Okay folks… here is the challenge of the night.
A remake of My Fair Lady with Daniel Day-Lewis as Henry Higgins and Keira Knightley and Eliza Doolittle is in the works. So who would you cast to play Alfred P. Doolitle, Colonel Pickering, and the lovesick Freddy Eynsford-Hill?
My picks, off hand, would be Jim Broadbent, Willem Dafoe, and James Marsden.
Your turn.
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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
Well, it’s kinda-sorta difficult to accept your basic premise, because Day-Lewis is entirely too young for the part. But if I did accept it:
Michael Caine, Tom Wilkinson and Jude Law.
May it die the excruciating, interminable death it deserves.
Not that I’m against remakes.
Well, Rex was apparently 56 when his version was released. Daniel is currently 50. By the time this would be up and running and in theaters, depending on the speed, I imagine maybe a 4 year difference at most…
Bill Nighy, Michael Gambon and Jim Sturgess.
hmmmmmm……gayest. post. ever…..and your picks are faboo…..
April Fool’s is still six days away.
Regardless, Jim Broadbent would be in any version of this no matter what.
Does James Marsden REALLY need to do any more camp/musical/queeny movies? That dude’s cinematic testosterone count makes Nathan Lane look like Waingro from HEAT.
Oh, and this just in:
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY OWNS YOUR ASS. Hottest woman in the HISTORY OF THE PLANET. But I wish she’d go back to contempo roles like THE JACKET and BECKHAM and DOMINO. She’s awesome and all, but she’s wasting her years of PRIME HOTNESS all covered up in period clothes.
BRING BACK THE ‘DRIFF, HOTNESS.
Cirian Hinds would have to clock in.
Domino sucks.
In these ages, I would take it another way and perhaps put Thandie Newton in the role of Eliza. Or Aishwarya Rai (Bride and Prejudice). Or how about Ziyi Zhang. Or someone Hispanic… Penny Cruz? Or how about Oksana Akinshina (Lila 4-Ever… the beautiful Russian girl to whom Bourne confesses at the end of Supremacy).
Oof, wait, this isn’t actually happening, right?
Either Nighy or Broadbent for Dolittle, no question.
I’d say Sascha Baron Cohen for Pickering.
And I think Ewan McGregor would kill on “The Street Where You Live,” but he’s gettin’ on in years, so maybe James McAvoy to reteam with Keira? Do we know if he can sing?
Just you wait, David Poland, just you wait…
Ian McKellen as Pickering.
Jim Sturgess as Freddy.
But maybe McKellen as Alfred Doolittle instead of the more-obvious Broadbent casting for that role.
“With a Little Bit of Luck” and “Get Me to the Church on Time” would be pretty fun in McKellen’s boisterous hands.
Or, maybe Tom Courtenay as Alfred.
P.S. There’s a very underrated “concert” recording with Jeremy Irons as Higgins, Kiri Te Kanawa as Eliza and John Gielgud as Pickering. Te Kanawa kind of sucked as it wasn’t really her thing, but I managed to use my college radio station’s equipment to turn it into a Jeremy Irons/Julie Andrews cast recording, which worked kind of well. If you liked Irons’ work in “Lion King,” his Higgins is kind of fun.
Bob Hoskins played Arthur on the 1997 studio cast recording, so there’s another idea.
If this news is true then that is a remake I actually will look forward to seeing. Day-Lewis can do no wrong in my book and I get tired of the Keira bashing. She is actually quite beautiful.
It is also a timeless story that can be retold for a new generation.
if they have to put together such a bad idea (how can anything surpass the original? and I can’t imagine any of those actors singing… perhaps if they did Pygmalion instead…)
then by all means Julie Andrews as Henry Higgins mother! ;o) (so she can finally be in the film)
Doolittle: Alfred Molina;
Pickering: Ciaran Hinds;
Freddy: Tom Payne
Come on, DDL wouldn’t go near this with a ten-foot pole. He’d probably appear in Nolan’s third Batman film before this. I actually like Broadbent for Higgins, if we’re going to approach the Harrison-Hepburn age difference.
Michael Caine is probably too old for Doolittle but I’d like to see it. Might not be able to pull of those big numbers, unfortunately. Suggesting anyone huge for Pickering is a bit of a waste, as there’s not much to the role. Some lesser-known British character actor would probably be fine.
