April 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
Saw Django Unchained twice now. Both times it played through the roof. Word of Mouth looks to be fantastic as it’s been a Trending Topic on Twitter starting late last night, through most of the day today. This will be QT’s highest grossing picture ever, especially once we get deep into the Awards season. I hope Django gets nominations for the Screenplay, Picture, Direction, Cinematography, DiCaprio, Waltz, and Sam Jackson.
i liked Django, but it felt fatty. Fun, good performances, but the second act seemed endless. For me, it falls right in the middle of his work. Entertaining, crazy fun at times, but it feels like twenty minutes could have been cut for the mercy of the audience.
all the kudos in the world to waltz, dicaprio, and sam jackson. terrific performances.
my favorite dp/30’s interviews of 2012 – no order –
– doesn’t mean i like the movie or watched the movie.
if you have time and you haven’t seen these – check them out .
John Battsek
Stephen Chbosky / Ezra Miller
Joe Wright / Keira Knightley / Jude Law / Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Neil Berkeley / Wayne White
Spike Lee
Dreama Walker / Pat Healy / Craig Zobel
Alison Klayman – first dp/30
Zal Batmanglij / Brit Marling
Tony Kaye
Terry George
Nicole Kidman
Samuel L Jackson
Jake Gyllenhaal
Michael Pena
Matthew McConaughey
Sam Mendes
John Gatins
Jennifer Lawrence
William Friedkin (2 of 2)
Ryan O’Nan / Michael Weston
Peter Hedges
Kirby Bliss Blanton
Guy Pearce
Leslye Headland
Seann William Scott
Alison Brie
You know how, usually, when a film really knocks you on your ass and is one of the handful of best movies of the year, you usually do a second viewing pretty quickly, maybe go to the theater again or see the DVD when it comes out? Every once in a while something slips through the cracks. You get busy and somehow forget about it. I’m finally about to see A SINGLE MAN for the second time. Can’t believe I still only saw it the one time in the theater. I recall it being a complete masterpiece but can’t remember it too well so excited to see it again. Devastating movie. Wonder if Tom Ford has plans to make another film. God damn I remember loving this movie. Off the top of my head I can’t think of a better film it’s taken me so long to see for a second time. That is all.
Breedlove, I experienced the same thing almost. I always manage to miss one of the year end best film contenders, and that year A Single Man was it. Caught it on dvd after the Oscars – blown away. Fantastic movie.
Yeah, just finished it, great great film. Have to go look up who beat out Firth for the Oscar…seems hard to believe there was a better performance that year.
@ anghus – Agreed. Django could easily lose 20 minutes of fat.
watched Seal Team Six last night … other than some US/Afghan military skirmishes the film is basically a B-movie version of ZDT …. there were a few places where the facts went a different way but it’s the same story on a low budget (think sets and special effects) … also saw a wierd doc The Act of Killing where Indonesian death squad assassins from the ’60s re-create their killings in genre style (ex prod include errol morris and herzog) … there was a doc on the Cambodian death squads of the ’70s Enemies of the People that was better but the whole point is that you are watching a culture where former deth squad leaders go unprosecuted because their society doesn’t consider it a crime … Jack Reacher was awesome, one of the best actioners in years
I think Django is by far QT’s most complicated film. At times it is really good, very entertaining and extremely sophisticated in the manner it addresses slavery and the abhorrant treatment of human beings. And at other times it is shallow and juvenile and oh my god, far too long. But the biggest problem with Quentin is his appearance. My god, talk about almost completely sabotaging your own material. There was not one audience member who did not recognize him instantly and there was not one audience member who did not recoil instantly… and then try to hide under their seats as the guy opens his mouth… and out comes this ridiculous accent. Was there no one on hand to tell him, get out of the costume and sit back down behind the camera where you belong?
I truly wonder had the great Sally Menke not died so tragically two years ago, whether Django would have been shorter.
