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
What exactly was misleading about Open Water’s campaign? Couple gets left behind, gets exhausted, suffer from animal attacks — what I saw was what I got.
And what’s to be botched with a 90-minute guy-in-a-box movie? (I say this having not seen the thing, but hearing that it’s pretty straight-forward stuff.)
They sold Open Water like it was a shark movie… including allusions to Jaws throughout the marketing.
I like Open Water and think they did a terrific job. But they sold it as more than two people floating in the water, anticipating what might happen.
Whatever happened to Blanchard Ryan, after everyone over-praised her for that?
FROZEN, btw, is also a variation on OPEN WATER.
LYT, have you seen Frozen yet? Looks pretty good.
Gordon-Levitt is building the most impressive indie resume since…who??
Blanchard Ryan suffered from being a tweener in Hollywood. Too old to be an ingenue… not famous enough to be a 30-something leading lady… too emotionally weighty to be a sidekick… to unwilling to blow her way into a series of cameos in bigger movies… not old enough to be a mom (and too many aging girl stars available to bring a name to it… see: Molly Ringwald)… and in the end, she may have not been that special as an actress.
Perfect role… dead sexy… but not a “must cast”
As the years go by, the story of how budding or sprouted careers stop in their tracks is more and more interesting. It’s tragic, in a way… albeit not compared to Haiti or real tragedies. The cycle of being sooooo unwanted then soooo wanted then sooooo unwanted again is brutal.
And then there are those women – many in this town – who have been chased by hungry men from the day they turned 12, come out here, think it’s great that they have landed Male Of Alleged Value X when all they really did was get laid and dumped by some guy who was really curious about whether her sex would be somehow better than all the other sex, bounce around, figure it all out, and either melt away, marry the money and become private people, or muscle up and keep fighting for their gold ring.
The hard part, from a documentarian’s position, is getting any of them to admit where they are, what they still want, what they have given up, and when the dream will end. Very few people chasing their deepest dreams can see themselves in that pursuit. But man, it fascinates me. And women more so than men, as so much of being a woman in this town is about sex, regardless of the woman’s intent.
Even in Kathryn’s case… within 3 comments of “I loved The Hurt Locker” is always her marriage to Cameron or how great she looks. Or both. Always.
So to answer your question, Luke… no idea.
Looking at imdb, “It’s Complicated (2009) …. Woman at Fertility Clinic”
Not even a name.
Yeah, FROZEN is definitely more on the OPEN WATER vibe than BURIED. I haven’t seen either, but FROZEN looks like OPEN WATER on a ski lift. Wolves circling instead of sharks, etc. I’m excited to see both sometime this week!
p.s. Our premiere is at midnight…hope some fellow hot bloggers make it out!
I will be there in spirit Don. Have a great time and good luck.