Back in early September, Tom Hiddleston was riding high. After going dark for the better part of a year, he was finally back in the spotlight with three big movies, Crimson Peak, I Saw the Light and High Rise. He headed off to Toronto with the wind in his sails and the Oscar buzz surrounding him. Then people saw the movies. Then everything sort of fell apart. Crimson Peak bombed at the box office. High Rise didn’t even get an American distribution deal. And I Saw the Light’s reviews were so bad at TIFF that the film quietly got shuffled back to the film-release dead zone of March of next year, as opposed to its original Oscar-baity release date right around now. The official excuse was that Tom had some scheduling conflicts and he wouldn’t be able to promote ISTL properly. Which was true. But it’s also true that the Oscar buzz around ISTL died a quick death as soon as critics actually saw it.
Anyway, the trailer for I Saw the Light was released today. Whoever cut the trailer deserves an award, because they make it look like a solid bio-pic. At first I was like “Ugh, his accent work is struggling,” but maybe I’m being too harsh. And they’re really pushing Elizabeth Olsen, aren’t they? Interesting. Here’s the trailer.
Sure. My question is: will this film have much of an impact? While Tom has (devoted) fans, he has not proven his leading-man skills, and I’m not sure there will be a built-in audience of any kind to see a BAD bio-pic of Hank Williams starring Lord Dragonfly. Still… good trailer.
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
Surely a total coincidence that the Star article immediately preceded this!
Yep. Total coincidence. Heh heh.
@nutballs You called that totally right in the last thread.
And THEO articles won’t go away until this movie is finally released.
@nutballs, or until Lizzie gets a new job, a new boyfriend, or a new publicist, whichever comes first.
Lilac, I’ll be surprised if she gets a new boyfriend before April.
I’m curious what he thinks about a EO using his name to boost her PR.
Why didn’t I see this coming the minute the Star article hit the interwebs? My PR radar must be on the fritz, it all makes sense now.
Dara, you’re still thinking about my hard drive…
I want to see the movie, I really do. It looks like his performance is great and that the entirety is not as bad as the reviewers have painted it. But the publicity is off putting. It is starting to come off as so crass and obvious.
@Nutty, don’t sell yourself short – I was also transfixed by your luscious software.
@Anon, if I wasn’t following ISTL so closely I probably wouldn’t even have noticed the relationship side of the publicity, or how blatantly obvious it was. But yeah, gotta agree that it is now very off-putting.
What Star article???
See yesterday’s Tom thread
The one with 300 comments..
No one wants us to mention the related article that was also referenced on yesterday’s post. Not sure why, since the site is one of the ones at the bottom of the page.
Puts the whole thing on Lizzy’s publicist.
The PR shenanigans have certainly been off-putting with this film. It definitely affected my perception of both of them.
He was good in Only Lovers left Alive. The world needs more Hiddleston moping.
I loved OLLA, he and Tilda were the perfect pair. Maybe he is just choosing the wrong scripts. In the right vehicle he can act his socks off.
His acting and choice of roles is fine. The final product, however, usually is a mixed bag.
Sometimes I wonder if intellectual, anti-social Adam isn’t closer to Tom’s private persona than we might realize – the side of himself that he doesn’t let anyone else see, ever.
Me thinks so too, he has said many times that he has a cheerful positive persona by choice. That he felt the need to make that choice consistently? Maybe he has a tendency towards Adam
Agreed. He’s got to draw on something for all these dark, brooding roles. Besides, nobody is THAT cheerful and happy and bursting with love all the time.
“nobody is THAT cheerful and happy and bursting with love all the time.”
True but we are seeing one side of him so everything feels exaggerated/heightened. Like my coworkers usually only see a certain side of me as well. I’m usually considered cheerful, full of jokes and jabs. I feel no need to air my dirty laundry to them. That’s not something they need to know. Plus it ruins the professional setting.
I can’t watch the trailer until much later today. Glad there finally is one. Colin is setting up lunch on the tropical veranda and in the vending machines at the edge of the jungle.
While the film got poor reviews, his performance received good ones. And in light of the crash and burn box office for anything not named The Martian, Crimson Peak didn’t do so badly.
Could you tell Colin that I am looking forward to my orange juice and vodka, when he gets around to it of course, no rush. Is there any more of that tasty turkey soup. Perhaps we can get Mark to shoot a brace of phessies? I do like a good game bird.
Colin is on his way with soup and beverage.
Yeah Kaiser, can we give the hyperbole a break? Crimson Peak did not do as well as expected (and frankly it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be), but it didn’t exactly bomb. High Rise hasn’t gotten a US distributor yet, but are we sure that it still won’t, because I’m sure hoping it does as I’d love to see it and can’t afford another flight to the UK. And if it doesn’t, I would say it was due more to the subject matter being a hard sell and a not well known in the US director, than the quality of the movie or performances of the actors. And yes ISTL got lousy reviews from the critics, but pretty much rave reviews for both lead performances. I wonder how bad it really is? The few people who tweeted about seeing it in previews and at least one commenter here who also saw it previews all said it was good–not great, had some issues–but not horrible. Yes, they could all be plants; I”m not that naive, but get the feeling that at worst ISTL will be on a par with most other bio-pics, which tend toward one-dimensional hagiography and/or melodrama. I’ll see it and while I am a Tom Hiddleston fan, I’m hardly his most devoted demographic and I bet a lot of country music/Hank Williams lovers will see it too. Do I think it’s going to be a box office success? No, but then again as @Lilacflowers pointed out with the Martian example, few movies are, even those that were hyped. Is there some disappointment for TH and his camp and fans that this won’t be his award season–although given all the glowing reviews, I wouldn’t be surprised if High Rise picked up a BAFTA or two–yes, but it is tempered by the fact that all of his performances got good to glowing reviews even in less than stellar films. He’ll survive to get another go; he’s still young.
