Ever since I moved to New York City, I have prided myself on being ‘one of the nice ones.’
You know — the type of New Yorker who will gladly help out a tourist who needs directions or has a question…because it wasn’t that long ago that I was was of them.
But yesterday? Things took a turn. Because I was hanging out with a native New Yorker who has no such compulsion to play nice-nice.
I was doing some extra work on a new television show called “Lights Out” on FX Network. We were filming outside the Pierre Hotel on the Upper East Side near Central Park.
Myself and Herbert — I’ve changed his name because I’m nicer than he is — were portraying press photographers outside the hotel, attempting to get pics of two heavyweight fighters as they entered the venue for a championship bout.
We were standing on the sidewalk for quite a while — one shot took most of the afternoon — so lots of tourists walking by asked us what we were filming.
My response? “The show’s called ‘Lights Out.’ It’s new on FX Network.”
Herbert’s response? “Lindsay Lohan’s rumored to be meeting her lawyers here. We’re trying to catch her coming out for ‘Inside Edition.’”
OR
“Queen Elizabeth has made an unannounced visit to the United States. Rumor has it she’s inside.”
Evil. But pretty darn funny.
But the time we had finished, I had joined in the fun, telling every tourist who walked by a different story. I figured it wasn’t really lying; it was adding another layer to their vacation…and would make a great story when they got home.
That sounds like something a New Yorker would say.
Yes!
Fight club
In yesterday’s Egg, I mentioned I was looking for a fight.
Today, I found one.
I am going to defend — almost a year after it hit theatres — the critical and audience pounding of the action film Knight and Day, starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.
I saw it in the theatre last summer and really liked it. I remember being surprised that the reviews were so lackluster. A quick visit to RottenTomatoes.com confirmed the movie was 53 percent fresh — not awful, but not great.
What was even more surprising was that the audience felt the same, judging the movie 52 percent fresh.
I’ve already watched it twice OnDemand, and I respectfully disagree.
Tom Cruise is at his action star best in this film, but the action is purposefully over-the-top, making it one of his best comedic performances. Snaps to Tom for being willing to make fun of a genre that has been his bread and butter.
Cameron Diaz is the perfect foil for Cruise, too. She has the energy and the presence to match him shot for shot. Even when she is in damsel in distress mode, she is his equal on-screen.
The movie uses a lot of CGI to make the impossible possible. Again, I found that as funny as the rest of the comedy in this film. Maybe 48 percent of the audience members didn’t get the joke.
But you will. I know it.
And if you don’t…we can just fight about it some more.
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Posted in Celebrities, Comedy, Commentary, Entertainment, Humor, Internet, Movies
Tagged action film, action star, Cameron Diaz, celebrities, comedy, comedy film, commentary, drama, entertainment, fights, HBO OnDemand, Humor, Internet, Knight and Day movie, movie CGI, movie critics, movie genre, movie reviews, movie theatres, Movies, Netflix, rottentomatoes.com, The Sticky Egg, Tom Cruise