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David Poland

By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com

BYOB 31413

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39 Responses to “BYOB 31413”

  1. re: Photoshop, clone tool is your friend.

  2. Double D says:

    I thought Marc Webb doing Spiderman was a leap. This is just nutso.

  3. Yancy says:

    I see nothing at all special about either Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed was pixie-indie bullshit) or Aubrey Plaza – one Janeane Garofolo is more than enough.

  4. jesse says:

    Yancy’s sick of all those Janeane Garofalo movies that have been harassing him at his trips to the cinema over the past fifteen years. Everywhere you look, there’s a new Garofalo starring vehicle!

  5. YancySkancy says:

    This Yancy (no relation) has been a Garofalo fan over the years, but can’t remember the last time he saw her in anything. Hasn’t she been doing radio or something? Maybe Aubrey Plaza has rushed in to fill that gap. Although I must say, I don’t see that much resemblance between Plaza’s deadpan style and Garofalo. I haven’t seen SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED, so I can’t speak to how she is in that.

    That director must be awesome “in the room” if he got the JURASSIC PARK gig. I’m assuming no dinosaurs or other big F/X in SAFETY. Next up — Joe Swanberg’s ARMAGEDDON 2.

  6. Jermsguy says:

    Plaza’s good on NBC’s Parks & Recreation.

  7. sanj says:

    newsreaders pulled off a super funny episode – episode 9

    2 stories – one about old reporter trying to get airline tickets and another story about tech journalist in a hospital . it’s only 10 minutes long and it had some great direction and editing which really made it work.

    newsreaders – adult swim

  8. movieman says:

    They should have just hired Lena Dunham.
    It would have been just as batshit a choice, but maybe it would have been interesting.

  9. christian says:

    She’ll be doing the WONDER WOMAN film. Bank on it!

  10. John says:

    Movieman- Lena Dunham’s JURASSIC PARK would have completely different FX money shots.

  11. sanj says:

    watched Something Real And Good 2013 – about 2 strangers who meet for a day at airport .. couple of unknown actors .. 95% of this movie is them just talking and talking …
    these 2 have internal problems and by the end they reveal themselves .. there’s maybe 10 minutes of good dialog here .. super low budget movie that uses high quality cameras to make it look good ..if you added 2 bigger names to this movie it would get a bit more attention.

    Something Real And Good trailer

  12. movieman says:

    A Dunham “Wonder Woman” would be freaking awesome!
    That’s the kind of “thinking out of the box” shit H’wood should be doing a lot more of.
    …like hiring the “Monsters” dude to helm the latest “Godzilla” reboot.
    But a new (yawn) “Jurassic Park” from the director of “SNG” just sounds half-assed.

  13. sanj says:

    this place is so empty right now … i don’t see DP writing new movie reviews or doing new dp/30’s ..something must be up. i’m guessing DP is off on a secret mission with Jessica Chastain and Liam Neeson and they all have ak47 guns and they are in some country in europe killing off bad guys.

    why don’t actors take advantage and write something about their movies on here ? first one who does this will end up with like 50 replies . actors might get real feedback from real people…instead its easier for them to get feedback from movie critics.

  14. Greg says:

    If forced to watch one, which Melanie Griffith movie would be the least painful:

    Milk Money
    Born Yesterday
    Shining Through
    A Stranger Among Us

    I would say Milk Money…because it was always a daydream that my divorced dad would meet a nice whore to marry.

  15. etguild2 says:

    Has Plaza done anything else of note? She was annoying in the surprisingly underrated “10 Years.”

  16. Greg says:

    When they both opened on Feb 14th, who would have ever thought that Safe Haven would gross more than a new Die Hard? Fox really stunk up the franchise with DH5.

  17. Greg says:

    What a great ending The Last Exorcism Part 2 has. Unless there is a DVD sequel, I dont think we’ll ever get to see Abalam cause much trouble.

  18. sanj says:

    guess who’s back ? Sarah Palin . she did a 30 minute speech…full of entertainment value – she’s not a fan of the president. wanna know what DP thinks…

    if Sarah Palin can get on tv – why can’t LexG ?

    Sarah Palin video

  19. sanj says:

    old bearded dude Jeremy Irons is trying to fix the world with his documentary trashed why isn’t this on the discovery channel ?

    watch the trailer and be impressed by all the humans doing these crazy things .

    trashed trailer

  20. Don R. Lewis says:

    I’m 100 times more excited for a Trevorrow JURRASSIC PARK than I am for a Abrams STAR WARS. I also don’t ge twhat’s so nutso about the choice. Does one need to be like, “good at directing CGI” in order to make a JP movie? How does one gain exposure in the CGI-arts? You direct the ACTORS and let the pros do the CGI.

    SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED was my favorite movie last year, I’m excited the studio is giving someone different a chance. Hollywood blockbusters are starting to feel like pro sports management positions. Same dull names, over and over. I’m glad it’s not Favreau or something….mix it up! Save some money on a director and out it towards more movies!

  21. jesse says:

    You make good points, Don, but here’s the flipside: Trevorrow made a sweet, low-key, indie romantic comedy with some oddball sci-fi elements. Great! So what’s his next movie? Oh, awesome: he won the JURASSIC PARK 4 sweepstakes. This isn’t even like, oh now he gets to follow up that awesome new Apes movie with his own take on the restarted Apes franchise. This is: now he gets to do the FOURTH Jurassic Park.

    I’m hoping it’ll be more interesting than Jurassic Park 4 might otherwise be. And truth be told, I’d likely see Jurassic Park 4 regardless, because it has dinosaurs. But it’s kind of a fucked up system where your reward for making a delightful little movie is doing a big-budget four-quel for a 20-year-old franchise.

  22. sanj says:

    how many times can they make people run from big dinos with jeeps ? this movie belongs on the syfy channel …

    50 million budget too low ? 100 million budget too high ? big name director is needed to sell this huge thing overseas .. maybe people won’t notice cause its a whole new generation that might have not seen the first one by a little director called Steven Spielberg ..

    does the cast matter ? the main people won’t magically get eaten up but everybody else will …

    here’s an interview with Colin . make up your mind if you think he’s right .

    DP/30: Safety Not Guaranteed, director Colin Trevorrow, actor Aubrey Plaza

  23. sanj says:

    season 2 of girls / hbo is over – there were 2 episodes that have high quality writing .. stories that don’t suck – easy to understand – one’s man trash and on all fours .
    … girls shows how predictable the sitcoms are on the regular network tv…. Lena Dunham is 10x better writer than Mindy Kaling – girls could have gotten super famous actors to join in guest roles but didn’t .

    once again… great that Lena Dunham is too famous for not doing a dp30 . DP would have asked a few confusing questions and Lena would have cried …yup…

    overall – girls is the fixed up version of sex and the city …without all that shopping….

    i have no real need to watch these episodes over and
    over again

    i hope girls only lasts a few more seasons – then it’ll get boring with repeated story lines ….

    if they had a bigger budget a 1 hour tv movie would be nice…

  24. hcat says:

    First Shining Through is the least painful, mostly because of the dependable work of Douglas and Neeson and because I have a soft spot for big budget Fox Smaltz ala For The Boys and Anna and The King. They don’t reach the heights of the old-timey films they are trying to emulate, but it is sure nice to see someone try once in awhile.

    And is Speilberg hiring the director of safety not guarenteed for JP4 all that far removed from Zanuck hiring the director of Sugarland Express for Jaws?

  25. storymark says:

    Hiring the director of a chase film to do a thriller? Yeah, that seems a little more in the ballpark than hiring someone who shoots people sitting down and talking to do a monster epic.

    Not to say he can’t handle the job…. but Speilberg showed strong visual chops from the get-go, but I saw none of that natural eye when watching Safety, myself.

  26. Lex says:

    SNG had all that sci-fi stuff with the LASER GUN or whatever it was with WHOOSHING CRACKLING SHOCKWAVES. And it was filmed in a CLEAR SHEEN. All of which makes it easy to see how that guy would be good for JP movie.

    I never liked any Jurassic movie that much anyway, so I couldn’t care less. I wouldn’t mind if it has Aubrey Plaza, though.

  27. Don R. Lewis says:

    storymark and jesse-

    Again though, SAFETY had a nice, vibrant ensemble cast and Trevorrow (arguably) pulled that all together. I mean, I had to look up who directed the last JP and it was awful. And that person was a sci-fi/bloackbuster kind of guy (No, I won’t say who it was, go look it up!) who I generally like.

    At the end of the day, J. Park needs a tight script and some unique visuals, neother of which Trevorrow reallllly has a say in. I’m not sure how blockbusters work but my guess would be the J. Park brain trust (Spielberg, et all) would really be the ones coloring the numbers for the dinosaurs and Trvorrow will be doing that for the acting.

    Then again, a good example of an up and comer handed a franchise only to stink it up is Marc Webb with Spidey. BUT, I still say the faults of that film weren’t the faults of Webb. I remain excited Trevorrow got a shot.

