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 agree! Viva le Rat!
Better than The Incredibles? High praise indeed.
Everyone is falling over themselves to praise this one. Damn. If not for a prior engagement, I would have been there Saturday, no question.
Wall*E? E.T. big maybe?
“Better than The Incredibles? High praise indeed.”
I think it depends on your enjoyment of The Incredibles. I think the film is very, very good, but since I’m not a huge comic book or superhero nerd, I wasn’t possessed with the spirit of greatness.
Ratatouille, on the other hand, is chock full of so much stuff I love (fine food, beautiful locations, cute cuddly varmints) that I couldn’t help but open my steel heart to the film.
So, in other words, you might not find Ratatouille “better” than The Incredibles, but it’s in the same ballpark.
I don’t consider myself a huge comic book or superhero nerd either, but I thought Incredibles was much better than Iron Giant, and one of the top five films of 2004.
“… this is not your little brother’s animated movie.”
This is another echo I have seen in other reviews, which is meant as praise, but I wonder how many will take this to heart.
“I don’t consider myself a huge comic book or superhero nerd either, but I thought Incredibles was much better than Iron Giant, and one of the top five films of 2004.”
Well then it’ll be interesting to see what you think of Ratatouille.
I love The Incredibles, but it is more traditional in many ways, though it also broke stylistic ground. The Rat is aiming somewhere less expected.
Anyone who would take it to heart probably doesn’t have one. As for me, I would have seen this picture over and over again this weekend if possible. It is triumph. Everything that constitutes a great movie for me is served up with Ratatouille.
My review – first on the top: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/33042
Well, I was stunned – and I couldn’t help replaying the movie in my head yesterday. All I wanted to do was to see it again, and failing that, cook up a gourmet meal š
No, make that EAT a gourmet meal first! It’s good advice – get thee to a great restaurant after seeing RAT – otherwise you’ll have cravings all night.
Since “Ratatouille” is too hard for people to pronounce Disney/Pixar now make sure to say it’s “From the creator of ‘Cars’ and ‘The Incredibles’.” That assures the rat will get his tail clipped by Harry Potter 5.
Since Alan writes for Harry “Graft Rools” Knowles I wonder if Alan runs trade screenings for any movie theaters?
I rarely see anything early, and when I do it’s only been under embargo once, and that was for the first TOMB RAIDER. I hated it so much I couldn’t be bothered to write a single word.
I’m not really a superhero nerd or even an animation nerd, but I loved Incredibles and I have high hopes for Ratatouille. Cars was disappointing by comparison, but it was better than either of the first two Shreks.
Here’s hoping the early positive word is correct.
Deep down in my heart, this was always the movie this summer I was most excited about seeing. I can’t flipping wait.
Ratatouille really was a joy to watch. I felt that the first 5 minutes or so with the old lady were actually a little too over-the-top, but everything else was just great. At the very least, the animation is just a wonder to behold. And yes, the score by Giacchino fantastic. It’s amazing that while the story is relatively simple and straightforward, the movie on the whole is still not at all like anything else.
I can’t wait to see “Ratatouille” but I’ve got to come clean…..I didn’t get all the hype over “The Incredibles” or even “Finding Nemo.” I liked them o.k. but they don’t hold a candle to “Toy Story” in my sure to be flamed opinion…
Telling people ‘from the makers of Cars ($244 m domestic) and The Incredibles ($261 m domestic)’ is going to make people less interested in Ratatouille…how?
The biggest problem is the title. This is the country that had to dumb down the title of the first Harry Potter novel from “Philosopher’s Stone” to “Sorcerer’s Stone.” What are the great American public going to make of “Ratatouille?”
It wasn’t ‘dumbing down’, it was a difference in vernacular. If there was a British movie called ‘Hiding in the Boot’ you can be sure the American distributor would change the title to something involving the world ‘trunk’.
And I know it’s 15 seconds long, but count me on board for WALL-E next year.
It’s nice that DP qualified his proclamation right at the beginning by saying “since Spirited Away”. Miyazaki’s masterpiece may very well be the greatest animated film ever made, and probably the most indisputable winner of an Academy Award ever given out.
While I wish Bird would return to 2D, (because as much as I loved The Incredibles, the visuals in The Iron Giant are what makes it a superior film for me), in the meantime, I’ll take what I can get. I’m really looking forward to this one, and to seeing Bird pick up his statue next March.
