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
After Failure to Launch and How to Lose a Guy, Matthew McConoughey better start lining up all the B-list actresses he can so he can prolong his career another 5 years.
I’m not sure why so many were predicting “Failure” to be a flop. Consider that there hasn’t been a romantic comedy since the holidays. Factor in McConoughey’s appeal and you have the recipe for a decent hit. Sure, it looks like an awful movie, but that hasn’t stopped other rom coms from doing well at the box office.
It was so predicted because tracking was in the toilet, which is why the campaign changed so drastically.
Actually, Failure to Launch was tracking better than Shaggy Dog and Hills Have Eyes for at least two to three weeks before opening.. but I think the new ad campaign made the difference between a $15 million opening and a close to $24 million one. I thought the market was in desperate need of a strong rom-com… my sister who never goes to the movies was telling me how she wanted to see this weeks ago not realizing that it didn’t open until this past Friday.
Is there a place where one can gain access to the great and powerful “Tracking” or is it something you have to, like, pay money for?
Can you imagine what might have happened if they had clicked into a better campaign earlier and released this at Valentine’s Day?
Let’s not forget that other B-grade actress that has co-starred with Matthew lately. PENELOPE CRUZ! You know… the one that can’t speak english.
The Hills Have Eyes’ lower gross is a bit disappointing. Why THIS one that didn’t go gangbusters? God, I don’t understand the people that go see these movies. SO finicky.
Paramount ran ads on sport radio stations featuring Terry Bradshaw. GENIUS. How many times have guys ever gotten their ladies to go see a rom-com? GENIUS. Somebody in the marketing department just earned a Caribbean vacation.
Saw Beowulf & Grendel up here in Canadaland. It’s pretty good in many ways–scenery, violence, most of the acting, decent storyline–but man, does Sarah Polley drag the whole thing down. đ Everyone sounds very “epic” and “legendary” with their Norse accents (and odd Scottish/Irish thrown in), but the Canuck accent just stands out…eek.
Iceland does look like an amazing place to visit, though.
You know men went to see “Failure to Launch” when word got out that Terry Bradshaw bared his arse.
I’m jealous… been dying to see Beowulf & Grendel and no idea when it might open here. I love Iceland!
Wait, weren’t they making a huge Beowulf movie that was set to be a huge blockbuster? Why are they releasing it in limited Canadian release? Or is this another one of those two-at-once situations?
You’re thinking of the Robert Zemeckis Beowulf movie, made in the same style as The Polar Express, due out next year.
yeah…there’s no CGI in this one, that’s for sure. The monster is just some huge guy in heavy make-up. It’s not too bad, though, because the guy is very very large–and it makes the story somewhat closer to the realms of believability. The best special effect is Iceland, though. It fits the story so well, it’s on par with the New Zealand landscapes in LOTR. But I still don’t recommend the movie too highly.
I’m still so confused as to why they would make a Beowulf and Grendel movie and release it in limited release in Canada? It’s such a big tale, why did it only get a version like this? I thought the Sarah Polley version was meant to be BIG. Strange.