April 30, 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
One ticket to hell for D. Poland. Sam Kinison has your drink ready.
I don’t get it. Are you making some kind of Holocaust joke?
I love the new ultra funny David Poland. Count me in the fan club.
Yes, a bad one.
More proof that Chester was right.
You mean, you aren’t Chester/Jeff, BOfR?
None of the above. Are you Sanchez?
Nope… I never post anywhere under anything but my real name.
And Poland is a great name for someone who makes jokes about the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust.
I’m Sanchez. Bof R. The only Sanchez. Thanks for asking.
I’m not a self-hating Jew making jokes about Holocaust victims.
I am a journalist making sardonic comment on the way “Schindler’s List” gets thrown around as a marketing tool when promoting a dumped film.
And it is odd how the first time we saw your tag was yesterday, in defense of Chester, who has mysteriously disappeared today.
I still don’t even get the joke.
Didn’t get the joke? Did you take a little yellow bus to school and wear a helmet?
Wait… new information… Chester and BofR, if not the same person, are posting from the same computer.
Try harder next time, Jeff/Chet/BofR
Yes, Joe. I’m not bright. Will you explain it to me?
All I see is “in the tradition of holocaust movies you liked comes ANOTHER ONE” on DVD. I know that there were 6 million Jews killed. How that translates into 6 million DVD releases, I don’t get.
I for one, as a Jew, laughed. And further more, I for one believe we should all pledge never to forget… never to forget terrible movies like Life Is Beautiful, boring books like Number The Stars, and any other mediocre or terrible piece of art that gets a free pass because it’s about the holocaust.
Scott Mendelson
You forgot Jacob the Liar, with Robin Williams. Cringe inducing. And it’s rather sad that people are too dense to understand that DP isn’t making fun of the Holocaust, he’s rolling his eyes at a studio manipulating Holocaust sympathies to market product. Will those six million units be shipped by train?
For another example, if we’re talking about Hustle and Flow, and I say “This won’t do well in the South, where they don’t like seeing niggers rise above anything”, I’m insulting the South, not niggers–oops, make that African-Americans.
I can only imagine how these people would react to hearing a Sarah Silverman bit…
Jeff is the same guy who loves Jeepers Creepers 1 and 2 right?
And he admitted this?
it’s a crying shame.. dumping HAVEN when THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED still sits on a shelf.
and Joe – whats wrong with dem Jeepers flix. I for one think part deux is one of the best spam-in-a-can flix ever.
If Spam in a Can is what you want it should at least have gratutious nudity.
Joe, what does my liking of two horror movies have to do with this topic? I’ve decided I didn’t get the joke because there wasn’t much to get. Why be a pest?
Poland–Now everyone can understand what I meant by “scary” yesterday. You’re using registration to run Nixonian background checks on anyone who criticizes you.
I’m not Chester. We work out of the same office. Sometimes I use his computer. B-F-D. Lots of the people on your bandwagon know you too.
Still doesn’t explain where you get off trying to justify your Holocaust joke with some “I’m a jornalist and a Jew so it’s fine” crap. Can’t believe all the people here who don’t get why a movie about the Holocaust can always be compared to Schindler’s List or Anne Frank. If someone makes a movie about slavery, it’s acceptable to compare it to Roots. It’s not okay to make a sick joke about slaves who died.
You going to pull my comments and start a page against me too? Be my guest. I’m out of here for the weekend.
This guy is obviously Chester again. No way could there be two co-workers both pissed at Poland the same way.
What difference does it make? Talk about the issues, not the people.
Have a good weekend.
how about the issue of being spineless and creating anon personalities to back you in confrontations. Your momma busy or something? L7 my friend a big L7
Bor/Jeff/Chet, hi. How are you? Make sure you make fun of Dave one more time today. You aren’t at your quota yet.
i think Dave is just pointing out the endless invented opportunities for merchandising–the milking it for all it’s worth.
6 million is the low end est, David, 8.5 million high end.
Lota, really, you can’t be serious. You’re so much smarter than that.
And thanks, Joe, I think I will.
I’m back. Like my colleague Bill (BOfR) already explained, we are not the same person. If you don’t believe that, I COULD GIVE A SHIT. When he comes back in Monday morning, I’ll ask Bill to sign in from another computer if anyone insists. (I doubt that’ll convince anybody, but I can’t do any better than that.) Meanwhile, I can’t wait for someone to accuse me of being Roy Batty as well, one of the few people who actually read my earlier comments and just posted a brilliantly concise, blistering attack on Dave on the “My Last Comment Before Moving On” thread.
