I don't know if there is a forum about him already, but I haven't noticed one in the duration of my time on this site, so I'm making one.
All I have to say about this guy is MAKE MORE MOVIES! I'm assuming he's not exactly a "fan favorite" amongst those at this site, but I don't KNOW for sure. I do know that he's not a critical hit by any means.
Those who are unfamiliar with Avary, he's the writer/director of Killing Zoe, which he made in 1994, and he wrote the screenplay and directed Rules of Attraction in 2002. In between he did a made for TV movie called Dr. Stitch (which I haven't seen). His biggest claim to fame to date is co-writing one of the stories for Pulp Fiction. When Quentin won Best Original Screenplay, Avary got an award too. He and Quetin worked at the same video store together (Video Archives), and they have similar tastes in film. Obviously, Tarantino is much better at expresses his tastes onto film than Avary is, but I give Avary loads of credit. Both his films are very original in an unoriginal way. I can't really explain it much better than that. They kind of have the same approach that Tarantino's films have. He drags B-movies into the world of the Arthouse and meshes them together to create a unique mix. Again, Tarantino does this much better, but I wonder how much credit Avary would get had he made Killing Zoe before Tarantino made Reservoir Dogs. Dogs is a much better film, but Killing Zoe never got a fair shot. It was immediately labeled a "Tarantino knock-off."
Another thing you have to consider is, the only reason Avary was able to make a film, was because the studio knew he was an "Oscar-winning" writer, which was because of Tarantino. So, it kind of goes both ways, he didn't get a fair shot because of Tarantino, but he wouldn't have even had a shot if it wasn't for Tarantino.
What does everybody else think?
i got to admit i think avary is a better writer then filmmaker. i like and own killing zoe but his other stuff isn't that good. "rules" was over rated and sensationalized. Stitch was pretty bad, you can rent it on video.
he does a great commentary for Romero's Day of the Dead released by anchor bay. he seems like a true fan of films.
-sl-
p.s. since that other thread was moved i'll mention it again J. my pic is from "They Live" by John Carpenter. A great Sci Fi film.
I'm not even sure what that movie is, and for some reason that what I assumed it was....kinda weird....
I enjoyed the style he brought to Rules, but I don't know if the book was worth making a movie out of. By far the coolest scene in the movie was when that one guy was explaining his trip to Europe. Supposedly, it's like that in the book too, all one sentence.
Stitch is kind of like a frankenstein story, the worst thing going for it is that it stars whesley crusher from star trek the next generation. man that guy sucks. it's pretty low budget. I would want to see avery direct one of his own scripts again. that's where he's done his best shit.
-sl-
sorry i'm confused which film looks kind of weird to you, "they live" or "Dr. Stitch"?
They Live, when I saw that as your avatar, that named popped into my head and I'm not even sure what the movie is. For some reason I just saw the words "They Live"....creepy eh?
its all about aliens invading earth a la invasion of the body snatchers. the hero, nada, can only see them with a pair of special sun glasses. it sounds stupid but it's a fucking classic. funny and insightful of the beginning of globalization. good social commentary and made at the perfect time in history for such issues.
-sl-
Sounds cool, but I betcha they don't even have it at either of the three of my local video stores....is it worth owning?
i'd say yes, but i'm sure a lot of people would say no. it all depends, go rent some other carpenter's like "the thing" "big trouble in little china" or "Halloween" and if you like those then maybe.
you see the genius of carpenter is that his films lie somewhere between shlock and insight (much like George A. Romero), which ends up being great entertainment. it all depends on if you're into that. i know a lot of filmmakers have really been into his shit, like tarantino and M. Knight.
you never know your store might just have what you're looking for. go to the store that has all the old VHS's and you might find it.
-sl-
i don't know whether you two noticed, but our site comes equipped w/ this ultra-cool function; (https://xixax.com/templates/xixmac/images/lang_english/icon_pm.gif)
why should he make more movies when he's entirely overrated?
Is he overrated?!?!?! I never hear anybody ever talking about him. The only mention he ever gets is in reference to the Pulp Fiction Oscar, or just in relation to Quentin in some form or another. Never for his own films. Granted, I sparked a discussion about him in relation to Quentin as well, but that's the reason why I did, to see if anybody thinks their names shouldn't be siamese twins.
