By Ray Pride Pride@moviecitynews.com
Getting in line for the sketchy taco: Josh Friedman blogs again
In 2005, Josh Friedman, screenwriter of War of the Worlds and Brian DePalma‘s forthcoming Black Dahlia began a funny, profane blog called “I find your lack of faith disturbing.” Some of it is about screenwriting, most of it is deliriously rancorous rants, and he’s thrilled about the prospects of Snakes on a Plane. Then he was gone for a while. Now he’s talking about cancer. “This is not fun for me, nor do I think it’ll be fun for you, either. You won’t learn much, because I’m a fucking ignoramus. I never did like research and I certainly didn’t start for this shit. Some people want to know all they can about their disease, but I figured it would only keep me on the phone longer explaining it to my friends. Besides, [my doctor] Fish told me to stay off the internet. So I did.” But still, there are reasons we love John Friedman, who has been sick but not sad. “Without being too dramatic about it, there is a very good chance my bout with food poisoning saved my life. Which goes to show, if you see a taco stand and it looks even the least bit sketchy, get in line… As an infinite monkey I have little choice but to bow down to the powers of natural selection and mutation, even when it’s happening inside my own body. There are those who suggest a greater power must be looking out for me. But the greatest power I know was doing last minute post-production on Munich so I didn’t bother calling on him, either… I did not fight cancer and I certainly did not beat cancer. One night cancer came and grabbed me hard by the arm, yanked me down the stairs and stood over me on the landing while I begged for mercy and waited for the rain of blows to come. Some did, enough for me to know I couldn’t have withstood the whole barrage. And then without explanation it disappeared. And let me live. Like some monsters do. Thank you everybody.”