“It wasn’t ‘dumbing down’, it was a difference in vernacular. If there was a British movie called ‘Hiding in the Boot’ you can be sure the American distributor would change the title to something involving the world ‘trunk’.”
QED.
Vernacular? You are quite the dumbass. Take this conical hat, don it, stand, facing the wall in the corner for the rest of the class, then for your homework look up lapis philosophorum.
Jesus Christ, what an obnoxious bully you are. Americans are not familiar with the phrase “philosopher’s stone”. Brits are.
Perhaps jeffmcm will insist that American movies should reference “The Holy Cup” or “The Burial Cloth of Turin.”
Maybe future DVD releases of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” should be retitled “Stealers of the Lost 10 Commandment Container.”
I never understood why the publisher’s in America wanted to call it Sorcerer’s over Philosopher’s when the book first came out. It’s not like the actual name of it matters in the book – all you ever needed to know about it was explained. Or is sorcery more concrete than philosophy?
Anyhow, Ratatouille is definitely up there for my must see of the summer. Neck & neck with Transformers. The fact that it is Brad Bird makes it even more special. I love The Incredibles, which is definitely one of my most favourite animate flicks (incidentally Iron Giant is in my top ten too). So yeah, I wish I could have made it to the sneak on Saturday, but no matter.
The good thing about mainly working nights lately is that I’ll be seeing this first thing in the afternoon on opening day.
Maybe future DVD releases of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” should be retitled “Stealers of the Lost 10 Commandment Container.”
They’ve already been renamed “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.” On similar principle.
“Maybe future DVD releases of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” should be retitled “Stealers of the Lost 10 Commandment Container.””
That’s the funniest thing I’ve read all week.
Nah-LYT…isn’t the renaming due to all the Indiana Jones spin offs–so they(Raiders and Indiana Jones in everything else) are connected in consumers’ minds?
YAY RAT.
I knew it would be good. Ha! and to the naysayers…F*ck youse.
I can’t wait to see it. I had a pet rat for years. I don;t know if she had any aspirations to cook, however.
Disney has already safeguarded the pronunciation difficulty by phoentically spelling the title in print ads and trailers, but really, RATATOUILLE? Other than the fact that it’s a French culinary term and has the word “rat” in it (what’s French for rat? Rat?) you’d think that – oh never mind. This is the same camp that came up with the on-the-nose CARS and TOY STORY. I suppose if the main character wanted to be a drummer, rather than a chef, we’d be takling about RAT-A-TAT-TAT.
And Dave, have you gotten a load of all the hate you’re getting over at Wells’ site for this rave? Jesus Christ. They make goose-stepping look like free-form dance.
D-oh! Two e’s in phoenetically.
These days Dave reads Wells about as often as the rest of us read Dave’s number-crunching columns.
changing Philosopher’s Stone to Sorcerer’s Stone was a marketing decision by Scholastic, not a vernacular issue like torch = flashlight.
they saw the book was about an eleven year old boys and made the intuitive leap that Sorcerer sounds like fun to an eleven year old boy but Philosopher sounds like work, they talked Rowling into it because their contract for the first two books was substantially more than the piddly contract to Bloomsbury for the first two books–and Scholastic told her it would never sell (and get no promotion) if she insisted on keeping Philosopher. Rowling has since said it’s one decision she regrets and she wouldn’t buckle if offered the chance today. Luckily the americanization of the books has decreased considerably with each book, at least we don’t have every iteration of ‘snogging’ replaced with ‘sucking face’ which is probably what scholastic would have preferred.
“Disney has already safeguarded the pronunciation difficulty by phoentically spelling the title in print ads and trailers, but really, RATATOUILLE?”
Per Brad Bird:
http://film.guardian.co.uk/apnews/story/0,,-6719261,00.html
“It was a challenge, because we knew that a lot of people couldn’t pronounce it. In fact, there were months where they tried to come up with another title, but no other title was as good as ‘Ratatouille.’ It’s one word, it’s French, it’s about food and it has the word ‘rat’ in it. So rather than view it as a weakness, we started going, ‘What if we view it as a strength and make the pronunciation part of the sales?'”
