April 26, 2024
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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
anybody catch falling skies ? 2 hours of running around shooting aliens with 200 + people .i expected a better story and better visuals from Steven Spielberg.
the aliens don’t speak english – just mostly attack ..
that can get boring … no idea why they are taking
over humans either.
‘Jackass’ Star Ryan Dunn Dies In Car Crash
http://www.tmz.com/2011/06/20/jackass-ryan-dunn-dies-dead-car-crash-accident-pennsylvania/
I plan on watching Falling Skies this week, but there’s no way it’s nearly as bad as the mind-bogglingly atrocious season finale of The Killing. Ugh.
Not to sound flip, but I always figured those Jackass guys would die in their 90s from bathroom falls or something equally mundane. Sad.
Thought about watching FALLING SKIES, but in the end just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Love Spielberg, but this didn’t look like anything new or interesting.
Most looking forward to the return of LOUIE on FX this Thursday. Might also sample WILFRED.
I gave up on the Killing after a few weeks, it started out strong but came to exemplify all of the failings of episodic television. TV can be great but Killing seemed to fall terribly short, can’t believe they grabbed a second season of it.
I’ll be checking out the Louie/Wilfred premieres as well. Just the matter of fact way they would state ‘coming in june’ on the Louie promos made me laugh.
The Killing SPOILERS
I stuck with The Killing, even though overall it turned to crap in a hurry, because I really liked some of the performances and I wanted to see who the killer was. And I didn’t even get that. What a massive, epic fail. One of the worst season finales I’ve ever seen. A huge “fuck you” to viewers. I didn’t watch Rubicon, but this seems like AMC’s first disastrous series.
Louie is one of the most twisted comedies – i like it but sure a lot of people totally hate this ..
Jon Benjamin Has A Van: – comedy from comedy central –
he’s got stories but none of them are very funny ..
he does a voice on Archer ..
i want a dp/30 with Louie and Jon Benjamin ..
Bachelorette tonight!
BENTLEY POWER. BENTLEY RULES ALL. GOD. The AWESOMEST DUDE on this franchise since MAN CODE DAVE, maybe even Womack.
They should make me the next Bachelor. That would be a good idea. Especially now that I quit drinking. GOOD IDEA.
How come you guys all watch this Killing/Mad Men bullshit, but don’t watch the Bachelorette? It RULES.
The only good thing about THE KILLING were the AMC ads trumpeting it like the world was dying to know Who Killed Whatsherface.
Newsflash: Christian doesn’t like TV.
Yeah Paul, the next time you give me any crap about anything. I am keeping this posts from you as a rebuttal :P! Nevertheless, they wanted to try something different. You’ve got to give them some dap for trying to do something different with the freaking procedural drama.
Why they decided to do it with this show is beyond me. Seriously, there’s almost an implied contract between a viewer and a showrunner with a show like this, but apparently they wanted to keep you guessing for a YEAR! Not the best idea with this type of show, but they can easily answer who killed Rosie in the first episode, and have the second murder start at the end of season two’s premiere episode.
Sanj, how fucking dare you? SHAME UPON YOU FOR NOT CITING HOME MOVIES AND COACH McGUIRK! SHAME!
ETA: Newsflash: It doesn’t like him either!
What would my post about The Killing be used to rebut exactly? And whatever they intended to try, they certainly failed. It really wasn’t all that different from a normal police procedural, expect maybe even dumber. Terrible police work, hardly any character development, way too many red herrings and suspects, awful writing. The acting ended up being its only strength. And holy shit did they botch the season finale.
I didn’t watch it but I think I have to do DVD post on it…
Any hot squack to look forward to?
“The Killing” started out…well, not strong really, but it was pretty intriguing and seemed to have more promise of something different to come. And then after you watch it for a few weeks, you realize you’ve already seen “Twin Peaks” and this show isn’t even torqued out crazy like that one was.
The only way the creators were going to pull off this murder mystery in an era INNUNDATED with murder mysteries 24/7 was to intentionally avoid every possible cliche and make it feel as genuine as humanly possible, but right from the get-go when one of the prime suspects is a politician running for mayor…fuck…it was just never gonna happen.
“I didn’t watch it but I think I have to do DVD post on it…
Any hot squack to look forward to?”
Ummmm…you might wanna bring a magazine.
Yeah, wish they’d ever give me some shit that’s more up my alley, like Pretty Little Liars or that CHLOE KING LOOOOOOK AT HER thing. Or ICarly.
Probably no one that would hold your attention for 13 episodes Lex.
Yeah I had high hopes and was really looking forward to it Hallick. AMC has such a good track record and the creator said all the right things (though her involvement in Cold Case should have been a bigger red flag in hindsight). The first episode was good but it turned into a mess quickly and just got worse as it went along.
I love Benjamin’s work (and McGuirk too JSP!! one of the funniest supporting characters in modern comedy history), but “Jon Benjamin Has a Van” is really no good so far.
I’m starting to develop a theory about Benjamin like Ebert has for Kevin Kline (movies with mustache = funny, without mustache = dramatic). But for Benjamin it would be “in voiceover = funny / on camera = not funny”.
Paul you know what you did the other day and that’s why I will use it! Nevertheless, they tried something different. Everyone thought they’d get the answer, they didn’t, and they deserve some dap for going there. How often do they try anything different with these fucking “killing young girls” shows?
Now, if you want to watch a quality procedural: Blue Bloods. Easily one of the more tremendous season finales for any first year show in years.
JS Partisan – home movies – i never saw that show .after watching a few clips on youtube .. i still like Archer better .. if the van show doesn’t get funnier ..it’ll
probably get cancelled …the stories are good
also Archer has better stories than Southpark ..
Archer doesn’t have too many pop culture references .
i only watched 2 episodes of the killing ..just didn’t care anymore
i miss 24 .. every season had some crazy bad guy doing impossible things ..and yet i don’t see it on tv reruns
anymore ..
They promised something different, and they wound up going backwards from a TV series that did a better job at eventually failing in 1990. They would have deserved some dap if they didn’t wind up in a torrent of worn out cliches and an “oh-fuck-ME, REALLY NOW???” cliffhanger.
They promised something different but that was all talk. You don’t deserve credit for promising something different but totally failing to deliver.
Hey, on a TV note, and WITHOUT SPOILING PLEASE (even though I knew one big “twist” before the season ran thanks to the Cold Blog…)
Didn’t GAME OF THRONES wrap up last night? All I’ve heard about all day across the movie blogosphere and Twitter is “The Killing” screwing the pooch, but not word one about GoT, which I thought was the big deal for movie guys because of the HBO and the “geek” element. Did that shed viewers thanks to the slow early going?
I really keep meaning to jump back on, I have a lot of people I respect their judgment telling me it gets better and better… but I stalled out somewhere around episode 5. It’s solid and well-produced and the kind of thing I should be jumping up and down about, and I’m sure if it had the Scott Brothers or even Kevin Reynolds’ name on it and was in theaters at 2.5 hours, I’d be bellowing from the rooftops about it… But that first 5 hours, I could never picture who they were talking about and where, all this stuff about “the mad king” and these machinations far in the past just talked about in dialogue I couldn’t follow, just taking their word at every plot point because I never was more than 30% sure of what I was watching or hearing at any given point. I’m hearing that once the exposition was all set up, the second half of the season was nonstop carnage and crazines… Anyone stick with it?
I couldn’t make it through 15 minutes of the first episode of GoT, though admittedly I have a problem with the genre. Might revisit it later. WIthout spoiling, the ending of THE KILLING is the biggest F-U to an audience I’ve ever witnessed.
Also, ARCHER is the funniest show on television and, if you haven’t seen it yet, Lex, is TOTALLY your cup of tea.
