April 16, 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” ā 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 ā 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 ā he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” ā and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging ā I was with her at that moment ā 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 namedā” “Yeah, sure ā 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 Iām on the phone with you now, after all thatās 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 didnāt seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. Thereās not a case of that. He wasnāt using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had ā if that were what the accusation involved ā 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. Iām not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, āYou know, itās not this, itās thatā? Because ā let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. TimesĀ piece, thatās what it lacked. Thatās 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 dig the Leone close-up.
Anyway, I think you’re off base to say people are merely looking for a reason to tear “Dreamgirls” apart. Some people have honestly been left cold by the film.
I’m sure some have. But not a lot. And do you really think there isn’t a group looking to rip into a frontrunner?
How was the concert?
I think there is always a group that is looking to rip into a frontrunner. I just don’t see evidence supporting anything beyond honest opinion being dealt about by a couple of people with seemingly legitimate concerns.
The concert was quick. The performer was terribly sick and left after two or three songs. But hey, that simply meant back to the homestead with the lady friend a bit earlier than anticipated.
Great line about “Eragon.” That has disaster written all over it.
I thought Eragon was the Dungeons and Dragons sequel they threatened to make even after the original flopped majorly.
Kris, there are people on this very blog who just wanna tear Dreamgirls apart (because, essentially, it’s a musical and it’s not directed by Martin Scorsese and people can’t deal with the fact that certain movies attract attention more than others. boo hoo) let alone out in the big wide world (hehe) of film critics.
::drops a quarter in David’s glass:: (a bit of New York nostalgia for ya )
Good rant… I do think this Bond film will do better than the previous one, because it will have great WOM and people will go see it again. Should end up doing better than the last one in total even if it doesn’t beat it opening weekend.
Still haven’t seen Dreamgirls myself š
Wow, I friggin’ hate the iKlips site you’re using… it keeps stopping abruptly while streaming the next portion. At least with YouTube, I can pause the vid and wait for the entire thing to download. Is there an equivalent to that in this thing?
Hey David:
They always say the camera adds 50 lbs. š
Personally I can’t wait for umm…hmm..that’s a tough one…
Kris is right – people don’t want to rip into this movie; sure, there are some who are always opposed to a frontrunner but a worse problem for any film is that idea of living up to people’s ever-growing expectations. By calling it the frontrunner and declaring Jennifer Hudson the winner “in any category she chooses to run in” sets up those high expectations. The Queen and The Departed both had the opportunity to screen and open to unsuspecting eyes; neither was considered a Big Oscar Movie. Dreamgirls was cursed early on with that tag – so it’s a good thing they’re getting it out there now for people to see. If people are looking to tear it down perhaps that’s because people insist on building it up. That’s human nature. It hasn’t even hit theaters yet – so this debate shouldn’t even be happening; people should be allowed to discover the film on their own. My op.
p.s. “cursed” is the wrong word – anointed is perhaps a better word, and through no fault of their own, btw. What I won’t be able to deal with is how many will step forward to claim “I told you so” when/if the movie sails through awards season – like Kris pointed out on his site, Roger Friedman is going around saying he was the first to declare Dreamgirls the frontrunner – what hookah pipe is he smoking?
sorry for the delayed evaluation- I was ready after I saw it on IKLIPZ yesterday but, sadly, you weren’t.
My report:
Did you just bark at Eragon? I mean what the hell was that?
If you are gonna get the endgame you need to shave.for close-ups like that.
I was surprised Thurs night that you managed to avoid a throw down with Wells. At least you brought a date no one went with him. He had to sit with Anne.
Japanese people committing suicide made me laugh though. You middle name should be Kvetch that
Aw come on, JWEGo, get a life. That’s just mean. Who wouldn’t want to sit with Anne? She’s the greatest.
I wasn’t insulting Anne, Bianimalist. I was insulting Wells. He has no one to go with to the screening because of his Ego no one likes him. I heard him appraoch a group of people and say “ah a friendly welcome” as if he had been kicked like a rented mule all night. And he should be. He’s a douche.
Anne is an angel. Learn to read better, animalist.
I am his EGO!
If you think he’s a douche why do you shadow his every move?
And the way you phrased it, “he had to sit next to Anne,” like that’s the worst thing in the world.
Seriously, man, you need to free yourself from your obsession. You’ll be much happier in life. I personally chafe when anyone calls out someone as being the person “no one likes.” It’s a bit too Lord of the Flies for my tastes.
