May 3, 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
So is Clint Eastwood filming the Japanese movie in Japanese? because it seems having them jabber away in Engrish would sort of defeat the purpose of what he’s attempting.
Here’s one: What Actor-turned-Director will beat Martin Scorsese next time he’s nominated? Paul Walker seems like a good bet.
I wanna know how much slack Blog Club plans on cutting Doom this weekend. Should we chuckle to ourselves knowingly or “release the Kraken” on what is sure to be the #1 earner.
Just remember boys, the first rule of Blog Club is NOBODY TALKS ABOUT BLOG CLUB.
So between his sympathy for assisted suicide and this new WWII movie from the Jap side, Eastwood seems to be getting all political in his old age.
uuuh, I believe that would be Boys and Girls, Mr Crow.
Forgot to say to Leydon…got around to reading the Moviemaker article and thanks for kind props to Mr Evans, and Lindsay Anderson, both. Good article.
Get used to Clints eccentricities jeff. If he has his mama’s longevity he’ll be around another 20 years!
Scorsese should just give up trying to make good movies and win his Oscar..he should start making movies that are instant moneymakers…like Austin Powers 4.
I hated Doom with a passion, but I don’t play the game. My friends who do liked it.
If the Scorsese/Dylan documentary had been allowed to qualify for the Doc Oscar there’s no doubt in my mind he would’ve gotten a well-deserved Oscar.
The Penguins will probably be nominated but won’t win.
I’m sure the Eastwood double-feature will be good, possibly great, but I think we’re all a little weary of WWII movies at this point in time. He might get nominated but he won’t win.
I just can’t imagine Eastwood being a 3-time Best Picture-Best Director winner. He’s a fine filmmaker but he’s no Ford or Hawks or Wilder. How would it look for Eastwood to have more Best Director Oscars than Spielberg.
Anyone listen to Burton’s commentary on the new Batman SE? An amazing track.
Also, Save the Tiger is coming to DVD. Any true 70’s film fan should seek out this movie. It’s like American Beauty without the bombast and too-cute sex jokes. There’s no irony, just raw emotions. Lemmon is unforgettable. 10 to 1 Spacey was thining of this performance while making Beauty.
I saw “Where the Truth Lies” last night and frankly don’t see what all the fuss is about. There was a fine performance from Kevin Bacon – but then again all of his performances are great. Alison Lohman was laughable. Colin Firth just okay. The film had a sort of surreal Hitchcock feel to it, but it just didn’t work. There was even one scene in need of edit where you could actually see the boom over Bacon and Lohman’s heads. I had higher hopes for this!
Just wondering if, on day discussing niche movies, anyone else notice the signs that a certain apparently somewhat hated/derided (on here) niche film seems to be chugging along to a $200M+ final gross with all revenue factored in…
A film, I just discovered thanks to a nice article in the Sunday Times a week ago, was shot for half of what it could have cost, in 30 fewer days and with a full union crew in the US.
are we talking about Fantastic Four? Because I still say that’s a bomb. Had they cast it right and used a decent director (like the originally rumored Peyton Reed), it would have been a sure thing and hit $300. And even though it may have made as much as the original X-Men, you just see what happens if they try and put out a sequel.
if it’s not that film, I’m stumped.
It just goes to show how well Hollywood can export its crap to the rest of the world and make some cash.
Sin City had all the dramatic impact of a Tex Avery cartoon.
“Originality without meaning is a white elephant.”
Sin City was comic book fun. Nothing really more to it than that. Pick up Frank Millers books. You will like it better.
Fantastic Four might not be a good movie but it is not a bomb. It is a success.
Comic books, like novels and other forms of prose can be cinematic but don’t function within the rules of movies. To try and cram in the pleasures of comics into a movie is futile. That said, if the comics have appropriate stories that can be applied to film the results can be classic.
When Rodriguez is telling stories close to his heart, the joys and challenges of parenthood and familyhood for instance in “Spy Kids,” the results are finer.
Agreed. You just can’t lift off the page and convert to film. They need to be separate and unique while holding the same values/backbone of the original comic. Look at Batman, Spidey etc.
Shall we play a game?
GUESS SAW 2’s FIRST WKND.
Come within 2m and I give you $1000
Miss by 2m and I take a finger.
Who’s in?
I agree 100% that Sin City was too literal a translation to make a good movie.
Had a foreign triple feature a few weeks ago while the wife was away: Layer Cake, Oldboy, and Ong Bak. Layer Cake was pretty cool with a lame ending. Oldboy was very cool but should have ended 10 minutes before it did. Ong Bak had a very athletic lead, but was not good filmmaking.
The Life Aquatic is underrated.
/end random post
“Sin City” did offer the exhiliration of seeing Mickey Rourke turning his manimal dial to 11. Ang Lee should have cast him as The Hulk’s dad instead of that weirdo Nick Nolte.
Rourke less weird than Nolte? What about Gary Busey as Hulks dad?
Neither of those castings would’ve made a bit of difference, because they would’ve all still led to the final showdown which is one of the most retarded things I’ve ever seen in my life. Sorry to be un-PC, but it’s true.
Retards are PC? We have this one kid, Mongo, forehead like a drive in movie theatre…..
Is this still a free-for-all?
Then I should say that Rachel McAdams in a Dinosaur Jr. T-shirt is quite yummy. David knows what I’m talking about.
she looks great in the family stone previews.
Speaking of big foreheads, what happened to Claire Danes’ face? I guess as you age your nose really does keep growing.
She’s not cute anymore.
It’s good to see McAdams also taking supporting roles. She’s steadily proving that she is indeed a keeper.
Sin City was alright, but if they had actually merged the storylines together instead of just having three independent stories then it might have been better. It was way too long. Stylistically though, it was great.
What I want to know is this:
Is Warner Bros going to do a full out Oscar push for ‘Batman Begins’? Maybe it’ll grab some of that LOTR vote, because for my money it’s still one of the five best films of the year, and not much coming out in the next few months looks as compelling.
Good call on Batman, Aladdin. After watching all the supplementary material on the DVD, and the film again, it’s still standing very high on my list. Unfortunately this looks to be a very cluttered awards year, so I think nods for Bale, Nolan, whoever are a long shot. I’d love to see it contend in the effects categories, as they tried to use as little CG as possible.
Art direction would be a nice nod as well.
There is a better chance of Joel Schmucher doing Batman Again than Begins has of getting rewarded. Which is a shame.
Batman Begins made Sin City looks amateurish. That’s how you adapt a comic.
I wouldn’t go that far Mark.
I would have said “There’s a better chance of Drew McWeeny writing an original, interesting scene than Begins getting rewarded.”
Crash getting any nominations/awards seems like a longshot as well…especially Best (Overrated) Original Screenplay.