April 19, 2024
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BYOB: 235 Years Of Relative independence
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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
So… here’s another question that I want to ask because you folks are fascinatin’. What DVDs are you buying this week? I’m going with Punisher. Why? “Is there an imaginary friend you want to swear too?”
This is for all, but more for IO to chew on.
The next oncoming trend – the return of giant monster movies.
We have two in the works at Disney, a sequel to Cloverfield being bandied about and a Verbinkski’s remake of The Host. Parker and Stone signed to write a parody, but I’ve heard nothing since the intial announcement.
If I was Cadavra, I’d keep my ear to the ground about a new deal between Sony and Toho for the return of Godzilla. Maybe Universal will now relent and do the Kong/Godzilla remake. 2013 would be the 50th anniversary, IIRC.
What I find odd is that the Disney deal for “Monster Attack Network” sounds a lot like Warren Ellis’ “Tokyo Storm Warning”. Which means that will probably be next.
punisher war zone was fucking insane. i don’t buy many dvds anymore.
I’m waiting for BD prices to drop.
The last DVD I bought was, I think, Wall-E. I wanted to get the Blu-ray but couldn’t find any and had to content myself with it. I’m going to Bangkok this weekend. I’ll probably get some DVDs.
Martin S, I like giant monster movies. Glad to hear that more are coming.
I would love a return to giant monster movies, with the technology they have today. I just don’t want them to be like the American Godzilla. Not jokey or campy or an action movie per se, but scary and intense. Cloverfield was a good attempt but it was just pretty tepid overall. I like the tone of War of the Worlds.
COme to think of it maybe giant monster isn’t the way to go. Can be cheesy.
Small monster is the ticket. Tiny things seem more helpless so when they are sinister it is infinitely more scary.
What’s scarier–5 foot eyeball rolling down the street (squishy & out of control = not very scary) **or** tiny eyeball hiding in your room and you can’t find it and it doesn’t sleep ever because there is no eyelid?
Anghus: this includes BDs as well. If you do not buy either. What exactly do you DO? Hmmmm?
Martin: if they go back to Monster movies. They are fucking retarded. Cloverfield is retarded. Most of the Godzilla films are retarded, but they are at least fun. A fun that most American filmmakers could not convey on their best days. So I am right now asking for Universal and Sony to make the call to Michel Gondry, and have him make KONG V. ZILLA! COMING SUMMER 2014!
Transformers was basically a giant monster movie.
And Big Man Japan, coming soon, is a great parody of them.
i’m in one of those weird jobs where i don’t have to buy dvds, they just kinda show up….BUT, during the holidays i bought a dozen ‘mad men – season one’ boxes to give out as gifts…..
oh…AND i bought a copy of the ‘pee-wee’s christmas special’ because it was in a five dollar bin —–
now, as far as dvds i would absolutely have to buy…. the blu-ray ‘pinocchio’ is really (no, really) amazing…..and i wasn’t a big fan of ‘bolt’ in the theater but the blu-ray has a real ‘wow’ thing going on…..
I found Arachnophobia to be scarier than any giant monster movie, so bigger is not necessarily better when it comes to these things.
As for DVDs, probably picking up Quantum of Solace, and, since I love so-bad-they’re-enjoyable trash, Howard the Duck. Who, in the course of making any of the latter said, “We’re going to make a GOOD movie out of this?”
Non sequitor: When the hell is the last issue of Planetary coming out? Saw Warren Ellis mentioned somewhere up top.
Scoot: I reckon you would get a promo or a 15. This has always made me giggle though. Hollywood wants ME to buy their product. They want me to spend my 25 bucks. While they want YOU to discuss their product, and will give away the entire store. Just in the feeblest of attempts to get you to talk about their product. I get why they do what they do, but I always found that to be a weird model. Especially when there are guys out there that do not even work in the biz, but have been on the promo list for years. If Anghus is getting promos. Good on him and good on you. What a brother wouldn’t do for a promo!
I haven’t bought a DVD in so long. I received Mad Men season one for Christmas though if that counts.
Oh, I get emails from time to time from a marketing place wanting to send me DVDs so I can discuss them (and even spend me multiple copies for contests) but the titles they have are atrocious. Saw V and Sex Drive being the two most recent emails in the past week or two. No thank you.
I usually show movies to my friends on Tuesdays, and decided this week to do The Crying Game in honor of the holiday.