High-Rise has scored nominations for British Independent Film awards, including a Best Actor nomination for Tom (which I’m expecting Tom Courtenay to win instead). Not sure what the release date rules are for BAFTA nominations; it won’t be released in England until February-March, but it might score well in the BAFTA British film category if eligible
My only concern is whether Sony makes good on its promise to re-release and/or mount an awards campaign for Tom this time next year. They bought the rights after having seen the film – presumably – and they owe this to Tom after pulling the November 2016 release date.
His performance has already drawn mostly excellent reviews, but folks have short memories and will need reminders for the 2017 ballots. I still have my fingers crossed for the Golden Globe Awards in 2017 – bless them for their Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy category.
An awards campaign for a performance in a March-released film with terrible reviews? Nope, sorry not happening except in a half-hearted way unless it makes $150 million (not a prayer of that). Studios make meaningless promises everyday. Remember when Weinstein was all but guaranteeing Jake Gyllenhaal would get an Oscar nom for Southpaw? The Disappearance of Elenor Rigby? This didn’t live up to the hype so they’re dumping it. It happens.
Yea I don’t see it trying for round two when round one failed pretty spectacularly.
I agree. I hope for Tom’s sake it at least makes its money back and the country music fans enjoy it. He took a big risk, worked his ass off and did a great job as Hank. Its unfortunate that the script didn’t measure up to his performance.
I’m not sure I would use the term dumping – but I do think they’ve changed marketing strategy. I think SPC will go after a more mainstream southern and country audience and will try for box office rather than awards. Still looks like they will spend some money on marketing to support its release, but I agree their whole line about re-releasing in the fall and trying to get acting noms was probably just lip-service to save face. I don’t thing that will happen.
Speaking of SPC bio-pics, the Don Cheadle/Miles Davis film has an April 2016 release.
William’s grandson said TH had ‘no soul’ imitating grandpa…yeah, it’s just not quite right…
Hank III’s been against this casting since it first got announced.
Wanted it for himself and that was never going to happen
Yet Williams’s daughter and granddaughter have both said they were pleased with the performance. Hank3 was nasty from the moment the film was announced.
A no brainer really, in spite of all the hype.
He said that about Tom’s impromptu appearance at the folk festival before they started filming.
The Hanks II and III have sullied Hank I’s reputation with their crappy music. Neither one is worth listening to on any topic whatsoever.
He was seriously good in this film, as was Olsen.
They’re both outstanding. I wish the film was better.
I still really, really want to see it!
TH and EO have allot of chemistry. Based on the trailer and not the reviews, I would go see it. As someone who has no idea about Hank, I won’t know what is missing in Hank’s narrative and perhaps will enjoy the movie more than the critics who pointed out missing pieces and people.
It felt like it glossed over a lot of important moments in his life while highlighting the parts that seemed a bit insignificant. Supposedly Abraham wanted to capture the bits not usually seen from Hank. It’s not really a traditional biopic.
They left out his death, for one, which seems strange.
For some reason, because they cut out his death, it felt more like a Lifetime movie afterwards.
They left it out entirely? As in, he gets in a car and just disappears over the horizon never to be seen again? Good lord, his last days were the one compelling part of the biography for me. I get that the director may not have wanted to show or glorify what was probably a long, ugly and excruciating couple of days but it broke my heart to imagine Hank suffering in backwater motels and the back seat of a car without anyone realizing just how badly he needed help.
I wonder if they shot those scenes and cut them or if it just wasn’t in the script to begin with.
Dara, it’s possible it was shot and ended on the cutting room floor, but they don’t show any details of his death in the final cut.
@dara At TIFF, Marc Abraham said he wrote the scene then threw it out. I didn’t get the impression they shot it. But yes, that should have been in the film. One of a bunch of missed opportunities.
Well, hell. I’ve been refraining from complaining too much about Abraham since I haven’t seen the film and wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I’m really starting to question a lot of his choices. Maybe some of his decisions were forced on him by a short shooting schedule or tight budget, but still – WTF dude.
Are they retooling this film in any way? It seems a shame to pull it and wait and NOT do some reworking based on feedback after Toronto.
I would hope they’d find a way to show the reason why Hank and his music mattered to world. It was as though the audience was expected to understand how much he influenced some of the great singer-songwriters after him. You don’t get that sense from the film and it would could be added as part of the narrative. With an audience beyond the American country music fan who knows nothing of Hank, it should have been a part of the story. It helps to balance out why someone who was such a f*ckup in life could take his pain, trouble and dysfunction and write emotional, heartfelt music that connected with the masses. It just wasn’t being done by male songwriters back then and Hank blazed a new trail.
I hope so. They have the time. It would be a shame if they didn’t at least try. I agree completely with @nutballs – they need to make it relevant for today’s audience. It’s not like Steve Jobs where you can leave things out because he’s still so prominent in people’s minds. You need to show that influence, his hold on fans, connecting with the audience. So when he goes off the rails, the disappointment makes sense. /rant
May understanding is that they will get a chance to re edit it as they did with Whiplash.
The production team have seen his driving off as a more poetic ending or a metaphor for his life continuing on through his music which it did,
In some ways showing his death is just a cliche as even I who did not know much about him knew he died from drugs an overdose.Knowing why was more important than the last image of seeing him die it just requires a bit more imagination on the viewers part.
Much as I love Tom (thanks @Lilacflowers for the occasional lending out:-)) I generally don’t watch biopics except historical ones (and no, a country star does not qualify as “historic” to me, sorry).
I may try it if comes on Netflix but definitely not something to spend $50 on in a theatre.
