April 18, 2024
BYOB
Triple Option on: BYO Oscar
Sideshow Bill on: BYO Oscar
Stella's Boy on: BYO Oscar
Pete B on: BYO Oscar
movieman on: BYO Oscar
movieman on: BYO Oscar
Stella's Boy on: BYO Oscar
Hcat on: BYO Oscar
brack on: BYO Oscar
iothereturned on: BYO Oscar
BYOB: 235 Years Of Relative independence
BYOB Weekend: Hop, An April Fool’s Gag?
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
I know this won’t resonate with everybody, but IMO, it’s the best encapsulation of the moment.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122176556077753375.html
That was a good article and I would say the answer from both sides is yes our man is up to the task. I am an Obama man and while I would not look forward to a McCain presidency it would be an improvement over the current bunch of monkeys.
Our government is currently up on a set of blocks in the front yard, with not a single agency being competent enough to do their jobs. Fema can’t manage an emergency, the EPA doesn’t protect the environment, the office in charge of protecting whistleblowers is harrasing its employees, and apparently the Interior department run by Caligula.
There is no excuse for the SEC to have sat by while all these shit mortgages were being given. Next to protecting our borders from Foriegn attacks (someone seemed to have dropped the ball on that one awhile ago as well), regulating the economy is the top responsibility of the federal government. I am willing to argue about the merits of a small federal government versus a large federal government but how about first we have a working federal government. Paying my taxes isn’t so painful if I feel I am getting some value for my money, but the right is so anti-government instead of limiting the scope of government they seem to be willing to simply let it rot from the inside.
I’m sorry Martin but this is by far the most important election-related story of the moment.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080919/ap_on_el_pr/ap_yahoo_poll_football
I’m an Obama man but I agree somewhat with Noonan’s article– there’s just not much either candidate will be able to do about this mess. Right now the Treasury and the Fed is offering guarantees with money we just don’t have. Either candidate’s hands will be tied because there’s just no money anymore to pay for anything.
And not to get into a partisan pissing match, but tax cuts for the rich and six years of war in Iraq really haven’t been good for the bottom line.
Not so good for Universal Studios either.
U has turned down “Tintin” for financial reasons. The bigshots in Universal City must have smelled another “Heaven’s Gate” in the making.
I have to say that I hate it when protestors interrupt speeches. Some group started yelling at an Obama speech today (Blacks Against Obama, or something to that effect), and I think its terribly disrespectful and counterproductive. However legitimate your cause is, you just end up looking like a kook (and rightly so).
So between this and Halo I can’t imagine Jackson’s going to bring anything else to Universal anytime soon. Smart move on their behalf and we are going to see a lot more of this type of action.
Not that the actual talent behind the movie doesn’t deserve to be handsomely rewarded for a job well done, but I am sure studios are sick of working their ass off to get a movie to 500 million worldwide so they can break even while the talent makes enough to buy an island.
Agree with you there, mystery. Regardless of the target, that stuff just makes the speaker look better and the screamer like the guy with the “9-11 Was an Inside Job” sign that shows up at every sign-oriented function.
The problem with right-wing Peggy’s spin here is that it maintains the false claim that there is equal guilt on both sides. This is how the guilt side, unable to rationalize their behavior without looking like liars, start trying to drag the other side to their level.
Yes, Obama is a politician and he sometimes crosses the line. But compared to McCain, the Obama side has been virginal. The idea that McCain, who is “by nature” a deregulator is in the same position in this deregulation breakdown as Obama is simply untrue. The Bush Administration, which McCain supported in most of what led to all this mess… AS WELL AS the Clinton Administration, which put us into a similar kind of unregulated mess during the web bubble and the commodities fraud at Enron and elsewhere, should be called into account.
It is the lie of “all opportunity will lead to good things” that McCain is still selling that leads to these disasters. Yes, you can overregulate. But as much as people love a wild west show where some can get a whole lot for a whole little, it never leads somewhere good. It is a pyramid scheme. Always has been. And it is the Republican economic position since Reagan.
And don’t even get me started on the “personal attacks” lie about Palin or the “all he can do is raise taxes” like about Obama or the “wise old man” scam with McCain. It’s the same old shit… and really, beneath Noonan, who usually keeps her shit in check. But she sees the end of the McCain campaign and this is her advice to try to turn it around yet again. We’re back to “he’s an angry black man” again. Great. Insightful.
If Obama is smart, he will come out and praise the current effort from the Paulson team. And he will continue to pound away on the truth… Bush got us here and all McCain offers as a variation is an inexperience woman who lies about her record everytime she opens her mouth.
Heaven’s Gate? More like another Speed Racer, keep your references current there. I also think Universal probably did not make their decision based on Iraq war spending.
