May 7, 2024
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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?
So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.
And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.
There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.
I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.
But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”
My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher
“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.
~ David Simon
I saw Junebug, which I absolutely loved. Great, great movie.
yeah this joint was jumping a few weeks ago. Dave you check your breath lately? Any starlets been turning you down recently? Phyllis Diller not returning calls? Give us something to chew on! Okay I’ll take over the bloody wheel…
Lets talk about that old crusty prick who runs the Montreal Film Festival – Serge Losique and his decision to bow to sponsors and not show the vile KARLA aka DEADLY at this years festival. An infringement on freedom of expression? Or just fiscal rationalising? Having been in a very similar position I cam curious about others opinions in this matter.
Does that involve the woman who was just released from prison after serving time for helping her husband commit those crimes?
Isn’t Serge in an awkward (if not desperate) position right now? I mean, hasn’t his festival lost some major govt. funding? Isn’t there a rival festival that’s muscling in on his game? Maybe he feels this is not a time to be making bold moves or fighting losing battles.
Best film I’ve seen in a long time is the DVD of Primer. Better sci-fi than Dark City. The dialogue is Altmanesque, I tell you. Makes you lean in to understand what’s going on, but leaves you not really knowing. THIS is the reflection of reality I’ve been looking for, because no one really knows what’s going on in this world, and those who think they do know least.
Primer was unbelievably good, and not just because it was the only movie ever to show a realistic depiction of scientists.
As for this weekend, here in Pittsburgh the midnight showing of “Barbarella” yesterday was the only new thing I found interesting.
Saw “2046” on Friday night at Nuart. Anyone else see it? Gotta sadly give it thumbs down. Beautiful to look at but soooo deliberately paced, and the sci-fi stuff didn’t work, imho. Also finally saw “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
This was my weekend to make (finally) the latest journey to Hogwarts. It was very short and very dull. “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is easily the weakest book in the series. Very much a Squib, to use the parlance of the wizarding world. Oh, well, it had to happen sooner or later: JKR was due to slip up. I’m just glad she got it out of the way before the last one. Here’s hoping “Goblet of Fire” delivers–it’s the best book, be nice if I can say the same about the movie.
p.s. I’d still read HBP again before I pay any of my money (or anyone else’s) to see “Dukes of Hazzard.” That’s my movie comment, thought I’d at least pretend to stay on topic.
Hey Stella’s Boy, I was going to post the same exact comment. Pretty much word for word.
Such an amazing film.
Why was “Karla” pulled from Montreal film festival? First the crimes…
Karla Homolka and her husband Paul Bernardo drugged her teenaged sister; the sister was then raped and murdered. Next, two teenaged girls were kidnapped… both were tortured, raped, murdered, and dismembered.
Karla received a plea deal to testify against her husband, and after this plea agreement, videotapes of the torture, rapes, and murders of those two teenaged girls were uncovered which showed how complicit Karla was in these crimes. One of the girls on the videotapes said before she was murdered, “some things are worth dying for.”
Karla Homolka is one of the most hated and reviled people in all of Canadian history. The fact she was recently released from prison and is now walking free somewhere in Quebec makes me ill (the reason she chose Quebec is because her crimes are less well-known in French Canada; it’s also why she only spoke french in an interview after she was released from prison). Maybe unlikely, but it would be a tad awkward if Karla Homolka showed up in Montreal to attend a movie about her life and crimes, non?
I’m glad “Karla” was pulled from the Montreal festival and I think it’s unbelievably insensitive of the festival to even consider screening it. Any business (such as a festival sponsor) in Canada viewed as benefitting or profiting from a movie about Karla Homolka would pay a huge price for it.
I also think that if a movie was going to be made about Karla Homolka, it should have focussed on her own family. The fact that she took part in the murder of her own sister and her family seems to be so supportive of her is beyond my comprehension. How that family dynamic works fascinates and scares me (I wonder if any of her family members mentioned to Karla while she was in prison that “dating” another convicted murderer while she was in prison was maybe the wrong thing to do).
So, there you are. The film festival made the right decision.
