We don’t know if it’s the fresh, sea air or perhaps some important life choices he’s decided to make, but Shia LaBeouf simply cannot stop speaking truth to power. Scant days after telling the world he thought Transformers 2 was an ungodly mess, LaBeouf told reporters in Cannes that he believes that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was an unworthy entry in the series — and that he doesn’t care if Spielberg hears him complaining or not.
It’s not just dear ‘ol Shia who feels the audience got shortchanged by the fourth installment. According to him, he and Harrison Ford “had major discussions [and] he wasn’t happy with it either,” the actor told reporters at Cannes. But Shia, bless his heart, starts off trying to take on the lion’s share of the blame:
“You get to monkey-swinging and things like that and you can blame it on the writer and you can blame it on Steven [Spielberg, who directed]. But the actor’s job is to make it come alive and make it work, and I couldn’t do it. So that’s my fault. Simple.”
Oh, Shia. What about the be-goitered monster who dreamed up such a lousy scene to begin with? Or who approved such risible dialogue as “But their treasure wasn’t gold. It was knowledge. Knowledge was their treasure. ” You don’t want to spoon a little blame his way?
Fortunately, as Shia continued working through his shame, he was able to alight on additional culprit, director Stephen Spielberg.
“I’ll probably get a call [from Spielberg]. But he needs to hear this. I love him. I love Steven. I have a relationship with Steven that supersedes our business work. And believe me, I talk to him often enough to know that I’m not out of line. And I would never disrespect the man. I think he’s a genius, and he’s given me my whole life. He’s done so much great work that there’s no need for him to feel vulnerable about one film. But when you drop the ball you drop the ball.”
Now, you can take this one of two ways. It’s either a completely rational, lucid acceptance of the fact that the majority of moviegoers were deeply unsatisfied with the last installment of a beloved film series, and that their disappointments should be addressed in a forthright manner to re-establish a bond of trust. OR! It’s merely a prelude to a hastily cobbled together, apologetic press release, blaming a combination of jetlag, misquotes, and, let’s say, volcanic ash. Place your bets!
[Photo Credit: George Pimentel/Film Magic]
Cannes 2010: Shia LaBeouf: We Botched the Last Indiana Jones [LAT]
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Posted 16 May 2010, 6:19 PM
I was not prepared for how Shia would look in a tux. I'm reevaluating some things right now.
Posted 16 May 2010, 6:29 PM
I'd hit it.
Posted 16 May 2010, 7:41 PM
You even dream about having an inappropriate fantasy about him, I'll wake you up and stab you. Ahem.
Posted 16 May 2010, 7:15 PM
luckily for me, Indy 4 is like a repressed memory. my brain refuses to allow me to recall any of it and im quite thankful for that.
Posted 16 May 2010, 7:29 PM
When can we expect his apology for Wall Street 2?
Posted 16 May 2010, 8:57 PM
So what we're really getting at here is that Shia LaBeouf movies suck, which I already knew.
Posted 16 May 2010, 11:26 PM
Not even being a smartass, I probably would not have seen things on that level without this comment.
Posted 16 May 2010, 11:50 PM
I'm sure IDJ4 sucks, I won't see it. I enjoyed the others very much though. Any fool who sees the worthless Transformers movies deserves the absurd waste of time they're in for. Michael Bay is to Cinema what an aerosol "cheese"/Wonder bread sandwhich is to fine cuisine. And that's putting it very politely. If he were to be assassinated for the sake of art, I'd find it hard to harshly judge the perpetrator.
Posted 17 May 2010, 1:40 AM
Shia's honesty makes me like him. Will we hear these comments if and when he's ever invited to participate on a DVD/BR commentary track?
Posted 17 May 2010, 3:17 AM
If he were really honest he wouldn't star in them. Didn't he know they were going to suck when he read the scripts? Unless he is a moron. Sorry Shia, but you are not honest. You wanted money because you know you are a hack actor whose 15 minutes are about up. You suck too.
Posted 17 May 2010, 3:43 AM
It sounds like Shia is becoming disillusioned with the movies he’s made but isn’t savvy enough to go about criticizing them in a manner which doesn’t come across as just publicity grabbing tactics. I am sure an apology will come at some point and maybe another lambasting of another movie he’s appeared in.
Posted 17 May 2010, 5:31 AM
Let's just agree to never speak of Indy 4 again. I'd really like to pretend there was no swinging from branches, nuking of fridges, or aliens of any sort. The series ended great after Harrison Ford saved Sean Connery with the Holy Grail. No other stories have been told since then. fingers in ears "lalalala"
Posted 17 May 2010, 5:32 AM
"LaBeouf Admits His Performance in Transformers 2 and Indiana Jones 4 Sucked Too"
Fixed.
Posted 17 May 2010, 5:33 AM
I didn't expect anything out of Transformers 2 but the Indiana Jones movies were amazing and I got really excited when I heard they were making another one. So the soul-crushing disappointment made Indiana Jones 4 way more painful.
