I closed “Name Faking” to comments after many complaints… but I haven’t even have time to go look at the abuse. Please use this entry to comment more kindly to one another.
I do hate that when I, the cat, goes away for just a few days, the mice seem to go nuts.
Find something better to chat about than one another please.
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Review: Little Women (no spoilers)
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[twitter-widget username="DavidPoland" hiderss="true" hidereplies="true" hidefrom="true" items="3" showts="60" title=" " targetBlank="true"][twitter-widget username="MCNTweets" hiderss="true" hidereplies="true" hidefrom="true" items="3" showts="60" title=" " targetBlank="true"]
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 don’t think I was rude once – to anyone – in the Name Faking-thread. Anyone disagree? Give me clear examples.
Please take the time to read the thread, Mr Poland. Your input on this issue has been asked for on several occassions.
This is about one mouse, or two, we don’t know, in particular.
I’m just looking at it now, and it seems that the bottom half of the Name Faking thread is the most civil conversation I’ve seen on this blog in weeks.
You can’t fault it for not being about movies, because the post itself was not.
By the way, to those that were commenting there– I agree with you.
Underworld 2… I’m gonna say a $25 mil weekend.
I’ll go with 20$ million for Underworld.
Underworld must be great since the studio is withholding reviews til Monday. A sure sign the movie is top notch.
It’s a matter of princple for me. I will not see movies that refuse to get reviewed by major critics.
I’m glad Underworld is opening this weekend because I am getting real sick of those tv commercials for it. Talk about cheesy.
Brokeback will be in top 5. Woohoo.
movies like underworld are review proof on opening weekend.
Chest Cee! ‘Sdense! Corpo di barragio! you spoof of visibility in a freakfog, of mixed sex cases among goats, hill cat and plain mousey, Bigamy Bob and his old Shanvocht! The Blackfriars treacle plaster outrage be liddled! Therewith was released in that
kingsrick of Humidia a poisoning volume of cloud barrage indeed.
Yet all they who heard or redelivered are now with that family of bards and Vergobretas himself and the crowd of Caraculacticors
as much no more as be they not yet now or had they then not- ever been. Canbe in some future we shall presently here amid those zouave players of Inkermann the mime mumming the mick and his nick miming their maggies, Hilton St Just (Mr Frank Smith), Ivanne Ste Austelle (Mr J. F. Jones), Coleman of Lucan
taking four parts, a choir of the O’Daley O’Doyles doublesixing the chorus in Fenn Mac Call and the Serven Feeries of Loch Neach, Galloper Troppler and Hurleyquinn the zitherer of the past with his
merrymen all, zimzim, zimzim fillibuster.
Hey frankbooth, great impersonation of David Poland. Good job! Although you’re slightly more coherent than he is.
hehe, I kid I kid. I always love me some Dave.
How did the first Underworld merit a sequel????
Damn, do I detect a Finnegan’s Wake reset in here? Or is this just a casting side from Underworld: Evolution?
Apparently Booth still loves his nitrus gas. Rehab doesn’t work for everyone.
If Brokeback isn’t in the Top 5 this week, somethings wrong.
PandaBear,
I thought Poland specifically asked to leave off the personal attacks on this thread?
You either have to be very smart or very stupid to attack Joyce.
Predictions for the week:
Underworld 2 25 mill
Brokeback 8 mill
Hoodwinked 7 mill
Glory Road 6 mill
I guess someone didn’t happen to actually see the movie “Blue Velvet”.
Right over the head.
Well, we can’t all be as literate as you, Pandabear.
I would welcome an elaboration of Panda’s comment, because I do not think it makes sense.
There are much better reasons to avoid Underworld 2 than the fact that it hasn’t been screened for critics, such as the fact that the first Underworld was HORRIBLE. I believe it put me to sleep. I’m seeing The New World and hopefully another awards movie.
The first Underworld was awful and borderline incoherent, but with nothing else major new in the marketplace, 18-30 males will flock in huge numbers, drawn by the BeckinsaleBoobies. The question is how bad the Friday-Saturday drop is and just how big Brokeback goes.
(Also, was anyone else surprised by Paramount’s move of “Failure to Launch?” Seemed like the 2/10 release date would have been perfect for it as being the only chick flick/romcom in the market over Valentine’s Day. Are they that afraid that “Curious George” and “Firewall” are going to suck all the air out of the room?)