SKY CAP – thanks letting me know the festival made the right decision. Unfortunately yours is just an opinion and not the definitive call on this topic. But thanks for your ‘opinion’.
ps – Nick Cage running over corpses of 9/11 loved ones in some heroic hollywood gesture is not going to be insensitive to any of the families involved?
SKY – apologies for the sarcasm. However I think that there’s more to this debate than a simple emotive yes or no. There are some principles as stake here. You can’t have it both ways… is a film like MONSTER immune from such arguments because of its production values? Are the victims of Aileen Wournos lesser than their Canadian counterparts?
And Joe – Serge ain’t short of cash by any means. However it’d be nice if Daniel langlois and his crew took things over…Serge is a bit of a tyrant and has probably had his day.
I waiting for the next Ashton Kutcher smash.
I agree with JBD. You suppress one film about an unpopular and reviled killer and you suddenly get into the murky territory of feeling you need to supress any film that might be uncomfortable to others.
Canada doesn’t have free speech rights like we have in the U.S. and they have an active “censor” board that decides what Canadian adults can and cannot handle. Didn’t FAT GIRL get banned outright in Canada (or was it just Ontario?)?
Saw Dukes of Hazzard and unlike most critics I liked it. I don’t know if it was merely nostalgia from my childhood, I was a big fan of the car as a kid, or the infectious enthusiasm of the cast, but I found myself smiling through most of the film.
There is no way to argue that Dukes is good in the filmmaking sense. However as a good waste of a Friday night it succeeds brilliantly.
Last year, there were protests around a documentary on some Toronto cat killers… even though the doc did not include the publicly released footage of the pair torturing and killing the cats.
In my eyes, a film festival is all about expanding the discussion, even when uncomfortable. I was disallowed from showing an admittedly one-sided portrait of Castro while I ran the Miami Film Festival and in retrospect – in no small part because the Cuban community bullied me regardless of that – I regret not fighting harder for the event.
I, for one, did not know that Karla Homolka was back on the streets. That increases my feeling that the film should be shown. That’s about the creepiest third act imagineable… she helps her husband rape and kill her sister and is free less than a decade after being convicted. Nice.
Fat Girl was banned in Ontario only – wasn’t that around the same time that The Profit was banned in the US?
What film was “banned in the U.S.?”
Fat Girl did, btw, show at TIFF.
This is great publicity for this movie. I had never even heard of it and probably would have outright ignored it based on the actors in it but now I am curious about it. One interesting cast note, the new Superman Brandon Routh is in it. It’s his only other cast listing on imdb.com besides Superman.
On Primer: Impressive in its merits, but not direct enough in its execution.
On Half-Blood Prince: Impressive in its tone, and thankfully merciful in its developments. Best of the series? An improvement over the 2nd & 5th books at the least.
On Last Week: Didn’t play as much Tennis as I had wanted, too much work on the desk. Is Dave Chappelle really finished with his show? 100 days until the next Mega Blockbuster. Reviews for Jarhead are making me anxious.
Arc, where have you seen reviews of Jarhead?
AICN ran a couple reviews last week.
Thanks, I have been dying to read about it.
TIFF is exempt from screening films for the censor board which is how they’re able to sneak by with films such as BAISE MOI, FAT GIRL, and TOKYO DECADENCE. That’s also why *all* films without a proper Canadian certification are 18+ at the festival.
very uninteresting week. like most this summer.
The Ontario board eventually changed their position on Fat Girl (A ma soeur) and it was released–uncut–in Ontario in March 2003, unlike the US releases of The Dreamers and Eyes Wide Shut. (remove spaces)
http://www.thevarsity.ca/ media/paper285/news/2003/03/03/ArtsCulture/Fat-Girl.Overcomes.Controversy-387110.shtml
**What film was “banned in the U.S.?”**
The Profit
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0277255/
The Dave Chappelle quitting story is not getting as much press now but it is a big story. With how much money he turned down. And they filmed 80% of season three already too.
