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
There’s something about Hancock that is rubbing geeks the wrong way, but I agree it will make shitloads of money. The Eddie Murphy Dave movie on the other hand is a box office ? if you ask me. That over 100 mill # is DP Murphy nepotism. I’d put Hancock’s Berg in the same camp except coincidently the # is probably right. I don’t think even Klumps made that much and it opened big.
$48 million for Speed Racer? You mean $22 million less than 21?
Hancock is rubbing geeks the wrong way? Really? It sort of works. The geeks seem to have a hate-on for Will Smith for some reason. So I can see them hating on Hancock early. Before they stand in line to see the movie opening weekend. Geeks, man: they bug me out.
Heat: how in the Owen Hart can you freakin get Speed Racer to such a degree, but type this silliness about Iron-Man? Oh yeah… this silliness is brought you in… OLBERMANN STYLE!
“Iron Man – A short, obnoxious drunk who is unconcerned with the murder of people using weapons that are for show but with which he has no emotional connection…”
You read the comic. You should know why he does what he does: he’s brilliant. He creates things because he can. He simply never cared about the ramifications of what his brillance was costing the world.
“…and who has a tall, blonde female near-slave who does all he wants without expecting anything other than a check in return (and not really caring much about the check)”
You work in freakin HOLLYWOOD and you are hating on someone having an ASSISTANT! Shamefuck, Heat. Shamefuck.
“…who does all he wants without expecting anything other than a check in return (and not really caring much about the check) is transformed into a short, obnoxious not-so-drunk hero in a really cool suit who takes real concern about who he kills (though his only real emotional connection is rage against those who hurt him personally”
Uh no. It’s the MISSION, HEAT! They have Tony Stark explain his intentions, and you still post this silliness? He’s also not taking his rage out on anyone. The people who just happen to be responsible for making him the “walking dead”, are the same assholes making people’s lives hell. You also need to realize… the brother is not that short. He’s if anything, average height for an American Adult Male.
“…and who has a tall, blonde female near-slave who does all he wants without expecting anything other than a check in return (and not really caring much about the check) and by the end, maybe a roll in the hay.”
Did you pretty much miss the part at the end of the movie where Pepper is written to state that they did not have a MOMENT? Seriously… this is ridiculous criticism, but it represents you in a nutshell. You can GET a movie better than most critics working on this planet, but when you do not GET a movie. You really do not get a movie. Iron-Man being the most recent example of your lack of “not getting it.”
jeebus, you are such a mindless freak….
How am I a mindless freak? Why on earth do I — of all people — rub you the wrong way? I am pointing out easy plot-points Heat obviously ignores, but I am a mindless freak? Please. I can respond to you in ways that you can never respond to me. This does not make you mindless. Nor does it make me superiour. It just means that you are being a fucking asshole to a stranger on the internet for no good reason.
Norbit – $95.7m
The Haunted Mansion – $75.8m
Daddy Day Care – $104.3m
Dr. Dolittle 2 – $113m
The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps – $123.3m
===========
Did someone on 21 blow you, Joe?
It’s not a good movie. I don’t care if it made $200 million. Money doesn’t make it good.
But if you love it, you love it. What is the OCD?
========
IO – I don’t care whether he has an assistant… it is her role as love interest that is iffy at best.
There is no mission. He makes his own mission.
They have “a moment.” Profound.
The Thin Red Line — $36.4m
Solaris — $14.9m
Phantom of the Opera — $51.2
Win a Date With Ted Hamilton — $17.07m
So there! LOL.
BTW: What is it that you have against Eddie Murphy when he’s not in a musical?
The difference is, two of the above are actually good movies that were never going to make more than they did. Seeing that TTRL made as much as it did is actually fairly amazing.
DP, you’re forgetting that Joe loves to annoy people.
Since when is Iron Man/Tony Stark/Robert Downey Jr. short?
What are you talking about, Joe? I was one of the few who didn’t overpan Daddy Day Care or Norbit.
And I am deeply amused that you have four whole examples in a decade of movies I like that underperformed at the box office. (I won’t mention the well deserved Best Picture nod for Thin Red Line… oops!)
Uh… have any of those of your curious about his height met Robert?