Quote from: j_scott_stroup04Is he overrated?!?!?!
he's overrated on this message board.
Anybody know anything about Glitteratti and the Glamorama movie? I know it's a bit early (I think the earliest release date I've heard is this summer) but I just finished reading Glamorama and am a bit curious.
I don't have very high expectations for Glitteratti (which I've heard is the footage of Victor's European vacation from ROA stretched out to feature length), but I'll probably see it because I want to know how Avary will deal with how he's changed the sequence of events a bit from the ROA and Glamorama novels.
I heard Avary already has a script for Glamorama and is very enthusiastic about it. Shannen Dorethy will be in it.
Quote from: BonBon85Anybody know anything about Glitteratti and the Glamorama movie? I know it's a bit early (I think the earliest release date I've heard is this summer) but I just finished reading Glamorama and am a bit curious.
La Dolce VictorSource: Jeffery Wells
Roger Avary's GLITTERATI is a kind of dramatic documentary about a European debauch enjoyed last September and October by RULES OF ATTRACTION costar Kip Pardue. Or rather, technically speaking, by Pardue's character, Victor Johnson, since Pardue stayed more or less in character during filming.
The footage was initially intended to be used for a brief episode in RULES. It became that and, for my money, is easily the single coolest portion.
Now, however, Avary has decided to expand the 70 hours of footage he captured of Pardue running around Europe and getting down with various women into a feature-length docudrama. Avary is about halfway into the editing, and is hoping to put the finished product into theatres before it goes to DVD sometime next year. I was shown two or three clips and found them ... well, a lot more than fascinating
Avary followed the 26-year-old actor around in all these cities with two video cameras -- the larger and more professional-level Sony DP 150 and a smaller Sony PC 9.
Every woman Pardue met and hooked up with signed a release obtained by producer Greg Shapiro with an understanding the footage being shot was for inclusion in a feature film. And according to Avary, they all went for it hook, line and sinker, even to the point of making out with Pardue and, to some extent (I'm not sure how explicit the footage will be in the end), having sex with him on camera.
There's a great moment, for example, inside a car in Paris when a dishy Romanian model is talking with her New York City boyfriend on her cell phone, with Pardue sitting next to her and stroking her hair. The boyfriend is apparently feeling jealous and anxiety-ridden about the 9.11 tragedy (which had happened only recently when this sequence was taped), and wants her to join him as soon as she can. She tells him not to be so intense and possessive, that she's feeling "a little suffocated," but assures him he has nothing to worry about, fidelity-wise.
"She was just totally lying," says Avary. "She gave Kip a blowjob right after this."
I didn't see enough footage to be able to tell if Avary pays as much attention to the European scenery and tourist sights as he did the women, but the thing captures the way Europe can look and smell and sound to a touring, hang-it-all youth who's constantly distracted or on the move.
The look of GLITTERATI on Avary's Macintosh flat-panel screen was awesome as well. The video footage seemed to have the texture of film, except for those odd moments when sunlight would hit somebody's face and that portion of the image would briefly white-out. The footage seemed more textured than what video usually delivers, and yet like something other than film --it's some kind of hybrid. If only digital video could look this good on a big screen (pixellation is always visible when you blow things up), the whole video-to-film thing would be a much more tantalizing option.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390051/
Roger Avary Adapting 'Glamorama' To FilmRoger Avary, who was responsible for bringing The Rules of Attraction to film is now working his way thru an adaptation of Glamorama for the big screen. Roger has some tidbits about the process in his website FAQ:
"GLAMORAMA"
Q: You say you're working on adapting it for the screen. Do you intend to direct it as well?
A: Yes. I feel comfortable within the world of Bret Easton Ellis -- it's a world I understand. I also feel that he's one of the best writers today, certainly one of my favorite. I'm very lucky to be drawing from his intensly rich source material.
Q: Will the characters from "The Rules of Attraction" who make appearances in "Glamorama" be played by the same actors (if you have your way)?
A: Yes...and no.
Q: How the hell are you going to condense that book into a couple hours?
A: The same way you condense any book. First you absorb the entirety of theme and device, then you destroy, then you rebuild a new form with the spirit of the original.
Q: Do you know B.E.E., and how does he feel about you taking on two of his books?
