April 25, 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
“X-Men: Apocalypse” is so ridiculously crammed w/ stuff (hey there, Hugh Jackman!) that it makes “Civil War” seem like Straub-Huillet.
Surprised Fox bothered showing this so early.
Have a feeling it’s going to be a major disappointment at the box-office, and perhaps even jeopardize the continuation of the “X” franchise. Not counting James Mangold’s standalone Wolverine movie already in pre-production (or is it already in production? hard to keep track these days), of course.
Wish I had somebody willing to pay my way to Cannes, sigh/lol.
Yeah, it’s a letdown. They’re doing NEW MUTANTS next…Fox need a breather from XMEN, but since DEADPOOL is a cash cow, they’ll continue it somehow.
Just got back from ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS….hoo-boy. The worst Disney release since…OLD DOGS? The good news for Johnny Depp is it’s better than MORTDECAI at least! I assume everyone was contractually obligated to appear in this mess. I feel like it might do a lot worse than people were expecting…the original benefited immensely from the post-AVATAR afterglow, and once people realize this one’s even worse they’ll stay away.
ANGRY BIRDS is pretty bad too. Reminds me of a Blue Sky production. Lazy, pop-culture driven drivel. The video-game adaptation losing streak continues.
I always wait for the reviews before going to X films since they are often all over the place. Was really impressed with Days, liked it more than any MCU film, but it always seems two steps forward one step back.
I was shocked at the first Alice’s gross, which was big enough to make me check it out and I was amazed at how empty it was. I can’t imagine anyone is all that excited about the sequel. This might derail Disney’s golden touch stories until Dory’s release. If no one has coined the phrase “Alice in Tomorrowland” yet……
“Have a feeling it’s going to be a major disappointment at the box-office, and perhaps even jeopardize the continuation of the “X” franchise.”
There’s too much potential money on the table for them to just up and abandon the franchise if this entry fails at the box office. It’ll either be one step forward (sequel) or two steps back (reboot).
The problem is half the sequels have been reboots, how many cyclops have we had so far? As a property it has great potential that it reaches half the time , but as a movie franchise it has one of the most Inconsistent narratives I have ever seen.
*cyclopi
*Since Cyclops is a Greek word the plural would be Cyclopses, just like octopuses.
Isn’t that Octopussies?
Days is such garbage. Why is it garbage? IT’S BASICALLY, A FANCY ASS VERSION of FIRST CLASS, which is the only fucking X-Men movie worth a shit other than Deadpool. If FOX were smart. They’d shut the X-Men down for a few years, and blend everything into the Deadpool universe. If they are even smarter. They work with Marvel, and blend that shit into the MCU. They may be doing this with the FF anyway, so they should maybe talk about the Mutants.
Better than an MCU movie? Good lord. I’d rather watch Age of Ultron on a fucking loop, then sit through Days ripping off a better film.
JS – You’re actually close. Fox knows X:Apoc is no longer a safe bet. You can see in Singer’s recent comments he’s nervous as Fox has relied way too much on Kinberg. I’m expecting a housecleaning with Deadpool 2 and X-Force controlling the slate.
It feels like they were trying to rush Fox into a New Mutants greenlight before Apoc’s release and Fox went with the early previews to gauge.
Fiege is kept up to date. His career was made with the X people. We got a brawl over FF because of Millar and Vaughn.
If I was at Fox, I would have Max Landis oversee all non-Wolverine projects.
How about a full length Matthew Vaughn feature film of Michael Fassbender Magneto hunting down Nazis?
First Class was the best X-Men movie, and that was the best part of First Class.
I don’t understand the cultish love for FIRST CLASS. The premise is great, the actors are great and the setup is great… and then it devolves into a mind-numbingly generic second half that manages to make one of the greatest casts assembled in recent history as boring and monotone as hell (aside from McAvoy who brings it). I will say it accomplishes an impressive feat, in that if you watch it today, you’ll be amazed at how it managed to employ special effects that cause you to wonder if it was shot before X2 and X3. Definitely sub-par alongside X2 and DOFP. I see what you’re saying re: the FIRST CLASS storyline, but if DOFP is a remake of FIRST CLASS, then FIRST CLASS is a rip-off of the DOFP comic. That storyline is one of the most exciting and influential in comic history.
Given that X-Men Origins: Magneto was in development hell for 6 years, I don’t see it happening.
