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KISS KISS BANG BANG
Release date: 5th October
Director: Shane Black
In KISS KISS BANG BANG, a breezy take on writer-director Shane Black's trademark buddy action/comedy oeuvre, a petty thief (Robert Downey Jr.) is brought to Los Angeles for an unlikely audition and finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation, along with his high school dream girl (Michelle Monaghan) and a detective (Val Kilmer) who has been training him for his upcoming role.
Clip Here (http://www.festival-cannes.fr/films/fiche_film.php?langue=6002&partie=video&id_film=4254587&cmedia=6607)
AICN review Here (http://www.aintitcoolnews.com/display.cgi?id=20365)
i'm really really hyped up to see this after that review.
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Trailer here. (http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?id=1373813&sdm=web&qtw=480&qth=300)
Damn this looks fun. Am I the only one who gets a slight Elmore Leonard feeling from the trailer?
Quote from: killafilmAm I the only one who gets a slight Elmore Leonard feeling from the trailer?
yes, but only by default. because judging from this thread you're the only one who watched it.
i am still psyched though.
and I didn't know that Shane Black was the man behind:
"Wolfman's got nards!" :yabbse-thumbup:
Quote from: killafilmand I didn't know that Shane Black was the man behind:
"Wolfman's got nards!" :yabbse-thumbup:
I didn't either. NOW I AM DEFINITELY PSYCHED FOR THIS MOVIE!
This is a future fratboy classic, I think. It's exactly like the stuff Black used to write - funny, violent, excessive, misogynistic, etc - except on a lower budget and with better actors and lots and lots of PoMo twists like having Downey stop the film to talk to the audience. It's entertaining, but not great.
He should stop making movies and instead focus his time to getting the monster squad on dvd.
ghostboy you're totally harshing my buzz for this, but you've kind of made me want to see Thumbsucker.
i've never been to a frat. i went to an art college that didn't even have frats, but i LOVED this movie anyways. LOVED it. i dont know what i was expecting and i cant even remember if i watched the trailer for this. i really only read a few reviews and for some reason though it sounded really good so i put it high on my must-see radar. my girlfriend, who also LOVED it, had never even heard of it before tonite.
a little history: though it might seem i'm probably a big fan of black's type of work (or maybe it wouldnt, i dunno what the hell anyone thinks of me) it actually goes a little something like this. lethal weapon i have maybe seen once years ago and probably only on tv, it was not one that i grew up with. last boy scout and long kiss goodnight i've never even seen. so really i know shane black from monster squad, which is one of my favorite childhood films. after watching this, i'm inclined to go back and watch all his stuff though.
the film is really assured and confident in its directorial style. like, i would've never known black was a writer and not a wr/dr. it was not overly stylistic and showy but it has a simple style that really works. i also would've thought that it were a newer director because it does seem like the 'arrival' of a talent, even if it is 20 years after his first arrival. his voice is so different and unique. i guess going in i expected a sort of noir that maybe was overly retro-ish, but this really wasnt that. it was really 2005.
i dont know if any of that means anything, but i'll just say it was hilarious and unexpected and great and a little indescribable. and watching it really made me think 'damn, where has this guy been? and why isnt he making more movies?'
A- probably my 2nd favorite film of 2005 (so far).
I didn't realize he wrote Last Boy Scout. That bit of info is a ticket purchase for this movie. Mod, watch Last Boy Scout. Expect nothing but beautiful hilarious trash.
I Can't Wait. I've been slobbering at the mouth from just reading all I can about this movie and hope I see it soon.
Skip The Long Kiss Goodnight... Team Harlin and Davis killed that bad boy.
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Shane Black is so cool. He’s worked on some of my favorite movies from my youth such as Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout and made millions doing it. But all that money hasn’t erased or even diluted the real artist in him. Black writes down and dirty noir where men punch other men in the nose sending bone shards into their brain and when a guy is hitting on a girl and she slams the door in his face, his finger gets cut off in the door frame.
That last bit is from Black’s directorial debut Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang starring Robert Downey Jr as a small time hood Harry Lockhart who stumbles [literally] into an acting audition and ends up in LA where he gets caught up in some shithead’s conspiracy. Now he has team up with a Perry Van Shrike, a gay private eye, [Val Kilmer] to try and make sure his ex-flame, Harmony Faith Lane [Michelle Monaghan]. don’t stop breathing.
Daniel Robert Epstein: I loved Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, it’s so amazing. How long has this movie been inside your head?
Shane Black: This is just the kitchen sink version of all the accumulated private eye stories that I stuffed into my head from childhood on. But I think this one focuses particularly on a specific type of hard-boiled 50’s/60’s private eye with a modern twist on it. There’s a fictional character in the movie, named Johnny Gossamer, that is a detective from that period and everyone’s trying to emulate. One character is a gay tough guy and the other one is kind of a schlub who tries to do the tough style and can’t even do it. So basically it’s contrasting the modern attempts of people to live up to the private eyes of olden days, when they’re pitifully inept and unable to fulfill the shoes they’re trying to. Everyone’s failing because reality keeps slapping them down. That’s what I came into it with.
