Paparazzi Review

Sentinel online now loading the geek cast radio

network of podcasts 36 ounces of cold metal 24

shots per load a thousand meter range it has

the power to tear a man apart and it never misses

its target. Your first action film, how are you

feeling tonight? This is all new to me. I'm just

trying to enjoy it. I love this house. We just

are. Bo Laramie thought he was living the dream.

You ready to play some soccer today, buddy? Yeah!

But when your name is up in light, the cameras

Yeah, absolutely. Never stop shooting. Is this

legal? Can they do this? Everyone wants to have

a... little peek. Please, I'm asking you nicely.

Don't take pictures of my son. Get these nice

pictures. Won't bring half as much as the ones

I have of Abby changing clothes by the pool.

Boo! This is never gonna stop. I don't know what

I would do if anyone ever hurt one of my family.

Welcome to my world, detective. You gon' pay.

Come on, big boy. You get that? You live in color,

Jeeves. Laramie was ordered to attend anger management

classes as part of a plea agreement. Your time

here will help you put a face on your problems.

My problems already have faces, Dr. Conner. I'm

gonna destroy your life and eat your soul. And

I can't wait. Every picture tells a story. But

one good shot deserves another. I've now got

that paparazzi that were involved in your accident.

That's too bad, isn't it? I feel much more in

control of my anger, Dr. Kelly. Then you're moving

in the right direction. Hello and welcome to

the 58th episode of The M Wire. Today we are

going to be discussing paparazzi. I am TFD1 Mike

and as usual I'm joined by Steve Megatron. Hello

sir. Hello. How are you? Yes, and now that we're

done with the Police Academy spotlight, we can

get to a couple of... Serious films? Yeah. What's

been going on with you? Not a whole hell of a

lot. Sleeping through episodes and stuff like

that there. Yeah, that wasn't my fault. Yes,

it was. How is it not your fault? Because I didn't

bring my alarm in the right room. It's the alarm's

fault. Oh, no, it's your fault for not bringing

your phone in there. I don't care. Oh, damn.

Yeah, it's been going pretty good for me, I guess.

Got everything paid off for the month. Got a

whole bunch of toys. Some from people that just

gave them to me some I bought it's very very

cool Yeah, I don't know what else is going on

Trying to think we were getting back on track

for MWire yet the MWire train may be derailed

yet again not sure I Blame the curse of Superman,

but I don't know I'm not sure how that's gonna

work out. Anyway, I just don't know. Anyway,

the idea for MWIRE episode 58 and 59 is 58 Paparazzi

was produced by Mel Gibson. 59, which is the

lethal weapon spotlight, actually stars Mel Gibson

in all four films. So I guess you could say we're

on a Mel Gibson spotlight, even though it's only

two episodes. Kind of a good lead -in though.

Yeah, yeah. And he was, I think he was, it probably

says here in information, but I think he had

a cameo in this film, even though he mainly produced

it. I guess we will get right into it. Paparazzi

is a 2004 action film. Directed by Paul Aviscol,

produced by actor Mel Gibson, and starring Cole

Hauser and Tom Sizemore. Basically getting right

into the plot, it's a very short plot, so when

we, here on MWIRE, I told Steve yesterday I made

an executive decision, when we have short plots

like this, I'm gonna take a little bit of notes

from the film as I watch it, kinda like what

we do with Beast Unleashed and Secret Origins,

even though that show isn't. had an episode in

God knows how long. So here's the mini -plot.

Bolairemi, played by Hauser, is a famous Hollywood

actor dealing with a negative side of high publicity.

After his wife and son are badly injured in a

car accident, he decides to take revenge by murdering

three of the four paparazzi photographers. who

were responsible for the accident, then pinning

the murders on the ringleader, played by Tom

Sizemore. What did you think of this movie when

you first saw it? Honestly, I thought this was

pretty friggin' awesome. It's nothing that you

wish you could do to some people. Not to say

that it's a good idea to try. I don't know if

that would be solid advice. It's one of those

things where Hollywood is overexposed. I think

this film shows the more negative side to paparazzi.

I'm not saying that there's not a negative side.

This takes it over the line. I agree with Bo.

There should be a line between the star and the

private life. Unfortunately, some people in Hollywood

don't believe that. I thought this film was very

well done. I didn't feel that it was rushed.

