Bad Movies We Love: Steven Spielberg’s Hook

by Louis Virtel
from: http://www.movieline.com/

By now, Super 8 has either rekindled your fondness for Steven Spielberg’s whimsy or — well, it hasn’t. Either you embrace nostalgia and the comforts of epic, innocent fantasy, or you’re purposely done with them until another Toy Story comes out. I sympathize with the latter option, especially if you think the keywords “Steven Spielberg” and “innocence” call to mind Hook, the 1991 kiddie blockbuster that asks, “What if we took the story of Peter Pan, threw it out, and invented an unrelated story about a grumpy man who begrudgingly saves his kidnapped children?” Tah-dah! Yuck. And yet, I found a few reasons to love this troubling movie. Chortle with me as I rank them!

Let’s start with some gentle hatred: Hook is way too mopey and 1991-riffic (synonyms) to be considered a sequel to or variation on J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. Not even close. That’s like if Katy Perry released a squawky, gawky cover of Kate Bush’s “Wuthering Heights” and credited Emily Bronte as an active co-writer. My god, please! No literary cred for you, Katy! Similarly, we’re bearing witness as Spielberg straps a cupcake bra to a children’s classic and plunges roman candles thereon to guarantee a nine-figure explosion at the box office. Taste flies right out the window with the frosting.

Hook is based on an idea Barrie had to write a story about Peter Pan’s adulthood. It never came to fruition for undisclosed reasons, but I imagine one of them is that the story of Peter Pan is just too timeless for a foray into middle age. You don’t need to update something that’s chronically relevant (or chronically chronic). I forgive Spielberg for the error in judgment because there are five giant reasons this 140-minute movie is worthy of love in 2011, and I’m prepared to recite them like wee ole Smee.

5. Strange, unnecessary, excellent cameos

Hook gives us Robin Williams as a grown Peter Pan who has officially mutated into a corporate schmuck. When he takes his family to visit his childhood orphanage run by the now-80-year-old Wendy (played by 56-year-old Maggie Smith), a hook-handed vandal kidnaps the children and whisks them off to what appears to be a well-embellished miniature golf course called Neverland. Peter must reconcile his long-buried past, venture to Neverland with the just-arrived Tinker Bell (Julia Roberts), and save his spawn from Captain Hook’s (Dustin Hoffman) grasp. Do we need more characters? Spielberg insists we need not just an Emerald City’s worth of walk-ons, but enough celebrity appearances for a few seasons of ABC’s Hotel (‘83-‘88). Phil Collins plays a police inspector; sci-fi vet Nick Tate turns up as a dueling pirate; George Lucas and Carrie Fisher appear as a canoodling couple; Spielberg godchild Gwyneth Paltrow debuts as young Wendy; David Crosby and Jimmy Buffett join Hook’s crew and wear their everyday clothes to blend in. And before you can wonder whether one of the Lost Boys is a growth-stunted Goonie, you see Glenn Close playing a male pirate (pictured) who Hook jettisons in the first 45 minutes. Patty Hewes would’ve argued her way out of that phony beard.





4. Aw, the delightful torture of children

You have to wonder why Spielberg sensed mass audience appeal in a movie that repeatedly shows Peter’s kids getting kidnapped, hauled off, suspended in a pirate net, or begging for mercy. Ah, juvenile torture. Reminds me of other kiddie classics like Ransom or Halloween III: Season of the Witch.



3. Julia Roberts as Marsha Mason as Zac Efron as Tinker Bell

Reportedly, Spielberg found Julia Roberts difficult to direct because she’d just broken up with her Steel Magnolias paramour Dylan McDermott. Factually, I find Julia Roberts difficult to resist because her spin on Tinker Bell is a boyish coquette in a shag wig. Look at her! The Goodbye Girl subsumes Charlie St. Cloud. Ashton Kutcher mates with Laura Prepon and delivers Topher Grace! Tatum O’Neal gives birth to Kristy McNichol, who is pregnant with Tatum O’Neal! Something! You (shouldn’t) understand.