I think when I was a kid I always wanted to be a tough guy and I always got slapped down but I would still read the books. I would still desperately bask in this certain fantasy of what if I had the cool and the grace under pressure that these guys had. But I know if I ever really tried it, I’d get my ass kicked.
DRE: What about Joel Silver? Is he a tough guy?
Black: Joel’s not necessarily a tough guy, but boy he understands tough movies. I think like me, he’s not just a fan of action movies. I think he became sort of paired with that label. He likes thriller movies with a really tough minded protagonist. The movies that have done best for him have combined action with a lot of character. As much he makes money off the Matrix films and these $100 million dollar extravaganzas, I honestly believe that he’s just as interested in a small time crime movie with real rough edges to it and raw dialogue and a tough protagonist with a real pragmatic sense. Joel and I are both drawn to that character.
DRE: I’ve been to film school and the scriptwriting teachers always told us to avoid phone conversations in movies. What’s interesting is you incorporated cell phones into this movie. Were you aware of that or was that part of what you were trying to do?
Black: It’s part of what I was trying to do. The magic words from childhood that you expect to come from God on high, or from his tortured memory, at the end of the movie, they end up coming from a cell phone. That’s the whole idea. Now in LA you can’t walk anywhere without people barking at each other on these damn phones. I’ve talked to mystery writers and they’ve agreed that cell phones ruined everything because they made it harder to write mysteries. If they’re like “Something’s happening. We’ve got to get to a phone.” Now everybody has a phone. You can’t have that race against time. So things get harder and hopefully better.
DRE: Did you have a chance to see Sin City yet this year?
Black: Yes.
DRE: I loved that movie and I love the comic book as well. But what I liked about Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, is that it wasn’t about the huge government takeover of the city. It was about this small time schmuck and what an asshole this small time rich guy was. Was it always going to be such a small-scale private eye story?
Black: Yeah, I think so. The template on which this was based exists to tell stories that are hard-boiled puzzles but not necessarily epic. The 50’s/60’s private eye stories had this sort of formula. In Raymond Chandler stories, a guy walks in and hires him for a case and another guy walks in hires him for another case and they end up being connected. One is a very small thing and the other is a swindle of some sort, but not necessarily huge. The Rockford Files was a great example. With that it was just some white collar asshole trying to make a corporate bundle or trying to get a lawsuit withdrawn. It’s very crass and everyday sort of crimes. There’s a period where the mob came in and then it was all about the private eye against the various gangsters and mobsters. I never liked that as much. I always liked the more classical structure of just someone who’s fighting one guy who’s committing a crime while executing this elaborate swindle or hoax.
DRE: I always knew that a film like The Last Boy Scout was really a film noir. But in the hands of Tony Scott, that’s probably not going to happen. Rewatching Lethal Weapon I realized that’s very much a noir as well. Were you always writing in this style, but it was other directors changing it?
Black: Yeah. I think this is the first time this style has emerged sort of unscathed from the development process because the only guy developing the script with me was Joel Silver who also enjoys the same sort of material. I like a lot of what Tony did with Last Boy Scout and I like Lethal Weapon a lot but there is a darker side to the more melancholy quality. But I realized that people would rather just cut that out and make it more action with less noir. Look at Lethal Weapon 2. He has a girl who is brutally murdered. He’s crazy. By number three and four it’s just a Wild West show. There’s not a touch of noir in it.
DRE: Four was bizarre because he’s just walking into that Chinese guy’s restaurant and just smashing things.
Black: He’s not even a hero anymore. He’s just an annoying guy. He’s an asshole.
DRE: And a lunatic too on top of that.
Black: Yeah, but at least you had the sense before that this wasn’t just Freebie and the Bean. They were just going around beating people up and being assholes and that’s what I tried to avoid. Let them be a pragmatic asshole. I don’t even care if he has to do something really horrible, but make it for a reason, not just because he’s a dick.
DRE: What was the process on the Kiss Kiss script?
Black: I started out to write something that I didn’t want to be an action picture. So it was going to be a very dark LA romance movie. As it turned out, it was getting to be so dark that people I’d show it to said, “Well, the scenes are okay. We sort of like it. It’s a little too dark to be a romantic comedy. It feels like you’re sort of floundering a bit.”
DRE: Wow.
Black: One of the people telling me that was James L. Brooks, who I trust. Also I was really trying to emulate Brooks in a way. He said, “Instead of jumping so far away from action movies in that you’re trying to do romantic comedy. What if you do something more like Chinatown which is still very suspenseful, with a lot of twists and turns but it’s just not an action movie.” I thought to myself, “That sounds about right. Why not do something and make it a murder mystery with romance in it and stylize it and make it classy?” But I didn’t have to go so far away from what I do in my desperate attempt to get away from action that I actually overcompensated and ended up in Tacoma.
DRE: Were you always going to direct this script?
Black: Yes, that was the idea.
DRE: When did you sit down and say, “You know what? I’m going to direct now.”?
