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livehealthynewsusa · 3 years

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Paul Giamatti on Gunpowder Milkshake, Jungle Cruise, and Billons Season 6

Everyone knows Paul Giamatti from something. Perhaps you are a Howard Stern loyalist who remembers him as “Pig Vomit” from Stern’s 1997 biographical film Private Parts (adapted from Stern’s book and starred as himself). You may remember his little role in Saving Private Ryan or his Oscar-nominated role in Cinderella Man. You may have seen him on the small screen portraying the perfect John Adams on HBO’s John Adams or going on par with Damian Lewis on Showtimes Billions for the past five years.

Personally, I always think of the first movie I’ve ever seen him in: Big Fat Liar, a 2002 family movie in which Giamatti plays a selfish Hollywood producer who literally steals a movie idea from a kid (Frankie Muniz). But the whole point is that everyone has something. He’s one of those actors who makes any movie, show, play, or commercial he’s in better, and the latest to get that Giamatti bump is Netflix’s Gunpowder Milkshake.

The film, which features Guardians of the Galaxy and Jumanji: The Next Level star Karen Gillan in her first butt-kicking lead role, clearly takes a bit of DNA from its spiritual predecessors, John Wick and Kill Bill. But the movie’s wonderfully choreographed action comes non-stop, with fights, sequences, and imagery that you’ll want to see again right away. Gillan and Giamatti are not alone either; while they play assassins or handlers, they are accompanied by Lena Headey, Angela Bassett, Carla Gugino and Michelle Yeoh as a quartet of totally tough killers.

Netflix

As always, Giamatti’s character is complicated. He’s not a good guy, but we’re not entirely sure if he could be called a really bad guy. He can talk a little more about that. His screen time is limited, but as always, it’s the line deliveries, facial expressions, and general lingering memorability of the 54-year-old that make him such a valuable presence.

In addition to talking to Giamatti about his role in Netflix’s new hyper-stylized action film, we also talked about a few other important topics, including one of his decades-old cult classics working with both The Rock and a Majestic Bird, and what projects he can do for tease or not a release later in 2021.

I would fail to start this interview without asking you about the first movie I saw you in as a kid in the 90s: Big fat liar.

For sure.

I am curious to see how often you hear that this person is brought up. I suspect some other people my age, but maybe it doesn’t resonate as much with other or older generations.

It comes out pretty much which is great. I think now, you know, generations of people … you are right about older people, but how old are you?

I am 28.

Um. Yes, people your age and a little older, and their kids are seeing it now, too. So it’s been a success with children for generations. Children still see it. It is great.

Lots of people see you with all that blue paint on you, don’t they?

Yup! Yup.

Giamatti and Frankie Muniz in Big Fat Liar.

Universal

Well, Gunpowder Milkshake is quite a shift from Big fat liar.

[LAUGHING]

I was tied up the whole time. But I’ve seen you in a few other action films in the past. If you decide to make an action movie, how Gunpowder milkshake, What are you looking for?

So I haven’t done that many action films yet. I have a lot of these, but when I do them I try to pick the more unusual ones that come. I also did a movie called Shoot ‘Em Up a while back, which was similar in some ways to that movie. It was really weird and strange. So, I like something that’s a little weird than just straight ahead. And that was really strange, I thought. It has a strange sense of humor, and I like that kind of very complete, strange world that you don’t get told much about, but you can feel that it has a beginning, a middle, and an end, beyond anything is you’ve just seen what’s really cool.

The color palette is really noticeable at times.

Yes, it’s a beautiful looking movie. And it’s beautifully recorded and edited, and it’s really, really well done. Just a strange movie, too. It has a strange tone, kind of. I liked it.

Giamatti in Shoot’em Up.

New Line cinema

You mentioned Shoot ‘Em Up – that was actually the other action movie I had in mind. You happen to be a villain in this movie too. Is there anything you particularly like about playing a villain character?

I don’t really think the guy in this movie is the bad guy, in a weird way. The character of Ralph Ineson actually seems to be the villain. I mean my character is a compromised guy but he actually takes care of the girl and it seems like he actually helped her get her back together with her mom. So I don’t necessarily think he’s the bad guy, which is what I kind of liked about this guy.