I only watched The Killing for Forbes. Still one of my favorites. Loved Dave’s interview with her.
…but the show didn’t try anything new. That’s PR hype squaked by lemmings with short mammories.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_One_%28TV_series%29
Awesome first year. Incredible cast. Lost audience because of the format.
My wife & I were watching The Killing, but we’re about four episodes behind and she’s ready to give up. I gave up on Rubicon after three episodes, starting to wonder if I should bother sticking with the Killing to the bitter, crappy end and then see if Season 2 can improve or just call time of death now.
I LOVE Game of Thrones, but I’ve read the books so I know everything coming and never get lost with back story or references to characters long gone and already dead. And the series is living up to my expectations.
Great news that Beatty is making a film finally. But: At this point, how many moviegoers even know who he is?
Game of Thrones is a good but not great show. I’ve enjoyed watching it but it’s never blown me away. Since I haven’t read the books, sometimes I have no idea who is being referred to, and it can be a little unintentionally silly at times. But overall it’s moved swiftly and remained engaging. A solid B+ show.
I like Forbes too Martin and she’s been great. If only the writing was better.
I thought GAME OF THRONES ruled. The last half of the series really stuck the landing, and it escalated in a way that really bodes well for the rest of the series. It has developed a really rich array of characters, many of whom are bathed in shades of gray and performed excellently, and the plot developments are engaging and even shocking. It’s both kick-ass and smart. Great stuff. I’m not looking forward to waiting for Season Two.
Lex – Thrones is incredible TV. Compelling, amazingly acted, great writing and direction. Do yourself the favor and watch them all. Totally rewards you if you stick with it. People who “couldn’t get past 15 minutes” of it should just stick to watching cats on skateboards on youtube.
The second half of the season is definitely better than the first. I was like Lex, half the time I didn’t know exactly who people were talking about, but now I pretty much get the gist of it. But around ep 5 it gets into more action.
I think Thrones is a really good show, but agree it;s not exactly GREAT. But I’ll definitely keep watching it. It’s not like Deadwood where just about any scenes was awesome in of itself…it’s more of the whole the show builds up. I wish they had more budget for a few battles which would have been cool, just because by then we know the characters so well…but too bad for me. Still works.
I’m definitely interested in the second season. And like Lex, some fucker on this very blog spoiled the big surprise. Thanks dick, you read the books, good for you jackoff.
Game of Thrones is absolutely amazing. I’ve become obsessed with it. I just don’t get all of “I don’t get the references; there is too
many characters” criticism. It is not a hard show to follow and I’ve never had a show be more rewarding during a season than this one. Some of the twists left me stunned. The finale was transcendant: that final scene is setting this show up for true greatness.
Doug Hutchison, 51-Year-Old ‘The Green Mile’ Actor, Weds 16-Year-Old Country Singer Courtney Stodden
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/20/doug-hutchison-courtney-stodden_n_880964.html
Holy effing SHIT. That Doug Hutchison marries a 16-year-old story???? In the words of John Belushi, HOOOOOLY SHIT.
Well, he did star in “Bait,” so maybe that was a tipoff. (ZING.)
In any case, I am absolutely BOWING to this guy. This is my new GOD.
Monco, it’s not exactly that there are too many onscreen characters, it’s that people are constantly referring to character we’ve never seen and will never see. So you hear about this king’s brother or that dead guy or this dude is related to him and he’s this guys’ uncle, whatever.
Yeah TBP makes very good points (even if a lot of those characters so up next year), but Game of Thrones is just True Blood with swords. True Blood at least has a reason for it’s campiness, but Thrones has no reason. It’s just so fucking silly and that the next season will feature the same ending to the possible main character as this season, pretty much guarantees next year is the last.
That “Country singer’s” video is not remotely Country. And she looks early 20s to me, but I suppose 16 is possible, what with all the hormones in our food these days. 🙂
JS, you better not have done what I think you just did.
It’s called WIKIPEDIA. Use it and you will forget. FORGET! [throws smoke bomb and walks away]
I love the books (& the show) and can assure everyone that IO/JS comment doesn’t make any real sense. So no spoiler at all. Also, i enjoy the campiness of True Blood most of the time, and don’t see that tone at all on GoT
have you seen man vs food .
all this guy does is just go around eating food and
at the end people cheer him on
such a simple concept…
http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Man_V_Food
this show isn’t going to win awards and probably go on
for another 5 years ..
why is this on the travel channel when this belongs on
the food network ..
Two thirds of the shows on the Travel Channel would be more fitting on the Food Network, but that’s just cable being cable for you.
I’m shocked David hasn’t thrown his two cents in about Ebert’s stupid comments about Ryan Dunn. How Ebert didn’t think that would blow up in his face, is beyond me.
“Monco, it’s not exactly that there are too many onscreen characters, it’s that people are constantly referring to character we’ve never seen and will never see. So you hear about this king’s brother or that dead guy or this dude is related to him and he’s this guys’ uncle, whatever.”
Exactly what I wanted to say.
And while not nearly as jaw-droppingly awful as The Killing’s season finale, Sunday night’s season ender for Game of Thrones was pretty dull. It was just kind of meh. It has gotten significantly better as it went along (I dropped it after 4 episodes unimpressed and then caught up in a mini-marathon last week when reviews suggested things were picking up) but it still isn’t a top-tier, Wire or Deadwood-type show. IO is right, it does get pretty silly at times, and sometimes I feel like I’m watching a fantasy version of Rome. Lex would like it because there’s more female nudity in a single episode than an entire month of Skinemax.
Was Dunn in fact driving while drunk?
No, there’s no proof of it what so ever. Tweeting a pic is not the same as being drunk. Also, according to locals, Bam’s lambo has been seen flying down that road at high speeds as well. Apparently it’s what they did and until there’s a blood toxicology report, there’s no proof he died of drunk driving.
Even if he did, that does not justify Ebert being a dick about it. I am just glad he knows his place in the world, and I hope Facebook never lets him use their service again.
ETA: Stella, it’s unnecessary nudity. The finale had a scene that showed why this show is so damn ridiculous, because a guy is talking about knowing kings. It’s supposed to be one of those exposition rich scenes that other shows don’t need ass to get your through, but this is Game of Thrones! So they needed to have a naked woman in most of the scene. True Blood has a reason to be that way, while Game of Thrones does not.
Rome at least had historical accuracy but that damn show is just tits and ass where you don’t need tits and ass. Apparently some folks love 1980s random nudity cameos in their TV shows, good for them, but that sort of thing just makes a super serious show like GOT come across as nothing more than a high priced PLAYBOY TV production.
It’s what they did, meaning driving recklessly and at high speeds late at night? Endangering not just themselves but others traveling those roads as well? I lived not far from where the accident happened and know the area well. Some very twisty, treacherous roads around there. And apparently he had been out drinking that night.
Oh I know the nudity is unnecessary. It’s hilarious how many times characters have given long speeches to naked prostitutes.
Well, if you want to argue the nudity is fine in Rome because it had historical accuracy on it’s side…couldn’t you make the argument that GOT can have the nudity as it’s attempting to seem like a historically accurate show, while really being a fantasy?
I sort of thought the finale was so-so, but I like where it left the show because I really want to see what happens. So it worked fine, it didn’t wrap things up but it doesn’t need to. I really liked the last scene, that really changes some shit up.
It did work fine in that it set things up for next season, and I don’t need a series of forced cliffhangers in a season finale, but it was a little dull. And I’m not sure about the last scene. Definitely changes things up, but I’m not sure it’s in a good way. Could be more silliness.
It’s not just the nudity, it’s the way so many characters have given long speeches to naked prostitutes. It’s pretty amusing.
