MCN Columnists
Leonard Klady

Columns By Leonard KladyKlady@moviecitynews.com

Still Crazies (After All These Years)

February 28, 2010 The tremor continued in the marketplace as Shutter Island prevailed over two incoming missiles with an estimated $22.3 million weekend. Still the freshmen entries were close behind with buddy flics in Cop Out entering (but not breaking) the scene with $18.4 million and the redo of the 1972 apocalyptic thriller The Crazies…

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Wilmington on Movies: Cop Out, The Crazies, A Prophet, North Face and The Ghost Writer (revisited)

Cop Out (One and a Half Stars) U. S.; Kevin Smith, 2010 Cop Out is one movie where you can tell what went wrong just by looking at the trailer. The

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Whiteout

Nothing like a good snowbound suspense thriller for a cozy mid-winter evening’s entertainment, and Warner Home Video has provided just thing with the 2009 production, Whiteout, which has nothing to do with secretaries trying to fix mistakes on requisition orders and everything to do with triple homicides and inclement weather in Antarctica. Kate Beckinsale is a United…

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Marty, You Can Do Better

Last week, I spoke of the virtues of Martin Scorsese and why all film geeks everywhere should be excited to see his newest film, Shutter Island.  The opening of a new Scorsese film was something that I felt was a cinematic event more exciting than the first weekend of any blockbuster.  So, just know that when I…

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Shutter … the Thought

February 22, 2010 Paranoia reached new heights of popularity as Shutter Island topped weekend charts with an estimated $40.3 million. It was the sole new national release but reflecting the twisty thriller’s appeal was the exclusive bow of The Ghost Writer that rang up an impressive $43,200 from four reveals. Other niche and limited debuts…

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Wilmington on Movies: Shutter Island, The Ghost Writer and Ajami

Shutter Island (Four Stars) U.S.; Martin Scorsese, 2010 Shutter Island, Martin Scorsese’s new film, is a horror movie for aficionados, who like to be scared and not have to check their brains in the lobby. It‘s for moviegoers who’ve had their fill of the current

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A Scorsese Love Poem and Unmade Movies

Scorsese the Underdog I haven’t seen Shutter Island yet, although it seems like the rest of the film community has.  That’s fine by me since I wouldn’t want to see it any other way than on Friday afternoon with a crowd full of film fans, rather than a screening room full of critics.  Seeing The Departed on…

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I Heart Presidents

February 15, 2010 It was candy and roses for Valentine’s Day as it ascended to the top of long weekend viewing with an estimated four-day box office of $66.2 million. In a bountiful frame two other freshmen entries followed. The youth targeted Percy Jackson and the Olympians bowed to $38.9 million and the revived The…

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The Weekend Report: February 14, 2010

February 14, 2010 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share Weekend Estimates: February 12-14, 2010 Title Distributor Gross (average) % change * Theaters Cume Valentine’s Day WB 51.8 (14,140) New 3665 51.8 Percy Jackson & the Olympians Fox 31.4 (9,370) New 3356 31.4 The Wolfman Uni 30.5 (9,460) New 3222 34.7 Avatar Fox 22.2 (8,260) -3% 2685…

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The Care and Feeding of Your Indie Film on the Fest Circuit

When I was at the Oxford Film Festival last weekend, one of the things I was asked to do was moderate a panel called “Speed Pitch,” in which filmmakers had the opportunity to sign up to pitch their ideas (either the film they had in the fest, or other projects they have in the works)…

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Wilmington on Movies: Valentine’s Day and Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Valentine‘s Day (One and a Half Stars) U.S.; Garry Marshall, 2009 Lonely on Valentine’s Day? Hollywood has your number. They’re holding tickets (or at least one ticket) to director Garry Marshall’s appropriately titled Feb-12-14 weekend release Valentine’s Day — an all-star Angeleno big-movie box of flavorless

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So Many Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Published under 1,000 Monkeys. When people I interact with in my professional life learn that I have five children (and a grandchild, even!) they are often astonished. These days, the idea of someone having a large family is (at least outside of homeschooling or Amish circles) a bit out-of-fashion. I get asked a lot of…

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Red Riding: Better than The Godfather?