A: I've met Bret on several occasions, and love him. My understanding is that he's happy with me so far. I believe he really liked "The Rules of Attraction" and is supportive of my adapting "Glamorama". http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0339073/
Hey, maybe after this, Avery can make the sequel doc to Glitterati, about Kip's many trips to private medical clinics to treat all his new std's...
Q&A
Roger Avary
Interview by Rosanna Greenstreet
Saturday January 24, 2004
The Guardian
Roger Avary was born in Canada in 1965 and grew up in the US. He briefly attended art school, then worked at a video store in California during the 1980s.
He became friends with fellow employee Quentin Tarantino and the pair began to collaborate on screenplays. He is currently working on an adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's novel Glamorama.
With which historical figure do you most identify?
Salvador Dalí - he was not just about the work, he was the work.
Which living person do you most admire?
Michael Bay, my ultimate enemy.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
I reveal too much of myself.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Hypocrisy.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Video games. I own every console system of importance that was ever created.
What makes you depressed?
Not working.
What is your most unappealing habit?
Picking my nose.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My family, the single most important thing I've ever been a part of.
What keeps you awake at night?
My dreams: I dream very vividly.
Should the royal family be scrapped?
Wouldn't it be exciting if there were some Shakespearian-style palace intrigue that involved Prince Harry seizing the throne by force, placing all who opposed him in a dungeon, and returning Britain to a true monarchy?
Do you believe in capital punishment?
No - but I do believe in revenge.
When and where were you happiest?
On the set of my films.
How do you relax?
I restore vintage Atari XY arcade video game machines.
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Greater freedom.
How would you like to die?
By going supernova and then collapsing into a black hole. I could then spend eternity sucking in everything that approaches my event horizon.
How would you like to be remembered?
By my children, wife and parents. Their recollections of me are the only truth that matters.
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
That cynicism is optimism. That isms aren't to be taken seriously.
Roger Avary may not make the greatest films, but he seems like one cool guy. And gives great interviews. Thanks, chuck.
couldn't seem to find the rules of attraction thread, but anywhoooo--
okay, caught rules of attraction on hbo the other day. can someone please tell me the name of the song that plays after sean bateman tries to kill himself and he lights a joint and finds the fake blood in his drawer. it goes something like "...could be worng....i could be right. kinda sounds like the talking heads but i'm not sure.
anyway, thanks a bunch to whoever can do this for me! :-D
Quote from: ©bradcouldn't seem to find the rules of attraction thread, but anywhoooo--
http://www.xixax.com/viewtopic.php?t=563
I'd post it there too so more people see it. :)
Quote from: ©bradokay, caught rules of attraction on hbo the other day. can someone please tell me the name of the song that plays after sean bateman tries to kill himself and he lights a joint and finds the fake blood in his drawer. it goes something like "...could be worng....i could be right. kinda sounds like the talking heads but i'm not sure.
"Rise" by P.I.L. Public Image Limited (that's Johnny Rotten singing)
Quote from: MacGuffinQuote from: ©bradokay, caught rules of attraction on hbo the other day. can someone please tell me the name of the song that plays after sean bateman tries to kill himself and he lights a joint and finds the fake blood in his drawer. it goes something like "...could be worng....i could be right. kinda sounds like the talking heads but i'm not sure.
"Rise" by P.I.L. Public Image Limited (that's Johnny Rotten singing)
love yah buddy!
does anyone know what happened to his website?
Pair fall into 'Black Hole'
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Roger Avery and Neil Gaiman are writing "Black Hole," a horror romance story that Alexandre Aja will direct for Paramount Pictures. MTV Films, Plan B and Kevin Messick are producing. "Black Hole" is a 12-issue comic book painstakingly written and illustrated by Charles Burns over a 10-year period that deals with fear of adulthood, sex and ostracism. When the work was finally completed last year, it was collected into a graphic novel, which garnered great acclaim and was in Entertainment Weekly's top 10 works of fiction for the year. The story follows a group of high school students whose lives are altered drastically when they come in contact with a sexually transmitted disease called the "teen plague" or "the bug."
Avary Skips Trip to Silent Hill 2
Source: ShockTilYouDrop
If the fog rolls in over the town of Silent Hill again, it will be without screenwriter Roger Avary. The scribe credited for Pulp Fiction, Killing Zoe and the Brett Easton Ellis adaptation The Rules of Attraction brought the video game world of the "Silent Hill" series to atmospheric life in last year's film directed by Christophe Gans.