Black: I didn’t realize until probably after I’d made The Long Kiss Goodnight that those experiences were less satisfying to me than I needed. I wasn’t getting as much of a kick out of writing something because I don’t like writing. It’s really torturous. When it’s done, it’s great. When it’s going well, it’s great. But for the most part, it’s just like pulling teeth. Finally getting to that place where I said “I want to direct” was a wake up call. I always thought directing was the fun part and I’ve just been doing the bad part and it turns out that I was right. It is the reward for all the hard work and in my case directing on paper because I tend to do that anyway. So getting it up on its feet and seeing it come to life is the gravy. I just realized that around the millennium so I set out to write something for me to direct. I felt stale and that I needed to reinvent and start over. I’d written a bunch of scripts in the action genre and made a lot of money and I felt like “Okay. That’s good. Now what? Make more money? Write more action movies? No. Try something.” Hopefully my next picture will even be farther away from action movies. I want to try to keep pushing to something that challenges me a little more each time. But not something so far off my sensibility that I’m dooming myself. For instance, I couldn’t do a period drama about some Spanish queen.
DRE: Oh please don’t.
Black: Or some historical romance. I’d be floundering and totally insane.
DRE: Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer are two of my favorite actors. What was their different energies like and how did that contribute to the chemistry?
Black: I think they both have their own process. There was this mutual respect when they encountered each other. I think each one was very aware of the lofty pedigree that they were going up against her. It wasn’t like Val said, “Oh. I’ll just get up, go to the set and hang out.” He’d be like, “Shit. I’m acting with Robert Downey Jr. I better put on my game face.” Robert similarly thought, “Val Kilmer. Jesus.” They were very aware that the other guy was going to come to play the game. I think there was even a little bit of competition where they were going at each other and making some sparks just because they really respected the fact that there was a great actor working opposite them. You can’t really find two more acclaimed actors just for their pure craftsmanship or talent. It’s always everything else that people talk about in the bad sense.
DRE: Right, when they’re good, there’s almost no one better. .
Black: I think that together as one, they’re almost the star of the movie. It’s not that Robert Downey Jr. is in it and Val Kilmer is in it. The star of the movie is the fact that these two guys, who have never worked together, are now doing a picture together. That is exciting enough to get me out of my chair and go to the movies.
DRE: How was your confidence level with directing for the first time?
Black: I didn’t have time to worry about it or be afraid. I just had to get the job done. We had 35 days which is such a small amount of time. So I just put my head down and stayed relentlessly on track. I tried to be as flexible as I could to incorporate changes and the problems that would come up. I also wanted time enough for new ideas during a scene to emerge in the staging of it and the execution. At the same time, I had done a six month preparation where I ate, slept, breathed nothing but film. So I came in feeling pretty competent that I had at least a working knowledge of what I was doing. Couple that with 20 years spent on movie sets.
DRE: With this being your first movie and your lead actress has a nude scene, how was directing Michelle Monaghan?
Black: That’s the one good thing about my acting training back at UC. I don’t get shocked. Nothing like that bothers me especially if you’re as open and kind as Michelle is. Also I’m steeped in the history of theater and acting. That sounds pretentious, huh?
DRE: [laughs] Yeah it did.
Black: I don’t get shocked by the things actors do or want. I’m comfortable on a set. I’ve been on sets for 20 years. I’m not going to get freaked out because there’s a woman there. In fact, I’m going to try to make her feel as safe as possible and encourage her. Give her permission to do her best work by doing my best work and showing her that it's okay.
DRE: Speaking of acting, when I told a friend of mine that I was going to be interviewing you, he immediately went into the big vagina joke from Predator.
Black: Oh yeah. Once again nearly 20 years ago.
DRE: I’m not going to bug you too much about this old stuff. But that’s probably your biggest acting role.
Black: I was an actor in college. I directed plays and I would act in plays in college. I’m a better actor now than I was then because I understand more. But I hate the auditioning and the standing in line. I don’t particularly like writing roles for myself. If someone came to me and said, “Here’s a role. You don’t have to stand in line. We want you to do it. We’ll pay for a coach if you want a coach.” I’d say, “Fine. Thanks.” I just don’t like all the bullshit to get there. But it feels almost unfair to those poor actors who have to stand in line and fight if I go into the process and I’m half-assed.
DRE: Just a couple of weeks ago I got to speak with Joss Whedon about his movie Serenity.
Black: Yes, he’s a really talented guy.
DRE: Like you, not only is he a successful screenwriter turned director but he also was a big time rewriter on movies. I’m sure you guys even rewrote some of the same scripts at some point.
Black: We’ve never shared a rewrite, but probably.
DRE: Some of his scripts have been treated like hell by other rewriters, directors and producers. I asked Joss if after finally directing a feature did it make him understand why those directors and producers might have been so harsh on his screenplays. I’m asking you the same question.