To be honest, “Ratatouille” is a great title in context. It’s a lot more sophisticated than you’re giving it credit for. But you’ll have to see the movie and find that out yourself.
Let me get this straight… these Pixar guys rarely make sequels, develop their stories from scratch, avoid test screenings, trust their own instincts as artists and generally talk up to audiences of all ages.
In doing so, their films are seen by everyone, make shit tons of cash, win the biggest awards and end up on critic’s best of lists every year. Year after year after year…
So you’d think in a land of copycats that this would be the ultimate playbook to steal. But no… instead we’re stuck with Prequel, Sequel, Threequel.
What is it about quality and originality that this industry seems to detest?
I haven’t been on Wells’ site in almost 5 months.
DP, for all your idiosyncrasies, at least you aren’t so lazy that you need to post links to your primary competitors’ site in order to generate content.
It’s a hard road to take, Crow. Few companies have the deep pockets at the top of the food chain that Pixar has. Very few companies would be able to resist a massive expansion after the kind of success Pixar has had. And it is that limited output that I think is key to the quality. One film a year is a lot more doable than two or more, if you are making TV too, as Disney has done.
The industry abhors losing. And there is that risk in originality. On the other hand, all those 2s and 3s were started, with few exceptions, with truly original ideas.
Possibly a contender for Best Picture? I hope so. I hope no one holds a prejudice over it because it’s animated.
Ever since the Academy ghettoized animated movies with their own Best Animated Feature award, I doubt you’ll ever see one nominated for Best Picture.
The only animated film to be nominated for Best Picture was Beauty and the Beast.
yeah… and I fear it will carry some baggage if the box office is not as massive as the skill of the filmmaking. very unlikely. but having the movie is the best reward.
For once, I am in complete agreement with David. Best film of the year so far, and Brad Bird is officially my favorite working filmmaker now. Three classics in a row.
And there literally is no other title for this aside from RATATOUILLE. You’ll know why after you see the film. It’s a lovely title, and there’s a moment…
… aw, you’ll see.
“Jesus Christ, what an obnoxious bully you are. Americans are not familiar with the phrase philosopher’s stone. Brits are.”
Gee, I had to take a look at my passport to make sure I was still an American, because by Jeff’s criterion, I’m a Brit, as I know what a philosopher’s stone is. I knew it well before I had ever heard of Harry Potter. Yes, it is dumbed down for American audiences; there’s no other way to explain it. Especially since the philosopher’s stone is something real. It’s not something vernacular that they could call it whatever they wanted. There’s no such thing as a sorcerer’s stone, and no one in America calls it that that knows what it is. Whoever said it’s like calling the Grail the “Holy Cup” is spot on.
Arthur Levine, JKR’s American editor, insisted on the name change because he thought the book wouldn’t sell with such an esoteric title. JKR went along because at the time she was a first-time author with no clout and no money. Publish or perish. It was one thing to do it with the book, but to perpetuate it with the movie is to suffer from a terminally low opinion of the American public. And personally, I hate to have my intelligence insulted, be it by Arthur Levine or Jeffmcm.
(There are lots of other minor differences in language between the American and British versions, but the title of the first book is by far the biggest one. One would expect that at some point in the future if they’re ever reissued, a la the Beatles’ albums on CD, the UK versions will be the official ones.)
I’m sorry, but how is a philosopher’s stone more ‘real’ than a sorcerer’s stone? Are they not both alternate terms for something used in alchemy, therefore something that never existed? Please enlighten me, in all seriousness.
What are you guys, like SEVEN YEARS OLD?????? This is a CARTOON.
You know who CARTOONS are for????
KIDS. Little KIDS.
All respect due to Rod Lurie Kimmel Poland, but AREN’T CARTOONS FOR SMALL CHILDREN????
NO ONE over the age of 11 should ever see ANYTHING animated. It’s for KIDS.
Bill Maher, who is a genius, has a great rap about how today’s so-called ADULTS still play videogames and wear SPORTS JERSEYS and HATS from their “favorite teams.” (Note maximum condescension.) Well, the same condescension should be reserved for any child-less adult who actually goes out of his way to see one of these movies.
What is with this bullshit that started around LION KING era where right-thinking, ostensible adults, go to see ANIMATED MOVIES????? The cut-off for this bullshit should be around age 12. NO ONE over that age should go to see AAAAAAAANYTHING animated or cartoon.