Unfortunately, I was having some trouble getting the sound on my amp to come on, so I pounded a few times on the DVD player (it’s an old piece of shit). My mistake was not taking the disc out first–when I subsequently ejected it there were scratches and now it won’t play at all, on the original player, my backup one, or my computer.
Sorry, Neil Jordan.
The only other “Irish” film I could find was Heaven Help Us (Michael Dinner, 1985) about delinquents at a Catholic Boys school in Brooklyn circa 1965. Andrew McCarthy, Mary Stuart Masterson, Kevin Dillon (used to be SO thin), Wallace Shawn, John Heard, Yeardley Smith, and Donald Sutherland. Not a bad cast.
Everyone loved it. Great little coming-of-age comedy. If you haven’t already, you should. It may be better than any John Hughes film I’ve seen.
Very nice sharing everyone. Yes, I am all evil and everything. Bah. Nevertheless, we yell more, then we ever get community going on. It’s a collective problem. So why not we try to community thing out? Jeff might think I am lying and all, but there’s always a chance to try something new. Why not this?
So here’s another question: Why do some of you not buy DVDs/BDs? I am the only one who buys stuff here? Really?
If you are all hooked up with the promos. I shake my fist at you, and that’s it. I am too depressed to do anything else!
Another great Irish selection: The Magdalene Sisters.
IO, I don’t buy DVDs because
a) I can’t afford them, especially since…
b) I don’t seem to watch them anymore except for TV and Quickflix (or Netflix for Americans)
c) Value for money – I’d rather buy an entire season of a tv series for $30 than buy a 90minute movie for $20.
d) I don’t like buying movies I’ve never seen – I know a lot of people do this, but I just don’t.
Plus, I currently have over half of my DVD collection in storage along with my entire 700+ strong album collection because my apartment is too small. City Living! Gotta love it.
Has someone completely ripped off The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra? No offense, but I don’t remember that movie too well, however, didn’t the alien/monster look kinda like the one on this poster for Alien Trespass?
http://www.impawards.com/2009/alien_trespass_ver3.html
Kamel, you don’t want a free copy of Sex Drive or Saw V? I know a guy who gets the same sort of stuff, but it’s BDs from Disney. I have no idea how he swung that deal, but he made it work.
Also, when you state 700 albums. Do you mean actual albums? If so, I get putting them in storage. Albums are space killers. They will take any available space you have, and wipe it right fucking out.
Nevertheless, I have way too much shit in this tiny ass apartment, but I just really need to have the Jack Skellington and Corneilus bust/storage devices. Congrats to all of you who do not have this problem. I at least got a shitload of Hitchcock to watch, and every Pink Panther film. Including the absolutely shitty one starring Steve Martin.
Again: congrats to all of you who do not have this problem. Good day.
Kam, I’m also the kind who only buys DVDs or BDs of movies I’ve seen.
IO, I write music reviews (well, I haven’t for four months now which is a shame) so a good 3 years worth of free hardcopy albums (plus all the ones I bought – I’ve always been a feverish album purchaser). In my old place I had some in a CD rack, some on my desk, some in my closet, some in boxes, some in drawers, some in bags and some under my bed. I ended up giving some of them away because there comes a point where you go “you know what? i just hate that damn Timbaland album so much that I’ll give it to anyone who asks.”
Is anyone here a PSB fan? If so their new album Yes has leaked and it is incredible. “Pandemonium” = MIND BLOWING and suitably epic for a song with such a title.
Kam- I think IO misunderstood, as many americans do, and thinks that when you mention albums you are refering to vinyl records.
and in anticipation of a move (perfect timing in the worst housing and job market of my lifetime) I have all but 10 dvds in storage as well. If we don’t sell in a few months I am going to have to start rotating the stock.
I think of myself as not buying DVDs, and I definitely haven’t in several months, but I have to admit I bought a bunch of them last year. The difference is price point. For the most part, I don’t buy stuff unless it’s $10 or less, whether that’s from those Best Buy catalog title sales, or a super-reduction on Amazon, or three-for-$20 used at rental places, or putting a couple of movies I love on a Christmas list for my family or something… I very rarely will go out and buy (or order) a new-release DVD when it comes out the way I’ll make sure to get the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs or Bishop Allen records within a week of release. Movies I’ve actually purchased for more than $10-12: Anchorman, The Incredibles, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic, and the BR of Wall-E. There may be a few more, but I can’t think of ’em.
