December 1st, 2009 / 5:15 pm
Snippets

There is no reason to see the film version of The Road. Sure, it looks OK, and the acting is OK, but if you’ve read it, it’s a word for word thing mostly, and takes away from the imagination. It actually kind of made me despise the book, which had managed to make it past even Oprah. Corn.

190 Comments

  1. davidpeak

      i think i brought this up a long time ago: but how does this movie stack up against haneke’s time of the wolf? has anyone seen both? they seem very similar in premise.

  2. davidpeak

      i think i brought this up a long time ago: but how does this movie stack up against haneke’s time of the wolf? has anyone seen both? they seem very similar in premise.

  3. Blake Butler

      time of the wolf is a good film. the road is not.

  4. Blake Butler

      time of the wolf is mixed in effect but at least it isn’t just a weaker replication of an object that already exists.

  5. Blake Butler

      time of the wolf is a good film. the road is not.

  6. Blake Butler

      time of the wolf is mixed in effect but at least it isn’t just a weaker replication of an object that already exists.

  7. barry

      whats the best film adaptation of a book ever?

  8. barry

      whats the best film adaptation of a book ever?

  9. davidpeak

      seems like a reasonable argument. i really liked time of the wolf. i haven’t read the road and definitely don’t want to see the movie without having read the book.

  10. davidpeak

      seems like a reasonable argument. i really liked time of the wolf. i haven’t read the road and definitely don’t want to see the movie without having read the book.

  11. Adam Humphreys

      the trailer looked pretty bad, I thought – like “we gotta get to the coast!” may be misleading; maybe that is just what trailers are supposed to do.
      That is fucked up when they kill the horse in ‘time of the wolf’. Why did they have to kill the horse?

  12. Adam Humphreys

      the trailer looked pretty bad, I thought – like “we gotta get to the coast!” may be misleading; maybe that is just what trailers are supposed to do.
      That is fucked up when they kill the horse in ‘time of the wolf’. Why did they have to kill the horse?

  13. a moorad

      can’t pick the best. i think american psycho lived up to the original material. same w/Cuckoo’s Nest.

  14. a moorad

      can’t pick the best. i think american psycho lived up to the original material. same w/Cuckoo’s Nest.

  15. davidpeak

      i’m gonna go with david lean’s adaptation of great expectations. it’s nearly perfect.

  16. davidpeak

      i’m gonna go with david lean’s adaptation of great expectations. it’s nearly perfect.

  17. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      A Clockwork Orange?

      (I’ve never seen A Clockwork Orange)

  18. rachel

      Babysitters Club, obvs

  19. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      A Clockwork Orange?

      (I’ve never seen A Clockwork Orange)

  20. rachel

      Babysitters Club, obvs

  21. Steve

      Most successful adaptations seem to be of genre fiction of one kind or another. The Big Sleep comes to mind – Faulkner adapting Chandler. Filmmakers tend to get hamstrung by quote unquote serious lit or Great Books.

  22. Stefan

      Salo

  23. Steve

      Most successful adaptations seem to be of genre fiction of one kind or another. The Big Sleep comes to mind – Faulkner adapting Chandler. Filmmakers tend to get hamstrung by quote unquote serious lit or Great Books.

  24. Stefan

      Salo

  25. Lincoln

      The Godfather?

  26. Lincoln

      The Godfather?

  27. Jimmy Chen

      i really liked ‘remains of the day’ both book and movie

  28. Jimmy Chen

      i really liked ‘remains of the day’ both book and movie

  29. Beniamino

      The Duellists

  30. Beniamino

      The Duellists

  31. Steve

      Yes. Ridley apparently backed away from Blood Meridian. Maybe a wise move.

  32. Steve

      Yes. Ridley apparently backed away from Blood Meridian. Maybe a wise move.

  33. reynard

      thanks blake, i trust you and will instead spend my date money on _a serious man_

      i already bought that book once.

  34. reynard

      thanks blake, i trust you and will instead spend my date money on _a serious man_

      i already bought that book once.

  35. drew kalbach

      twilight / new moon

  36. drew kalbach

      twilight / new moon

  37. Blake Butler

      seems like the shining not only makes its own thing out of the book while still resembling it, its aura obliterates the original.

  38. Blake Butler

      seems like the shining not only makes its own thing out of the book while still resembling it, its aura obliterates the original.