They made a sequel because the gothic youth will go to anything if it has vampires, werewolves, and corsets. They actually saw quality in the original’s NyQuil-tinged action, HORRIBLE dialogue (I counted maybe 10 lines in the whole movie that weren’t completely exposition), and a relationship so cold, it makes the sex scene in Matrix Reloaded look like the sex scenes in Body Heat. Hell, most of them thought Queen of the Damned was a good movie. You just can’t reason with something like that.
The first “Underworld” made over 90$ million worldwide on just a 25$ million budget. Probably the same amount on dvd/video.
That automatically calls for a sequel.
Blue Velvet = horrible sequel to National Velvet
jeffmcm,
You never saw “Blue Velvet”? How does one not see a David Lynch film? It’s lame when you have to explain your joke to people. Sorta takes the fun and humor out of it.
I’ve seen Blue Velvet about 5 times. I still have no idea what you were even referring to.
Oh, I didn’t even see the nitrous reference.
Ha, ha.
Think I’ll finally be seeing BBM this weekend. Hopefully, New World too.
I was worried about you there, jeff. I figured you would have to be a Lynch fan.
Next time you’re worried I’ll give you an address to send flowers to.
“Underworld 2” would have benefited greatly from judicious wielding of the blue pencil. Potentially intriguing plots which feature strongly in the earlier parts of the film – an intriguing serial killer subplot, the stories of each person who possesses the winning baseball – are abandoned halfway through in favour of overlong childhood memories or the inane ponderings of a little green footsoldier; other stories are neglected for over 400 minutes before reappearing at the end of the movie, causing an unwelcome jolt as the viewer tries to remember the pertinent details.
In this respect “Underworld 2” is a victim of its own ambition: by trying to cover such a wide range of characters and situations, it loses track of some of them and, in the latter parts of the movie in particular, the writing feels as if it is on autopilot while the screenwriter works out what to do next.
There is still much to recommend in “Underworld”, however. Each vignette is lovingly crafted: Sanchelus seems as comfortable writing from the perspective of a street missionary as he is inhabiting J’s paranoia and multiple personality disorder. The film employs vivid imagery, from painted angels on ghetto walls to the cityscape created by mountains of domestic waste, and the dialogue is usually well-observed and thoroughly believable although it does flag when describing bob’s hoodlum past. Despite its faults rufus has created an ambitious and powerful film which, due to its length, can also be used to swat annoying children on trains. Highly recommended. When the bird is finished cooking, pour the stock and spice mixture into the roasting pan and use it to de-glaze the pan. Pour off the deglazed liquid (and veggies) into a smaller sauce pan or bowl. Spoon off the fat with a spoon, retaining the fat separately. Throw the degreased liquid and veggies into a large stock pot. I find a six quart pot is just large enough to hold the soup from a 12 pound bird.
Let the bird cool enough to use your hands. Completely separate the meat from everything else, and retain it for later. Keep the breast meat as whole as possible–we are going to chop it later. Throw the skin, bones, and fat into the stock pot. Fill it with enough water to cover everything about an inch or two. Cover and simmer very low 6-12 hours. (Sometimes, I leave it on over night. A crockpot should work for this purpose. I put a couple of bricks on my gas stove under the pot to cut down the heat. Otherwise, simmering turns to a boil.)
Do you know what a love letter is? Straight from my heart..
Underworld opened to $19mill, I doubt this one will do better let alone more.
I’m thinking like $12MM to $15MM.
At the radio-promoted preview screening here in Houston Thursday night, a goodly number of people showed up in “Underworld” attire. (Including, I should note, a few hot babes.) Do I detect the first stirrings of a cult?
Underworld has fans let alone cult level fans???
If the girls are wearing what Beckinsale wears in the movie I may have to try to join this cult.
Sanchez: Trust me, at least two were wearing even more revealing outfits. Of course, I have ties in my closet older than they are…. But, remember, I’m 53.
The first Underworld gave me a headache…all the explanations, nothing left to the imagination. It was Goth-without-brains, whereas Gothic with brains (a la Neil Gaiman) is so much more interesting and seriously lacking in the movie biz.
On a more serious note rest in peace in the midnight hour, Wilson Pickett.