YOU ARE AN ADULT. Fucking act like one. Hey, Poland, do you think fucking LEE VAN CLEEF went to see FUCKING CARTOONS? No, he probably did not. Think CHARLES BRONSON would be in line to see RATATTOOOOTTIUIIIIILLE??? Nope.
Christ, I know most of you guys are required by occupation to see this nancy shit, but don’t you feel just a little embarrassed?????
Heh. I laughed.
for philosopher’s stone:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopher's_stone
The term has been around for approx a millenia! It is what it is! And was the objective for the first book, so why on earth should they have insisted on changing the title?!
Sorcerer’s stone doesn’t mean anything other than a stone belonging to a sorcerer, no deeper connotation.
Thanks for such an interesting and enthusiastic review Dave! You’ve really motivated me into seeing the film! (although I for one have never liked ratatouille, too many peppers for my taste!) I just hope the spirit will stay the same once it’s been dubbed… š
I’m so glad that you liked it D-Po. I really liked the trailer and felt that this movie is probably more mature and subtle than the other Pixar films. Can’t wait!
LexG
I am very happy to be a big kid who watches cartoons (I watch SpongeBob every day).
And I pay my mortgage, support UNICEF and traveled and did relief work (~30 countries) and otherwise am a responsible functioning adult.
Animation and the many years of drawing, inking and technology that went before it is a fine storytelling form to be enjoyed by all ages.
It’s nice that cold cruel evildoing adults can occasionally become idealistic kids when they see a good cartoon.
Like Incubus say, “don’t want to lose…what I had as a boy”.
If more people watched and let themselves into the magic of animation, maybe we’d have fewer humorless dolts like yourself.
C’mon LexG, originally cartoons were made for adults, we just shuffled them off to our kids. Do you think Tex Avery meant his work to just be enjoyed by pre-teens?
“I haven’t been on Wells’ site in almost 5 months.”
It’s true; I tried to lure him there once to watch the freak show unfold but alas he wouldn’t budge. Jeff McM linking to other stories and other sites doesn’t always mean you’re lazy – it can also mean you’re too busy to sit down and write anything meaningful, she says defensively.
Can we not indulge LexG in his ridiculous comment. Let him be a scrooge.
Dave, why did you have to go an make me even more pumped for this movie? I have to wait until freakin’ AUGUST for it. AAAAGH. Distributers will be the death me (due to me going into an intense rage and suffering a heart attack). I’m still waiting for Inland Empire and The Painted Veil, while The Dead Girl and Factory Girl are only just coming out tomorrow. Crazy.
Anyway, The Incredibles was in my top 5 of 2004 too. And that was a very strong year if you ask me.
“I’m sorry, but how is a philosopher’s stone more ‘real’ than a sorcerer’s stone? Are they not both alternate terms for something used in alchemy, therefore something that never existed?”
It’s more real in the sense that “philosopher’s stone” is the actual name of the thing in question. Philosopher’s stone is what it was called throughout history. You will not find a single reference to a “sorcerer’s stone” in any alchemical text or work about alchemy because no one had heard of such a thing until 1996. It’s not a “soccer” and “football” situation where you have two different but equally legitimate names to choose between. There’s no such thing as a sorcerer’s stone and never has been. It works only if you think you can make it up arbitrarily and call anything by whatever name you’d like. It also obscures the fact that JKR has done her homework and borrows lots of ideas and imagery from mythology and history.
I saw The Painted Veil this weekend. It had quite slipped though my radar upon release. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
LexG: Actually, Charles Bronson once told me he was a big fan of “Huckleberry Hound,” but if I ever repeated that, he would hurt me real bad. I can report this only now, after he’s dead, because… Wait a minute. Charles Bronson is dead, right?
Oooh… Blackcloud I’d like to know how “soccer” is an equally legitimate name as “football”? Ok, used in the US… but I’ll never understand why they use it instead of the correct term football. I mean, it’s a ball that stays on the ground most of the time and is always propelled forward by one’s foot (unless it goes out on the sidelines, and then they get to toss it in)… whereas American “football” spends more time tucked under someone’s arm instead of in touch with his foot! :O
Not to start another linguistic argument… (although worthier than the invented “sorcerer’s stone term)… just wondering ;o)
Ian, Painted Veil so slipped through the cracks last year. Bad timing.
