You got my Mexican in my Columbian! You gor my actor in my director!
How many non-Americans does it take to make the NYT editors (and by extension, all American media) look like ignorant gringos? Apparently two.
“One of next year’s high-profile films is Alejandro Gonz
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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
Rented Crash last night. Lob me in the nay column. Haggis is really a lazy storyteller, relying on coinicidence and “plants” to get the plot moving. Every little stupid thing leads to something else. It’s frustrating to watch scenes at the beginning be so blatantly (maybe romantically is the word) racial, leading you to wonder where he’s going with it, until it’s obvious he’s guiding us to more scenes just like it. Then he ties it all neatly in a bow at the end declaring: “prejudice is really about fear folks.” I guess you can get away with liking it, though it doesn’t take chances enough to even fail honestly. Kind of cowardly.
Like Million Dollar Baby, I strongly disagree with the politics of the drama, teasing you with hope then throwing it’s hands up in the end saying “oh those crazy racist!” (Haggis’ invention of Clint’s wrongheaded priest pal and Hilary’s Jethro Bodine-esque family makes more sense now).
Crash is a very artless art movie.
Agreed. Hagiss is a very overrated filmmaker/writer. Sadly, his ‘correct’ politics allows for critics to be very kind. MDB is a good film for the first 2 thirds but a mediocre one in the final stretch.
From the sterotypical ‘hicksville’ parent to the Catholic priest who knows nothing about Catholicism to the total absence of medical fact (it would never play out as it did in this film)this film was not Clint’s best.
Funny, some people though that the anti-euthanasia side didn’t get enough play…truth be told no side got enough. No, the priest is not given very good arguments but then again…”Put me down like a dawg,” isn’t exactly the most compelling argument for assisted suicide I’ve ever heard.
As for Crash, I think it is stuck in that typical ‘big city white guilt’ view of racism. I’d like to see the movie about racsm that Bill Cosby would make. That would make for compelling viewing and tell us something we hadn’t heard before. This was simply stuck in the 60’s.
I don’t know about 60s, it was pretty far removed from the fairly naive Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner view of the world. I would say it was stuck in the 90s worldview post-Short Cuts and Magnolia. But I agree that it was clumsy and only succeeded by pushing the right buttons.
I can’t remember seeing a less subtle movie than Crash. Every time a character would walk into a scene it would turn into a Lenny Bruce routine. Reminded me of how good Magnolia was… I’ll take frogs falling in the valley over snow anytime.
And how about Tony Danza as the racially shallow producer! What the fuck was that? Couldn’t they get Alan Thicke?
Crash is a movie of the week. I don’t need to be preached at for two hours especially about racism.
Paul Haggis is the new Douglas Sirk
“relying on coinicidence”
Hah. Every single movie that falls into the genre of Crash (the intercut storyline type), as well as thrillers and romantic comedies and the like all rely of coincidences.
I personally really liked Crash. And while it’s intentions are admirable, they’re not why I liked it so much (but it appears to be exactly why people dislike it). It was extremely well acted, technically it was great (cinematography, score, etc all excellent), and it had some great moments (singular scenes are work tremendously well). The screenplay is a little bit “HI, MY NAME IS RACISM AND I AM IN YOUR LIFE!!!!!” but it didn’t annoy me as much in my second viewing, except for whenever Ludicris is on screen.
Oh, god, Douglas Sirk is a million times better of a director than Haggis (so far). Sirk’s best movies are subtle, ironic, and subversive. Crash is all surface.
I dislike Crash, but its intentions are admirable, it’s the execution where the movie fails for me. Who’s saying that it’s intentions are why they don’t like it?
hes against racism. thanks paul haggis. really cutting edge.
Crash was kind of sad. I think a movie like Crash needs to be made. A movie that deals with racism in America because so many other movies just glance over it and that’s wrong. But Crash is not the answer I was looking for.
Yes, the intenions are good and the standards are really high. But I was just sick of the movie by the halfway mark. Just sick of it.
Crash doesn’t have to be made today. Maybe on the Lifetime network.
Why doesn’t Crash need to be made today? Because it’s not a good movie or because we don’t need movies about racism?
Crash was one of the worst movies of the year. I think anyone touting it for awards hasn’t seen it or has white mans guilt.
When the SUV’s gasoline trickled down the street toward the flaming car, I half expected Mel Gibson to walk over and throw a hacksaw to poor Thandie Newton.
“Now it’ll take ya ten minutes to cut through the metal but five to go through the bone. It’s your call, mate.”
(Sorry, I’m enjoying hating this movie. It’s my new Serenity)