Scoop

[jo]

Scarlett had two screen pairings with Hugh. I do prefer their team-up in SCOOP compared to that one in THE PRESTIGE. Ironically, both are actually thrillers -- while Chris Nolan's THE PRESTIGE focused on character studies of two feuding illusionists and is also a dark drama...Woody Allen's SCOOP take a lighthearted approach to the theme of serial killers and is peppered with typical Allen film humor. One would think this was a rom-com at the outset because of the casting of Hugh and Scarlett...but there is an unexpected denouement eventually.

In this movie, Brit nobility Hugh looked more gorgeous than the slightly dowdy Scarlett


Jo

[mamaleh]

She was supposed to look dowdy as part of her undercover persona. But I agree HJ looked wonderful in that movie.

Ellen

[jo]

Only one who could wear jeans with a sports coat with such panache! Peter Lyman, that is











Jo

[jo]

If you haven't seen the movie, there is a full upload of the film on YouTube --

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiH8F3kIhmg

[foxie]

Hugh looked incredibly gorgeous in SCOOP but the movie was not good or maybe it was cause we expected so much cause it was a Woody Allen,at the time I felt at the time that this kept happening to him this was Woody and not that good and The Fountain a Darren A movie that was acted incredibly but very hard to understand!,and Darren's next movie was a blockbuster!

[jo]

I liked SCOOP! I thought Woody Allen's humor was still spot on - except he placed his story right into the heart of British stiff-upper-lip society. LOL - the characters of Woody and Scarlett looked out of place ... and the audience enjoyed the ride as they become modern-day albeit clumsy versions of Sherlock Holmes as well. Hugh's role was almost a support role, except he turned out to be the mysterious element in the story. Unusual role for him -- but he has always welcomed the chance to portray as many kinds of characters that his career would offer.

Maybe because I used to be quite familiar with London landmarks ( there is a scene which had shown the Royal Albert Hall -- I had seen a Michael Ball concert there...the street where Peter Lyman kept his posh flat -- I think that is located near Notting Hill road where the famous Portobello flea market is located) so I enjoyed seeing some familiar sights. The accents also reminded me of the accents of some of my British friends

Hugh's career does not follow typical choices of other actors. He accepted SCOOP after the plans for a serious film drama ( can't remember the title now, but it is about a German intellectual with Nazi sympathies which Hugh was supposed to portray) fell through ...and the Woody Allen offer came. Who knows which would have been the better choice?

That summer, I remember he and Deb joined Scarlett and friends watching GUYS AND DOLLS at the West End with Ewan McGregor as Sky Masterson. Maybe that was what led to Ewan playing the co-lead in DECEPTION. And was that the reason why the song of Sky often features in his musical shows. That same summer, there was an episode about Hugh and Scarlett having dinner with Harvey Weinstein ( who brought in Hugh for the lead in Kate and Leopold) but that Harvey was kept hungry because Hugh and Scarlett were singing show tunes for the entire dinner at The IVY ( London's famous restaurant where showbiz royalty congregates -- which I had also been lucky to have dinner in because of a British friend). Hugh also praised Woody's work ethic -- they finish early everyday!

Hugh did live in London for an entire year during the run of Oklahoma!...plus his parents were originally British ( Hugh carries a dual passport, including a UK passport)...and he even spent his gap year in England. His Dad went to Cambridge and his older brother Ian was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford. Part of his family live there. So Hugh was actually very comfortable playing an English sophisticate! Bloody well

The Fountain is now a cult movie and one major film site even included it among the best films of the decade ( 2001-2010). The IMDB message board on The Foutain is still quite busy -- of course there is much discussion on both sides of the fence -- those who liked it (and even considered it as one of the best movies they have ever seen ...because of how well they can relate to the message of the movie) and those who find the movie inscrutable! Personally, it is one movie which I never fast-forward when I watch it once in a while. I think Hugh considers it as one of the dramatic highlights of his career.


Jo

[mamaleh]

SCOOP may not be widely considered top-level Allen, but I like it--the combination of the schleppy, stuffy-nosed Scarlett and the very dashing HJ, the funny quips from Scarlett's nervous "dad," and HJ's faux-upset phone call at the end. I consider it and DECEPTION among my guilty pleasures.