2. The skateboarding, Happy Meal-consuming Lost Boys

Kudos must go to Leonard Maltin, who once said of the ’90s-updated Lost Boys in Hook, “[They] look as if they’d be at home in a McDonald’s commercial.” Indeed, these leather-togged, feather-banded scamps are the most annoying, camera-ready freaks at the skate park. First of all, they really skateboard. There’s a ramp and everything, like they’re hanging out in the weird kid underground from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Second, the Lost Boys community is a wildly depressing refuge, a Newsies bunkhouse without the songs, dances, or general productivity, let alone commitment to journalism. I give the producers credit for chasing the zeitgeist of ‘91, but in a better film, some of these kids would wear Zubaz and listen to C+C Music Factory.



1. The peerless Dustin Hoffman

While Robin Williams saunters through Hook as the maddened misanthrope Peter, Dustin Hoffman absolutely relishes his role as the original drag king of pirate culture. Take note, Gore Verbinski: Hoffman’s flair and flamboyance imbue the last half of this film with enough magic to compensate for the overly ornate, underwritten fairy tale and comprise his best single performance outside of his Oscar-nominated roles. He is better here than he is in All the President’s Men and Marathon Man, easily. And he crows “Good form!” and “Bad form!” like a maniacal gymnastics coach throughout, which at least deserves a Saturn Award nomination and a club sandwich. Though Bob Hoskins is also enjoyable as the henchman Smee, he merely contributes to Hoffman’s gusto with straight-man setups. Enjoy below; if you haven’t seen the movie in 20 years, you’ll be shocked to see how well this performance has aged. Unlike Zubaz. :(

Patch Adams, M.D. - Transform 2010 - Mayo Clinic

by mayoclinic on Sep 14, 2010

Patch Adams, M.D., author and founder of the Gesundheit! Institute, addressed the Transform 2010 Symposium sponsored by the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation. For more information on Transform, go to http://centerforinnovation.mayo.edu/transform/

Interview with Bobcat Goldthwait, Writer/Director of World's Greatest Dad

Posted by Turk182

Bobcat Goldthwait doesn't make movies for the masses. Love them or hate them, you have to respect that his films are not prepackaged creations designed to fit some concept of the popular aesthetic. Like any filmmaker, he wants to connect with an audience, but he is first and foremost interested in making films that he would want to see. Most great filmmakers are. Goldthwait’s World's Greatest Dad is easily his best film to date and one that displays a confidence and awareness that comes with decades of moviemaking experience. He sat down for a spirited and incredibly enjoyable conversation in Chicago this week.

by Brian Tallerico

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MovieRetriever: When you took World’s Greatest Dad to Sundance and the response was so overwhelmingly positive, were you surprised?

BOBCAT GOLDTHWAIT: Yeah because the last movie I had there, during the press screening, the projector broke down. (Laughs.) I'm just glad that it's been getting a favorable response. I'm fully aware that this movie has a lot of hurdles. If you heard what it was about, you would think that it was a slob comedy and my involvement and Robin. We both come with a lot of baggage. And then the name too. I don't think the name helps us much.

Bobcat Goldthwait on the set of World's Greatest Dad.

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

MovieRetriever: Then why choose the name?

GOLDTHWAIT: I thought it was funny when I wrote it. (Laughs.) I thought it was funny, I just think people's perception of, once again, Robin and myself, they think it's going to be a "wacky comedy."

MovieRetriever: There's an interesting line at the beginning where Lance expresses more interest in fame than creative fulfillment.

GOLDTHWAIT: He's saying that he wants success, but in a very cartoony way we see into his psyche what he's really imagining, which is that he'd be popular and have women and money. In my mind, Lance is writing for the wrong reasons. He's trying to ... to try and make stuff artistically and you're thinking of how it's going to affect other people and the repercussions is ... well, I shouldn't say that ... trying to make art for fame and money and all that is really silly. Trying to make stuff to connect with other people is a valid way to make stuff.

MovieRetriever: And the first line of your director's statement is "When I make a movie my only goal is to get to see it projected in front of an audience." But that's more of a connection standpoint than a fame standpoint.

GOLDTHWAIT: Oh, definitely. When it works for people, it's really exciting. I think people find it hard to believe that when I'm writing, I'm not saying "Oh, this will make a lot of money. Oh, this will make me really successful." Those are the furthest things from my mind. I think if I was really trying to make a lot of money, I would try and write a Judd Apatow movie .... or worse ... I'm not really interested in that.

MovieRetriever: But it raises an interesting idea about writing for yourself versus trying to appeal to an audience and how you balance the two. What's more important – if you like it or if the audience likes it?