Totally agree with Pope’s comment about Tarantino’s regrettable, Aussie-accented cameo near the end of “Django.”
Tarantino has reached such iconic status (he’s so recognizable both physically and vocally) that any appearance in one of his films automatically sticks out like a stunt and takes you out of the picture.
It would be akin to Spielberg having done a guest turn as a (colorfully accented) Civil War general in “Lincoln.”
The Pope is correct. The absence of Menke, who apparently could control Tarantino to some extent, is a key factor.
*Spoilers for those who haven’t seen Django*
After the credits rolled, it seemed obvious to me that Tarantino should have ended the film with the first shootout in the Candy house. Was there really any point to having Foxx get caught and then kill those Aussies just to have another killing spree in the same location? Also, its probably not the best move to kill your two best characters, Waltz and Dicaprio and then have the movie go on for another half hour. Cut the capture, escape, and second shootout and the movie comes in at a lean 150 minutes just like Inglorious Basterds.
anghus and The Pope echo my sentiments exactly. I loved the film but it was at times exhilarating and other times, downright dumb. If Tarantino wants to give himself a cameo, whatever. But don’t slap a turd of a distracting performance right smack dab at the point in the movie where I was wishing it had just ended. He’s simply awful in the film. Boulderkid touched on that too. Easily the most irritating part of the film at the worst possible time.
Last night I was twitter arguing with someone about Schultz/Waltz and having slept on it, now feel his part was underwritten and under cooked. I don’t want to dive into spoiler territory but Waltz is such a fun/deep/magnetic performer onscreen he makes more of that character than is there. On the flipside, I heard Waltz on Fresh Air last week saying that early on in production, he fell from a horse and broke his hip straight through. I wonder if this affected what they were able to have him do? I dunno….he’s still great and I still love the film. I also think it’s his most flawed and the absence of Menke ties into that.
Firth was beaten by Bridges for Crazy Heart. I agree it was a shame, in my opinion Firth was much better in Single Man than in King’s Speech and Bridges was better in Grit than in Heart. The Academy made the right choices but got the years switched.
Has anyone commented that Jack Reacher is a really strange choice for a Christmas release? I guess from a marketing standpoint, an action flick with Tom Cruise seems like a decent bet for Christmas, but the film itself isn’t exactly brimming with holiday spirit.
It’s a pretty low key and completely sexless procedural flick with one or two moments of action, but overall it feels too lowball for the Big Christmas Action Movie it’s been positioned as, it’s like a Mar-Apr/Sep-Oct off season film that should be one of Liam Neeson’s three movies of the year. The trailer for Oblivion played before it when I saw it, and THAT seemed more like a big ass Xmas blockbuster, yet that’s the one opening in April. I enjoyed Reacher overall, but its one of those movies where it sort of takes you out of it because it doesn’t have that ‘big’ feel that most of the movies that come out at this time of year have. Er, except Parental Guidance.
hcat – dead on, I agree totally. My favorite Jeff Bridges moment in any film ever is at the end of True Grit when he drops to his knees and mutters, “I’m old.”
Seems like Jeff Bridges has been kinda chilling since he won the Oscar. I thought he would take advantage of that heat more. Doesn’t seem to be working much.
I think it was simply that Cruise scored with MI last year so they hoped that lightning would strike twice.
Also since Paramount seems to be moving toward a May, Nov-Jan only release strategy, Christmas is a logical place for them to drop half their yearly slate.
The best thing Lex has written recently, is that discussing movies is pointless. It makes movies seem like a chore, instead of a joyous thing.
“Last night I was twitter arguing with someone about Schultz/Waltz and having slept on it, now feel his part was underwritten and under cooked. I don’t want to dive into spoiler territory but Waltz is such a fun/deep/magnetic performer onscreen he makes more of that character than is there. On the flipside, I heard Waltz on Fresh Air last week saying that early on in production, he fell from a horse and broke his hip straight through. I wonder if this affected what they were able to have him do? I dunno”
My wife is a huge Tarantino fan, and this was her biggest gripe. 2 hours and 40 minutes and they couldn’t spend any time on his character’s backstory. He was a dentist turned bounty hunter. i think ten minutes of that time could have focused on that.
