I just finished watching Knives Out (2019)

It's a traditional whodunit. I was primarily interested to see what Daniel Craig (ex 007) was up to. Personally, I think Craig was thrown in there for some star power. He was clearly over qualified for his role. I mean.. it seemed that he had to dumb himself down for this. Someone else might have been better.

I didn't know anything else going into the film (no trailers, no wiki research, no reviews) ..but the film is littered with several familiar actors.

The plot is constructed rather well. There are just a couple of niggley things that spoil the plausibilities, but it's a rather fine twisty sleight of hand romp none the less.

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I didn't know anything else going into the film (no trailers, no wiki research, no reviews) ..but the
film is littered with several familiar actors.

The plot is constructed rather well. There are just a couple of niggley things that spoil the
plausibilities, but it's a rather fine twisty sleight of hand romp none the less.

This movie got a lot of buzz when it first came out. I think becacuse it had an ensamble cast, and it wasn't a superhero movie. :-)

Personally it reminded me a lot of the movie Clue, which is one of my favorites. I enjoyed it and was able to overlook some of the niggley bits... as you call them. Its an entertaining film.
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Hello Bob!

** On Saturday 05.12.20 - 18:38, Bob Roberts wrote to August Abolins:

This movie got a lot of buzz when it first came out. I
think becacuse it had an ensamble cast, and it wasn't a
superhero movie. :-)

I am so tired of the superhero ones. I'd rather see real
humans use real cunning, wit and will power to navigate
through a mystery or a crisis.

Personally it reminded me a lot of the movie Clue, which
is one of my favorites. I enjoyed it and was able to
overlook some of the niggley bits... as you call them.
Its an entertaining film.

I may have seen that one in the theatre way back in 1985 or
so. Didn't they play all 3 alternate endings too - if you
stayed after the credits? According the wikipedia, they
played one of three randomly.

Clue might be a fun to rewatch. Thanks for mentioning it.

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Hello Bob!

Personally it reminded me a lot of the movie Clue, which
is one of my favorites. I enjoyed it and was able to
overlook some of the niggley bits... as you call them.
Its an entertaining film.

I may have seen that one in the theatre way back in 1985 or
so. Didn't they play all 3 alternate endings too - if you
stayed after the credits? According the wikipedia, they
played one of three randomly.

Clue might be a fun to rewatch. Thanks for mentioning it.

I decided to give Clue a try last night. It was almost how I
remembered it, but it proved to me that I probably did not enjoy
it too much the first time to leave lasting memories.
Apparently, I forgot a lot about it the first time.

Some of the lines were really funny. I really liked the scene
where they are guessing how many bullets have already been used.
"That's 1 + 2 + 1 + 1.., No, that's 1 + 2 + 2 + 1.."

It was a rather cleaver and complex mystery with several possible
outcomes - apparently. The film had all alternative endings.

I was stunned by Leslie Anne Warren and her resemblance to Susan
Sarandon. I wasn't sure which actress I was looking at.

The film, although entertaining, reinforced my notion that actors
are simply getting paid far too much for the one-time thing that
they do.

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The film, although entertaining, reinforced my notion that actors
are simply getting paid far too much for the one-time thing that
they do.

Most actors recieve the regular SAG day-rate which is $335/day or $1166/week for films with budgets under 700k and $1,005/day or $3,488/week for films with budget over $2.5 million. That may seem like a lot, but keep in mind talent must typically be on set before dawn for makeup and costume, and don't leave until dark. They must learn lines, blocking, and often times skills like sword fighting, dancing or horseback riding.

Most actors are struggling. They might appear in a few minor roles for the year and have to spend the rest of their time gig-working, or waiting tables. But they persevere because the potential payoff is huge.

It's only the mega-A-List actors that recieve the millions and millions you are thinking about. And they get that because they are typically in films which have budgets of millions and millions, and (before Covid) would earn millions and millions at the box office. Would it be fair if a major movie made a billion in boxoffice and only paid it's actors the day rate? The A-list actors make what they do because they bust ass, the draw audience, and they earn a piece of the boxoffice on the backend. I think you'll see that A-list Directors, Cinematographers, Composers, and other top-line talent also have similar arrangement.

