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
RIP Patrick McGoohan!
I’ve known Andy for around 20 years. It was he who programmed that seminal Hong Kong fest at the Nuart in 1990 that opened so many eyes to the magic that was coming out of that tiny island. A truly sad day for all of us who thrive on his perceptive and entertaining writing.
This is not about Andy at all who is obviously a talent.
I think this is the year that will cause many on the industry fringe to reevaluate their lives and responsibilities.
But I look around sometimes at certain people who eek out a living in the movie biz and think, fuck me, I have to pay $800 call out fees for a plumber because there aren’t enough people learning trades anymore. And there you are in your designer distressed denim, blogging away at Sundance – earning 40 times less a year than a sparky or chippy just so you can say at parties, “i work in the film industry”. All the while your wife slaves at home and has to get more part time work to support your young family.
Sometimes a flood is needed to wash away the waste.
Way to reduce everybody’s jobs to talk-radio-level of perception and judgement.
Spoken like a snobbish underpaid blogger.
No, an egalitarian non-paid blogger who empathizes with the massive job losses in all industries, which you so cavalierly label as washing away the “waste.” But spoken like an elitist free-market capitalist.
Way to generalise.
The waste I was referring to (i thought it was kind of obvious) were those that provide nothing more than twitter and chatter about the latest blockbuster. So please put your political poker back in your egalitarian trousers bud.
Yay for me for not having a wife or family! I can survive on dregs for decades!
carrion crawler.
somewhere, a clown is crying.
Jesus Dave. You sound like a right prick. It ain’t that epic.
It’s a fucking miracle we live in a world where so many can make a living off criticizing, analyzing, and reporting about film.
the cream rises, or at least settles. and we all know what sinks.
I’m with anghus. These blog entries resemble obits. I hope all of these people land on their feet; if opportunities arise that allow them entry back into this job field, then more power to them. But GEEZ.
It’s strange that if the two of you feel that way about film criticism – that it’s just some trivial pursuit that doesn’t require a honing of one’s skills and that the people who make a living doing that don’t add something to the conversation about film – then why do you guys frequent a website dominated by the discussion of film? It’s a critic’s job to analyze, criticize, report and discuss the merits of a film and perhaps occasionally to point out something that I or you might not have caught. So, again, if talking about film and reporting about it is so meaningless to you, then why come here? I’m not trying to be defensive or snide, I’m genuinely curious.
Maybe the posts are more emotional because David is actually friends with these people? I wonder if JBD or mystery have ever told their freshly fired pals “Sometimes a flood needs to wash the waste away…GEEZ.”
These blog entries also resemble obits because the profession is dying, at least as a way to make a living.
So what? Well, it’s the canary in the coalmine for journalism generally, and that should be troubling to everyone…we’re moving toward a world where everyone will get their news from partisan blogs, and people who do the work for free with little supervision.
I for one (and Andy Klein, for another) have never relied purely on film criticism…we have journalistic skills in other areas, honed because they were always additional parts of the job: editing, doing listings, interviewing, writing cover features, reporting on other things that aren’t directly film-related. Those avenues are all gradually shutting down as well.
It isn’t like anyone good will simply get rehired — the jobs themselves are being discontinued. And ultimately I don’t think that’s good for anyone.
True enough, the internet is one of the areas where we get to see ‘how much democracy is too much democracy’. While it’s great that everyone gets to seek out whatever information they want, there is a certain benefit to having a professional journalism class that actually knows what they’re doing and is relatively objective, which may become a thing of the past. And yeah, that’s a scary idea that it might be gone in our lifetimes.
“So, again, if talking about film and reporting about it is so meaningless to you, then why come here?
Not meaningless; frivolous, perhaps.
DP is in Park City to watch movies and write about them. For his job. Compared to what most people do for a living, its a lark. Surely you understand this. I say, nice work if you can get it; if the field dries up I say, nice work while you could get it. Back to the real world, I guess. You could try your hand at pro videogaming or poker.
Well, mystery, unless you’re in a lab somewhere perfected the cure for cancer (which surely you must not be since you have plenty of time to come on this blog and tell people that their jobs are frivolous), then I don’t think you’re really in a position to cast aspersions on what someone does for a living. Granted, writing about film for a living is not saving the world but neither is making films and film criticism has been around since the first reel was unspooled.
