Morning…
New York Film Critics Circle is meeting as I type. News will be up on MCN as it breaks, around 10a.
We’re getting down to the nitty gritty. BFCA announced overnight. The Globes announce tomorrow. (Our Awards Scoreboard just went up.)
And then, it becomes Avatar Week… for real.
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"]
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
You have NBR going to Hurt Locker at the moment on the big board. It should be under Up in the Air.
NYFCC:
HURT LOCKER
BIGELOW
CLOONEY
STREEP
WALTZ
MO’NIQUE
Only big surprise (well-deserved): IN THE LOOP for SP
And they, too, liked the cinematography of WHITE RIBBON
Mel Gibson is making a Viking movie? How many tickets can I purchase and when can I get them?
That new “Clash of the Titans” trailer is the definition of instilling me with “want to see.”
Also, that clip of Nic Cage shooting the little girl in the chest from “Kick-Ass” is pretty funny, too.
I like the look of the Kracken in Clash of the Titans. I’d check that out.
I agree the girl getting shot and being blown back was horribly hilarious. I gotta see that one.
Hey, with it being almost Christmas and with all these huge blockbusters and Oscar heavy-hitters coming out en masse…
Shouldn’t Dimension and/or Lionsgate have some low-rent, violent, tone-deaf lump of coal “counterprogramming” planned for Dec 25th? You know, in the tradition of The Spirit, Black Christmas, Wolf Creek, Darkness, Dracula 2000, etc etc?
I’ve studied the holiday season schedule pretty closely… shouldn’t there be some grimy bottom-basement comic adaptation from LG or dumpy, heavily-edited 80 minute slasher movie from Bob W.?
Sounds like I’m mocking it, but in the midst of the December 3-hour epics of misery and 2.5-hr blockbusters packed with gravy-stuffed family, even something like “Armored” can be a pleasant palate-cleanser.
Plus, as opposed to the Sherlock Holmes theater the week of the 25th-Jan 1, where kids behind you are gonna be babblin’ and Grandma snorin’ and Dad repeating dialogue for NO REASON and the wife asking idiotic plot questions — at least with something like The Spirit or Wolf Creek you get to see a movie AND have the theater pretty much all to yourself.
For whoever kept asking, THE LAST STATION will be opening in L.A. January 15th.
With both Sherlock Holmes and Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus opening on Christmas, I’d stay away if I had another genre movie. Not to mention that every one that has been tried in the last couple years has flopped.
I’m sure there’ll be plenty such programming in January, though.
LexG: I was asking myself more or less the same question — because, quite often, I review those movies for Variety. Seriously: Check out the bylines of the Variety reviews for Black Christmas, Dracula 2000, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem…
A few interesting DVD numbers…”Angels and Demons” had one of the worst debuts of all time for a movie that hit $100 million at the domestic box office..it debuted at 4th behind “Santa Buddies” for a shockingly low $12 mil (Star Trek, released last week, is already at 80 mil). I know part of this can be attributed to the deep discounts of the holidays…but not all. Perhaps a 3rd Dan Brown/Tom Hanks/Ron Howard installment may not happen after all for “Lost Symbol.”
“The Dark Knight” is already in the top 5 all time after last week’s Target discount (it sold 1.2 million copies).
“Up,” champion again, is already the number 4 DVD of the year with an assist from Target. Go Pixar.
I couldn’t imagine paying to see Dracula 2000 in a theater.
More like It’s Complicated Week.
It looks, critically to be the trashiest Meryl Streep movie since “She Devil.” And I HATE the new clone of Steve Martin. But Alec Baldwin on the other hand…
Alec Baldwin and Meryl Streep is what the old people will head to this weekend. So you don’t have the kids, the ladies, or the older people. Who do you have then?
Why does IO have such a hate-on for this movie? It seems like the kind of dorkfest a nerd like him would be into. You know, dragons and mecha and shit. So what is this dichotomy? Could IO be multi-layered and complicated? Or does he hates Cameron because his last movie was a chick flick? I don’t know, who does?
Although I found The Hangover to be a somewhat overrated comedy blockbuster in the vein of Wedding Crashers, still a fun movie and I just love this quote from Todd Phillips about his next comedy that he’s working on:
“At present the film runs at lengthy 125 minutes which he plans to cut down to an even 100 – ‘I always subscribe to: it should be 100 minutes. So, that’s always around where it lands
I tend to like longer movies. They can give you the big set pieces but also get into the characters and mood of the piece. None of which applies to Todd Phillips in any way, shape, or form. His dumbass movies need to be short.
Wasn’t it Siskel who said, “No good movie is too long, no bad movie is too short”?
I actually think The Hangover needed to be longer. An elaborate set-up like it had ought to have taken more complications to resolve.
Also, interesting how nobody whatsoever is talking about Hal Holbrook in THAT EVENING SUN any more.
joe will be bummed
I am.
Is that a new movie? I haven’t even heard of it.
Comedies should NOT be long, in any way – I like Apatow, but none of his films needed to be well over 2 hours. Phillips has exactly the right idea.
UP IN THE AIR is certainly the most over-praised movie of the year. Very good Clooney perf, but I think the movie needed one more emo-music montage at the end. Three wasn’t enough. And Danny McBride? Ugh.
Watching the critics huzzah this Ratner-esque “you’re nothing without a family in this recession” makes me ponder their value also these days.
I agree with LexG: Xmas Week goes Sequel, Name-Checking, Award-Whore/Name-Checking, Overwrought Crap, Name-Checking, not to mention held-over Product Placement and the latest Mouth-Breathers Epic.
Dimension doesn’t have anything because “Nine” spreads itself wide on 12/25. Harvey Weinstein needs the money to buy more awards.
“Precious” is already semi-wide and goes national this Friday. Many areas that didn’t play it already, like Allentown and Scranton, will be getting it for Xmas and New Year’s.
Chucky, are you a cyborg or is there nothing human left in you so you’re more like a full blown robot?