GOLDTHWAIT: It's definitely ... I'm trying to make movies that I would go to.

MovieRetriever: You have to satisfy yourself first.

GOLDTHWAIT: Yeah. If it works for other people, that's awesome, but I spent most of my career just reacting to whatever was offered me or trying to pursue the things that Lance is trying to pursue – meet women and get rich. (Laughs.) It doesn't work and it's not very fulfilling.

Robin Williams in World's Greatest Dad.

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

MovieRetriever: When and how did you realize that?

GOLDTHWAIT: I realized that when I had all those things that Lance wants. I had the cute girl that's half-in and half-out of the relationship with me. I did have fame and all of that. It never felt right. It never felt right. It always felt really strange. I'm glad I had a persona to hide from ... wait, Freudian slip ... hide BEHIND all those years because it doesn't feel right or good.

MovieRetriever: But now that you've ditched that persona, don't you feel more comfortable?

GOLDTHWAIT: I'm much happier. It's funny. The cynical person who blogs or comments is going to say, "Well, he says he's happier now but...." I read a comment that was like, "That's what someone says when they've made mistakes and burned bridges and they're not happy." It's like, "No, I'm happier now pursuing the things that make me happy." If you've convinced yourself that making money makes you happy, it doesn't. In our culture, people aren't really encouraged to be fulfilled.

MovieRetriever: Especially in celebrity.

GOLDTHWAIT: Yeah. Look, as soon as Howie Mandel hit with that game show, I was offered three pilots and they would have all been for a lot of money. I turned those down not because I'm above it but because I knew that it wasn't going to make me happy. It's not very fulfilling. To have strangers come up and say, "I saw ‘Who's Your Daddy?’ last night and the other guy should have won." I would have put a gun in my mouth. I do stand-up to pay the bills and I've been offered reality shows. I make these tiny, personal movies. I think the mentality that every movie you make is trying to reach the broadest audience [is wrong]. I don't really want to talk to anybody that goes and sees studio comedies. If you write a review of studio comedies, I have nothing in common with you. I couldn't imagine going to any of those movies. I was reading one of those movies and someone was like "This is my pet peeve – that they used something that was in Bring It On and Mean Girls." It's like, "I would rather have someone shoot me in the face than see Bring It On and Mean Girls. I don't even know what the f**k you're talkng about. You're an adult. You went and saw Mean Girls and now you're going to write about it. Seriously?"

MovieRetriever: Well, we do it so we can...

GOLDTHWAIT: Well, if you're FORCED to see them. I understand if it's your job. Look, there's a lot of comedy clubs I don't like playing and that's what I do for a living. I understand that, but to weigh in on those movies as if there's good ones, that's crazy.

MovieRetriever: My theory is that you have to see the sh*t to know what's good.

GOLDTHWAIT: Right. And you're going to stumble across ones that surprise. I remember seeing the first Tremors and loving that movie unexpectedly.

Poster art for World's Greatest Dad.

MovieRetriever: And, to be honest, to tell people about little films like yours, you have to cover the big ones.

GOLDTHWAIT: It's not like I'm back-peddling but there's so many movies made solely with absolutely no voice in the movie. It's nobody's idea. It's just solely to get made to make money to perpetuate fame and they're not about anything.

MovieRetriever: I completely agree and would like to think that I can help people avoid them.

GOLDTHWAIT: (Laughs.) Look, I've been IN plenty of them. But, you know, it's only as a middle-aged man that I looked around and said, "What the f**k am I doing?" You know what's kind of funny now? Now that I've made a couple comedies that worked for some people, Hollywood reaches out a bit because they think "We could get Bob and we could FIX him." The guy who runs some company that made some new movie – He owns a company that wanted to acquire this movie and re-edit it. That's retarded. You would think that a fellow filmmaker would realize that it's all subjective. It's like, "Dude, give me an AVID and a couple days with your film and I'll see what I could do with it." What a knucklehead.

MovieRetriever: I read in another interview that you thought of the ending of this film first. Can you let our readers know the origin of the project?

GOLDTHWAIT: I wanted it to be about a guy who grows up and doesn't do what's expected of him because he's convinced himself that it would make him happy. The only reason that Lance is rewarded by the end is that he's willing to be alone. That's really scary to most people – the idea of being alone. And then the reward is that he ends up with people in his life who like him and are supportive.

