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
Please tell me the I’m Not There lunch features DP eating 6 different entrees in a nod to the film’s experimental casting.
Rented and watched the DVD for “La vie en rose.” Marion Cotillard is brilliant. This is a great performance. As far as I’m concerned, she not only gets an Oscar nomination, but she gets the Oscar itself.
Whoa, how did “Love in the Time of Cholera” go from a seeming Oscar sure thing to a 19% on the Tomatometer, with a minimally trumpeted release campaign, to boot?
I know a lot of people had high hopes for it… but is it now ’07’s “All the King’s Men”?
“Southland Tales” dropped today. Want to see it ASAP… mostly because Gellar plus Moore = The Hotness.
Ooohh “A Very Special LWD” is coming tomorrow.
Does that mean Corky from Life Goes On is being interviewed?
Awesome.
ps- Please get your crazy crew to quicktime em DP.
Saw “Blade Runner” for the first time ever last night thanks to the expanded theatrical run of the new version. I liked it. Very moody and atmospheric, and despite the big Pan Am and Atari signs, it’s aged pretty well. Story’s the weak point. There’s not a whole lot of it. There’s not really a whole lot of blade running in it, which surprised me. As for Deckard being a replicant, I don’t buy it at all. The evidence is flimsy and needs the most expansive interpretation possible to make the theory work. Sorry, it doesn’t fly. I haven’t seen the “happy ending,” but having read descriptions, I’m sure it was as stupid as it sounds. The new and improved ending is the right way to go. It looked great. I’m glad I got to see it on the big screen. We need more revivals.
Pretty slow BYOB. If anyone is bored and looking for a topic, I’ve got one.
What if you could step an alternate reality and watch a film that almost got made, but either fell through or was significantly altered on its way to the screen? This includes casting — for instance, Casablanca with Reagan in the lead, or Jaws with Lee Marvin as Quint.
Other examples: Ridley Scott’s Dune, David Lynch’s Return of the Jedi Or Welles’s Heart of Darkness.
The only rule is that it has to be a production that might have happened. No making stuff up, like “Redford as Hannibal Lecter.” But “Gene Hackman as Lecter” is fine, since he actually owned the rights at one point, and wanted to play the role.
Bet a dollar the very special guests are Joel and Ethan.
I think my #1 movie-that-never-was would have to be Paul Verhoeven’s Crusade starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Arnold would have showed that wussy Orlando Bloom how it’s done!
Warren Beatty in Kill Bill would have been interesting. Also, I think Al Pacino in Misery would have been crazy and would have brought a completely different energy to that film for better or worse.
My number 1 project that never happened was Terry Gilliam’s The Defective Detective that was to star Nicolas Cage. It was Gilliam’s dream project and it never happened and that title is so amazing and so are the storyboards that were done in preparation.
frank, before I even finished reading your post I was thinking Welles’ Heart of Darkness.
I would have liked to have seen Sergio Leone’s Leningrad (Tornatore appears to be working on this now a la A.I.), and though it still may happen, Marty’s adaptation of Graham Greene’s The Heart of the Matter.
I have read the script for CRUSADE. That would have been terrific.
Josef von Sternberg’s I CLAUDIUS with Charles Laughton and Emlyn Williams as Caligula (some of the footage can be seen in the documentary “The Epic That Never Was”)
Errol Flynn’s THE ADVENTURES OF WILLIAM TELL
Terry Gilliam’s DON QUIXOTE with Johnny Depp
But my #1 is SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE VENGEANCE OF DRACULA. What a great, fun script that was! Such a shame it was never made. They didn’t have tha ctors at the time to do it justice. They could do it now, with Christian Bale as Holmes and Viggo Mortensen as Dracula.
That Holmes meets Dracula flick sounds interesting. What’s the deal?
Or Mortensen as Holmes, and Bale as Dracula!
The writer died, sadly, and it has been in development hell for a long time. I think Jude Law was attached at one point, but that’s obviously bad casting.
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Sherlock%20Holmes%20and%20the%20Vengeance%20of%20Dracula
Wow. Sucks the guy died, but at least he got the money.
if Lynch made Return of the Jedi would the ewoks talk backwards and smoke roll-ups and be molesting Han Solo? I’d pay alot to see that movie.
a movie that could be but might not ever be but should be is Discover Me. Well that was poetic. Great indie idea that should be made on a proper budget.
There are too many movies that fall into “the production that might have happened” category and make for depressing stories. so i don;t like this topic since it will make me sad.