I am his Ego. I should know. NO ONE LIKES HIM. He doesn’t like himself.
I see where you misread my English sentence. I suppose if I realized you needed spoon feeding I would have said “Jeff couldn’t find a sole to be his plus one so rather than sit by himself and cry like a young girl he convinced Anne to let him sit with her.” But I didn’t so screw you.
I am after all Jeff Wells’ Ego and I am above you.
I feel really stupid for only realizing yesterday that “Eragon” is “Dragon” with the first letter changed. And I was even working in a bookstore when the novel came out. I’m going to chalk it up to having to sit through the trailer in a theatre and seeing those big letters after totally ignoring it for months.
It does raise an interesting question, though: if the film miraculously makes money, would the sequel be called Fragon?
Anne obviously likes Wells or she wouldn’t link to him constantly on her Risky blog. You don’t scare me, JWEgo.
I’m not sure what’s going on here btwn bip and ego, but did Kris say he got laid? The still is nice, but the lens did fish face – bow you forward. Personally liked the camera work very much last week. Content was juicy and informative. Instead of soldiers killing themselves in a cave, you could be gearing up to see Mel on Thanksgiving. Just saying I saw it mentioned on a fan site, that there will be something in the middle of Babara Walter’s special.
Funny that it took you so many months to notice that, Spam. It just took me 10 minutes trying to figure out how to fix it, as I didn’t build the page.
And BiPed – Much as I am smirkingly tempted to put the invention of Oscar blogging in a similar category with claiming falsely to be first on Dreamgirls – and notice how no one seems to be shitting on David Carr for going absolutely over-the-top batshit on the film, apparently unaware that he was in a loaded house – you are right in principle.
But you are incorrect that The Queen was not being positioned long before it hit Toronto. And the discussion on The Departed’s Oscar position was endless during the summer… followed by disappointment that it wouldn’t be an Oscar movie, including Marty not campaigning… followed by a terrific movie… followed by and preceded by a lot of alleged Oscar movies of size crashing and burning. If All The Kings Men and Flags were clear nominees, Departed would be question mark. But they aren’t so it is.
Anne is a very kind, indulgent person who keeps just enough distance not to feel victimized. Jeff has plenty of friends who will accompany him places no matter how much of an ass he is or is to those same people.
My issue with Jeff is not him being as asshole. My problem is that he is a destructive, dangerously myopic, hateful force and he is indulged only out of fear. He feels teh world is out to destroy him, so he revels in being the cancer he has become.
When I find myself apologizing for a friendship or – worse – participating in the rage of others toward a friend, I am clearly no longer a friend. And so I stopped dealing with Jeff, since it is impossible to defend his behavior, which is far worse in private/business private. And honestly, indulging is darker side for so long was making me very angry and disappointed in myself.
More and more, the industry is no longer willing to deal with Jeff, but he is a master weasel. Just yesterday, I heard a story of a very smart person whose work Jeffrey has been tearing at for months, trying to do him a favor with the studio involved. The favor didn’t happen because the studio is beyond their willingness to indulge the overall insanity anymore. But just the willingness of someone – someone very smart and sensitive – who has been under attack by this guy to help him… it speaks to all of our indulgence… even in the face of vicious racism, sexism, and homophobia, only a small touch of which ever reaches his blog.
I would really prefer that we – including me – allow the Jeff issue to live on his turf. I don’t feel that it is right of me to be fully forthcoming or honest about him and it is very awkward to have to dance around it or to write about him or his behaviors at all. I hope this is the last I will write about him for a long while.
P.S. Yes, I know I have no one to blame but myself, as I posted about him this week.
David writes:
“Much as I am smirkingly tempted to put the invention of Oscar blogging in a similar category with claiming falsely to be first on Dreamgirls.”
I never said writing about the Oscars was anything I was ever first on, or even inventing “oscar blogging,” starting a trend is different from being absolute first. An essay here, a column there…sites sprouted up by the hundreds but there was a time when there weren’t any out there. Not websites that updated and reported on breaking awards news. It’s not really something to be proud of, and is stupid ultimately, but you know, I don’t take credit for anything ever. Only a small handful of people were there from the beginning. I was one of them. And a popular one. It’s changed since then but that was how it all started back in 1999, 2000. Similarly, not many, if any internet sites cornered the market on Oscar ads other than the trades until you started doing it.
For the love of Dreamgirls, please shave. If you slob are too lazy to do it, come to the East Coast and I’ll shave you myself.