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From Blue Valentine to Toys "R" Us

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The Industry
Jan 31, 2024
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Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:

Derek Cianfrance’s hamburglar, Paramount’s first offer, Anthony Perkins’ long legs, and sweet dreams.

Let’s go!


FROM BLUE VALENTINE TO TOYS "R" US

Blue Valentine. The Weinstein Company.

The McDonald's heist film is turning into a subgenre.

HBO’s McMillions (2020) is a fantastically bizarre docu-series about a single man, “Uncle Jerry,” who scammed the entire McDonald's Monopoly game from 1989 to 2001 by stealing all the tickets and handing them out to his confidants.

So much for our childhood.

Logorama (2009), the Academy Award-winning short film, is an animated movie populated entirely by logos. Ronald McDonald plays a sadistic robber. The film’s interrogation of capitalism is diabolical and delightful.

Now, it is Derek Cianfrance’s turn.

His depiction of love in Blue Valentine (2010) is poetic and transcendent and perhaps the best love story of the 21st century. His prowess has been extended to two other projects: the explosive and meditative generational trauma heist film The Place Beyond the Pines (2012) and the wild Mark Ruffalo twin characters HBO series I Know This Much is True (2020).

If you’re looking for something melancholic but sublimely acted, check it out.

It has been reported that Cianfrance’s next feature film is about a real-life Hamburgler, Jeffrey Manchester.

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