McGregor as Freddy mentioned above is a great choice, and corrects what was the weak link in the original. I don’t think he’s too old at all, still looks pretty fresh-faced.
And I would love to see Knightley attempt playing poor. Personally, I don’t think she could do it, but I’m sure they said the same thing about Audrey. Emily Mortimer would probably do a much better job with it, assuming she can sing.
If they can’t get Daniel Day-Lewis, well, they can always get Luke Thompson doing the worst Plainview imitation on the planet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAcxgP077rw
Nice homophobia, Scooterzz. Maybe someday you’ll be man enough to be less of a stereotype.
And no, this is no April Fool’s Day item.
Okay, so it’s for real. Did we need further confirmation that you love musicals more than most?
And it could only work with a really strong, unexpected director, not anybody who has a Step Up on their resume or a Shankman in their name. Mike Leigh?
Another idiot heard from.
Hmmm, aren’t you the guy who always says “attack my opinion, not me”?
But of course, in addition to not being able to admit that you love musicals, you also can’t admit when you’re a hypocrite.
What makes you think that Daniel Day Lewis wouldn’t do it, lazarus?
Let me be clear, I don’t have a problem with your musical-philia. It’s somewhat charming. It just seems to be associated with a minor cognitive dissonance.
Gotta admit, I think the idea of a “My Fair Lady” remake is sort of cool.
If Johnny Depp can do a musical, why not DDL? It doesn’t even matter if he can sing since the most famous Higgins (Rex Harrison) talk-sung his way through the role anyway. But can Keira sing? She might be a little too glam for the role of Eliza (a young Emily Mortimer would be perfect), though, don’t you think?
And who’s scheduled to direct this shebang, Dave? I love Jeff’s Mike Leigh suggestion, but that’s probably as unlikely as Ken Loach coming on board, lol.
Just remember, Leigh already did a musical of sorts (Topsy-Turvy) and it was set in the right period, more or less, too.
But no studio would hire him unless DDL pushed for him.
Also, re: DDL, I have a really hard time seeing him in this role. I can only consider him as young, glum, horny Newland Archer from The Age of Innocence.
J-Mc… every once and a while, you just need someone to smack you upside the head.
Of course I love good musicals… and I love good straight plays… and I love good movies… and I love good classical music… and I love good reggae… and I love all kinds of things, you can’t-see-past-one-idea, stereotyping, simplistic goof.
Do you even think about what the subtext of a dumb statement like the one above is? It’s a narrow and obnoxious as any stereotyping. “He mentioned a musical” is for you like, “He said ‘doody’… heh heh… heh heh”
You’re not adding to the conversation. All you are doing is trying to put me in a corner because you have no range yourself.
When someone like Scooterzz exposes his overt homophobia on something like this, so be it. But you are more insidious. You claim to have truth and balance on your side, but you are slinging mud like Scoot and then trying to make it my fault.
If you were remotely as interested in the truth instead of being “clever,” you would put the 20 references to musicals I make on this blog in a year in the context of the many hundreds of entries, the 10s of thousands of words, I write each year. But instead, it feels like you wait until I mention a musical so you can use it like a scarlet letter, like some homophobic thought nazi.
I have never said I don’t love a great musical… or any other form of the arts. But they get no more play in this forum than any of the other work I engage, day after day, week after week, year after year. And forgive me if it feels like childish name calling on your part after a while, but you know… really… fuck off… find another dumb drum to beat because I am not your victim or your mean daddy. And you don’t begin to have the intellectual skills to even dream of patronizing, you child. (And I don’t care how old you are… you act like a petulant child far too often to be taken seriously.)
Go get some culture in your life. Try going to the theater or reading a book or something. I love movies. I love theater. I love all kinds of shit. But there is nothing that I love for singularly. Not even musicals.
How is it that Keira Knightley can suddenly sing? Didn’t she lose the lead role in Phantom after a less than stellar audition? Even if she’s had lessons since then, I have a difficult time imagining her pulling off the songs that proficiently. Why not Anne Hathaway or Kate Winslet?
You don’t seem to love METAL. They should do a movie about SLAYER or MEGADETH instead of this happy-happy shit. METAL OWNS YOUR ASS.
Anyway, Poland is laying laws today. AWESOME.
WHO CARES IF KEIRA CAN SING, WHICH SHE PROBABLY CAN ANYWAY. SHE’S HOT. HOTTTTTTTT.