Black: The answer is no. Sometimes what they did was better than what I had on paper. But in the instances where people really just went off in a new direction entirely and didn’t adhere to what I wanted, without mentioning names, I thought, “Well, that wasn’t a budgetary decision. That’s just temperament. That’s just sensibility.” My sensibility is different than some people’s. I think the tendency has been to buy my scripts because they have some wisecracks in them and say, “Yeah. It’s got some great, funny wisecracks. Let’s just keep those. Just get rid of the dark stuff.” That’s been the sin of omission that I have regretted through the years. It’s not like they say, “You can’t write.” But the minute they buy it, they go about sanitizing it to some extent. That’s okay because sometimes they even make it better than what I had intended. Other times it becomes worse. Now I’m just happy to take the blame, if it could’ve been better in the hands of a Tony Scott, but I managed to screw it up instead, then at least it’s my fault. Tony would’ve actually been a great director for this piece because I think his sensibility is very good. He’s also been the kindest to me in print about Last Boy Scout. He always talks about the script and he says that he likes the movie, but it could’ve been better. He’s a real sweet guy.
DRE: From what I read about you and the story behind writing Lethal Weapon, were you ever surprised that you’ve made it as far as you have?
Black: Yeah, back in 1996 I was really shocked. By that time, I had done Long Kiss Goodnight and I kept getting more and more money and all this stuff. Since then I’ve come to think that it’s not important to really get as far as you can go in terms of the business, I just would rather find a niche that makes me happy. I’m not pushing to do a $100 million picture. If I directed low budget movies that were constantly challenging to me and each one cost $15 to 20 million dollars I would be perfectly happy. I don’t have to push to get all the way to the top of the business heap because I’ll leave that for the people who are more ambitious. I’m ambitious but insofar as storytelling is concerned, not about acquiring more power.
DRE: In the past year I’ve gotten to speak to Zak Penn and hear a bit about what went down around The Last Action Hero and all that. He’s now become a big script rewriter and he tries to get in touch with the original writers of the screenplays he’s working on, did you ever do that?
Black: I tried with Zak and he was an asshole. I invited him into the office. I sat down and said, “I’ve got a new take on this, but I wanted to let you know because this is your script.” I changed a lot of things. The movie is not one I’m fond of. There’s a script that’s good that I liked a lot and Zak hated. I had a couple of choices. I could change the entire script back to the way Zak wanted it or I could do what my job was, which is writing as good a script as I was capable of writing.
Zak for years afterwards has been all over me in the press about what an asshole I am. I have no idea why he continues to badmouth me years later. He won’t leave it alone.
DRE: Do you rewrite scripts anymore?
Black: No, not anymore. I’m thinking more in terms of directing projects now. Discovering directing really was discovering dessert. Fuck the vegetables.
DRE: So you don’t think you’ll be writing screenplays for other people anymore?
Black: I don’t see it. There’s too little time. A screenplay is such an investment for me of effort and time. It’s not just six weeks I put in. I know people who do that. I know Joss has done that. He’s good at it. He can come in for six weeks and walk away and there will be a script that’s really better. But, for me, unless I take the whole thing apart and start over, it’s difficult for me to do polishes and things like that. I’d rather work on my own stuff.
DRE: What are you writing right now?
Black: I’m trying to write an elegant horror thriller. When I say elegant, I mean there’s no slasher or chainsaw or anything like that. I want to do something that’s a bit more freakish, but not in that kind of 80’s way. I’m trying to go back to my favorite horror films, which tended to be more in the 70’s like The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby.
DRE: Are you going for a religious horror story?
Black: I’m not sure yet. There’s no character who’s a priest, but I may in fact end up looking at it and saying, “The message of this is almost religious.” I don’t know. Certainly good and evil.
DRE: Are you going to be breaking clichés again like you did with Kiss Kiss?
Black: I think if I did it the way that I did in Kiss Kiss, then it would be a cliché because I’d be doing it again. I’ve got to figure out a brand new way to get juice out of the horror genre. Not even new juice, just capture the things that I like and leave behind the things that I don’t. I’m curious to see how I would do a horror film because I love horror films so much, but I only like specific things. It would be like a banquet where you get to pick the stuff you like and leave the rest.
DRE: What do you do for fun now?
Black: I just travel for fun. I’m doing a vacation, which is also disguised as sort of a promotional tour for the film. I just got back for Turkey. I’ll be going to London and Madrid. That’s what I do for fun. I don’t like LA What do you do for fun here? I can’t find anything.
DRE: In LA? I’m in New York. I can’t stand LA.
Black: I used to go out in LA a lot and then it lost its luster. I can’t figure out what to do anymore here that seems remotely interesting.
Quote from: SiliasRubyI've been slobbering at the mouth from just reading all I can about this movie and hope I see it soon.
GROSS silias!
Quote from: MacGuffinDRE: What are you writing right now?
Black: I'm trying to write an elegant horror thriller. When I say elegant, I mean there's no slasher or chainsaw or anything like that. I want to do something that's a bit more freakish, but not in that kind of 80's way. I'm trying to go back to my favorite horror films, which tended to be more in the 70's like The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby.
i like how many people i'm reading about who seem to be interested in making a good horror film. i think a lot of interesting talent realizes there is a need for them, so i guess it's just a matter of who steps up to the plate first. between tarantino, romanek, jonze/kaufman, etc. it seems like it's just a matter of time...
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as far as KKBB goes, let me just extend a pubrick-esque recommendation and say DONT WATCH THE TRAILER. it gives away more than you want to know. just know its good and go see it. it will improve the experience for you 10 fold.
i wasn't expecting this movie to be so FUNNY! second best time i've had at the movies all year.
