April 25, 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” â 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 â 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 â he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” â and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging â I was with her at that moment â 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 namedâ” “Yeah, sure â 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 Iâm on the phone with you now, after all thatâs 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 didnât seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. Thereâs not a case of that. He wasnât using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had â if that were what the accusation involved â 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. Iâm not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, âYou know, itâs not this, itâs thatâ? Because â let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, thatâs what it lacked. Thatâs 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
Because you will totally care and there’s nothing more fascinating than hearing about other people’s stupid dreams:
I had an awesome dream this morning that not only did I know Jennifer Garner, but we were very good friends (no Affleck in sight), and were having a fun flirtation shopping together in the grocery store’s frozen food aisle in which she fell on top of me like in the movies and we both giggled and realized our feelings. It was completely awesome and the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. Ever.
Then the recycling truck woke me up right at that moment, and it’s 174 degrees in the Valley, and I have to go to work.
Being awake fucking sucks.
You were good friends? You GIGGLED?
Lex, you’re gay.
Why else do all of your fantasies involve painting the toenails of/eating ice cream bars with hot women, rather than having sex with them? Why else do you complain about lack of sex, yet find a million excuses to do anything about it? Why else do you use such gross terms for the female anatomy?
As for all the macho bullshit, it’s classic overcompensation.
This dream settles it. You’re gay. Deal with it.
has it really been 36 years? holy crap. still miss ya, bruce
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzLhiWd9Efw
And his influence is even greater today.
Here’s some shameless self-promotion. I have an article in the new issue of Creative Screenwriting. It’s about DVD horror sequels. It is my first story for a national magazine so I’m pretty excited. I wish I could provide a link but they only provide a little tease on their site.
Congrats SB, and post the little tease link. It’s some times better to tease than not.
Thank you IO.
http://creativescreenwriting.com/current.html
Mine is the fifth (and last) story under Features.
Fuck yeah. Congrats, man. Might even buy a copy to scheck it out.
DTV horror sequels rule. VACANCY 2: AGNES BRUCKER? MORE LIKE I’D LIKE TO FUCKNER.
Anyone catch ALEXIS DZIENA on VAGTOURAGE last night? Holy shit, is she clocking in at, what, 47 pounds these days?
Stella. Good job. Aren’t most DTV horror sequels actually the first drafts of the original films?
Since I used to write for CS, congrats!
So, I’m in the local Best Buy on the weekend and they have a wall of 52″ flatscreens all hooked up to Blu-Ray players and all of them are showing the Dark Knight.
They were showing the sequence where they finally capture the Joker in the night chase through the city core.
After studying several of the most high end monitors for several minutes…it appeared to me that something was off with the presentation. The picture was too clear; too lacking in grain. It looked as though it was so clear that it was shot on video and not film. It took me out of the film momentarily.
I saw a similar display last Christmas where Field of Dreams was showing and the picture looked unnatural. Although in this case it was not too clear, because it was an older film it looked like the grain was over-stated with pixilation.
I currently have a 32″ screen and a DVD player. While I love the thought of a larger screen…I have to say I am still not 100% sold on Blu-Ray. It seems to be the flip side of VHS to me on some films. Where neither truly can replicate the cinematography of the theatrical experience.
Anyone else have this experience or can you recommend an optimal title for experimenting with Blu Ray on?
As others have said, the digital noise reduction on Blu-Ray can go too far. It’s not a one-size fits all filter, but they apply it that way. For me regular DVD it’s OK because the resolution is so low, but on HD it does bother me. Nicol my recommendation is to check out a digital-source movie to compare and contrast, like Speed Racer or Superman Returns. If you recall your experience of those in the cinema, it will be a good comparison on a home system. Most worrisome are 20+ year old films that have a lot of their visual personality removed by overprocessing. Blu-Ray is high quality enough that it doesn’t need this type of cleanup work, I’m really not sure why they do it other than ignorance.
congrats Stella!
and…it’s a new win for the winnin’ ugly White Sox. Jenks has to get rid of the hideous goatee stylin’ *statim*.
Congrats to Stella’s Boy!! I wish the magazine were available here in Thailand.
On a sadder note, seems like Saw 7 is coming. http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=27525
Martin,
Thanks for the response. Thanks for the comment about the”one size fits all” filter. That is the impression I got and I’m glad it’s not just me who notices it.
I’ll see if I can get a copy of Superman Returns and take it in to test before I consider buying…hopefully before Christmas.
Best
Stella: Congrats! Now tell the truth: How many copies did you rush out to buy? I won’t lie: In my closet, I still have multiple copies of the cover story interview with James Coburn I did for TAKE ONE magazine back when he shot Hard Times in my home town of N.O.