In non-superhero news I finally caught up with THE INVITATION. Wow…best American genre movie of the year. It kept me guessing well into Act 3 in terms of whether Will was the protagonist or antagonist (finally a great leading role for Logan Marshall-Green!). It made me think of that other genre indie from this year’s early months, MIDNIGHT SPECIAL, which I thought was really disappointing.
INVITATION takes a premise done many, many times before, and freshly spins it by relying on impeccable craft, dialogue and atmosphere, in addition to the greatest wellspring of believable psychosis in modern genre films: post-traumatic grief (see: The Babadook). It’s so well done that it takes a ridiculous scenario, and gives it an air of plausibility.
SPOILERS:
SPECIAL likewise has a well-worn general premise, but relies almost entirely on atmosphere to try to imbue a sense of weightiness to the proceedings (no one is fleshed out, with the exception of Michael Shannon, who is excellent). When you see EXACTLY WHAT IS HAPPENING ON SCREEN IN GIANT KLIEG LIGHTS, the mysterious atmosphere and obtuse dialogue turns into an annoying affectation (the FBI remains skeptical of the boy’s ability to disappear after they witness giant floating cities appear and disappear all over the Southeastern United States, initiated by an explosion so large it was visible from space?) rather than what I assume it’s shooting for–mystical thoughtfulness. Or maybe I was just pissed off because I felt like Brit Marling’s twisty SOUND OF MY VOICE effortlessly accomplished exactly what Jeff Nichols was laboriously trying to pull off. Nichols continues to try too hard.
FIRST CLASS is a fine movie if you don’t mind watching a picture that is supposedly set in 1962 but everything looks and sounds like 2010.
SHERLOCK HOLMES 3 has been scheduled with more to come! Is RDJ contractually obligated to only play Tony Stark or Holmes? Does he want to become the first acting-only-billionaire? Is he in a bet with a friend over whether he can displace Harrison Ford’s box office record by 2020? Discounting his CHEF cameo he’s done one non Stark/Holmes role in the last 6 years, with nothing on the docket except more roles as Stark and Holmes. Makes me sad.
Speaking of which, Hollywood seems determined to destroy everyone’s fondness for Sherlock Holmes as a character. Johnny Depp has been announced as the voice for the titular “Sherlock Gnomes” in the most inexplicable/baffling sequel in recent memory, GNOMEO & JULIET 2. Between this, Pirates 5, Alice 2, playing the detective in Kevin Smith’s psychopathic True North trilogy and making another movie called “The Libertine,” I prefer to think that Depp is simply trolling audiences at this point, because the alternative is too depressing.
Downey is done, not in a printing money fashion, but in a great hope for cinema aspect. And he has been done forever, he was never going to deliver on his early promise. Don’t you think its simpatico that he lobbied Mickey Rourke for a plum role in Iron Man 2? Talk about kindred spirits, two guys whom everyone roots for to fulfill their early potential and egg us on with peeks at greatness only to get in their own way when it comes to cracking into the upper echelon. And yet both seems to take the path of least resistance every damn time.
If there is anything positive about the announcement of Holmes 3, its that Warners must be a little euphoric about Nice Guys chances and want to keep Old Man Silver in the tent. And anything that keeps that particular brand of crazy running is fine with me.
Plus- it means more Kelly Reilly, always a wonderful thing.
Loved NICE GUYS. Gosling and Crowe have been in dry spells (this is Gosling’s first leading role in a movie worth seeing in 5 years, and Crowe’s 2nd such role in the last 9 years) and I feel like this is a kick in the pants by placing them way outside what I thought was possible for them. Gosling is fantastic in particular.
Caught up with FIREWORKS WEDNESDAY. Reinforces my belief that Asghar Farhadi is the best sociological filmmaker working today…by far. His follow up to THE PAST is dropping at Cannes as we speak!
Also caught up with LOUDER THAN BOMBS, Joachim Trier’s English-language debut. A movie bursting with so many ideas regarding coping that it becomes too scatter-shot, especially with its episodic structure, but there are moments of true brilliance. Eisenberg, Huppert, Byrne et al are great.
After dismissing Eisenberg for doing the same thing over and over, I’ve got to commend him for being at the center of a whole slew of fantastic productions over the years (Squid and the Whale, Roger Dodger, Social Network, Adventureland, Zombieland, Night Moves, The Double, End of the Tour and this) with his output getting more interesting as of late. Perhaps my issues with his repetition are overblown despite the occasional ghastly performance (BvS).