Some films are so dense that it’s impossible to truly appreciate them while you’re watching them for the first time. The Red Riding trilogy is one of those films. Although, calling it a “trilogy” isn’t really appropriate because although it is three separate films by three separate directors using three very techniques, they are all…

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Love Letters

February 7, 2010 Romance trumped visceral thrills as the three-hanky Dear John debuted at the top of weekend viewing charts with an estimated $32.7 million. The session’s other new national premiere From Paris with Love settled into position three with $8.1 million. Regional openers saw a solid bow of $232,000 for Les Sept jours du…

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Oscar, Schmoscar

I haven’t been able to get that excited about the Oscars this year. Probably it’s partly because I was pretty much out of the movie loop for five or so months dealing with illness, but partly, to be honest, it’s this whole idea of ten best picture nominees that has me feeling decidedly “meh” about…

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Criterion Collection: Che

Steven Soderbergh’s two-part 2008 sequel to The Motorcycle Diaries has been released by The Criterion Collection as a three-platter set, Che. Soderbergh gave the films a slightly different look, although on a video screen, the change is modest. ChePart One, about Ernesto Guevera’s participation in the Cuban Revolution, is in classic widescreen, letterboxed with an aspect ratio of…

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If I Had a Ballot

I have to be honest; I really haven’t been following the Oscars as closely as I usually do. I’m not sure why that is, but if I had to venture a guess, I’d say it’s because of two big factors: 1) 2009 was one of the worst years for movies in recent history and 2)…

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Columns

Gary Dretzka on: The DVD Wrapup: Ophelia, Ambition, Werewolf in Girls' Dorm, Byleth, Humble Pie, Good Omens, Yellowstone …More

rohit aggarwal on: The DVD Wrapup: Ophelia, Ambition, Werewolf in Girls' Dorm, Byleth, Humble Pie, Good Omens, Yellowstone …More

https://bestwatches.club/ on: The DVD Wrapup: Diamonds of the Night, School of Life, Red Room, Witch/Hagazussa, Tito & the Birds, Keoma, Andre’s Gospel, Noir

Gary Dretzka on: The DVD Wrapup: Sleep With Anger, Ralph Wrecks Internet, Liz & Blue Bird, Hannah Grace, Unseen, Jupiter's Moon, Legally Blonde, Willard, Bang … More

Gary Dretzka on: The DVD Wrapup: Bumblebee, Ginsburg, Buster, Silent Voice, Nazi Junkies, Prisoner, Golden Vampires, Highway Rat, Terra Formars, No Alternative … More

GDA on: The DVD Wrapup: Bumblebee, Ginsburg, Buster, Silent Voice, Nazi Junkies, Prisoner, Golden Vampires, Highway Rat, Terra Formars, No Alternative … More

Larry K on: The DVD Wrapup: Sleep With Anger, Ralph Wrecks Internet, Liz & Blue Bird, Hannah Grace, Unseen, Jupiter's Moon, Legally Blonde, Willard, Bang … More

Gary Dretzka on: The DVD Wrapup: Shoplifters, Front Runner, Nobody’s Fool, Peppermint Soda, Haunted Hospital, Valentine, Possum, Mermaid, Guilty, Antonio Lopez, 4 Weddings … More

gwehan on: The DVD Wrapup: Shoplifters, Front Runner, Nobody’s Fool, Peppermint Soda, Haunted Hospital, Valentine, Possum, Mermaid, Guilty, Antonio Lopez, 4 Weddings … More

Gary J Dretzka on: The DVD Wrapup: Peppermint, Wild Boys, Un Traductor, Await Instructions, Lizzie, Coby, Afghan Love Story, Elizabeth Harvest, Brutal, Holiday Horror, Sound & Fury … More

Quote Unquotesee all »

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