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” ā 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 ā 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 ā he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” ā and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging ā I was with her at that moment ā 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 namedā” “Yeah, sure ā 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 Iām on the phone with you now, after all thatās 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 didnāt seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. Thereās not a case of that. He wasnāt using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had ā if that were what the accusation involved ā 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. Iām not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, āYou know, itās not this, itās thatā? Because ā let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. TimesĀ piece, thatās what it lacked. Thatās 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
David, when you speak of me, speak well.
That was legitimately funny and sad at the same time.
Will we get banned if we mock David for quoting from his own blog rather than someone else’s? š
LOL.
Yes, I liked those posts as well, and I was wondering what the Pacific Galleria is?
“What’s the Mustafar of LA theaters?”
I don’t know, Jules, I didn’t go into a burger king.
Very sad. But yet funny.
I don’t ban and I don’t pull posts.
I may not always like what gets said in here, but I think that once I set myself up as a censor, I have destroyed the point of this exercise.
I think you missed the š
When geeks talk about theatres….
Was thinking about this last night at the Grove. Because of the neverending sell-outs there and a pic’s not showing at the Arclight, I’ve become a Grovlovian dog where I MUST get there at least half-hour early for fear of getting crap seats. This usually works, but then last night for “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang,” I got there early and not a SOUL was in the theater (though it filled up by the time that rather slight Coca-Cola “Young Filmmaker’s Award” short played).
Naturally, my wife complained loudly that we got there too early, so a couple of weeks from now when faced with a similar situation, I’m certain I’ll be stuck on the upperdeck behind the guardrail or down front cricking my neck. There’s just something to be said for the Arclight’s reserved seats and having front row seats which aren’t total crap.
I’ve never been to any of these theaters. But then, I live on the East Coast.
Sorry for the Hollywoodcentrism.
^ No need to apologize. It is a blog about movies, after all. Last time I checked, Hollywood was kind of important to that.
Honestly, I don’t understand what all the fuss about The Grove is about. Yes, it’s a very nice theatre, but it’s not noticeably nicer than a dozen other emporia in L.A. And given the crowds and the time it takes to find an empty parking space, I don’t even bother with it anymore.