  39. Blake Butler

      i also like shortcuts and naked lunch

  40. davidpeak

      if we’re going the route of creating new out of source material then i elect cronenberg’s naked lunch and tarkovsky’s solaris

  41. Blake Butler

      i also like shortcuts and naked lunch

  42. davidpeak

      if we’re going the route of creating new out of source material then i elect cronenberg’s naked lunch and tarkovsky’s solaris

  43. Charles

      a critic said that there’s one thing a movie adaptation of McCarthy’s work can never reproduce and that is his stellar prose. i’d rather read the book again. though No Country was a great film to watch. how do the Coen’s win an Academy Award for adapting that book when there’s not much difference between the two?

  44. Charles

      a critic said that there’s one thing a movie adaptation of McCarthy’s work can never reproduce and that is his stellar prose. i’d rather read the book again. though No Country was a great film to watch. how do the Coen’s win an Academy Award for adapting that book when there’s not much difference between the two?

  45. Blake Butler

      because the book was written to become a film, and lacks that exact language you are talking about. i see that as the fartbook in mccarthy’s lineage

  46. davidpeak

      did anyone read this review on tinymixtapes?

      http://www.tinymixtapes.com/The-Road

      “Ultimately, the mediocrity of The Road can be blamed on Hillcoat’s vision. No Country for Old Men succeeded as a film because the Coen Brothers were smart enough to leave most of the novel untouched (excepting the addition of a joke at the expense of a dead dog). Several years prior, Billy Bob Thornton was able to manage a decent adaptation of another McCarthy novel, All The Pretty Horses (though Matt Damon was horribly miscast as John Grady Cole). Hillcoat’s failure lies in his inability to get out of the way and let the true master tell us his story.”

      This critic seems to be blaming the director for giving the book a backwards interpretation.

  47. Blake Butler

      because the book was written to become a film, and lacks that exact language you are talking about. i see that as the fartbook in mccarthy’s lineage

  48. davidpeak

      did anyone read this review on tinymixtapes?

      http://www.tinymixtapes.com/The-Road

      “Ultimately, the mediocrity of The Road can be blamed on Hillcoat’s vision. No Country for Old Men succeeded as a film because the Coen Brothers were smart enough to leave most of the novel untouched (excepting the addition of a joke at the expense of a dead dog). Several years prior, Billy Bob Thornton was able to manage a decent adaptation of another McCarthy novel, All The Pretty Horses (though Matt Damon was horribly miscast as John Grady Cole). Hillcoat’s failure lies in his inability to get out of the way and let the true master tell us his story.”

      This critic seems to be blaming the director for giving the book a backwards interpretation.

  49. Jimmy Chen

      shortcuts is my favorite film of all time
      i think ken baumann hates it tho, remember some barf of gag comment he made

  50. Jimmy Chen

      shortcuts is my favorite film of all time
      i think ken baumann hates it tho, remember some barf of gag comment he made

  51. Ben Spivey

      tarkovsky for the win

  52. Ben Spivey

      tarkovsky for the win

  53. Jeff

      The Shining is hard to beat. Though Tarkovsky’s Stalker does the same thing with Roadside Picnic.

      Altman’s The Long Goodbye is also masterful in reworking its material and threatening to replace the original in yr mind.

      Oh yeah and Blade Runner.

  54. Jeff

      The Shining is hard to beat. Though Tarkovsky’s Stalker does the same thing with Roadside Picnic.

      Altman’s The Long Goodbye is also masterful in reworking its material and threatening to replace the original in yr mind.

      Oh yeah and Blade Runner.

  55. Amber

      All Quiet on the Western Front or the Shining. I can’t choose.

  56. Amber

      All Quiet on the Western Front or the Shining. I can’t choose.

  57. Amber

      Ooh, I agree…it’s maybe not my favorite of these, but it is just about perfect. David Lean is so kickass.

  58. Amber

      Ooh, I agree…it’s maybe not my favorite of these, but it is just about perfect. David Lean is so kickass.

  59. Matthew Simmons

      Mazes and Monsters starring a young Tom Hanks. Really did justice to Ronna Jaffe’s book.

      That is to say, both were shallow pieces of sensationalist, Satanic panic trash, and as the film managed to be just as screechy and stupid as the book, it was a pitch-perfect adaptation of the book.

      That’s what we meant, right?

  60. Matthew Simmons

      Mazes and Monsters starring a young Tom Hanks. Really did justice to Ronna Jaffe’s book.

      That is to say, both were shallow pieces of sensationalist, Satanic panic trash, and as the film managed to be just as screechy and stupid as the book, it was a pitch-perfect adaptation of the book.

      That’s what we meant, right?