10 Questions: Shane Black
Writer/Director of Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.
Having established himself penning actioners such as Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout, and The Long Kiss Goodnight, screenwriter Shane Black went head-to-head with the bully that is Hollywood. Taking a punch or two, he shepherded his new movie from the director's chair. The result, he says, is "the biggest accomplishment of my career." Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, starring Val Kilmer, Robert Downey Jr., and Michelle Monaghan, opens today.
Earlier today, Shane was game to give our 10 questions a go...
1. What is your favorite piece of music, past or present?
Probably my favorite piece of music, as an album taken as a whole, is Bruce Springsteen's Greetings from Asbury Park. I just think it's incredibly pure. It's a sound that sort of broke new ground, and I think it paved the way for a hundred people that sound very similar. In the transition of rock & roll from the early '60s into the '70s, it just changed things. It was the sort of sound that just really spoke to me at the time. I played the album until it fell apart.
We were going over so many songs for Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. There was so much music that could be used. Among thing things we went with, I'm actually kind of fond of the piece of music at the end credits that [Robert] Downey sings, because it fits so well. It's kind of an easy listening-type, upbeat piece. You listen to it again and again and it sort of grows on you. It's called "Broken." Kudos to Downey, because the album The Futurist is actually very listenable.
2. What is your favorite film?
My favorite film is The Exorcist. That always instantly comes to mind. It's absolutely pure filmmaking that holds-up faultlessly today as it did the second it was released. With The Excorcist, and something sort of like The Sixth Sense nowadays, I really think they're sort of dramas with ghosts or demons. They're emotional stories that would hold-up even if you took out everything supernatural. You're left with this story about devastated people. Those two movies, in particular, haunt me, especially The Exorcist.
There's that one scene in The Exorcist, where the young priest visits his mother. There's these three cuts that show him with her in her brownstone in New York; he has to walk up five flights of stairs; he's taking her leg; and then he's just sleeping, listening to some Italian radio station. All this, just three quick cuts that establish him in her apartment talking to her, say more about real life and real people, and just ground you in the reality of the story. So, by the time the actual supernatural stuff enters, you're so assured of its reality that you're with it 100 percent.
I prefer the original version. Every six months or so I watch this movie again just to remind myself. It's one of those touchstone pictures.
3. What is your favorite TV program, past or current?
The most influential TV program to me, although when I look back it was probably not the best, was I Spy. It established a kind of banter, a kind of camaraderie – even, you might say, in a kind of flippant way – between a black and white duo that became sort of a staple. It influenced Lethal Weapon and Last Boy Scout. Just [Bill] Cosby and [Robert] Culp, together, was unlike anything else I'd seen, or that was being done on TV. It wasn't Iornside. It wasn't Mannix. It was so much more about a sense of genuine friendship between these two guys. It's at once stoic, but also heartfelt. They're funny together, and there's this real deadpan quality to the humor, where their jokes are all throwaways. They don't stop for the punch line, they just keep moving on. And that's exactly the kind of dialogue that I love so much.
More recently, the show that's got to be my favorite is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (He laughs) Silly as it sounds. It's just so well-crafted, and they care so much about it. It's an example of a genre piece that takes itself seriously – the same thing the old Star Trek did – with feeling that the people in the driver's seat really cared as if they're doing Shakespeare, but they're working within a genre that's not particularly respected.
4. What do you feel has been your most important professional accomplishment to date?
I would say, the most arduous, difficult and profound challenge that I've managed to meet – and hopefully it will work-out well, since I did overcome it – was coming back from a few years of silence to a town that wanted to completely dismiss me, and getting my movie made... and directing it. Just getting Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang off the ground. Coming out of nowhere. Writing it. Peddling it. Getting rejected. Finding Joel Silver. Getting rejected by big actors. And finally, desperately, appealing for a version of this film that's the $15 million version. Making it for a price. Getting actors that no one else wanted to work with, who cut their price, to come and be brilliant in this film. Finding this young girl, Michelle Monaghan. And getting it made through all the various hoops and obstacles we had to overcome. It's got to be the biggest accomplishment of my career.
5. Which project do you feel didn't live up to what you envisioned?
I was disappointed by The Monster Squad. Not that it was ineptly directed or because the acting was bad, or anything like that. It was simply that the budget was such that the powers-that-be took a script that was 120 pages, and reduced it to something like 94. Part of the thinking was that kids can't sit still for longer than 80 minutes anyhow. But what you end-up with is a movie that lacks 25 pages, nearly half-an-hour of story. Maybe this is just sort of proprietary, but I really feel like that movie is just sort of the bare bones. It's almost like, if it was fleshed-out and given enough money, I thought that picture could've really been my best script, my best work.
6. What is your favorite book?
That would probably have to be… there's a children's book, and it's really schmaltzy, but… it's a perennial classic called The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. It's brilliant. The message of it, stated in simple words and read, I would say, in under 5 to 10 minutes, is one of the most jarring and beautifully-told stories. It appeals to adults. And it can make children cry, but in a good way, because it begins our appreciation of a sense of sadness. It's a simple children's story, but by the end you feel like you've been punched in the stomach by the profoundness of its message.
