Mary Poppins doesn’t show up in Mary Poppins until 24 minutes into the film?
Could that happen today without complaints… from critics? (See: Kong)
And where would these kitchen sink dramtists – literally making 90% of their short at the kitchen sink – be without the internet? And do we have Parker & Stone to blame for thinking that they might be the next Parker & Stone?
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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
Twenty-four minutes is a far cry from a full hour.
In the original ’33 movie, I believe Kong doesn’t show up until the 47 minute mark.
True, but Cooper and Schoedsack had the advantage of being first. (Also, I think I’m being generous to the Jackson film by saying a full hour. Doesn’t Kong show up even later?)
Parker and Stone have really reenergized lately. Just tearing into everything relevant with a comedic focus I haven’t seen since Chris Rock’s “Bigger Blacker” show in ’99. Even Letterman noticed it… he finally had them on as guests a few weeks back.
Must be their Rubber Soul phase.
It’s like one hour, ten minutes.
Parker and Stone were on Charlie Rose. they seem to have really matured the last few years. They discussed the Teri Schaivo episode quite a lot.
I still think the show is hit or miss, but they hit some things out of the park.
T-Rex appearing in Jurassic Park was a landmark even though you have wait a long time to see him. Not like that was a great character film, but it had Spielberg’s sense of anticipation (by the same token, you don’t see the aliens in Close Encounters or the shark in Jaws until the very end). Kong showing up was like…finally he’s here, probably because so much of the film felt like filler. It’s all about the frame.
Re: King Kong, the problem isn’t that it took a long time for Kong to show up. The problem was that Jackson filled that time with a lot of inconsequential stuff that didn’t add anything.
Well, i dunno, Darth Vader didn’t show up until the last five minutes of the last Star Wars prequel, but when that shot of the mask being lowered onto his charred face happened, it almost made all the hours of Anakin/Padme claptrap and Jar-Jar antics worthwhile. If the payoff is good enough no-one will mind the build-up.
the problem with Kong wasnt just the fact that Kong didnt show up for an hour and 10 minutes.
the first hour was too long and pointless. the second hour was a cartoon with really poor humna/fx integration. Mind you, the V Rex fight was awesomem, but everything else was ridiculous. there was a character there, other than Anne, that you cared whether they lived or died.
the third hour was a great combination of drama and technical proficiency, but you had to suffer through two shitty hours to get to it.
Kong and Munich were the most overrated films of the year.
Why drag Munich into this? If you’re gonna go there I have to counter with The Constant Gardener.
the wierd thing about Kong was the gap between critics and audiences. Nearly every review I read was a rave, and I maybe spoke to a couple of us citizens who liked it THAT much.
And I agree with you Dr. Wally. That shot of that mask coming down on Anakin is haunting. Of course that infamous, “NO!!” one minute later brought me back to reality.
I’d go with Syriana and Crash as most-overrated.
(Them and Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush!)
The discussion is kinda drifting here. I think it is silly to check the amount of time before a character enters a film. If you’re bored, you’re bored and that’s it! There were moments when I was bored before Kong arrives, but some scenes after he came bored me too.
We can criticize Jackson for the stuff we didn’t like but what we cannot do is give him some rules to follow.
I think it is a little silly also… but I turned on the film for a friend’s little girl right after she watched Shrek 2 and I could see her squirming as the film slowly developed. I ended up fast-forwarding to the Mary fly-in… 24 minutes. She calmed down and got into it once Mary arrived.
You know, for a second there, I tought you showed her King Kong…
Which character is Mary in King Kong? Adrian Brody?
Oh, and Mary Poppins shows up right at the beginning, during the credits. Powdering her nose and sheeite.
The beginning of Mary Poppins is indeed very slow. The mother sings about woman sufferage, the father sings a dreary song about being a British gentleman. I bet kids were squirming even back in 1964. Only difference is that they couldn’t fast forward back then.
In today’s world, the screenwriters would have dropped the suffrage subplot and made the father the lead. It would also star Robin Williams and he would learn how to be a good dad for the 14838th time.
If you want to talk about slow — or, more specifically, what seems slow to contemporary audiences — when my son was a bit younger, he thought “GoldenEye” was terrific, so I decided to introduce him to some of the earlier James Bond movies. I rented “You Only Live Twice” (thinking the sci-fi spectacle would entrance him), and popped it into the VCR. After about 15 minutes, he fell asleep. After about 25 minutes, I fell asleep. Go figure.
How long is it before Luke Skywalker shows up in ‘Star Wars’? It must be around 15, maybe 20 minutes.
I agree re: Kong. The problem wasn’t that he didn’t show up for an hour; it was what happened in that hour. Not that the two hours after he turns up are all that great, either.
24 minutes not as bad as MI:2. An action film, without any action, for over an HOUR. It’s a testament to Tom Cruise’s star power, that another MI movie can be made. After the second film hardly placed in the ACTION category. But yes, people get a bit agitated, by having to wait for titular characters to arrive on screen. King Kong still sold plenty of DVDs facing this very problem. Even though the “DAMN IT, JIMMY”, guaranteed I would never own that film. Because you have to sit through JIMMY before you get to see KONG!
I appreciated the original MI’s restraint compared to it’s bombastic sequel. blech.
The thing with Jurassic Park v King Kong is that when T-Rex showed up it was a MOMENT, ya know. Nobody knew that it would be so well done and such (plus, we got treated to other dinosaurs before T-Rex showed up). But with Kong we had seen him in the trailers and posters and images and everything. If Jackson was so desperate to make the reveal of Kong a big moment then he should’ve eliminated him from the advertising.
See, that’s weird. I really like MI:2, at least until the overlong action sequence at the end. The tension between the three main characters — and a villian who was something more than a mustache-twirler — made it more interesting to me than most action movies. Yes, the plot was a total ripoff of Notorious, but hey, at least they stole from something good.
Plus, flamenco dancing is cool 🙂
I remember screening Ray Harryhausen’s 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH several years ago for a number of Sony “creative” executives (all under 30) who were considering a remake. After about 25 minutes, they all got up and started walking out.
Me: “Where are you going?”
Them: “We’re bored. Where’s the monster?”
Me: “He’s coming. You gotta be patient.”
Them: “We don’t wanna wait. Good-bye.”
And they left. This is exactly why movies stink so much today–people with no attention spans making movies for people with no attention spans.
Mr. Leydon,
You fell asleep during You Only Live Twice????
Say it ain’t so, Joe!!!!
‘Fraid it’s true, Wolfgang.
BTW: Remember how long it takes for “Psycho” to intro the first act of violence in the film: 40+ minutes! Of course, that’s what made the original movie so shocking — up until the shower scene, it seems like a completely different movie, a thriller about a woman who has embezzled money to be with her lover. Then Marion Crane turns on the shower, and…
That’s a bit different though. King Kong’s main reason to be is Kong himself. We’d seen him in the trailers and ads and posters yet for some reason they thought we cared about the shifty sailor or the young impressionable deckhand.
These days with “Psycho” everyone knows what happens and it’s fascinating to watch it develop. Kong is an action adventure. There was no reason why it should take over and hour to see him. And again, after the shower scene in “Psycho” everything goes pretty quickly and moves along normally. Kong just continues on it’s laid back way.
(can you tell i’m bitter about Kong)