May 19, 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
Good thing she remembered to put on lipstick before fighting crime. My first reaction was laughter. I think she looks rather ridiculous. Granted, it’s only one image.
And people bitched about the Superman photo? Ugh.
Major Hathaway fan, but this looks ridiculous and unflattering. It reminds me of that Gwen Stefani and Eve video where they cruise around on motorcycles or Vespas or whatever, and they’re pretty girls, but it’s just SO UNSEXY. Women look absurd riding some stupid motorcycle.
Unless you’re Nick Conklin or Peter Fonda, most men should heed this advice, too.
I’m such a huge fan of The Dark Knight. I’m very much looking forward to The Dark Knight Rises.
With that said, every still i’ve seen has made me go ‘hmmmmmmmmmmmmm’ and not in a good way.
The finished product is all that matters.
Edit – and it’s all idle speculation, but do you think those glasses are a variation on the sonar/cellphone tech that Bruce developed in Dark Knight?
She’s riding a batpod… is she using other Waynetech?
(spoilers from other set pics)
and there was an early camo version of the tumbler in shots featuring Bane. I’m wondering how this plays into the story.
If she’s got the cycle, does that mean he wrecked another Batmobile?
I’m a bit hesitant to completely dismiss it, but I always thought the third chapter would be better served to leave Catwoman out of it. Everyone and anyone is going to be holding this film up to the highest expectations. So less stills like this the better.
Granted, fans of Batman Begins very conveniently forget to mention Katie Holmes and how DREADFUL that character and performance was and they still love it.
It reminds me more of this, Lex: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkPxgUshpec
Those glasses are most definitely some sort of Waynetech. She also stole the bat pod. Seriously, she stole the damn thing and if you look at the other pics that popped up today, she’s using it to save Bruce’s ass.
That’s awesome and clearly she was somewhere else when she had the lipstick on. Excuse her for going right to saving Bruce’s ass from a complete LEAGUE OF SHADOWS attack on Gotham, Paul. Fucking guy. No respect for ladies wanting to look glamorous going into battle.
Was there ever a doubt JS would rush to the defense of this?? He must be EXPECTING the best movie ever made!
🙂
Good thing IO made up the whole story of the movie in his head to rush to the defense!
Looks fine to me though. Basically a realistic Catwoman, what do the nerds (besides IO) want, big ears and a tail stapled on there?
Batman Begins, to me, will always be potential wasted. A good movie, but a significant notch below Dark Knight.
a.) Katie Holmes is awful. Just awful.
b.) The action is incomprehensible. Batman fighting Ninjas should have been one of the best action scenes ever filmed. But it was just a black on black on yellow mess.
I still liked Batman Begins. But i loved the Dark Knight.
The Dark Knight took everything good about Begins and improved on it. Hopefully Dark Knight Rises will do the same. It’s looking like a very different movie. that can only benefit the finished film. Personally, i don’t want more of the same. I want this to be it’s own beast.
Batman Begins is the better movie. I don’t understand the complaint about the action. It’s such a tired, cliched arguement. I also don’t have problem with Katie Holmes. Not a great performance but totally serviceable in the role.
As for TDKR, I cannot believe how much is getting leaked. They can’t tighten up security at all? There was nothing like this level of leaked photos with TDK.
The Bane reveal pic was great. I love the overall tone of the movie that the official releases have set. Batman Begins had an orange color palette symbolizing the sun setting. TDK was blue, entering and right in the middle of the night. TDKR seems to be going with a purple, bleached out scheme. I’m getting a theme of death. Nolan is going all out and is getting a little crazy with this one. If this is a messy, imperfect movie that divides critics, I say good. The universal love for TDK is kinda annoying.
This is the first official pic where I haven’t been impressed. But I love what Catwoman being on the Batpod suggests.
” I don’t understand the complaint about the action. It’s such a tired, cliched arguement.”
You have Batman, who is basically the world’s biggest badass. Then you have an army of trained ninja killers. Is it wrong to want one memorable action sequence? Why is it ‘cliched’ to want some legible action.
In Dark Knight you have a great chase sequence with the iconic shots of Batman and Joker going head to head.
