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” ā 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 ā 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 ā he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” ā and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging ā I was with her at that moment ā 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 namedā” “Yeah, sure ā 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 Iām on the phone with you now, after all thatās 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 didnāt seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. Thereās not a case of that. He wasnāt using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had ā if that were what the accusation involved ā 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. Iām not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, āYou know, itās not this, itās thatā? Because ā let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. TimesĀ piece, thatās what it lacked. Thatās 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
Some time next week then,
I’m staying out of the spoiler review, but thank DP for his level-headed and balanced review. I must however, take issue with your assertion that it’s odd that the original movies were not reissued theatrically like the Star Wars trilogy a decade ago. The key distinction is that the Star Wars re-release was essentially a proving ground for digital effects for Lucas, before commencing work on the prequels. And the thrill for many was not seeing the movies on the big screen once more, but simply picking out the new and enhanced footage. The Indy’s simply don’t have a similar hook on which you could hang a re-release. At least not on 2000+ screens. Okay, you could tidy up a couple of dated matte shots and maybe toss in a few CG camels, but that’s not going to get you much of an opening weekend. Instead they’ve repackaged the DVD’s for the soccer mom set, which may be anathema to fans but is probably a sounder investment.
the thrill for many was not seeing the movies on the big screen once more, but simply picking out the new and enhanced footage.
Couldn’t disagree with this more. For everyone I knew who saw it, it was a chance to see a clean print with updated sound.
I’m not reading any of this, including the comments, but I just have to wonder what the purpose is in opening a spoiler thread for a movie that hasn’t been released. Just so people can pat each other on the back, saying they’ve seen it too?
Because I’ve seen it bitches and there are aliens!
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No seriously there are. And Poland already warned you.
I liked it. I’ve said so elsewhere. It ain’t perfect, but it sure is fun. I think Poland has made a mountain out of a molehill in his complaints about it (sorta like the Paramount logo -speaking of which, I loved seeing the old school logo).
This was a fun movie. A nuclear blast, Alan Dale and monkeys? What more could you want? The campus bike ride was fun. The big damn ants were insane and those aliens looked somewhat familiar – maybe the relatives of those that would come to pick up Richard Dreyfuss 20 years or so on down the road?
Plus Harrison looks like he hasn’t had this much fun on film in at least 19 years. Go figure. Even if they plan on passing it on to Shia, I really hope Ford’s back for one more full length adventure. And soon.
So I liked it fine. It reminds me of The Lost World: a movie that didn’t need to be made, but they can, so why not, and let’s just toss in these elements and throw it all together. The first third or half in the U.S. feels a lot stronger than the rest where it gets mired in the sameness of the jungle stuff and it lacks a real central spine of purpose, but it’s exciting and entertaining enough.
No need for a “The Indiana Jones Adventures Featuring Henry the 3rd” movie, whatsoever, though.
David, the bombing of Hiroshima is a major plot point of EMPIRE OF THE SUN, but I for the life of me can’t recall if the explosion is seen in any meaningful way.
other than wishing I had the chance to see it in ENGLISH (instead of dubbed in Spanish)…
I wish they had trimmed those fight sequences a bit! Area 51, the Jungle sword fight and car chase etc… a few minutes off the top would have made it leaner and meaner!
Loved catching the winks to the previous films: the music from the end of Raiders as they entered the hangar! the glimpse of the Arc. I’m sure there were more in the dialogue but must have been lost in translation.
Had fun in any case! And I’ll sign on for another adventure any day! (but without those freaky groundhogs please! or were they gophers?)
I agree with a lot of the stuff you said Dave. All your positives are true. And most of the negatives too. That ant sequence was annoying because they could’ve cut it and no harm would’ve been done. Just like the bug scene in King Kong! The waterfall bit too was so… odd. Like… huh? And I too thought the cars-in-the-jungle bit couldve been great but it was too CGIed and then just went on too long. Also thought that, for a big blockbuster movie that felt absent of overblown visual effects, the finale was particularly strange. All swirling rocks and barely even getting the chance to experience the alien stuff. Ugh! And how come they had those little kids in the ruins to, again, have absolutely nothing to do with the movie. They were just there. Did they hide there until somebody came along?
I did love the moment Indy saw Marion. That was so cute.
I also agreed greatly with a lot of Dave’s insightful comments with the exception of Mutt Williams. It wouldn’t have been as interesting if he immediately started kicking ass like Indy. He was a young kid on his first adventure, so it made sense that Indy, and even his mom, would be more self-assured and unflappable.
None of my friends agreed, but I thought the atomic bomb test sequence was one of the few moments of brilliance.
Did anyone else feel there was a lack of skill in the filmmaking? The direction was not nearly as crisp and visually stimulating, especially with the chase scenes, as the previous Indies. And the editing was terrible.
There were so many shots that lingered for a few seconds too long, and the pacing was really off kilter. There was no narrative momentum at all.
I thought the editing was terrific, and combined with Spielberg’s direction shows that the old guys can still make a better action sequence than almost everybody out there.
Narrative momentum is a different ball of wax, though.
Yes, the editing was way off. Scenes that start too early and end too late. Have you ever seen a lamer climax to a car chase than that Marcus head falling onto the car? The audience deflated. and the ADR was atrocious in a movie of this budget.
Spielberg should have watched DEATH PROOF to see how you can do an old school car chase without a dollop of pixel. I blame Lucas.
re: editing and ADR, I disagree.
re: car chases, there’s actually no small amount of CGI in Death Proof, and it’s a lot easier to shoot a car chase on a closed-off country road with two cars than in the middle of a jungle on no roads with three or four vehicles, and Spielberg showed that he still knows how to do it better.
Did anybody else think that car chase on the edge of thd cliff was a little bit of a nod to The Castle of Cagliostro, of which Spielberg has said features one of the greatest car chases of all time?
I saw it yesterday, and while I had fun, it was all a blur. so many things, people we haven’t seen in forever, it was a bit much to take in. I need to see it again to truly know how I feel about the movie, in terms of sizing it up amongst the previous films.