Paul Schrader

Started by Mr. Brown, August 12, 2003, 06:44:02 PM

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godardian

#45
-SNT, did you get your Dominion in the "4 for $20" pre-viewed movies at Hollywood? I got mine that way, sight unseen, 'cos it's basically free as the fourth one. I didn't hate it as much as you did, but I will say that it has got to be Schrader's worst film, and I include Light of Day in that assessment. It wasn't entirely devoid of interesting moments, I didn't think, but that CGI was horrific (as per usual--so rarely does anyone use it properly). Free was definitely the right price.

-Anyone watch Schrader's intro to Pickpocket? That alone makes up for Dominion, and then some. He truly loves movies, even if he's disappointingly capable of making a bad one.

-Has anyone here seen Schrader's Patty Hearst? I'm kind of obsessed with the whole SLA/kidnapping-an-heiress episode--I've read Joan Didion's essay on it, "Girl of the Golden West," dozens of times--and I'd love to see Schrader's take on it.

-Schrader's top 10 of 2005, from Film Comment:

1. Saraband

2. Palindromes

3. Brokeback Mountain

4. The Aristocrats

5. Syriana

6. Thumbsucker

7. 2046

8. Pride and Prejudice

9. Me and You and Everyone We Know

10. The Upside of Anger
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

soixante

I haven't seen Patty Hearst, but I know some people who saw it when it came out and liked it.  Even though I'm a Schrader fan, I skipped Patty Hearst when it came out because it was his first film since Light of Day, a film I didn't care for.  Now I want to see it, but I can't find it in any video stores.
Music is your best entertainment value.

SoNowThen

Quote from: godardian on February 05, 2006, 02:00:30 AM
-SNT, did you get your Dominion in the "4 for $20" pre-viewed movies at Hollywood? I got mine that way, sight unseen, 'cos it's basically free as the fourth one. I didn't hate it as much as you did, but I will say that it has got to be Schrader's worst film, and I include Light of Day in that assessment. It wasn't entirely devoid of interesting moments, I didn't think, but that CGI was horrific (as per usual--so rarely does anyone use it properly). Free was definitely the right price.

-Anyone watch Schrader's intro to Pickpocket? That alone makes up for Dominion, and then some. He truly loves movies, even if he's disappointingly capable of making a bad one.

-Has anyone here seen Schrader's Patty Hearst? I'm kind of obsessed with the whole SLA/kidnapping-an-heiress episode--I've read Joan Didion's essay on it, "Girl of the Golden West," dozens of times--and I'd love to see Schrader's take on it.

Haven't seen PH. I'd like to see Light Of Day, just to see MJ Fox directed by Schrader.
Anyway, I paid full price for my ripoff Prequel dvd. suck suck suck. The CGI I don't blame them, because that was a patchwork just to release the dvd... I don't care how bad that looks. It's just that the movie was terrible. The opening was terrible. The repeated characters were so stupid and cliched and trite. So un-Schrader.

Yeah, his Pickpocket intro was great. I double bought the Pickpocket dvd JUST for that intro. Why didn't they get him to do a commentary on this and Diary...., would have been top.

Godardian, what did you think of Light Sleeper? There are moments of brilliance, but the jury's out...
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

grumpus

#48
Woody Harrelson will play the title role in "The Walker," a film Paul Schrader wrote and will direct in the U.K.
Kristin Scott Thomas, Lauren Bacall, Ned Beatty, Moritz Bleibtreu, Willem Dafoe and Lily Tomlin round out the cast, and shooting begins next week.

Pic is produced by Deepak Nayar ("Bend It Like Beckham"), whose Kintop Pictures is partnered with Ingenious Media, Isle of Man, Parseghian Planco and Willi Baer. Pathe Pictures Intl. is selling overseas territories, and John SlossJohn Sloss is brokering the domestic deal.

Harrelson will play an escort of society ladies in D.C. Schrader said the character is his vision of what his "American Gigolo" protag would have become when he hit 50.

"His gifts are now more social than sexual. He's this society walker who has his lady friends, and a boyfriend on the side," Schrader said.

While Harrelson seems a surprise to play the gay lothario, Schrader said he had elements that made him ideal.

"His wittiness is the initial point of entry for the viewer into a story which takes a dark turn. This will be quite a transformation for him, from the hairpiece and his manner to the clothes he wears," Schrader said.

Harrelson is in London completing his stage run in "The Night of the Iguana

MacGuffin

Goldblum gets "Resurrected" for Bleiberg

Jeff Goldblum has signed on for the title role in "Adam Resurrected," a World War II Holocaust drama that Paul Schrader is directing.

"Resurrected" is based on the acclaimed 2000 book by Israeli novelist Yoram Kaniuk.

