April 19, 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
Looks amazing. I like Bryan Singer and I can even dig Brett Ratner, but in the end, Sam Raimi owns their asses.
Agreed. Raimi’s just plain a better director.
I don’t think he is a better director than Singer. But I do think he gets comic books much better than either of the other guys.
I think the trailer looks better than either of the first two films… and I still kind of hate that the series is becoming Cliff Notes for the entire history of the books.
I don’t care much for the first two, but this looks promising. The series needs an infusion of darkness, and that seems to be what’s in store. May be too many bad guys, though.
I’d be much more excited for the Batman trailer. That was a great movie, I’m eager for the sequel.
Totally agree about this looking better than the first two movies, but I’m glad that those who know the comic stories can watch this teaser and get some idea what is going on, but those who don’t will certainly be intrigued by what they’re seeing. (I wonder how many non-comic readers actually know the whole symbiote/Venom story.)
More importantly, how many care.
looks great. the first two Spiderman movies, in my opinion, are how comic book movies should be done. Sure, it’s a little bit over the top in places (the Green Goblin was just freaky), but Raimi is able to make really entertaining movies that please both kids and adults alike.
Count me in for multiple viewings.
Is anyone else surprised at how closely Raimi appears to be parallelling the original Superman movies?
Film 1 – Origin.
Film 2 – Hero toys with possibility of living a normal life but ultimately accepts responsibility he’s given.
Film 3 – Hero battles evil self (literally in Supes, internally in Spidey) while toying with possibility of ditching girlfriend for someone else (Lana in Supes, Gwen in this).
In 2 it was ok to chalk it up to a coincidence, but this is getting kind of uncanny.
So who’s doing Richard Pryor? Forman?
Well MarkVH, here’s to hoping Spider-Man 3 is better than Superman 3.
Spidey 2 was great, better than the first (I still liked 1). This one could be the best.
A Cliffnotes version of the comic? What else are they going to do? They’re movies, not a tv series. Or are you saying you’d rather have the comic stories ditched all together?
Wow, that kicks ass! I enjoyed the first two, but don’t care if I see them again…but the dark tone is definitely gonna make me wanna see this at least twice.
You guys are a bunch of dorks. All of you.
Crow if we are all dorks. You are a freak still pining for a long dead tv show, that featured characters spoofing crappy films. Please, dont play.
What is up with folks continually needing a DARK TONE in comic/genre films? The FALL/WINTER produces enough sad and morbidly DARK FILMS, that the Summer should be able to have some light through out it. Venom just being in the film makes it a bit darker. However, the ending of this film, will pretty much negate all of the EERIE DARKNESS. If you need DARKNESS that bad. Go listen to the DARKNESS in a DARK closet at night. That should sort your DARK cravings out.
With the trailer, Spidey is a classy franchise, but the best comic book director has yet to make a film. I like Ratner, Singer, and Raimi to varying degrees, but comic films can be made much better than they have been up until this point. Maybe Favs can do something DIFFERENT with Iron-Man? That would be a start.
Vince Vaughn as Tony Stark. Coming May, 2008.
Personally, I like the first two X-Men movies a whole lot more than the first two Spider-Man movies. I found the SM movies to be extremely cheesy and boring. Magneto is a much better villain than either Green Goblin or Doc Ock. GG is just ridiculously stupid in the first one. I’ll take Singer over Raimi.
^ Agreed.
TheManWho: who is the best comic book director who has yet to make a film? And oh, don’t get started on MST3K, aka The Best TV Show of the 1990s.
That looks KILLER! Terrific trailer as well…gives just enough to whet your apetite for a movie that’s still a year off. Can’t wait!
Yawn. Maybe if it had Mel Gibson chompin a cigar in frame 4324 I might have started jonesing. Quick someone throw a bucket of ice water on the frothin’ fanboyz.
Okay, goobs, I’ll bite…
TheManWho (shot Liberty Valance?): Regular posters will tell you I’m not a freak. I’m a super freak, dude.
Poland: How is that trailer better than the first two films? It’s only two minutes long. It looks like the other movies — but with The Mummy in it.
Aladdin: Why would a darker movie be a better movie again? Are you like Dark Man?
Stella and Black: Spider-Man 2 is the only perfectly realized comic book movie EVER made. All two hours and seven minutes of it. The directing and acting is all fine, but the writing — by a guy in his mid-70s! — is really what cracked it.