It’s the height of hypocracy that someone who registers under the pseudonym “Jeffrey Boam’s Doctor” has the balls to attack Bill, me or any other poster here for having an “anon personality.” Tell us, is that what your mommy named you… “JEFFREY BOAM’S DOCTOR”? Why don’t you post your name, address, phone number and e-mail address while you’re at it, JBD? Or are you too “spineless”?
As for the issue of a colleague of mine backing me in an online argument, again, WHO GIVES A SHIT? How many of Poland’s supporters here are friends, acquaintances or ass-kissers of his? At least Bill (and Roy Batty) focused on the facts and issues, unlike the rest of you. And Bill is 100% right about Poland’s abuse of our private registration information. (How would you like it if a cop ran your license plate number just out of personal animus?) Dave, are you going to now check on all of your homeboys to find out whether, as we’ve all long suspected, it’s only 2 or 3 kids in a basement somewhere? And how can we ever really know for sure that you aren’t Sanchez? Or joefitz84? Etc.
To repeat: I DON’T GIVE A SHIT IF ANY OF YOU BELIEVE ME OR NOT. Meanwhile, there’s a genuine issue here about whether an influential media reporter like Dave Poland has begun to completely lose his moral compass, let alone his marbles. Since yesterday, Dave has gone to unprecedented lengths to deflect attention and make these issues about me, not him. A lot of you may be having fun theorizing and ripping me to shreds, but it’s ultimately a pathetically inconsequential waste of your time. Dave, on the other hand, falls under a different category and deserves to be placed under a microscope – if for no other reason, because he does it to every other journalist in town.
Finally, Dave, on behalf of my two grandparents who I never got to mee because they were gassed to death in a concentration camp: I don’t care if you keep denying how your actions and comments like the ones you’ve been making on this page aren’t part of a pattern of sick behavior. But instead of defending you all the time, maybe its time your buddies here started thinking about organizing an intervention. Before it’s too late.
i don’t give a shit so i will i will write a novel about it and oh man does it hurt to breeth
Chester, my gramma’s family–all of them like 72 relatives, went to Auschwitz II they happened to be near Krakow and got rounded up with the Jews. maybe they were rounded up because being darker they looked mixed race or like gipsies. my grandmother & grandfather were in the US, and my dad here, hence I was born. Lucky Blog.
I don;t think Dave made a Holocaust joke as much as there is profiteering based on tragedy–the holocaust is one of the tragedies some people have capitalized on to make a buck. Believe me I have heard Holocaust jokes deliberately made to denigrate Jews behind their backs–there’s a difference.
Maybe Dave shouldn’t have bid on an auction, but if Universal really minds or Dave really minds, it will be paid back eventually.
There’s way too much vitriol for you to be concerned about Dave, rightly or wrongly. If you take it to email it would take up so much less space–it’s not playing out like a discussion.
by the way, there’s nothing wrong with being an honest anonymous poster.
If you have ever had a stalker or had to take an order of protection out etc., you feel like you need anonymity, I do.
besides I don’t want to sign autographs.
Lota, you’ve shown yourself time and again to be a most kind-hearted, sensible person. But, again, you’ve got to be kidding. What profiteering? The filmmakers naturally want people to be aware that this is a film about the Holocaust. It may seem a little too pat, but mentioning “Schindler’s List” and “The Diary of Anne Frank” is clearly the easiest way to get that genre across, especially since this was a TV movie probably very few people saw or remember. It’s a film with a quality cast (Natasha Richardson, Colm Feore, Henry Czerny) and no automatic negatives attached to it. There is nothing about it that makes it inherently suspect for anything remotely like a charge of profiteering. Whatever its overall artistic quality, until I hear otherwise I’m going to assume that this is a movie that mostly wants to honor the memory of the six million Jews who were murdered.
As opposed to Dave Poland, who just wants to get a disgracefully cheap laugh out of the body count.
You know, one of the things I have to constantly deal with as an attorney is people who defend the indefensible. I reluctantly understand why lawyers have to do that all too regularly. But all of you?
When Dave Poland suggests in print (jokingly or not) that someone – ANYONE, it doesn’t matter who – should solve their financial problems by sexually exploiting their children, that is indefensible.
When Dave Poland places deadbeat bids on eBay auctions expecting someone else to swallow the loss, that is indefensible.
When Dave Poland makes jokes about victims of the Holocaust, that is indefensible.
In sum, Dave Poland’s recent conduct is indefensible. SO STOP FUCKING DEFENDING HIM!
well i shouldn’t automatically assume profiteering, it’s true.
However, there are so many poorly done renditions of the holocaust & aftermath that I think they do more harm than good at effectively bringing audiences to “believe it”.
