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May 4, 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” — 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
I don’t know, it’s a hunch. I woke up with this vision: Book of Secrets flopping miserably, debuting at #4. I am Legend stays number 1. Sweeney Todd surprises everyone and takes #2 (Poland then hailing it as an Oscar front-runner, with both AO Scott and Joe Public applauding it). A variation of this dream takes Sweeney Todd over the 30mil mark with a Michael Moore numbers at the per-screen average and narrowly beating I am Legend.
My full half-assed-more-wishful-thinking-than-common-sense-but-really-strong-gut-feeling is here:
http://cinemascopian.com/could-sweeney-todd-be-the-1-movie-in-america-this-weekend/
Could this actually happen?
Can’t believe Ebert picked Juno as the #1 film of the year.
It’s not terrible, but I’d have to say that, “This is one doodle that can’t be un-did, home skillet” may be the worst line of dialogue in any movie of 2007.
But maybe it’s just the way Rainn Wilson delivered it.
Liked the movie a lot, but that line DOES clang. Definitely one of those “writer’s movies” where you have to be a little torn; On one hand, it’s nice to find someone with a “voice,” but on the other, it grows a little unlikely when EVERY character in the movie shares the same way of speaking, the same frame of references, the same ironic viewpoint– not just with each other, but with the writer him/herself.
In that way, Diablo IS the new Tarantino… or at least the new Scott (Beautiful Girls/Things to Do In Denver) Rosenberg.
That said, much as I liked it, only later did it occur to me just HOW MUCH OF IT is cribbed pretty directly from GHOST WORLD. Clowes and Zwigoff might as well get story credit, so closely does Juno’s relationship with Bateman mirror the Birch/Buscemi aspect of the previous film.
for what it’s worth that line only seems to refer directly to the pregnancy in the trailer. In the film, after Juno shakes the pregnancy test vigorously in frustration (in hopes it may change), Wilson says, “It’s not an etch-a-sketch. this is one doodle that can’t be undid, home skillet” the home skillet is pretty bad, but then it’s Rainn Wilson saying it, the sort of thing he (or a guy like him, trying too hard to be hip/cool and failing miserably) would say it, so I’m willing to think it also works.
Just saw Sweeney Todd. Very entertaining but nowhere near as dark or deep as I’ve read. Rickman is very 1 dimensional and I thought the casting of Carter and Depp gave the film its edge but also its weakness.
They both looked far to modern goth, hip and cool to deliver the tragic edge that could have pushed the film to greatness. I have not seen the musical but I understand the characters are not meant to be as young and attractive. Bob Hoskins with Helen Mirren in the role would have been tragic. Depp and Carter were just…coooolll. All leather and black eye shadow. There were also some very campy moments of cheesy humour that felt very out of place.
These will definitely be hot Halloween costumes for the next few years.
Nevertheless, I did enjoy it and found it capitivating visually. Just also very superficial. Not emotional at all.
Do people even care what actors say and do politically anymore? If so, it would seem as if Vanessa Redgrave has really shot herself in the foot (maybe even both feet) this time. If this sort of thing matters, she might never get work in the U.S. again. There’s politics, but then, there’s stupidity.
I saw SWEENEY, too, and I can’t share any of the enthusiasm for it. I enjoyed it as a representation of the stage musical and was pleased and impressed with some of the changes brought on by the adaptation. They really “fixed” the Anthony character for me. Making him so young with a hint of crazy made that storyline work better for me than in the stage version. And they managed to make BY THE SEA, which is fairly throwaway in the musical into a highlight of the film.
I enjoyed Depp very much. I usually do. But his youth kept getting in my way. I don’t know if this is from being used to seeing middle-aged guys play it (I saw Bob Gunton live and have listened to copies of the original soundtrack too many times to mention.) or if it’s an intrisic problem, but it kind of got in my way. And though I enjoyed his performance (and some of Carter’s), the thinness of the vocals was a problem. So many times I wanted them to really tuck into the material and their voices just couldn’t get there. They were servicable, but hardly up to the task on a large scale.