It’s a good movie. Far from perfect. But whoever said they should have ended the movie with the big shootout at the house hit the nail on the head. The movie becomes a real chore at that point. Painfully dtawn out.
“The best thing Lex has written recently, is that discussing movies is pointless”
Because what i really need is conversational advice from a suicidal jail bait obsessed drunk who spent a decade discussing movies.
What does the OP mean by ‘played through the roof’? The best parts of Django are the depictions of the cruelty of that era – not exactly cheer-worthy.
I feel like the real emotional heart of the film – the buddy relationship between King and Django – was sabotaged by the fact that Django is really not very interesting, and Foxx is given surprisingly little to do in those scenes.
Sam Jackson is awesome, but he won’t get nominated because its still, essentially, a Sam Jackson performance.
I long for another less-cartoony Tarantino film (ie. like Reservoir Dogs or Jackie Brown). I like what he’s doing now (ie. Kill Bill and onwards) but I don’t love it.
As obnoxious as Tarantino’s cameo/accent was, the audience I was with was howling at the other guy with the horrendous (kiwi?) accent! (Now watch – it will turn out that guy really was from NZ)
bob I think you’re talking about john jarratt, definitely no kiwi – the quintessential broad ozzy accent (see: wolf creek).
QT must have been capering around the Django shoot with glee being able to use ‘nigger’ every 30 seconds and cry ‘historical accuracy’! (and I’m a QT fan in general so not just having a go), the only white dude in history who somehow gets away with it.
Here is what I wrote in the other blog about Django:
And Django….wow! For the first two hours, the movie truly owned….Tarantino is obviously having a lot of fun with this content and so are the cast. One online critic nicely pointed out how it was just an abundance of riches with DiCaprio, Waltz, AND Jackson stealing the same scenes but Foxx really deserves plaudits for a nice slow-burn, long-con performance.
Almost a masterpiece but as with Inglorious Basterds, Tarantino just cannot resist getting a little juvenile in the end and playing it for the cheap seats….some one needs to remind that him sometimes less is REALLY more. There was really no need to see Django shoot up that plantation house TWICE…just as there was no need need to end IB with that close up shot of having Landa getting the swastika carved in his head. If you think about it, that’s about 15 minutes of screen time that basically keep both films from being true masterpieces and it’s that kind of thinking that will probably keep QT from winning his Oscar….not that he really cares, but you know the Weinsteins are spending a ton to try to make that happen again.
Fantastic movie don’t get me wrong…but I would have been plenty satisfied ending the movie seeing him ride off from those slave transporters in the field and just a couple of shots showing the plantation blowing up and him reuinted with Broomhilda….because at that moment, you know he had victory.
just out of curiosity (and not trying to be combative) but have any of you folk seen the original ‘django’ movies or ‘mandingo’ or ‘the legend of nigger charlie’…. i ask only because, after seeing those subtle little jewels, tarantino’s treatment might make a bit more sense…
and ot but — saw the kubrick exhibit today at lacma…every bit as wonderful the second time around as the first…if you’re in the ‘hood, don’t miss it…jus’ sayin’….
I really like “Django,” but I love “Mandingo.” (Maybe me and the late Robin Wood are the only two willing to have made that admission, lol.)
And judged against Dick Fleischer’s masterpiece, “Django” (and Tarantino) definitely pull their punches in several key ways.
As someone already noted, the film’s avoidance of the whole messy issue of sex between plantation masters and slaves is confounding.
Of course, Tarantino has never been comfortable portraying sexuality. It seems to make him uncomfortable.
Maybe this is a silly question.
But since I’ve only seen “Django” once (so far), I’m wondering if anyone else found intimations of an incestuous relationship between DiCaprio’s dandy and his dithering belle of a sister?
