Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. This news broke last night, so forgive our slowness in getting it up. Maybe it was just one of those things that slipped through the cracks or maybe we all just needed some time to process it. Probably the first one 'cause as weird a pairing as Groucho Marx and Rob Zombie is it's still pretty straight forward.
I've quarreled with Zombie's work in the past, going back to an early Halloween script review where I tried to warn you all about what was coming, but one thing I'll always give Zombie credit for is being a true blue movie nerd. The dude loves cinema and preaches about the golden oldies whenever he gets the chance.
So it may surprise some readers that the idea of him directing a film about Groucho Marx's final years in showbusiness kind of excites me.
Zombie's best film is The Devil's Rejects and I think that one stands above the rest because he absolutely nailed the tone and aesthetic of those raw anything goes horror films of the '70s. The Hills Have Eyes and Texas Chainsaw Massacre come to mind.
If he can take that same approach to nail the look and feel of the changing Hollywood of the '60s and '70s as seen through the eyes of an aging icon I think he'll shut up a lot of naysayers.
It also helps that Oren Moverman, one of the writers of the recent Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy, is writing the screenplay.
Per Deadline, the movie will focus on the final years of Marx's life, taken mostly from the book RAISED EYEBROWS by Steve Stoliar, who was Marx's secretary in those days.
It's an interesting move for Zombie and one I think could really take him to the next level if he pulls it off. I'd love it if he knocked this out of the park. What abou you?
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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