April 27, 2024
BYOB
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BYOB: 235 Years Of Relative independence
BYOB Weekend: Hop, An April Fool’s Gag?
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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
Anyone else read the neo-realism piece in Sunday’s NYTimes Magazine? Neat, albeit short article, but Ramin Bahrani comes off downright nice/fascinating. I love, love, love his films, but have always heard he is one of the most terrifying of directors on set – so anal about minutae at times that it paralyzes him and everyone around him. I’d imagine he’d be amazing to watch at work, even if he was a Singer-esque “screamer.”
Does anybody have any suggestions of places to go/shows to see in New York City. People who read my blog will be aware that I am going there next week and if anyone has any tips then mention them on here or shoot me an email (glenndunks@gmail.com).
I missed that part SJR, would like to give it another try. Kami, whatever lounge is on the 8th floor of the Marriott Marquis, even though sadly it doesn’t revolve anymore.
Yeah… I’m a poor tourist with a weak Aussie dollar. :/
If you wanna see NYC but you’re on a budget, why don’t you just do what 99% of CHEAP, SHITTY-LOOKING, INEPT AMERICAN MOVIES DO: Go to Vancouver instead and try to crop the forests and snow out of your photos and home movies.
Not too much to add to a BYOB but I always like to throw some shit out there, so TAKE YOUR PICK:
1) A certain Rival Blogger Who Shall Not Be Named here has run like 3 or 4 posts about Observe and Report and how SCORSESE-ESQUE and TAXI DRIVER-esque it promises to be. ANYONE getting that feel from the trailers? Even if it’s 1/3 as edgy and great as KING OF COMEDY, I foresee mass walkouts from the typical douche U.S. audience waiting for THE FAT GUY TO BE FUNNY.
2) SORORITY ROW looks like MAJOR OWNAGE.
3) Is it true that OBORING’s speech tonight was a giant, boring, leaden, uninspiring dud, and that he flopped big time? That’s what Hannity said, but I’m not a huge fan of that guy either. But I’m damn sure not gonna watch some boring political speech.
Thought it FUCKING SUCKS if they want me to pay extra taxes so MY GODDAMN MONEY can go to support broke-ass people like Jeff McMahon who pretend to be poor instead of just getting a goddamn 40k transcription job instead of pretending to be some kind of “artist.”
Boreack Obama: LESS CHARISMA than LOREN DEAN.
Lucky you, Kam. I went to NYC with my sister years ago. We happened to walk buy a cupcake shop called Magnolia Bakery. There was a long queue outside it and, out of curiosity, we decided to wait in line. They made the loveliest cupcakes. My sister and I were just talking about it yesterday. Also, because we both liked Serendipity, we had the frozen iced chocolate at Serendipity 3. I highly recommend it if you like chocolate. Have fun on your trip!!
Loren fucking Dean. Not bad.
Go to Brooklyn for pizza. Di Fara, Franny’s, Lucali. Or Una Pizza Napoletana in the city.
Ployp, I already have Magnolia and Serendipity 3 on the itinerary.
Thanks for the suggestions. Not sure how much time we’re spending in Brooklyn though.
The Frick, for sure, Kamikaze. And, on the opposite side of Central Park, the Cathedral of St John the Divine. Both are spectacular.
Saw Quantum of Solace last night and while the action scenes were inept I enjoyed it quite a bit. Not as good as Casino but probably in my top five bonds.
Also finished Rachel Getting Married. Was I supposed to hate all the guests as much as I did? If so it was genius because I as a viewer felt just as isolated and alienated as Kym being stuck in the middle of all those smug happy hipsters. I could be wrong and this could be what memorial day weekend at Demme’s place looks like, but at some point I thought if I see one more porkpie hat or mongolian folk guitar I am turning this movie off.
well I love diners and dive bars, the latter of which have rapidly disappeared from Manhattan, but will look up thier addresses for you & send. I definitely recommend pizza and ice cream in Brooklyn–better than anything you’d find in manhattan as most of the original little Italy high fat ice cream places and homemade pizza places have closed up.
There’s an Afghani restaurant in East village that I love (haven;t been there in ahwile…could have closed up) but I can’t spell the place off the top of my head, will email it to you. Some nice restaurants that are affordable in East Village.
Also–get a piece of cardboard box from an alley and go down the stone slides in Central Park. FUN and CHEAP.
NYC: and catch a film at the Film Forum…
Kami- if by “shows” you mean “concerts,” check out pollstar.com and enter New York in the search box. It has all shows in NY and you can put dates you’ll be there into it as well.
I’ve seen “Observe and Report” and the only way it’s like “Taxi Driver” is that the lead character is violent, insane and deluded into thinking he’s a hero. And those are very surface comparisons. It’s kind of reckless and misleading to make the move out to be a Seth Rogen “Taxi Driver” I think.