I didn't feel that it was too fast -paced. I

didn't feel at the end like I do with some movies

where it's like, oh, that's it, it's over. It

felt like it fit the time frame it was supposed

to fit and it did everything it needed to do.

The scene with the car accident, that was an

intense car accident with the camera shake. Oh

my god, that was like, holy crap. And then he

gets enough of a glimpse when he's pathing out

of the guys so he knew who did it. Oh yeah. Yeah.

And then just something in him snapped, you could

just tell. Well I think something in him snapped

when they started. What'd you think of all the

paparazzi magazines? I remember some of them

were pretty funny to look at because they had

a lot of interesting clips. His kid said, why

is daddy on a magazine with a black thing covering

his pee -pee? And then Beau's like, you ready

to play some soccer today, buddy? And I'm sorry,

I don't know. I don't remember how old the kid

was supposed to be, but I think he was supposed

to be like six or seven maybe. But that's...

That was kind of unbelievable to me. I didn't

really believe that Bo could change the kids.

I mean, I know young kids change their minds

all the time, but I don't know. It just didn't

feel right to me, that interaction between them.

When he asked him, are you ready to play soccer?

He said, oh yeah. And he just forgets about the

last thing that he said. You know, parents, if

you're listening, call in or email in or whatever.

Comment on the website and let me know. But I

just didn't see that seen as... plausible now

see I don't have kids but I could kind of think

that that is because when you're younger you

have a very short attention span to start out

with so anything that your parents suggest you're

gonna be like oh yeah okay I guess I was reverse

of that because I had a very long attention span

when I was a kid and once I was on something

I was on it like a hawk whereas now I have the

attention span of a newt Shut up Megatron I like

how and really at first went like get getting

to the the fact that the that the paparazzi people

are just taunting him and teasing him and all

this and all that and everything else. The one

where he goes to hug the grocery store clerk

there and the biker guy takes the picture and

all that. When the biker leaves and then Bo leaves,

no, Bo leaves ahead of him and then the biker

leaves. When Bo left ahead of him, I thought

when he pulled over that he pulled over to wait

for the biker. But he was doing something else

he was on the phone or something I forget and

then when you get off the phone to pull out to

go back on the road the biker just happened to

I Don't think that part was planned as far as

killing the biker until you know the bikers on

the cliff saying Yeah, you know you think we're

on you now wait until after this is over and

he's like what'd you say? He's like nothing bad

pull me up let them go but At first, I don't

think he intentionally, but it's not like the

other three. He didn't intentionally plan to

kill Kevin. When we get to Lenny getting killed,

holy crap. That was awesome. That was a nice

setup. Course he screwed up a little bit with

the jacket, but oh Yeah, but it's still it by

the end of the movie. It was completely fixed

Yeah, I just I love the action in this film Tom

Sizemore plays a very excellent villain especially

when he goes to frame Marcy. Oh yeah. That was

kind of low. The climax to it was just amazing

as far as the end of the film. It never leaves

me bored and just overall the film is just great.

I liked how Bo was running back to his house

after parking his car and seeing the cop car.

manages to run all the way through, and then

he's got a towel around, you know, and a robe

as he's answering the door with the detective

coming to the door. He's like, oh, sorry, I was

in the shower, I didn't hear you. Yeah. And he's

like, oh, OK. And he just shows him the, you

know, DVD and shit. Yeah. Yeah, the DVD. It was

it was quite hilarious just seeing that in general.

Yeah. The whole thing was plotted out really

really well Yeah, I have to call in a question

though How much time an actor like we're what

we're meant to believe he's a breakout star Who's

broken out gotten really famous from one film

and he's currently and during the movie He's

he's filming the second film of that action adrenaline

force Series you know the fictional series I

just don't know in real life if stars have that

much time on their hands to do what he did I

don't think so if you think about it he's in

like a million different places he he does his

stuff on the set he goes back to the house he

then goes to all the trouble of of setting these

four people up, well three, you know, just from

what we've, you know, at least from when I've

contacted voice, I mean, I don't know, it's not

a voice acting thing, but I mean, just celebrities

in general. It's like... They're just way too

busy. I don't know how plausible it is that he

would have that much time in each day or in the

middle of the night to do all this. Yeah, I just

don't see the time. I don't think they'd have

it. I mean, because if you think about it, a

movie like Adrenaline Force and Adrenaline Force

2 Those are probably 8, 12, 15 hour shoots. Oh,

easy. You know, so I mean, how much time could

he, I mean, I know they set it up to where it

looks like, you know, he gets all his movie star

stuff done and then he's, you know, going to

the market and he's going to the hospital to

see his son. and all that stuff. And then there

was this scene with his lawyers about apparently

he stopped doing the movie when after the accident

or whatever. And I like what the lawyer said.