The finale was a little dull in relation to the last few episodes, that’s for sure. It’s almost like the epilogue of a book, just sort of tying things up…”here’s where this guy is now.”
I kind of preferred the movie to not have the fantastical stuff, because I’m not really into it. But it’s kind of weird that suddenly it’s like “oh by the way, yeah this is a fantasy story.” So I like that, it’s interesting. Will it work, who knows? I guess f you can’t get with the last scene, this is probably not a show to watch in general sine it is technically a fantasy show, and fantasy is inherently goofy.
Rome is based in reality. While GOT is a fantasy from a fat man, with shitty TV taste, who writes his books with one hand. There’s a difference.
It’s not that I’m not down for what the last scene suggests, I’m just not sure if it will work. I like the white walkers (that is what they’re called right?) and don’t mind fantasy elements. Otherwise I never would have watched it in the first place. And a little goofiness hasn’t prevented me from enjoying the show overall. I just hope that it doesn’t go overboard on silliness next season.
Rome was entertaining enough and has some cool actors in it, but I think GOT is the better show.
Oh god no. Rome is one of the best shows HBO has ever put on the air. While GOT is not even better than True Blood and True Blood is god awful, but it at least has a reason for the way that it is. What’s GOT reason? All of that money and it looks cheaper than a Syfy production!
Really? You like Rome that much? For me it’s nowhere near the best HBO has done. It’s more like The Tudors than The Wire or Deadwood.
And I think GOT’s visual effects and production values are quite good.
To IO: Why do you watch it then? And again, GOT is trying to seem like a historical show. So if I’m the guy making GOT and Rome, I wouldn’t see a difference between them. In that regard, I think they’re not so different.
Also, what was the budget, 50 million? So they had to make ten hours of fantasy for half the budget of a single Lord of the Rings movie. I think they did a good job.
And the thing that interests me most in the show is to see what Tyrion’s going to do in the capital. He’s smart so he can actually hold his own against the fuckers, and technically he’s on their side, but at the same time he’s a decent guy so he may find himself at odds with everyone over there.
Tyrion is a great character, probably the show’s best, and Dinklage’s performance is outstanding. Having him serve as The King’s Hand was a fantastic move. I share your anticipation.
I’ve really enjoyed GoT. I agree that it took a while to get a grip on all the various characters and inter-relationships but once that’s out of the way the second half of the season really hummed along. I don’t like True Blood much at all but think The Wire and Sopranos rank among the best TV shows ever.
“It’s what they did…”
A few weeks ago someone posted a dark, jittery video on Youtube that was little more than a sound recording of a bunch of idiots riding out the Joplin tornado in a typical glass-walled convenience store. While I listened I wondered why comments had disabled until the tornado smashes the windows and you hear children screaming and crying.
I imagine the comments had been full of demands that the irresponsible twits who brought kids into such a dangerous “shelter” should be imprisoned. If you’re an adult and you want to throw your own life away then have at it, but the moment you choose to endanger others, especially children, don’t act surprised when others call for your blood.
I don’t know anything about Dunn. Might have been a great guy. Certainly dying at 32 is too young and very sad. But the man had a DUI, a history of citations for reckless driving, was drinking the night of the crash, and was allegedly driving more than 100 mph. He killed himself and a friend and could have killed or seriously injured others. What he did was incredibly idiotic and should be condemned.
Love Game of Thrones, especially anytime Tyrion is onscreen. And reading IOs nonsensical complains, makes me love it even more.
Helium, nonsensical? This is why this blog is full of dickheads. They are my complaints. They are as valid as anyone else’s but you, you vociferous little worm act as if they are not.
Perm, why would I watch a show that’s a piece of shit? I watched one episode and some of the finale, and that’s enough for me. Fucking horribly acted (outside of Dinklage), horrible historic portrayal, and truly cheap looking piece of tripe. Again, if I wanted to watch MEDIEVAL True Blood, I WOULD WATCH FUCKING MEDIEVAL TRUE BLOOD!
Again, it gets one more season, and then they can spend that money on something worth it like Broadwalk Empire or possibly the Preacher or god willing, something from the Luna Brothers. Until then, it’s True Blood with swords. How compelling.
Speaking of Boardwalk Empire, when does season 2 start?
IO, I wasn’t fond of GOT after the first few episodes. I bailed on it after 4 thinking it was a pretty crappy, overrated show. It does get better. The overall quality of the second half of season 1 is very high. I agree with some of your complaints (sexposition!), and I don’t think it’s a masterpiece, but the quality improves a lot after episode 1, and with so many characters and so much going on, you really can’t get a good feel for the show based on an episode or 2.
Since we’re talking cable TV…
I know I’ll catch a much deserved ration of shit for this but I’ve been watching UNITED STATES OF TARA from the get-go. While I fully realize it’s a dumb show with SOOOOOoooooo many plot holes, I still enjoyed the acting and the escapism. I also dug the cast. That being said, man…did they ever drop the ball on that series finale last night.
It was like they JUST found out they were cancelled and had a week to wrap everything up. They knew months ago they were toast and as a viewer, I felt like they did the bare minimum to settle things. If THE KILLING was too vague, U.S. OF TARA tried way, way too hard to put a bow on EVERYTHING and as a result, it was pretty infuriating.
Some friends and family are fans of Tara and bummed it’s over. Collette is a great actress and I’m sure she made it worth watching. My wife and I just raced through season 1 of The Big C. It’s not perfect but for me the most part we enjoyed it, thanks in no small part to the always fantastic Laura Linney.
I tried to watch the episode of Tara that came with a Dexter DVD set (Collette was going through someone’s closet while acting like a Valley Girl) but felt such an overwhelming wave of sympathetic embarrassment that I had to stop after five minutes.
Paul, the finale wasn’t horrible but GOT and True Blood just bug me. Not my thing, but Rome always will be. I will give HBO credit for doing more than Showtime. Who just have no idea what they are doing. Shit, Cinemax has more of an idea than they do!
Helium.
Oy. This is what the boy thinks is clever? Pity.
IO, different strokes for different folks, sure, no big deal.
I think Showtime has gotten better. I love Dexter and The Big C is entertaining. The Tudors had a pretty loyal following and the same seems to be true for The Borgias, which I haven’t seen. They have a few promising shows coming out soon, too, like House of Lies with the awesome Don Cheadle.
I had watched the first episode of Dexter years ago, and for whatever reason, it didn’t grab me. Then, a couple months back, I re-watched it, just out of boredom. Got totally hooked, and tore through the entire series to date in a couple weeks. Good stuff.
Though Michael C. Hall has received his fair share of praise, I still feel like he’s a really underrated actor. David Fisher and Dexter Morgan, though both emotionally reserved, are such different characters and Hall is just phenomenal in both roles.
Haven’t watched any of Game of Thornes but I am firmly in the camp that there is no such thing as Unneccesary Nudity.
As for the Jackass guy, he died at his own hand while doing something stupid (Drunk or not). I realize the other Jackasses might be sad that their friend died and that he died like a Schmuck, but you can hardly expect people to not comment since a guy who made his living doing recklessly stupid things died in a recklessly stupid way. I would be like Vick getting killed by an angry dog and the family complaining about people not having due respect for the dead.
As for Dunn, he was celebrated for being in stupid, life-altering stunts by a cruel culture, so the tragedy he and others ended up dead in a speed crash should come as no surprise.
I don’t know the circumstances of the Dunn thing, but America (and much of the world) is INCREDIBLY sanctimonious about drunk driving. Something which every single adult in all of America has done at some point or another, whether they admit or even realize it or not. Gee, there sure are a whole hell of a lot of bars and restaurants in the world with PARKING LOTS if everyone’s such a fucking Dudley Do-Right about never driving after consuming more than the half-a-Dixie-cup of booze that’s enough to fail a BAC test.
