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pturman

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Posts posted by pturman

    Breakfast at Tiffanys, Marilyn or Audrey?

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    > {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote}Who would be more offensive to Japanese-Americans----Rooney's portrayal in BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S or Brando's portrayal in TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON?

    I'd heard that Rooney in BREAKFAST was politically incorrect but I'd never heard that Brando in TEAHOUSE was, finance. In fact it never occurred to me. Yeah he plays dumb but it's obvious to the audience that he's the smartest character on the screen, I thought.

    NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    > {quote:title=MontyC wrote:}{quote}

    > pturman, I think you (Goldman?) make some good points. I don't think anybody needs to be pursuaded (especially on these messageboards) that "they don't make'em like they used to." Don't know if my ponderings will answer your questions specifically but here are some additional thoughts on similar(?) subjects: David Mamet (another screenwriting institution along with Goldman) also wrote a book on Hollywood called "Bambi vs. Godzilla." He didn't come right out & say it (he's much too oblique for that) but the point of the book is that Hollywood has always been a battle between art vs. commerce. And that with contemporary movies, one side of the fight is pummeling the other side so severely as to be like "Bambi vs. Godzilla." Well, take a guess which one of the two (Bambi or Godzilla) art is & which one commerce is.

    Thanks, Monty. Believe it or not but I've read Mamet's book. And it's a great read as well. An***ou're right--art is getting it's *** kicked (at least in terms of movies the major studios are making) nowadays. And Eugenia, you've probably guessed that there are a TON of great books about movies. The two mentioned in this thread are (in my opinion & in a lot of other people's opinion, I'm sure) two of the best.

    NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    > {quote:title=misswonderly wrote:

    >

    >

    >

    > }{quote}Interesting post, pturman. I'm not familiar with the book from which you quote, although I like William Goldman. You say - or rather, perhaps Goldman says - of the movie business:

    > "... it's a business unlike any other (such as law or teaching or medicine, etc.)..."

    misswonderly, thank you for confusing my words with those of the great William Goldman.

     

    And you shoud definitely read Goldman's "Adventures in the Screen Trade." I guarantee you you won't want to put it down!

    Movie Trivia

    in Games and Trivia

    Posted

    Yeah, I loved Dennis in that movie. I said it in another thread & I'll say it here---Dennis Weaver in TOUCH OF EVIL looks like Harrison Ford in INDIANA JONES to me. I think it's because they both have on similar hats. Guess if I was more technologically savvy I would find stills & post them on the LOOK ALIKE thread & you'd see what I mean.

    Ben tonight for SUTS

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    > {quote:title=misswonderly wrote:}{quote}As some here may know, I'm a big fan of Ben Mankiewicz', and am kind of sorry that he'll be around less this month. Oh, and by the way, ( ]:) ) while I like Ben regardless of his choice of apparel, I actually liked it better when he had the goatee and the more casual clothes. I thought that look suited him better.

    I agree. I like the old Ben without the perfectly-coiffed "do."

    Great Fight Films

    in Films and Filmmakers

    Posted

    {font:Arial}{color:black}The one, the ONLY fight movie for me is . . .FIGHT CLUB (1999). For one thing, it's the last film that had as many great lines in it as Casablanca.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    “How much can you know about yourself if you’ve never been in a fight? I don’t wanna die without any scars.”

     

     

     

     

    “All this potential, & we’re squandering it. An entire generation of young men pumping gas, waiting tables. We work in jobs we hate to buy **** we don't need. We have no Great Depression, no Great War. Our Great War is a spiritual one. Our Great Depression is our lives. I see a generation raised on tv to believe that one day we’ll be rock stars & movie gods but we won’t. And we’re slowly realizing it. And we’re very, very **** off about it. You’re not your job. You’re not how much money you have. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You’re not your ****ing khakis."

    {font}

     

     

     

    {font:Arial}{color:black}Brad Pitt: Do you know what a duvet is?

    Edward Norton: a comforter{font}

    {font:Arial}{color:black}BP: It’s a blanket. Just a blanket. Why do guys like us know what a duvet is? Is it essential to our survival in the hunter/gatherer sense of the word? No. So what are we?{font}

    {font:Arial}{color:black}EN: I don’t know, consumers.{font}

    {font:Arial}{color:black}BP: That’s right, consumers. Sofa units. Green stripe patterns. Viagra. Olestra. These are the things that concern me? . . .the things you own end up owning you.{font}

     

     

     

     

     

     

    {font:Arial}{color:black}“This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time.”

    {font}{font:Arial}{color:black}

     

    "I wanted to put a bullet through the head of every panda who wouldn't screw to save its own species."

     

    {font}

    {font:Arial}{color:black}BP: Okay, any historic figure . ..{font}

    {font:Arial}{color:black}EN: I’d fight Ghandi{font}

    {font:Arial}{color:black}BP: Good answer

     

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqMzHYJdhT0&feature=related

     

    {font}

    {font:Arial}{color:black}

    Oh, & I like another little testosterone-filled movie you might've heard of called "Raging Bull."{font}

    NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    William Goldman, screenwriter of such classics as Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid & Princess Bride (among others) is famously quoted as saying "Nobody Knows Anything." Actually he didn't say it, he wrote it, in "Adventures in the Screen Trade" (which I HIGHLY reccommend--it's a great read & you'll never think of Hollywood the same). He basically argues that, literally, nobody in the movie business knows what they're doing. Not that they're idiots or morons, but that it's a business unlike any other (such as law or teaching or medicine, etc.) in which no matter how much experience or knowledge one has, it's impossible to predict what will work either artistically or commercially.

     

    For example, in Goldman's book, David Brown, famous co-producer of Jaws states how he & Richard Zanuck (the other producer) didn't think Jaws would be a hit but he was SURE "The Island" would be a big hit because the screenplay was great, all the actors they sent it to that they wanted to be in it said yes (always a good sign, Brown thought), & because it had great "above-the-line" talent in terms of director, composer, cinematographer, etc. But does anybody remember "The Island?"

     

    So what are your thoughts? Did they have a better understanding of what would work with an audience in the old studio system than now? Did anybody in Hollywood EVER "know anything?" And isn't the fact that all they make now are sequals & special effect blockbusters proof of Goldman's point in that it's Hollywood's attempt to hedge their bets since "nobody knows anything?"

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