Tintin is known pretty much everywhere in the world. Don’t see how this wouldn’t have made a ton of money. If it was about Uni not willing to pony up the cash to Steven and Peter and break even at 500 million, I get it. Still, seems a missed opportunity to me.
Didn’t Noonan freak out about Palin:
“It’s over.”
She was actually right in this case.
Poland – I’m guessing you wrote that before Obama announced his economic team was mainly the Clinton team redux.
All of the Obama economic advisors I’m finding are too young to have been part of the Clinton administration unless he picked them up straight out of grad school.
Watching Obama in action on this Wall Street fiasco has been instructive. Guy acts like a president. And Americans are paying attention.
from a bottom-of-the-world perspective: i agree, christian, obama was on our national news last night looking like a badass, all large and in charge, fired-up and eloquent, and i got this feeling in my gut that said, this is it! this (world-wide) financial crisis is his chance to grab it by the throat and hang on like a pit bull (sans lippy); he can stare down mccain’s tired old ‘now he’s REALLY going to raise your taxes’ scare tactics with his simple yet powerful ‘do you really want four more years of this horseshit?’ message and take it. my psychic friends network prediction.
Jeff – Bob Rubin, Joe Stiglitz, Larry Summers, Dan Tarullo, Laura Tyson. All Clintonians now working for Obama.
Re: the market implosion. This is not going to end for at least another year. Obama’s not saying anything because he knows this is leading to Delaware. Bad debt means too much credit. He’s hoping to run out the clock and be in office before that hits.
Stella – that’s funny.
Aren’t there a lot of Bush foreign policy veterans working for McCain, grooming Palin?
Martin, when I googled “Obama economic advisors” the names that came up were totally different from those Clintonians that you listed. I feel too lazy to really do the research but I find it likely that any actual Clintonians were working for…Hillary Clinton? Sounds reasonable, right?
And Martin, even though you and I have discussed Delaware before, the current situation goes way beyond personal credit card debt into a whole different world of unregulated finances which have no relation to Biden.
Jeff – it was all over CNN, Fox and the money channels yesterday.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-09-18-econteams_N.htm
Stella – The main crossbleed between Bush and McCain is with the campaign runners. They share ground on some foreign policy issues, but that’s about it. The approach and details are quite different, which is what pissed the McCain camp off over the media towing Obama’s “Bush III” line this summer.
Re: Delaware. Credit is more than cards. It’s a pool flowing into every form of society. Mortgages like all loans, are all based on credit. Delaware is at the heart with Biden as its champ. I don’t get into the specifics at MCN because frankly, everything becomes a game of relativity as a way to defend their candidate so it’s not an honest conversation. This is not a gotcha. It’s not a way for me to undermine people’s confidence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaware_corporation
It does come back to what Nicol said. The right acknowledges its ugly side when faced with it, the left won’t. Republicans haven’t hung this on Biden because they vote and lobby with him on these issues. So that’s the real difference; I know where the Repubs come from and I’ve been predicting this credit doom since the mid-90’s. But Biden? He’s got the audacity to run his mouth over fairshare taxes and Bush’s failure of leadership, while being the man from Dover. It’s pure hypocrisy.
As I said before, Obama is trying to run out the clock and is hoping beyond hope that the Fed and Treasury can calm this until the election. Then he and Biden can go in and erase the trail. Otherwise, the next ripple is with personal loans and rates – which is auto, college and cards.
“The right acknowledges its ugly side when faced with it, the left won’t.”
This is the exact same type of overly broad (and inaccurate) generalization that Nicol is always spouting. ‘The right always does this while the left never does.’ Please.
“Watching Obama in action on this Wall Street fiasco has been instructive. Guy acts like a president.”
This comment intrigues me. Was Obama not acting presidential before? Have critics been saying as much?
You know who else has acted presidential? Harrison Ford. Morgan Freeman. Martin Sheen.
“You know who else has acted presidential? Harrison Ford. Morgan Freeman. Martin Sheen.”
None as well as Kevin Kline.
“Was Obama not acting presidential before? Have critics been saying as much?”
It was a personal observation watching him pull together an economic team and announce a set of possible solutions. He looked decisive and thoughtful, and by GAWD he is finally hitting the GOP on their unregulated love of de-regulation. He connected the dots to America — and from McCain/Palin: “sound economy” “reform” “fire SEC head” “reform” “bridge to…blah blah blah…
And Ronald Reagan acted like a president too.