Just put her in some cute little outfits and flash that British smile, and it’s all good.
KEIRA OWNS.
dp — ouch, harsh…. i wasn’t using ‘gay’ as a pejorative and i think your immediate assumption that it is a pejorative indicates a bit of homophobia on your part….
i was simply stating an opinion….
Not sure I buy that, Scoot.
How do you suggest that your intent was not pejorative? How else could you read it?
And by what standard would this be “the gayest post ever” anyway? Are all musicals, “gay?” Is an old Oscar winner being remade, “gay?” Daniel Day-Lewis?
If you want to play that game, please offer up some substance. And if I was wrong, I will happily apologize.
I don’t know, his second sentence — “and your picks are faboo” — seemed to hint that he was either being entirely ironic or even basking in this news. I guess you could also read it as dismissive or mocking, but at first glance it seemed like good-natured jest.
PLAINVIEW = A GOD. MOST AWESOME CHARACTER EVER.
David, I know you think you’re right, but this is an issue in which you apparently lack perspective. Like I just said in my later post, I think it’s great that you love what you love and there’s no reason for you to stop or apologize. The subject came up in the earliest place because it was clear that you were giving musical films more attention than others, the same way you give more attention to Scorsese films or Wachowski films or Meirelles films. And that’s your prerogative. But there’s a disconnect between _your_ constant claim of truth and balance and your status as just another guy writing about movies – granted, one who’s been doing it for a long time, and who makes a living off of it, but one with his own tastes and peccadilloes like anybody.
I’m sorry that this is apparently in irritant to you, but just like you said, sometimes you need to be smacked upside the head as well. And there’s also a severe disconnect between constantly seeking out me for abuse and name-calling, when there are about a dozen other posters over the years who are worse abusers – but who simply had the discretion to go after other posters and not the Big Cheese.
Anyway, best wishes and no hard feelings on my end.
thanks, lex…that’s exactly what it was, ‘a good-natured jest’…
Jeff… you go do the homework and then come back to teach me something.
If all you get out of this is that I wrote a lot about some movies in some periods, then your comprehension levels are for shit. I give attention to what grabs my attention. And really, who wasn’t covering Dreamgirls two years ago? Seriously… a little fucking perspective, please.
And the reason I came after you is because you aim so fucking low and so fucking often that you put yourself in harms way.
I don’t really care whether you post here or not. You are as much a cheap shot artist as anyone in here and you post many multiples of anyone else’s comments. If you had enough juice to smack me, you would. But you are a spitball guy. And yeah, now and again, I just want to shove that straw down your throat. That doesn’t mean I am not vain or obnoxious or wrong many times a week, month, or year. But you’re in my house. Don’t pee on my floor just to amuse yourself.
David, I’m sorry to have annoyed you, but I don’t agree with your assessments, and I think we should leave it at that.
I’m very familiar with “Topsy Turvy” (it’s one of my favorite Mike Leigh movies), which is why I thought MCM’s (half-jesting?) suggestion that Leigh direct the “Fair Lady” remake was actually a brilliantly inspired notion.
But he’s also right that no H’wood studio would ever sign off on it; unless DDL and Keira went to the mat for him big time.
If it gets made at all (a big “if”), the gig will probably go to a Shankman-ish hack.
While we’re on the subject of musicals (and why the **** not?!?!), when are they going to do “Jersey Boys”? On stage it felt like the jukebox musical Martin Scorsese never made; plus, it’s a real natural for the silver screen. And I truly believe that, with a few more years of seasoning under his belt, current “A.I.” contestant David Archuletta would make a kickass Frankie Valli someday.
If it was 20-odd years ago, I’d elect Milos Forman to direct the (inevitable) film version of “Spring Awakening.” Forman’s “Hair” is one of the greatest B’way-to-screen movie musicals of all time.
Thirded on the vote for Mike Leigh to direct.
Stephen Frears would seem more like the “studio” choice (or one of the Working Title regulars like Mike Newell), but I actually think Frears could do a bang-up job as well.
Pickering: Tom Conti.
Doolittle: Michael Caine.
Freddy: James McAvoy.
I have spoken.
I actually want this to go ahead. DDL and Keira? And with Mike Leigh directing would be definitely one to keep and eye on.
Keira, by the way, sings in her new film. The one with Sienna Miller.