And I actually missed some of the humor from previous versions. Usually Sweeney finds time to enjoy moments of the story (“Priest”, etc.). Even in his crazed bloodlust, the dark humor of it comes through him and that was missing for me. I greatly missed the diabolical/crazed laugh that usually punctuates the center of “Epiphany”. That psychotic triumphant laugh. And I wanted this Sweeney to get more of that out of the material. So, that lacked for me.
However, they had some really nice small things and there’s one line of dialogue that’s new for the screenplay that I’ll have to go back and see it again to get right. But I remember thinking it was a beautiful summation of these two characters. The way Carter played the locking of Toby in the bakehouse was heartbreaking.
So many nice little things (I’m a big enough dork to enjoy Rickman talking about his pornography collection just because I could hear Hans Gruber speaking it if he’d lived a different life.), but it didn’t make a satisfying whole for me. I wanted to love it, but I only have like for it. I’ll probably own it one day, but not the soundtrack. I wouldn’t want to just be able to listen to it.
While National Treasure was nothing more than a big silly action-adventure movie like they used to make. It was very cool to see a short before the film began. 46m for a movie geared towards families is a bit off the mark. The kids, Heat. THINK ABOUT THE KIDS!
I just got back from Sweeny Todd, I loved it. I’m not familar with the original show, so I have no frame of reference to compare it to. I thought Depp and Carter sung well enough, not hitting high notes but using the material as a springboard to great acting. They make you feel the meaning of the lyrics. I think Depp deserves the Oscar and I think it is Burton’s best work.
The theater I saw it at was sold out and it played very well. I could see this becoming a hit. I know I’m gonna go again.
“”This is one doodle that can’t be un-did, home skillet” may be the worst line of dialogue in any movie of 2007.
But maybe it’s just the way Rainn Wilson delivered it.”
Everything Rainn Wilson says is comedy gold.
Lex-
Amy Sherman-Palladino did pretty much the same thing on “Gilmore Girls.” All of the characters sounded like Lorelai and Rory
which was part of the show’s charm (until it burned itself out).
Love-love-love “Juno”! I think it’s a practically perfect movie that gets better with every viewing…and I’ve seen it 3 times already.
Diablo Cody brings a fresh, distinctive new voice to American cinema.
I just hope that she doesn’t get eaten up by the Hollywood machine.
Diablo Cody – is – the Hollywood machine. In full action and full force.
As I said before, writing will not be enough for this glory hound. Too under the wire. She will have a morning chat show or be on The View within the next 18 months.
Guaranteed.
I agree with the SWEENEY disappointment posts. It was good, but not great. (And why did it seem like the whole story took place over two days?) To my surprise and delight, I thought Carter was the best part of the film.
However, the real sinker of awards season for me is ATONEMENT. Good Lord! Saw it last night and could not believe how boring it was. The book is a masterpiece — the film is a mess.
The Goofy short that played in front of National Treasure: Book of Secrets was better than the movie itself. NT2 also beats out Hitman for the “Most Moronic Use of Subtitling” Award for 2007.
Roger Ebert should have come down on name-checking and hard given his high profile. By picking “Juno” as his #1 he drinks the name-checking Kool-Aid.
“Atonement” name-checks a movie that itself was promoted with name-checking. Not surprisingly it is sinking as filmfan states.
I just saw There Will Be Blood and it is unbelievably brilliant. I’m confused as to why people have made such a big deal about the last twenty-five minutes, as if the film takes some kind of radical left turn. It doesn’t. It fits in perfectly with the rest of the film and I don’t see why that last scene would scare off Academy voters more than anything else about the film.
Either way, it’s one of the best films of the year for sure and I’m going to see it again today.
Chucky, would you please explain why you have this vendetta? As if I’m a very small, ignorant child who has never heard of name-checking?
You literally do not make sense to me.
Jeff; now you know how you make me feel :D. That aside, JBM, the sub-titles are for international release. While Nicol seeming ignores what Diablo Cody can do for a living… write for her own TV show. If she’s going to rip-off ASP (Burnt out my ass. Rosenthal couldnt write his way out of a corner). She might as well go all the way.