But in talking with Shock on the Paramount lot about his upcoming collaboration with Neil Gaiman and Robert Zemeckis, Beowulf, he reveals, "I'm not gonna do Silent Hill 2," a pause, maybe to renege on that comment, then an assured, "If Christophe's not gonna do it, I'm not..."
Then that settles that. When we had spoken to producer Don Carmody (here), he hinted that Gans was similarly too busy with other work and didn't appear interested in following up his "Hill" film. This doesn't mean the sequel was dead, however, a new installment will progress without the director and writer.
Meanwhile, Avary's take on the spooky Dan Brereton comic book "The Nocturnals" is still trying to find some life. "I'm seeing Dan [Brereton] next week - he's going to be at Comic-Con," Avary says. "I'd love to see that made. I actually gave the comics to [Beowulf producer] Jeff Rapke and was like, 'Check this out, this is the shit!'" Needless to say, "Nocturnals" fans will have to patiently wait a bit longer before they see Doc Horror, Halloween Girl and, more importantly, Gunwitch, on the big screen.
Hadida storms 'Castle' rights
Avary attached to write, direct
Source: Variety
Producer Samuel Hadida has secured the rights to the vidgame "Return to Castle Wolfenstein," with Roger Avary attached to write and direct the adaptation of the ID Software property.
Project reteams Avary with Hadida after he penned company's horror pic "Silent Hill."
The WWII-set "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" revolves around U.S. Army Ranger B.J. Blazkowicz, who leads a team of agents into Castle Wolfenstein in order to investigate the Nazis' SS Paranormal Division. Project had previously been set up with Mark Gordon at Sony before the rights to the game reverted back to ID Software.
Hadida's becoming a prolific producer of vidgame adaptations, with "Resident Evil: Extinction," the third installment in the franchise, bowing Sept. 21. Last year, he produced the horror pic "Silent Hill," based on the game. A sequel's planned. He also has "Onimusha" in the works with Christophe Gans attached to direct.
Avary most recently adapted Robert Zemeckis' take on "Beowulf," which Paramount opens Nov. 16. He previously penned "Pulp Fiction," "The Rules of Attraction" and "Killing Zoe."
"I've been playing the character of B.J. Blazkowicz since the epic 'Wolfenstein 3D' first bruised my brain and have ever since wanted to bring his adventures to life on the bigscreen," Avary said. "It's time to bust some dams, storm some bunkers and blow up some bridges."
ID Software's other titles include the first-person shooters "Doom" and "Quake." Another "Wolfenstein" game is in development.
Davis Films also has "Solomon Kane" set up with Michael Bassett to directand "Killing Suki Flood," with Louis-Pascal Couvelaire helming.
Roger Avary Ready To Storm 'Castle Wolfenstein'
Source: MTV
If you're Roger Avary, you must have one hell of an address book - his lauded screenwriting collaborators include fan favorites Quentin Tarantino ("Pulp Fiction") and Neil Gaiman (November's "Beowulf"). For his next project, however, Avary will act alone as writer and director for the first time since 2002's eyebrow-raising ensemble drama "The Rules of Attraction."
"I'm doing an adaptation of the [video] game 'Return to Castle Wolfenstein,'" Avary enthused, referring to a gaming institution whose sequels evolved from a seminal 1981 Commodore 64 game. "I just love the World War II guys-on-a-mission movies; to me, 'Castle Wolfenstein' is all of that, plus monsters and horror and all that craziness jammed together. It's my dream film."
2001's "Return" was a groundbreaking first-person shooter depicting an American military agent with a mission to infiltrate a Nazi stronghold. Once inside, the character found himself discovering the truths behind rumors of paranormal research on reanimated corpses, biotechnology, and secret weapons. Think "The Dirty Dozen" meets "Resident Evil."
Avary wouldn't disclose which stars will be storming the castle — but not because he's being secretive, just because he doesn't know yet. "I haven't begun the casting process," he teased. "I have people in my head, but I don't want to jinx it." Fair enough.
As Tarantino junkies know all too well, Avary's former writing partner has been trying to complete his own guys-on-a-mission flick, entitled "Inglorious Bastards," for nearly a decade. With that project now taking on the unwanted status of moviedom's "Chinese Democracy," it seems as though Avary will beat Tarantino onto the battlefield.
