Just Followin' Up…
I’m already bored by this story, really, but I do find it amusing to watch the “news” bend in the wind…
Yesterday, as the news of Paula Wagner
May 4, 2024
The Hot Blog
amit on: Review: Frozen 2 (spoiler-free)
movieman on: BYOB Fall Back, Film Forward
Christian on: BYOB Fall Back, Film Forward
movieman on: Review: Marriage Story (spoilers only in the broadest sense)
movieman on: BYOB Fall Back, Film Forward
movieman on: Review: Frozen 2 (spoiler-free)
YancySkancy on: Review: Little Women (no spoilers)
Hcat on: Why You Should Be Afraid Of The End Of The Paramount Decree
movieman on: BYOB Fall Back, Film Forward
movieman on: I Should Be Doing Box Office
Review: Little Women (no spoilers)
Why You Should Be Afraid Of The End Of The Paramount Decree
Review: Frozen 2 (spoiler-free)
Review: Marriage Story (spoilers only in the broadest sense)
see all »
[twitter-widget username="DavidPoland" hiderss="true" hidereplies="true" hidefrom="true" items="3" showts="60" title=" " targetBlank="true"][twitter-widget username="MCNTweets" hiderss="true" hidereplies="true" hidefrom="true" items="3" showts="60" title=" " targetBlank="true"]
Quote Unquotesee all »
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
Good grief.
MGM is cursed. Period. Incredible how a major studio (well, a sort-of-real studio, anyways) WITH MONEY hasn’t been able to get its shit together for the last 25 years.
Bond, Pink Panther, Legally Blond 1 and Barbershop. That’s the legacy since Silence of the Lambs (that wasn’t even really MGM, come to think of it). Hey Paula — thank your stars you’re out of there.
As a former employee, the day I started there I knew it was going to sink (2001). And sink it did. Numerous times, before and since. It’s mind-boggling.
A few free-agent signings (Parent, Cruise) does not a team make. They’re the Knicks of the movie world. They need to find actual nuts-and-bolts execs, DEVELOP a solid staff — up and comers etc, not expensive “talent”. But who’s got the patience any more huh?
So much for building a team. Who the hell would want to set up a movie there anyway.
“In other words, if you need to shift things around to grab $380 million from another division, you probably don
I think you mean Supernova.
That’s it – SUPERNOVA.
Francis hasn’t made a watchable movie in 20 years, silly that he was brought in to help do anything. But his wine is all over the place now, is it any good? Heard Cruise treats his underlings really badly, Karma perhaps?
Youth Without Youth may not make a whole lot of immediate sense, but it’s still a pretty good movie.
And Godfather III isn’t great but it’s at least ‘watchable’. Turn off the sound and it’s not bad at all.
His wine is pretty good. His winery is fun — lots of movie memorabilia.
“Turn off the sound and it’s not bad at all.”
Perfect description.
Sorry, haters: The Rainmaker is one of Coppola’s best. Just as The Gingerbread Man is one of Robert Altman’s late-career best. I know it pisses some of you off to know that movies based on John Grisham material (credited or otherwise) could be worth a dman, but there it is.
And Coppola’s Russo wine is pretty dang good, too.
YWY: He’s been given a special mission to create a study of human consciousness/language because a nuclear war will take place in the future, and the survivors — the next evolution of man — will need this as a template. In the end, however, he fails in his mission by choosing love over his work. The moral: We all die in the end, and the greatest success in life is to experience true love.
Mutinyco: Maybe.
Joe: Yes.
The important thing is to pull yourself up by your own hair, to turn yourself inside out, and see the whole world with fresh eyes.
He doesn’t do any of that though. He’s self-centered and vain, only concerned about himself and his work. Until he falls in love and realizes the only way to finish his work is to kill her. So he lets her live. And after one final argument where his reflection scolds him for his decision and reminds him of the unavoidable nuclear holocaust, he breaks the mirror and dies shortly after.
Er, Mutiny: That was a quote. A facetious quote, but a quote nonetheless. Which is not to say, by the way, that your theory lacks merit. Indeed, it rings true.
Mutiny, that’s a really interesting take on the film. For myself, having only seen it once, I was kind of awed by the beauty and the complexity of it. I didn’t even care to really dissect it because I was moved on a kind of visceral level. The more I think of it, the more I admire it and I think of it often. I think the ultimate message of it would have to be that love can be distracting and also, important matters (such as his study of language) cannot be left to those who can be so easily distracted. But really, the themes in that film are myriad and it’s saying about a thousand different things.
And Joe, I agree with you on The Rainmaker. It’s got some moving parts, but it’s really kind of a comedy for a lot of the running time. It’s the only Grisham adaptation that has fun with it and doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Noah: I love the way Damon baits Voight in that one. Also: Mickey Rourke steals every scene that isn’t bolted to the floor.
Also DeVito is used effectively for one of the few times in his career. That’s the movie that made me believe Damon could be a star because of how deftly he transitions from the poignant moments to the lighter ones. Plus anytime anyone uses Michael Herr to write narration, it’s always a plus.
Hey Mutiny, I’m sure I don’t remember every detail of Youth Without Youth, but where are you getting ‘inevitable nuclear war’? That sounds like something that would have been notable.
Aris – I assumed you worked for MGM when you knew how to spell Yemenidjian’s name correctly. 2001 means you walked in when the “For Sale” sign was just hung. IMO, they were always in trouble because of people on the board. Darren Starr’s initial idea for a remake of The Party, (make it a black guy!), was the embodiment of derivative thinking. Once they lost all rights to Spider-Man, they gave up.
Coppola’s stint at UA also included the re-editing of Jeepers Creepers. That deal was so fast, I never heard why he bailed. The UA label is always misused, no matter who’s in charge.
I’ve always thought Spielberg was going to get Reliance to pony up so he could have the brands and a linchpin with Bond. But after reading the DW/Reliance deal, I’m no longer sure how deep those Indian pockets are. It’s a hybrid of the original Paul Allen deal and what Marvel has going. I was expecting something more sediment.
There’s an opportunity to cobble some pieces together and build a new kind of entertainment model, but it would take Google-like fortitude.
a) The Nazi scientist explains it to Dominic, as he’s trying to convince Dominic to join him. This is still during the war, before Hiroshima. He explains the inevitable and what Dominic’s mission really is.
b) Dominic’s doppelganger reminds him again toward the end, as he’s trying to convince him to finish his work. Dominic is unable to accept the amoral nature of nature — he’s unable to accept that millions/billions might have to die for humanity to evolve.
Dominic is supposed to be the first step in post-human evolution. After the nuclear war will wipe out most of humanity, a new, more evolved version of man, possibly influenced by the radiation, would emerge. And Dominic’s work, tracing human language and consciousness, would be required for them as they try to put civilization back together.
William Goldman tries to remind everyone that the actual Deep Throat never said “Follow the money.” That’s Goldman’s line inserted into the movie ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN. It’s not mentioned anywhere in the book.
BTW, Mutiny, I’m not saying that you’re wrong, although I don’t remember most of those scenes in the movie – but it strikes me that, if correct, they make the movie unnecessarily complicated and therefore, weaker.
Funny that I’ve turned out right about the direction this is all taking for MGM. Reliance looking was a given, but I remember saying a long time ago Kirk would come back into the mix.