There are alot of people in the US who don’t really believe ~10 million + people were exterminated in camps–teachers who don’t even cover it in history. I think using a good movie to sell an unsellable one (many non-theatrical releases) is profiteering.
Just becasue a movie is “about the holocaust” does not mean it honors the memory of the people killed and other lives ruined from the aftermath. It actually could drive away people from wanting to hear about it, learn about it.
I’m a big fan of talk and the back and forth as much as the next girl. But Chester really needs to be removed. Annoying is one thing. Really rude and inconsiderate is another. Get a life.
So let me see if I understand you correctly, Angelus21. Dave Poland gleefully sells out Jeffrey Wells’s son. He is clearly thrilled to publicly blame others and let them eat the damage from a formal contract he breached on eBay. He out-and-out lied about not using our registration information to identify us. And he insults the memory and legacy of Holocaust victims.
But with all that, you still think I’m the one who’s rude and inconsiderate. Wow.
Lota, have we reached a saturation level with movies about the Holocaust? Perhaps. But I have never seen a movie about the Holocaust that did not INTEND to honor the memories of those killed. While some of the films are indeed crappy, I can’t think of a single one that actually dishonored them. And don’t kid yourself – those movies have nothing to do with organized revisionist beliefs that the Holocaust never took place. Trust me, “Life is Beautiful” is easier for the simple-minded to swallow than “Schindler’s List” or “Shoah.”
On the other hand, jokes that trivialize what happened, like the one Dave made, unquestionably do a lot more harm to the memory, history and dignity of those who perished than any movie ever has.
Wait a second. You’re an attorney and you let other people post to movie blogs on your private office computer?
Do your clients know about this?
Wrecktum, who ever said I’m using what you call my “private office computer”? Even if I were, so what? You’re inventing a complete non-issue based on non-scandalous conduct for the sake of distraction. My colleagues and I are all bound to our clients in the exact same way and by the same State Bar rules of confidentiality. They are allowed to have access to all my files, as I am to theirs. That includes the paper ones as well as computer files. It’s all perfectly kosher.
Still amazing that all of you (except Lota) only want to hammer away at me personally and not talk about any of the issues I raised. It’s looking more and more likely that Dave Poland himself is operating under multiple aliases here.
I don’t want to hammer you, Chester… I just want you to stop making this blog about you.
And this is how I am going to help. I am not going to respond to your attacks for the next few weeks. I will revisit the issue sometime in September. If your behavior goes any further out of control, I will have to seek some form of redress for harrassment.
You can accuse me of cowardice if you like, but really, the only way I know how to deal with someone who is so needy of attention is to stop feeding the addiction.
There may be a BofR and a Blau and an Angelus in your office. But I will assume that even if they are not actually you, they are writing in under your influence, so I will not respond to them either. And when some other name turns up from your IP address, I will ignore them too.
I’m pretty sure my actions on this blog have defined “the taking of responsibility” for my own ideas and words. I think I’ve been very patient. And the blog participants have not only addressed your concerns, but they have remained engaged long after it became an endless bore.
For the record, I no longer think you are Jeff Wells. I have never known him to be this desperate.
Good luck to you, Chester. See you on the other side of this silence.
Seriously, Chester, no attorney worth his stuff would go after someone like Dave P. as you have without some personal reason. Get over it.
It took me three readings to get that joke…but lighten up, folks..that was pretty funny. (And this is from the son of Holocaust survivors.) If Hollywood can make millions of dollars off of the Holocaust, with little of it going to the survivors, then after sixty years, I think jokes are permitted. And as it was, David wasn’t poking fun at those who died, but at Miramax dumping all of their movies as quickly as they can. (My favorite rumor was the one about them releasing Danny Boyle’s “Alien Love Triangle” which is a 20 minute segment of an anthology that was never completed.)
So David, when do we get to hear your version of “The Aristocrats”? 🙂
I never said we reached a saturation level for good movies about the Holocaust or any other subject.
There’s always time & audience for new movies that are good. SHoah was a very good movie about the holocaust, again I don’t think decent titles can be compared to movies that were so problematic they have to flog them Not on their own merits.
Dumping alot of titles esp. any about serious subjects, in order to make a buck is cynical–people seem to believe anything they see, that’s all (i.e. does more harm than good). Maybe those they never saw fit to release should be stamped “for research purposes only” and sold in a special catalog.
Sorry, everybody, but I hope you understand that this is going to be a LOOOOONG one.
Dave, I have never made this blog about me. For the umpteenth time, YOU DID.
You’re the one who has been consistently manipulating the spotlight onto me every time I’ve disagreed with you lately. I have never wanted it (despite your desperately self-serving claim that I am “needy of attention”), and at no time over the past few days has there ever been any reason for the glare to be on me at all – other than as a method you’ve employed to dodge your own shame.
