April 24, 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
Posting this again here. Sorry for posting twice.
I’m really disappointed that Gyllenhaal didn’t get nominated and that Selma didn’t get more love. I haven’t seen all of the nominees, but it’s hard for me to imagine performances better than David Oyelowo and Carmen Ejogo, or direction better than Anna Duvernay’s. Glad it got a best pic nom though. And while I know some people had issues with Nightcrawler’s content, specifically the second act, I don’t think many objected to Gyllenhaal’s performance. He is electric and amazing and really deserved a nomination.
What happened to “Gone Girl” … ?? I am actually quite shocked by this
OUTRAGE! FURY! DISGUST!
With that kind of box office for quality movies there’s no wonder America rarely makes them anymore.
So I guess the use of box office totals as any kind of predictor for a nomination/win is officially dead? Any detailed analysis of this anywhere? David? Is this the result of the change in voting? Has this improved the nominee list, or just made it less relevant?
Every year around this time people talk about the kinds of movies they don’t make anymore. Except every year around this time those kinds of movies are released.
I was kinda hoping for a wildcard nomination for Tom Hardy in Locke but otherwise it’s a pretty safe and expected list. Once again, the endless parade of pundits and prognostication has drained all the excitement out of the process. Onto 2015…
You really think “Fury” had a chance Mark?
Whining about “Lego Movie” aside, I think it’s cool that two indies snuck into animated feature.
The documentary nominees were straight up bizarre on the other hand.
So what are the odds for Deakins going 0 for 12? I don’t think the clamor has reached fever pitch yet. He’s still shy of Alex North’s run of 0 for 14 for Best Song and O’donnell’s 0 for 20 run for Best Sound Mixing.
Btw Alexandre Desplat could make it 0 for 8 this year.
Maybe it has been talked about in all the previous award threads this season but Boyhood not getting a Best Actor nomination is a joke. Is the boy in BOYhood just a prop or did I watch a different movie? I know he didn’t put on makeup and a fake nose but what a joke. Can someone please have the balls to ask Bradley Cooper if he thinks he deserves it over Ellar Coltrane? Yes Ellar shouldn’t win but it certainly wasn’t a worse performance than what Carrell or Cooper put forward.
There’s only one thing to take away from these nominations: the Academy is still too god damn old, and still too god damn white. Yeah. Yeah. They gave it to “12 Year a Slave,” but they overlooked the director. They had a chance this year to nominate an African American woman, and they nominated that asshole from “The Imitation Game.” The world has changed, and these fucker still do not get it.
nuke the entire site from orbit. it’s the only way to be sure.
To be fair re: Ava DuVernay, it’s not just the Academy who ignored her. Her excellent previous feature’ “Middle of Nowhere,” wasn’t even given a godamm DVD/streaming release until this week despite coming out over 2 years ago.
Maybe it just has to do with that Selma wasn’t that great of a movie and Imitation Game was? Nah, it must be racism/sexism.
Imitation Game is NOT a great movie, and in fact, it wimps out in the story’s most important moments: Turing’s desires and his suicide. Selma might not also be a great film (Tom Wilkinson is laughably miscast), but as a movie it reaches higher for trying to immerse people in the ugliness and randomness of the violence. It fails in parts of the storytelling, but in its key moments, it exceeds many of the other nominees in its ambition. Also, Oyelowo truly was snubbed. Cumberbatch as much as I like him as an actor was typecast in a variation of his Sherlock performance.
Mike doesn’t seem to understand the words, “WHITE PRIVILEGE.” The Academy screams those two words, and that’s a problem for the future of this fucking award show.
anyone who’d seriously argue that the academy doens’t have a (straight) white male bias is deluded, either willfully or just ignorant – look at the make-up of the academy itself, overwhelmingly white and male, it’s institutionalised.