But I don’t mind playing bad guys at all. And Shoot ‘Em Up — one of the things I really liked was that I would get movie villains a lot, but I was like, “Uh”. And then the bad guy in that movie was so weird and twisted that I thought, “Well, that’s a good bad guy part.”

But I don’t mind playing villains at all. I like to play them. I don’t do it that often. I feel like I play bad guys as opposed to the bad guys who mostly. I kind of play shitty, ambiguous guys, but I don’t necessarily play the bad guy.

Those “grayscale” characters.

Yes. That’s what I think this guy is. The guy in Shoot ‘Em Up was great. I mean, that was a great character. I have to break Clive Owen’s fingers and run over a baby and all. I mean, that’s a lot of fun.

This is the first time I’ve seen Karen Gillan star in a movie like this. What was it like working with her?

She was great. I mean, you know, I guess you’re right – it’s kind of her first. But it didn’t seem like the first time she’d had to take a lead. She mastered it perfectly. But she was great. It was really fun and we had a good time.

I’m impressed with these people who can do both the physical and the acting part of this kind of thing. It’s always very impressive.

Another movie that you have is Jungle cruise, this is another movie you do with The Rock. However, I don’t think you had any scenes in common San Andreas.

No we have not.

How was it this time to meet him and work with him?

He seems like one of the few people I can think of in this business who is pretty much what you think he’s going to be. And pretty much what it appears to be. He’s just a really good guy. He’s an incredibly approachable guy, and he’s just plain fun. He’s having a good time. He’s working his ass off.

I mean, he works out a good part of the day and then he comes in and does his acting. These types of athletes are just great when they act because they just want to play, they want to have a good time, they want to do the right thing, they want to do it well. It is very nice. He’s a great guy. He’s a really, really, nice guy. He is exactly what he seems to be. It really is. I really enjoyed it.

Giamatti (and Vogel) in jungle cruise.

Disney

I don’t know much about this movie, but I saw your character in the trailer and on the poster. It looks like you have a big bird on your arm.

Yes I do.

What can you tell me about this bird

Well, the bird, originally I wanted him … there really was no character. It’s actually a bit like Shoot ‘Em Up where there wasn’t really a character. They said, can you just come in and do something with it? And with it the same. They were like just want to do something with them? And I thought: okay.

And so I originally wanted a monkey to light my cigars. But it’s a Disney movie, so I couldn’t smoke cigars, and then a monkey was too difficult. Monkeys are too difficult to handle. And so they said: do you want another kind of animal? And I said what about a cockatoo or something? A really beautiful bird.

So they got me a beautiful bird. And I’ve worked with birds before and it’s really great to work with because they are really smart and can be very loving and cool, and when you are cool with them they really connect with them, you, and they are very sweet to work with. And this bird was really great. In fact, I was thinking pretty seriously about adopting this bird. But I didn’t end up doing it because there’s a lot to do, birds. But the bird was fantastic. Beautiful bird. Really cute bird.

Amazing. That sounds fun.

Yes.

Before we go, I’d like to ask a few quick questions, too potential things to come. I say potential because I saw some rumors on the internet claiming that you will repeat your repetition Amazing Spider-Man 2 Role in the coming Spider-Man: No way home Movie. Can you give us a hint, yes or no?

All I can tell you is that as far as I know I don’t. [LAUGHING]

OK. We can leave it there.

Yes.

There are also a lot of fans of your show Billions, and a new season is just around the corner. Can you give us a little hint what to expect there?

Oh … big stuff. Big stuff goes down. You’d kill me if I said something, but all I can tell you is that some big, big shit hits the fan. That’s all I can tell you.

This interview has been condensed for content and clarity.

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source https://livehealthynews.com/paul-giamatti-on-gunpowder-milkshake-jungle-cruise-and-billons-season-6/

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theconservativebrief · 6 years

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Tucked into a blog post published on Google’s website last week, amid news about the launch of the company’s third-generation Pixel smartphone, was the information that the tech giant is “joining forces” with Gwyneth Paltrow’s $250 million lifestyle empire, Goop.

So far, the partnership is limited: Goop will be selling Google Home smart speakers and accessories in its holiday pop-ups and permanent “goop Lab” stores. A Google spokesperson told me the devices will “be available to experience and shop” starting next week at the flagship Goop store in Los Angeles’s Brentwood neighborhood, running through the end of January 2019, and at Goop pop-up shops in various other cities during the holiday season.