In fact, I’d totally argue in favor of not buying DVDs, because while I have a ton (and some, though not a majority, are indeed review copies/promos), I really don’t watch my DVDs that often. Even at $10, I’ll get more use practical out of an album I kinda like versus a DVD of a movie I love.
I’ve started a semi-regular “movie club” just to get more use out of my DVDs — people coming over and we watch a couple of movies that I love for some reason or another (this weekend: L.A. Story and Manhattan).
And yeah, I don’t get the blind-buying phenomenon, either. Any time I go to Best Buy, especially on a Tuesday, I see dudes in front of me in line with three new releases that I’m guessing they didn’t see in the theaters (at least not all of them). I know it’s been argued that $15-20 for a new DVD, even if you haven’t seen it, is more ecnomical than a movie ticket (in that you can keep it, watch it with multiple people, etc.), but frankly, the extra $5-10 to own most movies would *not* be worth it for me. If it’s $12 once versus $20 for infinite times, $12 once still wins out for most movies. And those that I would want to see many times, I’d also want the experience of seeing them on the big screen.
The majority of discs I bought in the last three years were used from netfilx. I am so pissed they stopped offering that service.
I buy most of my DVD through Amazon, Half.com, or eBay. If you’re not concerned with getting something right when it comes out, you can usually get it for $10 or less a month or so after, depending on the title.
And if you don’t mind waiting significantly longer, Best Buy often has that 4 for $20 deal on used discs.
I never buy stuff new anymore, aside from new music when it’s like $10.
Good call on “Heaven Help Us,” Lazarus.
I remember seeing that twice during its brief theatrical release in the winter of 1985. Too bad “The Breakfast Club” (a lesser film in every way) stole all of its thunder back then. Of course, Harold Becker’s “VisionQuest” was another infinitely superior (to “B.C.”) “youth” flick that got lost in the Hughes-ian traffic.
If I recall, Mike Clark in USA Today was the only critic back then who appreciated “Heaven.” Another reason why Clark deserves props as the post-Sarris “dean” of American movie crix.
Aris, RE: Planetary –
Ellis mentioned on his blog last week that it was the two-year anniversary of his finishing the script, but that the art was still not done, and that he didn’t even know how far along it was. Said he probably wouldn’t bring it up again untill it’s ready to ship.
My last DVD purchases were Phase IV and Star Trek: Generations (used).
Last week I bought, new, Happy-Go-Lucky, Synecdoche, New York, and Pinocchio. I would have gotten Let the Right One In but I decided to read the book first.
I don’t buy Blu-Rays because I don’t have a player or an appropriately expensive TV.
I’m with you there jeff, I am still slumming it with a Cathode Ray Tube set. When I look at the cost of upgrading as well as the increased cost of buying Blu-ray discs, I just don’t see it being worth it yet. It does bug me though to see family members with these huge digital tv’s and they only use them to watch reality shows.
And probably in the wrong aspect ratio.
I have nothing to say so I am just going to toss out that I think Q&A contains Nick Nolte’s best performance ever.
Actually its me with the messed up aspect ratio. My Direct TV fills the screen when I watch broadcast channels cutting off the sides of those sent in hi-def, the cable channels seem to be fine though, but since the only tv I watch is Simpsons and 30 Rock (caught Mad Men on disc and loved it), I suffer through.
Lazarus: Heaven Help Us is a classic, sir.
Real-life update: Reliable reports from London and New York say Natasha Richardson is on life support so her family can pay their respects.
@movieman: “Vision Quest” is remembered now for the Madonna song “Crazy for You”.
Actually, I have bought two DVDs in my life before seeing the movie and they couldn’t have turned out more opposite. All that Jazz, which I now rank as the #1 movie I have seen, and Oldboy, which I would rank as one of the worst. The latter is why I don’t do it anymore.
And just like Jesse I find I don’t actually watch my DVDs all that often. I’m watching more TV on DVD (currently: Underbell – it’s excellent) and movies from my DVD service that I haven’t seen and don’t have as much time to watch that Legally Blonde DVD I got years ago.
You didn’t like Oldboy? Bah! You should pra’ly giv’r another spin.
I hated Oldboy, but grew to like it. It’s a diabolical comic book movie. On that level alone, I really appreciate it.