Congrants, Stella! I remember the short period of time I was an intern for a magazine that was released on a national level after college. For all of my book smarts, I hadn’t really gotten the other kind of smarts down yet and didn’t have a decent work ethic at all. I got my act together far too late. Despite all of that, seeing my name attached to a magazine thousands of people across the country-even if the name was in small print in comparison to everything else, and nobody cared who I was or what I wrote-was an indescribably awesome feeling as I’m sure it is for you, and here’s to the hope of many more instances of your name showing up in many more articles.
Nicol D, most big outlets like Best Buy also calibrate their TVs horribly. They turn on all the bells-n-whistles, which can result in the type of image you saw. (One of the other common ones is the sharpness cranked way up high.) Watching a film on Blu-Ray, especially an older film, feels like I’m watching an actual print. You can see the grain structure and it feels like grain, not video noise.
I was just watching season 1 of “Mad Men” on Blu-Ray and it’s just stunning. Crisp, clean, insanely detailed, with that tight gorgeous 35mm grain giving a hint of life to the frame. There’s no question that with the right transfer, Blu-Ray is the best a film can look at home. But certainly it’s also true that a careless transfer could easily reduce the noise or remove it entirely.
Way to go, Stella!
Awesome news, Stella!
“Lex, you’re gay.”
Frank, please don’t lump him in my camp, okay. We don’t want him.
BTW, did anybody hear watch Glee? The sneak pilot episode just aired here and I thought it was great. No surprise to learn it comes from the writer of Popular.
Thank you so much for all the kind words. I really appreciate it. Joe L., I definitely got more than one. Joe S., that about sums it up perfectly.
Nicol D > pick up a copy of Criterion’s Chungking Express or Bottle Rocket. They looks fantastic, while still retaining the “feel” of film. Miles and miles of improvement over the DVD versions. I also like my copy of Silence of the Lambs. For a digital source movie, Apocalypto is one of the best looking I’ve seen (although I still need to see Speed Racer on BluRay).
KILL BILL and WALL-E look eye-popping spectacular in blu-ray. As does NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. There’s a difference, but not with every film.
Congrats, SB!
Also, on the BYOBlog front – Bruckheimer’s Prince of Persia is directed by Mike Newell? WTF?
Newell…as in, rhymes with pool đ
Big ups to Stella’s Boy!
I don’t have blu ray yet but did get a new high def tv at the beginning of the year. Some dvd’s, shows in high def and even a few other shows I’ve seen look more like watching on a camera monitor than actual film. What’s really bad is watching what is supposed to be the interior shot of a moving car and now you can totally see it’s a phony background and only shell of a car. I can kinda mess w/the settings on the tv but still, it’s just a whole new ball game.
I thought the first season of Popular was really brilliant. Then I don’t know what happened w/much of season 2 but it started doing all the cliche & unrealistic crap other shows featuring well adjusted, middle aged sounding teens had. So sad. Saw the premiere of Glee and unfortunately I’m not convinced this show is gonna last. It could’ve been a 2-hr made for tv movie from what I saw. Hopefully more will come to make the characters more compelling but I just got the rag tag misfits come together to win the big competition, end, roll credits and check late box scores to see if any of my left coast relievers blew a save. (Shout out to Lota).
Holy CRAP! I just now realized Chris Columbus directed “I Love You, Beth Cooper.” Man, that seriously shocked me. It’s a completely awful film!! Not to put Columbus on a pedestal or anything, but I automatically assumed the film was made by some lackey. Wow….
Ah, Stella must be very proud of her boy. Congrats on your success.
Don, I was shocked that Columbus took on something so small to begin with. I don’t want to defend him since I loathe all of his movies outside of the Potter’s but I never threw him in the hack catagory that many people do. I always thought he knew what he was doing and everything was onscreen exactly how he wanted it but just made films for people with a different sensibility than I have.
On another note, I just got back from seeing Public Enemies and freakin’ loved it. Between work and getting a house ready to sell I haven’t been in an actual theater since January and damn did I miss it. I know this is belated but the use of digital in the period setting worked beautifully and i was mesmerized by the skin tones and colors.
RELIGION IS THE #1 SOURCE OF BULLSHIT ON THIS PLANET.
If I hadn’t been raised on THE BULLSHIT CALLED RELIGION I might actually be able to have functional relationships with women, OR get a hard cock over some chick who isn’t a TOTAL FUCKING SKANK SLUT.
VIVA LA RELIGION! Destroying men’s lives and oppressing chicks since the year 00!