7. If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be?
I would change the fear factor. In this town, everyone's so afraid. It's so negative. Everyone's so afraid of losing their jobs and keeping their prospects. It leads to things like... the minute something goes wrong on a project, you just watch people jumping ship like rats off a sinking boat. Instead of standing by, instead of saying 'Relax, let's put our heads to the grindstone and we'll get this right'... no… instead they just abandon it. People who loved something one day will suddenly not recognize it, or be overcome by complete, implausible deniability. It leads to negativity. Like people are prizing, almost cherishing their cynicism as though it's something we should hold within ourselves as a virtue. It's like walking out of a movie theater and saying, 'Ugh! That movie's not going to make a dime! There's so much smiling!' And it's like, really? You've said something really negative in Hollywood. Gee, that must have been hard for you? (He laughs) I can't believe you live in LA and you're negative, cynical and sarcastic. What an accomplishment! It's so easy to be that way in Hollywood. It's a real, kind of, petty or snide or snarky attitude. Some people call it schadenfreude – joy in other people's misfortune. I think that that negative energy comes from fear. It's not that they're mean people, it's that they're afraid people. I would make Hollywood much more positive. (He laughs)
You can try and make people happy. I'll say, what makes me happy about making movies is, every once in a while through movies we find a kind of honesty. There's an honesty in fiction that's as effective or even more powerful than the honesty of our lives. We can find something that's genuinely true, like a chemistry between people or a statement that speaks to an audience. But it's something that just isn't bulls***. What makes me happy is when you see a movie and something ignites on screen, and you realize 'Wow! That's acting, but that really wasn't acting. What we just saw was real.' They weren't really dying or fighting for their lives, but in that moment they were. Because good acting isn't acting, it's real.
8. Who – or what – would you say has had the biggest influence on your career?
It's hard to pick one, but if I had to, I would say my brother Terry. He wrote short stories, and now he writes short stories for fiction magazines. He also has done a couple paperback novels, and things like that. He was my ideal. He was my idol growing up. I worshiped at the shrine of his creativity. When I went to college and started taking creative writing classes, I wasn't afraid, I wasn't intimidated because Terry had taken the class. I lived it through him, vicariously. He was my role model and my salvation.
9. What is your next project?
What I have to look forward to after this is perhaps the DVD commentary [for Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang]. Then it's going to be my job to sit down and really start to focus on what comes next. Another directing project, if I can swing it. I think my next project is leaning towards being a take on everything I love in horror films. I have a 30-page treatment for a horror script I'm working on. That's always where it starts. So, we'll see where it takes me.
10. What is the one project that you've always wanted to do, but have yet to be able to?
I guess the project I've been waiting to do is one that speaks to me without resorting to adventure, or thrills per se, but where the suspense comes out of the psychology purely of the character. Like, are they going to have their epiphany? Are they going to get it? Are they going to see the light? It's to write a script and create a film where the real psychological suspense is there without the conventions of any genre.
Quote from: MacGuffin5. Which project do you feel didn't live up to what you envisioned?
I was disappointed by The Monster Squad. Not that it was ineptly directed or because the acting was bad, or anything like that. It was simply that the budget was such that the powers-that-be took a script that was 120 pages, and reduced it to something like 94. Part of the thinking was that kids can't sit still for longer than 80 minutes anyhow. But what you end-up with is a movie that lacks 25 pages, nearly half-an-hour of story. Maybe this is just sort of proprietary, but I really feel like that movie is just sort of the bare bones. It's almost like, if it was fleshed-out and given enough money, I thought that picture could've really been my best script, my best work.
wow, i love this guy! what i wouldn't give for that script with the extra 30 pages of story. i know the movie so well i could probably build it in my head perfectly with those actors.
Quote from: MacGuffin10. What is the one project that you've always wanted to do, but have yet to be able to?
I guess the project I've been waiting to do is one that speaks to me without resorting to adventure, or thrills per se, but where the suspense comes out of the psychology purely of the character. Like, are they going to have their epiphany? Are they going to get it? Are they going to see the light? It's to write a script and create a film where the real psychological suspense is there without the conventions of any genre.[/size]
this guy is like a xixax hero. where did he come from all of a sudden?
His huge mansion.
Quote from: MacGuffin
6. What is your favorite book?
That would probably have to be... there's a children's book, and it's really schmaltzy, but... it's a perennial classic called The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. It's brilliant. The message of it, stated in simple words and read, I would say, in under 5 to 10 minutes, is one of the most jarring and beautifully-told stories. It appeals to adults. And it can make children cry, but in a good way, because it begins our appreciation of a sense of sadness. It's a simple children's story, but by the end you feel like you've been punched in the stomach by the profoundness of its message.[size]
i loved that book as a kid!
Moviefone Unscripted with Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer: http://movies.aol.com/unscripted_kiss_kiss_bang_bang_movie
This is the best movie I've seen all year. Granted, I haven't seen Capote yet, but come on. This movie is just brilliant and clever and witty and and and.