I will say, “Observe and Report” is going to end up in my top 10 of the year unless 10 other movies can make me laugh my ass off, be surprised by onscreen happenings more than 5 times and even feel really kind of sad. GREAT movie. Can’t wait for you all to see it and for it’s inevitable flop at the constantly stoopid box office.
Anyone else going to AFI Dallas this weekend??? I shall be there Thursday-Monday!
Monsters vs. Aliens opened last weekend in Russia and Ukraine. According to Variety the gross combined was $6.2 million. Variety also says its was the 4th highest animated opening weekend in Russia.
According to Mojo, Madagascar would be #1 at $16.3 million, followed by Shrek 3 at $12.1 million and Kung Fu Panda at $8.3 million.
I am probably reading way, way too much into this but $6.2 million looks light.
MvA is getting pretty good early reviews (85% on Rotten Tomatoes). I think Wall Street is looking for a $60 million opening in North America. DWA stock has been firm in the last two weeks so if it falls short there could be some downside. And the 3D impact is hard to predict. What do you all think about the opening weekend?
So you can’t handle Obama, but you trust Sean Hannity to tell you ho the speech went? Okay Lex, back to your shell.
“If you wanna see NYC but you’re on a budget, why don’t you just do what 99% of CHEAP, SHITTY-LOOKING, INEPT AMERICAN MOVIES DO: Go to Vancouver instead and try to crop the forests and snow out of your photos and home movies.”
Funniest thing you ever posted.
Hcat, I agree with you re: Rachel Getting Married, I found it alienating as well. I couldn’t tell if it was by design or not (I’m leaning towards not).
Lex: WTF? (A) Obama and the Republicans all want to give you a tax cut, (B) I’ve asked you before to hook me up with any job you possibly could, (C) I don’t create art, therefore am not an artist, and (D) why are you singling me out? Leave me alone, Bonermeister.
Lex should also know that a lot of transcription work is being farmed out overseas quicker than you can say, “Tea Party.” But that’s just good ol’ capitalism at work. Suck it down Lex.
I hope Lex gets fired! Then he can call himself an out of work actor and at least be closer to his dreams than he is now.
I read this story off the main page on the slight subtitle changes on the DVD release of Let The Right One In:
http://iconsoffright.com/news/2009/03/let_the_wrong_subtitles_in_to.html
Does anyone recall any other movies this happened to? It would explain why sometimes when I’ve recommended movies that I’d seen in the theater to people who don’t see it til DVD that they don’t enjoy it (in addition to the decreased attention span of watching at home)
From today’s Hollywood Reporter announcement about the Farrelly Brothers’ long-planned non-biopic update of the Three Stooges:
“Sean Penn is set to play Larry, and Jim Carrey is in negotiations to play Curly. Benicio del Toro is a rumored possibility for the brothers’ taciturn leader, Moe.”
I’m not sure what to even say about it, other than the possibilities are myriad and endless. And maybe a bit scary.
“Sean Penn is set to play Larry, and Jim Carrey is in negotiations to play Curly. Benicio del Toro is a rumored possibility for the brothers’ taciturn leader, Moe.”
Penn…Carlito’s way…I get it
Benicio??? I think he can do it…too bad Josh Brolin isn;t a little younger.
And Jim Carrey as CURLY?
I’m officially on suicide watch.
I think the Stooges would be funnier with serious actors playing them. Del Toro would be pretty great for Moe. Now get James Gandolfini for Curly.
“James Gandolfini for Curly.”
Lota not on suicide watch.
Make some phone calls Perm.
RGM = *MASTERPIECE*
For the subtitles thing, I remember the DVD of City of God had simplified subtitles that actually left many lines of dialogue untranslated. I don’t remember if the theatrical release was like that.
As for the Three Stooges, what alternate dimension have I wandered into? Is this Sliders? Am I about to be attacked by glaringly CG’d creatures?
Don, I’ll be at AFI Dallas the 29th-3rd.
‘Sean Penn is set to play Larry’
stoked to hear penn is putting his sublime comic timing to good use again in a flat-out comedy, it’s about time!
We already have a date to freaky dance at that W nightclub, Kim…or did you forget our Austin airport pact?? I already packed my structure shirt!!
Have you guys een the “Where the Wild Things Are” trailer?? I literally just shed a tear it looks so amazing!
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/wherethewildthingsare/
Leahnz: Yeah, not since Shanghai Surprise…
NO Jim Carry for Curly. He’ll ruin it with his contant “look at me I’m funny” mugging. He’s fucked up more comedies than I can think of, where being slightly more subtle would have been better. And now he’s got to work against a real bona-fide actor.
Agreed Perm.