"Depending on what happens with the strike, I [could] be shooting it next year," Avary revealed, promising that casting announcements should be emerging soon.
Quote from: MacGuffin on November 01, 2007, 12:46:36 AM
"I'm doing an adaptation of the [video] game 'Return to Castle Wolfenstein,'" Avary enthused
Avary = Uwe Boll?
And the truth is... "Silent Hill" sucked ass in a huge way. Of course, with him directing, it could be somewhat entertaining, but c'mon... the guy who co-wrote "Pulp Fiction" (regardless of what his role on that script was) and made "The Rules of Attraction" is way too good for this shit...
'Pulp Fiction' screenwriter arrested after crash
VENTURA, Calif. -- Oscar-winning screenwriter Roger Avary was arrested Sunday on suspicion of manslaughter and driving under the influence after a Ventura County car crash that killed a man and injured Avary's wife, authorities said.
Avary, 42, was the driver in the single-car collision shortly after midnight in Ojai, said Captain Ross Bonfiglio of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.
Killed in the accident was Andreas Zini, 34, a resident of Italy who was apparently visiting the couple.
Avary's wife Gretchen, 40, was ejected from the car and found in the road by deputies, Bonfiglio said. She was hospitalized in stable condition.
Avary was booked but later released on $50,000 bail, Bonfiglio said. He did not know whether Avary has hired an attorney.
Avary won an Academy Award for writing "Pulp Fiction," and recently co-wrote the epic "Beowulf." He and his wife live in Ojai, a popular artists' colony and tourist destination 14 miles north of Ventura.
Quote from: MacGuffin on January 14, 2008, 12:17:28 AM
'Pulp Fiction' screenwriter arrested after crash
Soon Avary will say this is where Quentin got the inspiration for
Death Proof...
'Pulp Fiction' writer sentenced in fatal DUI crash
VENTURA, Calif. - An Oscar-winning screenwriter of "Pulp Fiction" has been sentenced to a year in jail for causing a fatal traffic crash in Southern California.
Roger Avary was sentenced Tuesday in a Ventura court. He also received five years of probation.
Avary pleaded guilty in August to gross vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving for the 2008 crash that killed a passenger in Avary's Mercedes in Ventura County. Authorities say Avary's car was traveling at more than 100 mph when it crashed into a telephone pole.
Avary's wife was ejected from the vehicle and was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Avary and Quentin Tarantino share the 1995 Academy Award for writing "Pulp Fiction." He also co-wrote the screenplay for the movie "Beowulf."
Quote from: MacGuffin on September 29, 2009, 11:21:14 PMHe also co-wrote the screenplay for the movie "Beowulf."
Talk about rubbing salt in the wound.
At least that headline gives him credit Pulp Fiction!
Silent Hill 2 Writer Roger Avary Sentenced to One Year in Jail
http://www.movieweb.com/news/NEa5OeadGYXGdj
he's not polanski alright.
Roger Avary's First Post-Prison Interview: Where His Career Will Take Him Next
Source: indieWire
Roger Avary is an Oscar-winning screenwriter, but these days he has trouble gathering his thoughts. "How do I put this?" Avary said on the the terrace outside his hotel in Locarno, Switzerland, where he's currently serving on the international competition jury at the city's film festival. "I haven't talked about this to anyone other than family and close friends, so I want to measure my words very carefully."
He stared at the ground and took a breath. "Incarceration didn't change me," he said after a long pause. "In many ways, incarceration galvanized me. The totality of the experience helped me." While Avary looked relaxed in a salmon-colored shirt and neatly tousled hair, sunglasses hid the emotion on his face.
Four years ago, the co-writer of "Pulp Fiction" and "True Romance" -- as well as the director of "Killing Zoe" and "The Rules of Attraction" -- faced a situation far more disturbing than anything depicted in his movies. Driving under the influence in Ojai, Calif., Avary got into an accident that killed his friend Andreas Zini.
Released on bail, Avary was eventually charged with vehicular manslaughter and pleaded guilty, serving time in a one-year work furlough and then later behind bars for eight months. Reasonably enough, he discusses the incident with trepidation. "I spend nearly every waking moment thinking about how I can live my life in such a way as to honor this absolutely terrible loss that occurred," he said.