So well written. I like it how wasn't the much more boring "look we're breaking the rules" and rather it was "these characters are better than the ones you are used to and tired of."
Spoiler
When he pissed on the corpse I laughed. Then later I laughed thinking about it, and just now I laughed too. Later, when I think about it again, I will probably laugh.
so what no one went to see this?
it's a joy to watch. it's hilarious and then the next second something totally amazing happens like *spoiler* the gun near the balls *end spoiler* and it worked. self conscious dialogue was just as natural as the exposition stuff which was said tongue-in-cheek anyway.. the whole thing was fun, even if the "epilogue" kinda went nowhere. i look forward to repeat viewings.
Quote from: Pubrick on November 21, 2005, 06:22:12 AM
so what no one went to see this? i look forward to repeat viewings.
yes me too. i have no idea why nobody saw this. but it doesnt matter, i imagine it will be discovered on DVD by a Memento/DonnieDarko sized crowd.
I saw it two weeks ago, and...
Quote from: Ghostboy on August 19, 2005, 01:00:30 PM
This is a future fratboy classic, I think. It's exactly like the stuff Black used to write - funny, violent, excessive, misogynistic, etc -
Quote from: modage on October 22, 2005, 12:00:39 AM
i've never been to a frat. i went to an art college that didn't even have frats, but i LOVED this movie anyways. LOVED it.
the film is really assured and confident in its directorial style.
watching it really made me think 'damn, where has this guy been? and why isnt he making more movies?'
probably my 2nd 4th favorite film of 2005 (so far).
Quote from: Pubrick on November 21, 2005, 06:22:12 AM
it's a joy to watch. it's hilarious and then the next second something totally amazing happens...
i look forward to repeat viewings.
I'll add:
- Downey and Kilmer made a hell of a pair here, they simply were amazing
- best buddy movie in some time
- clever, funny and over the top
- everybody should watch this
I saw it a second time. The crowd was much tamer than the preview screening crowd, obviously, and some of the brilliance seemed to fall on deaf, art-cinema crowd ears. However, it was still lots of fun to see again. I was still unsure of all the plot going on, but that's why the movie only references the fact that there is a plot that connects to itself, but doesn't really care about the details, it's about how the characters react to it.
It won't be a frat house classic. It will be forgotten, I think, but those who remember will be the lucky ones.
i still still havent havent seen kiss kiss bang bang
that trailer was a steaming pile
whoever cut it needs to take their cereal box marketing degree and eff off
Quote from: modage on October 22, 2005, 11:34:45 PM
as far as KKBB goes, let me just extend a pubrick-esque recommendation and say DONT WATCH THE TRAILER. it gives away more than you want to know. just know its good and go see it. it will improve the experience for you 10 fold.
agreed.
yeah i had avoided the trailer, only saw a clip from cannes or sum such festival or maybe even a talk show (it was the spider bit, i was sold).
the relationship of this trailer to the movie is the exact inverse of Night Watch's relationship to its trailer.
how can anyone of us not love this movie? :rofl:
in my 4+ years around this piece, i've tried to teach myself in writing reviews of new flicks to
a) sleep on it before posting
b) read the entire thread, no matter how long, before posting
i have done neither in this case. and you know what, maybe that's the best thing. write when things are still fresh and alive in ur mind, when u have the most energy.
that being said,
out of the 12 movies currently playing at my local shit-a-plex (back in South Carolina for thanksgiving), this was EXACTLY what i wanted to see, nevermind the only movie playing right now that is even remotely original, fun, and daring. like a good meal or great sex, i walked out, for lack of a better word, HAPPY. it was 2 hours of much-needed fun. it was also one of those flicks that u wish you wrote/directed yourself.
so anyway, :yabbse-thumbup: :yabbse-thumbup: :yabbse-thumbup:...
FINALLY all of you will be able to see last years best movie...
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.xixax.com%2Fimages%2Fdvd%2Fkisskissbangbangdvd.jpg&hash=1e73fe8d2d537ff65a8bea6a13b80f4c9ee59951)
Title: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Released: 13th June 2006
SRP: $27.95
Further Details:
Warner Home Video has officially announced Kiss Kiss Bang Bang which stars Val Kilmer and Robert Downey Jr. The film, written and directed by Shane Black, will be available to own from the 13th June. Retail will be around $27.95. The film itself will be presented in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen, along with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track. Extras will include Long Shadows Sharp Tongue: A Noir Documentary, a gag reel, and the films theatrical trailer.
No not finally - in two months.
at last: after a long period of time or a long delay and often after previous unsuccessful attempts. when the film is released on dvd, 8 months after it was released in theatres, (2x the norm for theatre to dvd release), finally you will be able to see it.
Quote from: modage on March 18, 2006, 12:56:08 PM
at last: after a long period of time or a long delay and often after previous unsuccessful attempts.
We're still in the midst of the long period of time.
Why is it taking so long?
it's too good. it wanted to disqualify itself from the xixax awards.
But wasn't Batman your pic as last year's best flim?
When they speak of modern-day film noirs, this one should be included and it's one of the best. Black's love letter to classic noirs is so evident here. It's charm comes from the rapid-fire, His Girl Friday humor, which Downey and Kilmer deliver to a tee. The best digs at The Industry/Hollywood since The Player.
