Boy Is It Quiet Out There
There is a lot of gossip floating around, but bottom line… we are in the pre-summer lull in a big way.
Anyone awake out there?
(Return Of The Blair Witch? The Leprchaun in Mobile, AL)
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” — 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
No.
Remember DP’s “mystery bad movie” from a few months back? Well I may have just witnessed it tonight at The Grove…
Darren Aronofsky’s “The Fountain.”
Funny, Crow… I walked past that line into Crate & Barrel earlier tonight…
Can we get a confirm or deny?
I would be very unhappy if that turns out to be it…The Fountain is on my most-anticipated list for this year.
Wow, so they’re testing the Fountain for civilians already? I highly doubt that’s the movie David was talking about last year, because they wouldn’t have shown it to anyone at the time he was saying that (and I got the impression he was talking about a movie that was expected for Oscar glory last year)
i look forward to Basic Instinct 2 being release because i’m getting tired of seeing sharon stone stories all over the place. Once the movie bombs, she’ll disappear hopefully.
The high profile releases this weekend are a kid’s movie (which will rock the box office, but likely nobody here), “The ATL,” “Slither” and “Basic Instinct 2.”
Yes, that is quite definitely a lull.
Aintitcool posted two review of The Fountain today and both are raves. Take that for what it’s worth.
Still more excited about TV at the moment… even if I have to wait for October for more Battlestar Galactica.
(& I still think MCN needs a TV blogger 🙂
I read two scripts this week. Both are movies coming out this fall. One was solid, the other was fantastic. Probably the best script I’ve ever read (Given that I’ve only read about a dozen in my life). So that always brightens my mood.
The only other spring release that I’m curious about is “United 93.” Everything else looks like a rental. My friends can’t wait for Slither, but I think I’ll pass.
I didn’t get into the film (literally three people away until the cut the line)… we were so close, in fact, they comped us tix to “Thank You For Smoking” (a film that ended up being a lot warmer than I expected). When we got out of that one so were the Fountain people… we excitedly talked up a bunch in attandance for a good while after — the feedback was a mixture of:
– Those who hated it passionately. (You know, the people who don’t know who Aronofski is)
– Those who didn’t get it, too afraid of forming a real opinion, just kind of casually mentioning its weird Malick, Kubrick attributes.
– Aronofsky fans who had to convince the others that there was stuff in there worth pondering.
The bottom line, of these three groups, NONE were jumping around in exctasy last night. The one certainty is that the movie has zero commercial potential.
(Poland, I was standing in line by the Crate & Barrel for 40 minutes at least… Hilarious!)
Hopskotch, don’t leave us hanging. Which scripts?
It seems like Dave Poland has had his face up in public for long enough that he should occasionally get recognized? Yes/no?
Children of Men, comes out in Sept. Just brilliant. Doesn’t reinvent the wheel. But for those like me dying for a good sci-fi movie, this looks like a winner.
Oh good! I love Cuaron, and it’s got a great cast.
Kimberley Peirce was attached to direct that for a while, too. Why can’t she get a project off the ground? I know she’s prepping “Stop-Loss,” but I’m not holding my breath.
“ATL” and “Slither” will do nice business in their respective niches, and “Slither” may turn out to be a surprising critical fave as well–it looks like it has a sense of humor, no pretention, and a cast of decently talented folk.
I’m not so sure about “Slither”. It has a sort of “Been there, done that” kind of feel. I do think ATL will do good, and I think Inside Man will hold up well. Everyone I’ve spoken to has loved it.
Can’t wait for Children of Men….please please be good. Clive Owen is a drip, but I guess he was okay in SIn City. Cast looks great otherwise.
Might be quiet on the movie front…but it aint quiet on the real life front. Was in the Albertons, humming along to one of those old 1970s ballads by Bread (my parents loooooved them) next thing I know an armed robbery. No one even looked…still humming…then the gunmen went away.
but y’all don;t worry, I got my buy-one get-one-free Godiva ice cream.
Interesting that so many people think ATL will do decent business. My thought, after seeing the trailer several times, was that the marketing was awful — I had only the vaguest idea of what it’s about. After some more commercials, it looks sort of like they’re trying to make a movie about roller-disco (or roller-derby? roller-something? I’m not sure) look like a hood movie… or vice versa… I can’t really tell. So I was assuming it was going to more or less tank.
Odd that Basic Instinct 2 is only going out in 1400 theaters or so, even as it’s been advertised pretty heavily.
I’ll definitely see Slither, but horror-comedy doesn’t seem to be a good bet for box office in general unless it’s either all-out spoof, or slasher-plus-jokes. I like the cast, though: Nathan Fillion and Elizabeth Banks (who was funny in both THE BAXTER and 40YO VIRGIN)… I’ll check it out, but only after BRICK on Friday night.
So I guess it’s left to ICE AGE 2 to make a bunch of easy family cash. I kinda think BENCHWARMERS will do pretty well next weekend.
“Benchwarmers” will do extremely well, because “juvenile comedy” is an underserved market right now. I’m not exactly sure who “Lucky Number Slevin” and “Take The Lead” are aiming for, though.
The 21st is the next interesting weekend, with “American Dreamz,” “The Sentinel,” “Silent Hill,” and “Stick It” looking for decent openings.
“Take the Lead” is aiming for women who think Antonio Banderes is hot. Just like “Failure to Launch” was aimed at women who think Matthew Maconaughey is hot. If “Shall We Dance” can do good business with Richard Gere as the leading man…
I’ve never heard of this “The ATL” whatever that is. And “Slither” is indeed horror comedy and they rarely do well, as someone else said.
Lota, see “Croupier” and “Closer” for the best Clive Owen perfs.
On the matter of “The Fountain” I can already tell it will join movies like “Blade Runner” and “Dark City” as misunderstood in it’s time movies but appreciated as brilliance in the future. But Darron Aronofski hasn’t disappointed me yet and I loves me some Hugh Jackman, so I hold HUGE amounts of hope (which will possibly be the movies downfall)
btw, how odd is it that this Michael Caton-Jones guy has two movies opening on Friday. “Shooting Dogs” (about the Rwandan genocide) and “Basic Instinct 2 (about Sharon Stone’s breasts)
“ATL” (no “the”) is hiphopsploitation with a Dirty South mix.
That “kid’s movie” is “Ice Age: The Meltdown”, a sequel without the “2” in the title.
“Thank You for Smoking”? Will see it, waiting till it goes semi-wide next week.
Actually, Take the Lead is being marketed to young urban audiences. The commercials feature approximately .5 milliseconds of Antonio Banderas.