DUI laws are a fucking RACKET to collect fees and fines, NOT some MADD-inspired humiliation. I see assholes smoking, eating, waving their hand out the window like a dog, and of course texting and dialing phones behind the wheel at every intersection; But somehow when someone drinks three beers, which has no discernible effect on any adult with a body mass higher than Rachel Bilson’s, everyone gets all “He got behind the wheel after drinking, he’s a POTENTIAL MURDERER.” Fuck right on off.
My favorite comment on Dunn so far:
“I’m actually sad that he’s dead, but if you get drunk and drive, fuck you. If someone gets a DUI, instead of taking their license we should put a big sharp spike on their steering wheel and then force them to drive. This is what other drivers feel like when you drive drunk. Exciting, isn’t it!”
So fucking absurd.
Anyone who’s not a 90-lb teenage girl (mmm YEP YEP) can drive perfectly (and surely has) after even 6-8 drinks.
Most people can’t drive perfectly after zero drinks, so, no, you are incredibly wrong about this.
There may be truth to that Lex, but also I think Americans are way too casual about drinking and driving. Too many people don’t think it’s a big deal. More than 10,000 people a year die in drunk-driving crashes Lex. It isn’t sanctimonious to state that drunk driving is idiotic and dangerous.
hcat: I thought of some unnecessary nudity — M. Emmet Walsh in FAST-WALKING (great movie otherwise). And we’re talking full monty, not a discreet butt shot.
I finally watched the first ep of GOT On Demand. It was okay; I’ll probably watch more.
Paul: I think BOARDWALK EMPIRE comes back in September, after TRUE BLOOD’s season ends.
And how many more tens of thousands of workaday sadsacks get pulled over for having consumed four beers and were driving home without incident then got nabbed and were forced to pay thousands in fines, lawyer fines, and had to take a bus to work like a total douche for 18 months?
If you want to punish people who drunk drive and actually hurt someone, sure. But some idiot coming home from an office party nabbed at a random checkpoint is TOTAL bullshit.
93 Americans are killed in motor vehicle crashes every day, yet when you bring up the prospect of making all cars robotic people scream about how unsafe that would be. Really? They actually think self-driven cars will kill more than 93 people per day?
Looks like you’ve found a cause Lex.
Here in Wisconsin, America’s drunk driving capital, first-time DUI is a civil offense with a $150 fine. You have to get 2 before you face any jail time or a fine of $1,000. Even then, no one ever goes to jail unless they have at least a half-dozen or so. You could argue that in many ways we don’t punish drunk drivers as much as we should.
Also, the majority of people who get busted for driving drunk, it’s not their first time driving under the influence. From MADD: An average drunk driver has driven drunk 87 times before first arrest.
I’d feel safer in the car with some fat 50-year-old rivet worker in Ohio on eight beers…
…than with some sober Eastern Euro kid in an Adidas track suit stone cold sober barreling through L.A. in his 2018 BMW even though he doesn’t have a job.
Is the fat rivet worker driving in Ohio or through L.A. in that scenario?
Ohio. But thanks for reminding me of my NEXT GREAT POINT:
Assholes with OUT OF STATE PLATES (which are epidemic in Los Angeles) are much, MUCH worse drivers than Lindsay Lohan on 12 vodka and Red Bulls.
People in L.A. with out of state plates should be court-martialed. They should be shot.
Do Angelinos still scream like little girls when faced with the prospect of driving on the freeway? I’m assuming they put that bit in Clueless for a reason.
I could see disliking GOT for a number of reasons and I wouldn’t necessarily argue with them, but calling it True Blood is just typical IO stupid. And IO, remember your own rules…WHEN YOU DISAGREE ABOUT ANYTHING THAT MEANS YOU ARE BEING A STUPID POOPFACE AND I AM RIGHT AND YOU’RE JUST DOING IT TO BE A MEANIE AND SHIT ON SOMETHING PEOPLE LOVE AND FUCK YOU!
I do NOT get the complaint about the nudity though. Like seeing some boobs for a minute or so in a hour long episode will kill you? Some people complain there’s not enought nudity in movies these days you know!
And of course IO wants a Preacher tv show. Cause it’s based off a comic book. Yeah, that’s quality. Some guy named AssFace and a fucking VAMPIRE. Seriously a vampire? Sorry, that sucks.
Hasn’t Lohan crashed a few vehicles in the past?
Also, there’s a 99.7% chance that someone driving a BMW, Lexus, or Mercedes and/or SUV with a New Jersey license plate is an asshole and a terrible driver.
Regarding GOT and nudity, I don’t think the complaints are about the nudity itself; rather, it’s the sexposition,” the way so many characters gave long speeches to naked prostitutes.
LA drivers are the worst in America – the joke is they think they “know how” to drive.
There is just something wickedly ironic about Dunn’s death. He was the guy who put a toy car in a condom and stuffed it up his butt and then went to the doctor. From car in rectum, to wreck in car.
“He was the guy who put a toy car in a condom and stuffed it up his butt and then went to the doctor.”
Comedy sure is subjective.
Kyle Baker–one of those East Coast comics dudes who thought he could make his fortune in Hollywood–said that you could tell it was raining in L.A. if the number of car crashes reported on the radio suddenly spikes.
Heh, A LIGHT DRIZZLE in L.A. is more deadly to the 99% Filipino populace than if everybody was driving loaded.
Seriously, doesn’t it RAIN EVERY DAY in Manila? Why is the concept of a light sprinkle so foreign to people here?
“Anyone who’s not a 90-lb teenage girl (mmm YEP YEP) can drive perfectly (and surely has) after even 6-8 drinks.”
Well done, Lex. That statement is a tremendous example of absurdity. Bravo.
The joke is that NONE of you people know how to drive on wet roads. Please let all of us Northerners know if you ever plan to come up here in the winter so we can make sure to stay home that day.
“And of course IO wants a Preacher tv show. Cause it’s based off a comic book. Yeah, that’s quality. Some guy named AssFace and a fucking VAMPIRE. Seriously a vampire? Sorry, that sucks.”
Hey now, Preacher rocks. Some seriously fucked up shit they’d probably have to tone down even for HBO, but a pretty damned good story.
That first part of the post was aces, though.
“The joke is that NONE of you people know how to drive on wet roads. ”
I grew up in the Rockies. I learned on ice-packed-for-months-on-end roads.
Wet roads are nothing.
“Regarding GOT and nudity, I don’t think the complaints are about the nudity itself; rather, it’s the sexposition,” the way so many characters gave long speeches to naked prostitutes.”
I don’t understand why this is so much worse than Deadwood (which I also love) and its tendency to have characters deliver long speeches to dogs, inanimate objects or…. naked prostitutes.
Oh yippee, the supporters of drunk driving forced Ebert to apologize.
Here’s a movie quote for you: “I weep for the future.”
I guess for you it isn’t worse. I happen to think Deadwood is a vastly superior show, so maybe that’s why the stuff you mention didn’t bother me. I also haven’t seen Deadwood since it originally aired, so GOT is more fresh in my mind. I don’t consider it a huge flaw, but it is kind of amusing.
“Regarding GOT and nudity, I don’t think the complaints are about the nudity itself; rather, it’s the sexposition,” the way so many characters gave long speeches to naked prostitutes.”
I could see this, but then I would argue…better than having it delivered to some fat ugly guy or something! If you gotta see a bunch of exposition, why not throw in some titties to make it fun?
