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
David, you need to SEE THIS MOVIE and you NEED TO SEE IT NOW.
I said it elsewhere, but it is like a WARM BATH. You are ENVELOPED in the warmth of sheer good cheer; It is EASILY Garry Marshall’s best movie if not ever, at least since his looser ’80s days; I tend to think of it as his NASHVILLE. Only NASHVILLE has that typical Altman bongwater and body odor vibe where the chicks wear dumpy clothes and probably smell like weed and don’t take care of their body hair.
Compare that with the CINEMATIC ROLL CALL OF CONTEMPORARY EXQUISITE BEAUTY. This movie literally has someone for everyone– I’m sure women and gay dudes will like the guys in it, but WHO CARES ABOUT THAT.
It is like THE BEST PORNO EVER. You already know the cast, but really, Alba. Biel. Swift. Garner. Emma Roberts. Anne Hathaway.
And if it sweetens the deal any, Garry must be taking notes from Tarantino, John Stockwell and Adrian Lyne, because EVERY HOT CHICK is introduced STARTING AT THE LEGS with their CUTE little bare feet, then they start HOPPING UP AND DOWN ON BEDS.
The first 20 minutes is like some fetish porn out of LEG SHOW MAGAZINE. Since I’m all about this kind of thing, I was in my GLORY right from the jump and kept on grinning EAR TO EAR.
Kutcher is delightful in it, and his comedic chops really are underrated. He’s so good, he made me forgive the fact that he’s playing a TOTAL DOUCHE WHO RUNS A FLOWER SHOP and BELIEVES IN LOVE and WANTS TO GET MARRIED. Everything that is antithetical (whatever that word is, I don’t care) to my very being, but I was CRYING and TEARING UP on cue at his EVERY SCENE with Alba and later with Garner.
And how COLD HEARTED a movie fan do you have to be NOT to get choked up at the sight of SHIRLEY MACLAINE and Hector Elizonda in a sweet side story that plays off MacLaine’s legendary status. It’s so disarming and affectionate I’d think anyone would be won over… I’m not one for OLD MOVIES or Hollywood lore, but still, that’s fucking Shirley MacLaine up there in a big movie getting a sentimental scene that comments on her entire career.
But enough about the old people. You get:
HOT STUPID PLAYFUL HIGH SCHOOL CHICK (SWIFTY).
SWEET, DEMURE, VIRGINAL CHICK WHO’S NERVOUS ABOUT SEX (Emma Roberts, LOVED this storyline.)
BIEL AND GARNER as careerist professional chicks WHO STILL ACT FLAKY AND FUN AND SEXY, which is exactly what I always say: I don’t HAVE to have the young stuff if 30-ish women could still just be PLAYFUL and insoucient.
And Hathaway doing PHONE SEX and SPEAKING IN A RUSSIAN ACCENT and BEING BAREFOOT.
How can this NOT sound good to anyone? If there weren’t too huge must-sees coming out this weekend (three if you count THE GOOD GUY, BLEDEL POWER), I’d go IMMERSE MYSELF in the beauty and sensitivity of VALENTINE’S DAY again and again.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. A-PLUS.
And Garner is a SHOO-IN for BEST ACTRESS 2010.
BANK. THERE.
Lexman, reading you use the word insouciant really made me realize who you remind me of: Buscemi in ARMAGEDDON. The brains and the hornyness, it’s you. I’m gonna start calling you Rockhound.
Considering ARMAGEDDON is one of my five favorite films of all time, that is a HUGE compliment.
Too bad I probably look more like the fat guy with the thinning hair from Herman’s Head who was on the mission with CHICK, ROCKHOUND, AJ and HARRY STAMPER.
“SON, I GOT JUST FIVE WORDS:
DAMN GLAD TO SEE YOU!”
Chokes me up every time. PERFECT movie.
“Requesting permission to shake the hand of the daughter of bravest man I’ve ever met.”
It is generally understood the last half an hour of that movie is designed for every man to be able to feel okay about crying.
i think i just threw up in my mouth a little
Ugh, Lex – sorry, am I meant to buy that Jessica Biel is having trouble getting a date for Valentine’s Day??? And I’ll take Vera Farmiga from Up in the Air over any of those chicks – she was positively hot in that movie, and wow, actually smart.