Yeah, what MacGuffin and modage said.
FINE, GODDAMNIT. I'll rent it.
I really didn't like this film as much as everyone else seems to: I was expecting something a lot more clever and a lot funnier as regards the whole self-conscious movie thing. This felt like Tarantino-lite: his film-saturated mind, his clear use and subversion of genre, but without the ease and passion and ambiguity that he brings to his style of film-that-knows-it's-a-film. I mainly disliked the way that Downey's narration just spoke so blatantly to the audience, as if it was Black himself saying "I bet you can see what's coming..." Well, yeah, we can see what's coming, but it'd be a lot more satisfying and interesting if he didn't shove it in our face so obviously.
I preferred the times where it subtly dealt with the film-world, like that moment where Downey's label is sticking up at the back of his sweater and you're thinking "That's something you never see in movies," then the girl tucks it in for him; I liked that. Overall though, it just seemed so sure that it was really clever, when it really wasn't. It was fun, don't get me wrong - there were some good gags - but it just wasn't as intelligent as it thought it was and that smugness got in the way of my enjoyment.
Quote from: children with angels on June 14, 2006, 04:57:31 AM
This felt like Tarantino-lite
You have it backwards. Shane Black isn't Tarantino-lite. Tarantino is extra-strength Shane Black.
Quote from: modage on March 18, 2006, 10:24:07 AM
FINALLY all of you will be able to see last years best movie...
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.xixax.com%2Fimages%2Fdvd%2Fkisskissbangbangdvd.jpg&hash=1e73fe8d2d537ff65a8bea6a13b80f4c9ee59951)
Title: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Released: 13th June 2006
SRP: $27.95
Further Details:
Warner Home Video has officially announced Kiss Kiss Bang Bang which stars Val Kilmer and Robert Downey Jr. The film, written and directed by Shane Black, will be available to own from the 13th June. Retail will be around $27.95. The film itself will be presented in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen, along with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track. Extras will include Long Shadows Sharp Tongue: A Noir Documentary, a gag reel, and the films theatrical trailer.
Nice recommendation, I anticipated this title from modage's enthusiasm over it these past months. It is very funny and that's probably why I liked it so much. The whole perfunctory style of narration also worked really well I'd say. Totally check it out!
if only we could hire modage to hype the shit out of Turtles Can Fly, maybe then people would watch the actual best movie nobody saw in 2005. :(
i guess it helps if the movie is, you know, actually good.
God damn that was a good film. I laughed my ass off and it felt like 15 minutes long. My girlfriend, who is bored by basically everything that exists in life, loved it too.
I thought that bit after the ''last scene'' was hilarious; I didn't really know Downey but I'm intrigued, he's funny.
This isn't as nearly good as everyone is saying. Its fine, but only a few scenes really got me to laugh. Many just made me chuckle or smile. The main problem is that the movie got too cute before I even was into the characters or story. Robert Downey's stop frame at the party and his re-thinking of the narration for the story was annoying. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang proves that film has the ability to stand outside of itself with such techniques. Well, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and thousands of other movies have proved that. I could have accepted the scene if I was already into the story but I wasn't. The main characters and situation had yet to be even introduced. The scene jaded my focus so the rest of the movie played to a tougher scrutiny on my part. I realized many scenes just weren't very good and the film's unnecessary self awareness was never ending. Of course the film was trying only to be entertaining, but it could have been a lot funnier and a lot more charming. I felt like it was selling technique and style more than characters. A 3 star movie in the end.
The stop frames early in the movie ran the risk of becoming too ironic and cloying, so I'm glad they were used sparesly. Cos other than that, this was the quickest, most fun 100 minutes in a long time. seriously, black composed some great, great cinematic moments and truly wonderful characters here. the pee scene, the idiot line, what a good time! it will be a cult/frat classic; i already see it catching on with the same type of college kids u would expect to love it. this time, though, the movie is actually good.
Awesome little film. Nothing new to add to what has already been said. It has one of the most entertaining commentarys I've heard in awhile.
wow, the cleverness of this film was completely pointless, it was not funny and at nowhere in the film did it serve any purpose. the best parts of this film were the witty parts--the plot twists, the verbal jabs, and shooting. the worst parts were the controversial clever things. I didn't mind the parts where they said we're not in a movie or val kilmer explaining what happens when the pistol is too close, or even all the LA in jokes, but just the narrator cutting himself. it was so cheap. why does everything have to be so cheap. it reminds me of my old jewish intellectual friends in Cambridge. I like my old Jewish intellectual friends, but their intended jokes are very limited. I wouldn't mind eating dinner with this movie, or cooking it Chinese vegetarian kosher dishes on friday nights, but man, I wouldn't praise it on an internet forum.
but you would knock it's cleverness? the best parts you pointed out are all a part of its cleverness so again: ?
I think being witty and being clever are different though. the clever things are the peripheral stuff that's studded throughout the movie, the zach morris shit. the witty parts are the aforementioned things, as well as using losing a finger as a device to bring out the character's rage and desperation.