    Also- the full drunken (nigh: WASTED) speech Derek Connoly gave at the Independent Spirit Awards after winning best screenplay for SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED is on YouTube and is pretty awesome.

  28. YancySkancy says:

    Yikes, if by “pretty awesome” you meant “cringe-inducing,” I agree. Have to say though, he walked pretty straight for a wasted guy.

  29. storymark says:

    Don – If you think filmmaking by committee is the way to go… groovy. I just can’t share your enthusiasm. But then, I wasn’t nearly as impressed by Safety as you.

    And I don’t need to look it up – I know who made 3. Funny that you think the J Park brain trust fronted by a blockbuster guy made a bad movie… but the SAME brain trust fronted by a guy out of his depth is exciting… Im unconvinced is all.

  30. Don R. Lewis says:

    I’m still unclear on how Trevorrow is out of his depth. He’s a filmmaker. He’s been hired to make a film at a price considerably lower than a Joe Johnston, Jon Favreau or freaking….Paul Anderson. I guess my disconnect is that I kinda don’t give a director much credit as to how CGI gets rendered. Sure, they can pull the strings but at the end of the day, a whole group of digital artists have to pull it off.

    I was similarly not annoyed when Wes Anderson chose to not sit around the FANTASTIC MR. FOX puppet sessions and merely check-in every few days. Do you think Trevorrow is going to stand up to Spielberg and the other producers about how a Velociraptor screams in post-production? Would anyone be given that power? Huge summer blockbusters ARE a business and it’s by committee. Auteurism is for small films these days. Or, Spielberg films.

  31. The Big Perm says:

    There’s more to directing a well-staged action movie than just letting CG artists do whatever.

  32. christian says:

    What’s wrong with big budget films is their reliance on the same damn cookie-cutter VFX that has zero point of view. That’s why a Spielberg WAR OF THE WORLDS CG shot is miles from a BATTLESHIP CG shot.

  33. hcat says:

    This is JP4, they were never going to get a marquee director to take it, and as the latter entrys in the die hard franchise prove, there is a lack of quality B movie directors on deck to step up. Why not go with someone who can carry a story?

  34. storymark says:

    “There’s more to directing a well-staged action movie than just letting CG artists do whatever.”

    Exactly. This, “he made *a* movie, of course he’s the right choice – no questioning allowed!!” defense seems….odd at best.

  35. leahnz says:

    maybe trevarrow is versatile as all hell – here’s hoping, hard to say from one feature film with little action, a bit of a gamble. that Jaffa, who wrote one of my fave B monster movies ‘the Relic’ – not a patch on the book but a good adaptation – and did a decent job on Rise of the Planet of the Apes (and looks to have also written the upcoming sequel ‘dawn of the POTA’), wrote the JPark 4 screenplay is somewhat heartening; I’ve been hoping since Spielberg did the original movie that a sequel would concentrate on the ending of crichton’s Jurassic Park book, where the dinos escape onto mainland costa rica, I live in hope.

  36. Don R. Lewis says:

    O.K….let me rephrase….

    When was the last time “everyone” saw a big budget blockbuster, CGI fest and was all “man, the CGI in that was terrific but the acting and direction was just AWWWWwwwful.” In a movie like JP, CGI is the star. Sorry, but it’s true. Which is why only the first JP is great and the others are wholly forgettable….and were also directed by big name directors.

    And I’m not like, 100% behind Trevorrow although I loved his first film. I just don’t think it’s some kind of stupid or outrageous choice.

  37. cadavra says:

    I agree that JP:TLW is awful–possibly Spielberg’s worst movie–especially if you read the novel and realized what it might’ve been. But JP3 was definitely an improvement. At 91″, it was clear that they were gonna get the “plot” out of the way in a hurry and get down to chomping on people. It was fast, efficient, and had the bonus of William H. Macy and Tea Leoni as the co-stars.

  38. storymark says:

    The novel of JP:TLW is pretty awfull, too. Hell, it sells out from the first damned page just by ressurrecting Ian Malcolm, who was very, very dead in the first novel.

  39. hcat says:

    “it was clear that they were gonna get the “plot” out of the way in a hurry and get down to chomping on people”

    But they didn’t give them anyone to chomp. The three guns for hire were the only redshirt types for them to chomp, and they were finished within 6 minutes on the island. I am suprised they never placed the chameleon raptors scene in the second or third movies, that and the motorcycle chasing the cage were the most exciting parts of the novels and never made it to the screen.

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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?”

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