  61. Charles

      the easiest piece for the uniniatiated to start with, for sure.

  62. Charles

      the easiest piece for the uniniatiated to start with, for sure.

  63. Les

      Fight Club. Better than the book.

  64. Les

      Fight Club. Better than the book.

  65. reynard

      never read it, must be awful

  66. reynard

      never read it, must be awful

  67. Ken Baumann

      Yes.

  68. Ken Baumann

      Yes.

  69. Ken Baumann

      Bag of vomit, probably.

  70. Ken Baumann

      Yesss.

  71. Ken Baumann

      Cronenberg is on it, now.

  72. Ken Baumann

      Bag of vomit, probably.

  73. Ken Baumann

      Yesss.

  74. Ken Baumann

      Cronenberg is on it, now.

  75. Ken Baumann

      I get all hot when people talk about movies here. More, please.

  76. Ken Baumann

      I get all hot when people talk about movies here. More, please.

  77. Ken Baumann

      Great adaptations:

      Eyes Wide Shut
      Blade Runner
      Solaris (Tarkovsky)
      The Shining
      Barry Lyndon
      A Clockwork Orange
      Full Metal Jacket
      The Piano Teacher

  78. Ken Baumann

      Great adaptations:

      Eyes Wide Shut
      Blade Runner
      Solaris (Tarkovsky)
      The Shining
      Barry Lyndon
      A Clockwork Orange
      Full Metal Jacket
      The Piano Teacher

  79. Ken Baumann

      The Godfather
      American Psycho
      Goodfellas

  80. Ken Baumann

      The Godfather
      American Psycho
      Goodfellas

  81. blake

      another fart waiting to happen

  82. reynard

      i like shortcuts a lot – pt anderson completely ripped it off with magnolia. not a huge fan of naked lunch, although i appreciate that it isn’t like the book, because that is what it should be like.

  83. blake

      another fart waiting to happen

  84. reynard

      i like shortcuts a lot – pt anderson completely ripped it off with magnolia. not a huge fan of naked lunch, although i appreciate that it isn’t like the book, because that is what it should be like.

  85. jereme

      i like it when ken flickers.

  86. jereme

      factotum

      ask the dust (i really really liked this movie like gay and shit)

  87. jereme

      i like it when ken flickers.

  88. jereme

      factotum

      ask the dust (i really really liked this movie like gay and shit)

  89. jereme

      i’m with ken. short cuts == asshole crunch

  90. jereme

      i’m with ken. short cuts == asshole crunch

  91. reynard

      being there

  92. reynard

      being there

  93. Beniamino

      You should start a whole new thread about directors who are great adaptators (Kubrick et. al.) vs. directors who can only work with their own materials.

  94. Beniamino

      You should start a whole new thread about directors who are great adaptators (Kubrick et. al.) vs. directors who can only work with their own materials.

  95. mimi

      Nice. Book’s better, but still…. Trying to translate that book into a movie….

  96. mimi

      Nice. Book’s better, but still…. Trying to translate that book into a movie….

  97. Tim Horvath

      Someone should make a film of the text of Blood Meridian, just the print streaming down the screen, a page turning slowly every few minutes. I’d sit in the theater for a few hours eating a mondo-sized popcorn reading. Text is gorgeous.

  98. Tim Horvath

      Someone should make a film of the text of Blood Meridian, just the print streaming down the screen, a page turning slowly every few minutes. I’d sit in the theater for a few hours eating a mondo-sized popcorn reading. Text is gorgeous.

  99. mimi

      OK. Ken “get(s) all hot when people talk about movies here. More, please.” Reminds me of Austin Powers saying “”Yes, please.” Nice.
      Full disclosure: I am two sheets to the wind right now.
      But politeness always counts.

      So, to give you my two cents on all this:
      The Godfather I and II would end up in my “top ten” list but I _always_ think of them as movies first, and not as books first (sorry, Puzo). (The wedding/Don scene, though, … the reason _why_ the undertaker is indebted to the Don, in fact, is a mind killer. I have not actually read The Godfather, but I’ve heard about that part. The Don is indebted to a lot of people.)
      Same thing goes for Goodfellas. Stellar movie. Book, back seat. Sometimes when I am driving in my car somewhere late for something and feeling, I don’t know, freaked, I _hear_ “Monkey Man” just like when Ray is drivin’ crosstown (bro makin’ spaghetti sauce), helicopter hoverin’, I’ma gonna scream….or is it “Gimme Shelter”? Both are in the movie.
      Bladerunner – don’t know the book. Good movie, I like The Matrix better, tho.
      American Psycho – want to see the movie – like Christian Ble a lot – glanced throught the book in my local Barnes and Noble once, got nauseous (battery/jumper cables/nipples), knew I didn’t want to read it. Less Than Zero, however, I liked. Very LA.