He can definitely act, that is not the problem – I find that if a movie doesn’t do well it is usually the script and/or direction. It is rare that a truly bad actor gets to helm/ star in a movie (except Adam Sandler, he somehow gets away with a lot of cr*p). And I think people, including directors and producers, are able to discern that the movie being bad has little to do with Tom’s acting, for which he was actually praised by the critics, and much more to do with how the story was told and shot.
The trailer’s good… so is Tom’s performance, as well as the music. The script, not so much. I loved the scene with Bobbie Jett that’s in the trailer… one of several moving scenes in the film.
I’m ticked that Sony isn’t including all of Tom’s songs on the soundtrack. He’s only singing on half of the soundtrack. The opener of Cold, Cold Heart, Why Don’t You Love Me and I Saw The Light are missing. WTF, Sony??
@nutballs, where are you seeing a list of songs on the soundtrack?
Also, this BBC radio show plays Why Don’t You Love Me (at around 49:30ish), and the host describes it as being from the soundtrack. h.ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006x527
Someone got a copy of it and tweeted a picture of the back of the album:
https://twitter.com/search?f=images&vertical=news&q=%23ISawTheLight&src=tyah
I’d love to find out that THIS is not the actual soundtrack.
@nuts, that’s not the whole soundtrack. It had like 10-12 tracks I think at least when I saw the photograph of the back of the cd http://hiddlememes.tumblr.com/post/133092774116/crazymissb-thehiddlestonianobasan#notes
Nevermind. When I clicked on your link I didn’t see the picture, but I think you were talking about the same one.
If you read the small print under the song titles, you’ll see that Tom is only singing on about half of them.
Honestly I can’t remember how many songs he sang in the movie but 6 sounds about right. the movie had mostly dialogue and almost no score, which is unusual.
i just realized that my link didn’t go straight to the tweet… here it is:
https://twitter.com/Time4Hiddles/status/664942351840706561
Correct: “Why Don’t You Love Me” is on the soundtrack, but ISTL and CCH aren’t. Since they were in the film, Sony should have included them on it.
Yeah, you’d think they’d include the title song at the very least.
My guess is they are leaving a few key songs off so that they can do a second release of the soundtrack with additional material, hoping people will buy it twice. I’ve seen that happen a couple of times with soundtracks on iTunes.
If you look in the fine print at the bottom, you can see it’s for promotional use only. Probably something thrown together for the Nashville premiere. I can’t imagine they’d leave off songs he sang in the movie, and replace them with ones that aren’t there – or sung by other singers instead.
Plus, there were a lot of songs he recorded that played over the credits.
When I worked in the music biz back in a day, the pre-release/promo version was the same as the one sold in stores. It lacked a proper case or booklet with lyrics, liner notes, credits etc, but it was the same CD. So, I’m not hopeful that the retail CD will differ, but what may happen is that the digital releases through iTunes or Amazon will include “bonus” tracks that are missing from this promo copy. I’ll only purchase the songs I want, but I was hoping to get the film’s opener of Cold, Cold Heart (gorgeous) and Tom singing I Saw The Light, that may have been recorded, but not in the film. His and Lizzy’s duet from the film would make a nice ghost track.
Hmmm. They’re nuts if they don’t release Cold, Cold Heart some way, aren’t they @nutballs? It’s almost worth the price of admission alone, and certainly worth a download. It just seemed like the weirdest compilation of songs – what was included (a track by Eddy Arnold?) as well as what was left off.
Yes, it defies logic if they don’t release CCH. It’s the song everyone comments on from the film. For me, not being a fan of Tom’s pre-ISTL singing, it showcases how his voice improved with training.
Based on the trailer, Tom gave an excellent performance. But aside from that, all of the reviews have been horrible. I don’t expect anything but a swift death for this.
Tom’s abilities are not the isdue. He’s just picked some real duds.
I have hopes for High Rise. It’s distribution problems are not about its quality– it’s just that kind of story.
You’ll love High-Rise. Fun and dark film.
Oh, I know that I will love it! But I totally understand why many people will not– it’s that kind of film, and I am okay with that. 🙂
yea it definitely is an acquired taste and has its audience with its Thatcher-era subtext, violence, satire, and dry humor.
If Exhibition could get distribution, High-Rise, which has a recognizable cast and an actual plot, should find a US distributor too, no matter how difficult the material. Or I may have to fly up to Montreal to see it
Most of Ben Wheatley’s films got distribution in the US. Including ones he hasn’t even shot yet.
If The Brown Bunny can get a distributor, this should be able to.
Yeah, but none of those other films were produced by Recorded Picture Company. It may be unfair, but I’m placing the blame for lack of US distribution squarely on them.
I appreciate that Jeremy Thomas is an Oscar-winning producer who has a rep for working with ‘auteur’ directors that aren’t exactly box-office friendly. But I also get the impression he very much enjoys being a big fish in a little pond and doesn’t much care if his films get seen beyond the UK or Europe. Some of that could be due to their subject-matter, but that didn’t stop Wheatley’s other films from getting US distribution. The only difference is they weren’t RPC productions.
Based on the trailer alone, I would line up all night to get a ticket for this. And now after all the not so great reviews, I still wanna watch this for the performances and the music, because they look more than solid.
As far as High-rise is concerned, it has been nominated for 4 categories in the British independent film awards, including best actor for Tom and best screenplay, so i wouldn’t call is a failure just yet.
Well for all the doom and gloom in the OP, I will say, kudos to Tom for taking risks and not playing it safe.
I also loved High Rise, but I’m not sure how well it’ll go over in the U.S. – a lot of the Toronto reviewers did not understand the class system elements at all, which only became clear to me when I saw the film and realised how they had misdescribed those parts.
It’s a film that some people will absolutely love, and write whole film studies theses about, but others will hate and not get at all. It’s a deliberately provocative work.