The Wicked, Wicked Pickett!!!! What a shame. But you know what? He left this world a better place than it would have been without him in it. That’s the highest praise I can think of giving anyone.
Anne is on Oprah too. Woohoo.
I would actually be more interested in seeing an interview with Annie Proulx or Larry McMurtry. Know of any?
Jeff:
I actually have an interview with Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana coming up in — no kidding– Cowboys and Indians magazine. Will tell you when it hits the newsstands.
Are they….GAY Indians?
Otherwise, not interested.
RIP Wilson.
“In the midnight hour….”
Underworld was made on the cheap and made a bunch of cash. Sony Screengems will make anything, really.
Annie Proulx is very reclusive, I doubt she’ll be doing any interviews other than small grabs like the one she said about Heath Ledger. I see it doing very similar to the Resident Evil sequel. Open higher, finish lower. Around $22mil is my guess.
Brokeback was #1 again on Thursday! Yay. As for the weekend, well – it’s in 1196 cinemas (according to Mojo) so let’s do some math.
1196 x $10,000PSA = $11,960,000
That’s probably a bit too much to ask for, really. How about…
1196 x $8,000PSA = $9,568,000
Almost maybe too much but probably quite doable. This is probably the high end of the spectrum of possibilities.
I’m thinking more along the lines of (or thereabouts)
1196 x $7,000PSA = $8,372,000
That would vault it over $40mil and get it splashed all over the news. Hoodwinked, btw, is adding 600 cinemas so it should have a fall of around maybe 35% and will probably battle with Brokeback Mountain for second place.
Will be interesting to see whether The New World can mustre up strength to get north of $5mil.
The question is how Brokeback is expanding. Is it expanding into new markets (in which case it’ll hold more stongly on PSA) or if it’s adding more screens in places where it already is (which is going to dilute the PSA). It strikes me that there’s a finite audience in each market for Brokeback, and once that’s exhausted, the PSA will plummet.
it bothers the piss out of me that a shitload of people are going to sit through total garbage like underworld 2 (and probably enjoy it…) and nobody will end up seeing The New World. I just saw it for the second time and god damn, that’s the best movie of the year. There is simply nothing like it. Ever. GO SEE IT.
Larry McMurtry is one of the best writers, well, ever.
btw eric, the bottom half of the Name Faking thread was extremely civil because everyone that the people were talking about happened to disappear and decided to not defend themselves or say anything. Kind of funny, really.
Kockum, I didn’t get a chance to reply to that thread but you asked whether I was one of the good guys, and I am indeed one of them. How can I prove that? Well, I actually LIKE movies and talking about them. lol. STRANGE, I KNOW!
> Are they….GAY Indians?
They like to be called Two Spirited people.
KamikazeCamel,
I haven’t been commenting on this thread, because I’m afraid that my mere presence will devolve things into a fight.
I think it’s wonderful to read the comments on this blog now that people are being civil towards each other. And I’m hoping it could become a permanent fixture.
As I said before, I love movies, and I love talking about them. I wouldn’t be concerned with this blog if I didn’t, since I also love to read other peoples opinion, and many of the people here have very interesting opinions, once and when they are allowed to utter them without fear of being harrassed in some form or another.
Anyway, I’ve made my opinions known, and I don’t want things to devolve into their all too usual grade-school ways. Once Poland has done something about this problem, I think this blog will become a great place to be and post about movies. I’m looking forward to that.
Peace out.
Oh, and I don’t want this blog to get totally neutered either. Just so that’s clear. Just that one mouse. So he doesn’t procreate. If that analogy makes any sense.
Underworld was very profitable. When a cheap action movie like that is profitable it guarantees a sequel to capitalize on it. Bucks, bucks and more bucks.
Estimates for Friday, January, 20, 2006
UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION 10.6 10.6
GLORY ROAD 2.6 21.6
LAST HOLIDAY, THE 2.4 19.7
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN 2.1 36.4
HOODWINKED! 2.1 20.3
FUN WITH DICK AND JANE 1.7 97.4
END OF SPEAR 1.5 1.5
CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, THE 1.4 267.0
HOSTEL 1.4 39.8
NEW WORLD, THE 1.2 1.4
Kong out of the top 10…WOW. Female audiences just didn’t care.
