Mel Gibson Week: Destiny

It's been a randomly Mel Gibson filled week in my life and that's just fine by me.  Mr. Gibson's public struggles have been well documented but I always stood up for the guy because none of us really know what happens in someone else's life if we're not there.  Whether you like him or not or think he's crazy or not, he's been a part of some great fucking movies.  I was never a Mad Max guy but the Lethal Weapon series, Maverick, Ransom, Payback, The Patriot, Chicken Run and Signs were some of the jams of my movie upbringing.  Edge of Darkness, his Taken twinge'd comeback picture didn't set the box office on fire but I thought it was very well done, intense and used its violence to chilling effect.  Plenty of 90's superstars have failed to reignite their leading man careers; from Stallone to Costner to Ford to Russell but it's just easier to kick Gibson when he's down because people love to judge others but not themselves.  Follow up piece The Beaver was a somber look at depression and while effective, went widely unseen.  With that, Hollywood's most reliable truth became clear again, if you're not making someone money, game over.

My (online) week with Mel all started with an article over at Deadline Hollywood, where a reporter who had viciously attacked Gibson in the past, had over the years actually become friends with him and asked the creative community to give him a break.  Sure we've heard this kind of stuff before, Robert Downey Jr. and Jodie Foster have been vocal supporters of the Gibs while filmmakers like Robert Rodriguez enlisted him to villain duty in Machete 2 and Stallone tried to get Mad Mel to helm Expendables III but had to settle for Riggs playing the baddie instead (and getting swole!).  I remember a few years ago, the American Cinematheque announced a Mad Max triple feature with a Q&A from Gibson and I nudged my lady, expecting some boos which of course came while I clapped and later found out the event sold out the 600 seats of the joint.  While there, Hollywood's shittiest but most well connected moderator asked Gibson about the last few years where Gibson simply stated, “Everybody gets ups and downs. It’s either sink or swim or you just don’t wake up one morning. But I kept waking up, so I figured what the f—?”.  Right on, Mel.  In an age where child rapists get nominated for Oscars, I'll still support Reverend Hess' work.

Isn't it illegal to record someone if they don't know they're being recorded?  Yet when those tapes came out, phew, it was not good for Gibson.  Apparently she turned down a settlement offer from Porter and that's when she leaked the tapes in a bid for more moola.  But she wasn't smart enough to know not to talk about it so an appearance on Howard Stern violated the confidentiality agreement and she is no longer entitled to payment.  Throw in the fact that she recently claimed to be broke and got turned away from Vanity Fair's Oscar after party, things are just tough all over.

On the work front, a potentially awesome team up project was announced to shockingly little fanfare on Impact Online that says Jackie Chan and Mel Gibson are partnering up for a period action adventure flick called Dragon Blade.  The flick would see Burt, I mean, Bret as a Roman Legion commander fighting in China where he comes across Detective Inspector Lee and the two team up to take on a formidable foe.  This of course led to instant excitement and wishful titles being bandied about like Shanghai Mavericks, The Sugar Tits Gung Fu Express and Drunken Crazy Cop Master.  Hopefully this flick goes into production and we get a big, vast, violent action-adventure saga of survival and camaraderie.

Lastly, my awesome boss of all people sent me a link to an online quiz about What 80's Action Hero Are You?  After careful consideration of each question, guess who I got?  Mother fucking Martin Riggs.  Cause I'm honest yet crazy, enjoy childish things but keep my word like an adult, would risk myself to take out an asshole and would totally try to buy $100,000 worth of cocaine with whatever cash I had one me.



So here's to you, Mel Gibson, and the massive career you've had thus far.  Keep waking up and charmingly fucking shit up.

Excuse me while I pop in Lethal Weapon...