Vince Young.

Young was drafted by the Tennessee Titans with the third pick in the draft in 2006 and signed to a $58 million deal, $26 million of which was guaranteed. Young signed several endorsement deals as well… and today, the man is completely and totally out of money. Young’s situation made news this last week and is so bad that his own attorney had the following to say when asked about Young’s finances: “I would just say that Vince needs a job.”

Young maintains that he was swindled out of nearly $6 million, but that doesn’t begin explain what happened to the other tens of millions of dollars he earned over the course of the last six years.

And that’s where things start to get entertaining, particularly if, like me, somewhere in the back of your mind you’re wondering whether Young is due to inherit $400 million if could simply get rid of the $60+ million he accrued on his own. Details of Young’s spending habits are leaking out and they are unbelievable. Young spent upwards of $5,000 a week at The Cheesecake Factory in 2006; he once bought every seat save for 10 on a Southwest flight from Nashville to his hometown of Houston because he didn’t want to be bothered on the plane; he once managed to spend $6,000 at a TGIFridays; he and a teammate (rumored to be LenDale White) once purchased 75 shots of Patron at a sitting; and he made a practice of doing still other shots that cost more than $600 a piece. Add it up and you’re looking at a man who blew through a lot of cash in a very short period of time. Making it all that much worse, Young not only spent all of his own money, but then took out a $2 million loan prior to the NFL lockout on which he is now delinquent.

Brewster would be proud.

It was only ironic because it wasn’t Ironic

A good friend of Lindsay Lohan’s has gone on record stating that she’s not in a good place because good friends of hers keep talking to the media.

by Chris Neumer

Actress Lindsay Lohan regained her headlining position in the tabloids recently when she filed assault charges against Christian LaBella.

Lohan met LaBella while she was out and about in New York City.  LaBella ended up hanging out with Lohan and her friends for the evening. While the group was out, Lohan noticed that LaBella had been taking some photos of the group on his phone. So—and mind you, this is according to Lohan—she brought LaBella back to her hotel room, confronted him about the photos and then took away his phone. At that point, Lohan stated that LaBella threw her down on the bed and later choked her. Authorities later determined that the assault did not take place and dropped the charges.

This bizarre series of events has brought Lohan back into the news, much to her displeasure. Attempting to put everything in perspective, some of Lohan’s friends have come out and begun talking to the media in order to, I suppose, give Lohan support and sympathy. Claus Hjelmbak spoke to E! News and said that Lohan is in a bad place. Hjelmbak went on to explain that Lohan isn’t in a good place because, “people around her keep throwing her under the bus.” He continued by stating that Lohan felt betrayed by LaBella because she was in a private space and he documented that private space in photos.

So, recapping, one of Lohan’s friends attempted to help Lohan by sharing her private feelings explaining that the problem in her life is that people who are close to her keep sharing her private feelings with the outside world.

Got it.

Oh, the (continued) irony!

Paris Hilton suffered from a similarly ironic set of affairs. In the Glamor Magazine story that stated that Hilton wasn’t slutty, she was quoted as saying that readers shouldn’t believe 95% of the things written about her.

by Chris Neumer

The above Lindsay Lohan story reminds me of an incident from two years ago or so involving Paris Hilton.

I am a man who genuinely is amused by irony. I will refrain from making any (dated) Alanis Morrisette references… you know, other than this one. A lot has been made of Paris Hilton’s confession in Glamour Magazine that she has only had sex with a couple of guys.

It seems hard to believe until you realize that our perception of her is quite skewed because, unlike most people, Hilton has videotaped herself with the few people she has slept with. And then released the videotapes for sale. And then gone on Saturday Night Live to joke about the situation and remind people that the video is still available for purchase. And then found new and interesting ways to remind people that she’s a sexual being, like getting out of a car with no underwear on and hoards of paparazzi milling about. Multiple times.

However, this is not what I find ironic or amusing. What is truly entertaining is that after Hilton felt the need to explain to the media how she is not, in fact, a complete slut, she went on to explain that 95% of the stories you read about her are “bullshit”.

Recapping: according to a story in Glamour Magazine, Hilton is a shockingly chaste woman who enjoys kissing her boyfriends and does not sleep around. According to Hilton, 19 out of 20 stories written about her are false.

Something’s got to give.

‘Only’ doesn’t mean what it used to

There is some debate about what the production budget is for the upcoming Hobbit films.  Sources have clarified… and changed the meaning of the word ‘only’ in the process.

by Chris Neumer

The Lord of the Rings trilogy proved to be an interesting exception to the normal filmmaking process. Rather than shoot each film individually, release it and go back and shoot the next one—what Hollywood has basically done for every other series in existence—New Line decided to shoot all three Lord of the Rings movies at once. Instead of looking at the production like three three-hour movies, New Line looked at it like one nine-hour movie.

The reason this is such an unusual way of producing a trilogy is because it makes it a lot riskier of a financial proposition. Normally, the first movie becomes a hit and the money made from that can be then put to produce the second. In the case of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, had the first film been a flop, the studio would still be on the hook for two more $100 million plus sequels. All things considered, New Line’s decision to green light all three of director Peter Jackson’s films at one time was one of the ballsiest moves in Hollywood’s long history.

Now that Warner Brothers has taken over for New Line and is producing three more films based upon Tolkien’s works (work, I suppose, would be more accurate given that all three films are based upon his singular book, The Hobbit), it’s a much different climate. These new Hobbit movies are as much a guaranteed hit as there can be in today’s day-and-age. As such, the bankrolling studio has been far more willing to open its pocket book to pay for this latest Tolkien trilogy than it was the first time. Rumors are now swirling about that the production price tag for the latest trilogy will top one billion dollars. Insert dated Dr. Evil joke here.

Yes, one billion dollars. And this is a number that doesn’t contain any P&A campaign expenditures either (or the climactic battle sequence of the third film, which has yet to be filmed). Given that the P&A budget ran about $100 million per film ten years ago, this is no small add-on. Granted, $1.3 billion in costs might sound like a lot of money, but when you consider that the original trilogy also grossed approximately $3 billion, things come into sharper focus.

For whatever reason, Warner Brothers isn’t enamored with the fact that reports have come out stating that they spent $315 million a piece for the first two films (and more on the third). To curtail the spread of this ‘fact’, Warner Brothers’ spokesmen have come out and told The Hollywood Reporter that the $315 million figure is ‘wildly inflated’ and that the actual cost is ‘only’ around $200 million.

Touche.

The Photo of the Week

Independence Day

The 5 Things I Learned This Week

Fascinatingly true things to broaden your mind

1) Actress/singer Mandy Moore is a huge fan of Ultimate Fighting.

2) It costs $3.00 to get a glass of Coke with dinner in the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.  $3.00.

3) The movie High School High is produced by “The Producer Formerly Known as David Zucker”.

4) The last name of the CEO of the Toyota company is Toyoda.

5) Cher’s song “Believe” has a dance mix.