Now, regarding your flaccid attempt at personal intimidation: “If your behavior goes any further out of control, I will have to seek some form of redress for harrassment [sic].” Out of control? Harassment? With all due respect, you obviously don’t know the meanings of the terms. When others on this blog are ganged upon and genuinely harassed OVER NOTHING, you tell them it’s their fault. Yet when someone criticizes your undeniably sophomoric public statements or conduct, somehow that’s deemed by you to be actionable in court. Dave, it’s not harassment when you print something on this blog and I respond within this blog’s comments sections. It’s not harassment when others post either weak defenses for you or personal attacks against me and I respond. (Really, Dave, show me a single item I’ve ever posted that hasn’t been in response to something someone else has written here.) It’s not harassment just because my posts are long and comprehensive and you think they’re overbearing. And it’s not harassment just because most of your supporters, who apparently can’t read or write more than 25 words at a stretch, decide that I’m taking up too much of the oxygen here.
Where do you get off making such an inflammatory charge? Have I gone after you at home? Have I tried contacting you outside of this forum in any way whatsoever? Have I physically threatened you? Obviously, no to all of the above.
I wish I could say the same about your conduct toward me. Your whole registration process has now proved to be nothing but a sham vehicle for potential harassment. I mean, since you brought up the “redress” option, how do you think a court would view your investigation and near-outing of my IP address just because my permissible comments here have embarrassed you? Sure, you may contend that you already had access to the information, but as an attorney I also must advise you that that may place you in breach of contract (again – it’s becoming a habit with you!). On Thursday you told everyone, “you don’t have to let me or anyone else know who you are” when you announced the terms of the new registration requirement. That is pretty clearly a binding contractual term where, in exchange for your promise not to examine any of our personal information, everyone who wants to post on this site agrees to register. Yet here you are, in an irrational state of paranoia, using all of the information in the system to try find out who I am. Not only is that a breach, it’s pretty clearly fraud subject to punitive damages: You were knowingly lying when you made your guarantee. (And no, I am not planning a case here. I’m just stating the obvious legal implications.)
Sorry, Dave, but the fact that I refuse to kiss your ass does not constitute unlawful harassment. The fact that my lacerating comments here may be hurting your feelings or causing you bad PR is not harassment either. Nor does the fact that you just wish I would shut up and go away mean I am harassing you. But the fact that you are paranoically trying to uncover and unveil my guaranteed anonymous identity … now that’s something a court would very likely view as harassment.
You do have the right to ban me from the site, Dave. No argument there. By all means, feel free to do so. That’ll chill the air here nicely, and will certainly get everyone here to think twice before saying anything critical of you. I’m just not sure how it may play in the trades. As we’ve already seen, they follow this site and aren’t necessarily as enamored with you as your barking homeboys. Should they take an interest in this story, they might take a different view of all your offensive “just a joke” comments and actions that I have called into question here.
You also have every right to shut this place down if you simply can’t stand the heat any longer. Hell, you can make it a membership site and turn it into a private party, complete with a Dave Poland Nymphet Cheerleading Squad. No problem with that either. Possibly the same outcome with the press, though.
My recommendation to you is to take your own advice: mellow out. And stop acting like a spoiled child. One of the things you have to realize when you operate a site like this is that you may not always get the last word in all the time. If I say something and you don’t respond, chances are that will be the end of it. That is, of course, unless others on the site keep adding fuel to the fire. Then I may respond. And then you may just be shit out of luck. And you know what? That’s the price you pay for operating this kind of forum.
Finally, let me address all the persistent, nagging questions as to why I keep at this. For those of us who enjoy and appreciate the opportunities here for genuine, honest, thought-provoking, challenging discourse (i.e., with regular contributors like Lota and Joe Leydon), and keeping in mind everything else I said above, I think the better question is: Why not?
See you in September, Dave.
So Lota, how would you suggest they market the DVD release of a barely known – but possibly excellent – made-for-TV Holocaust movie like “Haven”? Keep in mind that the marketing budget is probably near zilch.
Chester you really do have way too much time on your hands. Thanks for the novel about your hate. We all appreciate the time and effort you took to degrade Dave Poland. Unfortunately most of us don’t agree with you. Sorry.
I keep forgetting I am at the Chester blog. How could I keep forgetting that?
> Dial 1-800-CHESTER.
Need a real hothead on your side?
Need some legal advice from one very angry suit?
Need a lawyer who’ll spend 50% of your billing time on petty web bickering?
THEN CALL 1-800-CHESTER NOW.
I was thinking this Haven was the Orlando Bloom movie…