It centers on Adam Stein, a former circus clown who was spared the gas chamber so that he might entertain thousands of Jews as they marched to their deaths. He becomes the ringleader at an asylum in the Negeve desert populated solely by Holocaust survivors and struggles to makes sense of the world. The novel has been translated into 20 languages.

Production company Bleiberg Entertainment is eyeing a spring 2007 production start date for the film, which will be shot in Germany, Romania and Israel.

Goldblum, whose screen credits include "The Fly" "The Big Chill" "Jurassic Park" and "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou," is starring in "Raines," an upcoming NBC series, and next appears on the big screen in Barry Levinson's comedy "Man of the Year."

Schrader's directorial credits include "American Gigolo," "The Comfort of Strangers" "Affliction" and "Auto Focus."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

Weak2ndAct

Odd... that's the exact same plot as the infamous Jerry Lewis project that will never see the light of day, 'The Day the Clown Cried' (I think that's the title).

pete

yeah I remember someone writing to ebert way back in the days asking him what's the difference between the day the clown cried and life is beautiful, ebert said, the day the clown cried is leading children to the chamber, while life is beautiful is trying to save the boy.
or something like that.  this sounds different though, this sounds like it's focusing on the asylum rather than the camp.  most holocaust movies all sound pretty similar, they only have a few angles, but I'm sure this story can be very different from the jerry lewis one.
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

Pubrick

jerry lewis must be rolling in his bed.
under the paving stones.

MacGuffin

Quote from: Weak2ndAct on July 11, 2006, 11:17:34 PM
Odd... that's the exact same plot as the infamous Jerry Lewis project that will never see the light of day, 'The Day the Clown Cried' (I think that's the title).

Quote from: pete on July 12, 2006, 04:07:29 AM
yeah I remember someone writing to ebert way back in the days asking him what's the difference between the day the clown cried and life is beautiful, ebert said, the day the clown cried is leading children to the chamber, while life is beautiful is trying to save the boy.
or something like that.  this sounds different though, this sounds like it's focusing on the asylum rather than the camp.  most holocaust movies all sound pretty similar, they only have a few angles, but I'm sure this story can be very different from the jerry lewis one.

Source: Hollywood Elsewhere --

"We've had Life is Beautiful and Jakob the Liar," a Guardian item reads, "and now the list of movies mixing clowning with the Holocaust is to grow with Adam Resurrected, a Paul Schrader film that will adapt a book by Israeli novelist Yoram Kaniuk." The item says "the story [is about] on a Jewish circus clown" -- to be played by Jeff Goldblum -- "who is kept alive by the Nazis to entertain his fellow Jews as they march to the gas chambers."

"Obviously-no-shit-Sherlock, this calls to mind that early '70s Jerry Lewis fiasco called The Day the Clown Cried, an unseen, never-distributed film that Lewis starred in and directed. The dark drama is described by a Jerry Lewis website as being "about a German clown who was arrested by the Gestapo, interred in a concentration camp, and used to march Jewish children into the ovens."

But maybe they're not quite so similar. An Amazon.com description of the Kaniuk book says it's about "a former circus clown named Adam Stein who was spared the gas chamber so that he might entertain thousands of other Jews as they marched to their deaths," but it takes place after World War II and is about how Stein "is now the ringleader at an asylum in the Negev desert populated solely by Holocaust survivors...alternately more brilliant than the doctors and more insane than any of the patients, Stein struggles wildly to make sense of a world in which the line between sanity and madness has been irreversibly blurred."

Lewis's Clown flick has long been regarded as on the worst all-time debacles and pratfalls ever suffered by a major "name" director, which Lewis definitely was in the late '50s and '60s.

"In 1971, producer Nate Waschberger asked Lewis to direct and star in The Day the Clown Cried, based on Joan O'Brien's book by the same name, about a German clown who was arrested by the Gestapo, interred in a concentration camp, and used to march Jewish children into the ovens," the site's description reads.

"Jerry lost close to 40 pounds to play the role. The shooting began in Stockholm, but Wachsberger not only ran out of money to complete the film, but he failed to pay Joan O'Brien the money she was owed for the rights to the story. Jerry was forced to finish the picture with his own money.

"The film has been tied up in litigation ever since, and all of the parties involved have never been able to reach an agreeable settlement. Jerry hopes to someday complete the film, which remains to this day, a significant expression of cinematic art, suspended in the abyss of international litigation."

According to Film Buff Online, Harry Shearer, one of the very small handful of people who has actually seen Clown in rough-cut form, described it thusly in an interview on "The Howard Stern Show": "If you say `Jerry Lewis is a clown in a concentration camp' and you make that movie up in your head, it's so much better than that. And by better I mean worse. You're stunned."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

MacGuffin

Paul Schrader: Bollywood, here I come
'Taxi Driver' scribe leaves Hollywood for 'Extreme City'
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Paul Schrader is taking a taxi to Bollywood.