I think the one that really bothered everyone was when Littlefinger was lecturing on his schemes where the prostitutes diddled each other. And I was pretty amazed they were getting away with that…but for me it worked for the scene. Littlefinger is like yep, this is what I am. I can’t think of any other nude scenes that really struck me as weird. But I do like boobs.
You know storymark, I read some of Preacher because I tried to open my mind a bit when my friends bugged me about reading comics. And it was okay, I could see them making a decent show out of it…but I could NOT get past that fucking vampire. In a story of all this weird shit, why throw in a vampire? I don’t know, this is the kind of stuff comics do all the time, and I just can’t get with it. If HBO did make a Preacher show, I say ditch the vamp.
I think The Tudors and Brotherhood are the only Showtime series I’ve watched in their entirety. Gave up on Weeds after Shane killed a woman. Gave up on US of Tara. I’ve seen about five episodes of Borgias and am not in a hurry to watch the rest. Nurse Jackie, Episodes and Shameless didn’t hook me. HBO’s full of shows I’ve watched in full and will watch.
storymark’s right about Deadwood though. I’ve actually been watching it again lately and they deliver exposition in a lot of the same ways. It’s like “hey chamber pot, let me tell you about my past while is piss in you.”
But I do agree with Paul in that Deadwood is a hugely better show. The characters are richer, it’s funnier, and there’s so many great scenes of characters just sitting down and talking. LOVE that show.
Luckily for me though, is that unlike IO not everything for me has to be AWESOME or SUCKS so I can watch both!
I can understand that. I have an affinity for the genre, so I suppose that leads me to overlook some flaws. I will say I didn’t become aware of the device on Deadwood for a couple seasons, whereas I noticed it right away with GOT. Don’t know if that’s because Deadwood did it better, or because I was used to looking for such devices by the time I watched GOT.
I guess sexposition is an HBO staple.
“Gave up on Weeds after Shane killed a woman. ”
You should give it another shot. That was my least favorite season as well, but they use that event to ditch pretty much everything, and start fresh.
Paul, they have to get subscribers somehow! I mean, how many scenes were set in the strip club in The Sopranos for no reason? Damn, even The Wire had a strip club in it.
It’s probably easier to count the shows with no nudity on HBO than ones with it. I haven’t seen Boardwalk Empire yet but that sounds like more of the same (yay).
“I think the one that really bothered everyone was when Littlefinger was lecturing on his schemes where the prostitutes diddled each other. And I was pretty amazed they were getting away with that…but for me it worked for the scene. Littlefinger is like yep, this is what I am. I can’t think of any other nude scenes that really struck me as weird. But I do like boobs.”
That one struck me as well, but then I rewatched the episode, and his little speech plays off of events at the end of the episode so well, that I let it slide.
As for Preacher, well, the vampire wasn’t nearly as tired a trope at the time, so it worked. And he does get sidelined in the story after a while.
That’s very true Big Perm. Can’t imagine The Sopranos without Bada Bing. And yeah Paz de la Huerta is usually naked on Boardwalk Empire.
Of course the greatest inanimate exposition recipient in DEADWOOD is that Indian chief’s head in a box. Awesome show. I’ve been catching up On Demand (but for some reason they skip from ep. 29 to ep. 31 — WTF? And my cable provider doesn’t have HBO GO yet, so I may have to Netflix ep. 30).
Isn’t Paz de la Huerta usually naked in anything?
I believe so storymark.
Here is the thing about driving in L.A. (and it’s the reason why I would never drive a motorcycle here or one of those tiny little “smart” cars or, God forbid, a scooter like Larry Crowne or Jeff Wells): Even if, say, you have the God-given driving ability of Mario Andretti in his prime, your fate is still at the hands of “the other guy.” If your faculties and reflexes are impaired by even 1%, there goes your ability to quickly avert tragedy at the hands of the oblivious distracted morons suddenly stopping short or plowing through a red light because they’re texting while driving a 2-ton Ford Explorer. Driving with a mild beer buzz on a relatively deserted country road is one thing, L.A. is a whole other ball-game.
J.J. Abrams tv series – lost – undercovers – six degrees – what about brian – alias – felicity ..
none of these shows are running on cable tv where i am ..
high quality cable tv .isn’t even on cable anymore ..
all this hbo /showtime series can’t really fit it cable tv without censorship or editing for commercials breaks .
also how many movies does Abrams have to do to get a dp/30 ..
Between his Ryan Dunn tweets and the nigger/slave fiasco I think it’s probably time for Ebert to hang it up … or at least check the levels of his medications.
I love Ebert’s defense on his Sun Times blog in reference to the initial “Friends don’t let jackasses drink and drive” tweet: “I wasn’t calling Ryan Dunn a jackass. In Twitter shorthand, I was referring to his association with “Jackass.”
Really Roger? I think you pretty clearly called him a jackass while also making a play on the name of his TV show/movie series.
Dunn was driving 110 mph while drunk. He killed himself and a friend. He behaved like a jackass. Ebert is right.
Lex- I agree that the laws are pretty strict, the drop from .1 to .08 is idiocy when most people that get pulled over are around .18 and are repeat offenders. But the problem is not just with the drinking, in my youth I did it many times, but the important thing is to take into account the slowed reflexes and especially NOT DRAW ATTENTION TO YOURSELF. Driving 100 miles an hour down curvy roads is fucking stupid even without a few drinks. I know he got paid to be stupid, but he did his biggest feat of Jackassery without any camera’s rolling.
Perm, if you take the straw out of your nose long enough, maybe you would stop being a piece of shit. Until then, keep on posting while higher than hell. You dripping nosed tool.
Again, you white people, there’s no proof that he’s drunk. Sorry but there’s not. Tweeting a picture of drinking is not the same as being drunk. Only you white people and Ebert would think it’s the same. Until there’s a toxicology report, shove your drunk driving accusations up your asses.
Fucking dull as white people going on about something as if there’s any proof that it’s other then a stupid accident.
He was driving 110 mph while under the influence of alcohol. Stupid accident indeed.
How would taking a straw out of my nose make me not be a piece of shit? You can’t even insult anyone without coming off like a dimwit. Man, are you a giant nerd or what?
Hey now – that’s cruel to nerds (who are typically not, ya know, dimwitted).
Socially inept, sure, so I can see how you’d mis-identify in this case. But not dim.
Where did all of this “white people” bullshit come from?
JS is white.
Story – I can understand that. I have an affinity for the genre, so I suppose that leads me to overlook some flaws. I will say I didn’t become aware of the device on Deadwood for a couple seasons, whereas I noticed it right away with GOT. Don’t know if that’s because Deadwood did it better, or because I was used to looking for such devices by the time I watched GOT.
I think it’s because we have a past reference base of whores, saloons and cowboys. Whether it’s Unforgiven or Blazing Saddles, the two have a long fictional connection. When I think of medieval in any vein, concubines never leap to mind. It’s not a case of chivalry, but battle trumping all.
Ebert was right. No problem with a little shame involved in a careless death, especially when he took someone down with him.
JACKASS fans outraged over insensitivity — from a show that routinely laughs at hurting and/or fucking with people…
In defense of Jackass, I don’t think they ever hurt or pranked anyone who wasn’t in their group. They would never randomly shoot someone on the street with a beanbag gun, but they would do it to their buddy. That’s what makes it funny.
Yeah, I’m not going to comment on the whole deaths/drunk driving/Ebert thing but there is nothing mean spirited about Jackass. It’s actually a sweet depiction of friendship, ultimately. That was the reason I found JACKASS 3-d surprsingly affecting and charming.