As a voting body they typically choose fairly convensional, middlebrow movies featuring stories about dudes who look like them made by dudes who look like them, conditioned to think that’s what’s ‘best’ (which is horseshit, of course). sure there are occational exceptions and outliers here and there with the academy, but in general it’s a pretty perfect representation/example of the type of bias at the root of much of the sexism and racism in society, fuelled by an awards campaign ‘industry’ that mostly bolsters the status quo. and really, it can go fuck itself.
but not suprising. what’s suprising is when something breaks though the white boy bubble. this year does seem particularly insipid, blech.
Why is everyone talking about the nominations when today is Blackhat-eve?
“Blackhat” has to have some of the most hilariously polarized reviews in many a moon. I can’t remember the last time A-list critics like Dargis and O’Sullivan were so divergent.
All of the sturm and drang over the Oscar nominations would carry a bit more heft if people would use examples other than “Selma” for what should have gotten nominations instead of all those whites and males. For christ’s sake, one person can’t make a fist for Jennifer Kent?
Man, I think I’m getting too old for this shit. All the talk of “snubs” drives me nuts. A surprise omission is not a snub. BLENDED got snubbed. TRANSFORMERS 4 got snubbed. Oyelewo, DuVernay, et al, are surprise omissions. Folks who were expected to get nominated and weren’t. Each likely finished sixth in their respective categories. The Academy hated the film so much they nominated it for Best Picture.
Look back over the history of the Academy’s choices. If you’ve seen most of the nominees, as I have, and also seen tons of non-nominated films, you’ll likely realize that your own choices for the best of a given year will not closely match theirs. And really, why would they? I think when I was about 16 I realized that they’re the Academy Awards, not the “YancySkancy” Awards, and I cooled my jets. Of course I’m still not happy if a favorite gets left out or some mediocrity (or worse) finds favor, but we’re talking molehills, not mountains.
JS – that’s not what White Privilege is. White Privilege is when you assume that the conditions you face are the same for everyone else. “Why don’t minorities just make more Oscar-worthy films?” would be an example as it fails to understand the barriers minorities face in the industry.
“I think X is better than Y (and I vote accordingly)” is bias, not privilege.
Yes, squirrel, that sums up Mike point, and could also be used to sum up the bullshit known as this year’s… Oscar nominations.
Just got back from “The Wedding Ringer.” With all the recent discussion re: homophobia, I feel like the worst mainstream on-screen example in several years is about to be overlooked. I can’t remember being more stunned since “Why Did I Get Married Too” (admittedly even worse, but it approached parody) and “Wild Hogs.”
What century are we in? I know he was doing it as schtick, but Kevin Hart made a serious mistake in judgment in bouncing around in segment after segment and on-stage at the Globes declaring this his masterwork. It’s aggressively backward and awful.
And it’s tracking near $30 million this weekend, and will probably double the gross of “The Imitation Game.” But it’s already escaped the Hollywood Echo Chamber.
The cinematography in SELMA was historically good. It will be in textbooks in five years, not for its landscape shots but for its capturing of dark skin colors with almost Rembrandt-like brilliance. Mark my words, it’s gonna be studied and copied for decades. Shoulda been nominated, but then again the Cinematography branch didn’t even get the first two GODFATHER film’s nominated.
The Cinematography branch had a real hard-on against NY-based DPs for ages, and Gordon Willis in particular (he had made some remarks that some interpreted as “anti-Hollywood”). His “slots” in 1972 and 1974 went to BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE and EARTHQUAKE, while MANHATTAN was snubbed in favor of THE BLACK HOLE. He was only nominated twice–for ZELIG and GODFATHER III–which is why he was belatedly given an Honorary Oscar in 2009; I believe he’s only the second DP to date to receive one, after Jack Cardiff.
just wanted to +1 Daniella’s comment about Bradford young’s photography in ‘selma’, really beautiful and special, a serious talent
Agree with lots being said in past few days, but… disappointing to see two different vital conversations be lumped together through “Selma” nomination omissions — First being reflections of systemic cultural bias and the second being how actual quality seems to be passed over… I need to see “Selma” again to determine the quality of direction and Oyelowo (though, I’m sure they’re better than some of the nominees) but Bradford Young’s work in the movie is god-like.