Sweeney Todd at the Vista yesterday (still the best theatre in Los Angeles, if not optimum picture/sound quality): I’ve never been a Tim Burton fan aside from a few films, but I thought he delivered as well as one could imagine, though I’m not familiar with the stage version either. What Depp lacked in vocal range he seemed to make up for in salesmanship, but I can’t for the life of me imagine how anyone could see this as Oscar-worthy. What did he really do here that we haven’t seen before? Sing? Unless the Academy is dying to throw something at him (which I’m not convinced they are), it doesn’t seem emotional or unique enough of a performance to warrant that kind of acclaim.
What hit me the most was Sondeim’s score, which is just so good . I respect Danny Elfman but he sounds like an amateur compared to this giant. While the musical didn’t have more than a couple very memorable “tunes” (I recognized it’s more opera and not something as song-based as something like Chicago or Hairspray), the repeated theme of Johanna is amazing and gave the film more emotional undercurrent than the leads were able to. The young actors, clearly more trained than the stars, made up for their slight characterizations with their singing skills.
This was clearly a passion project for Burton and I admire the gusto he showed in his visuals, and I do think he tried to give the film a big, bloody, beating heart. But I wonder what someone with more stage experience like Hugh Jackman could have done with this role. He might not have looked as perfect as Depp (though if you imagine Wolverine’s hair with the white streak it’s a good starting point), but I think he would have surprised everyone.
How’d you see THERE WILL BE BLOOD, Noah!!?? I’m dying to see it…dyiiiing to!! And, it’s holding up my year end top ten.
Jeff, IO: Name-checking is an easy and lazy way to promote movies. It’s also become very addictive to the industry — like crack.
Sure, but that doesn’t explain your years-long vendetta against it and your insistence on judging movies based on whether or not the marketing team has chosen to use that particular tactic or not.
Nicol, what –? Diablo Cody is a glory hound because she’s smart enough to capitalize on having her first screenplay be so successful and try to parlay that into a career in the cutthroat environment of Hollywood? Please.
I’m so sick of the Diablo-bashing from all the haters. She’s a fake because she doesn’t use her real name professionally — like THAT never happens in Hollywood. Or she’s a Bad Girl because she wrote a book about being a stripper and then had the audacity to write a screenplay sharper and with more heart than most of the schleps out in Hollywood who are trying to write scripts could churn out in their wettest dreams.
I interviewed Diablo at Telluride, and she didn’t strike me as remotely fake or insincere; she was humbled and a little blown away by the reception JUNO was getting there, and seemed smart enough to realize ahead of time that she’d be taking shit from certain corners.
The only way the hipper-than-thou smartass anti-Diablo crowd will shut up is if she ends up knocking it out of the park with “Jennifer’s Body” and her pilot for Showtime. I sincerely hope she does so. I love “Juno” — both the written script and the film — and I’d love to see her kick ass all over Hollywood.
Nicol, what –? Diablo Cody is a glory hound because she’s smart enough to capitalize on having her first screenplay be so successful and try to parlay that into a career in the cutthroat environment of Hollywood? Please.
I’m so sick of the Diablo-bashing from all the haters. She’s a fake because she doesn’t use her real name professionally — like THAT never happens in Hollywood. Or she’s a Bad Girl because she wrote a book about being a stripper and then had the audacity to write a screenplay sharper and with more heart than most of the schleps out in Hollywood who are trying to write scripts could churn out in their wettest dreams.
I interviewed Diablo at Telluride, and she didn’t strike me as remotely fake or insincere; she was humbled and a little blown away by the reception JUNO was getting there, and seemed smart enough to realize ahead of time that she’d be taking shit from certain corners.
The only way the hipper-than-thou smartass anti-Diablo crowd will shut up is if she ends up knocking it out of the park with “Jennifer’s Body” and her pilot for Showtime. I sincerely hope she does so. I love “Juno” — both the written script and the film — and I’d love to see her kick ass all over Hollywood.
Kim-
You don’t post enough here to know what Nicol Savage O’Reilly is all about. The mere fact that a liberalish WOMAN is making waves and wrote a really great little film must make his right side twitch like he’s having a Hillary Clinton induced stroke.