In what world is Day-Lewis not considered a big star? Almost every movie he's been in since '89 has been up for or won a variety of awards, many of the nominations coming from his own contribution. And even humoring your sample of "some people I overheard," a lot of people are best known for a character they played a while back.

Not saying he has the level of saturation of a Nicholson or De Niro, but he's pretty much a household name. To be perfectly honest I think more people know Daniel Day-Lewis than they do Jake Gyllenhall. The latter being one of those guys that people would probably have to really think about who exactly he is, and maybe confuse him with two or three other younger actors.

K

Maybe so. But the fact remains, DDL only did four movies in the 00's. Harold and Kumar worked more than that.

But that has nothing to do with whether or not he's a big star. He doesn't seem the type to take just any old project that's pitched to him.

K

Yeah, he has a reputation for being the most selective star out there. (Unfortunately, although he's always great, his choice of movies isn't.)

The movie poster. I really like this.



K

Thats almost as boring as Anderson's movies.

Subtle yes, boring no! For as minimal as it is, it is suggestive of many interesting things. Naval ship. Wine bottle. Liquor glass. Placard or invitation. Submerged consciousness; the water so perfectly foggy/dirty, without drawing immediate, obvious attention to itself as such. The choice of lighting and color, subtly evoking just the right sort of geographic climate. The text evoking the proper time period. Details like the beads on the right evoke a sense of heat, while the odd, offset composition and largeness of text contribute to a feeling of claustrophobia. I'd like to shake the designer's hand; it's high quality work, and paired with the trailer it's particularly good. They compliment one another nicely. If the marketing is any indication this will be another Anderson film with a thoughtful, crisp, and best of all, unique aesthetic.

K

Full trailer.



K

Now that I have heard that this movie is about the start of Scientology, it seems a lot less interesting to me. But it still looks pretty good.

I have been reading about it on the Village Voice website.

It seems that the Master takes a lot of what happened in the earlier years, perhaps the first twenty or so, and collapse it into a few years. As one would expect, they do the same thing with the major characters. The "master" is short for the "master of ceremonies". This is parallel to the current cult leader, David Miscavige, being known as the "chairman" for the "chairman of the board". This is all from a script reading by Tony Ortega, editor of the Village Voice. What might be as interesting as the movie is the side show.

Do you remember "Bowfinger" with Steve Martin? Scientology acted as though they were talking about some other cult. Here, they can't.

Seymour Hoffman even looks like L.Ron Hubbard. On the one hand there is the ever possible lawsuit. Launching them is part of their holy scripture. On the other hand, it is high time for those people we call Hollywood insiders to tell the world that they are not part of an SF cult, that gives people very little in exchange for all the money they can ever hope to acquire. A few academy awards will help do this. A standing ovation for those who had the courage to make the movie would go along way too.

Then there are the inevitable picketers, counter-picketers, letters to the editor, internet discussions like this one, disconnections (which is Scienospeak for I'm not talking to mommy anymore), fundraisers, threatening phone calls and silly press conferences.

The press ripped Battlefield Earth apart twelve years ago. I hear that it was a horrible film but the press seemed almost gleeful in attacking it. Again, I had to wonder if they were getting back for all the lawsuits and threatened lawsuits. Does the Tom/Katie split seem to be getting more press than it warrants? (This is not a rhetorical question; I don't know.) It seems to be giving the press a chance to take a shot at the much weakened cult. Let's see if the Master movie does the same thing.

The "Church" of Scientology (the para-religion of Scientology in my country) has gone through a lot of rebellion in the last few years, and the rebellion continues to accelerate. Just today, for instance, the president's son who just died at age 27,was found to have had methadone at his bedside. This, with a group that claims to have the cure for drug addiction. The film may put the last nail in the coffin. This would be a terrible thing for those who thinks that it is only hope in saving mankind and giving immortality to each individual. In is great news for those who consider it a money-grubbing cult that controls its followers by emotional coercion.

If it does go under, my only regret is that in the years to come nobody will understand the villain, Psychobabbler from an old E-Man comic. Sorry First comics. Sorry Marty Pasko.