“Soccer” is a slang term popularized by English university students in the 1880s to refer to the game formally known as association football. It stems from the common practice at the time of adding the suffix -er to everything, e.g., “rugger” for rugby football, the other main code of football. The term football is not used in Italy (they call it “calcio” which means “kick-ball”), or in Australia (the national team is the “Socceroos”), New Zealand, and Ireland; in the latter countries, “football” refers to the most popular code of the sport, usually a rugby-based one. Soccer was used in everyday parlance in the UK until the late’60s/early ’70s, when it fell out of use. On those grounds, yes, I’d consider “soccer” to be as legitimate as “football.” After all, the English invented the name to refer to their own game.
Blackcloud: Rent Green Street Hooligans, and you’ll get a good idea how some Brit fans feel about the term “soccer.” Based on my visits to relatives in the UK, I’d say it’s a pretty accurate depiction.
Remember in 1983 when The Police released SYNCHRONICITY and DJs were falling over themselves trying to pronounce it correctly or make a lame joke about what it meant or what a hard word it was to say? The discourse over pronouncing RATATOUILLE will be sooooo short-lived if the movie’s even half as good as Dave proclaims.
DP,
Your comments worry me a little. I’ve been hyping up my almost-3-year-old daughter for this film for weeks (which will be her first movie in a theater). She’s excited to see it. She loves The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, and Cars. Are you saying that she may be bored by it?
By the way, I don’t think the title is a problem. My daughter pronounces it with ease.
Well, I guess I consider myself educated. I was under the belief that Philosopher’s and Sorcerer’s were merely two alternate words for the same item and had been for decades if not centuries.
Ian Sinclair, you may now abuse me with many multisyllabic Latinate words (like you cared about permission).
mysteryperfecta, if she was enthralled by CARS, she’ll be fine with this. This one isn’t nearly as slow.
Thanks, Alan.
jeffmcm, there seems little point in insulting someone in a language they are not educated enough to comprehend. Just be sure you have your facts correct next time before challenging mine, or you run the risk of becoming someone whose opinion is, oh, the hell with it, dare pondus idonea fumo.
Okay, you just insulted somebody in Latin. I don’t think I need to add anything.
Ian: Smokin’!!!!!!!!
“Charles Bronson is dead, right? ”
Yes. And we are a lesser species for it.
Bronson. Rocks.
I took my 4 year old son, and 2.5 year old daughter to see the sneak of Ratatouille (which incidentally neither of them have any problem saying…) I loved the film, it was easily the most mature of the pixar films (perhaps a close second to The Incredibles). That the film hinges on a surly critic, Peter O’Toole, seeing the light…and for some reason this reminded me of a less cynical/satirical SIDEWAYS.
What surprised me most was that despite the themes, plot points and (my opinion) being aimed at an age around 16-20, the kids were fully engaged for the entire 110min run time.
I was thinking along similar lines that this is a big step in the right direction for animation aimed at adults in the US. (Note: there is still a better animated film playing out there at the moment, namely “Paprika”)
This is truly a “Family” film, and there are fewer of those out there these days…Spirited Away being a fine example.
Nicol: One of my favorite Bronson performances — father of David Morse and Viggo Mortensen in Sean Penn’s criminally under-rated The Indian Runner.
Bronson was the greatest.
The greatest what?
The greatest EVERYTHING!
Joe,
Don’t egg me on. I have work to do and now I could sit and write about Bronson for hours.
Okay okay…
I actually also really loved his performance in The Great Escape but also St. Ives which I always thought was under-rated.
He also was great as the doomed union leader in Act of Vengeance. Bronson had a genuine screen presence that was hard to use except for specific types of films; but when he was on…damn, was he on.
I’m glad Sean Penn got him out of the Cannon style ghetto for a classy project before he died and went really down hill.
Although even the Cannon Bronson canon still has some small gems.
Okay now I – have – to work.
errr…before he went really down hill and died I meant.
I was going to say: After you die, going downhill is pretty much unavoidable, isn’t it? (Well, unless you’re the Son of God, and you can rise from the dead. Or you’re somebody like Elvis and Marilyn, and death is a good career move.)