He goes, well, technically you didn't get hurt.

And Cole just kind of looks at him like, or Bo

just kind of looks at him like, what? What'd

you say? The lawyer's like, oh, OK, yeah, I'm

going to shut up now. Oh, boy. Um... What'd you

think of the ending, the way that that was all

set up? Oh, I loved how they plotted the whole

thing and pinned the whole bunch of murders right

on. Rex. Yup. Yup. That was just epic all in

itself. I like Farina going through the traffic

cam. He's like, I was kind of a bitch. And then

he's like, oh, wait. This is detective whatever

his name did I forget what the hell his name

is Get me traffic and then that's how he finds

Marcy and gets that through but yeah, I Like

I like both acting when he's punching the wrecks

and shit at the end He's like help detective.

Help. He's in my house. Oh my god, and then rushes

they're punching him. Yeah. Yeah Yeah, and then

Rex is like, no, wait, that's not how it happened.

Shut up, you. He's like, this is how it's gonna

go down. He says, this is the perfect ending.

He says, I'm gonna set up you for the fall, you

know, and then, uh... Yep. Cause Rex is stupid

and went in that house and got his prints all

over. Yep. And his blood. Yep. Like a dumbass.

I always wondered though, because it doesn't

actually show Bo killing Wendell. After that

happens, it shows Rex leaving his boat, and Bo

showing up in the shadows after Rex has walked

away from the boat. And then, I mean, it makes

sense later on when we get to the boat and Rex

is like, holy shit, what the hell is this? because

the bloody bet from killing Wendell was there.

But I just, I think if I have any complaints

about this movie, it's probably that whole plot

line of, again, it goes back to how much time

does that guy actually have on his hands? I mean,

his son's in the hospital. His wife is, let's

say, emotionally unstable. You know? Yeah. I

don't know. I think the whole timing issue is

the only thing I have against this film. Other

than that, from front to back, it's just a great

film. Yeah, I would definitely recommend this

one. This is one of the better films I've seen

in, you know, years. I mean, it's not recent,

but it's still a good, well -thought -out, plot

-driven action movie. Yep. And I think... That

Farina's character the detective again, I like

what the hell was his damn name. Let me look

down here For the life of me, I don't I can't

remember what the hell his damn name was I'll

see This egg to Barton. Yeah, that's what it

is I Think at the end when he looks back At bow

and he just kind of like wonders. I think he

knew in the back of his mind. I think he knew

That that bow killed all four of them Yeah, or

well killed three of them and set up Rex. I think

he knew and Of course there was nothing actually

linked to bow because as we've said both set

Rex up to take the fall But that kind of goes

to in Hollywood Celebrities get away with murder

I I mean, you know, yeah, I mean really You know

most celebrities get away with almost everything

that they do Shit they get away with everything

else Almost seems like they could though sometimes.

Oh, yeah, you know all right, so let's talk about

the cast for a few minutes here Cole Hauser the

first time I ever saw him wasn't good will hunting

and I didn't even know it was him First time

I ever saw him this movie And then I saw him

again in the breakup I think I've seen bits and

pieces of that. I don't know. It's one of those...

You should play Vince Vaughn's brother in the

movie. Yeah, it's one of those damn Jennifer

Aniston movies I just don't care for. Yeah, I

don't care for it either. I'm just saying that

he was in it. Yeah. He plays... He's a very good

character actor. Like I said the first time I

ever saw him of course I didn't know it was him

but it was in goodwill hunting he played one

of Matt Damon's characters buddies and Very very

well executed he played the villain in fast not

fast and furious too fast too furious the sequel

he played The the boss in that yeah He did that

villain very, very well, I thought. But here,

he just shines. I haven't seen Robin Tonian much.

If I have, I don't remember. But I think for

this role, she did very well. Yes. For the most

part, I don't really care for her. She was in...

There was some... movie that she was in at one

point. And then I don't remember what it was.

It was like The Craft or something. But she was

also in Prison Break, season one. So was she?