I saw ‘The Island’. It’s better than many are giving it credit for. I dunno, it seems to me that most of the critics were attacking it because it was a Michael Bay movie, and not for the film itself. And the only other Bay film I’ve enjoyed beyond popcorn banality is ‘The Rock’…
I think some people just wanted to watch Bay go down in flames. He could have made Citizen Kane and his critics would have stepped all over it. The savages.
critics jumped all over THE ISLAND because it was a Michael Bay movie…I knew it would happen regardless of how good (or bad) the movie ended up being…personally, I loved it and am SHOCKED over the lack of public enthusiasm…some of the best action and chases, since, well, Bad Boys 2, and for the most part, a very intriguing story line. The acting was great too…such a shame that people didn’t check it out…I want a flying motorcylce pretty f’ing bad, to be perfectly honest…
In reference to The Profit, I would say there is a difference between being tied-up in litigation, and being banned.
Showing Karla will not be a positive thing for Ontario or for even Quebequers who have to bear her presence now, even though I am totally for Freedom of speech even when unpopular. Perhaps out of sensitivity, it perhaps wouldn’t be a good idea to show it in Ontario for that one reason–that Karla Homolka is just as dangerous a murderer as Paul Bernardo and she is on the loose. I think it would be different if she were Inside or dead.
After the plea bargain was struck which she lied to get, and forensics had not come up with the evidence yet to put her at equal or even greater active partner in multiple rapes and murders. a number of videotapes were discovered that Bernardo’s lawyer had basically stolen before Forensics logged them(poor police guarding) where it was clear she was an even greater force than Bernardo–I haven’t seen them but I know a lawyer who has and she vomited. These two psychos filmed everything about their sadism & murder of children. Once the tapes were discovered and viewed, it was too late to strike the plea bargain and she only got 12 years I think.
She belongs, like Myra Hindley forever behind bars. She is insane and smart.
It is terrifying that she is out–she will murder again I’d bet my last dollar.
I don’t think per se, that the movie should not be shown, but i can see why the community would be highly hypersentive in the Eastern half of Canada since Karla Homolka will possibly profit from the notoriety…and she will reoffend, maybe the way she offended before–criss-crossing the US/Canada border.
And Cullen…i do feel sorry for Bay since Island was his best movie…I wish Armageddon sank like an asteroid, but the Island was ok.
These people were dying to slice and dice Bay. Any which way they could. The Box Office gave them their chance.
Don’t feel too sorry for Bay. I’m sure he’s riding in his Ferrari as we speak, sandwiched between two blondes.
If the public liked the Island, it would be doing decent numbers at least — a bad marketing campaign can only be blamed so much. The hard truth is, the majority of people who saw it didn’t like it and told their friends not to go. Same goes for Stealth — another 125 million dollar movie that is going to be outgrossed by March of the Penguins. Unbelievable.
I want to be in that back seat with Bay and his blondes.
me too…
Porsches don’t have big backseats. You guys may need to sit on mine and the ladies laps in the front.
Whoa, Whoa, Whoa
This thing about critics ripping The Island because it is a Michael Bay movie is just ludicrous. I hate Mr. Bay’s movie yet I gave the Island a relatively positive review. It was the first time I have given Mr. Bay a positive review because in my estimation he has not made what I fet was a quality film until now.
I don’t think I’m any better than the thousands of critics across the country. The majority of critics are fair minded arbiters of taste who base their opinions not on some ridiculous personal animus but simply on the film presented to them.
My point is that I doubt their were many critics who saw The Island and enjoyed but then wrote a negative review because they simply have something against Mr. Bay.
Bay has a lot of critics. Not just professional reviewers. A lot wanted to see him taken down and are dancing on his shallow grave right now.
From today’s LA Times. A look at why action movies have struggled this year. Rob Cohen is not happy about the success of Wedding Crashers.
http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/cl-et-action8aug08,0,296476.story
Can someone please tell Rob I am not happy that Stealth wasted important time in my life? Not time actually spent watching it but time spent even pondering its existence.
Who would have guessed his career peaked with Fast and the Furious?
Kernan, you’re joking right? I’ve done a bit of reviewing before, and read a lot of reviewing and well, I find that critics are willing to give some names an easier time based on their previous work etc. I think critics would have given The Island a better grade if it had been directed by Spielberg…
And as for Cohen…that was more luck than anything else that F&F was a hit.