The answer has slowly come to him with new work. Based on the sheer volume of projects currently in his queue, Avary may have entered the most productive period of his career, not to mention an entirely different stage of artistic expression.
The last two years have been especially busy: He recently finished overseeing the scripting process for the second season of the French-Canadian espionage show "XIII: The Series." He's working on a screenplay for Paul Verhoeven based on the director's scholarly tome about the life of Jesus. With production company Wild Bunch, he's planning to reteam with "Rules of Attraction" scribe Bret Easton Ellis to direct an adaptation of Ellis' "Lunar Park." For "Moon" director Duncan Jones, he reworked the screenplay for a biopic about James Bond creator Ian Fleming. He also plans to adapt the early William Faulkner novel "Sanctuary."
Avary said his immense activity is part of his plan to find a creative outlet in everything he does. "I'm looking for work that enriches me and touches me somehow. I'm certainly not taking work just to pay bills."
As if to prove that point, at the request of the Locarno Film Festival, Avary agreed to maintain a blog chronicling his experiences in Switzerland. He used the opportunity to construct another piece of fiction that refers to his fellow jurors as "the Thieve's Guild": Apichatpong Weerasethakul is "the Thailander," while "The Housemaid" director Im Sangsoo is "the South Korean," tags that make the group sound like a medieval take on "Ocean's Eleven."
Avary's reports contain enough coded insight to turn them into a brilliantly gonzo set of festival dispatches that turn the jury process to a form of espionage. After singling out Apichatpong's meditative filmography, Avary wrote that "he always did things his own way...not every heist needed to pull in the big bucks. A true thief pulled a heist because it was in their soul to do so."
That's a sentiment to which Avary relates. He said he never stopped writing except when he had no choice: After he began tweeting a similarly embellished account of his experience in the work furlough, Avary was forced into solitary confinement and served out his remaining sentence in lockdown. Since then, he has stayed away from the creative prospects of status updates. "The problem with 140 characters is that subtlety is lost," he said, then politely requested we change the subject.
With the trauma of his jail time came an epiphany that carried him through the ordeal. "I never stopped writing," he said, although he had a harder time watching movies, a hobby relegated to the prison television where he found himself watching "My Name Is Earl" by default. Even such relatively minor limitations influenced his new perspective. "If I've learned anything," he said, "I've learned that we don't have control."
Asked about his state of mind over the course of his prison experience, Avary flashed back to 2000. Around that time, he was involved in developing an unrealized HBO series entitled "Medal of Honor" about soldiers who received that prize. Over the course of his research, Avary befriended Vietnam vet James Stockdale, an American pilot who was imprisoned for several years in the Hanoi Hilton, the torture center most recently known for housing John McCain. Stockdale was kept there the longest -- seven years -- and subsisted on a diet of pumpkin soup in between torture sessions.
"I asked him how you survive something like this," Avary said. "I cannot stress to you how strong and noble this man was."
Avary said Stockdale turned to his position as a Stanford professor, where he specialized in the stoic principles of the Greek philosopher Epictetus. "The basic philosophy of stoicism is that you have nothing real external to your own consciousness, that the only thing real is in fact your consciousness," Avary said. "In thinking about his experience, it just occurred to me that the notion of control of your external environment is an illusion."
Given his introspection, it's no surprise that he's a great fan of fellow juror Apichatpong's work, singling out "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" as a favorite. "I find him to be a fascinating humanist in many ways."
While Avary's own filmography may lack Apichatpong's soothing qualities, his two feature-length directing credits (not counting "Glitterati," which was constructed from footage of a wild Eurotrip seen in "Rules of Attraction" but never released) contain heavy, immersive stories about people losing control of their lives and struggling to understand their priorities. No matter the loud, angry people they focus on, Avary's movies contain an intimacy that holds up.
This October will mark the tenth anniversary of "Rules of Attraction" hitting theaters in the U.S. Avary said would like the movie to receive a special anniversary release, but has yet to convince distributor Lionsgate. Seen outside the context of its initial release, it remains an enjoyably surreal endeavor that messes with the characters and viewer alike by constantly rewinding various party scenes, drawing us into seemingly inconsequential moments of hedonistic indulgences and rendering them bleakly poetic. Avary, who drew from personal experience for certain moments in spite of taking cues from the novel, described it as a form of self-analysis. "On the initial release of the film, my intention was to make something about events in my life that I had observed and lived," he said. "I was writing as a social critic of myself."
