April 23, 2024
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Review: Little Women (no spoilers)
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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
So sad. Not just from a religious perspective, but a historical and architectural one as well.
We never got to see the other six wonders of all time, because they were all destroyed. How this thing survived this fucking long, is freaking amazing. The stone still stands, and the rest can be rebuilt. Fucking fire. I’d love to have seen the colossus at Rhodes, but fucking fire.
nothing lasts forever
Was really hoping to disagree with the Pet Sematary consensus here, but cannot. It’s just not very good. I like the adult cast but they are given little to do and none is particularly good. Unfortunate that all Rachel gets to do is ask if her husband is OK. The girl is pretty bad and one of the main reasons the movie totally fails to sell the grief of the characters. It looks ugly and cheap. A few effective sequences/boo scares, but overall not much works. Disappointing. Those raves out of SXSW have to be due to the festival high.
Took my kids to Missing Link. We all had a good time. Very enjoyable. Strong voice cast. Some solid laughs. Moves quickly. Really sucks that it tanked.
Hellboy is a really really bad movie that I somehow enjoyed in the same way I enjoy something like Punisher: Warzone. The monsters were fun, the violence and vulgarity endless, the dialogue mostly exposition or bad jokes. Yet the 2 hours flew by and I laughed and got my $5 worth.
Some of the visuals were like a Danzig album cover and I appreciated the unapologetic nature of everything. It’s a mess but it’s not boring. Unlike Pet Semetary I think it mostly achieves what it wanted to.
However, I’ll have completely forgotten by the weekend
Nothing wrong with feeling like you got $5 worth. I plan to see Hellboy next week and will be just fine with that.
Saw Pet Semetary last night, and sadly agree that it was disappointing. Liked John Lithgow though. Does no one know how to end a horror anymore or has Jordan Peele now cornered that market?
Totally agree with SB regarding the annoying wife. Amazing that they absolutely failed to capture any sense of loss, and that ending felt like they ran out of toner so they said “awww fuck it.”
I actually didn’t mind the look of the movie and felt that they could’ve used its smallness to heighten the feeling of claustrophobia which in turn would have heightened the scares. Don’t Breathe of 2016 utilized its basically one location setting to great effect and remains one the last thrillers that I thought was an effective one.
How people raved about Pet Semetary is puzzling.
“that ending felt like they ran out of toner ”
lao showing your years man, and also accurate (my kid’s at home over the uni break and heard me chuckle, guess what? HE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT TONER IS)
Sadly I can’t help dating myself. Pushing 51 this May and with each passing day I’m getting more and more comfortable with being the old guy in the room who just doesn’t give a flying fuck. My last job my supervisor was 24. Less than half my fucking age. I’ve recently made the decision to remove myself from the corporate world and work independently because my patience seems to be wearing very thin. I’m growing into a pudgy old man with an edge, and I like it.
bulldogs are stout, a bit fierce and cuddly so you’re just embracing the aesthetic of your moniker
My dad gave me that nickname. He was a wise man.
Pet Semetary feels like they had some neat ideas but forgot to integrate them into a well told story. I had so much hope for it. Even with its flaws the original is better. Lithgow was wasted. This movie makes me kind of angry because I clamored for a remake. Be careful what you wish for.
PS was a remake I was excited about, too. But yeah it pales in comparison to the original in just about every way.
I really liked Destroyer. It’s an overly familiar story and the cliches pile up quickly but that didn’t stop me from liking it. I love Karyn Kusama and Kidman is great and while it’s grim I also found it to be a rewarding watch. It looks fantastic, the supporting cast is solid, and it’s highly engaging despite the familiarity. Not at all surprised it tanked though.
Could Destroyer have had more working against it? Kidman really hasn’t been on the A list for a decade or so now, the subject matter is pretty rough, and it was put out in the most competitive week of the year by a new and small distributer (alongside a project with more commercial potential).
Its certainly on my list to see but given the uphill climb it had I am actually impressed it made as much as it did.
So is Shazam just the number one movie until Avengers?
That’s fair Hcat. It never played near me while at the time of its release movies with a much lower profile did. Does La Llorona have a chance to beat Shazam this weekend? Seems like it does. Horror is hot. Wan connection helps.
For some reason I thought Llorona was next week, but I guess that is Endgame already.
Any wild predictions?
I’m betting that thanks to the timestone Cap finally gets that dance.
never forget: ripley’s report on the xenomorph for the colonial marines was ALSO on disk
(‘destroyer’ has been on my must-see list for ages and i’ve somehow managed to miss it at every turn, this shall not stand)
I think Destroyer is worth seeing, but I thought it should have been much better than it was. Seemed more concerned with style than substance. I really want Karyn Kusama to succeed and really liked The Invitation too, and I even saw the movie with her in attendance. My hope is she’s building her chops toward another project that will be the masterpiece she’s truly capable of.