Inception had that superb sequence in the hotel hallway with the shifting gravity and Joseph Gordon Levitt.
Batman Begins was lacking a good, iconic, defining action sequence. It’s a legitimate complaint, even if you find it cliched.
BP, if you are going to keep on being the nagging aunt no one wants to invite over, then you should be able to figure the rest out for yourself. Seriously, go read a graphic novel that features Bats and Cats and you will get what’s happening in this pictures. It’s not that hard to figure it out but I am sure you didn’t get what Thalia was doing in those other pictures either.
MWNN: you bastard :P!
Anghus: I know it’s brief, but wouldn’t the iconic action scene of Begins consist of Bats in Arkham?
I think I’ll decline your office to read your children’s picture books, IO.
And in a sense criticizing the action in Batman Begins is sort of cliched, but a lot of times cliches are born from the truth. And if Nolan’s going to shoot some boring-ass action, he needs to make the fights shorter. Although TDK had some better action…didn’t care for the truck chase where the geography was all over the place, but the hand to hand stuff was okay.
There’s no recent BYOB and Poland usually doesn’t take questions from the peanut gallery, but I’m bored on a Friday night and wondering about this oh-so-pressing issue, so hopefully I’ll get an answer:
Why did David stop doing the SUPER MOVIE FRIENDS? I both enjoyed those and aspired to be in one. Many moons ago when I hadn’t thoroughly pissed off Poland, he even asked if I’d be interested. I of coure came up with some excuse (actually I had to leave LA for a week), and next thing I know LOU FROM CADDYSHACK was on there.
“Anghus: I know it’s brief, but wouldn’t the iconic action scene of Begins consist of Bats in Arkham?”
That was my thought as well. “Batman Begins” is weird if you’re looking for the kind of action scenes you’d find in a Jason Statham movie. When I think about the action in BB, I think about the sword fighting practice on the iced over lake, or the cat and mouse game in the ninja ranks with the cut on the arm, things like that. The movie does a great job visualizing intellectual/philosophical debates.
Actually come to think of it, the iconic action setpiece in “Batman Begins” starts off with the bats descending on Arkham, but it hits a crescendo with that chase across the rooftops and onto the freeway. it isn’t a fight scene, but it is a great action piece all the same.
“Why did David stop doing the SUPER MOVIE FRIENDS? I both enjoyed those and aspired to be in one. Many moons ago when I hadn’t thoroughly pissed off Poland, he even asked if I’d be interested. I of coure came up with some excuse (actually I had to leave LA for a week), and next thing I know LOU FROM CADDYSHACK was on there.”
I was wondering this in the bathroom a couple of days ago (thanks to his off-handed mention of Anthony Breznican recently). I liked the whole “Dinner For Five” movie discussion thing.
Good God – imagine a Super Movie Friends with you, Leydon, JS Partisan, LeahNZ, and that new guy Nero. That would truly be an event.
Not that I’m running off to the bathroom at the mention of Anthony Breznican’s name, by the way…
This is only the Selina Kyle reveal, not the Catwoman reveal. This was due to the shoot they had today and getting ahead of spy pics.
Hallick: I think that would wind up being not just a national but an INTERNATIONAL Super Movie Friends. Don’t know if there’s a budget for that. LOL.
Hallick wrote: When I think about the action in BB, I think about the sword fighting practice on the iced over lake, or the cat and mouse game in the ninja ranks with the cut on the arm, things like that. The movie does a great job visualizing intellectual/philosophical debates.”
Yeah, I totally agree, which is why the action worked for me. A great T2 or They Live fight scene would’ve made it the sickest action movie of all time. That scene out on the ice was essentially him battling his own subconscious/inner demons. All I needed to see was him punching the air and the emotional power would’ve come through. There have been tons of movies w/more elaborate fights scenes, and some that involve great use of setting but w/out much context or consequences of outcome, they are quickly forgotten. Of course, nothing is as bad when they appear choreographed.