      Also in my “top ten”:
      Baby Doll (Elia Kazan, screwball gothic, from Tennessee Williams play)
      The Third Man (Graham Greene story/screenplay)
      Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Albee play)
      2001 (Arthur C. Clarke)
      The Shining (Stephen King)
      Dr. Strangelove (???????)

      etc etc etc

      I need to rest for a while………………….

  100. mimi

      OK. Ken “get(s) all hot when people talk about movies here. More, please.” Reminds me of Austin Powers saying “”Yes, please.” Nice.
      Full disclosure: I am two sheets to the wind right now.
      But politeness always counts.

      So, to give you my two cents on all this:
      The Godfather I and II would end up in my “top ten” list but I _always_ think of them as movies first, and not as books first (sorry, Puzo). (The wedding/Don scene, though, … the reason _why_ the undertaker is indebted to the Don, in fact, is a mind killer. I have not actually read The Godfather, but I’ve heard about that part. The Don is indebted to a lot of people.)
      Same thing goes for Goodfellas. Stellar movie. Book, back seat. Sometimes when I am driving in my car somewhere late for something and feeling, I don’t know, freaked, I _hear_ “Monkey Man” just like when Ray is drivin’ crosstown (bro makin’ spaghetti sauce), helicopter hoverin’, I’ma gonna scream….or is it “Gimme Shelter”? Both are in the movie.
      Bladerunner – don’t know the book. Good movie, I like The Matrix better, tho.
      American Psycho – want to see the movie – like Christian Ble a lot – glanced throught the book in my local Barnes and Noble once, got nauseous (battery/jumper cables/nipples), knew I didn’t want to read it. Less Than Zero, however, I liked. Very LA.

      Also in my “top ten”:
      Baby Doll (Elia Kazan, screwball gothic, from Tennessee Williams play)
      The Third Man (Graham Greene story/screenplay)
      Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Albee play)
      2001 (Arthur C. Clarke)
      The Shining (Stephen King)
      Dr. Strangelove (???????)

      etc etc etc

      I need to rest for a while………………….

  101. barry

      the shining… nice

  102. reynard

      maybe, mimi, but it has everything you need and nothing you don’t. hal ashby was the shiznit fo shizzy.

      i should also say that i think wings of desire (written by peter handke & wim wenders) is a masterpiece of where literature can meet film, and goes places with that collaboration most people are either afraid of or unwilling to go.

      seems like the whole adaptation thing is part of the problem. it’s like building a mountain on top of another mountain. writers and filmmakers would do better to do it like a sandcastle: one starts on the base and there other digs out the moat. (or smthng)

      i suppose paris, tx does the same thing. but i think of sam shepard as a playwright more than an author, i guess. (saw that he’s in the new paris review, didn’t buy it, got all-quarterly and a bookforum instead, felt like a capital D Douche afterwards (what am i, sixty-five?))

  103. barry

      the shining… nice

  104. reynard

      maybe, mimi, but it has everything you need and nothing you don’t. hal ashby was the shiznit fo shizzy.

      i should also say that i think wings of desire (written by peter handke & wim wenders) is a masterpiece of where literature can meet film, and goes places with that collaboration most people are either afraid of or unwilling to go.

      seems like the whole adaptation thing is part of the problem. it’s like building a mountain on top of another mountain. writers and filmmakers would do better to do it like a sandcastle: one starts on the base and there other digs out the moat. (or smthng)

      i suppose paris, tx does the same thing. but i think of sam shepard as a playwright more than an author, i guess. (saw that he’s in the new paris review, didn’t buy it, got all-quarterly and a bookforum instead, felt like a capital D Douche afterwards (what am i, sixty-five?))

  105. joe

      Straw Dogs, The Six Moral Tales (by Rohmer, which were adapted from Rohmer’s own short stories), Planet of the Apes, The Birds…

      And I think I liked most of the Slaughterhouse-Five adaptation.

  106. joe

      Straw Dogs, The Six Moral Tales (by Rohmer, which were adapted from Rohmer’s own short stories), Planet of the Apes, The Birds…

      And I think I liked most of the Slaughterhouse-Five adaptation.