It seemed pretty clear there was some kind of unhealthy, uh, bond between the two of them.
Movieman,
Yes! The instant he greeted her with “You’re a tonic for tired eyes” and the way he kissed her… yes. But then I instantly forgot it and if it was QT’s intention or not, or whether he didn’t follow up on it so it got lost in the avalanche of everything else… but since you mentioned it, I remembered that’s exactly what I thought.
Glad you confirmed my first impression, Pope.
The friend I saw it with said the thought never crossed his mind.
Just read about Charles Durning passing away, one of the great third to fifth billers ever.
Will always love him for his Doc Hopper, but this probably sums his impishness up best.
And I especially love the fact that this short unassuming man whose physical presence would never make you think badass was in real life the WWII hero that John Wayne always pretended to be on film.
“The best thing Lex has written recently, is that discussing movies is pointless. It makes movies seem like a chore, instead of a joyous thing.”
Then go away…
Durning was a King.
I watched the first twenty minutes of Mereilles’ 360 and I don’t know if I’m going to go back to it. (It’s on Netflix Instant). Anyone else watch it, and does it improve?
They die in 3’s. Klugman, Durning, and …?
It does not. Excellent production design!
Krillian: Harry Carey, Jr.
Not a one of you wanted to see Les Miz before Django? Interesting. Also, discussing movies is not a chore. It’s a chore, if you have to see every single movie released on a weekend and do digital transfer work.
Strangely the one thing DJANGO didnt have was the MANDINGO/DRUM outrageous sexploitive elements….DRUM is actually on netflix streaming…
3 new dp/30’s – DP is cranking them out .
the last 3 months of 2012 – everybody who wants a
movie award seems to have gotten a dp/30 – except for
the extra super famous people like Tom Cruise or Leo or Brad or Tom Hanks.
but it sucks that my top 10 people i wanted for a dp/30 didn’t get one this year . does DP remember everybody requests .. there’s gotta be 1000 actors who still need
a dp/30 .
K-Stew even showed up for her road movie while she had a personal thing – she cheated ..
plus i had like 5 new suggestions about locations that didn’t happen , random actor sitting down in a chair talking for 30 minutes is the formula .
DP get these on tv – if anicent aliens can get on history channel – the dp/30’s can get on animal planet.
watched the Paul Williams dp/30 – old dude who i have
no idea is gets 2 dp/30 before Justin Beiber ?
i haven’t seen Les Miz but Justin Beiber Never Say Never is a better movie -Beiber didn’t use his social media
to get his fans to actually get this movie nominated
for an oscar …
the Sam Jackson dp/30 everybody seemed to like – clips of this should be on tv shows somewhere but ain’t nobody
showing it …
the most hyped movie is zero dark thirty – so how about 5
straight days of a Jessica Chastain dp/30 .
super important film critics should be talking about
chasing ice documentary – 6 months after zero dark thrity
ends up on bluray or wins oscar . it’ll be over.
meanwhile earth is going crazy up north with giant icebergs falling over . extra water is bad. remember
New Orleans and that crazy flood ..
Christian: Tarantino seems to have a problem with sex onscreen. Apart from his harmless foot fetishism, it seems limited to occasional naughty talk–and often not even that.
LOL; I posted this yesterday, Cad:
….the film’s avoidance of the whole messy issue of sex between plantation masters and slaves is confounding.
Of course, Tarantino has never been comfortable portraying sexuality. It seems to make him uncomfortable.
how about a dp/30 with Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling for gangster squad 2013 – that might be fun .
they weren`t born in the 1940`s so it must be a magical movie trip for them .
yeah Sean Penn is in it but if he got a dpé30 – a fight would break out within the first 10 minutes.
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters – – Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton should be good for dp30`s …
Renner keeps doing action flicks.
why am i the only one who keep requesting dp30`s and nobody else … i think the worst place to ask for dp30 is on the youtube page. DP must get like 1000 comments a day and can`t respond to everything.
