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
Congrats to Robert DeNiro on his 6th theatrical release in the past 10 months (7th if you count “American Hustle.”), “The Bag Man.” Next up: playing a boxing trainer in a movie where R&B superstar Usher is Sugar Ray Leonard. This is what we’ve come to…
Will “Noah” or “Exodus” match the opening weekend of the spliced-together mess “Son of God.” Not so sure about Aronosky’s pic, though I’ll be first in line.
Saw ‘Non-Stop’ last night at a packed theater, who seemed to enjoy it. Pretty slick who-dunnit-actioner that managed to pack a lot of wallop in it’s mostly interior airline set. A pretty decent cast (Julianne Moore, Michelle Dockery, Lynus Roache, Anson Mount etc) and some welcome nods to ’70s aerial drama/disaster flicks such as ‘Airport’ ‘Skyjacked’ and ‘Airport ’75’ – also a bit of that ‘Nightmare at 20,000 feet’ George Miller kinetic segment from ‘Twilight Zone: The Movie.’
Only thing missing was George Kennedy as ‘Patroni.’
It looks like the R-rated version of “Anchorman 2” will not be a major factor in this weekend’s box office results.
Not to nitpick, but isn’t it Odd Thomas, not Old Thomas?
Missing from the arthouse list is “The Wind Rises”, which Disney took national yet promoted with the nefarious “Academy Award Winner” like it was another movie for mouth-breathers. Disney’s newspaper ads also don’t specify which theaters have the Japanese version.
Chucky, don’t you have some non-branded, non-violent, wholesome sports to watch on TV?