April 26, 2024
20 Weeks
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David Poland on: 15 Weeks To Oscar: Donāt You Forget About Me
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20 Weeks To Oscar: Rush To Poor Judgment?
12 Weeks To Oscar: The Battle Of Black Swan
15 Weeks To Oscar: Donāt You Forget About Me
26 Weeks To Oscar: The Year Ofā¦ Patience
20 Weeks To Oscar – 16 Days To Go.
20 Weeks To Oscar – 11 Weeks To Go
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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
When are the Oscar nods announced again? Barely a week into official awards season, and I’m tired of it.
Interesting that it could be a Marty vs Clint battle again. Can’t wait to see Letters! Too bad I missed Flags š
I think Catherine O’Hara deserves a place on the charts, at least in the uncommented-upon also-rans.
How is Will Smith’s performance ‘against type’? Because he has a moustache and some gray in his hair? Otherwise it looks like he’s playing the same charming guy he always plays. Is it the crying?
Flags is definitely worth seeing. If Letters does well won’t the studio re-release Flags to capitalize on the double feature?
Ugh, I had a whole thing typed out and then my power cut out.
Anyway. General thoughts:
*I still can’t see Thank You For Smoking getting a nomination. I expect The Painted Veil to be the fifth place getter.
*I’m starting to think that this year could be a lot like 2003 when things just went as unexpected as could be. Best Actress went high wire and movies like City of God managed four nominations.
*What happens if Iwo Jima does as poorly as Flags? I know it cost less, but won’t the stink of Flags still be there?
*When are they gonna realise that an Innaritu movie needs be released as late as possible. They all fade too fast. And by all, I mean 21 Grams did it and Babel seems to be following that path and receiving maybe two acting nods for it’s trouble and that’s it. I suppose it’s still hanging around for some others, but it’s looking dangerously on the edge.
After seeing The Painted Veil, I’m pretty sure that Naomi Watts will get into that fifth slot over Kate Winslet.
I’m predicting Watts too. Mirren, Streep, Dench, Cruz and Watts. Two hotties and three grand dames. Considering Mirren is still seen as a sex symbol, it sort of balances out.
There’s one thing I’ll say for John Curran. He likes to be diverse. Praise, We Don’t Live Here Anymore and now The Painted Vail.
It’s the same director who did We Don’t Live Here Anymore? Goodbye to my interest in seeing Painted Veil.
Vail? Is that the Australian spelling for Veil? (Sorry Kami, I couldn’t resist. BTW: What the heck is Wendy Hughes up to these days? Local TV? Damn, she was a hottie in Warm Nights on a Slow-Moving Train.)
Will Smith in HAPPYNESS is definitely not playing “Will Smith.” It’s a very controlled, often internalized performance that depends on smarts and compassion rather than that twinkly charm that is his trademark (though that does come to the surface on occasion when needed). I think a lot of people will be surprised; I know I was.
I can’t stand Catherine O’Hara and all those other mugging actors…Eugene Levy is just about the worst actor working today…ugh…
Just to clarify the post of mine you quoted in your Oscar column, I wasn’t really defending the NBR as a legitimate awards organization — hence the wording of my opening remarks — merely defending it from the particular charge of being irrelevant for not predicting the Oscars correctly. I think it’s irrelevant for totally different reasons, which you addressed in subsequent blog comments and that Oscar column, just not to the post I was specifically replying to.
Anyway, good column.