April 25, 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” â 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 â 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 â he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” â and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging â I was with her at that moment â 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 namedâ” “Yeah, sure â 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 Iâm on the phone with you now, after all thatâs 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 didnât seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. Thereâs not a case of that. He wasnât using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had â if that were what the accusation involved â 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. Iâm not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, âYou know, itâs not this, itâs thatâ? Because â let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, thatâs what it lacked. Thatâs 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
The question is: Does the 16-year-old in Wisconsin even know who Leonard Maltin is? I doubt the 16-year-old reads the movie reviews in Playboy. Serious movie criticism is also a niche. It’s for people who take their movies seriously. There’s a world of difference between reading the latest rumblings from a “spy” critic, and seeking out serious criticism of the arts.
Kael was right when she said the most important thing a critic can do is support the little movie that can easily be crushed by the big-studio marketing machines. She knew as far back as 1980 that the role of the critic was becoming less and less important when it came to big-name movies.
Saw and Medea don’t need critics’ help. Movies like the latest Winterbottom need their help. I’m all for niche/genre markets. I just wish the better ones were making the money. Running Scared is a perfect example of a studio not really knowing what they have. The movie is more than the latest Paul Walker vehicle. It could be the next True Romance, the movie right before the writer-director makes his mark on the cutlure. I’m in no way saying Kramer is the new Tarantino. What I am saying is that he seems to annouce himself as a chronicler of sleaze fairy tales. It would be ashame if a major talent arrived on the scene and no one noticed.
“This is the face of the new Disney (now 2 years old). If they could make 4 Eight Belows, 3 Herbies, 2 blockbuster CG animated films a year, and one Bruckheimer extravaganza each year they would be very happy indeed.”
What was the face of the old Disney? Dick Cook’s conservative instincts fit well with the traditional Disney model, but it’s really not that much different than when Joe Roth was in charge, is it?
Again I say… Tyler Perry is the new Tom Laughlin.
Wreck – Disney was defintely shooting to play the bigger game for years and to try to find an adult market. What is most notable now is that they are essentially a family-only studio, spending more conservatively than others and more often reaping the benefit of less risk, greater reward.
Just got word that Don Knotts died. Bummer. From “The Steve Allen Show” through “The Andy Griffith Show” and “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” to “Pleasantville,” he was a very funny fellow. He’ll be missed.
Running Scared deserved better. It was brilliant in the ways it goes over the top. Ebert’s review did a great job of summing the film up…it has a few problems, but it’s a fun ride. I was surpised at how much I enjoyed it. There’s a little more going on in the film than the commercials let on. It may not be as deep as the ocean, but that’s not always a bad thing. Anyhow, I think it’ll find an audience on DVD…
comment: phenom like Medea >>>
Hey, it’s the #1 movie of the weekend; let’s spell her name right. It’s M-A-D-E-A not M-E-D-E-A.
There was supposed to be a đ after that spelling correction…no hard feelings DP.
đ
Medea’s Family Reunion would get its number no matter how many bad reviews there were for it. It’s review proof.
“Medea’s Family Reunion”
Now that would be an interesting movie, what with her killing her children and all. Those crazy Greeks, now there were some dysfunctional families.
“Running Scared” a disaster this week. That is a terrible opening.
Another loss: Darren McGavin died today. Damn. You know, these things usually happen in threes. So beware.
I see that Dave Poland has upgraded Hostel from “worst movie of 2006” to the level of “mediocrity”. Progress!
RIP, Kolchak and Mr. Limpet.
Here’s something equally depressing from Anne Thompson’s blog…
“Weinstein Co. Swallows Wellspring
Here’s a letter that is making the industry rounds from playwright/actor Stephen Adly Guirgis, who wrote The Madonna of 121st Street, which Philip Seymour Hoffman directed off-Broadway. The occasion is the closing down of small indie distributor Wellspring in the wake of Weinstein Co.’s purchase of DVD company Genius.
From: Stephen Adly Guirgis Date: February 24, 2006 10:55:19 PM PST Subject: a personal plea/gentle request from Guirgis
Dear Folks: as some of you may know, my little sister Marie Therese Guirgis has been Head of Production at Wellspring Pictures for the past several years. Wellspring was one of the very few American companies left that were dedicated to putting foreign film, documentaries, and non-star driven independent cinema into our theaters. I say “was” because The Weinstein Company bought Wellspring last month for its library of classic films, and library now in hand, they have shut down the company, fired the workers, and will use the company to produce and distribute more of their usual fare: safe, commercial, star driven allegedly independent films — with the final cut going to Harvey.
This weekend, the old Wellspring is releasing its last film. ironically, it’s more commercial then what they usually put out, but it’s an excellent and thoroughly compelling documentary called “UNKNOWN WHITE MALE”… I think it’s a pretty great film. stimulating and moving. My sister and her staff are really proud of it… i’d like to gently urge you to support this film in its opening weekend and in the week ahead. in this, their last hour, they could really use our support — and the acknowledgment that good box office numbers would bring. supporting UNKNOWN WHITE MALE is, i think, a way of saying to the film industry: we want choice. we want content. we want to see good movies, different movies, and not just the same old thing….anyway, thanks. i’m gonna see it again this weekend, hope you can too, or during the week…. take care, stephen”
Knotts? I’m pissed about. Damn you God.
McGavin? I’m upset about. Damn you God.
Some Co that releases doc’s? I’m not.
Two of those things affect your past.
The other thing affects your future and your (now) lack of ability to see foreign and indie films. You should be pissed.
Alias Man doesn’t go see foreign and indie flicks anyway. But for the real film lovers on the blog, this is depressing news. Wellspring has released some of my favorite movies that may not have even come out in the U.S. but for their daring.
Wellspring was home to my favorite living filmmaker, Tsai Ming Liang. For allowing me to see his works, I will lament their passing.
never seen a wellspring pic before and unknown white male is apparently a load of BS, so who cares what weinstein does. Too bad about Knotts and Mcgavin though, 2 great actors. Lately I’ve been noticing something though: these things usually come in 2s, then someone forced a 3rd in a week or two later. But mainly, they come in 2s.
Most every review sounds the same: Plot summary with no context, headline that gives away the review, content warning at the end to please the pro-censorship crowd.
After all, didn’t the Liberal Media pour on the hype for “King Kong” and acted clueless when it came up short?
The “liberal media”? i wasn’t aware king kong was political. I’m sure Fox was just as much in the game as the rest.