April 19, 2024
BYOB
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BYOB: 235 Years Of Relative independence
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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
I like Ricky Gervais and hoped that The Invention of Lying would make for enjoyable Sunday night viewing. Despite a great cast and promising concept, I was taken aback by how egocentric it is, with characters (especially Jennifer Garner’s) relegated to conveying what an awesome, wonderful, and amazing human being Ricky Ger… I mean Mark Bellison is. Very disappointing overall and not nearly as good as Ghost Town.
I think Salt looks like a good time. Any word on it yet?
Interesting occurrence, Inception is #3 on IMDb’s Top 250.
I know new movies often place high on the list when they are first released, but do they usually place this high? Does this mean legs?
a_loco, it probably means nothing. The type of person who votes on the IMDB is simply the type of person who is most likely to give Inception a perfect 10. I recall Dark Knight and Return of the King briefly doing the same thing.
(This isn’t a knock on Inception, which I liked a whole lot.)
Loco, I am going with it being a good sign that it can have legs because the last time something got jacked up that high, which I believe was Avatar, it had legs. Sure it’s not exactly an exact science and Inception could easily drop off a cliff this weekend, but I am going to take it as a good sign for Inception.
I agree with Stella on The Invention of Lying. Everyone seemed to be sleepwalking through the whole thing, and even though I thought it was a little daring to have the invention of religion to immediatly follow the invention of the lie, I found the whole thing just sort of rambling.
And then I also have a problem with comedies that have the main romantic hurdle be that the woman is being as superficial in her dating as the hero.
I found Invention of Lying just very uneven, the premise gets replaced about half way through and the whole romance section just didn’t work.
By I mean uneven, the scene where Ricky Gervais is talking to his mother. And he’s telling her all these pleasant things to make her passing more peaceful. I was genuinely moved to tears and thought Gervais did a great job with that scene…but it felt so out of place with the rest of that movie’s tone.
The romance, which unfortunately takes center stage, is a total wash.
Can’t trust that day? For this Monday we’ve dug up “The biggest box office disasters that Hollywood hyped at Comic Con”.
How dare anyone hate on Zathura? Seriously? It has brought us two fine Iron Man films (hate 2 all you want but that’s why I carry… a HAMMER! That’s right, I carry Adam Carolla in my pocket and will use him if needed!), helped to create the Marvel universe on film and possibly on TV, and led to a movie called Cowboy Vs Aliens. A film that stars Daniel freaking Craig and Harrison freaking FORD!
Oh yeah, you know what else that movie helped to usher in? K-STEW POWER! DOWN THE WITH ZATHURA HATERS!
How dare anyone hate on Zathura? Seriously? It has brought us two fine Iron Man films (hate 2 all you want but that’s why I carry… a HAMMER! That’s right, I carry Adam Carolla in my pocket and will use him if needed!), helped to create the Marvel universe on film and possibly on TV, and led to a movie called Cowboy Vs Aliens. A film that stars Daniel freaking Craig and Harrison freaking FORD!
Oh yeah, you know what else that movie helped to usher in? K-STEW POWER! DOWN THE WITH ZATHURA HATERS!
Nice list Chucky in Jersey – the chasm between ComiCon hype and actual interest is so huge. For me, perfectly crystallized by the Grindhouse films. No one outside that small bubble could care about those movies.
And of course Watchmen, I remember some friends of mine who talked and talked and talked about that film for months before it came out. Then it did. They they stopped talking.
I went for a few hours last year (my wife worked at it and I was able to sneak in). It’s a very odd experience. You’re surrounded by people so happy to be there, yet there is this overall feeling of a massive wankfest. (Look the Green Hornet car! Can’t wait to see that that in 18 months!) Lots of people make and lose money on the deal. So it goes.
The Grindhouse films were just a hard sell. Especially given the fact that few people even know what a Grindhouse film is or what an exploitation film is, and that’s the hurdle this film had to overcome.
That and they’re disgusting and god awful and all in it’s 3 1/2 hours long.
Yes, except just swap out ‘terrific’ for ‘disgusting and godawful’ and ‘not long enough’ for ‘3 1/2 hours long’.
The only thing wrong with Grindhouse was that they spent too much money making them.
I agree with Jeff. Let me also add that the new Scott Pilgrim ads warm my heart. Make sure you pick up your copy of Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour TOMORROW!
RE: GRINDHOUSE
I actually went to the only drive-in in L.A. County to watch “Grindhouse” opening weekend. “Death Proof” actually plays much better in its *original* shorter version and the fake trailers are sublime. The sole problem was “Planet Terror,” which was excruciating and exhausting enough to watch that it sullied everything that came after. I think if the placement of the two films had been flipped, the movie would have done much better.
I haven’t seen “The Invention of Lying” yet, but “Ghost Town” has one of the best gently-fading-to-black endings I think I’ll ever see. It is just a damn near perfect sweet little coda moment between Gervais and Leoni and anytime I think about it something under my breastbone just grins from ear to ear (it doesn’t make sense, it isn’t supposed to make sense).
Scott Pilgrim… finale… tomorrow! COME ON! GET EXCITED! Nothing? AW COME ON!
I usually don’t post links to these, but this is just damn clever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGdQURlmsjc
The Dark Knight trailer scored like Inception.
I’ll have to wait until Friday to enjoy the last volume of Scott Pilgrim. The only place around here that would get is Hastings book/video store, and our local Hastings is spotty when it comes to their stocking of anything graphic novel/manga. We don’t even have a Barnes and Noble and our Walden Books closed down awhile ago.
I’m trying not to get myself too worked up because I know I’m just going to wear myself out before Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World comes out. This is especially true since the band The Protomen pulled a concert date in Lincoln due to booking at a venue that doesn’t exist anymore, and I don’t have anything else in which to focus my dork interests between here and August 13th.
By the way, I’m pulling my first double feature day in awhile by going to Scott Pilgrim and the Expendables on their release date. Haven’t done that in a long time…..
I love the 80s jingoism in The Expendables trailer. “Death to America” or “America the great Satan” or whatever the mean Latin American dictator says before Sly eventually blows him to pieces in the most graphic and nasty manner possible.
the final volume of PILGRIM! I’m off to the bookstore!
LexG: Your prayers have been answered!
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2010/07/20/2010-07-20_lindsay_lohan_to_go_full_frontal_for_inferno_in_scenes_featuring_violent_nudity_.html
Joe, K-Stew is in a movie as a stripper. Lex is fine.
Yay! I am not alone in my love of Scott Pilgrim on this blog! BOOYAH!
What Anghus witnessed the other night has made Page Six and gone national.
That little real estate story linked on the MCN main page (Benton, Haggis places) is, BTW, written by the spawn of two Oscar nominees, Candice Bergen and Louis Malle.
And can’t trust that Big Hollywood…
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/ns/msnbc_tv-hardball_with_chris_matthews#38332933