OK I’M GOING TO MAKE A POINT SO LISTEN UP:
I just saw a TRAILER DURING SNL for “RELIGULOUS” which is going to OWN YOUR ASS because MAHER IS GENIUS,
and they played the LIMP BIZKIT COVER OF “FAITH,” FUCK YEA THAT FUCKING OWNED
MAHER AND DURST = FUCK YEAH GET OWNED.
MAHER is KING. DURST IS SUPERIOR.
HOLY SHIT, it’s like they made a movie SPECIFICALLY FOR LEXG.
NICOL, did you pre order your tickets so you can GET OWNED?
POLAND, PLEASE DON’T BAN ME.
I AM LONELY AND MY LIFE HAS GONE TO SHIT LATELY and I pretty much hate myself.
I just want to get laid sometime this calendar year, but I’m so miserable and I love movies but I’m kind of a failure, should I move to LA, shouldf I move to the UK, or should I get a hair transplant and disappear into the RAIN FORREST and reinvent myself as a GOD who can command other people as their COMMANDER?
LIFE IS DEPRESSING.
I HAVE NO ONE.
I CAME HERE WITH SUCH HIGH HOPES.
IT IS ALL OVER.
I AM A FAILURE.
I GIVE UP.
I AM OLD AND FAT, I would sell out for anyone.
LIFE IS FAILURE. THERE IS NOTHING BUT.
LEX IS A PIECE OF SHIT LOSER.
HE HAS FAILED AT HOLLYWOOD. DRINKING IS THE ONLY ANSWER.
HELP ME.
HELP.
I AM HORNY.
DO YOU 100% GET A DISEASE IF YOU BANG AN ESCORT?
Fucking too bad, only way I’m getting any before December 31th.
Martin, the article you linked to contained this:
“Team Obama is an ideologically diverse group including policy veterans such as Paul Volcker, Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers
IT IS 3AM I NEED TO GO TO A STRIP CLUB.
JEFF, WHAT THE FUCK IS UP SON, YOU’RE IN LA, WE GOT 2 MORE HOURS; LET’S HIT UP AN AFTER HOURS STRIP CLUB.
I NEED A NAKED WOMAN ON MY LAP IN THE NEXT TWO HOURS PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE
I am so depressed.
I am so depressed.
I am so depressed.
I am so depressed.
I am so depressed.
HOW DO YOU TIE A NOOSE?
HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP’
IN CASE POLAND BANS ME,
I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DEPRESSED
ALL MY FANS PLEASE EMAIL ME
at LEXOWNAGE@YAHOO.COM
and give me suggestions on how a FAT UGLY BALD FUCKING FAT FUCKING LOSER FUCKING FAILURE 35 YEAR OLD MAN (ie, me) can get laid by Monday morning.
I AM SO FUCKING DEPRESSED, I NEED AN ESCORT
I am so sad, please someone help me.
I am so sad.
I have failed at life.
Should I go to Tokyo?
Only 1 more hour Lex, they close at 4 (strip clubs – i believe escorts are available all night but the selection declines precipitously).
i am more depressed thsn anyone will ever know
i am sadder than i can ever express
13 years in LA and not one audition or legit agent interview
i am so sad
i am so depressed
i am such a fucking loser
i have failed.
i am ugly inside and out.
i just want to be happy
lexg
Jeff – Blitzer, CNBC, Bloomberg, FBN, all pointed out that wehn Obama spoke on Friday, that he purposely surrounded himself with the Clintonians on his team. When asked by Blitzer, Donna Brazille agreed. My point isn’t that he shouldn’t have Clintonians, it’s a comment on Poland’s remark. If McCain shoulder responsibility because of Bush’s decisions, then Obama does for Clintons. And before someone says “voting record”, then I’ll ask again to explain the pick of Biden.
Stella – Find me the ciriticism. Not a “Obama is not left enough” charge, but one where someone has acknowledged that his campaign is dealing in distortions. I read and hear the entire spectrum on McCain, from what is (sex ed) to what is not Obama & Freddi/Fannie.
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/09/update-fannie-mae-and-freddie.html
Obama’s answer was to play victim –
This morning Senator McCain gave a speech in which his big solution to this worldwide economic crisis was to blame me for it.
That’s not accurate. He first blamed the corruption of Congress and Wall Street, Administration failure and used Obama’s legitimate ties to Fannie/Freddie as an example.
Yet, Obama has said McCain wants a hundred year in Iraq, thinks 5 Mil is middle class, doesn’t know Iran is between Iraq and Afghanistan, doesn’t know the difference between Shia and Sunni. This is without taking Biden’s perpetual BS into account or the recent Spanish ads.
All distortions. Yet, McCain is the only one playing underhanded.
