MCN Columnists
Leonard Klady

Klady By Leonard KladyKlady@moviecitynews.com

Tu Tu Much …

September 30, 2007 Weekend Estimates Domestic Market Share The ground war multiplex to multiplex encounter between the family friendly The Game Plan and the Rambo-unctious The Kingdom led to a one-two finish respectively estimated at $22.9 million and $17.8 million. The solid, relatively predictable box office failed to spike business as hold over titles generally experienced…

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Help Me Rwanda …

There weren’t a lot of films to be had at the Toronto International Film Festival, and for acquisition executives that was a bit of a relief. You see, there’s a glut of product in the pipeline and for most companies that fall somewhere between niche and mainstream their release schedules are sewn up through at…

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Good is Better ‘n Evil …

September 23, 2007 Weekend Estimates Summer Market Share Mammy Yokum used to say that “Good is better ‘n evil cause it’s nicer.” Obviously the comic book matriarch isn’t abreast with the new Hollywood that decreed Resident Evil: Extinction the weekend box office champ with an estimated $23.9 million debut to runner up Good Luck Chuck at $13.6 million….

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Death Wish XXX …

September16, 2007 Weekend Estimates Summer Market Share The distaff vigilante yarn The Brave One led all comers with a debut weekend estimated at $13.8 million. There was no lack of competition with two other films making their national bows and more than a minion opening in limited release. The comedy Mr. Woodcock ranked third overall with $8.6…

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Gunfight Corrals OK …

September 9, 2007 Weekend Estimates Summer Market Share It was high noon at the box office as 3:10 to Yuma got to the station ahead of the posse with an estimated $13.5 million. As the summer rode into the sunset, the sound of the fall came in a blazin’ … sort of. The debut of Yuma…

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Trick or Treat?

September 3, 2007 Weekend Finals Summer Market Share The calendar challenged folks at MGM sprang forward with Halloween as the Labor Day weekend’s top viewing choice with an estimated $33.4 million. It was also balls out for the ping pong madness of Balls of Fury that ranked third with $13.8 million and a strong screen average for…

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Klady

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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