What film critics do might not save someone’s life, but it can surely save people time. It can save someone from wasting two hours of their time or it can convince people to spend two hours of their time watching a great film they might not otherwise. Yes, I know, film is just entertainment and it’s all so silly, but it’s also a passion for a lot of people and they take their jobs – as most people do – very seriously. And to lose a job that you’ve spent your whole life preparing for, honing their skills as writers, interviewers, self-editors, surely you must understand how that could upset people that work in the field.
And I can tell you this, if it wasn’t for Andrew Sarris, Vincent Canby, Pauline Kael and a host of others, I wouldn’t have been inspired to pick up a pen and write (not as a critic, but as a writer) and I assure you that many writers have been similarly inspired by critics. But, I’m sure you’ll find a way to dismiss all this – after all, it might be difficult to see us frivolous movie-watchers from so high up on your ivory tower.
It’s clear you’re a right-winger at heart Mystery, but you make such a cliche of yourself. Please provide your job description and tell ya what, we’ll let you know if you’re lucky or not to be working. If not, sucks to be you.
Of course, thanks to your votes for Bush, we’ll get that lazy fair economy you wet-dream about. I can see you in the food line now, mumbling about welfare cheats….
“Well, mystery, unless you’re in a lab somewhere perfected the cure for cancer (which surely you must not be since you have plenty of time to come on this blog and tell people that their jobs are frivolous), then I don’t think you’re really in a position to cast aspersions on what someone does for a living.”
I don’t see it as casting aspersions; I see it as an appeal for perspective. I only the described the profession as ‘frivolous’ in the context of DP’s melodramic entries. As I’ve said many times, I admire people who can make living at this. As angus stated, we are very fortunate to live in a world where so many can make a living off criticizing, analyzing, and reporting about film. Its kind of a ‘dream job’. But I’m sensing an attitude of entitlement about the profession, and I object to it.
I bet Circuit City employees who have been working there for maybe decades have a sense of entitlement too after finding out their jobs are toast. I bet everybody kinda does when it comes to their jobs.
And mystery, for you to shrug when all this job-loss leads to is more economic stagnation, which ultimately effects you and your private Idaho…well, that makes no sense. The only one sounding entitled is you and JBD with Marxist envy: “How come YOU have that job and I don’t?”
And LYT called it. What this really leads to is a weakening of our press; bloggers can’t always afford to investigate say, global political issues that a funded press corps can. What this leads to is our country being fucked over more by those in charge, since “truth” will become a matter of whose website you read.
Happy Friday!
christian– Fine, I’ll bite.
I haven’t shrugged off anyone’s job loss; I’ve only balked at the wailing and moaning. Otherwise, I’ve been repeatedly and overwhelmingly supportive of people and their pursuits in this industry, which makes your envy argument a non-starter.
As for the weakening of the press– that’s certainly a possiblity. The internet is offering a bounty of new opportunities, at the expense of the establishment media. The quality of these new online ventures seems a little spottier than we’ve been used to (although we’ve all read DP rail against– and righteously so– many in the MSM). But again, and I’m sorry to be so cavilier, but we’re talking about entertainment journalism here. The stakes are much, much lower in this regard.
Mystery, you keep going back to this “entertainment journalism is frivolous and therefore it doesn’t matter that people lost their jobs” thing, which is just bizarre. I mean, these are people that studied, lobbied, worked their tails off to get a certain degree of success in a very tough industry that then lost their jobs not based on merit, but because their bosses wanted to save some money. So regardless of what industry they were working in, people lost their jobs, isn’t that a bad thing?
“I mean, these are people that studied, lobbied, worked their tails off ” – A WRITER
I love how the term professional journalism comes up. What’s so professional about writing a blog in between playing GTA4? I like how all the non-professionals, non-schooled folk around here lament the end of professionalism in journalism. Hey where did you get your journalism degrees again? Noah, we’re not talking about Pauline Kael but nice of you to put yourself in close proximity. Nor Dave. We’re actually talking about people like you. It may be time for you to look at a trade. You’re a sweet kid and you are passionate. But you’re no Kael. You’re on par with 10,000 writers out there. 10,000 unnecessary writers to be frank. Do you have contingency plans?