He’s not short in the movie.
Oh, and not that you care, but how is Favreau’s Iron Man (which you dislike) significantly different from Lee/Kirby/co.’s Iron Man (your favorite comic book character of all time)? I don’t get the differences, even from your own description.
uh…i’ve met downey several times and he’s always not tall……
along the downey line….
frequent poster ‘christian’ repremanded me for not transferring my twenty years of analog interviews to digital….so i am…..
and just listened to the robert downey jr. interview from ‘restoration’ where he calls hugh grant a no-talent cunt who he wanted to punch out……and he’s just shit-faced….good times….
For the most part those Murphy movies are known commodities. Meet Dave is not, although it has similarities to Innerspace. Not to put it in with the Showtimes, Pluto Nash, I Spy, or Holy Man, but lets just say that you’re optimistic to put Dave at $110 mill. That Day Care made good $$ and Day Care 2 bombed is a sign that Murphy is still money, but $70-80 mill is a reasonable expectation for Dave.
Sorry, Dave, but you might want to revise those Iron Man numbers – it had a very strong Friday night, according to Fantasy Moguls and Narnia really underperformed with just $18 million – it will probably just break $50 million, which is over $30 million less than what I was thinking.
Not sure what happened, it looked like Disney marketed the hell out of this thing. Iron Man is probably going to break $30 million in its third weekend and now has an outside shot of cracking $300 million.
The comedies are still the under-reported story – Baby Mama and Forgetting Sarah Marshall are heading for over $65 million, while ‘Vegas held well and now has a shot at $80 million.
I am having my doubts about Indiana Jones, but the Memorial Day Weekend now seems clear for a huge opening.
Could Paramount possibly have the biggest month ever for a studio? Iron Man and Indy might combine for over $400 million before the month is over.
I rather liked “Kung Fu Panda.”
The animation is really quite lovely, and I was relieved that–unlike the majority of DreamWorks CGI ‘toons (blame “Shrek”)–the dialogue isn’t dripping with smarmy pop-culture references.
24 hours to go ’til “Indy” and I’m still not feeling it, tho, guys.
And despite Dave’s venomous dissing of “S&TC,” I cannot frigging wait until May 27th when New Line finally lets us Clevelanders see it. Just wish that it wasn’t 145, gulp, minutes.
Mr. Poland, you strike me as being just a tad too bitter over the fact that Iron Man is a huge hit and a movie that is enjoyed by so many. And the fact that Speed Racer is the opposite is really really bugging you. And now someone is posting here a part of a very very old interview Downey did when he was in the midst of his addiction! wow.. that is sure fair isn’t it!! what a crappy thing to do. Were you never drunk or loaded and said stupid things? Jesus Christ. I thought people just posted like this on AICN but I guess I am wrong. And not trying to rub it in David,but it looks like Iron Man is having another great weekend. Looks like it will do a bit better than that amount you said it will top out at.. was that 180 million! 🙂 looks like it has gone by that and then some. You know we all cannot be right all the time. But to then get bitter and attack is just very childish.
I think the Hulk is going to make way more than The Happening. Besides that Hulk is PG-13 and The Happening is R, the latter just looks more and more like a stinker. The extended clip made me cringe, and not for the right reasons.
Oh, and He’s Just Not That Into has been moved to October I believe.
I don’t know. I’m still looking forward to “The Happening” more than “Hulk” re-do. Kind of curious to see what M. Night is gonna do with his first-ever “R” rating. As someone who didn’t have any major problems with Ang Lee’s underrated “Hulk” five years ago, I don’t even understand the whole “makeover” thing.
Speaking of date changes for rom-coms, has Lions Gate moved that putrid-looking Kate Hudson/Dane Cook “My Best Friend’s Girl” from fall to summer? Could’ve sworn that I saw the “s” word on the trailer this past week.
“…and who has a tall, blonde female near-slave who does all he wants without expecting anything other than a check in return (and not really caring much about the check)”
Pepper Potts has been a redhead for over forty-five years. How could claim you saw the movie and not notice the color of the leading lady’s hair?
And in another correction, Batman RETURNS was the one with the Penguin & Catwoman, not Batman BEGINS. That confused for a good ten seconds.