Bronson at his greatest = Walter Hill’s Hard Times. (And no, not just because it was filmed in New Orleans.) I got to visit the set, and I swear I’m not making this up: Some of his opponents in the fight scenes were so initmidated by him, they were relucatnt to even FAKE hitting him.
But man oh man, those Cannon movies… Hope he got paid well.
LexG… overcompensate much?
Hard Times…dear God yes.
Walter Hill’s depression era masterpiece. I loved that when I was younger.
I think Bronson had what a lot of pretenders to the action throne today do not. He weathered a lot before finally succeeding as an actor.
He understood the notions of poverty, hard work and struggle. That all came through in his minimalist acting style.
“Bill Maher, who is a genius, has a great rap about how today’s so-called ADULTS still play videogames and wear SPORTS JERSEYS and HATS from their “favorite teams.” ”
This the same Bill Maher who hangs out at the Playboy mansion for articulate and intelligent discussion about the days socio-political events?
Nicol, you are even righter than you think you are. (No, I don’t mean your politics.) You could say the same thing about many if not most contemporary actors of all kinds — and, yeah, filmmakers in all genres. That is, they have relatively little real world exerience. That’s why you get so many movies that reference very little other than other movies. Go back and see what folks like John Ford, Howard Hawks and others did before they started directing…
Geez, I sound like an old fart… Better start getting ready for bingo night at the Old Film Critics Home.
You are absolutely spot on, Joe.
A lot of those Directors were engineers, lawyers ect – Howard Hawks (a WW1 veteran) college major was mechanical engineering and he actually was – among other things – a designer in an aircraft factory. Billy Wilder was a gigolo and journalist in Vienna. And so on.
Actors: James Stewart was an engineer before tackling acting (he reached Brigadier General in the US Air Force); Gene Hackman, a former marine, hit stardom at 40 with FRENCH CONNECTION; Walter Mathau, WW2 veteran; Lee Marvin, Marvin (wounded in action, WW2) also worked as a plumbers assistant; Dean Martin, lightweight prizefighter and blackjack dealer – and the list goes on.
These days directors come from commercials at age 21 and studios go for flavor-of-the-month-actors from the WB.
It’s an age of ‘low talent’ as William Goldman stated.
Some of Bronson’s Cannon drivel is very fun. Death Wish 3 is uproarious and fun from beginning to end. Death Wish 4 is a tight 80s-era low-budget thriller.
My favorite Bronson performances are Hard Times, Once Upon a Time, Mr. Majestyk, Great Escape, and (of course) Indian Runner.
On average, Bronson’s best roles were sans moustache. He was asked once why he never shaved his moustache for his later roles. Bronson replied that he never made money without the ‘stache, so the ‘stache stays.
I hope the money was great, Chuck.
Bronson flicks…
You know I loved TELEFON, I thought it was a smart spy thriller with some great plot points and performances.
I also liked some of his Westerns such as THE WHITE BUFFALO, a pretty mystical little thriller with Bronson playing Wild Bill Hickock. Enjoyed BREAKHEART PASS as well.
HARD TIMES (well they called it THE STREETFIGHTER in my neck of the woods) was a great flick. I still remember the tagline on the poster (“Its the Great Depression. Words don’t buy much.” or something like that) – but I enjoyed the flick immensely because of James Coburn’s performance as well.
And of course, DEATH WISH is a classic. It’s a great film.
And if you want a guilty pleasure, you can do worse than RED SUN in which Bronson protects a Japanese Ambassador (Toshiro Mifune) in the Old West.
Though they by no means represent Bronson’s best work, I’ve always been a connoisseur of his Cannon stuff. They’re fascinating relics of ’80s B-moviemaking in the VHS era, not to mention so sleazy and grim as to border on genuinely shocking. Maybe even more shockingly, they were usually directed by J. Lee Thompson, many years removed from “Guns of Navarone” and “Cape Fear.” Based on the content of the films, one might even guess J. Lee was taking jobs by that point based on how much gratuitous nudity they could include.
“Kinjite” and “10 to Midnight,” for example, would at first glance seem typical ’80s cop-on-the-edge actioners, but they’re so harsh, bleak, and kinky, with long, uncomfortable sequences of sexualized violence; The overwroughtness of material clashes so completely with the flat, wan, quiet old-school direction, they manage to attain, for better or worse, a disturbing quality that may or may not have even been intentional.