It’d be great to hear some of the internal discussions on what to leak, how much to leak and when over at WB. It’s such a hot interest item, I wonder how tempted they are to really coast on WoM and buzz and try to save a few bucks on mktg. It’s much cheaper & efficient to “leak” a photo of say Hathaway being body painted on set than buying banner ads on CNN.Com and billboards in Time Square. Mktg depts are so shameless in showing the whole movie in trailers and other ads thinking it’ll increase the number of tickets sold. Would they even care if most of the gen pub has been exposed to half the movie by next Memorial Day or not?
I didn’t think Katie Holmes was bad at all. I can’t really tell or guess anything about this pic of Hathaway. I’m going to try to avoid dwelling on ads or make any speculations. What I do wonder is if there was enough action bashing reached Nolan’s ears to where he decides to shoot a scene or two silence the critics? Is that a fool’s errand or an aspect that could lead to future growth? Not to mention silencing the haters.
Edit – wrong thread. 🙂
Yeah Aunt Tillie, The Long Halloween is a children’s book. Sure it is. Sure it is.
When it comes down to it, isn’t batman about getting dressed up in dark costumes and driving impressive road hogs/military vehicles?
And also, obviously, droppin down on a punk.
Torpid: You forgot one of the major appeals of the old Batman TV show: With Robin on board, you could actually watch a kid kick grown-ups’ asses with impunity.
Truth be told, I loved doing Super Movie Friends… but it’s a lot of work organizing a bunch of people to show up, it’s hard to shoot well, and I have a 19-month-old running around, making it all that much harder.
Maybe SMF will return after TIFF this year. I really need to structure it so there is a set shooting time and I can fill those slots every week.
And Anthony and I lost some steam on our weekly piece when USA Today put us on an unfortunate hiatus for over a month… and we both had babies who are now toddlers. I don’t know if EW would let him do it anymore. But that too would be nice to revive. I think we were just about getting to a good format when we quit it.
170+ DP/30s a year is a loaded full time job in most places. And to do it right would be 2 full-timers, at least. So an additional weekly SMF becomes more than 4 produced half hours (or more) a week, every week of the year… pretty much on my own, funded out of my own pocket, while blogging and Oscar thumping as well. Plus baby. Not to mention wife.
I’m getting tired just thinking about it.
I would love to be able to focus exclusively on video. It’s my favorite of the things I do these days. And there should be a SMF in the world. But there are only so many hours in the day.
Two words: Hire sanj. 🙂
Not going to get into Dark Knight vs. Batman Begins (love them both for differing reasons), but Katie Holmes did what she could with the hardest role in the film. She was basically there for emotional and moral exposition. She was the one who had to make the big thesis-statement speeches and she did about as well as could be expected with that (she DOES stink in the scene where she first meets Batman outside the train, I’ll give you that). Frankly, one of the things I love about Katie Holmes’s Rachel in BB is that she’s more of the conscience than the love interest. She represents Bruce’s moral compass, arguably the Leslie Thompkins of the series. Yes they have feelings for each other, but the point is repeatedly made that there are more important things to worry about at the moment. In TDK, Maggie Gyllenhaal gets stuck basically playing ‘the romantic prize to be won’ between the two leading men before being downgraded to ‘woman in refrigerator’. In Batman Begins, Rachel Dawes was a supporting character. In The Dark Knight, Rachel Dawes was ‘the girl’.
I think there’s a difference between the character of Rachel in “Batman Begins” and the performance of it by Holmes. In TDK, I bought into Gyllenhaal as a woman who could put Wayne in his place and still be worth pining over. She had sass that was sexy and grown up to me.
Holmes on the other hand, who I like just fine outside of BB, came off prissy and always seemed like a little girl playing grown up. I didn’t see why anybody would be that broke up about not getting her in the end.
I think Holmes was the weakest performance in Begins, but even then I think she did well enough. As said, it was a rather thankless, expository role.
And while I think Gyllenhaal is the better actress, the character’s death would have carried more eight for me if it had been Holmes.
As for the action – pretty terrible in Begins. They have some pretty cool choreography – and it’s shot horribly. The HBO first look actually has a more compelling look at the Bats v Ninja fight, as you can actually see what’s going on.