Review: "Lawless"

The article originally appeared in my column at Towleroad

A terrible performance... or a great one? You decide.

Special Deputy Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce) doesn't believe the tall tales about the outlaw Bondurant Boys especially the ones about Forrest (Tom Hardy). Local Virginia legend has it that Forrest can't be killed, that he's immortal.  "Have you ever seen what a tommy gun does to 'immortal'?" Rakes sneers in a (successful) effort to terrorize the town's Forrest-fearing men into submission. Rakes then beats the youngest Bondurant brother Jack (Shia Labeouf) into a blubbering pulp. But, as it turns out, the Bondurant brothers are resilient enough to inspire tall tales. Forrest and his brothers make their living as moonshiners in this Depression-era Western and with Prohibition empowering organized crime, everyone is looking to be the top boss. The brothers value their autonomy but the guns are out and if an actual crime lord (Gary Oldman's "Floyd Banner") don't get them, then the even more crooked law enforcement (Pearce's Deputy) just might.

Such is the bloody conflict of John Hillcoat's Lawless, based on the historical novel "The Wettest County in the World" which was written by a grandson of the Bondurants (all childless during the movie) suggesting straightaway that at least one of them is going to make it out of the movie alive. Not that the film is shy about spoilers given its heavy handed foreshadowing and the past-tense narration. (You gotta Live to Tell).

MORE AFTER THE JUMP...

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And the LINK said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the Blog

<-- Look it's Russell Crowe as Noah in Darren Aronofsky's hopefully insane biblical epic. I hope he's nicer to the CGI tigers than he was in Gladiator.

Links
Vulture Will now middle age Bill & Ted have another excellent adventure?
Pajiba whoa. Darlene Cates, the nearly immobile obese mama from What's Eating Gilbert Grape (the movie that brought us baby Oscar nominee Leo DiCaprio) has lost 244 lbs.
MNPP Shia Labeouf joins Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac
Towleroad Lady Gaga vs. RuPaul. Fierce x 2? 
Cinema Blend looks at the rumors and facts about Warner Bros plans for a Justice League movie. Warner Bros still doesn't get it though, since so many Green Lantern people are still involved. Wake up WB. Green Lantern was terrible. The Avengers would not have become a beloved mega hit if everyone hated the movies that led to it.
Coming Soon Oooh, track listing for Tim Burton's Frankenweenie remake. Karen O has an original song (will Oscar notice this time? They so screwed up with Where The Wild Things Are and Winona Ryder is on the CD too.  

Just 4 Fun
3 things that made me LOL this morning when I most needed to.
Olympic Booty Appreciation I ♥ the titles so much
Call Me Maybe ♫ Chatroulette version
"Pile of PeeWees" from the Crazy 4 Cult show. Scotty C. is the best

LaBeouf in the Buff

I know this is old news but this song by Sigur Rós has been stuck in my head all week and hurts my heart (in the good way). Also I love the NSFW music video.

This is exactly what would happen if Kate Bush and Shame's Steve McQueen had angry sex after a screening of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (they both hated it) and then nine months later a music video shaped baby was born.

Man vs. Link

Grantland Molly Lambert's incisive piece on Shia Labeouf's star persona "Tears of a Fighting Clown"
Super Punch "Zombie Snow White MacBook Stickers" Eeek and Yay!
i09 wonders which DC characters could save DC's miserable movie track record. I voted for "Aquaman but only if James Cameron directs it" because James Cameron is awesome. The end.
PopMatters muses on Marvel and whether or not they can sustain their own coherent movie universe.
The Awl "30 Ways to Say 'I Want You'"

xinmsn Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Carina Lau are trying to get pregnant. A fan snaps them having lunch with Faye Wong. I personally think Wong Kar Wai should film all such too-starry lunches.
Towleroad Reason #21,318 to Love Brad Pitt. He's still fighting the equality fight with mouth and money.
Critical Condition would like to know what you think of this new serenity in the face of death as seen in Restless, The Big C, 50/50 and the like.

And the season premiere of Man vs. Wild is nearly upon us (July 11th) with Jake Gyllenhaal hitting Iceland with Bear Grylls.

Jake's technique is looking good. His body is relaxed which means his trailing leg is hanging well down, making it easier to keep his balance.

?!?

Post-Crawford, Post-Host, Post-Cotillard

Madame LeFigaro [in French] an article about how many French stars are showing up in English language movies, the Post-Cotillard wave (though this has been going on for decades).
NY Times no word on Mad Men Season 5 and why.
Shiantology Shia Labeouf on the set of John Hillcoat's depression era drama The Wettest Country. Lots of stars in this one actually but I guess they weren't on the call sheet this day?
Kenneth in the (212) Winslet, Wood, Winningham (and more) at the Mildred Pierce premiere.
<---Stirred Straight Up... has a collection of amusing, curious, vivid quotes about Joan Crawford from other actresses. (God, I should've thought to do some sort of Joan celebration before the revisioning of Mildred Pierce came out). This one from notsilent icon Louise Brooks is fascinating:

To me, Joan Crawford's screen portrayals are all one: a series of transparencies through which she projects her daydream –- herself –- a wonderful abused kid. On the screen, every ladylike effort is stretched by the memory of self-abasement; the salt of every tear is the salt of self-pity.

Geekiness
Retro Movie Review has a flash animated showdown about Ken Russell's The Devils. Although the wrong critic wins here because The Devils is brilliant.
My New Plaid Pants is hosting a very busy "Special People Day" TODAY in honor of Welcome to the Dollhouse's 15th anniversary.
Mister Hipp has a hilarious Admiral Ackbar illustration
The Playlist The low budget 1990 film version of Captain America is going to be available for mass consumption soon.

Versus
have you been reading about this online bitch-fight James Franco vs. Bruce Vilanch about the Oscar night performance failure? Vilanch bitches that Franco was not available until Thursday and wasn't committed enough and Franco basically implies that Vilanche's jokes aren't funny -- and even disses Bette Midler in the process (uncalled for. After this and his dissing of The Social Network I'm starting to lose faith that Mr. Franco knows what he's talking about.). Gold Derby weirdly sides with Franco stating that there's no reason he needed to be in town longer than he was  (!!! say what now? a live multi million dollar production and it's OK that he's not in town until three days prior?) but if you ask me everyone is at fault, Vilanch because the jokes aren't particularly strong but especially Franco since everyone and their Aunt Martha understands how difficult the Oscar hosting gig is. If you have 7,001 things going on maybe you shouldn't commit to doing a 7,002nd half assed and for a big stack of money? But maybe that's because I share this flaw (the overbooking not the big stacks of money). But when a huge one night a year historical event is counting on you and paying you, maybe it deserves your full attention? Just a thought. The Wrap says they've since made up.