Starting the first week of November, they’ll also be available at a new, yet-to-be-announced permanent Goop store in New York City. (A Goop representative confirmed a November 1 opening for the store, which will be in Noho.)

On its surface, this is a weird collab: What does a wildly expensive luxury brand, founded on the premise that not everyone can be beautiful and rich and healthy, want with a brand best known for an unsexy search engine running on the brain power of a bunch of nerds? What could one of the world’s most powerful technology and science companies gain from a startup that was recently fined $145,000 for telling women that putting a piece of rose quartz up their vagina would regulate their menstrual cycle and prevent uterine prolapse?

We really don’t have to look that closely. It’s an example of mutual corporate back-scratching that incorporates two of consumerism’s favorite buzzwords: “wellness” and “luxury.”

Kaitlyn Tiffany/Vox

Google has only been making physical devices for three years, and in trying to increase its market share, it’s been trying to court a more “aspirational” demographic to differentiate itself from Apple, which has a firm hold on the mass market. The Verge’s review of the Pixel 3 phone says it’s the first Google device that feels “premium” — it nixed the “faux-humility” of the Pixel 2’s plasticky coating and is now fully aluminum and glass.

To promote the phones, which cost upward of $1,000 with full storage (comparable to Apple’s last several iPhones, but a markup from the Pixel and the Pixel 2), Google has already hired Annie Leibovitz. The photographer best known for more than 40 years of defining celebrity photography on the covers of Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair will tour the country and take photos with the Pixel 3’s camera. Google also paid Condé Nast to use a Pixel 3 to shoot seven November magazine covers, including those for luxury lifestyle titles like Architecture Digest, W, Condé Nast Traveler, and GQ.

But Google’s new hardware marketing strategy isn’t just about luxury. It’s also about that word you’ve heard so many times it no longer feels like a word, more like a round, lozenge-shaped thing that falls out of your mouth every time it opens. Wellness.

Kaitlyn Tiffany/Vox

The company has been promoting the idea of “digital wellbeing” in its latest hardware and software push, emphasizing Android features that help you limit your time spent in various apps, with appealing graphics to show just how much time you’re wasting.

At Google’s annual I/O event in May, CEO Sundar Pichai promised that Google would bring its customers a new feeling this year, in addition to new products: “JOMO,” or the “joy of missing out.” You can “shush” a Google phone (put into do-not-disturb mode by setting it face down) or “wind down” a Google phone (set a bedtime that switches the screen to grayscale).

In a Wired feature from May, Arielle Pardes pointed out that the idea of “digital wellness” started at Google in 2012, when product designer Tristan Harris sent a company-wide memo about how unethical he thought Google’s Inbox app notifications were. It was a 144-page presentation titled “Call to Minimize Distraction and Respect Users’ Attention,” and earned Harris the role of “design ethicist” — a job created specifically for him, and which he held until 2016, when he left to start a nonprofit called Time Well Spent.

Pardes compared Google’s interest in digital wellbeing to other wellness trends, saying it makes living a more balanced life look easier than it really is. Which, incidentally, is Goop’s whole MO — albeit more often at price points that are totally inaccessible to the average consumer.

When Goop’s first permanent store opened in Los Angeles last fall, LA Weekly’s Jillian Scheinfeld described it as “equal parts ridic and chic as fuck.” It was advertised as a “bungalow” but actually set up as a series of “well-appointed” rooms in a fancy apartment — including a functioning kitchen, an apothecary, a greenhouse, and a living room with “midnight blue” wallpaper and a sheepskin throw on a walnut daybed.

Google’s holiday pop-up hardware store, which opens Thursday in New York, is the tech version of that. It’s in Soho, on Greene Street, approximately 200 feet from the Soho Apple Store, and sandwiched between a Dior boutique and the millennial-first couch company Burrow’s new “experiential” retail store.

Kaitlyn Tiffany/Vox

It’s a “literal interpretation of a hardware store,” except incredibly sleek — attended to by salespeople in bright white button-downs and $200 Timberlands, and full of bright white toolboxes and bright aluminum paint cans with labels that reflect Google hardware’s pastel color palette — sharply different from the bold primary colors of its web services.