Much of Avary's output, both as a director and screenwriter, places his literary perspective inside a showy entertainment mold. (Unsurprisingly, he's also a fervent gamer who collects vintage arcade systems and speaks excitedly about the medium's current potential. "If Stanley Kubrick had been alive today and making videogames, he would have made 'Portal,'" Avary said, referencing the recent Valve franchise.) However, until we see Verhoeven's "Jesus of Nazareth," no movie scripted by Avary better demonstrates the marriage of spectacle and historical inquiry better than "Beowulf."
Prior to selling the property and taking a screenwriting credit along with Neil Gaiman, Avary hoped to direct that project for years. (Robert Zemeckis directed.) Having taken a lesser role in that passion project, Avary found himself in a tough headspace even before the 2008 disaster that changed his life. "I began to ask myself, 'Who am I as a filmmaker right now?'" he said. "And I didn't know what I had to say."
Now he has a solution and sounds tentatively hopeful about it. "When you're a writer, you pull your life into your work," he said. "My first love is cinema. That's where I want to be judged."
At that exact moment, a small finch landed immediately beside us, sidling up to Avary's espresso. Avary turned to it and smiled. "Oh, hello!" he said. The bird sat there for a moment and stared back before fluttering off. Avary watched it go. "That's amazing," he said. "What a beautiful bird." For the first time, beneath his sunglasses, his eyes appeared to light up.
Roger Avary To Write & Direct 'Castle Wolfenstein'
Source: Playlist
Man, remember when those "Castle Wolfenstein" games were popular or were cutting edge? Remember when "Return To Castle Wolfenstein" was a big deal? Damn, we feel old. And yet, the brand and franchise continue to endure, and the long-gestating movie looks like it's finally happening, with a rather interesting name set to guide.
His comeback is now official, as Roger Avary (who, in case you missed it, was also recently attached to direct the thriller "Airspace" with John Cusack in the lead) is slated to write and direct "Castle Wolfenstein." Ambitiously being positioned as an action movie in the vein of "Captain America: The First Avenger" and "Inglourious Basterds" (because of its retro futurism and a new take on classic bad guys) the story follows a young US Army Captain and a British Special Agent on a top secret mission to Castle Wolfenstein, where Hitler will be for the unveiling of a new secret weapon. After reaching the Castle, our heroes are confronted by Himmler's SS Paranormal Division and must fight, not only for their survival, but for a mission that could alter the course of the War. Actually, it sounds mostly like "The Raid" but in WWII, with ghosts and monsters and stuff.
Of course, being a videogame-based movie, our optimism isn't high particularly when the narrative thread just reads like a level-by-level walkthrough. But perhaps Avary can put his own spin and sauce on it, and perhaps turn it into something inventive. At any rate, his fans will surely be happy to hear he's back with more than one project cooking. Distributors are already circling 'Wolfenstein,' and the project is being repped at AFM.
Is this the same video game where you get intoxicated and kill your friend in a car wreck?
^ you should write for family guy.
I sincerely hope that was a venomous insult and not a shrouded complement.
Lucky Day, Incarceration, and QT (https://diaboliquemagazine.com/being-roger-avary-lucky-day-incarceration-and-rekindling-his-friendship-with-tarantino/)
Quote
At that time I was at a place they call the Hole, which is twenty-three-hour lockdown. You’re in your cell for twenty-three hours. Then you’re allowed out in the day room for an hour. During that hour you can do things like shower or change the channel for other people or walk around. Making telephone calls was a big thing to do. But the rest of the time you were in your cell.
The lights were on twenty-four hours a day. If you’ve ever seen Oz, Tom Fontana kind of nailed it. He got it right, at least in terms of art direction. You’re on this deck and there are eight cells across on the top and the bottom. You’ve got various factions of the Mexican mafia down below. You’ve got a couple of cells of guys from the Aryan nation up above. There’s a couple of cells of Black Mafia Gang. Some various “lames,” non-gang related inmates… They’re clustering everyone together. So, it’s sort of a tense environment. It’s filled with colorful dialogues to be sure. Suffice it to say, every week or so, in the middle of the night, suddenly the lights go bright—they’re always on at night, but they’re suddenly brighter—and a whole bunch of guards coming rushing in through the door. They open up the doors to all the cells and take everybody out. They line you up against the wall and they strip everybody naked. So, you’re standing there naked with all these various characters. They take all of your clothes away and they’re handing out new clothes. We wore blue outfits with orange tee shirts, underwear, and socks.
