Movie City Indie Archive for April, 2013

On Collaboration: Leigh Whannel & James Wan

“The writer and director of the original SAW and 2011’s INSIDIOUS talk about how they collaborate Chicago, Park Hyatt Hotel, 8 March 2011.”

Tribeca FF’s “Film & Content Distribution Panel” (55’58”)

Joshua Topolsky of The Verge moderated Tribeca’s April 22 Future of Film Live series panel “The Big Picture: Film Distribution Today” with Richard Wellerstein (AT&T U-Verse), Mike Imbesi (Comcast), Avner Ronen (Boxee) and Kristin Jones (Vuguru).

“State of Cinema: Steven Soderbergh” (39’35”)

After successful viral increments, Mr. Soderbergh has allowed the “archival” recording of his speech to be published on the SF Film Society blog, along with a rush transcript: “A few months ago I was on this Jet Blue coming from New York to Burbank, and I like Jet Blue not because of the prices, but they have this terminal at JFK that’s really nice. I think it may be the nicest terminal in the country although I have to say of this country, if you want to see some great airports you have to go to a major city in another part of the world—they have amazing, amazing airports, they’re incredible and they’re quiet. You’re not being assaulted by music all the time. I don’t know when it was decided that we all need a soundtrack everywhere we go. I was just in the bathroom upstairs and there was a soundtrack, accompanying me at the urinal, I don’t understand Anyways, I’m getting comfortable in my seat—I spent the extra 60 bucks for the legroom so we’re hitting altitude and I’m getting a little comfortable—and there’s this guy who is in the other side of the aisle in front of me and he pulls out his iPad; he’s about to start watching stuff. I’m curious as to what he’s going to watch. He’s a white guy in his mid-30s and what he’s done is he’s loaded in half-a-dozen, sort of, “action extravaganzas” and he’s watching each of the action sequences. He’s skipping over all the dialogue and the narrative. So this guy’s flight is just going to be five-and-a-half hours of mayhem…” [Transcript continues here.]

Todd Wagner Talks Future Of Film At Tribeca FF (55’33”)

A conversation with Todd Wagner, co-owner of 2929 Entertainment, which owns Landmark Theaters, Magnolia Pictures, and HDNet Films. Recorded before a live audience on April 25, 2013 at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Steven Spielberg’s “Obama” (1’57”)

David Gordon Green On Getting Your Film Out There (2’38”)

Teasing Wong Kar-wai’s THE GRANDMASTER (1’10”)

Trailering DIRTY WARS (2’20”)

Trailering THE BLING RING (1’24”)

Tilda Swinton’s Ebertfest 2013 “Dance-along” (2’03”)

Noam Chomsky On How To Talk To Women (1’28”)

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RIP Jonathan Winters (6’02”)

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A. O. Scott, Herzog On Ebert On “Charlie Rose” (19’25”)

Movie City Indie

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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