A friend of mine called me this weekend telling me that he and a few of his friends were going to see “Leatherheads.” Now, typically, I like this kind of movie. Seems silly. Sports related. Can’t go wrong. Got decent reviews.
One problem -George Clooney.
I’m not one of those guys who boycotts movies of people I don’t agree with. I can still watch Tim Robbins though I’m sure we probably disagree on everything except the death penalty. I can separate actors from their characters -to a point. Sometimes stars get so big that you can’t believe them in a role other than themselves ever again. I think that may be why Cary Grant could only play Cary Grant. Same with John Wayne.
But with Clooney it’s a little different. Here’s what he said a few years ago and then I’ll go into the rest.
According to the New York Post, while accepting an award from the National Board of Review, Clooney wisecracked, “Charlton Heston announced again today that he is suffering from Alzheimer’s.”
When asked about the statement, Clooney told the Post, “I don’t care. Charlton Heston is the head of the National Rifle Association. He deserves whatever anyone says about him.”
That’s the kind of thing that stays in my mind. Meanness. For me, that’s all I can think of when I see him. He’s mean.
I know it sounds simplistic and even silly. Look, I know I probably wouldn’t let Robert Downey Jr. into my home but I’ll go see Ironman.
Maybe as a parent I spend so much time watching out for meanness, cattiness, and jealousy that they jump out at me. I watch out for them because those kind of things destroy people. Everyone. The angry person and everyone around them.
So when my friend called I politely declined. I told him I had a lot of things to do around the house. One of my daughters had to get to a birthday party. Then my friend called me some names that I won’t print here. I called him mean.
April 7, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Your friend called you names because you wouldn’t go to the movies with him? Either you’re the life of the party, or you need to hang out with a better class of people.
April 7, 2008 at 6:45 pm
“I probably wouldn’t let Robert Downey Jr. into my home”
Me either. Not after what I saw him do in “less than Zero”
I would never kiss him on the lips after that!
April 7, 2008 at 6:59 pm
“I would never kiss him on the lips after that!”
I don’t wanna know the details, do I?
April 7, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Definitely not! That scene is awful.
April 7, 2008 at 7:56 pm
David,
I definitely need to hang out with a better class of people. Although truth be told I don’t get out much. I hang out often with a gang of five kids. They’re not the classiest bunch either. Two of them aren’t even potty trained.
April 7, 2008 at 10:28 pm
According to the New York Post, while accepting an award from the National Board of Review, Clooney wisecracked, “Charlton Heston announced again today that he is suffering from Alzheimer’s.”
When asked about the statement, Clooney told the Post, “I don’t care. Charlton Heston is the head of the National Rifle Association. He deserves whatever anyone says about him.”
That’s despicable. Simply despicable. I loved Clooney in O Brother Where Art Thou, but if he’s willing to sink that low about a man who was seriously ill, I just might throw the video in the trash.
April 8, 2008 at 1:45 am
“Charlton Heston is the head of the National Rifle Association”
Was he? Isn’t that like saying Beyonce is the head of Covergirl Makeup?
http://www.companionofjesus.com
April 8, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Good one.
April 8, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Matthew:
So, you’re telling me that two of the guys you hang with aren’t potty-trained yet. And your wife has the nerve to leave you with these little munchkins? Oh, the humanity!
Maybe that’s the problem. I’d say you’re out of the weekend-at-the-local-roadhouse scene for a few years. They probably don’t have roadhouses in Philadelphia, do they? Actually, now that I think of it, they do. On the south side, near Chester. If you can drive through there without getting shot. Good luck with that one. Maybe the malls beyond “Conshee” have multiplex theatres, and you can get a group rate for a matinee with “Prince Caspian.” Then you can listen to them whine about wanting the McDonald’s toys.
Ah, how I envy you!
April 8, 2008 at 8:08 pm
David,
Well you’d be the first, my friend.
also, look at you trotting out the philly lingo. Soon I’ll be having you say “downtheshore” for going to the Jersey shore.
April 8, 2008 at 8:35 pm
HEY! I’ll have you know I was quite the sensation in the Philadelphia zydeco dance scene earlier in this decade. I was a semi-regular at the TK Club, and was never without a partner, usually a gal who was learning for the first time, and after three minutes in my capable hands, would drag me over to her girlfriend and say, hey, this guy knows how to dance.
For awhile I referred to it as “The City of Sisterly Love.” Alas (sigh!), all good things must come to an end. Long story…