While they’re doing that, the guards are ripping apart your cell. They’re going through just looking for everything. They’re looking for tar heroin. They’re looking for cell phones. They’re looking for shanks. They’re looking for pruno, which is jail wine. They’re looking for anything that’s contraband. And in my cell, they were looking for anything I was writing. I found out later that I was put in that unit because I was considered a security threat because I was writing about everything I’d seen. Because, you know, I’m a writer. [Laughs.] That’s what I do. So, I’m observing everything and writing about it. They would come in and basically go through your box, and they’d go through it and they’d dump it. They’d lift your mattress up and throw your sheets all over the place. They’re looking for anything… You know, sometimes a screw goes missing in this place. Or a pen of some kind. They discover that and they’re like, “Holy shit! Someone has a deadly weapon!” They then put the entire facility on lockdown and they begin looking through everybody’s everything. To find a screw.
These guards are under intense pressure themselves, so you’re kind of on the receiving end of that. So they’d go into the cell and they’d be ripping it apart. What they would take from me was any pages I was writing. If I was writing something, it was gone. If I went to the yard, they would take my pages. Anything that I was writing. So I learned after a while that the way around that was to seal an envelope to my attorney, which is against the law for them to open. So the minute the lights went bright and the guards came in, I would seal the envelope. Whatever pages I had written to that point would then get mailed out the next day and go to my daughter, who would then type them up into Final Draft. You’re incredibly productive when you’re on twenty-three-hour lockdown.It’s sort of like the producer or studio executive’s dream for a writer—to chain them to a table with just a golf pencil and paper. [Laughs.] You don’t even have a computer. There’s no distraction. So I was relatively productive. I wrote four scripts and a book.
And I’m hearing this colorful dialogue from all sorts of super colorful characters from a variety of curious backgrounds. [Laughs.] A lot of this was just sort of flowing through the air and became a part of the story. So I was in this environment, and when you’ve fucked up as badly as I had—when you drop an atom bomb on your life and the lives of others, and you’ve created complete and total disarray and irreversible damage—you become (at least I became) very existential about everything. Especially when you’re basically locked into a cube with a window into another cube and that’s it. You’re not looking at trees. You’re not looking at the outside world. Every now and then I had a glimpse of the sky, but you’re basically in a cage. A concrete cage.
oh wow
He delved into that in a very deep way on the BEE podcast 2 or 3 months ago, very riveting.
The Rules of Attraction is a good movie
Agreed!
Quote from: jenkins on January 23, 2020, 03:41:02 PM
The Rules of Attraction is a good movie
The Rules of Attraction is fun to watch and has some brilliant sequences, but as a movie it seems half-finished. It needs to be longer.
Quote from: ©brad on January 23, 2020, 07:18:41 PM
Quote from: jenkins on January 23, 2020, 03:41:02 PM
The Rules of Attraction is a good movie
The Rules of Attraction is fun to watch and has some brilliant sequences, but as a movie it seems half-finished. It needs to be longer.
Maybe someday he'll be able to release Glitterati !
I ache for somebody to adapt Glamorama. One of a handful of novels that I feel
must be filmed.
Rules of Attraction is by far the best realized adaptation of any of BEE's books. American Psycho is a fun sort of "Greatest Hits" version of the book, and Bale's performance perfectly captures that character, but the film ultimately comes up short for me. Less Than Zero is bad, as is The Informers. I second the Glamorama hope, and pray that some kind, able-bodied (and moneyed) soul will come along and zap The Golden Suicides back to life.
Quote from: WorldForgot on January 23, 2020, 07:25:19 PM
One of a handful of novels that I feel must be filmed.
What are the others?
i think you could pull off Glamorama with like a handful of real actors and a waterfall of holograms. i'd watch it. sometimes france is better at combining the practical with the artistic
Quote from: eward on January 23, 2020, 07:33:47 PM
Quote from: WorldForgot on January 23, 2020, 07:25:19 PM
One of a handful of novels that I feel must be filmed.
What are the others?
Ooo, possible thread idea... Could be interesting to read what novels others have in their heads as filmz.