This morning I got an email about John from a reader called Laura suggesting to me and Duana that we should talk about him on Show Your Work. I’m super into John Boyega. Ever since Attack The Block which, if you’ve never seen it, you should. I watched it one day while getting my nails done and I laughed so hard I f-cked up both hands, twice, and the polish had to be reapplied. Thanks for the note, Laura. I now have to figure out what my angle is going to be when I pitch it to Duana. I might peg it to this headline about how critics are receiving Pacific Rim: Uprising – “reviews love John Boyega, hate everything else”. What is the work involved when you know, and everyone else knows, that you’re the best part of an otherwise so-so medium-at-best project?
Kathleen posted the other day about John Boyega and the Photo Assumption she was playing on John’s face while promoting Pacific Rim: Uprising and having to tolerate Scott Eastwood. The Hollywood premiere was last night and I’m playing the same game. Look at this shot of them side by side, with Scott making his usual open mouth laughing face. John’s just standing there, trying to keep smiling, and trying even harder not to punch him. At least that’s my interpretation.
In Laura’s email, she included a video of John and his co-stars doing an interview with puppies, positing that that’s how John may be enduring Scott: “focus on the puppies”. This video is over 7 minutes, normally what I would consider too long. But there are puppies. And… John Boyega + puppies is an easy sell. He’s so f-cking cute with these puppies. I especially like the part when he reenacts his “rally the troops” scene from the movie, now aimed at the puppies, and then, in between two lines of dialogue, very effectively leans in and pops a kiss on the side of his puppy’s face, before continuing with the motivational speak. It happens around 2:20 if you don’t want to sit through the whole thing. But…again… John Boyega + puppies. Just, you know, as Laura says, “focus on the puppies” and ignore Scott Eastwood.