I've never gotten into that show. I got into

it pretty good. And so but yeah, she didn't last

long in that. Yeah. Let me see here. She was

in Paparazzi. She was on HouseMD for a couple

episodes. Like you said, Prison Break. She was

in Supernova, if you've seen that. Oh! Oh wow,

holy crap. I did not know that. She was in Empire

Records. She was Deborah, the chick that shaved

her head. Holy crap. I did not know that. How

do you know you're going to go back and watch

it afterwards? Yes, she was in The Craft. She

played Sarah Bailey, the film The Craft. But

yeah, she's done very, very well for herself,

I think, as far as I really don't have any complaints

about her in this. And then of course you got

Tom Sizemore, who again, awesome villain. This

guy, Rex Harp, he's ruthless. Anything to make

money. Anything to get that million dollar shot.

Yeah. What did you think of his character? Um,

we're talking about... Rex. Harp. He was one

of those characters that... You knew he was doing

his job, but you hated his guts the whole frickin'

movie. Oh, holy. Yeah, I agree, but I just pulled

up his IMDB and oh, holy crap. Uh, they're making

a movie of Fahrenheit 451? Wow. Oh, boy. Um...

Unfortunately, there's only details on IMDB Pro.

But, I mean, Sizemore's IMDB just reads like

star -studded stuff. I mean, he was in Dr. Vegas.

He was in 24 the Game. He was in Robbery, Harmicide

Division. Let's see. Oh, he voiced Metamorpho

in Justice League. That was cool. Huh. Let's

see, play it to the bone, wow. Let's see, oh

he's in Saving Private Ryan, he was Sergeant

Mike Horvath. The relic, just tons and tons of

really good stuff for the most part. He played...

He played second mugger in 1989's Penn and Teller

Get Killed. Holy crap. Oh man. What did you think

of Detective Burton, Dennis Farina's character?

I thought he was a pretty good fit for that.

Yeah. He wasn't one of those annoying characters

that you're like, okay, get him off screen Like

a few of the other villains in the film, but

Overall He you could tell that he was very suspicious

of though for the whole movie. Yeah had no proof

That's why I kept like finding little clues and

he's like, I know you're behind this but I can't

prove it So I'm gonna have to let you go. Oh

Yeah Some of his other credits include he was

the voice of Wildcat in Justice League Unlimited.

Obviously he was on Law and Order as Detective

Joe Fontana. He's actually the new voice of Unsolved

Mysteries. I can see that. Yeah, I can too. I

mean this guy is done. He's a great great actor.

I don't think there's a role that I haven't...

Oh, wow. He was in Miami Vice. Wow. Um... The

original or the movie? No, the TV show. Jeez.

He was in three episodes as Albert Lombard. Um...

I mean... Let's see. Yeah, just... Wow. He was

on Hunter as well as Victorinova. in 1985. He

was a cop in Remington Steel for one episode.

I mean, this guy has got a lot of good credits

on his resume here. Very, very awesome. As far

as the other cast, I mean... Well, the only Baldwin

brother I can stomach is Stephen because I really

enjoyed him in them in the 1995 film fled or

not 1996 film fled The rest of them. I really

don't care. I like I Don't know there's so many

of them that I I'm pretty sure that's who it

is but He's the only one I can stomach next to

Stephen Baldwin. The rest of them are kind of

like, eh, I really don't care. You can tell they're

Baldwin, but they just kind of suck. Yep. And

Daniel Baldwin played Wendell Stokes in this.

And then you have a couple of cameos. Well, the

other, which I've never even heard of this guy,

but Tom Hollander played Leonard Clarke, which,

eh, I thought it was an alright character. Wasn't

really that great, but it was okay. A couple

of cameos, Chris Rock is the pizza delivery guy.

That was funny. Yeah, that was. It was very funny.

Mel Gibson, who is one of the film's producers,

appears as an anger management patient in the

waiting room of The Shared Therapist. In addition,

Chris Rock, as a set, appears as a pizza delivery

driver, Vince Vaughn appears as Bo Laramie's

co -star, and Matthew McConaughey appears as

himself at a movie premiere. Eh, whatever. I

don't really care for Matthew McConaughey. Let

the hate mail start coming. At about 40 minutes

into the movie, Detective Burton, played by Dennis

Farina, tells Bo how one of the paparazzi has

previously sued Alec Baldwin, or one of the Baldwins.

