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
That damned TypePad blog was above this one on Google for months.
I rarely see writers engage their readers like you do Mr. Poland, and it honestly makes this corner of the web more interesting than quite a few professional movie sites… Combined.
You can tell how many comments people make here? How much do I have to pay you not to share that information with my editor? đ
I’m having a good time looking back at some of the old posts. Shouts to my old school homies.
By the by, I notice on the old site that it took David four whole days of having a blog before he starting criticizing the New York Times.
It’s usually at least that long between really screwed up stories…
NYT defines the dialogue for a lot of the world. It’s no small responsibility.
Who has the most comments?
My guess would be Jeff.
It’s a pleasure being here. Keep up the good Poland.
A lot of astute, acerbic writers here, kudos to you all.
The highlight for me would be the whole BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, CRASH, MUNICH brouhaha a few months ago. Rarely have I had that much fun on a blog. And most recently Sthe gravy on SUPERMAN IN LOVE.
Man oh man Sheik. I still have nightmares about the Brokeback talk.
I’ve been here since the beginning, but I don’t remember the August 19 post that DP mentioned above. Anybody? Was that the “Chester” era?
I actually suspect that our friend who posted under all the multiple identities (up to 20 at one point) is in fact the most frequent commenteer.
I’m sure Joe Leydon can fill you in on the “August 19 Incident.”
Wow, I can’t believe it’s almost 2 years shooting the shit.
I see my old handle on that first post. Goodtimes. Definitely one of the most interesting discussion blogs to visit in my books.
Hm. Maybe I don’t want to pick on any old scabs.
Anyways, I’ll share in the sentiment. I read a few message boards, but this is the only one in which I enjoy participating. Many thanks, of course, to David for keeping it running.
Hmmm. . . and which anniversary will this be? I’m guessing — Tinsel!
40,000? Well, 10,000 of those comments are about Brokeback Mountain so you need to thank that film too, you unsexy beast!
Half of those are from you, Waterbucket. = )
I guess he’d also need to thank the troll. Any word on if what Jeff says is true, Mr. Poland?
J-Mc is #1 by far, with over 3000 comments.
As far as I can tell, I’m #2 with less than half than number.
Not exactly on topic, but Poland is getting airplay in the Vice ads. Watch the tv spots on Miamivice.com.
But like I said, you’d have to compile multiple names, some of which have been lost to the sands of time, for Hicksville.
Thanks for hosting, DP.
Martin – I just noticed the Poland/Vice spot tonight, also. The feature quote in the spot on top of that, to boot.
Poland Vice – now there’s a movie! Insert submarine and screen door joke here.
They use his quote on radio, too, but don’t mention his name.
BTW, everyone has seen David’s quote at the beginning of the Miami Vice ads, right?
(I gotta stop skipping around the posts before responding… I missed Martin’s comment bringing up that very subject. I wish we could edit our own comments.)
that’s impressive no matter who the person. way to go poland.