  107. reynard

      all-story, i mean – lish on the brain

  108. reynard

      all-story, i mean – lish on the brain

  109. joe

      Also, has anyone seen the DeLillo written movie? – I think it’s called Game 8, without looking it up. Is it worth seeking out?

      Or, better yet, does anyone in the world have Jack Nicholson’s adaptation of Drive, He Said (Jeremy’s Lardner book)? – Are you willing to share?

  110. joe

      Also, has anyone seen the DeLillo written movie? – I think it’s called Game 8, without looking it up. Is it worth seeking out?

      Or, better yet, does anyone in the world have Jack Nicholson’s adaptation of Drive, He Said (Jeremy’s Lardner book)? – Are you willing to share?

  111. Rebekah Silverman

      The Road (the book) made me cry in public on a bus for the last twenty pages, and then come home and cry again in private. As in: silent big tears with some giant thug-type teenager sitting next to me. If the movie’s not going to give me a sinus headache, screw it.

  112. Rebekah Silverman

      The Road (the book) made me cry in public on a bus for the last twenty pages, and then come home and cry again in private. As in: silent big tears with some giant thug-type teenager sitting next to me. If the movie’s not going to give me a sinus headache, screw it.

  113. reynard

      btw, i was shocked to find, just now, that sam shepard is also in this all-story

  114. reynard

      btw, i was shocked to find, just now, that sam shepard is also in this all-story

  115. Sean

      Jaws

  116. Sean

      Jaws

  117. Sean

      Shining is re-dunkulous.

  118. Sean

      Shining is re-dunkulous.

  119. mimi

      Okay. Hal Ashby. So, I love “Harold and Maude” and “Shampoo”. I also like “Coming Home”….
      This brings me to “Being There”. My main hangup with this movie, upon reflection, is that Peter Sellars is miscast. I am (was) just too familiar with him as a comic and manic genius (the Pink Panther movies, What’s New Pussycat?, Dr. Strangelove, Lolita) and could not “see” him as Chance the Gardener, which is an “understated” role. Who would have been better cast? I don’t know, I’d have to think about that and get back to ya.

  120. mimi

      Okay. Hal Ashby. So, I love “Harold and Maude” and “Shampoo”. I also like “Coming Home”….
      This brings me to “Being There”. My main hangup with this movie, upon reflection, is that Peter Sellars is miscast. I am (was) just too familiar with him as a comic and manic genius (the Pink Panther movies, What’s New Pussycat?, Dr. Strangelove, Lolita) and could not “see” him as Chance the Gardener, which is an “understated” role. Who would have been better cast? I don’t know, I’d have to think about that and get back to ya.

  121. mimi

      I loved The Road but it did not make me cry. The only thing that’s ever made me all-out bawl is the movie The Misfits directed by John Huston, the scene(s) with the wild horses and Marilyn’s incredible “performance” (I don’t think she was acting, actually) toward the end.

      And the harmonica playing/li’l bro on shoulders scene in Once Upon A Time in the West is intense.

      And the music in Once Upon A Time in America – wistful and nostalgic for the “innocence” of childhood. Very moving. The kid eating the charlotte russe on the staircase….

  122. mimi

      I loved The Road but it did not make me cry. The only thing that’s ever made me all-out bawl is the movie The Misfits directed by John Huston, the scene(s) with the wild horses and Marilyn’s incredible “performance” (I don’t think she was acting, actually) toward the end.

      And the harmonica playing/li’l bro on shoulders scene in Once Upon A Time in the West is intense.

      And the music in Once Upon A Time in America – wistful and nostalgic for the “innocence” of childhood. Very moving. The kid eating the charlotte russe on the staircase….

  123. elizabeth ellen

      the misfits is my fav, that scene is a killer.

  124. elizabeth ellen

      the misfits is my fav, that scene is a killer.

  125. Rebekah Silverman

      Yeah this may not be the forum for it, but I’ll admit to some crying at books. I cry at, like, Twilight-type shit. (Although Twilight is still sitting on the to-read shelf.)

  126. Rebekah Silverman

      Yeah this may not be the forum for it, but I’ll admit to some crying at books. I cry at, like, Twilight-type shit. (Although Twilight is still sitting on the to-read shelf.)