And as for Armageddon – have you guys played the drinking game? Take a shot every time the camera cuts away – you’ll be drunk within a minute.
I did get to catch A Single Man and From Paris With Love, this week – I know, completely different movies. Colin Firth is as good as the hype, pretty damn cool and suave, actually. But…..
SPOILER ALERT
What a copout ending! Come on, this is such lazy screenwriting (I don’t care if it’s in the book) – have him take pills throughout the movie, just so you can kill him with a heart attack in the last scene? Would it have been such a ridiculous twist to just let the guy live on, figuring things out, if he still wants to be drawn the young men who throw themselves at him??? THAT would have actually been more interesting – always seems self-serving to me when a movie just HAS to make the main character die in the end to prove a point or seem more profound. Outside of that last two or three minutes, I really dug the movie – nice one day journey into a man’s life. Ford is very show-offy with the shots and colors throughout, but I expected it and it kept things interesting.
As for From Paris with Love, I quite enjoyed it – yeah, Travolta’s done this role a million times before, but he does it well, so why not? Fun action, nice twists, only thing that kind of bothered me was Rhys Myers’ accent – it was almost startling at times, but he kind of pulled it off. Besson is really quite the nice conceptualist for these kinds of movies, but when will he get back to directing?
DP: The funny thing is, Love American Style appears to be one of those ’70s/’80s shows that later generations know little or nothing about. At least, that’s the impression I get from all the blank stares I encounter whenever I describe it to students (as part of an introductory lecture for American Graffiti). Were reruns of this series not widely syndicated?
I remember seeing reruns of this somewhere once…and then turning them off because the show seemed horrible.
@Joe: “Love American Style” was on ABC in the Nixon years, originals in prime time and repeats in weekday afternoons. It didn’t do much for Paramount in syndication compared to “The Brady Bunch”.
“Were reruns of this series not widely syndicated?”
Born in ’76, raised on late ’70s and ’80s TV – and I’ve never seen an episode of it. It did have a run on Nick at Nite at some point, but it didn’t stick around in the public consciousness like “All in the Family,” “Mary Tyler Moore,” and other shows I’ve seen that were just before my time.
I’m honestly not sure if I would have even heard about it if not for the “Happy Days” connection (my mom says my first word was “Heyyyy,” imitating the Fonz. I was apparently an awesome infant).
Sometimes there is nostalgia, sometimes there isn’t. A few years back, when USA Network tried to revive Kojak with Ving Rhames, I tried to explain to students in a scriptwriting course that this “new” show actually was a remake. No one in the class had ever seen a rerun of the original show. No one had even heard of the original show. Yikes.
Lex, any of your future rips on animation will be held up next to your poem to VALENTINE’S DAY.
And Joe, you are in Houston. For what it’s worth.
I’m with Big Perm- I always remember LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE coming on after like, CREATURE FEATURES and then just turning the channel. They had a rad logo though.
And I know I’ve mentioned it before but ARMAGEDDON is one of my all time favorite films. Had Bay made it in the 1970’s, it would be considered on par with things like MAGNIFICENT SEVEN and the wild bunch. The Bay hate and general cynicalness of our society cost that film it’s due!
Christian: Yes, I live in the fourth largest city in the United States. (Where, oddly enough, Kojak reruns aired in prime time on an indie channel as recently as the mid 00s.) What does that have to do with anything?
Bay would have had a heart attack if he had to make films in the 1970s. Movies didn’t look like cartoons then. Even the cartoons didn’t look like cartoons (I’m looking at you, Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings).
Light snark Joe. After living in Texas and spending time in Houston, I understood why Enron thrived and Bill Hicks escaped. I’m glad you’re there to keep up the good fight.
But you have to admit: The very idea of Yul Brynner picking a crew to go blast into space and nuke a meteor is pretty freakin’ cool…
Well, Houston is an island of blue compared to most of the rest of the state. (Yeah, I know: Austin is a very bright blue, while we’re more powder blue. On the other hand: We do have a lesbian mayor.)
Oh, that’s hot Joe.
And let’s see… Warren Oates in the Steve Buscemi role…
Of course, Austin does have its share of right-wing crazies…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100218/ap_on_re_us/us_plane_crash_texas
Maybe that’s Nicol.