Daniel Baldwin plays one of the paparazzi in

the movie. Let's see, Box Office, the film was,

wow, the film was a Box Office failure, having

cost about 20 million to be made, engrossing

only 16 million worldwide. Yikes. That's not

good. As far as critical response, the film was

poorly rated on Rotten Tomatoes. It received

18 % rating on Rotten Tomatoes and consensus

of being a crude, ludicrous exploitation movie

with a questionable morale. The film also received

a large number of negative criticism from major

American, Canadian, and British publications.

Amazingly arrogant, immoral film, Dave Kear,

The New York Times. The audacity of the paparazzi

is a good topic, but this embellic film has no

idea how to focus its intentions online. More

than a few movie stars probably have fantasized

about getting their revenge on paparazzi, but

leave it to Mel Gibson to see the possibilities

in the scripts about a rising star driven to

go on a murderous rampage with the paparazzi

as his victims. That was Ruth Stein of San Francisco

Chronicle. film of what Gibson wants to do? Could

be. I disagree with the negative stuff, though.

I mean, it is a very good film. Why are they

beating it up so bad? Well, again, it came out

in 2004. What other films came out in 2004 that

everybody loves? I like this one. Hot in the

bloodstained heels of the Punisher, Man on Fire,

and Kill Bill comes Paparazzi, another lurid

revenge fantasy. Its flimsy plot rests on the

ludicrous notion that an actor should be entitled

to slaughter anyone who invades his privacy.

Sadistic in the extreme and lacking any form

of moral compass, it is the kind of film only

the likes of O .J. Simpson could love. Neil Smith,

the BBC. Oh, God. I think people need to revisit

this one and not look at it as... Yes, Mel Gibson

produced the film. Yes, he had a little, like,

maybe five or six second cameo in it, but...

I think critics need to re -examine this because

this is a very good film. Oh, yeah. I mean, the

story doesn't... It doesn't leave you lagging.

It doesn't take you out of the film. If anything,

it brings you into it more, like you want to

know more. And there are two sides. There obviously

is the actor's side and everything else, and

there's obviously the paparazzi's side. I do

think that they showed the paparazzi as being

these over -immoral... Let's face it, paparazzi

are paparazzi. They are immoral people. They

will, you know... Alan, even in the movie, it

showed Wendell fooling around with his video

setup or his computer setup, you know, doctoring

up photos. So, you know, I have no misgivings

or misconceptions about how the paparazzi work.

I just think this film took them to a next level

that I don't think many of them currently would

go to. No, and I think that's why people are...

maybe giving it such bad reviews? Could be. I

mean, seriously, there's no way that, you know,

a photographer or paparazzi or whatever the hell

you want to call them. There's no way in real

life that they would stock these. I mean, granted,

yes, paparazzi, because I hate to admit this,

but I've admitted other things worse on our podcast.

I watched Of course, I don't have the channel

anymore, but I used to like watching Tory and

Dean in love, and now it's Tory and Dean home

sweet Hollywood. It's basically Tory spelling

her husband Dean McDermott. It's basically their

reality show. And, you know, Dean would kind

of, you know, go after the paparazzi on their

lawn or whatever, but, you know, then he would

call the police or something, or he would threaten

them, you know, stay off our property, stop taking

pictures of us at home. You know, stuff like

that, so I just think that I don't think a real

paparazzi member would go to the length that

Sizemore and company go to in this film. I mean,

Jesus Christ, they caused the guy to have a car

accident. They got pictures though. Yeah, but

still, it's like, holy crap. Overall, it's a

very good film, and I think it needs reexamination

by Hollywood, but again, it's six years old,

so there's, you know, Hollywood's all about in

the now. Yeah, it's pretty dated. I mean, not

really dated -dated, but I mean, it's... As far

as how old it is. Yeah. Yeah. You know. You have

any other final thoughts before we close this

out? Definitely must watch. Really good action

film. Yes, I completely agree. And I'm so glad

they haven't done what they've done with a lot

of other films where they've re -released it

and made like two disc editions because I hate

having to buy double copies. Yes, and that's

the thing I will never do. Alright then, so...

That's going to do it for us. Thank you for joining

us here on the MWIRE movie we can review. There

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It's either gonna be me, Steve, and Kevin, or

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Wow, that's gonna be a long -ass episode. Oh,

yes. Uh, for now, I am TFG1 Mike with... Steve

Megatron Phillips. Thank you for listening. Until

next time. In a world. There. I said it. Happy?