There are also those movies that got made or are getting made since someone unexpectedly filled a role perfectly in the 11th hour, or finance was found at the last minute.
Speaking of which, as much as the movie is getting bashed by fanboys pre-finishing, I am so happy that after years of struggles the final Iron Man is Robert Downey jr and Jeff Bridges is in the flick. That really makes the wait worthwhile and I am a big fangirl of old Iron Man comics.
No arguments at all about Crusade. Arnold still owns the script is my understanding.
We got Cutthroat Island instead.
Timothy Dalton in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves.
Bruce Campbell in The Stainless Steel Rat.
Bale is too young to play Holmes. Doesn’t really look like the traditional image of him anyway, needs a guy with a bigger nose. I’ve been saying for years that Daniel Day-Lewis could nail this. The accent is obviously no problem, and I think he could pull of the brilliant arrogance easily. Jim Broadbent would make a great Watson.
Of course, casting this old (and esteemed) would take away any franchise possibilities (hard to get a guy who only does a film once every 4 years to commit to a sequel), but better to have one good one than a series of diminishing returns.
Jeff Bridges as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. No, seriously. It could have happened. Paul Schrader says so in the book Martin Scorsese: A Journey by Mary Pat Kelly. Not saying he would have been better than Robert De Niro. But you have to wonder…
And, of course, Laurence Olivier as Don Corleone in The Godfather.
The Aliens 3 where Newt and Hicks do not die. The original version of Entrapment always seemed pretty interesting to me. Also; it would be cool to visit the alternate reality where Rendevous With Rama has already had a standard, special, and ULTIMATE 4 DISC DVD (available in BLU-RAY because in this reality: Toshiba did not screw Sony out of DVD patent royalties) set available. Oh yeah… I always wanted another Ghostbusters movie.
I still say Miami Vice with Russell Crowe and Terence Howard would have been the way to go.
jerry lewis – ‘the day the clown cried’
http://www.subcin.com/clownspy.html
The reality where “The Day The Clown Cried” must be balls to the wall racist or completely goofy. That Jeff Goldblum has apparently been hired to do a similar movie… is bloody hilarious.
My choice for Holmes would be Ralph Fiennes.
My dream almost-was project would be Steve McQueen in Spielberg’s Close Encounter of the 3rd Kind. Even if he didn’t cry.
I would have loved to see Jocelyn Moorehouse’s Eucalyptus with Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe.
Would have loved to have seen John Milius'”King Conan” with an aging Schwartzenegger. Got my hands on the script a couple of years back and it was terrific. Loved the original as a kid and still do.
Peter Bogdanovich’s “The Streets of Laredo” with John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda.
This was a project close to Bogdanovich’s heart during his early-to-mid-’70s glory days; unfortunately it never happened.
ThriceDamned with you on Milius’ KING CONAN. Damn, that a great script!
The Coen’s “To The White Sea” with Brad Pitt. They said in an interview recently they wished they could have done that 10 years ago but now Pitt’s too old.
I don’t know if it ever got past rumor-stage and into any sort of preproduction, but I remember reading about a “Westworld” remake with Ahnuld, Sly and Bruce.
In case anyone was still writing off BEOWULF it’s currently soaring at 86% fresh at RottenTomatoes.com after 24 reviews.
Geroge Romero’s THE STAND. I don’t know if that ever got beyond talks, when when it was being talked about, there was a little bit of Heaven on Earth.
Oh right Ian. BEOWULF. It’s been almost a post since you mentioned this. Hope you get residuals.
– Woulda loved Steve Fucking McQueen in CE3K.
– And woulda loved Spielberg’s NIGHT SKIES with script by Sayles and Rick Baker evil aliens that were reportedly pretty amazing.
– Lucas’ version of APOCALYPSE NOW would have been fascinating if made in the day.
– A John Carpenter script called PREY that was in pre-production, with cast, sets built, then plug pulled. He described it as a female DELIVERANCE…
– Jodoworsky’s version of DUNE with designs by Giger, Chris Foss, etc. would have been stunning.
– Terry Southern’s BLUE MOVIE to be directed by Mike Nichols and featuring hardcore porn.
– And where is that footage of Peter Sellers in Billy Wilder’s KISS ME STUPID before he was replaced? They shot quite a bit. Is it gone?
– Of course, Walter Matthau in SKIDOO. He was Preminger’s first choice.
I like Fiennes as Holmes. That’s a great idea.
I wonder about To the White Sea. I read the novel a few years ago; it’s basically about an American serviceman who gets shot down over Japan in WWII and then proceeds to kill nearly everyone he meets as he makes his way out of the country. Not sure how that would translate to film.