Coincidentally enough, earlier today I read an interview Louis CK did on Pitchfork in which he talks about JACKASS in the context of comedians making themselves the butt of their own jokes:
“The Jackass movies are honestly some of the best movies I’ve ever seen. I laugh so hard at them. Those guys are geniuses. If they had grown up with a different group of people, they could’ve been performance artists at Bard College, and people would be writing papers about them. There’s a real beauty in it, and there’s a release to watching those movies. But it’s because they’re doing things to each other as friends. If they were going around and hitting old ladies in the head, it would be horrible.”
They go into a bathroom appliance store and take a dump in the floor model, dress up to terrify pedestrians, and waste emergency room doctors for stunts. And physically hurt each other — the weird s&m homo-erotic subtext isn’t even subtext. There have been lawsuits against the show for injuries. I find it ugly and mean-spirited. And have always said somebody’s gonna die. Sad.
“In defense of Jackass, I don’t think they ever hurt or pranked anyone who wasn’t in their group.”
In one episode when Dunn showed up at a doctor’s office with a Matchbox car shoved up his ass, was the doctor in on that joke? If so, then where’s the “prank” value, eh?
BTW, the bartender said Dunn had “two beers and three “girlie” shots” and “didn’t seem to be intoxicated.” Since this sap could be held responsible for the crash according to Pennsylvania law and was likely trying to cover his own ass, you think the reality is closer to eight drinks and wobbly as shit?
I see that a fuller version of the Louis C.K. quote I posted above is now in the “Quote Unquote” section of this site. It’s really worth a click-through if your a Louie fan.
christian: The Jackass guys undeniably fuck with innocent people (as did Candid Camera, Punked, The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, Scare Tactics, etc.), but I’m pretty sure they reserve the physical pain for each other. And they all signed up for it, so I don’t see the problem.
Granted, I wouldn’t want to be the owner of that appliance store — but I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that afterward, off camera, they do something to ease his pain (and to get the release signed).
Thanks for the heads-up on the Pitchfork interview, yancyskancy. LCK always gives good value; no exception here.
I’m always amazed, for some reason, when you follow Dave’s threads, Ray.
Reading the comments is part of keeping the headlines, quotes, etc. current, Not David.
“In one episode when Dunn showed up at a doctor’s office with a Matchbox car shoved up his ass, was the doctor in on that joke? If so, then where’s the “prank” value, eh?”
So what, do you think that traumatized the doctor or something? I’d say that in a Jackass prank like that, the Jackass dude would still be the joke, because HE’S the guy with the car shoved up his ass. The doctor is the straight man.
I think there’s a huge difference between what the Jackass guys do…and really, some of their bits are absolutely liek the funniest performance art ever…and something like Scare Tactics which is absolutely mean-spirited.
Who else would have taken Brad Pitt for a segment and had him wear a monkey outfit and run around the streets so you never see his face? Just on a conceptual level that’s pretty hilarious to me.
Except a doctor in an ER maybe has better things to do? It’s the same when I see police called in or involved in reality shows — that’s taxpayer time and resources pissed away for what?
the thing that amazes me about ‘jackass’ is that its popularity has managed to carry over to a whole new generation in the far-flung reaches of the planet – my boy and his crew of about 8 or so kids are HUGE jackass fans, know the 4 movies by heart and revere the original gang (apparently there’s a ‘jackass 2.5’ i’ve never seen or heard of (?) that doesn’t have knoxville and the lads that they don’t care for as much…and personally i don’t care for ‘jackass 2’ because it has a bit of a nasty mean streak the other two tend to eschew), plus they’re really into free-running/parkour so whenever they leave the house i always panic and run off down the drive shouting after them to remind them not to attempt any jackass maneuvers — also the boy and his one mate have taken to bam-style practical jokes on me, recently having put a huge very real-looking tarantula in my flour container (apparently bam did something similar to his poor beleaguered mum on one of the old episodes) so that when i went to do some baking it came pouring out and i just about had a fucking heart attack, to the endless amusement of the boy. so i’m dreading the next 5-6 years.
(and anyone who drinks and then gets behind the wheel of deadly missile is a narcissistic asshole. maybe we’ve all done it at one point or another – i did once when i was like 20 – and we should be according deeply ashamed. it’s not an asshole contest where drinking and driving is excusable because idiots text and drive and yahoo around and such, they are assholes as well. but if you’ve been drinking and your blood alcohol level is over a certain limit, not only do you get faux courage and confidence in your ability to drive properly but it’s scientifically proven that your reaction times and reflexes are impaired, and if you get home w/out harming yourself or someone else, you are just LUCKY, not skilled. if you want to endanger yourself that’s your right, but nobody has carte blanche to endanger others with their stupidity. if you drink and drive, you are a stone-cold fuckhead)
Christian. Pooping parties since 1984
One man’s party is another man’s poop.
i can definitely see how ‘jackass’ might not be one’s cup of tea as far as humour goes. i think the jackass zeitgeist is more about the camaraderie and chemistry of the lads and less about the stunts themselves, anyway.
“maybe we’ve all done it at one point or another”
That’s the entirety of the problem–so many folks have so little respect for any alcohol-related laws and have been skirting them for so long that they think they’re members of a “cool-kids club” and drunk driving is something that “everyone” does (except me–I could paraphrase a line from Scott Pilgrim but I probably shouldn’t).
“i think the jackass zeitgeist is more about the camaraderie and chemistry of the lads”
So it’s kinda like “Diner”, with feces?
(sorry, I can’t hold it in any longer…”being a teetotaler just makes you better than most people”)
Yeah, it’s that the guys are all good buddies that makes Jackass work. Like in the new one they had set up that giant hand to swat people who came in the room…and one guy comes in and it FLATTENS him. And I’m thinking that’s the worst fucking thing I’ve ever seen…but they’re all laughing like hyenas kind of making it funny. And then they show the guy on the floor and HE’S laughing too. That’s the spirit of Jackass.
it IS like ‘diner’ with feces — and lots of fall down go boom! with owies
we must learn from our mistakes. i relentlessly brainwash my boy and his group of 12-14 yr olds who are just entering the danger zone to never, ever drink and drive a car or get into a car when someone’s been drinking, i tell them all ‘call me in the middle of the night i don’t care if you’re 100k out in the bush and it’s 3am, i will come fetch you’ (and then of course kick their proverbial asses with harsh words the next day, but i leave that part out). like i said, dreading the next 6 years.
(oh i had to add this, the other day after giving my umpteenth lecture about how cars and mind-altering substances don’t mix, one of the cheeky little smart-asses asked me, “what about a golf cart, can we drive that?” reminding me of the time when my girlfriend and i, stoned out of our gourds, crashed and rolled a golf cart whilst caddying for her parents at a very posh country club)
Exactly Leah. We all drove golf carts drunk. It’s part of growing up. My friend rolled a forklift onto his head and died instantly. You don’t realize it at that age but you are always a percent away from having your head crushed while having the time of your life. I’m going to get my kids to drink like the French as soon as they can.
/facepalm
( and for those who need a visual: http://www.roflcorner.com/wp-content/gallery/facepalm/facepalmbq8dj7.jpg )
Lex, yeah… no.
Perm, a nerd? Story, socially awkward? One of you is a coked up jackass and the other one of you is a prissy little fuck. The fact that either one of you believe you can insult anyone, given your proclivities to suck harder than a Dyson is astounding. Fuck both of you.
Warning… Warning… Danger from nasty personal attacks… please stop
Memo to Leah:
We had a sell-out for opening nite last weekend, and everyone really, really seemed to love the show. I can’t tell you how inordinately proud I am of my four actors: their performances are truly out of this world.
Not that I’m biased or anything (lol), but it’s easily the best production of a LaBute show this area has ever seen. (And “Fat Pig” and “Shape of Things” were both done here within the past 18 months.)
