MCN Blogs
David Poland

By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com

BYOB MIA

Sorry…
Great DP/30 with Jeff Bridges coming though…
Here is some Gurus o Gold to chew upon…

Be Sociable, Share!

32 Responses to “BYOB MIA”

  1. martin says:

    BYOB is sorely missing Lex.
    I’d comment on Gurus of Gold, but the Oscar stuff don’t interest me till day of noms.

  2. LYT says:

    LAFA members just got Star Trek on DVD.
    Guess they are pushing it, at least partially, for awards.

  3. jeffmcm says:

    I subscribed to Lex’s Twitter feed for a while, then I had to stop because it got too monotonous, annoying, and depressing. He has like one post in 30 that’s funny, which is a pretty steep price to pay.

  4. Aladdin Sane says:

    Jeff, what’s your twitter feed? I’ll subscribe to you if you can promise that every post will be exciting and revelatory.

  5. LYT says:

    So you subscribed to the Twitter feed of LexG, then were disappointed to find that he’d post like 30 tweets in a row about being depressed and not having sex with actresses?
    Seems a bit like subscribing to Paris Hilton’s feed and being upset that you found nothing of substance there…no?

  6. movieman says:

    Just wanted to extend my sympathies to USA Today’s Mike Clark for being cut loose after 25 years of dedicated, exemplary service.
    For me, Clark was the (unacknowledged) heir apparent to Andrew Sarris: a wonderfully pithy writer with a pronounced auteurist bent who’d seen everything ever made at least once, and had the most astonishing and encylopedic knowledge of film/film history.
    Clark’s weekly dvd column was the only reason I continued buying USA/T after the depressingly mediocre Puig took over the paper’s movie-reviewing chores. Guess I can save myself that weekly buck from now on.

  7. anghus says:

    its getting harder to be a paid starfucker these days.
    id be lying if i said i cared. this is the inevitable thinning of the herd. the economic slash and burn to clear away the derbrush that chokes the trees.
    itll be a lot more entertaining when the net ad rates plummet again and it becomes feast or famine.
    starfuckers gotta eat.

  8. jeffmcm says:

    Sorry Aladdin, I couldn’t make that promise so it’s best if you don’t follow me on Twitter.
    My point is, Lex can be funny, but most of the time he’s sad, and it makes me wonder how everybody who’s a ‘fan’ of him can blithely overlook his agony.

  9. Aladdin Sane says:

    I don’t think anyone who is following him is overlooking his agony. I know that Drew McWeeny has reached out and encouraged him in a few ways.
    I think that many of us share in the same agony that Lex expresses quite openly. Maybe we don’t all post about it, but that’s his choice.
    I don’t know Lex personally, but I do enjoy reading his thoughts a lot of the time. As he has illustrated in times past, he can make some very astute observations on film.
    Sure sometimes he gets out of hand, but that’s part of his charm.
    Anyhow, wouldn’t your internet experience on this blog, as well as Wells’ site be a little lesser for not having all the colourfulness that Lex brings? Sure, you two may never be friends, but you shouldn’t begrudge the man for being true to himself.

  10. Triple Option says:

    jeffmcm wrote: I subscribed to Lex’s Twitter feed for a while, then I had to stop because it got too monotonous, annoying, and depressing.”
    Dude, what do you have, like Stockholm Syndrome? You can’t publicly complain about someone’s posts and then sign up for home delivery. Or say Dave is off base telling you guys “don’t feed the trolls” because your own behavior has nothing to do w/provoking an outcome.
    Granted, I think most of what goes on between you & Lex is in good fun but you do realize this is pretty much your signed waiver allowing you to be exploited however the issuing party seems fit?

  11. Josh Massey says:

    I can’t believe The Blind Side isn’t even mentioned on the Gurus chart. Don’t get me wrong – though I liked it, I don’t consider it deserving. But it’s the exact kind of film the Academy pictured when inflating the number of nominees.

  12. lazarus says:

    This blog was lively and thoughtful before Lex, and it can be so after him.
    You can have a date filled with stimulating conversation and flirtatious attraction, but if the person shit their pants in the car on the way home you’re probably not going to see them again.