That aside; I do buy a lot of stuff sight unseen. Especially when it comes to indie feels because I can usually get a feel as to if I will like it or not. Thanks to Poland and this blog, and the countless reviews online.
I get going around the price point by using Amazon, because DVDs/BDs depreciate at a ridiculous level, but 20 bucks is a bit much in this day and age. It does not change the fact that I feel weird for having such a large collection on this blog, that I thought had other people with large collections as well. See… this is the kind of stuff I find interesting. Thanks for sharing everyone.
I also think that buying movies you’ve never seen is weird, though I once knew a guy who’d buy them used at Amoeba Records (which was right next to his apartment) and then sell them back if he didn’t like them. It wound up costing him the same as — or even less than — a rental, and he didn’t have to worry about membership or late fees.
I like to weed through the ten-dollar DVD bin at Virgin, but that branch is going under. I’m waiting until the final rock-bottom days to pick over the bones of the joint. Right now they’re trying to fool their customers by marking the discs back up to normal and trumpeting that they’re 20 percent off — but they’re still way more than ten bucks.
I think I’ll start writing a script called Tiny Eyeball. “You can’t see it…but IT can see you!”
Official. RIP Natasha Richardson.
“Real-life update: Reliable reports from London and New York say Natasha Richardson is on life support so her family can pay their respects.”
Sadly, she died today. In one of the strangest freak incidents ever, if early reports are true. A run of the mill fall on a beginners slope that nobody there thought looked like anything more than a whoopsie-daisy? Horrible.
I bought a lot of DVDs when I was in high school, and had a job, not so much anymore.
The Natasha Richardson news sucks big time, even though it was completely expected. I can only say how absurd the human body is sometimes. It’ll survive absolutely ridiculous stuff, yet succumb to what seems at the time to be no more than a bump on the head. If I recall correctly, Steve Allen died after being in a car accident where it didn’t appear he’d suffered any injuries at all. I feel worst for her kids. A 12 and 13 year old should not have to go through this. Alas, that is how life is, and sometimes they do.
Last Christmas, Target had some great $5-7 DVD’s. I ended up buying some to give as gifts. Would’ve bought more for myself but back then wasn’t sure if I’d have a job past February.
I bought my first dvd player in the fall of ’99 and back then there were various promotions that would give you dvd’s. I still haven’t watch 6 Days, 7 Nights or Stepmom for that matter. I forget what old dvd I finally watched and it had a free dvd coupon w/proof of two other library purchases. I was so pissed I missed that.
There was some great website that had cheap cd’s and dvd’s, next to nothing shipping and no tax. I was happy trying to build up my library that way but then someone either hacked their system or a disgruntled employee tried extort $100K from them because they had all the customers’ info and credit card numbers and threatened to release them. The plot hit the Wall St Journal and I believe they caught the guy but not w/out there being a loss of consumer confidence or perhaps other issues and the place was closed w/in 6 wks I believe. So sad.
I’d prolly buy some classic cinema dvd’s sight unseen. I don’t even have a blu ray and already buying some Blu ray discs. Like Wanted & Dark Knight. I don’t need to whip them out now but nice library pieces to have. I don’t really buy that many discs and my guess I won’t pay the extra for blu ray unless the aesthetics warrants it.
Count me in the camp that liked Oldboy.
That is sad news about Natasha. A solemn reminder that tomorrow is not promised to us.
Terrible news about Richardson. You really gotta feel for those teenage sons and any parent having to say goodbye to their child is tough. Condolences to the whole family.
oh, so sad about natasha richardson. i can’t imagine how it must feel to have to turn off a loved-one’s life support and say goodbye, the feeling of helplessness, despair and grief for her family must be overwhelming. may they somehow find the strength in each other, friends and family to pick up the pieces. natasha seemed like a genuinely lovely person, gone far too soon.
(perhaps one thing that might come out of such a horrible tragedy is more awareness around head injury and how even a fairly mild knock, particularly to the back of the head, can cause fatal bleeding and swelling in the brain)
Natasha Richardson dies from a spill on the beginner’s slope, but someone like Steve-O keeps on ticking. It really is mind-boggling.
God, what a year for Neeson: the enormous, left-field success of Taken, followed by this horrendous tragedy.
Yancy: indeed.