Saying he feels the U.S. film market has become "barren," the writer of classics "Taxi Driver" and "Raging Bull" is packing his bags for Mumbai to write and direct the Bollywood action movie "Extreme City."

"I've been getting indie movies made for 20 years," he said. "But I take a good look around and what I see is a barren, barren place -- in terms of the financial community, in terms of audiences, in terms of distribution. It's cold out there."

In India, on the other hand, he says there are ways to gain both creative freedom and audiences.

"City" is a cross-cultural tale that will center on an American man who travels to India to help resolve a kidnapping case for his father-in-law, only to get caught up in a gangster plot.

There likely will be some musical numbers, and dialogue will be spoken in English and Hindi. Schrader is working on the script.

While the story combines various elements, it's "not a Masala movie," Schrader said, referring to the term for a kitchen-sink Bollywood film that tosses in action, romance, family drama and other genres in one big stew.

"City" will be produced by Anubhav Sinha, the noted Indian director (he most recently directed the Bollywood action movie "Cash") who is looking to grow his producing slate and evolve from a more action orientation.

Schrader and Sinha are in talks with a number of Bollywood stars; the movie could get greenlighted at a bigger Bollywood studio or go the indie route.

Schrader, who made his name as a writer on classics like "Raging Bull" and as a writer-director on Oscar winner "Affliction," is the latest film figure seeking to build a bridge to India.

One of the fall's nascent hits is "Slumdog Millionaire," Danny Boyle's romantic-action tale set in India. Indie director Jennifer Lynch is making the India-set mystery "Hisss." Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment has a deal with Indian entertainment company UTV to produce two movies.

And DreamWorks is, of course, now financed by India-based Reliance Big Entertainment.

Still, Schrader is the first major contemporary U.S. writer or director to migrate to Bollywood, a trend he said could continue given the trajectory of both film cultures. "Old Bollywood will never go away," he said, "but it's changing. Movies can be shorter than two hours. There doesn't need to be singing and dancing."

Schrader is promoting "Adam Resurrected," a Holocaust drama starring Jeff Goldblum that he directed about a German-Jewish performer who survives the war by performing for a Nazi commander.

"At first I thought, 'The world has a lot of Holocaust movies. It doesn't need one from Paul Schrader.' But I started to read the script and got 65 pages in and thought, 'I need to do this.' It's such an original story."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

MacGuffin

Paul Schrader looks to India
Writer-director teams with Bollywood on 'Xtrme'
Source: Variety

A year after reports surfaced that Paul Schrader had abandoned Hollywood, the writer-director has been busy merging East and West.

Schrader's latest film, "Xtrme City," is a bilingual collaboration with Bollywood scribe Mushtaq Shiekh, creative director of media conglom Sahara One, with financing from former sports agent Dwight Manley.

Pic, budgeted at about $10 million, will start casting soon, with Shiekh seeking marquee thesps from India and the West.

Story centers around a former U.S. ranger who joins forces with an Indian commando to rescue the ranger's sister-in-law, who's been kidnapped by a crime lord in Mumbai's underworld.

Schrader said he was approached with a proposal for a Hindi film when he attended last fall's Osian Film Festival in New Delhi.

"I didn't think it was very good, so I came up with a better film," he said.

Schrader and Shiekh are working with producers David Weisman ("Kiss of the Spider Woman") and Anubhav Sinha ("Dus") on the pic, which is aiming for a late 2010 shoot in Mumbai, New York and the Persian Gulf. They hope for a 2011 release. As with many Bollywood films, "Xtrme City" will integrate thriller, drama and comedy elements, Schrader said. Like most Hindi cinema, the movie will be family-friendly, which means that while there may be violence, the sex will be downplayed, and there will be song-and-dance routines.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

SiliasRuby



This is an intricate portrayal of a writer's soft and turbulent life done with elegance and grace. He doesn't stereotype or condescend to this world at all. The film is so seem-less it doesn't have the impression of being made by an american. It does have the touch of Paul though, don't get me wrong and I'm all the better for seeing it.
The Beatles know Jesus Christ has returned to Earth and is in Los Angeles.

When you are getting fucked by the big corporations remember to use a condom.

There was a FISH in the perkalater!!!

My Collection

Pubrick

your reviews aren't really reviews.

you're just reporting that you saw the film.
under the paving stones.

Neil

Quote from: ρ on January 04, 2010, 10:28:31 PM
your reviews aren't really reviews.

you're just reporting that you saw the film.

Dear P,

Stick to tactful posts that only take you a couple minutes to construct.

This approach isn't working, although this is on the edge of constructive criticism.
it's not the wrench, it's the plumber.

Pubrick

your posts aren't really posts.

you're just assembling random words.

and you don't know how to use a comma.

EDIT: you fixed it. well done!
under the paving stones.