  13. Trip-Op…I just LOLed…literally at that.
    The thing about Lex is….he doesn’t want any help. He’s just whining and crying. I reached out to him and offered to buy him some beers in L.A. as well as work on some youtube vids with him. He declined. I gave up a long time ago.
    The funny/sad thing is, much of what he writes reminds me of how I felt when I lived in L.A. Not the celebrity shit but I definitely engaged in insecure, drunken, self destructive behavior. But then I grew out of it and moved on in my life. Maybe he will too someday.
    I don’t miss him on here. I get my Lex G. fix on twitter but his Hot Blog derailments were almost as tiresome as the like-clockwork responses to them.

  14. anghus says:

    you know, the only thing worse than having lex here is not having lex here and listening to people talk about him.
    no offense to the guy, but his problems are either manufactured as a way to get attention or some deep shit that he would need to seek professional help. Either way, he bitched me into not caring. None of his problems are going to be solved by someone ‘reaching out to him’.
    Every word you type about him is a wasted keystroke. I’ll never understand the amount of sympathy generated for the kid who cries because he’s not captain of the football team and doesn’t get to fuck the head cheerleader.
    Those people represent the vast majority of this world. If you have a problem being one of the nameless masses, then boo fucking hoo.
    Congratulations if you were dense enough follow a twitter blog from a guy whose pain (or manufactured pain) amuses you or that you just follow for morbid curiosity. I’m amazed how even online a socially awkward ball of sexually frustrated rage could end up being such a talking point. Head into the aint it cool talkbacks. There are 3 dozen Lex’s on there that fume and rage without the pathetic desperation.
    The punchline of Lex is that every word, even these, are wasted ones. His story is not unique or even interesting, yet so many seem captivated by a grown man with the inferiority complex of a 12 year old girl. Replace “Megan Fox” with “Robert Patinson” and “Being famous” with “popularity”, and you have every pre-pubescent girl in America. They are both empty wells desperate for validation that doesn’t really exist.

  15. Been waiting all week to say this so….
    THE HORROR FILM I CO-PRODUCED THIS SUMMER GOT INTO SUNDANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Slightly stoked. If anyone’s going to the fest, be sure to see “The Violent Kind!”

  16. LYT says:

    Nice, Don. I’m hoping the one I did might get into Tromadance.

  17. anghus says:

    congrats Don. That’s 8 kinds of awesome.

  18. Thanks guys!
    Hope you get in too, Luke….we can rage on 8% beers!!

  19. jeffmcm says:

    Congrats, Don. When will the rest of us get to see it?
    Triple Option, I did say I got rid of his feed, didn’t I? I gave him a non-Hot Blog chance, it didn’t work out, I’m done with him. And I wouldn’t have said a single word on the subject except that I’m afraid that some kind of ‘bring back Lex!’ movement might gain momentum.

  20. jeffmcm says:

    Oh, and real quickly and hopefully this’ll be the last thing I ever say on Lex:
    On the subject of my own masochism, I guess it’s a tribute to the force of Lex’s personality and his genuine writing abilities. He exerts a magnetic fascination even while remaining totally repellent and awful. Is it kind of like watching a years-long train wreck? Maybe!

  21. Aladdin Sane says:

    anghus, like it or not, this blog represents a community. It’s not like AICN for a myriad or reason. Saying we’re better off with or without LexG isn’t really the point as to how hurting he is as a human being.
    You may or may not agree with what your neighbour is doing, but that person is still your neighbour. I’m not sure whether or not the punchline that you see is really there, or just a reflection of your own shortcomings as a human being.

  22. Aladdin Sane says:

    *myriad of reasons, not or reason
    Also, I’m not looking to pick a fight here. I just think dumping on someone for the sake of it grows old. At least jeffmcm and Lex had some decent back and forth at times.

  23. CleanSteve says:

    1) Congrats, Don.
    2) Is Lex TRULY a messed up person? I mean, I have bipolar disorder and I know from flipping my shit. But i always took him as a “character poster.” I thought it was just his schtick. There are people here who really know him? And he’s really like that?
    3) I have to say (and excuse the Lex-style vulgarity) i have a major hard-on for the Julian Temple Kinks biopic noted on the front page. I’d heard rumblings of this before. Oh, man…short of a Kinks reunion tour (which we are running out of time on, boys. Dave is well enough to play or so I’ve heard. PLEASE??? I never saw the Ramones, and blew my last chance to see The Cramps. Please don’t leave me hanging on this one).
    IMHO The Kinks are, pound for pound, the greatest band of all-time. And their output and range craps all over The Beatles (who I do love, mind you). I will fist-fight anyone who disagrees. The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society = pure ownage, topped only by The Stone Rose debut.
    I’ve been trying to mentally cast Ray and Dave. All I can come up with is Sam Reilly, so good in CONTROL. James MacAvoy is Scottish, but he has the look.
    And the Johnny Marr thing. Hmm…odd match of film and artist. But he, too, is a genius. One of the greatest concert moments of my life was REM at the United Center in 2008. Johnny joined them during the encore to play FALL ON ME. Marr & Buck, shoulder to shoulder. I wet my pants, as I did seeing Buck and Robyn Hitchcock shoulder to shoulder at the RH & the Venus 3 show in April.
    A Robyn Hitchcock movie would own, too. Although Storefront Hitchcock will suffice. His small rolls in the last few Demme films are fun, too.
    That is all.