Marxist Envy? Oh thats rich. Hey Christian, anyone ever tell you that you’re an incredible bore? You sound like a real party pooper. Envy of being a entertainment blogger? Are you for real? Only in today’s world could some bleeding heart accuse me of jealously over some delusional nerd clawing out an existence blogging about movies.
Hey my friends who have lost jobs know the game. They’re not moaning about it. They’re adapting. They weren’t delusional. They knew the gig was ridiculous. They’re the same people who’ve been through the dot.com boom as well. Making 75k+ blogging when it wasn’t called blogging. It was a joke then and it’s a joke now.
The world will always need more ditch diggers.
People could call me a bore, but at least I don’t hide behind a loathsome screen name — putting you squarely in the category of “delusional nerd” on the internet. Your lack of insight or empathy speaks for itself. But yeah, you sound like a lot of fun at parties.
And why are you even here freeloader?
“Mystery, you keep going back to this “entertainment journalism is frivolous and therefore it doesn’t matter that people lost their jobs” thing, which is just bizarre.”
My opening post in this blog was to agree with anghus’ assessment that DP’s laments are over-the-top. That’s all. Labeling the industry “frivolous” was an aside (in response to your ‘meaningless?’ assertion) and not specifically related to the job loss discussion. It was a roundabout stab at making a “count your blessings” appeal.
“People could call me a bore” – thanks for clearing that up.
“I don’t hide behind a loathsome screen name” – Was that because Jesus was already taken Christian?
I’m here as the voice of the people who don’t give a flying fuck about some bloggers losing jobs.
I like David Poland and alot of what he has to say. And I like some astute and funny writers here. You I don’t like. Lets avoid each other from now on so we don’t bore everyone to tears.
That’s my real name, Jeffrey. And if you don’t like my comments on your your comments, stop commenting! Welcome to the world of blogging you so despise, nerd!
Interesting, JBD. Well, I’m sure you’ll be glad to hear that I have my bachelor’s degree in English and I’m going for my Master’s in the fall. Does that make me worthy of having a job? And I’ll agree that I’m not the best writer that I could be, which is why I’m taking the appropriate steps to get better, to learn more…you know, WORKING to improve myself the way that anyone would try to work harder to better themselves in any industry.
And if you think creating and maintaining a blog is so damn easy that it can be done in between videogames, then why don’t you do it? After all, you just throw some words on a page and thousands of people will just show up, right?
Thanks for being patronizing and calling me a sweet kid and I actually have several contingency plans (which has become a necessity because of the current climate, but was always a plan) so I hope that helps you sleep at night. I’m not worried about having to feed myself, but I am worried for the people that paid their dues, worked their way up for years in the MSM to get to their goal of having a job that they EARNED and then had it taken from them. Sorry if I’m compassionate for people that are more talented than me, who worked harder than me, losing their jobs.
And I find it hilarious that you call it “unnecessary” what we do. I mean, you get the irony in that, right? Because it seems very necessary for you to come here and read what people like David and myself have to say. It’s necessary for your entertainment and for others to keep their sanity during a hard day of, let’s say, digging ditches. Maybe at the end of that day, they want to follow what’s happening in the film industry or read what other people think about a movie they loved. It’s a service that is being provided and most services that are provided earn people money.
Noah, you’ll get no sympathy from Che JBD…the new “voice of the people”…Up against the wall motherfucker!
Apparently, Christian. I don’t even want his sympathy for me, I’m doing fine. But a lot of people in an industry we love (I hope, or else why would we be on this blog?) lost their jobs and it’s sad when someone loses their livelihood. I don’t really see how there could be a controversy about it.
Something that often gets overlooked in these discussions: Many of the so-called
Hey Noah your column is unnecessary you sweet delusional kid. No irony. You really think if your column disappeared overnight that anyone, anyone at all on earth, would give a hoot? Sorry to shatter your insular world but this economic tsunami will hopefully act like cold water to your face and to others. And good luck with that Bachelor of English. Hopefully you’ll put it towards a teaching gig. You know, like something necessary.
Excuse me now kids, would love to stay and play but I have to attend to my companies and make some more moola for my family.
I think I hear the call of a distance ditch lads.