MovieRetriever: Whenever a writer makes a film about a writer, one has to wonder how much of the creator is in the character. How much of you is in Lance?

GOLDTHWAIT: About a day in, Robin just goes, "I'm playing you." And I was like, "Yeah." There's a ton of Lance in me. I just spent a good portion of my adult life thinking "Oh, poor me. I'm not getting a break." I realized that none of these things that I was pursuing were going to ever really make me happy – relationships or work.

Bobcat Goldthwait (left) and Robin Williams in World's Greatest Dad.

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

MovieRetriever: If it's you, would you ever consider directing yourself in a movie?

GOLDTHWAIT: No. I really, really, really take making movies seriously and I want to put all of my energy into being the best writer and director I can be and I think it would be distracting. I make a cameo and it wasn't even really to be cute. Guillermo from the Kimmel show was supposed to play that part and he couldn't get the day off. He was doing a remote in Florida and I was in Seattle. I scrambled and held auditions that didn't go very well. I put myself in and I think it's funny how much I choked when the door opened up and it was Robin. (Laughs.) It was like The Chris Farley Show.

MovieRetriever: Did you write the part for Robin?

GOLDTHWAIT: No, no. I really would have stayed away from "poetry teacher who faces tragedy." (Laughs.) He really is one of the greatest actors in the world. I can't explain what really makes him good. It isn't just the empathy that people feel. It's so tiny and so natural. That's really the genius. It's the tiny moments that really....

MovieRetriever: Did you allow Robin input into his character?

GOLDTHWAIT: The reality is that there's a lot of ad-libbing but it's much more collaborative. You sit there and say, "What about this and that?" It's not just Robin. The kids asking questions about Kyle – I had written stuff but it just didn't work. So, I got all the kids together and let them come up with what they would ask. You trust the people you work with. Especially actors. I never hire anyone who doesn't get what they're doing. You need to get what the whole thing is about or I wouldn't have you on-board. I try not to hire people who just "do what they do" and don't get it.

MovieRetriever: Did Bruce Hornsby (who makes a great cameo) get it?

GOLDTHWAIT: Totally. And if he didn't, it would have come off as snarky. I needed someone that Lance would be a fan of. One of the nice byproducts of this movie is that people have a perception of me that I'm doing my best to change but people also have a perception of Daryl, Robin, Bruce Hornsby ... it's fun to say, "You know, it ain't over."

MovieRetriever: Do you prefer acting or directing?

GOLDTHWAIT: I prefer directing. If I never acted again, I would be really happy. Now that I take directing seriously, I have this whole new respect for actors.

MovieRetriever: What about your acting experience makes you a better director?

GOLDTHWAIT: I really stress that it's comfortable for the actors. On a set, there can be too much calamity. Actors can not feel safe and not feel like they're allowed to try different things or suggest different things. The bond company may want to shut me down, but I'll do another one because it's really terrible to be on a set making a comedy and everything is really stressful.

Alexie Gilmore (from left), Robin Williams, and Zach Sanchez

in World's Greatest Dad. Photo Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

MovieRetriever: Did you have too many uncomfortable set experiences or is there something about it you just don't enjoy?

GOLDTHWAIT: I don't enjoy it but I also feel that I don't think that it's what I'm strong at. I think there's a lot of people that are talented. It's funny. If you really boil Robin down, he thinks of himself as an actor first.

MovieRetriever: And you now think of yourself as a director first?

GOLDTHWAIT: TRYING to be a director. Trying to be a writer. And that's how I know that it's what I really want to do. I'm really trying.

MovieRetriever: You have so much creative control over your films now. Would you take an assignment or someone else's script ... $80 million budget, Ryan Reynolds, Sandra Bullock, back-end ... do you do it?

GOLDTHWAIT: (Laughs.) Sandy and Ry. No. No.

MovieRetriever: $10 million paycheck. Proposal, Part II.

GOLDTHWAIT: No, no, no.

MovieRetriever: What if it's the opposite? A GREAT script, but you didn't write it?

GOLDTHWAIT: Yeah. If it was a great script, but the problem would be the interference from ... getting notes and stuff. These last two movies were so small that I didn't get producer notes. Or from anybody. I want to keep doing that. I'll take jobs working for other people but the movies I'm making, I don't want to do that. I'm trying to build a trust with people.

MovieRetriever: Who has built a trust with you?