Jeffmcm: Best MST3K line: “Jean Claude Vam Damme? He’s more like Jean Claude Gosh Darn!”
Spider-Man 3 trailer: Hey, was that Scarelett Johansson I saw on the dance floor there?
Natalie Portman: What do you mean you WEREN’T ON THE PILL LAST NIGHT?
Guess we saw different versions of Spider-Man 2 Crow. The one I saw was mediocre at best.
Or as the fanPEOPLE like calling themselves these days; “MONEY IN THE BANK!” Why they call themselves that remains a mystery. It must be receipts or some such.
Jeff, yes, I was being silly, and MST3K remains quality show incarnate. Even if it’s DVDs are some of the biggest rip-offs in all of the DVD boxset industry. That aside, comic book films, continue to follow the same template. They all feature the ORCHESTRATED score, the FX money shots, the all important CHARACTER ONE SHOT, and so on and so forth. There has to be a different way to make a comic book film. As of now, we are still stuck with a template that Donner established for these films 28 years ago.
Stella, you’re the outlier here, as the movie’s 93% fresh on Rottentomatoes indicates (sorry to rely on them but they make it too easy).
You want an unorchestrated score? What is a “character one shot”? The reason they all look the same is because they’re expensive, valuable properties owned by conglomerates who want summer tent-pole movies.
Crow,
I might just be. Actually I’m a pretty balanced person, but I tend to like darker stories. It may seem like a pretty big contradiction, since my faith of choice would be Christianity, but I think a lot of truth is found in stories about people going through dark times. I think we are defined, more often than not, by what we say and do in the valleys of our lives. Of course, what we do when life is dandy also defines us. It’s give and take really.
Out of various film series, the sequels are usually darker when they are the better film…when they go for lighter tones, they somehow are not so fulfilling.
But with that being said, I love lighter mood stuff…Jerry Maguire & Singin’ in the Rain pop to my mind. I wouldn’t be ashamed in calling them two of my favourite films, and they’re not exactly what you’d call dark. Anyhow, I didn’t say it equaled a better movie if it were dark. I just said I would want to see it more than once – implying that there’d be more to get out of it emotionally, because of the conflicts set up etc in the first two films…that’s just my take on it. It could end up being the crappiest film ever, and my point (such as it is) will be rendered mute.
“Had I not been subject to darkness, I could not have seen the light.” – Midrash
(…or maybe, I just wanna see some dark Venom shit happening, cos it’d be, like, so cool. lolz. Crow,
I might just be. Actually I’m a pretty balanced person, but I tend to like darker stories. It may seem like a pretty big contradiction, since my faith of choice would be Christianity, but I think a lot of truth is found in stories about people going through dark times. I think we are defined, more often than not, by what we say and do in the valleys of our lives. Of course, what we do when life is dandy also defines us. It’s give and take really.
Out of various film series, the sequels are usually darker when they are the better film…when they go for lighter tones, they somehow are not so fulfilling.
But with that being said, I love lighter mood stuff…Jerry Maguire & Singin’ in the Rain pop to my mind. I wouldn’t be ashamed in calling them two of my favourite films, and they’re not exactly what you’d call dark. Anyhow, I didn’t say it equaled a better movie if it were dark. I just said I would want to see it more than once – implying that there’d be more to get out of it emotionally, because of the conflicts set up etc in the first two films…that’s just my take on it. It could end up being the crappiest film ever, and my point (such as it is) will be rendered mute.
“Had I not been subject to darkness, I could not have seen the light.” – Midrash
(…or maybe, I just wanna see some dark Venom shit happening, cos it’d be, like, so cool. lolz. <;D)
Vince Vaughan better not be IRON MAN (and he better not be Racer X) or I will hurt myself. Alot.
Geek alert: What up with SPeed Racer anyway? Are the Wach Brothers Really going to do it? 🙁
Does Dave know?
I do like the new spidey look. Sometimes darkness is good. “Darkness is spreading”.
jeff, do you think that matters to me? It’s hardly the only time I have disagreed with the rottentomatoes consensus. I’m sure you could say the same.
>>>>Vince Vaughn as Tony Stark.
Yes, yessssssss. If you’ve seen THE CELL, you know Vaughn can do drunken trouble man.