“Murphy’s Law” has a bit of that vibe too– Did Cannon have an exclusive variety of film stock that rendered all Los Angeles skies as completely gray and dreary? Even an allegedly lighthearted Bronson-Thompson confection like “Caboblanco” is filled with roughly the same amount of blunt nudity and crude storytelling.
Actually, the prize of that era was non-Cannon Bronson/Thompson– “The Evil That Men Do.” With a bigger budget and some solid character actors, it’s grim and mean in the same way but on a larger scale, with a truly unsettling prologue that’s straight out of the ’80s Thompson handbook.
“Messenger of Death” was pretty dull, sort of a half-assed Mormon take on “Witness” by way of a TV-level investigative thriller, all shot under gloomy clouds with a hammy supporting cast.
“Assassination,” not directed by Thompson, is a straight-up hoot. Hilarious and silly.
And while “Death Wish 3” is now revered as almost a cult comedy, Winner’s DW2, for all its incompetence, has a gritty, ugly, early ’80s urban vibe that’s as legit as something like “Nighthawks.” Not to mention that awesome score, and the HILARIOUS bit where Bronson comes upon the rapist gang (including Fishburne) DANCING in town square to their GIANT BOOMBOX. Quel choreography!
That scene in Death Wish 2 with the dancing gangsters was filmed in at Fletcher Bowron Square with some gorgeous nighttime footage of the ridiculous Triforium sculpture. It’s early ’80s downtown L.A. at its best.
A recent rescreening of Death Wish 2 really broght home the “harsh, bleak, and kinky” aesthetic that Lex was describing. The outrageously vile (and eroticized) and lengthy rape that opens the film is something you’d never see in a mainstream Hollywood production made today. Winner’s location lensing and authentic sleaze really ratchet up the ickiness of the whole thing. Thompson clearly took his Bronson/Cannon template from Winner’s DW2.
I love the way that this Ratatouille thread has been completely bushwhacked.
Wrecktum, thanks for the info on where that was shot; I’ve lived in L.A. for over a decade but almost never have cause to go downtown. I’ve always wondered where that location was! Someday maybe I’ll pop down there and see if I can find The Fish licking his switchblade while Nirvana does the white man dance and Kevin Major Howard punches the sides of his head.
Don’t forget Fishburne’s immortal joint-toking line: “Superfiiiiiiiiiiiine.”
Go see Los Angeles Plays Itself next time they run it at the American Cinematheeque… genius work!
Actually, “Hard Times” was originally going to be known as “Street Fighter” in the US, too. But while it was shooting in New Orleans — yes, you guessed it — the Sonny Chiba movie by that title opened in a downtown theater. By the time I made my first set visit, it had been re-christened “Hard times.” At least, that’s what the unit publicist told me at the time. (The same story ran in the local papers.) And you know, even if that story wasn’t true, it should be.
“Breakheart Pass” was pretty damn good — nifty adaptation of an Alistair MacLean novel — but I’ve always thought the semi-satirical “From Noon Till Three” (which proved Bronson had a sense of humor about himself) was a straight-up classic.
Anyone else love the fact a Pixar/Ratatoullile love-inthread has tunred into a Motherfuckin’ Charlie Bronson (“True Romance,” anyone?) love-in thread? Classic.
Who can’t pronounce “Ratatouille”? They show you in the blood commercials!
“”Murphy’s Law” has a bit of that vibe too– Did Cannon have an exclusive variety of film stock that rendered all Los Angeles skies as completely gray and dreary? ”
Lex, that is so true man, those flicks had a grim, dreary look to them.
You know guys concerning DEATH WISH 3, the whole flick was shot in London, I kid you not. The only thing I remember from that flick was Martin Balsam as a tenant swatting a mugger with a window anti break-in device.
Ok, in honor of all this Charles Bronson talk — which, I swear, I didn’t intend to spark — I’ve posted a little something at my own blog today. (Just click on my name, and you’ll see what I mean.)
As for Murphy’s Law — I’ve always thought Kathleen Wilhoite is a very under-rated actress, with an ineffably edgy-sexy-brassy quality. I know she works regularly, but I think she deserved a few more high-profile roles when she was younger. I loved the way Bronson looked shocked everytime she let loose with some foul-mouthed rant in Murphy.