I would expect any US release to be limited to art houses in major cities and university towns
I learned not to trust trailers and reviews a long time ago (I’m looking at you, Adam Sandler). If this film gets released in my country I’ll go see it.
Just…goosebumps. He is superb.
Um, actually, the Oscar buzz didn’t die out completely after IStL played at TIFF and the critics saw how flawed the movie itself was–there were multiple articles lauding Tom’s performance as award-worthy and a few mentioned EO.
He was still on various Oscar odds lists up until around the time it was announced the movie was being pulled until March.
Oh wow. Looks like a cheap bland bio pic. Poor Tom how much bombs can the guy do before Hollywood stops caring. It’s ironic Cumberbatch Fandom seems to be less and less into him, but his career is getting better and better. Tom should take a note from Ben, stop trying to be the leading man all the time and take supporting roles in a addition to the leading ones. When the hype doesn’t flesh out eventually Hollywood stops caring, look at Jude Law or Colin Ferall. It boys at failed to live up to the hype.
Except Ben is trying to be leading man…Hamlet (stage), Doctor Strange (film), and Sherlock (tv). The guy is going to do yet another biopic about yet another genius. That seems to be working for him, which is fine. Eddie Redmayne does biopics too. Tom’s done 1 (and I hope he doesn’t do more :P). As a Tom fan, I like that he does a variety of roles. Why is everyone so dead set on an actor having to win at everything? I’m super glad to see him stretch his acting muscles and expand his range. If he plays it safe, well maybe he’ll get the success everyone snidely thinks he should be having, but without taking risks, he also becomes super boring playing the same types over and over. Sure, I’m kind of bummed his films weren’t super stellar, but people are blowing things out of proportion when they say he’s “bombing”.
Bit harsh. CP didn’t exactly bomb, and nor has H-Rise yet. I like the way he takes risks and doesn’t always go for the safe option.
CP cost 55 million for it break even it needs 110. It’s only made 74 so far. I doubt it’s gonna break even, so yes it did bomb. It will probably end up with a 20 mil loss. If you include marketing it will be even more.
@ Chuchu well at least it did better than Chris Hemsworth’s Black Hat Budget $70m box office $19.5m
The Steve Jobs movie didn’t fare well either, or Sandra Bullock’s Our Brand Is Crisis. Or Josephs Gordon-Levitt’s The Walk. By the Sea bombed harder than any of these by a huge margin by two of the world’s biggest movie stars. Lets just say, no actor is safe.
It is impossible to say a film has bombed when it hasn’t been released yet. So far, Tom has received favorable reviews for every single film he has made, which BC cannot claim. Crimson Peak did okay and High-Rise is getting award nominations. Brad Pitt’s career seems to have survived a number of bombs. Clooney’s survived numerous failed TV series. Law and Farrell both work quite regularly. Tom’s career is doing just fine and under no circumstances should he look to follow him of the extremely limited range. Indeed, BC seems to be following Tom’s path into The Hollow Crown, headlining a Shakespeare play, and the MCU.
*directing Colin to have staff open windows and turn on fans to remove the stale cabbage scent of Cumberbatch*
“So far, Tom has received favorable reviews for every single film he has made, which BC cannot claim”
Most actors can’t claim this, if we’re being realistic. And Tom’s had things like the Deep Blue Sea, OLLA, where most critics didn’t notice he was even in the film.
But I don’t think either CP or High Rise are the big failures people are claiming either. Nor do I think dragging Cumberbatch or any other actor through the mud is necessary; it just takes away from your main points.
I Saw the Light isn’t going to hit the awards marks they probably wanted but High Rise is doing fine for the type of film it is & Crimson Peak still has a shot of breaking even overseas. None of them qualify as bombs yet.
@Lisa—I agree but it looks pathological with a few posters here at this point. Just unhealthy over-investment.
What’s saving Crimson Peak is that it’s so beautiful to look at and also there just aren’t gothic movies around these days, so CP found a niche. I was excited for it originally for this very reason. I was so excited to see something *different*. I’m sure a lot of people feel that way.
Sorry, Lisa, I do try to avoid that but I find it irksome when he is constantly brought onto threads about other actors and held up as someone to emulate as if he’s the greatest actor ever when the actor in question is doing just fine. I think BC is a good actor within a limited range. I have given him the opportunity to prove otherwise to me and will continue to do so – he just hasn’t lived up to the hype as far as I’m concerned and pointing that out is not necessarily dragging him through mud.
@Lisa and
@Kelly–
Evidently you didn’t start at the beginning of this thread, and missed the post to which Lilacflowers was replying. It centered around this line:
“Tom should take a note from Ben”
which is pretty bog standard for how Bendybatch gets dragged into Dragonfly King threads. And yes, it does seem pathogical at times. Oh, wait. That isn’t what you meant.
And as for Tom going unnoticed in OLLA–not sure how you can warp reality that far.
“Tom Hiddleston is transcendently good as Adam”
Slate, rogerebert.com, and the nytimes have good words about the performance.
Rotten Tomatoes critics’ consensus:
‘Worth watching for Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton’s performances alone.’
The Deep Blue Sea I might grant you, it is definitely Rachel Weisz’ film–but when he is noticed, which does happen, he is praised.
“It’s not the film it could have been but the sheer skill of the great Rachel Weisz and the great Tom Hiddleston make it a film worth seeing.”
Fair enough, Lilacflowers, and I certainly agree Tom’s career is fine and he doesn’t need direction. My apologies too, I wasn’t trying to be snippy.
TotallyBiased, while I don’t agree with Chuchu, I don’t take her points as just being to knock Tom or Law or Farrell but as an opinion on Tom’s current string of projects/trajectory.
I’m also not “warping reality”, the overall review trend was he was overshadowed in both OLLA and DPS by co-stars. Again, I enjoyed him in both movies, but it happens.