FWIW–PSA’s:
Underworld: $3,305
Brokeback: $1,755
Glory Road: $1,085
Last Holiday: $954
Hoodwinked: $699
End of Spear: $1,289
New World: $1,479
Will be interested to see if “Hoodwinked” rallies Saturday and how bad the “Underworld” fall is. The Brokeback PSA is good, but not spectacular, and suggests to me that this could be the wall for it in terms of expansion.
“Failure to Launch” got moved back because the Winter Olympics begin on 2/10.
“Brokeback Mountain” picked up a lot of new cities/regions as it’s gone sem-wide. The holdouts are in the Bible Belt (Bristol TN/VA, Fayetteville NC, Huntsville AL, Lincoln NE, Myrtle Beach SC, Springfield MO, Topeka KS) or isolated by geography (Aspen CO, Flagstaff AZ, Plattsburgh NY).
This truly is a dumping ground period. I’m a horror fan, and yet I can’t imagine anyone being excited about Underworld 2. Much less support and cheer for it.
Underworld is going to do 30 million? It may even unseat Star Wars as the top opening January weekend. After watching Hostel and Hoodwinked do surprisingly big numbers, the market has expanded for cheaply produced genre pics all year round, even in the supposed “dumping ground” of January.
“The Brokeback PSA is good, but not spectacular, and suggests to me that this could be the wall for it in terms of expansion.”
Yeah, I think that’s right. It’s gone from 3 theatres in my area to seven, so I’d say its within a short drive of everybody in town, not that this is the kind of film people choose to see based upon that kind of conveniance. At this point, I expect “Brokeback” to end somewhere between 60-70 mil, depending on the Oscar nominations and wins. I hope that doesn’t affect the Oscars. It’s always driven me crazy when prognosticators say: “the acadamy won’t award films that don’t make enough money–usually the mark is considered about 90 mil. In a perfect world, the best film should win, even if it doesn’t break 20 million.
I don’t think Underworld will manage $30 mil for the weekend…most genre sequels have Friday-to-Saturday drops. I’d guesstimate in the early to mid-twenties.
“Brokeback” will have around $50 mil cumed when the Oscar noms are announced on the 31st…if it leads the noms, then wins Best Picture, I think $90 mil is a likely number. It’d have a better shot if the Olympics weren’t going to dominate February, pushing back to Oscars to March. However, I actually think the last-minute push of “Failure to Launch” out of February helps the film a bit – that leaves “Something New” as the only other real female-driven romance in February.
“I think it’s wonderful to read the comments on this blog now that people are being civil towards each other. And I’m hoping it could become a permanent fixture. ”
It could happen.
And the Palestinians and Israelis could settle their differences, Michael Bay could begin making intelligent, entertaining and coherent films, and G.W. Bush could admit wrongdoing and willingly resign tomorrow . Chocolate fudge might also rain down from the sky.
On the other hand when (not if) our many-headed hydra resurfaces from the Stygian depths, there are examples posted above as a possible response. There are alllll sorts of interesting things one could post about. One could fill the message boards with relevant and fascinating material of all kinds. Perhaps many new (perfectly legitimate) users will appear, all joyously, creatively, and of course, politely joining in.
Who’s to say what’s relevant? If you look at some of the blather posted here in the past, the definition appears to be pretty broad. And if our friends are allowed to return, it could be a sign we’re living in a town with no sheriff. So have fun. Enjoy. And remember that brevity is not the soul of wit. For to paraphrase Judge Dredd: we are the law.
As educated as ever, frankbooth. I may sound very naive, but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
I shall remain an optimist until this issue is resolved. I hope you can as well.
Underworld will probably make around $25mil.
Brokeback will probably never get a weekend over $10mil but it has a great chance to keep making above $5mil for many weekends to come, which really does add up better than one weekend at $20mil and then crashing and burning.
Hoodwinked could indeed have a weekend-to-weekend fall of 10%. How crazy is that? I know it added 600 screens, but people reporting it on Today or whatever wont say that. It is indeed a hit – especially considering its pricetag and lack of advertising. A sequel has already been anounced. Crikey.
http://www.boomspeed.com/allhailme/011906_bmountainporn.jpg
I’m surprised it took them over an entire month! The porn industry is usually more on-the-ball than THAT.