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
Well, just so long as it is better than Smokin’ Aces, which promised to be a one long B-flick shoot’em up, and just plain sucked.
Michael Davis’ flick, 100 Girls, is actually a guilty pleasure for me. But it might just be because I think Emmanuelle Chriqui is one of the most beautiful women on the planet. Seguing from that flick to Shoot ‘Em Up is an interesting leap.
Me… right on. Smokin Aces sucked. It sucked at an absurd level. May this flick pay-off and get Chris Jericho more acting gigs!
This film tries less hard to explain itself than Smokin’ Aces, which makes it go down easier.
Who be need the explainin? When there be EXPLOSIONS! WOO HOO SHELLY SUE! CLIVE OWEN GOING TO BE BLOWING STUFF UP TONIGHT! YEEHAW!
It’s not an explosion movie. It’s a darkly comedic, totally bent, cartoon version of a John Woo film (the HK ones). The action scenes have a insane Rube Goldberg sort of feel to them. Mr. Smith does a lot of clever stuff with guns. And it has literally ten times as much action as Smokin’ Aces. That film had one scene, and it ended adruptly. This has 11 or 12 borderline genius action scenes. The film is FUN.
PLANT!
Smokin Aces totally sucked. It was beyond awful. I’d go so far as to say it’s as bad as The Black Dahlia, which is up there for worst movie ever made.
Let’s hope Shoot Em Up delivers. Clive Owen is one of the coolest actors working right now, which bodes well.
You’re totally right. I posted on here a thousand times before, on every other subject under the sun, in order to make one fraudulent post about Shoot ‘Em Up.
Rothcild, that’s called a BIT OF BUSINESS. Seriously dude, you are just crapping all over the comedy, and you are a PLANT. PLANTY PLANT PLANT PLANTY PLANT PLANT PLANT! Plant.