Ellen

[njr]

Jul 11, 2016 7:38:59 GMT -5 foxie said:

Hugh looked incredibly gorgeous in SCOOP but the movie was not good or maybe it was cause we expected so much cause it was a Woody Allen,at the time I felt at the time that this kept happening to him this was Woody and not that good and The Fountain a Darren A movie that was acted incredibly but very hard to understand!,and Darren's next movie was a blockbuster!

You do know that was all one sentence? LOL!

[jo]

Interesting how many ( quite a few who are British themselves) consider his accent as quite British --

www.imdb.com/title/tt0457513/board/nest/61108568?ref_=tt_bd_5

I checked the cast and crew list and there is no mention of a dialogue coach for Hugh!


Btw, how many times has he played an Englishman --

*Scoop
*The Prestige
*Kate and Leopold

*The River


Jo

[hu4601]

Jul 11, 2016 12:24:41 GMT -5 jo said:

Interesting how many ( quite a few who are British themselves) consider his accent as quite British --

www.imdb.com/title/tt0457513/board/nest/61108568?ref_=tt_bd_5

I checked the cast and crew list and there is no mention of a dialogue coach for Hugh!


Btw, how many times has he played an Englishman --

*Scoop
*The Prestige
*Kate and Leopold

*The River


Jo

  I beg to differ, but  to my ears,his accent in "The River" was Australian. I remember being surprised ( and pleased) the first time I saw it as I was expecting it to be British. Occasionally there were a few lines which sounded British, at least to me. Maybe it sounded more British to Americans than it did to this Aussie.

[jo]

Lol - I didn't say that he got the British accent right in THE RIVER. I only wrote that he "played" an Englishman in it. It is written by a Brit ( Jez Butterworth) and there was no indication in the play ( even in the playscript) that it was a play that happened elsewhere, so presumably it was meant to have happened in England. Although they did change one or two Brit expressions which may have been missed by the Broadway audience.


As written by Brit critic Mark Shenton when he visited NYC --

Set in a wooden cabin beside a river in the English countryside, it revolves around a man with a passion for fishing — and two women who visit him, separately, there. Cush Jumbo, who is playing one of those women, told Broadway Direct, “Reading Jez’s plays, like Jerusalem, you get the sense of the possibility of magic as it is connected to the cycle of life. With The River, you realize very quickly it isn’t a play about fishing, but it is put in a framework of a play about fishing. It’s a kind of a dream, and I loved that idea.”

Jo

[foxie]

I don't care about his voice I considered it a fluff movie not very good of course I loved him gorgeous maybe it was cause he turned out bad and actually I can't stand Scarlet she just rubs me the wrong way I don't like her looks or Anythng about her prob I am prejudice but it also ant nowareeven though we lve him to death!,

[foxie]

Ellen u liked Deception?that I didn't like at all-I felt badly for him-I will watch Scoop again and I really need to watch The Fountain again or try to-I think the Prestige is his best movie ever but the most joy is Kate and Leopold!

[mamaleh]

Yes--mostly because it's such a nice change of pace to see Hugh play a sleaze. I wouldn't want a steady diet of it, but it does make for a surprise morsel of another flavor.

Ellen

[jo]

I also liked DECEPTION -- it could have been a much better film if the plot points, especially towards the end had been better addressed. I did like its film noir-ish vibe and the actors were very good ( Hugh, Ewan, Michelle and Charlotte Rampling).


And maybe something good also came out of that not-so-well-reviewed movie. He had strong chemistry with Michelle Williams and now they will be doing another movie together -- Hugh's long gestating passion project, the musical biopic GREATEST SHOWMAN ON EARTH!


Jo

[carouselkathy]

DECEPTION began very "Hitchcockian", and I liked that. It feel apart toward the end, and if I remember correctly, the last scene was posted on the internet, without a spoiler alert, before the film was released. That in itself guaranteed failure.

[jo]

Someone put together some of the memorable moments from SCOOP --

Scoop was released in 2006 - some 13 years ago


Jo

[jo]

Is SCOOP on streaming?

[njr]

^ *THUD* (the emoji doesn’t work!)

It is on Cinemax right now on DirecTV. Or available to rent.

[jo]

Translated from Spanish by Google:

With the help of the pathetic magician played by Woody Allen, she must hunt down Hugh Jackman, an unlikely "tarot killer" who is a member of British socialite.

#Scoop is a great comedy, very funny, with memorable gags and excellently done.