GOLDTHWAIT: There's so many people. Wes Anderson. There's so many folks. I like Quentin Tarantino, the Coen brothers, it's pretty basic stuff. I like going to see what P.T. Anderson does.

MovieRetriever: All writer/directors.

GOLDTHWAIT: All people who have a voice. I admire them. I get excited to watch their new stuff.

Bobcat Goldthwait's 2003 release I Don't Mean to Insult You,

But You Look Like Bobcat Goldthwait.

MovieRetriever: Do you still do stand-up?

GOLDTHWAIT: I do it to pay bills.

MovieRetriever: Do you enjoy it still?

GOLDTHWAIT: I didn't for the longest time and then recently I killed the character. And, by the way, if you're in the heartland and people come to see you do that? It's like being at a Poison reunion tour and not hearing "Every Rose Has Its Thorn." There's gonna be disgruntled audience members.

MovieRetriever: You must get asked to do it in airports.

GOLDTHWAIT: Sure. And morning radio shows. "The Taint and Teabag Show." Whatever. It's my own fault. I remember once seeing Spinal Tap performing live and Rob Reiner is there and the crowd starts going "Meathead! Meathead!"

MovieRetriever: Even he can't avoid his past.

GOLDTHWAIT: Yeah. And Ron Howard.

MovieRetriever: What's your airport question?

GOLDTHWAIT: I named a CD this because it was true. I did have a woman say, "I don't mean to insult you, but you look like Bobcat Goldthwait." A lot of people when they come up to me in an airport, they're unsure that it's me. And I do often hear, second hand, that people think I'm dead.

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Bobcat Goldthwait is definitely alive and kicking.
His film, World's Greatest Dad, opened in Chicago on Sept. 4, 2009.

ROBIN WILLIAMS LOVES DEAD ASPHYXIATED SON

This is the latest trailer for World’s Greatest Dad, written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait and starring Robin Williams. It made the festival rounds to pretty good reviews earlier this year and will get a theatrical release beginning August 21st. If you don’t want to wait that long, it’ll also be available on On Demand starting this week.

When his son dies in the throes of autoerotic asphyxiation, dad (Williams) makes it look like a suicide and proceeds to use it to launch his own writing career. [Cinematical]

Robin Williams is at his best when he isn’t overtly trying to be funny, and in light of David Carradine’s death, the autoerotic asphyxiation plot seems practically choked from the headlines. I mean, most directors would STRANGLE themselves for a STROKE of luck like that. Anyway, I hope to see this and get a review up some time in the next couple weeks, if I’m not too busy choking myself while I masturbate.

Robin Williams to undergo heart surgery

Comic canceled remainder of national tour, hopes to resume in fall

Robin Williams to undergo heart surgery March 5: Robin Williams suspended his one-man show Thursday after suffering from heart problems that doctors say will require surgery. NBC's Brian Williams reports. Nightly News

updated 4:50 p.m. ET, Thurs., March. 5, 2009

Robin Williams needs heart surgery and must cancel the remainder of his one-man comedy show, “Weapons of Self-Destruction,” his publicist said Thursday.

The 57-year-old actor needs an aortic valve replacement, Diane Rosen said in a news release. Williams’ representatives would not say when the comedian was admitted to the hospital or where.

“I’m so touched by everyone’s support and well wishes,” Williams said in the statement. “This tour has been amazing fun and I can’t wait to get back out on the road after a little tune-up.”

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Williams was already in Florida when he canceled four shows in the state earlier this week after experiencing shortness of breath.

Former first lady Barbara Bush, 83, was recovering well from her aortic valve surgery this week, her doctors said. Replacement valves are either manmade or made from living tissue from human or animal sources.

Since September, Williams had been on the sold-out, 80-city tour, which is expected to resume in the fall, his publicist said. Tickets will be honored once the new dates are scheduled, or people can contact their place of purchase for refunds.

The Academy Award-winning actor got his start as a standup comedian in the 1970s. His high-energy act led to a guest spot on “Happy Days” as Mork from Ork and later the starring role on “Mork & Mindy.”

He has appeared in dozens of feature films — both comedies and dramas — over nearly three decades. He won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1997 film “Good Will Hunting.” Other notable films include “Dead Poets Society,” “Hook,” “Mrs. Doubtfire” and Disney’s “Aladdin.”

More on Robin Williams

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