Man, that just looked awesome. Probably better than just about any trailer for any film, this summer. If you look at the release schedule, next summer, wow, it just looks jam packed. THIS, Shrek, and the next Pirates sequel are all coming out in the same month. Something’s gotta give. Anybody wanna guess that Dreamworks/Paramount (who are probably now just about as risk averse as any one) are gonna blink?
But back to the trailer, looks very, very cool. Sony’s marketing department has really set the standard with the Spiderman films all the way back to July ’01, when they had the pre-9/11 World Trade Center teaser which was so clever it just about upstaged every sequence in the final version of the first movie. Setting up iconic imagery of the upside-down kiss, Spidery on the flag pole, Doc Ock’s reflection, these guys have just maximized every piece of great imagery from these films. I wonder, has Raimi been cutting these trailers or is it ad guys from Sony. Whomever it is, Warner Bros. really should have hired them for Superman.
Trailer is filled with great images, it looks very promising. Few things make me nervous. I know he was great as James Dean, but James Franco has just given bland delivery to the very on-the-nose dialogue they have given his character. If he’s going to be a bigger part of this story, could be problems.
Also, Topher Grace’s casting makes me a bit nervous, though I have no knowledge of how well he fits for Venom. I like the guy, but if they’re making him a menacing villian, that’s going to be about as silly as any casting from the Schumacher Batman films. If they were looking for some one with the same physical make-up as Tobey Maguire, to go toe-to-toe, that could work.
Thomas Hayden Church could really knock this out of the park. He has always had a pretty menacing quality about him that was never really utilized.
Overall, count me in opening day.
I have a feeling Grace was cast purely for his real-life character (Eddie Brock?) and if he is Venom, he’ll be mostly CGI. Church will be great, although as somebody said, it’s the same effects as in The Mummy…hopefully they hold themselves to a higher standard of quality.
Goulet, I am trying to forget I saw The Cell, as well as forget I saw Vaughan in the remake of Psycho, another miscasting of VV. Vaughan would be all wrong as Iron man–drunkenness is not his only attribute. we need a new Sean Connery style Bond guy.
yes Mr Geoff, Thomas Haden Church does have a menacing quality–I look forward to it.
“Stella and Black: Spider-Man 2 is the only perfectly realized comic book movie EVER made. All two hours and seven minutes of it. The directing and acting is all fine, but the writing — by a guy in his mid-70s! — is really what cracked it.”
You mean the script with all that lame stuff about delivering pizzas, and Doc Oc talking to his costume the same way Green Goblin did in the first one? Sorry, but no sale.
well since this is a blog about the “teaser” I’m going to ignore all the nonsense above and just say it’s a fantastic teaser and is hopefully representative of the tone of the actual film. Great stuff.
How funny. I started off this blog making fun of geeks. And now Blackcloud has somehow roped me into defending a geek movie.
Argh! I’ve been dork-duped!
‘lame stuff about delivering pizzas’?
I’m just amazed. I guess you can’t please all the people all the time.
Hmmmm…I really liked the trailer, but here’s what I can’t figure out: Why would someone who didn’t like either of the first two that much, see this trailer and get excited about it? There’s, what, 45 seconds of footage here? At least the teaser for Spidey 2 with that long scene in the restaurant gave you some sense of what the movie was going to be like.
This movie has the same creative team that did 2, so why get optimistic…didn’t we learn anything from the “darker” Episode 3 version of Star Wars? Sure it was better…but being darker may make it a little better, but when you’ve got the same team, there’s only so much improvement that you’re going to see.
I, for one, thought the first Spidey was OK, but that the second was a great comic book movie. That said, I’m obviously looking forward to the third installment…but not because of this well-crafted teaser (since there’s so little to base any judgements on), but because I trust that the filmmakers can deliver a product that is at least as good as Spidey-2.
The Spiderman movies might not have had the greatest stories in the world, but Raimi was ingenious in finding the absolutely perfect tone for them. A little self-conscious comedy, a dash of slightly sugary but still heartfelt romance, some harrowing bad guys, and some terrific performances that straddle that thin line between ham and Shakespeare absolutely perfectly. . . I have to say, I can’t wait for Spiderman 3, and I think Topher’s going to surprise people.
Spiderman 2 would have been a perfect movie if Raimi hadn’t put the “old lady has a speech that explains the message of the film” scene. That scene was way too long, way too obvious and does not represent the comic books one bit. It still is the best comic book movie after Batman Begins, IMO. As for the first film, I find it quite overrated. The Green Goblin didn’t work, the effects weren’t quite there and the old people couldn’t say anything that wasn’t a life lesson.