DISTANT…
Now thats irony. See we need more english teachers Noah.
And by “company,” I assume you mean “videogame” and by “moola” you mean “points” right?
This would be a good time for JBD to tell us about all the latrines he built this week with his bare hands surrounded by malarial mosquitos.
Wait a minute – “Jeffrey Boam’s Doctor” refers to himself as a script doctor for a dead screenwriter – right? Talk about useless.
‘writing about film for a living is not saving the world but neither is making films’
stepping into the shitstorm for a mo before beating a hasty retreat, i just wanted to address this notion from my perspective: to compare making a film to writing a critique about it and/ or talking to the people involved isn’t a valid comparison, it’s slightly delusional, even (no offence intended to noah, or dp or the other dynamite critics who come here to spread their considerable knowledge and movie-love, i’m in constant awe), the critique of film as an art form certainly requires knowledge, talent and a certain skill set, but for those people involved in making even a shit film, it’s a damn sight more challenging, audacious, risky and complicated an endeavour than being paid to watch a film, consider it and compose a thoughtful criticism. creating art vs. critiquing it; one can survive without the other, but not vice versa.
Actually, Leah, I’d say the very act of creation itself is somewhat reliant on the process of reacting to other art – We wouldn’t have Francois Truffaut if he hadn’t been allowed to write about Howard Hawks and Orson Welles first.
not the same thing at all, jeff. reacting to someone else’s art and using it as an impetus to create your own isn’t comparable to a film critic who writes about movies but never makes any of his/her own; if all the film critics getting the sack now go on to be the next truffaut, then we’ll talk.
Oscar Wilde: All art is quite useless.
Leah, I actually agree with you wholeheartedly (and I think Jeff McM’s point is a good one as well), but when I wrote what you quoted, I wasn’t equating them in any way except to say that neither one of them is on the same level as, say, helping build houses in third world countries. I can’t kid myself and call what I do “important” in the larger sense of the word, but it’s all entertainment in the end. And it’s a job and when people lose jobs, it sucks, you know? I’m young and while I love what I’m doing now, it’s just a gig for now. But for the critics that have been working the beat and want to continue working the beat, it’s a shame to see them without employment.
i totally hear that, noah, jobs are going down the gurgler right and left and it’s scary as hell.
(good quote, joe, a point well made.)
Noah, you don’t have to answer this, but –
Is David Poland actually paying you to do what you’re doing? Not that your stuff isn’t worthy of a paycheck.
Don’t get me wrong – I enjoy your perspective – I just figured that your compensation (and Voynar’s, and the rest) was the platform and the exposure.
Pssst! Noah! And you, too, Kim! Shut the hell up and ignore the rude, presumptuous, none-of-your-goddamn-business question. Because, trust me, if you say you’re getting paid, chances are good some weasel on this blog will e-mail Dave and offer to do your work for free. Trust me: Something like that really happened to me a few years back. Consider yourself warned.
Okay, JBD, I’ll bite…
These companies you own – they need ditch diggers? And you’ll pay well?
With no shame, I say…email me.
Otherwise, be quiet.
Hey Noah, avert your tender eyes from this message, but:
Hey Joe Leydon? You’re a huge fucking asshole. And if you were a man (something you’re fond of saying) you would address the huge problems that you obviously have with me to my face – in the form of a direct email to my personal e-mail account, which you have – instead of this constant dance where you pretend like you’re ignoring me, and then take every opportunity that you can find to make subtle, passive-aggressive jabs. I’d love to make amends and find common ground and work together and all that jazz, but as long as you play these juvenile internet games, that’s not going to happen.
Looks like I hit the target without half trying. To quote Edward Albee: God, what archery!
Like I said, Noah and Kim: Beware!
An Albee quote doesn’t make you any less of a baby, Joe. You’re a sad, childish little man who abuses others for his own pathetic amusement, with a pretense of superiority.
Also, you’re five years younger than either of my parents, but you look about twenty years older, so good luck with that.