My phrasing was only wrong by saying “the left”. It’s endemic of the whole media. Kid glove Barack, shame the old man. If you really can’t see how lopsided things are, just consider if someone broke into an Obama email account. There would be marches and congressional hearings. Instead, we get quasi-justifications from the NYT and NPR, like Palin brought it on herself.
Lex, put down the bottle for starters.
You live in a town full of opportunity. Regardless whether you “make it” you can certainly be partaking in all the classes, workshops, auditions, whateva. There is NO EXCUSE besides your own limitations. You don’t have to OWN. Just BE.
If Lex hasn’t even been able to pull down an AUDITION, then there really is something wrong with him. Hey, maybe posting on this blog every hour may be part of the reason!
“If McCain shoulder responsibility because of Bush’s decisions, then Obama does for Clintons.”
This may well be accurate, but then I would say that the Clinton presidency wasn’t the almost-total disaster that the Bush presidency has been.
“Instead, we get quasi-justifications from the NYT and NPR, like Palin brought it on herself. ”
Exactly. I was watching George S’ roundtable this morning and they all breathed a sigh of relief that the Palin personality weeks were over and the campaign could back to “real issues”.
WTF? As though Palin asked to be smeared for 2-3 weeks by every MSM magazine in the land. As though she asked Hollywood entertainers to make headlines saying she should be gang raped.
As though Obama’s campaign was ever about anything but personality and cliche.
Rather pathetic actually.
Yes, yes, we know.
Wish you did Jeff…wish you did.
Hey, I called firsties on patronizing you, you need to respond in some different way.
Nicol – the MSM backed off of Palin because they realized it was their OCD behavior that put the thought in the kids head that, as he said, “there HAS to be something” in her account. What no one reports is that after reading every damn letter, the kid admitted there was absolutely nothing relevant. Instead, we get mass insinuations by NPR/NYT/WaPo based off the headers of her emails.
If the economic slide didn’t come by to save Barack, I don’t what the MSM was going to do this week.
Jeff – I hope you had a chance to catch Paulson on one of the talk shows this morning. On every show, he alluded to the credit slide we are facing. Dodd talked pretty bluntly about it on This Week.
I have to admit something; I’m now on the fence about an Obama administration. Before, I was wholly oppose, but after this bailout, he’s not going to able to enact anything because we’re going to be overexposed in every possible way.
If things go down as they appear – Obama wins the electoral, McCain the popular – and we’re flat broke, he’s going to have govern like Clinton instead of a quasi-socialist. If he doesn’t, McCain will be able to sweep the Congress in 2010.
I’m enjoying listening to Barack distort McCain’s Iraq record on 60 Minutes. Whatalawyer.
“As though she asked Hollywood entertainers to make headlines saying she should be gang raped.”
There were no headlines when Rush Limbaugh said this about the Alaskan investigations:
“This is pure sexism in Alaska on the part of these old boys trying to get rid of Sarah Palin, and she didn’t put up with it, and she didn’t bend over and let them have their way.”
Christian – You’re smarter than that. The point isn’t over headlines, it’s the treatment. Bernhard was stating Palin deserved to be gang raped by her “big, black brothers” if she goes to NY. Limbaugh’s riff was that she’s a fighter. Limbaugh’s point was metaphorical, Bernhard’s was literal. It’s the equivalent of making a race comment in regards to the campaign, and making a racial comment about Obama. One is political, the other is bigotry.
I didn’t realize that Sandra Bernhard had such a dramatic socio-political place on the map — equal to that of the GOP’s leading intellectual light.
I don’t like what Bernhard said but to put the spotlight on somebody so under the cultural radar and use it illustrate some grand point doesn’t fly.
And Martin, can you honestly say that Rush Limbaugh calling Obama a “Halfrican American” isn’t bigotry? Limbaugh has already given numerous examples of his inner bigot far too many times, and the GOP has no problem with it.
Someone paid attention to something Sandra Bernhard said?
To update the Zen koan: If a Hollywood entertainer no longer gets much work from Hollywood and doesn’t entertain, is she really a Hollywood entertainer?
Wake me up when Judy Tenuta weighs in on the subject.
L.B.: Cruel. But fair.
Martin, if Sandra Bernhard’s comment was ‘literal’ as you just said, she would be in a Secret Service holding cell right now.
And I’ll say that I am a fan of Bernhard and have even seen her in concert twice. Loved her in THE KING OF COMEDY, plus she did the voice of the lady ninja in SHOGUN ASSASSIN.
What is fair criticism of Palin then to those crying MSM smears? How can they look into her background in a way that wouldn’t have you guys screaming smear? Isn’t all of this expected since she wasn’t a Romney or Guiliani, a known player? Is the treatment she is receiving really that unfair and that much more sexist than the treatment Hillary received, or were you all crying sexism then too?