Jarmusch wrote OLLA for Tilda. It’s his love letter to her (and the great thinkers of the past). Tom did pretty good for basically playing a vampire version of Jarmusch. Adam is Jarmusch or his ideal version of himself.
@ Lisa, It is pretty well known that DBS is a vehicle for actresses. Check the performance history of the play. The play was always about actresses – Vivian Leigh, Penelope Wilton, etc. That’s how Terence Rattigan wrote the story. Only a handful people remember or discuss Kenneth Moore or Colin Firth in the film/TV adaptations just because the role is far from meaty. Moreover, Terence Davies adapted the play entirely from Hester’s point of view. That’s why I wouldn’t say he was “overshadowed” in DBS. There is little that can be “overshadowed.” I don’t remember all reviews, but if the reviewers had known the play they would have understood the film is designed as Hester’s story from the first.
Chuchu–I’m guessing you meant that hypothetically as you clearly had already decided on the answer:
”Poor Tom how much bombs can the guy do before Hollywood stops caring.”
But exactly how many of his movies are you defining as bombs? CP is disappointing at the box office, but hasn’t even been released in several large overseas markets yet. It can also expect a long and profitable life on home video–it is totally expected to not be a money-loser in the long run for all its initial box-office disappointment (which is mild compared to the real bombs of this fall.) Critics’ reviews are positive.
World-wide, his films have done nearly 3.25 BILLION dollars in box office.
He has ONE film with a less-than-fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and that is the not-yet-released I Saw the Light.
So, again I ask–just what are you defining as bombs here?
(Interesting note about the leading man roles, too, as his role in CP is clearly supporting to the to lead actresses.)
I’ve seen a handful of TH movies, plus all the Wallander shows, and in not a single one did he have anything to be embarrassed about even when the movies themselves were not great. An actor doesn’t have control of a finished product. He only has control of himself. I do hope that Tom likes who he is when he looks in the mirror. He is a very excellent actor who need not feel personal defeat because some movies (Crimson Peak – so godawful) don’t turn out quite well.
Ironically Colin Farrell has had a very good year because of The Lobster, in which he stars. The film is the top nominee at the BIFAs and Farrell got a BA nod. Hollywood might not care anymore but at least one decent indie European director does, and for all the notice it’s gained I’m sure others will too.
Farrell also just did True Detective. He works constantly. Hollywood hasn’t forgotten him. Also, British actors can have long, successful careers in Britain without need of Hollywood, which didn’t discover the likes of Judi Dench and Ian McKellan until they were past middle-aged.
Sorry Chuchu, you obviously not aware of Tom’s back catalogue which untill recently have all been supporting roles,
C/peak – supporting
Deep Blue Sea – supporting
OLLA – supporting
Marvel stuff – supporting
War Horse & Midnight in Paris – supporting
TV roles Hollow Crown – Supporting [Henry 1V) and Lead (Henry V)
THe Night Manager – lead
High Rise – lead
ISTL – lead
Stage. Coriolianus – lead
please note, it’s only the last few of projects he’s done he has taken a lead role.
He hops back and forth between lead and support. His next two projects are as such:
Ragnarok – supporting
Skull Island – lead
I have to agree with a lot of you guys – for a film that’s garnered such mixed response w/regard to the writing and overall story itself, this trailer looks EXCELLENT. I also forgot how much I love Brad Whitford.
Tom’s movies this year may not be box office “successes” (especially when STAR WARS is looming over everything, ready to take over) but he’s chosen interesting, diverse work and his performances seem to be consistently outstanding.
I for one will be continually watching the portion of the trailer where he is in his jammies holding the baby and singing. *heart eyes*
Hank and Audrey singing I Saw The Light to baby Hank is probably the sweetest moment in the film. All of the music was really good… from the opening of Hank singing Cold, Cold Heart to the final scene where the entire venue is singing ISTL together. The music and Tom’s performance are worth the price of a ticket.
He’s really only had one movie release this year and we won’t find out how ISTL does til March I suppose.
@nuts, the opening scene was gorgeous.
Yes, it was, jammy. One of the memorable scenes from the film. You can really see how much working with Rodney helped his vocal quality. Can’t believe they didn’t put that one on the soundtrack…
It’s disappointing, the soundtrack business. I feel bad they did all that work just to have it left off.
As delighted as I am to see Hiddles’ face on a new post when I come to CB, I may have to stop reading them. I read here how his appearance on Graham Norton was a huge embarrassment and that ruined the interview for me, even though there was really nothing wrong with it. Now the hand-wringing as if all of his movies are Gigli-bombs, which isn’t true either. It’s kind of taking the fun out of all things Hiddles.
“Now the hand-wringing as if all of his movies are Gigli-bombs, which isn’t true either. It’s kind of taking the fun out of all things Hiddles.”
Agreed.
You’d think I would have it figured out by now, but I’m learning there are certain posters who only come to Hiddleston threads in order to denigrate him. Those I should skip. I miss sixer, who could be quite critical of Lord Dragonfly aka Puddletom, but who always had rational and thoughtful basis for her comments. Not to mention clever and highly amusing snark, but that’s another skillset!
I’m wondering if sixer is still around, just in a different capacity. I could be totally wrong about that, though.
Yes, I get a bit tired of all this stuff about how “extra” he was on the Norton show, weird use of language anyhow, but maybe my embarrassment threshold is higher than that of the cringing posters, I thought it was OK. There’s been a lot of bombs from megastars recently, it’s a shame CP didn’t do better but Tom is in good company….