Friday and Saturday are our final perfs, and we’re looking for capacity houses once again.
Wish you could see one of our shows, Leah!
I laughed at all three Jackass movies until I was thoroughly ashamed of myself. Even reviewed the first two for Variety. And I saw each of them with my son. We considered each film a bonding experience. Sort of.
At the same time, however: Drunken driven is at best depraved indifference, and at worst, well, manslaughter.
“depraved indifference” is a good term, sounds very mccoy on ‘law & order’
go movieman! you must be a proud papa. just curious but do you video your productions at all? i’m long out of touch with the vagaries of the theatre but i know a few people still involved with the scene here and it would seem some productions are taped for posterity as a matter of course (budget allowing), just wondering if you might do likewise in some capacity. anyway, congrats and hope the second weekend kills even better than the first
David, here’s hoping you see it both ways.
Which am I, the prissy little fuck?
Leah- Thank you! And yes, I felt like a proud parent sitting there on opening nite watching the show. There’s nothing like the instant gratification you get from live theater–even when you’re “just” the director, and not one of the actors up there on stage.
My Mamet play was videotaped last fall (although I STILL don’t have a copy, dammit). And I’m pretty sure they’re planning to record one of our final performances this weekend.
Sure hope so. I’d really like to have copies of both for posterity.
IO – You seem to be under the mistaken impression that I give a shit about what you have to say. I assure you, I don’t. Particularly not your failed, desperate attempts to come up with a good insult.
Prissy? Really? I’d go off on some moronic “You don’t KNOW MEEEE” rat, but I’d hate to steal your favorite tantrum.
jackass is still my favorite comedic thing on this earth.
i don’t think i ever laughed as hard at anything as i did the first time i watched jackass.
it’s sad when anyone dies too young and pointlessly, and with additional casualties. this is not a time to argue right and wrong. people are dead.
yes, drunk driving is a terrible thing. yes, his friends and admirers have the right to feel awful because someone who brought them joy has passed on.
If i were friends with Ryan Dunn, i’d tell Roger Ebert to shut his mouth, though that would seem kind of pointless given the circumstances.
When is the time to argue right and wrong? When is it OK to point out that driving 130 mph on a highway while under the influence of alcohol is monumentally reckless and stupid?
For what it’s worth, something a bit more extreme happened with wrestler Chris Benoit. He spent some 15 years being admired as one of the most respected men in the business, then he didn’t turn up to a show one day and they found he had hanged himself after killing his wife and son.
All his coworkers and fans had to come to terms that the guy that they’d looked up to for years had gone out in one of the most horrific ways imaginable. They dealt with it by completely removing any commentary, since whatever was said would either be disrespectful to the way he lived or apologist for the way he died.
“When is the time to argue right and wrong? When is it OK to point out that driving 130 mph on a highway while under the influence of alcohol is monumentally reckless and stupid?”
To those who were fans, never, probably. To everyone else – as soon as the news broke.
It’s a shame if fans can’t acknowledge how idiotic and dangerous his behavior was.
I had a family member nearly burn to death in a house fire because of a candle. In the aftermath when they werent certain whether she was going to live or die, do you think anyone that mattered was concerned with fire safety in the home?
People who talk about things like drunk driving or unsafe driving in the immediate aftermath are pretty useless. Like the people who show up to church on easter and christmas.
Do you espouse the dangers of unsafe/drunk driving all the time or just when someome notable dies?
Were all opinionated at the time of death, arent we.
The answer to the question “when are we supposed to talk about it”
Before.
“Do you espouse the dangers of unsafe/drunk driving all the time or just when someome notable dies?”
If they die of cancer, no. If they die from driving drunk – fuck yes. Of course.
People who criticize others for having the audacity to call a stupid action what it was – fucking stupid – are beyond worthless. Actually detrimental to discourse.
“The answer to the question “when are we supposed to talk about it”
Before.”
Right, because reflection on the past is never worthwhile. Nothing ever repeats itself, right?
Yes I do in fact espouse the dangers of unsafe/drunk driving all the time Anghus (and never go to church). Does that mean I now have permission to declare that Dunn was a total fucking idiot for driving 130 mph while intoxicated? Sorry you feel it’s useless. I think ignoring or making excuses for completely reckless and moronic behavior is useless.
Well-said storymark.
Follow the comments in more news-related boards and see how deeply in denial his fans are. They refuse to believe either speed or alcohol might be a factor, even though the wreckage pulled out of the woods doesn’t look remotely vehicular anymore.
And I’m sure the fans refused to believe the violent nature of wrestling itself led to Benoit’s final rampage (“Benoit’s brain was so severely damaged it resembled the brain of an 85-year-old Alzheimer’s patient.”).
As for candles, they’ve been banned at Michigan State for over 20 years, yet whenever there’s a dorm fire guess what was the cause? Yeah, frickin’ candles. There’s a reason why The Man steps on your right to set the mood.
The sad irony is clearly lost on folks that a guy who was made famous by his stunts died performing one.
Anghus- What you don’t seem to get with your comparison is that this was not an accident on par with leaving candles unattended or not looking both ways before crossing the street. This was thrill-seeking behavior, they were driving at 130 to experience the danger of it and it bit them in the ass.
Let me ask you did you feel a lot of sympathy for the guy in New York a few years ago that was mauled by the Tiger he kept in his apartment? It is certainly a terrible thing to get mauled and I am sure his family was in a lot of emotional pain due to his injuries. But wasn’t your first thought ‘Well NO SHIT that was what was going to happen. How much of a dumbass do you have to be to not see this as the inevitable outcome?’
And perhaps if this was some politician’s trust-fund blueblood offspring that got lit and went careening around the backroads in his sportscar you wouldn’t be so defensive of the familiy’s and friend’s public grief.
The most fitting tribute to this guy would be if they placed Jackass’s ‘Don’t Try this at Home’ disclaimer over the footage of the wreckage.
Dunn’s BAC was .196, more than twice the legal limit.
Also, from Time: “A new study published in the journal Addiction suggests that there is no such thing as a safe BAC and that driving after consuming even a small amount of alcohol — just one beer, for instance — is associated with incapacitating injury and death.
http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/22/driving-while-buzzed-no-amount-of-alcohol-is-safe-behind-the-wheel/
…and yet the fanboys will say that’s bullshit because they’ve driven drunk plenty of times.
Will there be any apologies from the Ebert haters? Don’t hold your breath waiting.
Where the pulpit fist pounding loses me is its fervor.
Theres nothing wrong with declaring ones acts to be idiotic, but people do it immediately, without consideration, like Ebert. Friends and family are mourning. Do we really need cautionary lip service from a film critic.
Save the condescending pulpit pounding for your kids,.your family and friends.
Dont sit there like an armchair saint preaching to the converted. Who are your words for? Who is going to disagree that drunk driving is a terrible, awful thing?
Someone dies and the first reaction is “drunk driving asshole”. Or worse, a bunch of people kick into sanctimonious mode. Do you think that this some kind of educational opportunity to talk about the evils of reckless driving, or are you just another sheep who contributes another useless “dont drive drunk” comment.
Theres nothing more rewarding than pointing out
The shortcomings of others.
And who is making excuses? The guy is dead. He made a terrible decision.
Im arguing the need of every asshole with an opinion jumping up to the podium to tell us what we already knew: drunk driving is a terrible decision.
And why do his fans have to do anything other than greive. Is there some moral imperative to condemn someones actions even when the body is barely cold?
Compassion before judgement. Thats my theory
Okay, now I’m totally bummed–EW deleted my comment telling all drunk drivers to please make the world a better place by killing themselves. I even told them to choose a method that wouldn’t harm anyone else, unlike that one asshat who asphyxiated not only himself by running the car in the garage but everyone else in the house.