I even think Carrey was a negative In Living Color.
Hence, until they get someone other than Carrey…i will be on suicide watch. Carrey costs too much anyway, I am surprised they’d pick him anyway in this recession.
@ glenndunks at gmail dot com, poor tourist with a weak Aussie dollar, I think you can hang out at that lounge and split a beer. At 8 floors up, the Time Square signage is cool, but you won’t get the Aries spacecraft on its way to the Moon feeling you used to when it rotated. And, if it’s not on your list already, you might want to walk from Soho to Anthology Film Archives for a movie and cheap street shopping along the way (I still wear my $5 pashminas).
‘Leahnz: Yeah, not since Shanghai Surprise…’
ha, joe, that tickled my funny bone. look no further for proof that penn and ciccone just weren’t meant for each other, yikes
Penn and del Toro; yeah, cool. Carrey? I’m already gritting my teeth.
The thing I’m still trying to figure out is how the Farrellys even had the clout to attract that caliber of actor when they haven’t “hit” since…..”There’s Something About Mary”?
Do they really still have the same cred they had when Meryl Streep cameo-ed in “Stuck on You” or Gwynie did “Shallow Hal” after winning her “Shakespeare in Love” Oscar?
‘Penn and del Toro; yeah, cool. Carrey? I’m already gritting my teeth.
The thing I’m still trying to figure out is how the Farrellys even had the clout to attract that caliber of actor when they haven’t “hit” since…..”There’s Something About Mary”?’
same here, movieman. tho i cling to carrey’s terrifically subtle comedic turn in ‘eternal sunshine’ (and to a lesser extent ‘the truman show’) as proof that carrey has it in him somewhere and can pull it off if properly coaxed; whether peter farrelly is the ideal coaxer, well, that’s a bit of a worry, more so than carrey for me
Kami, stay away from NYC. The subway fare is being jacked up to $2.50 (though not right away) and the transit authority is crying “doomsday unless we get a bailout from Big Government”.
Chucky, he’s coming next week and I doubt that he feels like cancelling his plans on your say-so.
Also, your “Big Government” mention has me perplexed as to where you fit on the political spectrum. All this time I’ve thought your more anti-liberal ramblings were meant ironically, but I’m not so sure anymore. My guess is that you’re off the grid.
Finally caught “The Reader” tonight. Not good, but not the abomination some people were making it out to be. There are some interesting themes, but they are overwhelmed by the tedious melodrama. In other words, your run-of-the-mill, mediocre Oscar-bait. I can now officially say “Slumdog” would have gotten my Oscar vote. If I didn’t burn it instead, which may well have been my course of action.
Here’s why Carrey might work as Curly: Curly is an established persona. Carrey is a helluva mimic. My guess is he’d stay true to the Curly we know and love. His Andy Kaufman wasn’t riddled with Ace Ventura-isms, was it? So unless the Farrellys decide to veer from the original Stooges’ personalities, Carrey is likely to respect the collective memory of his character. Here’s hoping anyway.
I’m still unclear if this 3 Stooges thing is a straight biopic or like, 90 minutes of Stooge-like antics by 3 Oscar nominees. Seems like a Farrelly Oscar grab if you ask me…but a helluva intriguing one.
hey, great call on carrey’s kaufman, yancy, i totally spaced on that perf when considering carrey as curly earlier, but his turn in ‘man on the moon’ is the perfect example of carrey’s ability to inhabit a role based on a real person and do it justice sans a trace of ace
Not an Oscar grab…it’s not a biopic, it’s an actual Three Stooges story.
So Jim Carrey will merely be playing “Curly”, as opposed to playing Curly Howard playing “Curly”? Or will Carrey et al. actually be the new Three Stooges? I’m confused.
Chucky. I think I’ll follow your advice and cancel my entire trip because the subway fare has risen 50 cents. Thanks for the heads up!
yeah, kam, flag it. save yourself ten bucks and just go down the domain and PRETEND it’s central park, you’ll never miss it
‘So Jim Carrey will merely be playing “Curly”, as opposed to playing Curly Howard playing “Curly”? Or will Carrey et al. actually be the new Three Stooges? I’m confused.’
you and me both, blackc. perhaps we’re the two stooges
Wasn’t there a TVM movie about eight or nine years ago with a pre-Shield Michael Chiklis as one of the stooges, produced by Mel Gibson?
It was from that weird era of tv movies like the AUDREY HEPBURN movie starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and the Donnie Wahlberg version of TAKING OF PELHAM 123.
Then again, nobody ever remembers the MIDNIGHT RUN TV SHOW with Christopher MacDonald in the De Niro role, so this might be one of those oddities that only one person in all of America (me) has any recollection of.
I remember that Jennifer Love Hewitt/Hepburn movie. They show that down here far too frequently.