Movieman: I knew I’d heard it somewhere before! 😛
The script was much more MANDINGO and the most intersting change is the elimination of a whole section from Brunhilda’s POV – slave rape being less a crowd pleaser than slave revenge….
new nerdist podcast with Seth Green – he talks about his
tv series on adult swim but there is 10 minute discussion
about advertising / instagram and web companies trying to
take over … that was real interesting .
i still like to compare a lot of nerdist podcasts to dp/30 and how different they are . nerdist goes off topic
with actors way more than DP does and that makes it
interesting .
i’ve tried several times to get DP to listen to a few
really good nerdist podcasts but DP never responds.
LexG – if you want to be famous – go on nerdist as your crazy self – people might actually enjoy it – only if
you get the right interviewer.
also do actors ever read imdb reviews ? people really go into detail about why they don’t like movies ..
Seth Green – nerdist – 1 hour audio
big epic fail on my part – trying so hard to get DP to
check out bullet in the face tv series so that Max E. Williams and Kate Kelton got a dp/30 … just awesome acting and great story. show is over – it’ll live on through digital downloads but it’ll be hard to get this on tv stations for reruns . so it’s pretty much the best indie tv series for 2012 nobody has seen … if they cut out 15-20 minutes and turned it into a indie movie it
still would have worked out .
R.I.P – Bullet in the Face – 2012 – 2012
I don’t know if DJANGO could “easily” have lost 20 minutes of “fat”, but it really should have lost about half the Tarantino-Aussie scene. I thought the pacing of the movie was fine, especially for a film channeling a pre-RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK era of action movies. Anyone who thinks DJANGO is too slow ought to go back to the satisfyingly leisure pacing of DUCK, YOU SUKCER or even BUTCH CASSEDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID. But that scene near the end, right when we’re anxious for things to pick up speed, could have been shortened. If there was one film than needed to really be cut, it was KILL BILL. There was no way that needed to be TWO whole films! It’s funny, Harvey Scissorhands will tell EVERYBODY they need to cut their films–Jarmuch, Sayles, Scorsese et al.–but not QT. (The reasons, of course, are pretty obvious.)
I’m rarely on board with layperson proclamations that such-and-such a film would be better if it lost 20 minutes, or half an hour or whatever. When a film’s pacing seems off to us, it may or may not have anything to do with specific cuts–sometimes the problem is story-related, or maybe the pacing has been damaged by the excising of footage (irony!). Sometimes, we’re just not into the story for whatever reason, so the film seems endless even if it’s tightly edited and fast-paced. The answer to the question of “which 20 minutes, if any, needs to go?” can vary greatly from person to person.
questions about dp/30 – maybe somebody from the dp30 factory can answer them
– how is it possible not to interview actors that have been in acting for over 10 years when they end up at all these movie festivals ?
– what happens after the dp/30 ends ? where do the actors go ?
– do people try to give you money to buy a dp/30 ? would you do that with giant disclaimers ?
– do you ever get nervous before the interview ?
– don’t you want to tell the actors the movie sucks during the first 5 minutes ?
– whats the most time you’ve spent with actor / director in a day ?
– are there people who do the interviews you know that totally hate you for some reason but force themselves to do a dp/30 ?
– how quickly do actors forget about you when they meet like 1000 people / fans daily ?
hey DP – do you care about this fiscal cliff thing going on ? aren’t some super smart dudes going to make s documentary about it and then you have to cover it ?
the fine folks over at cnn have this as breaking news…so its gotta be important …
does anybody care about fiscal cliff at all ?
also wolf blizter is a robot sent from the 24th century to bore people . he really don’t need a dp/30 .
i wanna see LexG talk about K-Stew for like 10 minutes on cnn. that would be fun. LexG should be a reporter
on cnn – he can do the daily LOOK AT HER!!! report – that will boost cnn ratings.