Ah well, here’s what’s left: http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/06/21/roger-ebert-tweet-ryan-dunn/#comments
I don’t know anghus, you seem a little sanctimonious right now. You make some valid points, and I agree with much of what you say, but I certainly don’t think everyone mentioning the stupidity of the action is posing as some “armchair saint.” You seem to be dialing up the hyperbole a bit. Unless you’re commenting on reactions elsewhere and not here.
I believe this country has a serious drinking problem, that it doesn’t take drinking and driving as seriously as it should. I am sick and tired of reading about people dying young, senselessly, because of drunk driving crashes. If that makes me a “condescending pulpit pounder,” so be it.
When you say it like that youre not being sanctimonious at all Paul. You articulated the issue and made a very true statement about our society.
When you say it like Ebert, thats when it changes to pulpit dickery.
Saying “all drunk drivers should go kill themselves now”, thats sanctimonious dickery.
Guilty as charged, though I will admit it was drinkers who persuaded me never to touch the stuff in the first place. How? By turning into irritating assholes who talk and laugh so loud that they eventually disturb the puke fairy, who steals enough of their life force as compensation that they are left little better than half-dead invalids for most of the next day.
And that’s considered a good night since no fights broke out, no one wound up in jail or the hospital or a morgue, and no one had anything forced into an orifice that they didn’t want there.
If someone hadn’t invented alcohol until this century, it would be classified a WMD with bottles of it dropped on the enemy like anthrax or cluster bombs.
“We just spent several weeks hearing thousands of opinions about Rep. Anthony Weiner’s lewd tweets. No one worried about crossing lines then, and few seemed to care about what the effect of the snickering commentary on Weiner or his wife or his family. It was as if his behavior opened the door to anything.
“All Weiner did was send pictures. The stupid behavior underlying the sad deaths of Dunn and Hartwell is so much worse, and yet somehow Ebert isn’t supposed to speak up? If only someone had the courage to speak up and keep Dunn off the road before this awful thing happened.”
http://www.slate.com/BLOGS/blogs/browbeat/archive/2011/06/22/defending-roger-ebert.aspx
Oh my, it looks like those Jackass fans who complained the loudest about Ebert actually caused Dunn’s death:
“[Surveillance video] also revealed that Dunn’s final drinks of the night were given to him by fans at a back table, an AP report said, quoting Sgt. William La Torre of the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Enforcement. La Torre also said Dunn wasn’t eating as he drank.”
“Most likely the final shot given by the fan put him over the edge, according to La Torre.”
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/168291/20110623/ryan-dunn-death-why-there-will-be-no-charges-against-the-bar-jackass-porsche-911-gt3.htm
Remember that “covering his own ass” comment I made earlier about the bartender? Looks like bars are now taping you while you drink. Smile, you’re on candid camera!
Does La Torre know with certainty that a shot from a fan put Dunn over the edge? That makes it seem like the fan is somehow responsible. “He would have been fine and got home safely if only that one fan didn’t buy him one last shot and force him to down it.”
I do think that Slate piece makes many good points about this very sad incident.
If you’re two and a half times over the legal limit, I’m pretty sure one shot doesn’t put you “over the edge”.
“Most likely the final shot given by the fan put him over the edge, according to La Torre.”
This seems to make it fairly clear that La Torre doesn’t know with certainty, and said so.
My understanding is that pretty much every alcohol establishment has surveillance footage – not only in case someone takes a swipe at the till, but because large gatherings of people and alcohol tend towards disputes for which footage can determine who is at fault.
Looks like the point of the article is to claim that the bar & bartender are NOT responsible. Dunn was supposedly fine the moment the bartender stopped serving him, but then fans started giving him more drinks, plural, which is indicated in the article.
It also goes on to say that even though Dunn “had a rather steady gait and clear speech”, these signs can be rather deceptive when dealing with a heavy drinker.
Was he really “fine” after the bartender stopped serving him? And meaning what? He wasn’t passed out in a corner or vomiting on the bar? That hardly means he was fine.
I just wonder what the point of La Torre’s statement is if he doesn’t know for sure. Why even suggest that a single shot from a fan probably pushed Dunn “over the edge” and led to his death?
The same could be said of your question – what’s the point of debating definitions in a paraphrased piece? Are you suggesting there’s some sort of cover up? It’s just as likely that this comment was in response to a question as it was spontaneously offered up.
A cover up? No, I am not suggesting a cover up nor do I think I even hinted at that being a possibility. Maybe there is no point Foamy. I just find it an odd comment to make. One could infer that blame is being placed on the fan who got Dunn that last shot. That person could read that and believe that they are partly responsible for the accident since they ordered the shot that “most likely” pushed Dunn “over the edge.” Like Jkill said, one shot doesn’t push you over the edge if you’re two-and-a-half times over the legal limit.
If IO was correct in stating that Dunn & Margera had a history of drag-racing across the PA countryside, you have to wonder about the mentality of “fans” who show their appreciation by pouring even more alcohol into the owner of a high-performance machine who had already been drinking.
“He’s gonna eat it one of these times,” Margera said of Dunn in a 2006 DVD commentary for Season 5 of Jackass. “He’ll never learn his lesson.”
“Another cast member speculated, ‘I have [Ryan] in the death pool … for death by vehicle.'”
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/bam-margera-predicted-ryan-dunn-205003
Considering Dunn had 23 citations for reckless driving and was going 130 mph or more the night of the crash, it’s easy to believe he participated in some drag races. Sadly prophetic comments from Margera. Did anyone really try to help Dunn, or did they just laugh it off and think, “That’s our wacky friend Ryan.”
Jackass.
Wow, Sam, that certainly puts it in perspective.
Dunn was celebrated, CELEBRATED, by society for putting himself in harm’s way, knowing that he had a high chance of being permanently harmed, and has “eaten it” in the final sense of the phrase. But Ebert is barred from commenting on the harmful nature of that variety of celebration just because they are now not celebrating. Weird.
In other alcohol-related news, Bristol claims in the book she’s flogging that her virginity was “stolen” while she was drunk. Levi to respond in his new book or a video featuring Jay-Z.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/06/23/bristol-palin-memoir-on-how-she-lost-her-virginity-was-it-date-rape.html
I’m still waiting for all the social conservatives and family groups who constantly decry Hollywood/liberal American’s moral decay to publicly denounce Bristol’s book/pregnancy tale. Where is their outrage?
“I’m still waiting for all the social conservatives and family groups who constantly decry Hollywood/liberal American’s moral decay to publicly denounce Bristol’s book/pregnancy tale. Where is their outrage?”
You’re waiting for Godot, dude.
Oh I’m really not expecting them to say anything. Unplanned, out-of-wedlock teen pregnancy propelled by underage alcohol consumption is a problem caused by Hollywood & liberals and it only happens to poor minorities in urban areas.
Bristol knows the score–it’s the tents, dammit!
If we outlaw camping tents then unwed teens won’t have anywhere to “hook-up” and this whole underage sexing problem will disappear!
Ban the tents, ban the tents, ban the tents!
And Sarah Palin was so concerned she brought Bristol onto the national stage to show her family values.
Since Cracked.com led me to a site where folks were debating why there’s a naked carpenter in the margins of the Bayeux Tapestry, here’s a comment that circles back nicely to the Dunn affair:
“Friends don’t let friends hew naked”.
(NSFW, due to embroidered nasty bits: http://www.gotmedieval.com/2008/12/the-mystery-of-%C3%A6lfgyva-mmm-tapestry-marginalia.html Hollywood is mentioned in the piece, as is Conan, but not the barbarian or some Irish guy either.)