That Chiklis movie was filmed in Australia, quite randomly. As evidenced by the amount of Aussies amongst the supporting roles. Rachael Blake, Joel Edgerton, Marton Csokas, Peter Callan etc… how bizarre.
Marton Csokas is Australian?
That guy RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUULES.
Funny, neither of those movies have seen U.S. air time or DVD play since their original broadcast. Sucks, because I’m Hewitt Fan #1 and have always wanted to see that thing.
Not sure why all the confusion re the Stooges movie. As I said when I introduced the topic here, it’s a “non-biopic.” The Variety article makes it clear, as someone else here stated, that it’s a story featuring the characters Moe, Larry and Curly, not a bio of the actors who played them. Guess I should’ve linked to it.
I saw the Gibson-produced Stooges TV movie Lex referred to. It wasn’t bad, but I’m glad the Farrellys aren’t taking that approach. Saw most of the Hepburn thing, too. I kinda like J-Love, and she did an okay job, but it wasn’t really great casting.
“I kinda like J-Love, and she did an okay job, but it wasn’t really great casting.”
Exactly. JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT is WAY HOTTER THAN and has TEN TIMES THE CHARISMA OF Audrey Hepburn.
After Anna Faris, JLH is probably the hot-chick celeb 2nd most likely to “get” LexG.
(Obviously Hathaway and K-STEW would be the IDEAL, as they are HUMAN PERFECTION, but Hewitt would be DOWN.)
Oh and speaking of chick actresses and bad TV MOVIES, here’s a new topic:
Has anyone seen the ads on HBO for that GREY GARDENS movie with DREW BARRYMORE?
Barrymore all hamming and vamping it up with some grotesque old-age makeup and mannered Julianne Moore-esque vocal affectations; At first I thought it was just the latest Toni Colette gay camp novelty performance, but nope, it’s alleged A-LIST BOX OFFICE SUPERSTAR DREW BARRYMORE in a TV MOVIE giving what looks to be the most embarassing and laughable mannered performance ever to grace the cathode ray tube.
my objection Yance is that Jim Carrey would play Curly…Carrey is way too much, Curly was just enough and from Brooklyn.
don’t why it popped in mind but news of that casting made me think
“life is pain…murder is fame”
excuse me, but MARTIN CSOKAS IS A KIWI! born and bred, seen on enzed tv and in enzed flicks since he was a youngun – just because someone moves across the ditch to work does NOT make them australian! rant over.
I always assumed he was some Eastern-Euro Croatian Yugoslav-type dude.
Sort of like how everyone in the world assumes Cliff Collins is some Latin American bad-ass.
and lota, i think carrey has proven he doesn’t necessarily have to be ‘way too much’ given the right conditions in the greenhouse
don’t know that I can trust him on avoiding his kitsch for this type of project Leah.
fair enough, but i think he’ll raise his game to play with penn and del toro
Penn was pretty funny in “Casualties of War.”
“Claaaaaaawrk’s gwot a weeeapon, Claaaaaaaawrk’s gwot a knife… which isjh da way it awwwwta be…. awwwwwways.”
Big Penn fan forever, but I’ve never officially decided if his Sgt. Meserve from Casualties was the absolute most terrible, histrionic and embarrassing overacting in the entirety of cinema, or some of the most brilliant otherworldly alien shit EVER.
It kind of works with DePalma’s overwrought approach, but it’s just so bizarre — these grueling, horrific rape scenes and carnage, yet in the midst of it Penn doing this bizarre 1920s mugging and cartoon-voice accent work.
DePalma and Penn subsequently topped themselves with Redacted and I Am Sam, respectively.
Jeff: Actually a very good and succinct point.
Holy shit, I Am Sam plus Redacted REALLY IS Casualties of War.
“Sort of like how everyone in the world assumes Cliff Collins is some Latin American bad-ass.”
I think you meant to cite Cliff “Training Day” Curtis, who’s Maori and did work in “Once Were Warriors” and “Whale Rider”.
Unless you were just being sarcastic about Cliff Collins’ ability to portray a bad ass.
Yeah, I stick to my original point that Carrey has proven he can be an effective mimic without going over the top. In fact, in line with what others here have said, Penn may be the one who’ll be hard to tone down. “Milk” was a hopeful sign, however. I have trouble seeing Del Toro capture his inner Moe though. I just can’t hear that voice coming out of Del Toro’s mouth.
‘Carrey has proven he can be an effective mimic without going over the top’
but only in playing characters that are already ‘over the top’…..
scooterzz: Perhaps. So since Curly was not exactly Spencer Tracy, Carrey should be fine.
Kamel, you can’t go to NY without seeing at least one Broadway show. Make it 39 STEPS, a guaranteed audience-pleaser.