May 6, 2024
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Review: Little Women (no spoilers)
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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
I think you’re high.
horrible music in the background Dave
of course you see more people you know in Toronto, no one uses their calves in LA, everyone is in a frickin car 24/7 on the handsfree.
That’s all the Toronto gossip you wanna share? SHEEP got the only heat?
I’m still on the fence at you bitching about Scriptland – on one hand it reinforces what I detest about the new school of spoilerisation of young net nerds with small cocks and big hard drives… but it also smacks of a slightly holier than thou attitude that I’m not sure you totally deserve. You’re whole career is based on talking about and talking about and talking about upcoming movies… you’re part of the machine and you must take some responsibilty for this new age. You can’t have it both ways. You’re no where near the worst offender by any means but you’re no angel either.
I would have liked to hear your impressions of the films you saw instead of complaints… but I agree about Scriptland… I don’t give a damn about what some wet behind the ears idiot thinks about scripts prior to production. Everything changes during the filming…. and spoilers just prejudge without conscience or seeing the thing take on life.
I have a mind. I use it.
It’s kind of hard to do a movie rundown on this kind of thing… everything becomes black and white… should have a TIFF wrap up story tomorrow…
I’m still a little peeved you haven’t brought up Out of the Blue and likely didn’t see it. I can’t deny that Toronto was a major bore this year, but there were a few highlights, some which have distribs and others that don’t. My picks:
Severance – A real surprise and a good Shaun of the Dead-esque movie, which Black Sheep wasn’t, despite what you say
Shortbus – Sexy, dirty and best of all, honest. I just enjoyed a film that dabbled in smut that kind of felt magical.
Fido – Another surprise that is a little heav-handed in its nod to a Leave It to Beaver-type world, but it’s still charming and fun.
The Host – Overlong, but intense. My friend and I compared the monster to Aliens crossed with Cirque de Soleil. If that isn’t reason enough to see it…
The Lives of Others – Finally, a film for adults with some really meaty characters.
Out of the Blue – A dramatic reenactment of a killer’s spree in a small New Zealand town brings a huge amount of suspense to the screen just by using sound (or lack thereof). Fairly arty, so it’d never be a breakout hit, but there’s something unique here that will grab some viewers and hold them tight until the end.
Lake of Fire – I knew I was getting into something heavy here, but I didn’t realize it would be three hours! A very thorough examination of the abortion debate that, with this cut, includes a few interviews too many. But it’s a real journey that never gets dry and actually makes you question what you believe, rather than just reaffirming one side of the debate.
Those are my picks…
Why does the success or failure of a film festival (especially one that is so much ‘for the people’ as Toronto is) need to be solely defined in terms of how many films sold and for what price?
How does the fact that most good films already had distribution have anything to do with whether or not the films were any good?
To me, this was a very strong year, it just so happened that most of the best films were not hidden gems…
My favorites:
1)The Fountain – LOVED it. Much of my friends hated it. I suspect this will be the subject of much discussion later this year.
2)Mon Meilleur Ami – At this point, Patrice LeConte is pretty much the reigning king of comedic duo films – I would love to see what he could do with a Hollywood film (hell, even a Rush Hour 4 or something like that!)
3)Stranger than Fiction – This film got a *huge* response in the Elgin, its really a lot of fun.
4)Babel, Borat, Black Book (verhoeven’s latest), Rescue Dawn (herzog’s latest), on and on and on. I only really saw 3 bad films this year!