There are Edison bulbs and chunks of rose quartz. There’s a bright miniature kitchen with copper mugs and a shiny French press, with an adorable aqua mini-stove and ’60s-vintage-inspired floor tiling that reads “Hey Google,” and a secret candy drawer that pops open upon asking the new Google Home Hub for a snack. (The Google Home Hub is the store’s star attraction, but you can also buy the Pixel 3, Google Home speakers, and other accessories.)

The idea of digital wellness started at Google, just as Goop was building out its empire

Each purchase can be gift-wrapped at a DIY station equipped with six different pastel-printed papers, balls of twine, and gold-handled scissors. You carry it home in a tote bag with one of Google’s new signature colors — “not pink,” “midnight blue,” “aqua,” or, unfortunately, “just white” — printed on the side. It comes with a manual, created by Canadian artist Hiller Goodspeed, which is full of dozens of pastel-hued illustrated guides like “How to take care of your (digital) self” and “How to start your next vacation faster.”

As deliberately Instagrammable, supposedly “interactive” retail experiences go, this one is really nice. The treehouse (there is a treehouse!) is stocked with Nancy Drew books. The smells are all fresh paint and money. There are multiple coloring lounges and dozens of opportunities to request that Google’s voice assistant perform strange tasks for you. (You can ask it to tell you a ghost story!)

It is also, as these retail experiences go, pretty typical, in that it is beautiful and aspirational. Everything that’s available to buy costs a lot of money, and I was dressed so improperly for the experience (in sneakers and a button-down black dress) that one of the store’s attendants came over and asked me to stop taking photos, implying that he wasn’t exactly sure how I’d found my way into a press preview.

All this to say: When Google products move over into Goop stores, the transition will be seamless. It’s the perfect aspirational lifestyle play for Google — and Goop will get some important rebranding from the arrangement too.

Goop has struggled with credibility and with accusations of spreading misinformation. Earlier this year, it was forced to relabel health and wellness advice content on its website with disclaimers like “For Your Enjoyment: There probably aren’t going to be peer-reviewed studies about this concept, but it’s fun, and there’s real merit in that,” and “Ancient Modality: This practice is nearly as old as time — many find value in it, even if modern-day research hasn’t caught up yet.”

In a bombastic and delightfully gossipy (the cigarette!) New York Times magazine profile of Gwyneth Paltrow published in July, she revealed that her company’s plan to launch its own magazine in partnership with Condé Nast (a Google partner) fell through because the publisher insisted Goop use a fact-checker. By partnering with Google, Goop has an opportunity to affiliate its brand with big data and proven fact, without actually validating any of its own claims.

In the Times profile, Paltrow also revealed that the company was worth $250 million, and thanked her haters for her success. Writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner explained:

The weirder Goop went, the more its readers rejoiced. And then, of course, the more Goop was criticized: by mainstream doctors with accusations of pseudoscience, by websites like Slate and Jezebel saying it was no longer ludicrous — no, now it was dangerous. And elsewhere people would wonder how Gwyneth Paltrow could try to solve our problems when her life seemed almost comically problem-free. But every time there was a negative story about her or her company, all that did was bring more people to the site — among them those who had similar kinds of questions and couldn’t find help in mainstream medicine.

Nobody understands the mechanics of this — a great search-engine optimization/clickbait feedback loop scam — better than Google. Google Search placement and Google Trend might be two of the least sexy but most important things any fledgling brand has to worry about. If anyone knows how great Goop is doing on that front, it’s the company that holds practically every internet user’s browsing data.

If Google wants to get seriously into luxury and wellness, nobody’s more tightly associated with those buzzwords than Goop. We don’t know the extent of Goop and Google’s partnership yet, but it makes perfect sense. “The minute the phrase ‘having it all’ lost favor among women, wellness came in to pick up the pieces,” Brodesser-Akner wrote. “Wellness was maybe a result of too much having it all, too much pursuit, too many boxes that we’d seen our exhausted mothers fall into bed without checking off.”

That explains the rise of Goop’s brand of aspirational wellness, but wellness as a concept also arrived because of too many email notifications, too many “active” or “away” status bubbles, and too many tech companies like Google that made every moment of our lives schedulable and therefore monetizable. A partnership between the two makes total sense business-wise — and for consumers, it’s a match made in a rosy, well-lit hell.

Original Source -> Why Google wants to sell its gadgets in Goop stores

via The Conservative Brief

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