Could be…
With VD’s success (my, what a horrible acronym) how soon till we get an announcement of a remake of Plaza and California Suite?
And while I can’t completly dislike ARMAGEDDON’s whole Dukes of Hazzard go to outerspace vibe, it does make me relieved that Bruckheimer was outbidded for the rights to Apollo 13.
And suggesting 70’s actors for the roles just goes to show how lightweight actors have become. No one in Armageddon is nearly as rough or mean as the Coburn, Bronson, Oates types that would have been cast in the 60’s or 70s.
Hcat: I’ll go one step further: Who do you think could sub for Lee Marvin in a remake of either The Professionals or The Dirty Dozen? (Mel Gibson tried in Payback — a reworking of Point Blank — but, well, that didn’t really work, did it?)
I’m no fan of Armageddon, I do concede that the first hour is shockingly good and emotionally potent (the opening space shuttle ‘attack’ is genuinely scary). I think the film falls apart when they go up into space, but Billy Bob Thorton is so good throughout that he keeps the film barely afloat right up to the end. I much prefer Deep Impact and its unapologetic sorrow, but Thorton was every bit as good in the popcorny Armageddon as he was in A Simple Plan that same year (of course, he’s usually pretty terrific when he bothers to show up for work).
I doubt he would do it but I think Daniel Day-Lewis could pull it off. But I know what you mean, Marvin’s one of the alltime badasses. I remember watching Resevior Dogs with friends and having them not understanding why I laughed my ass off at the Lee Marvin reference.
Perhaps its because movies are made with mostly kids in mind that for leads we get fifteen variations on Robert Redford and no replacements for Marvin, Eastwood or Bronson in his heyday. Even Borgnine could come off as a badass when he tried (Emperor of the North, Convoy).
I prefer Deep Impact too. Thorton is always good, even when he was in Troma movies you could tell he was a real actor and not “just” someone they could hire for eight bucks.
Perm: Ever catch Thornton in Chopper Chicks in Zombietown? Seriously: Not freakin’ bad.
BTW: I probably have posted this somewhere before, so I apologize ahead of time to those who’ve already seen it. But for all you Lee Marvin fans:
http://movingpictureblog.blogspot.com/search?q=Lee+Marvin
Loved Simple Plan, when was the last time a major studio released a movie that small and tight?
And whatever happened to Bridget Fonda? She was wonderful as a chicken fried Lady McBeth in that movie, then a Alligators and Jet-Li and she disappears. She was as talented, cute and charming as Bullock but never quite got to the a-list.
Yeah Joe, Chopper Chicks is the one! It was okay, a little too campy for my taste. Like, using wacky music and shit. But compared to other Troma movies, it was pretty good.
Hey, could I mention that it would be pretty ironic if Nicol wasn’t piloting that plane but he happened to be in the building at the time and the crash burned his face off? He would be laying there, barely alive and look at the flaming wreckage and say “I’m with you brother.”
And after years of surgeries Nicol would maintain that he had more respect for that pilot than Roger Ebert since at least the pilot wasn’t any liberal.
Bridget Fonda was so hot in that Jet Li flick.
I think went into semi-retirement to have and raise some kids.
I thought it was kinda-sorta funny to see Bridget Fonda (after making Point of No Return in Kiss of the Dragon opposite Tch
Joe- Marvin is even more impressive if you consider that both the professionals and the dirty dozen, and I think point blank was in the era as well, was made under the watchful eyes of the hays code.
Wansn’t Peta in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? As I recall there were no survivors.
Point Blank pushed right up against it — the movie opened just a year before the MPAA ratings system was introduced — but you’re right, the Production Code was officially in effect when all three were made. I vaguely recall Point Blank being released with the “Suggested for Mature Audiences” label (like, among others, Alfie), which was a sort of transitional-period measure, but I could be wrong.
Lee Marvin was awesome, from his skinny punk villain roles in the 50s pretty much till the end. Catch him if you can in an early DRAGNET episode called THE BIG CAST.
I looooooooooove Bridget Fonda and miss her terribly. I hope she’s happy being all domestic with that lucky bastard Danny Elfman. Great actress who never seemed appreciated by Hollywood. She could’ve easily gone the America’s Sweetheart route after IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU (not that she should have, but the potential seemed to be there).
Peta Wilson was by far the best thing in LEAGUE.