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
Did he hurt his……… lens? Sorry sorry, just needed to get that bad joke out of the way. Hope it’s something minor and he fully recovers.
Does Magnolia hate money? Last week Europa Report was playing at about 5 theaters across the USA. One of them was Bellingham, WA which has a population of about 80,000 and is about 45 miles from the Canadian border. At least my wife and I got to see it after an hour drive and a 25 minute border wait. At least I got cheap gas out of the trip.
I noticed the release pattern for Drinking Buddies isn’t much wider-with the closest showing in Seattle, over 2 1/2 hours drive away.
Doug R, but Drinking Buddies is available On Demand and seems fit for consumption on the small screen. The theatrical release seems just like a token release.
I am often confused by Magnolia’s theatrical strategy. Seems to me they just treat it like an advertisement for the home video market. Might be working well for them but I’d imagine it’s frustrating for the filmmakers if not the financiers.
Considering the diminishing theatrical market for smaller-scaled indies/art flicks these days, I’m pretty sure that anyone who sells their film to Magnolia is just grateful to have made a sale.
And w/ a Magnolia (or IFC), you can at least take comfort in knowing ancillary is bound to be rosier than theatrical.
Finding a crumpled up ten dollar bill in your laundry would be rosier than that kind of theatrical.
Even in LA, all those Magnolia/TWC Radius movies last like one, two weeks tops. Drinking Buddies, Ain’t Them Bodies, Lovelace, To the Wonder, Prince Avalanche, all gone in the blink of an eye. Who did Afternoon Delight? That got the “one week at the Landmark, one week at some random Laemmles, now down to 1 show a day across town” treatment too… In fact, Drinking Buddies and Prince Avalanche disappeared almost immediately; I get a flier from Laemmles that often promises these movies are coming on a certain date, then that date rolls around and they cancel the movie entirely.
Only God Forgives seemed to get an extra week or two, but only in one theater. And as has been said before, doubly annoying when these are movies like from people like Malick, Refn, De Palma, and the Ain’t Them Bodies guy that SO CLEARLY benefit from a big screen.
Truth that, Hallick, lol.
This Is the End needed a token re-release to get to $100 million. Wonder how many people bought a ticket thinking they were going to see the new one from the Shaun of the Dead guys. Wonder how many people bought a ticket to The World’s End thinking they were going to see a Seth Rogen movie.
@Big G, my friend accidentally bought a ticket to “In A World” rather than “World’s End,” which are inexplicably playing in the same theater here in Virginia this week.
Also, some interesting commentary I’ve seen about how perhaps the availability of “Insidious” to stream on Netflix (it’s been rated almost 2 million times) contributed a bit to this massive opening. Just conjecture at this point, but I’d be interested to see if this pans out in the future.
Lex, the quick in-and-out of these VOD titles is because they’re what’s known as “uplift” releases. By giving them a token arthouse run, they thus qualify as theatrical releases, making them eligible for various awards, as well as commanding higher prices for cable sales and larger pre-orders for DVDs.
I’ve been able to keep the End movies straight, but I bought a ticket to The Butler thinking I was going to see the classic 1916 Davy Don short.
I had planned on seeing Rush but then I heard Jennifer Jason Leigh isn’t in this one. Bummer.
“By giving them a token arthouse run, they thus qualify as theatrical releases, making them eligible for various awards, as well as commanding higher prices for cable sales and larger pre-orders for DVDs.”
So therefore “Prince Avalanche” will get two copies in the $3 movie bin at Big Lots instead of just one?
I thought there were putting out another Rush in 2112, so it’s out already? You might be surprised at The Bank Dick.
there’s a strange relation to nick ray’s Bitter Victory and Rush …. the former is the 1957 film starring Richard Burton, Curd Jürgens, and Ruth Roman … it’s a WWII thriller where Burton and Jürgens are on a suicide mission in the arabian desert and Burton has banged Jürgens’ wife … in Rush Niki Lauda meets his future wife after he bums a ride from her at the home of Jürgens … later James Hunt’s wife cans his ass and leaves him for Richard Burton ….
Sam– that’s quality right there.