I do think threshold is everything. Two people can watch the same thing and come away with polar opposite opinions — often to the extreme. I cannot wrap my head around how anyone thinks Crimson Peak is (insert all the wonderful adjectives many fans have described it with). I think it’s just awful. Tom pulls his weight but the overall product is so terrible it’s like me and those other folks saw different movies. In the same vein I absolutely can’t stand his antics on those chat shows. My threshold is super, super low. I won’t even watch them. I thought he was so smart and funny and charming on Chatty Man, but the Norton one — I couldn’t sit through it.
Totally agree Sochan, I enjoyed CP but can see why views would differ. There was lots of praise here for James McAvoy’s Norton appearance but I wasn’t charmed – different perspectives.
@Sochan, I couldn’t even watch the whole Norton episode because my threshold is also on the low end. I love Tom, but I’d rather not cringe for 30 minutes. I get that he’s nervous, but pull yourself together man 😛 But I don’t hold it against his character forever either. He’s human after all. It is funny that being an eager puppy is the weapon to use against his character at worst though.
All things considered, Crimson Peak wa one of the better performing mid-level films of this autumn
Well now you know how other fans of their favorites feel. I am unapologetically a Rob Pattinson fan and if I see his picture on any of CB’s stories for the day, I immediately step away from CB. It’s never fun to read negative comments about someone you admire but there are a lot of bitter non fans who love to rub it in when an actor or actress doesn’t meet certain expectations. And the negative commenters always use the old saw “well it’s called Celebitchy for a reason”.
I finally just sat down to watch the trailer and really focus on it. WOW, I am impressed by Tom so far. A couple times I saw Tom Hiddleston peek out, but I never heard him.
I read several comments about how there were details missing from the movie and so on. But the movie is not about the life of Hank Williams. It’s only about the specific period when he was married to Audrey.
It covers both of his marriages and two other significant female relationships — his mom, and Bobbie Jett, who bore him a child 5 days after he died. While Audrey gets the most screen time, it touches on his relationships with the rest of the women too.
I must say that Maddie Hasson was a dead ringer for Billie Jean, with her wig on.
Wow, the reviews and trailer really makes it seem all about Audrey. And I had read where it was specifically described as being about him and Audrey. But I definitely believe you. Sounds like you’ve seen the movie.
I saw it about a month ago. It does focus on Audrey as he was married to her for nearly 8 years, but the last third of the film brings in the other two ladies. They weren’t in his life nearly as long — he had a brief relationship with Bobbie the same year that he married Billie, only ten weeks before he died.
I felt like the trailer focused more on Audrey than the film actually did. Though I knew his story before seeing the film, I thought it was more about Hank and his demons than Audrey as her character wasn’t fleshed out too well.
@nutballs
Just a question: How would you describe his performance overall? Is it Oscar worthy? And was EO really that good? She seems so dull to me sometimes that I just can’t like her tbh….
@Guest, I thought they were Oscar worthy. Audrey is not a likeable woman, but Elizabeth humanized her and gave us a side of Audrey that people don’t see. Tom was wonderful. I thought it was his best performance yet. The trailer doesn’t cover his back pain, but the way Tom portrayed the pain and how he copes with it was really heartbreaking. His reliance on numbing the pain was hard to watch and even harder to watch was him being pressured to be there for everyone. I can see the bit where he talks to the interviewer in the bar about country music being authentic as a clip to promote.
Agreeing with @jammypants on this – they’re both award worthy performances. Lizzie does a great job as Audrey (and I’m not a fan of hers in general), and Tom is outstanding. As someone else said, it’s worth the ticket price for the singing, especially the opening, and these two performances.
guest, Tom did a fantastic job. He really captured the essence of Hank from what I’ve seen of old video footage as well as what has been described of him by biographers. Lizzy did well too, but since her role wasn’t as much of a challenge as Tom’s was, it didn’t necessarily blow me away, like she did in Martha Marcy May Marlene. There were moments when she shined — such as the scenes in the trailer when she’s crying and heartbroken over his horrible behavior.
She is dull in interviews, I agree. I have a hard time listening to her. I just wish every time I see anything about her/them and ISTL, I wasn’t reminded of the PR games of the past year. It colors the film for me a bit as it’s hard to separate my perceptions of THEO from their talent as actors in this film.
But, despite Marc’s lack of a cohesive narrative, the performances are strong and the music is very enjoyable. It’s certainly worth watching and if you read Hank’s bio online, you’ll have a better sense of why his story matters to the world, since the film won’t give that to you.
@Nutballs and others
Thanks for your comment. And thanks to the others too. I am really curious about the movie and I will def watch it. No matter how bad previews were. As for the Pap Walk: totally unterstand you and I share your opinion. I don’t want to watch a movie and ask myself how much is real and how much is acting. That is the reason why I simple hate to watch real couples on screen. When I watched the trailer I asked myself if they were like that in bed behind closed doors too. I will never unterstand affairs on set. And specially not when there is someone else involved like a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Speculations… I know. But the movie had potential before MA ripped it apart and before Tommy decided to pull such a stunt with Olsen. I like your thinking Nutballs. Most of the time I nod when I read your comments.
Thanks, guest. Glad I’m not the only one. It is sad to watch their love scene and wonder to yourself whether or not they were having an off-screen affair while filming that scene or if they’re just great actors with good chemistry. I don’t like watching real couples do love scenes together either, for the reason you stated.
I take everything an actor says with a huge grain of salt since for them, image is everything. You have to watch their actions to see get closer to the truth.
ETA: I think Tom’s departure from his usual habit of keeping his personal life out of the spotlight was due to the Oscar buzz around ISTL prior to TIFF. Having a possible Oscar nod changed his PR strategy and modus operandi.