You know what pisses me off the most about Joe Leydon? That he fucking drags me down to his own juvenile jackal sadist level. Shame on me for stooping.
i got into a righteous debate a few weeks back over the subject of film cricism, journalism, etc.
and while i often times have a point derailed by hearing a well presented arguement for the other side, and while i won’t causually dismiss the importance and merits of film criticism, i will say that entertainment journalism is going through a natural cycle. Like the .com boom of the 90’s, there has been a growing number of voices in the reporting of and analyzing film, as well as box office analysis, award season analysis, etc. If the film industry is a forrest, and the entertainment reporters could be the underbrush that surrounds them.
In nature, a wildfire will occur that burns away the underbrush, turns it to ash, and helps the forrest grow.
This is the purging. Those smart enough, savvy enough, talented enough, or devious enough will find a way to continue on. The others won’t. Such is life.
Joe posed a question about people willing to do the job for free, but i wonder how many people would continue to publish pieces about film without payment. I know a few who would, but i think a lot would move into something else without a second thought.
“This is the purging. Those smart enough, savvy enough, talented enough, or devious enough will find a way to continue on. The others won’t. Such is life.”
Yay, Capitalist Purge.
Anghus: It’s like I posted here a couple years back: Some of the better film criticism out there right now is being written by “amateurs” (in the best sense of that word — people who do something for love, not money) for their websites. This very likely is the future of film criticism — people who work at other jobs (college professors, civil servants, librarians, auto mechanics, whatever) or retirees will write about movies they love in their spare time, and over time will attract devoted readers. Some may end up attracting enough readers to sell ads; most won’t. Some may feel compelled to soft-pedal criticism to remain on screening lists; others will write whatever they damn well please, even if that means they have to pay for tickets on opening day to review major studio releases. Most of this criticism willl be, at best, mediocre. (Just like most of what passes today for “profesional” film critcism.) But a goodly portion of it will be inspired.
And, again: I also predict that we’ll all live long enough to see a drastic cutback in advance screenings of tentpole pictures, action flicks, and anything else that studios might view as not dependant on critical reaction. And that, folks, is when we’ll see an equally drastic shift of power and influence toward critics in the Eastern time zone, who can see movies on opening day and post reviews hours before their West Coast counterparts. Just think — the first really significant critical voice on the Internet, the Andrew Sarris of On-Line, may turn out to be someone working right now in an Knoxboro,Tennessee video store. These are the days of miracle and wonder.
There’s actually a bounty of stellar film writing being done for gratis on the web. We do it for the love. I hope there will be a market for it someday.
Er, of course, that should read “Knoxville, Tennessee”
“There’s actually a bounty of stellar film writing being done for gratis on the web. We do it for the love. I hope there will be a market for it someday.”
Let me break the news for you. There won’t be any market for fan writing. Nada. Never. Now where’s the world’s smallest violin for me to play. I guess you could always write another impassioned and unread plea about the evils of capitalism, instead of reviewing the latest blockbuster. There’s nothing like writing about social ills on a blog, so much easier than actually doing something constructive.
Yay for young idealists with a keyboard and zero talent.
Fan writing? You have no clue. And I thought you were ignoring me? Don’t you have real work to do?
“Also, you’re five years younger than either of my parents, but you look about twenty years older, so good luck with that.”
Jeffmcm: And I should be concerned about your critcism of my appearance because….? I mean, do you spend a lot of time studying photos and video of me? And doing research on me so you’ll know my age? Hey, OK, I’m 56. And, yeah, I look younger than my wife, even though she’s actually three years older than me. When we’re out with our son, I’m sure people say, “Oh, that’s so sweet! There’s Joe Leydon with his daughter and grandson.”
Like I’ve said before: Arrogant. Presumptuous. And, yes, creepy.
This thread is like the ending of The Outsiders.
“This thread is like the ending of The Outsiders.”
Predictable?
OK, the above posting makes no sense because I screwed up while posting it. It should read: “Hey, OK, I’m 56. And, yeah, I look OLDER than my wife, even though she’s actually three years older than me. When we’re out with our son, I’m sure people say, “Oh, that’s so sweet! There’s Joe Leydon with his daughter and grandson.”
I meant the big rumble, anghus. But yeah, that, too.
Maybe I should have said that it’s like the ending of Reservoir Dogs: a big, bloody mess.
Can I be Mr. Pink and sneak out to possibly survive?
I never thought I’d be writing this, but this thread actually makes me long for LexG and his all-caps owning…