Frank, if I recall correctly, people who reviewed the To the White Sea script said it had almost no dialogue in it. It would have been an essentially silent film.
Also, I would have loved to have seen Kubrick’s Napoleon! That would have been amazing and he apparently had even had the idea for how to do the costumes. Also, his Aryan Papers would have been interesting.
Ian, are you somehow under the impression that by admitting that you have a business connection to Beowulf (assuming that it’s not one of your many and varied lies) that it somehow makes it permissible to shamelessly root for it? In fact, it just becomes even more obnoxious. Even Don Murphy didn’t plug for Transformers to this degree, and he stood to make a lot more money.
I couldn’t give a rats ass about your opinion, Jeff.
Jeff’s not the only one, Sinclair. The majority of the people around here (and “Elsewhere”) must think you’re a fucking buffoon.
Fiennes as Holmes – Rickman as Moriarity would be stupendous
Cate Blanchett was considered for Mr. and Mrs. Smith – interesting to contemplate
Well, the majority of people might think I am a buffoon, Lazarus, but the entire planet thinks you’re a fucking cretin.
Was that supposed to be witty? Let’s overanalyze this for a second: Even if I was globally recognized (which I’m not), do you really think that the spatial upgrade and substituting “cretin” for “buffoon” is some kind of clever rejoinder?
Now I’m having a hard time believing you were paid to write anything.
Well, here’s one thing you can believe: I am no longer going to bother to respond to or read anything you post. You can take that to the bank.
To the person who mentioned the alt Alien 3: The William Gibson script (if memory serves) is very cool. Definitely a continuation of the Aliens combat vibe.
Ian, would you please do us a favor and not read or respond to anything that anyone posts here? Not counting David Poland, of course.
Winona Ryder in Godfather III
Hands down one of the biggest tragedies in movies IMO.
Another coulda-been: Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow in Titanic. I’d have preferreed Damon but Winslet was actually good.
Surely you jest, PastePot.
Leo DiCaprio fucking owned “Titanic”! Without him, there would have been no cultural phenomenon.
He gave one of the greatest “Movie Star” performances in the history of Hollywood.
Winslet was perfectly adequate (although she hadn’t yet perfected her “American” accent), but DiCaprio’s mega-watt charisma and sheer acting chops blew her (and the special efffects) off the screen.
Winslet has since become a favorite of mine (I think she and Leo are the best male and female actors of their generation), and I can’t wait to see them reunited in Sam Mendes’ “Revolutionary Road.”
But seriously: how could you FUCKING dare to save that you would have preferred Matt Damon over Leo in “Titanic”???
That’s flat-out sacrilege. And that’s coming from someone who loves Damon and has always considered him criminally underrated, btw.
“Beowulf” blows chunks, Ian Sinclair. (I gave it a “D” in my TV review and a paltry 1 1/2 stars in my print review.)
I’m considering boycotting all future Zemeckis films until he abandons this “performance-capture” folly and returns to the world of flesh-and-blood actors.
(No, I am not a SAG member.)
P.S.= And the “big-fucking-deal” 3-D effects were just a cheap carny act to amuse the geek squad and sell extra tickets at IMAX theaters.
I can take it to the bank, Sinclair? Methinks your keyboard is writing cheques your big mouth will bounce.
Well aren’t we having fun now?
Speaking of Godfather movies, I’d like to see part 2 with Richard Castellano back as Clemenza. Michael V. Gazzo gave a great performance as the replacement character, Pentangeli — but it really should have been Clemenza.
I got nothing against Leo in Titanic, but it’s Kate Winslet’s movie.
Yes; Clemenza in Godfather II would be pretty damn impressive. Also… movieman… that’s some impressive hyperbole. On behalf of the Harry Knowles’ Hyperbole committee; I hear by award you this check for 25 dollars and this honourary plaque. Pose for the pictures. Thanks.
Thank You, 1010101!
And anybody who thinks “Titanic” isn’t 100% Leo clearly missed the (pun intended) boat, LOL.
Upon further review; Jeff and Noah have a point with Matt Damon’s character in THE DEPARTED possibly being gay. 15 yard penalty on me… FIRST DOWN FOR YOU TWO!
IO, if you keep penalizing yourself for things you’ve been wrong on, you’re going to wind up being the Oakland Raiders of the Hot Blog.
Laz; sit on it and spin.
Each time I’ve seen Titanic I haven’t been watching it for Leo, that’s for sure.