What did you think of the expression on Tom’s face when they were in the taxi?
spidey, to be honest, I don’t make anything of his expressions since that fraction of a second doesn’t really tell the story. When I think of how many times my expression in a candid photo doesn’t say anything remotely truthful about what I was feeling at the time, I don’t read much into other people’s, except when it’s pretty obvious they’re happy, angry, surprised etc. Even then, unless you know the exact context of what was being said or done that they might be reacting to, you still can’t know. Candid photos can be quite deceiving, I think.
I just look at their actions and judge accordingly… as I perceive it.
@nutballs
No clue if CB will publish my last comment but I just wanted to let you know that I totally agree with you. I do think that Tommy Boy shows bits of his private life whenever it suits him and whenever he gains publicity out of it. Anyway, I am excited for ISTL and I hope that he will get some kind of recognition. He deserves it. For his performance. Not his stunt 😀
FYI Collider News has a review on Twitter, rather positive. “The great Elizabeth Olsen…”
EO is getting rather a lot of coverage out of this considering it’s a film about Hank Williams…
Well, interestingly it is definitely a review of the trailer as opposed to the film. And the writer obviously appreciates EO. But he says good things about Tom, doesn’t seem to lose track of the fact that Tom is the lead, and in full context there is a slightly different flavour (IMO) to the quoted line above:
‘I saw flashes of both Ray and Walk the Line in the two-minute assemblage of footage, along with a smattering of solid supporting performers, most notably the great Elizabeth Olsen as Williams’ wife and Bradley Whitford as the man who discovered Williams and his songs.’
He got a lot out of a trailer, hope he likes the movie at least a bit (he does go on to discuss how Tom and Elizabeth have made movies bearable by their performances in the past.)
I watched the trailer twice, second time on mute because I don’t like the music tbh. It is so weird hearing that voice come out of Tom, too. I think it looks good but that is probably the way they have cut the trailer. From my understanding from people who have seen the film already, I think I would come out of it not much more enlightened about Hank Williams than I would going into it, and I feel bad about that because Tom put so much into this. So, still not feeling it for I Saw The Light. Sorry Tom.
Now High-Rise on the other hand. THAT I would sell a kidney to see.
All those commenting on Tom’s alleged “bombs!” Fassbender’s Slow West made $1.4m
at the box office, Steve Jobs has made $23.8 (budget $30m) , Macbeth has made $5.9 (budget $15-20m).
But but but…. But Fassy doesn’t play games and he represents himself as what he is: incapable of having a long lasting relationship and a player. And he is the finest actor of his generation. And he is so cool and just yummy. I hope you can read my sarcasm… 😀 for me Fassy is playing the safe card. X men, Prometheus, Assasins….. Safe. Hiddles is taking risks. Too bad that MA is such a bad Director. I think Hiddles would have had a great Shot for a Oscar nom this year…. Btw Kaiser is a very smart Lady. She choses the right words when it comes to Hiddles because she knows people will click and defend him…:D
Sarcasm detector flailing wildly as I read!
There isn’t a big actor that people have assumed are big draws that havent had to endure film disappointments, Crimson Peak doesnt come close to Jupiter Ascending, Tomorrowland thing with George Clooney, the Tom Hardy cold war thriller, no one heard off. Bradengelina are tucking their tales at the moment. Bradley cooper has had two big film flops this year, then there is that Kit Hartington film, Ascension? that died. EVen team hearthtob, whose name escapes me died at the cinema. The new Frankenstein movie with harry potter has reallly died/ Johnny Depp, Mortedici a complete failure and not to mention Chris Hemsworth. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/what-to-watch/2015-box-office-flops/
Crimson Peak isnt even on this list.
and, films very rarely make investment back in cinema, it is rentals, advertising and dvd sales and satelite movie deals that bring in the money . if it didnt there would be no movie production companies left.
the model for film revenue is changing, its not in the cinema it;s what you can get streamlined down your 4k TV screen, darling.
Darling? 🙂
You are confirming my point really p’enny. An antidote to the doom merchants on here.
He is not Cooper. Cooper is loved by Hollywood. Don’t get why tbh. Cooper is creepy. Hiddles on the other side is just lovable. Even my friend who is a huge movie fan told me that she unterstands why people like Hiddles. He is charming. And yes he can act… Better than what haters say.
oh yes, i am definitly backing you up Neutral, sorry posts go a bit hay-wire here.
you state the truth Penny! but we know there’s obvious bias against Tom on here. Go on less gossipy sites and you don’t see the same attitude. In fact you see the opposite.
No problems p’enny from Neutral who used to be someone else!
I really liked Slow West (The Hound!) and its distribution was extremely limited, playing at art repertory houses instead of just art houses. And MacBeth hasn’t actually opened in most places yet so it is a little early to tell. But yes, Fassy’s films, outside of the huge comic book films, don’t make money and Steve Jobs pretty much bombed, despite a good performance.
Fassy does a lot of art films (Frank, Slow West) in which he takes chances between his big blockbusters. Tom seems to be following his model more than anyone else’s, even saying he gets scripts after Fassy turns them down (OLLA, Snowpiercer)
Regret to say that I was really disappointed with Slow West. And as mentioned, I had trouble hearing the dialogue in Macbeth although I am told this may have been the fault of the particular cinema.
@neutral
It wasn’t. Trust me. I watched the movie too and I couldn’t unterstand Fassy. Very disappointing…..
Slow West was pretty good. I agree. I love that Fassy mixes up blockbusters with indies. His big thing is working with first time directors. The director for Frank went on to make Room, which is phenomenal.
I didn’t know about Snowpiercer. I just know that Tom was the choice before Evans.
@neutral, girl you know they don’t care :P. He’s an Oscar nomineeeee! I’m sure people will find ways to spin and paint Tom as a loser, no matter what.
True, and do we care?
I only care for accuracy. When people spin things to suit their narrative with no real basis to back up their claims, then I care to change that 🙂
People have said Tom’s ugly and I genuinely don’t give a rat’s behind because that is subjective. The arm bending on his career however, not objective.