Cloud: case and point: the guy who suffered the most G loads ever exerted on the human body. Would die a few years later in a car accident. This guy did feel all of those G loads while being in an F1 car, but the cars at the time were not exactly safety conscious. So how can the human body experience such contortions, but a car crash does him in? The human body is a weird machine.
So here’s three huzzahs to a lady, who apparently was rather classy, and will be missed by all those who loved her and knew her.
HUZZAH!
HUZZAH!
HUZZAH!
Re: Richardson. A pathologist friend said that there’s a better-than-average chance she had a hidden brain issue before the spill, like a clot. So any head trauma would have triggered this because at her age, she would have only gotten brain scans is she experienced powerful headaches in the past. It doesn’t change how tragic this is.
Martin, I was wondering myself whether the spill was really the trigger, or simply a coincidence. What your pathologist friend says seems plausible.
Does anyone else have the sinking feeling that Blu-Ray players/discs are simply a canny marketing tool to get consumers to (needlessly) “upgrade” their dvd collections?
I just don’t see a whole lot of difference between Blu-Ray and regular dvds if they’re both played on hi-def television sets.
After watching a (non) Blu-Ray screener of “Benjamin Button” on my hi-def TV, I vowed never to buy an actual B-R disc ever again. This standard dvd was practically 3-dimensional in the way the colors/details/etc. popped off of my screen…and isn’t that the principal reason people buy Blu-Ray dvds in the first place?
If you can get the same effect with regular dvds on a hi-def TV, why bother paying the B-R surcharge?
I think standard DVDs look great on my HD TV… but I’ve thrown a couple movies in on DVD and BR, and flipped back and forth for comparison, and the difference is still very noticable.
So yeah, DVDs look great when upscaled – as long as you don’t compare them to real HD images.
Movie – the more recent the film, the little the difference. Older remastered titles will look better on BR because a lot of the high-end transfer techniques of today didn’t exist five years ago. My rule of thumb is Bond; when they get reworked, it means something new is present. Another example would be how Toho just remastered the entire Godzilla run for HD broadcast. The work they did now blows away any previous transfer to the point that they could have never looked this nice when first theatrically distributed.
As for Button, IIRC, wasn’t that shot on digital to begin with? I know the post work was done on Mac’s. What you would see on a HD set is almost a 1:1 for what Fincher intended.
“Does anyone else have the sinking feeling that Blu-Ray players/discs are simply a canny marketing tool to get consumers to (needlessly) ‘upgrade’ their dvd collections?”
Not as strong as the feeling that the grand “leaps” in the picture and sound quality from one technology to another are probably a lot more lilliputian than quantum.
Funny you guys should mention Button, because it’s actually getting a deluxe 2-disc release through Criterion alongside the standard Paramount version.
Surprising but welcome news.
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/ is a good website for BluRay/DVD comparisons (they use screencaps of each to demonstrate).
the thing i’ve never understood about that is, the screencaps or whatever only look as good as the quality of the computer monitor screen on which you are viewing them, right? so if your monitor isn’t proper high-def, you can’t really tell the difference. kinda like sony’s marketing of their high-def flat screen televisions, for which they have tv adverts that use all those colourful bouncy balls to trumpet ‘the sharpest, most vibrant colours ever!’. but of course you’re likely viewing those balls on your old shithouse tv that weights 300lbs so the balls don’t look any different colour-wise or sharpness-wise than everything else on your tv, and you’re thinking, ‘oh brother, those colours aren’t so great’…and if you can in fact tell that the coloured balls are super sharp and vibrant, then you must be watching the commercial on your high-def tv so you really don’t need to buy one from sony in the first place. anyhoo, that marketing strategy seems a bit mental
“Has someone completely ripped off The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra? No offense, but I don’t remember that movie too well, however, didn’t the alien/monster look kinda like the one on this poster for Alien Trespass?
http://www.impawards.com/2009/alien_trespass_ver3.html
Right director, wrong movie. It was made by the same people who produced Larry’s follow-up, TRAIL OF THE SCREAMING FOREHEAD. After taking it away from him and butchering it, they then decided to make their own, “superior” version, copying it in every way except entertainment. It’s rubbish.
The version of Screaming Forehead I saw at the Egyptian – what, a couple of years ago? – was perfectly okay. Not as good as Skeleton or its sequel, but not terrible either.
Exactly. Hopefully one day Larry’s cut will make it to DVD.