May 18, 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
thanks for posting that, david poland, looks intriguing. my boy di caprio is all grown up now and hairy, i feel like a proud mama.
i’m embarrassed to say i haven’t really loved any of ridley’s work for what feels like an eternity, since ‘thelma and louise’ i guess (except for ‘matchstick men’, i have a real soft spot for that). i hope ridley can do it for me again.
SIR Ridley Scott.
He got knighted for being awesome.
Of course this will completely rule (though isn’t this the same trailer that was attached to TDK a month ago?)
Leah, sorry, hotness, but American Gangster, Black Hawk Down, Hannibal, and Gladiator are all masterpieces, and certainly better than that Geena Davis mugfest Thelma and Louise.
American Gangster is a bland rehash of much better movies, BHD is numbing and a little offensive…but I like the other two.
Politics look obvious and the satellite stuff gives me the Enemy of the State willies, but I hope it’s great. Not to get that overrated conversation going again, but American Gangster, Good Year and Hannibal kinda blew as did the theatrical cut of Kingdom. He hasn’t made a movie that connected to me on an emotional level since Thelma. But Black Rain is still pretty great.
Since leah acknowledged it and I agree, I didn’t reassert this, but Matchstick Men is a total delight and one of his most likable films.
Black Hawk Down COMMANDS you.
(I liked Good Year, too. And 1492. And Black Rain is a MASTERPIECE of Lexness.)
This is certainly a different trailer… and thank god for that. Now it looks interesting; there is, for a two minute piece, excitement, but more importantly for a film with this material, nuance and irony. But I have to concede, when that is stretched out over two hours, it could become formulaic and risible. I do think, without stating the obvious, that it will depend very heavily on how the last reel is handled. If they can pull off something intelligent, I think they are home.
We’ve had this debate before as to it will be nothing more than a Tony Scott picture, but I think the elements in this trailer pull it away from most anything Bruckheimer has done (with the exception of Black Hawk Down… but then that had the Knight at the helm).
Can’t agree LexG, Thelma and Louise is still a landmark film. SIR Ridley very rarely repeats himself. He almost always goes out of his way to create new worlds in his films. But with Thelma and Louise, he not only stretched himself with the material, he reigned in severely his visual flair (and still managed to present a great looking movie). That film, above every other he has done, is the nearest thing his nearest to a straight character study (Matchstick Men, which I really enjoy comes close). The only thing that dates Thelma and Louise is that feminism has moved into a third wave (a la, Sex and the City).
I am delighted that this new trailer has been cut. I think they could score very big with this. Thrills plus intelligence.
all that ‘sir’ stuff is pompous bullshit (and i live in the commonwealth)
sloanish, you and i appear ‘onagi’ on this one; ‘black hawk’ was pretty harrowing but didn’t grab my innards, ‘hannibal’ and ‘gladiator’ were suckolicious, and ‘gangster’ was luke-warm, but that’s just me. i like ‘black rain’ (decapitation via motorbike is always a treat), but ‘t & l’ is a classic that will endure for the ages, or some such shit
and lex, ‘matchstick’ is utterly delightful, i think all the 18 people who saw it would agree
All the supporting stuff in Thelma and Louise is maximum awesomeness: CHRIS MCDONALD, Keitel owning, Pitt in his breakout role…
But you’re really gonna put two 40-ish women giggling and wearing stupid hats up against Denzel or Crowe laying motherfuckers out?
I like the hair commercial.
Yes.
Matchstick Men would have been a good movie if it had been directed by somebody who didn’t need to overwhelm the story and characters with unnecessary visual bombast. It’s a movie with very good cinematography – way too good (distracting) from everything else.
That was to Lex, not Joe (he said cowering).
More like Allison L-OWN-man.
thelma and louise NEVER giggled, and would run over denzel and crowe in their mustang just for lookin’ at them funny
Davis was a gigglin’ fool in that honkytonk before they owned that hillbilly scumbag.
Well, you would be giggling too if you had as many mojitos as her.
hey jeff, ‘matchstick’ needed really good cinematography so the offending dust particles would show up 🙂
Loooved Matchstick Men, I must say.