This trailer though, kicks major ass!
“straddle that thin line between ham and Shakespeare absolutely perfectly. . .”
And Jeff says he’s amazed at my comment about “lame stuff about delivering pizzas.” Surely comparing Spider-Man to Shakespeare is the truly ludicrous statement.
You know what impressed me the most about this trailer? When I was a kid, I had this oversized comic book of “Spider Man versus the Sinister Six” and Sandman always cracked me up because he wore this goofy striped shirt all the time.
And whattya know? Sandman’s wearing that same striped shirt. It made me feel like I was eight years old again.
Now where’s Craven, Electro and the rest?
Awww. . .did somebody hurt Blackcloud’s feelings? Want me to kiss your boo-boo?
I wasn’t comparing Spiderman to Shakespeare. My point was Raimi found the perfect pitch that’s somewhere between cheesey and Shakespearian. And let’s face it, what are modern society’s epic poems if not the comic book movies? Maybe Homer would have been a better choice. . .
My comment re: the pizza delivery had to do with the fact that that chunk of the film was perfectly in character, entertaining, and fun. If you didn’t like that scene, it makes me think you just don’t like Spider-Man.
“the writing — by a guy in his mid-70s! — is really what cracked it.”
The implication here is that it was great DESPITE his age, not perhaps BECAUSE of it.
The movie theater in which I saw Superman did not have the Spiderman trailer. I was very disappointed not to get to see that on the big screen. After watching Superman, I was way more excited by the Spiderman trailer than with Superman. It was supposed to be attached!
“And let’s face it, what are modern society’s epic poems if not the comic book movies? Maybe Homer would have been a better choice. . .”
That’s even dumber than the Shakespeare comparison. I thought you came to praise Spider-Man, not bury him.
I really wish this film were subtitled “Tobey vs. Topher.”
“Spider-Man 2 is the only perfectly realized comic book movie EVER made. All two hours and seven minutes of it. The directing and acting is all fine, but the writing — by a guy in his mid-70s! — is really what cracked it.”
Definitely. I’d also applaud the use of cinematography and editing. The scene where Doc Ock attacks the doctors performing surgery was masterfully done. And the whole movie just looked like a comic book. And even the much maligned “Go get ’em tiger” felt completely right. I can imagine that appearing in a comic.
>Spider-Man 2 is the only perfectly realized comic book movie EVER made.
The Incredibles was a better-realized comic book movie. That it wasn’t actually a comic book, first, is beside the point.
Spiderman 2 and The Incredibles were probably the two best superhero films ever made.
I dunno, kids…I thought The Incredibles got hit with a big case of “the clevers.” A little too obviously contrived to charm. The Shrek films are even worse about this… getting into a boring, predictable pattern of shtick, throwing in “message” and “heart” as if its part of a recipe.
I know I’m alone on this one… walking through the theater lobbby very calmly — like Donald Sutherland at the end of Invasion of The Body Snatchers — trying to blend in with the smiling fools who love these Happy Meals.
***MAJOR HISTORICAL SPOILER****
sensitive geeks go no further.
Robot, Dude, that wasn’t Sutherland walking CALMly through a pod lined street…he was walking POD-ly. Don;t you remember how he alien-squawked at whats-er-name as the closing scene becasue she thought he was still human and she needed help etc?! I remember ’cause I near jumped out of my jammies.
He weren’t calm son, he WAS one of the smiling fools with a Big Kids Happy Meal (they aren;t just happy meals anymore…they actually have “grades” now).
So by deductive reasoning you are a pod pretending to be a calm human.
I’d say that fits the description of about 73% of Southern California residents.
The Incredibles is far superior to Spider-Man (either one), even with that over-long island battle sequence at the end factored in.
Lota, yer too smart for your own good, babe… I was gonna say “like Veronica Cartwright in Body Snatchers”… but you know, Donald Sutherland is way cooler. Good call.
And yes, that is the scariest moment I’ve ever seen in a movie. My eyes water just thinking about it. From the director of The Right Stuff no less.
well ok Robot, then we’re square.
Just don’t come anywhere near me. I don’t want to be a pod.
[i actually thought the remake was scarier than the original…especially after I saw Sutherland in 1900].
we need more movies that inspire dread like that, except arseholios in Hwood would be all to eager to spoil it in the trailer like they have the fond penchant currently.
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