HAH!! good one PolarBear 2! Yes Pepper has been a red head for many years! And one added thing here since we are still talking about Iron Man and this is about your commenting on Downey being short. He has been on many talk shows and joked about how tall Gwyneth is. He is not above making a joke about things like that so it kind of takes the sting out of you making fun of how tall he is. And really you know it does not matter. I have read many comment on how great their chemistry was and it is just one more aspect that adds to the success of this movie.
“He’s Just Not That Into You” was moved to October as seymour said. That’s so WB can promote it as starring “Academy Award Winner Ben Affleck”. Watch as such blatant Oscar-whoring does a “Gigli” opposite “High School Musical 3” (yes, a theatrical release rather than TV).
“My Best Friend’s Girl” is still a fall release and (contra movieman) will not be moved to summer.
Chucky, you’ve become a parody of yourself. Someone could easily program an algorithm that posts your thoughts each week.
I personally don’t give a damn whether “My Best Friend’s Girl” (does anyone remember the same-named ’83 Bertrand Blier film with Isabelle Huppert? now that was a movie!) goes straight to dvd.
But the trailer I saw this week most definitely said “Summer.” Whether this was an early trailer before the date was changed to fall; or a new one reflecting a bump from fall to summer, I have no idea. And like I said earlier, I don’t much give a damn. I was just passing (trivial) information along since someone had referenced a date change for another rom-com (“He’s Just Not That Into You”) which looks marginally better.
The important question, Chuck, is whether Lions Gate will advertise “MBFG” as starring “Oscar nominee Kate Hudson.”
Also, The International – moved to February,
Wild Child was replaced by Universal with Death Race on Aug. 22 (maybe to avoid The House Bunny on the same date and hoping Paul Anderson can get Mortal Kombat numbers out of that similar date).
Romeo… I don’t really give a damn how much money Iron Man makes or doesn’t make. People like to set up this spin that I am rooting in some way other than critically. But alas, I am not.
I didn’t care how much Transformers made either. Or Mission: Impossible III. Or even the horrible Da Vinci code.
Money does not equal quality. Never has. Money first equals marketing skill, then popularity. Same as it ever was.
Did I see your argument somewhere that The Day After Tomorrow was a quality film because it did $550 million worldwide? You want to argue the quality of Shrek The Third, an $800 million draw? You want to discuss the quality of Red rDragon vs Bourne Identity, as they grossed about the same amount?
Iron Man is what it is. If you disagree with me, disagree with me. Trying to argue my emotional state is a fool’s errand. Are you a fool?
As for Pepper Potts, the hair in the film is not terribly red… I’m a journalist, not a colorist… but mostly, I so don’t care at this point…
You did not see my argument “somewhere” about “The Day After Tomorrow” because I never made a statement anywhere about it and could care less. I know very well that money does not equal quality so honestly you really were wrong there too if you think that is what I believe. Most of my favorite movies are small indy movies with less than zero budgets. I was commenting on a vibe I got and I guess I was wrong. It is not the first time I was wrong and won’t be the last. I am sure you could care less about Iron Man. At the same time, do not assume I feel a certain way about movies just because I am commenting on this one.
Chuck, WB could advertise it as starring “Academy Award winner Ben Affleck” now if they wanted. I don’t understand what moving it to October means for your theory. Can Academy Award winners not be namechecked during the summer? STOP MAKING NO SENSE!
You know what movie I’m really cheering for this summer? The House Bunny! For no other reason than Anna Faris deserves the career that so many others have. That her Gregg Araki-directed stoner comedy Smiley Face didn’t get onto more than one screen was actually a bit depressing, and that’s not even mentioning it’s lack of an international release (oh, except for France!)
Plus, we need summer movies like it and S&tC and Mamma Mia and even The Happening that aren’t just guns and cars and explosions and the like.
Here’s a question – how come nobody seems to be able to get the look of the Hulk right? In both movies the monster looked like ridiculously bad CGI.
i know someone who knows someone who knows someone who’s supposedly seen ‘the happening’ (heresay to the extreme) and said it’s really stink. just thought i’d mention it.