Lex, at the risk of sending you off into one of your spiralling rants decrying me and saying I slander you… would Thelma & Louise be a better movie if it were about two men who leave their stupid white trash wives and go on a law-evading road trip through America in a hot car? Would that OWN?
And, for the record, Denzel Washington is 53 (I thought he was only 45, wow!) and Russell Crowe is 44 so, considering Susan was 45 and Geena was 35 when they made Thelma & Louise…
KCamel, in a word…
Yes. Or two twenty-ish chicks. Or a man and a woman….
OK, I’m kidding. T&L is a terrific movie. Though surely you can’t be too surprised that the typical beer-slinging hetero American male frat guy dumb-ass (aka, me) would rather watch gangster shit than a feminist tract if he has a free couple of hours.
There’s something about a 45-year-old woman in a headwrap practicing her cigarette smoking that just isn’t what I’m excited about seeing in an otherwise fairly typical Southwest gun-toting road movie.
Kidding aside, Scott’s visuals are in fine form, the performances are indeed strong, though the would-be rapist is straight out of the Simon Legree school of cartoon evil, and the well-intentioned Madsen character, hapless as he is, doesn’t really help Sarandon come off well (though to her credit, that might be part of the writer’s point.)
I’ve seen it many times and have a lot of respect for it, and it certainly proves Scott’s versatitlity… I’m just not necessarily the intended audience.
(David was 35???? Hell, I’M 35 now, and when I happen upon this even now I think she looks old enough to be my daffy middle-aged aunt.)
Well why don’t you say that then? There’s no point discussing movies if people aren’t even saying what they really think. I don’t mind you not thinking it’s that great (even though it’s one of my all time faves and Scott’s best) and I can understand someone not being that interested in what the film is doing, but why don’t you just say that instead of acting like the “typical beer-slinging hetero American male frat guy dumb-ass” and reducing the entire film down to nothing more than a “Geena Davis mugfest”.
And, yeah, I was surprised to. She was born in ’56 and the movie was out ’91, which if my maths is correct (good bet that it isn’t) then she was 35. Sarandon was born ten years earlier, too.
I’m off to see The Strangers. Caio for the evening.
Loved Gladiator and Matchstick Men, thought One Good Year, Hannibal and Black Hawk Down were nice to look at but rather empty, and that Kingdom of Heaven and American Gangster should have been his absolute masterpieces but somehow fell short.
Body of Lies just looks like another pretty one. I will go see it because I think Ridley is required viewing but hopefully next time out (and thank god its not Nottingham)he’ll be able to bring something deeper.
Ridley Scott has disappointed me because I thought he was the most CAPABLE director in my lifetime–I mean Blade Runner and Alien…they are Amazing. And with Thelma and Louise he did something controversial that most filmmakers wouldn’t have done–he let the girls do guy things unapologetically. I was young but I do remember the male outrage at the time and ministers denouncing it from the pulpits. Ridley pushed the envelope and good on him.
But back to present Ridley. His recent films have been often beautiful looking but missing the disturbed soul that they had even in LEGEND there was more soul (a movie I love but it is much pissed upon even though I can see why the Brits would like it better than the Yanks).
So I hope for the best since he certainly is capable.
Hair or no hair…Leo will never look like an adult, he still looks like a boy! No offense to Leo. Even Matt Damon looks like an adult after Bourne but not Leo to me. Leo needs to get married and have a sprog, then he’ll get stress lines and look more mannish.
I’ve hated (and I mean HATED) all Scott movies I’ve seen since Alien. There’s something about his aesthetic that rubs me the wrong way, and I’ve ignored almost all of his most recent work as a result.
That said, I’m a Decaprio mark, so I might check this out.
Nice to see some love for Hannibal – I thought I was the only one to see it as the masterpiece it is! Agonisingly brilliant visuals, an amazing score, Giannini Giancarlo and Gary Oldman absolutely owning every scene. Love it.
BHD and Gladiator were great. KoH directors cut was pretty good too – certinaly better than the theatrical.
A Good Year was absolute gash though. I only lasted 50 minutes.
Wowza.
See lil’ Leo grow facial hair to look more manly.