An oft-cited example is the million-dollars-per-episode arrangement the cast of "Friends" had in their final seasons. Or the similar one for the cast of "Big Bang Theory". The cast could get that rate because the producers had a gold mine. Every season released was a guarantee of profits to be generated for the studios and networks. Shouldn't the cast earn a fair cut of that?

Bob Roberts
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Hello Bob!

** On Saturday 26.12.20 - 13:48, Bob Roberts wrote to August Abolins:

The film, although entertaining, reinforced my notion that
actors are simply getting paid far too much for the one-
time thing that they do.

Most actors recieve the regular SAG day-rate which is $335/
day or $1166/week for films with budgets under 700k and
$1,005/day or $3,488/week for films with budget over $2.5
million. That may seem like a lot, ...

Thank you for researching the details. That *does* seem like a
lot - however, the acting gig may not be steady and therefore a
spotty payment.

...but keep in mind talent must typically be on set before
dawn for makeup and costume, and don't leave until dark.
They must learn lines, blocking, and often times skills like
sword fighting, dancing or horseback riding.

That's part of the fun. Except for enduring makeup chair for
hours, the rest of the gig still seems like getting paid for
having "fun", not work.

Most actors are struggling. They might appear in a few
minor roles for the year..

Yep. I get that.

It's only the mega-A-List actors that recieve the millions
and millions you are thinking about..

The payouts for that industry just seem to be overblown for that
kind thing.

if a major movie made a billion in boxoffice and only paid
it's actors the day rate?

I suppose not. I guess I just can't wrap my head around anyone
receiving millions per film or episode though. Residuals and
royalties, I can understand.

The A-list actors make what they do because they bust ass,
the draw audience, and they earn a piece of the boxoffice on
the backend. I think you'll see that A-list Directors,
Cinematographers, Composers, and other top-line talent also
have similar arrangement.

Very good points.

An oft-cited example is the million-dollars-per-episode..
..The cast could get that rate because the producers
had a gold mine.

Ok.

Shouldn't the cast earn a fair cut of that?

A cut of that is good.

Since I am obviously in the minorty on this topic and the culture
has evolved into rewarding actors with big payouts with no else
complaining, I am prepared to bow out of this topic. Obviously,
I am not prepared to debate this further. :/


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On 27 Dec 2020, August Abolins said the following...

That's part of the fun. Except for enduring makeup chair for
hours, the rest of the gig still seems like getting paid for
having "fun", not work.

I watched a video recently about Quark from DS9 talk about his character on Regis & Kathie Lee and how he's in Makeup for 3 hours:

https://youtu.be/9sUYcJ5lOBI?t=120

Jay

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August Abolins wrote to Bob Roberts <=-

Most actors recieve the regular SAG day-rate which is $335/
day or $1166/week for films with budgets under 700k and
$1,005/day or $3,488/week for films with budget over $2.5
million. That may seem like a lot, ...

Thank you for researching the details. That *does* seem like a
lot - however, the acting gig may not be steady and therefore a
spotty payment.

Yeah, a lot of the time is spent waiting for a call. It's similar to
consulting, where your hourly rate needs to take into account
marketing time, administrative overhead, etc - it's not just a
yearly salary divided by 2,080.


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Jay Harris wrote to August Abolins <=-

I watched a video recently about Quark from DS9 talk about his
character on Regis & Kathie Lee and how he's in Makeup for 3 hours:

https://youtu.be/9sUYcJ5lOBI?t=120

There's a podcast called "The 7th Rule", that was co-hosted by Cirroc
Lofton (Jake Sisko) and Aron Eisenberg (Nog). When Aron passed away,
they had people come in and talk about their time with him.

The makeup artists were very close to the actors, and vice-versa - it
sounds like Nog's artist and he must have spent a lot of time together
and became good friends.



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Hello August!

** On Saturday 26.12.20 - 15:15, August Abolins wrote to Bob Roberts:

I decided to give Clue a try last night..

Some of the lines were really funny. I really liked the scene
where they are guessing how many bullets have already been used.
"That's 1 + 2 + 1 + 1.., No, that's 1 + 2 + 2 + 1.."

Here's the clip if anyone just wants to see this bit.

https://kolico.ca/mpg/Clue.1985.bullets.scene.mp4

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