Posted 17 May 2010, 6:10 AM
In the real world we call that burning your bridges
Posted 17 May 2010, 7:34 AM
Shia LeBeouf itinerary for remaining week at Cannes:
5/17 - Press conference about films predicting future events, where "Eagle Eye" is ridiculed as childish nighmare, "technology boogeyman" cinema.
5/19 - Symposium guest speaker; "Classic Cinema Remade for Modern Audiences". Decries the dumbing down of Hitchcock for the "Disturbia" screenplay.
5/20 - Panel discussion on childrens entertainment. Speaks out against the Disney family-values agitprop forced into the "Evens Stevens" franchise.
Posted 17 May 2010, 7:42 AM
Lucas was the one who decided to have Aliens in the end of the 4th Indie. I thought the production quality, sets and caddy acting was very enjoyable til Lucas decided to put the "4th Dimensional Beings" at the end. Is there anything Lucas hasn't ruined after making the initial Star Wars trilogy?
Posted 17 May 2010, 10:10 AM
Yup, I would have to agree with him 100 percent!
Lou
www.total-anonymity.se.tc
Posted 17 May 2010, 10:11 AM
Shia's star power is waning as people realize he's got a little more acting ability than Michael Cera. At least Cera picks movies that match his ability, while Shia has no filtere for what's good and what's bad...
Posted 17 May 2010, 12:23 PM
He should apologize for star wars episodes I, II and III
someone has to and he might be the only one that will
Posted 18 May 2010, 4:31 PM
LOL...you made my day!
Posted 17 May 2010, 12:30 PM
He complained about two movies he was in about how bad he said they were. I think he's trying to save his career by telling people how bad these movies so we won't see his acting. Then he slams two directors. Guess he's going for more B movie roles.
Posted 17 May 2010, 1:33 PM
I liked "The Battle Of Shaker Heights" most of all. It was bound to draw attention to the talented young lad who, if he plays his cards right (believe half the good and half the bad things people say about you) there is no reason you/he can't have it all.
Having met many "celebs" in my line of work, the fact is: the majority of young up and comers tend to be rude, crude and lewd. Perhaps he is an exception. The older, more established movie people (Charlton Heston, Ron Howard and John Houseman (RIP) ..God, talk about a kick. Discussing the making of "Citizen Kane" and Orson Wells with Mr. Houseman or the making of Giant with Earl Holliman and his exploits with James Dean. Mr. LaBeouf..always be thinking 10 years down the road and trust only yourself.
Posted 17 May 2010, 3:22 PM
The only constant in the sucky movies you make is you.
Posted 17 May 2010, 6:08 PM
i personally liked disturbia and eagle eye and thought they were great hes got good acting potential just if you over hype a movie and it doesn't meet your impossible standards it kinda makes the director and movie stars seem a little worse than they are.
Posted 17 May 2010, 7:24 PM
I liked Indiana Jones :(
Posted 18 May 2010, 12:21 PM
Honestly Shia is a great actor and I think you all know it. They need to put him in more of a "Good Will Hunting" type of role, meaning a well rounded great screen play with real dialog. Most of the "haters" that have been commenting on here are only judging him based off of a couple movies that were crap. They are ignoring the fact that he acknowledged they were crap and went against most actors’ basic instinct of NOT throwing Steven Spielberg or George Lucas under the bus. He obviously did it because the audience needed to hear it and whether or not it was or wasn't a good career move he did it for the people that have actually spent money on his films...Which apparently is everyone who has commented on this.
Posted 18 May 2010, 12:28 PM
LaBeouf was one of the reasons I didn't like Indiana Jones 4. Him, the plot, the crystal skulls that looked like plexiglas stuffed with cellophane, the...
OK it just sucked all around.
Posted 18 May 2010, 10:49 PM
I'm glad that he admitted it. I hope Transformer 3 will be better.
Posted 21 May 2010, 3:58 AM
Shia is completely full of it. EVERYONE knows the biggest problem with Indy 4 was Shia himself, no one else. Now he's trying to shift the blame on everyone but himself. Shia is just the most annoying actor in the history of cinema, he can't hide how arrogant and full of himself he is on screen. the guy is just a punk with no talent that somehow deceives the idiot bigwigs in hollywood. Shia you are the the worst (highly paid) actor in the history of hollywood. You aren't fooling anyone with this so called "confession", it's just smoke and mirrors. Jar Jar Binks = Shia
Posted 26 May 2010, 11:07 AM
Indy 4 had been my worst experience ever.
Posted 30 May 2010, 1:28 AM
---STILL waiting for the long rich and established
of Hollywood to break ranks -come forward and spill
on the devestating, perhaps lethal, implications
of 4 decades of franchise slum catering to history's
MOST awesomely genocidal regime --ACROSS the Pacific...
---Take your time boys ---we know it ain't gonna' be pretty!
Posted 30 May 2010, 9:54 AM
If Shia had admitted he can't act, this would have been a much more interesting story. Maybe he should just learn how to read a script and he won't end up in such god-awful films.
Posted 02 Jun 2010, 6:12 AM
Can we get Harrison Ford to apologies for everything he has made except Star wars, Bladerunner and Indiana Jones?