See lil’ Leo squint his eyes to look more intense.
See lil’ Leo in a film whose politics look about as obvious as a high school play that could be starring lil’ Leo.
DiCaprio is easily the most overrated actor in modern Hollywood. Period. The thing is he never had to prove himself. He was declared the new DeNiro when he was 12(?) and quickly got Scorsese’s seal of approval. Hence his acting is still the quality of a high school drama student.
I am sick of the suspension of disbelief I have to put into nominally adult thrillers that star DiCraprio.
‘Nuff said.
What a load of Hollywood horseshit. Cliche piled on top of cliche. “I’m out!” Helicopters exploding. Wisecracks as the bullets fly. Super spy drones showing grainy video footage of attacks from the air. Stern Middle Eastern bad guys with slicked-back hair. Could this be any more formulaic? What contempt for the audience. Maybe I should reserve judgment until I see it. Oh, wait, never mind. Ridley Scott directed it. Get the wet streets and smoky backlighting ready! Let’s do the action scenes with a shaky handheld camera to make it look “real”! Ugh.
Ridley Scott once told Harlan Ellison he wanted to be the “John Ford of science fiction.” That was before the double BO doom of BLADE RUNNER and LEGEND. Along with ALIEN, that’s an amazing trio of films (and I love LEGEND beeatches). And I wish the two post-ALIEN films had done better because I’d kill to see Scott back in the genre.
Nicol D-
I agree and disagree about DiCaprio. I think he’s a fine actor, but his boyish looks and voice rob his characters of presence and dramatic weight. Leo’s character getting the best of Russell’s? Not a chance.
As for the trailer– I like it, despite everything pm123 said being true. Looks cool.
Christian,
By many accounts, he is preparing to adapt Huxley’s “Brave New World.” After years of inter-familial wrangling, the rights have finally been secured.
As for Leo’s looks. We are all blessed and cursed with our faces and I suppose for most actors it is their struggle to get past that front. And coupled with that, is our problem as the audience to accept an actor beyond what we want or don’t want them to be. I remember coming out of Saving Private Ryan and a femal friend moaning that “of all the guys they are supposed to save, it just happens to be this guy with a perfect teeth. Why couldn;t they get some ugly guy…” Well, maybe because the ugly guy sent in his tape but the casting director didn’t think anything of him.
Susan Sarandon was churning out one or two great performances a year in the early ’90s, but she was never better than she is in Thelma.
It’s not the subtlest film in the world, but it’s powerful and it holds up.
And Lex, even a man’s man like you has to admit that Hannibal and American Gangster are hackwork in comparison.
I liked the last twenty minutes of American Gangster. Crowe brought his A-Game.
I agree Christian. I love the US release of LEGEND because the Tangerine Dream sound effects & sountrack brought it to Noir-Goth level. Excellent and creepy, whereas the European release I saw on Euro satellite when I lived there had a full-classical soundtrack and it f*cking ruined the scary ambience of it. No DOOM.
I am a big defender of LEGEND…the character actors in it were GREAT! And Tim Curry…was pretty hot as the Prince of Darkness. Fascinating and evil.
I wish Ridley would get back to it. He should be remembered as the sci fi master, cuz he is! He brought them to a Dickensian/blue collar level somehow. Very accessible to many people so not only sci fi geeks would be interested in BR & Alien.
Hating on SIR RIDLEY? RAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGEEEEEEE!!!
I wouldn’t call Hannibal a good movie, but I was heartily entertained. Definitely helps to view it as a comedy more than anything else.
No, I think that’s exactly what it is: a pitch-black dark comedy that doesn’t wink at the audience to let it in on the joke if it isn’t already.
It’s always interesting when people comment on how boyish DiCaprio looks and sounds. Still, I have to admit that he almost always wins me over with his performances, especially his most recent performances, boyish or not. I think that far from being overrated, he’s actually underrated by a lot of people, although less so now than he once was. It’s odd as well that he was actually more convincing as Howard Hughes when he played the older Hughes at a congressional hearing….great acting by an actor who was still in his 20’s, that sent an arc of electricity from the screen, to me at least. Some folks will always be detractors — after all, even the greats have them.