  24. leahnz says:

    good lord, if you actually believe lex’s ‘suffering’ is real and not an act designed to get people to pay attention to/talk about him…there’s a sucker born every minute
    (kudos don lewis)

  25. leahnz says:

    (by ‘you’ i meant anyone)

  26. Thanks everyone!
    As for “The Violent Kind,” we’re obviously trying to secure theatrical and DVD seems really likely unless something crazy happens wherein there’s mass walkouts and horrible buzz after Sundance. but that shouldn’t happen. You never know though. Yikes. Anyway…
    We also may do a party kind of thing in L.A. and if we do, my THB peeps are invited for sure.
    As for Lex-
    leah and Aladdin are right in that no one knows the guy personally so who knows what’s real and what’s not. I’m sure he is a suffering human, but I don’t think it’s as bad as he makes it out to be. Then again, staying in character like that at all hours of the night takes a dedication that if he really had, he would have made it in some capacity by now so, maybe it is real.

  27. CleanSteve says:

    LOL @ Don. Yea, he should definitely act if he is in character all the time. But somehow I don’t take him as the Kirk Lazarus type.
    He’s a character poster. We’ve all encountered them. I bet he calls into the Jim Rome show, too (does he still have a radio show? Used to listen to The Jungle all the time). He’s like A Clone who just wants to hear “rack ’em.”
    Is there a website or anywhere to get info on the film?

  28. CleanSteve says:

    Ok, I just went to Rome’s site. He does, of course. When I lived in Buffalo listened everyday, but then they dropped him or something and haven’t heard him in ages.
    Sorry for the off-topic. But I think the analogy fits Lex.

  29. jennab says:

    Don, you produced Violent Kind?! My friends, Lori & Jenifer, helped cast some of the extras! Heard it was lots of summer fun on the shoot! CONGRATS!!

  30. Triple Option says:

    Don, congrats, man! Big ups on that!
    re: CleanSteve – Yeah, I wasn’t sure Rome still had a show but I happened to have my radio on AM on morning, I think it’s because I was listening to a game in the car the night before. Anyway, Rome was very good. I liked him before, he started to blow up, he had that “tiff” between Rams QB Chissy Everett, then he got really big and it was too many catch phrases and people wanting to get shoutouts on natl radio and I kinda segued away. But this was right in the middle of the pennant series and his analysis was really precise, well argued and funny. I totally fell out when he was ragging Giradi for not repping the Libras out there w/his blown mgmt of game 3 of the Halos series and if they’d lost all blame would be solely on his shoulders.
    I tend to forget about him in the mornings. His TV show was always on at a bad slot in the day. Just in general I tend to avoid talk radio. Sports can be more reasonable but people tend to have short memories and that kind bugs me. Does anyone know of talk radio for Hollywood that’s not gossip/tabloid themed?
    Also, I saw some recent articles from Kim V but nothing giving an update. Any news anyone privileged to share?

  31. The Big Perm says:

    Don, that’s cool! Is there a trailer for the movie anywhere? I couldn’t find one except for some other movie with the same name made a year ago.

  32. jenna-
    Lori is awesome! Glad she’ll get some props for this film.
    And thanks again everyone. No trailer yet, but I will add links when there is one.
    Also- just so I don’t bug the hell out of everyone on here, we DO have a facebook fan page at facebook.com/theviolentkind and a twitter @theviolentkind
    This is all very surreal to me. I started my journey in film as a volunteer for Sundance about 15 years ago. Then I covered the fest for Film Threat for 3 years. Now, this. Very cool and weird and exciting and terrifying.

Quote Unquotesee all »

It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.

And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.

There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.

I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.

So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.

But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”

My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher

“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.

~ David Simon