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
Friendly correction: You omitted Crank.
It’s there.. just up on the top line. That’s a weak #1…averaged about $1200 yesterday… theatres must have been DEAD yesterday.
Any word on why Fox just unceremoniously dumped IDIOCRACY? You’d think an ad mentioning OFFICE SPACE would have generated 5-6 million.
Possibly because it sucks.
The die was cast on IDIOCRACY a long time ago, when Fox Marketing decided they weren’t up to the challenge of selling Mike Judge’s follow-up to OFFICE SPACE. It’s not the most accessible movie in the world, but it’s far from uncommercial.
This is pure speculation, but I have a feeling that Fox Marketing didn’t appreciate being shown up by OFFICE SPACE’s resounding success in every revenue window after theatrical, and decided to take out their displeasure on a movie that clearly needed some more work before it was ready for release. They’re more than petty enough to pull a stunt like that.
No, it doesn’t suck. It’s just really really raw. And the overall relevancy of the film (more distrubing I’d say than the Al Gore film) tends to outweigh its big lack of focus. Terry Crews (the dad on Everybody Hates Chris) as a pro-wrestler turned American president could be Judge’s funniest creation yet. His grandiose speech to “The House of Representin'” is a classic sendup of George Bush hyperbole.
If Fox were smart, they’d let this mini-release cool, cut a new trailer (yes, boasting “his first movie since Office Space”) and push wide. It shouldn’t be too difficult seeing how only die hard Judge fans are aware of the current release.
Variety hits the nail on the head:
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117931441?categoryid=31&cs=1
Glad The Illusionist is doing okay (relatively speaking). It’s a wonderful adult film with a great Norton lead performance.
As for Idiocracy…
Well Office Space had a huge impact on my life and inspired me to get out of a job I hated and pull my own Peter Gibbons. It is never far from my TV.
But let’s not deify Judge just yet. His work in general is wildly hit and miss and Idiocracy looks bad. I have to second guess any director that still thinks Luke Wilson can carry a movie. I’m sure he’s a nice guy but movie star lead he is not.
I think the problem is that Office Space is the kind of movie that’s easy to find an audience since so many people have to work ridiculous jobs and can relate to it (probably why NBC’s The Office is so popular, too… I’ve had an office job exactly once in my life and it was almost EXACTLY like the show)…. Idiocracy has a pretty off-putting premise and it sounds like it could be a disaster. I’ll definitely rent it and watch it on DVD (since they were nice enough to not show it in NYC)… but I think the fact that it got a theatrical release at all is something.
“I have to second guess any director that still thinks Luke Wilson can carry a movie. I’m sure he’s a nice guy but movie star lead he is not.”
Not yet maybe, but he could be. Has anyone seen the extras on The Family Stone DVD? There’s a Q&A with the cast and a live audience on there. While Danes, Mulroney and Mcadams say nothing of note and display no charisma at all, Wilson just completely rocks the room during the session – it’s a shame that so few movies (maybe the Family Stone is the only one)have managed to capture the sly-dog charisma he displays there. I love Old School, but it’s the Ferrell and Vince show really, i get the impression that Wilson has just been unlucky in some of the movies he’s been in.
beerfest? idlewild?
i wonder how bad the plummet was.
Crank was quite possibly the worst film I’ve seen this year, and I saw Lucky Number Slevin, for God’s sake. A shame, since the basic “can’t slow down” premise wasn’t a bad one, Statham can be charismatic, and Smart charming, but nothing works here.
As for why the low numbers, the SERIOUSLY nasty weather in the Northeast is probably affecting box office.
bad weather tends to be good for the video stores, bad for the theaters.
I find it slightly ironic that the idiots at Fox Marketing couldn’t market a movie about idiots. Surely there was SOMETHING in there to market.