Anyone else think it’s strange Tom hasn’t tweeted about the trailer seen as though it was a project he was super proud of and couldn’t wait to show people.
No, he’s busy filming.
But he tweets about his charity work and BFI related stuff when he is ‘busy filming’. Doesn’t take two minutes to send a tweet no matter what you’re doing. He also tweeted about crimson peak a lot months ahead in the lead up to that whilst he was busy doing other things. He’s always first off the mark to tweet about his upcoming projects. I just thought with how he said he couldn’t wait to show people this film that he would tweet about the trailer.
Got that wrong, he has tweeted now.
By that I meant I got it wrong!
I remember he twitted about some news related to his works after some days or weeks. His twitter activities are not that predictable these days IMO.
He probably figures EO has that down on her list.
it will probable be on his Facebook page first.
Luke his PR guy has tweeted it.
Just think he is knee-deep in jungle and can’t be bothered with it at the moment. the film comes out in March, it;s a long way away. plenty of time to be tweeting clips.
Probably by the weekend. It seems like that’s when he has tweeted stuff lately. Although that may depend on what activities the crew gets into Friday night. Laser tag. Go-carts. Zip lining or bungee jumping into volcanos is probably next
@lilacflowers
don’t you feel sorry for Tom having to work in such awful conditions and boring activites to do during their down-time? I don’t know how he does it for a living 😉
haha is celebitchy being spied on?
Tweeted it this morning. Says he threw his soul into it
I think EW had an exclusive on the trailer – when Sony posted it to their Facebook page yesterday it was a link to the EW site, and SPC only now just uploaded it to their YouTube account. That probably explains Tom’s delay in Tweeting as well.
He posted on Facebook.
Just want to comment that his performance looks excellent in the trailer and the movie looks so so biopic rather than a horrible garbage as it was described. Look forward to watching this film in a theater soon though I want to watch High-Rise much more. I loved watching him in CP and since then I became truly desperate to watch his other works. Oh, I rewatched Coriolanus, which always makes me extremely happy.
Gingerly–have you seen his Hollow Crown performances?
Not to mention Jeremy Irons in Henry IV pts 1 & 2 (Tom is Prince Hal).
Mesmerizing. I fear some of Falstaff’s scenes in his room at the end can drag on a bit, but the common room scenes are fantastic and overall just great work.
“Banish not him thy Harry’s company,
Banish not him thy Harry’s company.
Banish plump Jack, and banish all the world.
PRINCE: I DO, I WILL.”
Is what hooked me.
TB, of course I watched HC A LOT. I love Jeremy Irons. Jeremy Irons and TH talking in iambic pentameter was one of the best things that can happen in my Shakepeare experience. I have my some complaints about the series but they are all good from RII to Henry V. I think Hiddles was better in Henry IV but I guess now he can be a better Henry V. However, I hope that he can do some stage works in Broadway, hopefully this time, not a Shakespearean play. No problem at all doing Shakespeare all the times. But I guess Tom wants to do other plays as well.
neutral, the tavern scene was good. My favorite scene in Henry IV is the last dialogue between Henry IV and Prince Hal. Oh, I want to watch it again and I am looking forward to seeing the two in High Rise.
The jump up onto the table. His fingers when he pulls Falstaff’s toes. Getting pushed around by Jeremy Irons.
I’ll be okay.
@ Lilacflowers. Haha, when I saw Tom walk into the hall to meet his dad, and the way he stood there, I thought to myself “there isn’t a father of a teenage (??) son watching who wouldn’t want to give him a good smack. Then the next minute SLAP right across the chops.
Not that I’ve watched that scene more than once or………
“Reply not to me with a fool-born jest:
Presume not that I am the thing I was;”
Hollow Crown has me on the Hiddleston bandwagon until the wheels fall off. There were so many great moments, but the one where Henry V finally cuts ties and banishes Falstaff is in my Top 5 for sure.
Just saw that ISTL is opening in cinemas the same week like Superman vs. Batman… wtf…. Feel really bad for Hiddleston..
one of the biggest spending groups in cinemas these days are the silver surfers and they will be interested in this film not Batman. Plus, the film is limited release, i would think for the first couple of weeks. The usual 4 cinema LA/NY and then out 16 adn so on. That seems to be the pattern for American Indies.
I really hope that you are right penny. As for the trailer: Loved it. Since yesterday I can’t stop singing I Saw the light….. Is it possible that they work on the Editing Part of the movie? Until March? Didn’t Sony do the same with Foxcatcher? Wasn’t the Editing the Main issue for ISTL? Or the whole script?
The people who edited the trailer did a better job than whoever edited the actual film. I thought the script was a bit problematic as well. It lacks structure. The editing tried to save it if anything I guess.
Why? completely different target audiences. If you compared what would have been Skull Island released that month against B vs S, then it makes more sense. But even that has its own built in audience (like Jurassic World did). Do you feel sorry for Spotlight going against The Hunger Games?
I was just worried that people might not even register ISTL because everyone will talk about that comic movie…. But you are right. We will see how the movie will work out.
yea I think with it more than likely going for a limited release (November actually was intentioned to be a NY/LA limited release btw) that I don’t think it matters. I personally don’t think it will do that well in theatres…but then again I could be wrong =/ I don’t know how big Hank’s built-in fanbase is, and in that fanbase who is curious about the film.
That trailer for Superman vs Batman looked awful. Is it expected to do a decent box office?
I couldn’t be less interested in another Batman, Superman or Spiderman film unless it’s getting major critical acclaim. I didn’t think this one was, but I haven’t been following it closely.
I am pretty sick of Comic movies tbh. And the superman vs. batman trailer looks bad.
I’m happy to see so much Hollow Crown love on here!