  127. Amy McDaniel

      no shame in being affected by things strongly. dickens used to weep as he wrote his own sad passages, and laugh hilariously as he wrote funny stuff. i kind of envy him his guileless affect

  128. Amy McDaniel

      no shame in being affected by things strongly. dickens used to weep as he wrote his own sad passages, and laugh hilariously as he wrote funny stuff. i kind of envy him his guileless affect

  129. Greg

      COMING SOON from Paramount:

      Ron Howard’s BLOOD MERIDIAN

      starring

      Steve Guttenberg as the Judge

      Jennifer Connely as the Kid

  130. Greg

      COMING SOON from Paramount:

      Ron Howard’s BLOOD MERIDIAN

      starring

      Steve Guttenberg as the Judge

      Jennifer Connely as the Kid

  131. david erlewine

      i’m done loving books and then being decapitated watching the movies

      instead of the road i’ll see the ninja assassin movie while crying about my lot in life

  132. david erlewine

      i’m done loving books and then being decapitated watching the movies

      instead of the road i’ll see the ninja assassin movie while crying about my lot in life

  133. joe

      I think Todd Field is directing it soon. Field isn’t a bad choice, if it must be.

      I think he takes his cues from Mallick’s Days of Heaven a lot, which is about right.

  134. joe

      I think Todd Field is directing it soon. Field isn’t a bad choice, if it must be.

      I think he takes his cues from Mallick’s Days of Heaven a lot, which is about right.

  135. sasha fletcher

      game 6. it’s alright, but i’m not that into delilo to begin with, so, i may not be the best person to ask.
      my dad liked it. but my dad likes delilo and yo la tengo, who score it, so that probably explains that.

      it’s about the series, so it wouldn’t be game 8. since it’s the first to 4.

  136. sasha fletcher

      game 6. it’s alright, but i’m not that into delilo to begin with, so, i may not be the best person to ask.
      my dad liked it. but my dad likes delilo and yo la tengo, who score it, so that probably explains that.

      it’s about the series, so it wouldn’t be game 8. since it’s the first to 4.

  137. joe

      This all makes a lot of sense. Except for the liking Yo la Tengo part.

  138. joe

      This all makes a lot of sense. Except for the liking Yo la Tengo part.

  139. sasha fletcher

      the movie blade runner is so different fromt he book. i don’t know.
      i really thought that the film of jesus’ son was a really interesting way of looking at the film, the way it strung the whole thing together in a linear narrative.
      i thought the adaptation of fight club was good.

  140. sasha fletcher

      the movie blade runner is so different fromt he book. i don’t know.
      i really thought that the film of jesus’ son was a really interesting way of looking at the film, the way it strung the whole thing together in a linear narrative.
      i thought the adaptation of fight club was good.

  141. Mike Meginnis

      Yes to Long Goodbye and Blade Runner.

  142. Mike Meginnis

      Yes to Long Goodbye and Blade Runner.

  143. Mike Meginnis

      Oh yes, man, I forgot about Full Metal Jacket. So good. The book was okay but honestly did not compare very well when I read it for a paper.

  144. Mike Meginnis

      Oh yes, man, I forgot about Full Metal Jacket. So good. The book was okay but honestly did not compare very well when I read it for a paper.

  145. gena

      i did not read the book but the movie “the last temptation of christ” i thought was really good.

      i liked the jesus depicted in that movie.

  146. gena

      i did not read the book but the movie “the last temptation of christ” i thought was really good.

      i liked the jesus depicted in that movie.

  147. Charles Dodd White

      The Road wasn’t a good book, so why should the movie be different? McCarthy hasn’t written a novel worth reading since The Crossing.

  148. Charles Dodd White

      The Road wasn’t a good book, so why should the movie be different? McCarthy hasn’t written a novel worth reading since The Crossing.

  149. Ken Baumann

      2001 was a screenplay/300 page treatment first, novel came second.

  150. Ken Baumann

      2001 was a screenplay/300 page treatment first, novel came second.

  151. Ken Baumann

      I may, in a bit… :) Thanks.

  152. Ken Baumann

      I like you.

  153. Ken Baumann

      I may, in a bit… :) Thanks.

  154. Ken Baumann

      I like you.

  155. Ken Baumann

      Straw Dogs, yes.

  156. Ken Baumann

      Straw Dogs, yes.

  157. Ken Baumann

      ‘pt anderson completely ripped it off with magnolia.’

      How so?

  158. Ken Baumann

      ‘pt anderson completely ripped it off with magnolia.’

      How so?

  159. Ken Baumann

      Damn. Todd does have it now… weird. Seems to pass hands every year or so. I think Field could do something good with it, though.

  160. Ken Baumann

      Damn. Todd does have it now… weird. Seems to pass hands every year or so. I think Field could do something good with it, though.

  161. Blake Butler

      i think they were actually written at the same time, no?

  162. Blake Butler

      i think they were actually written at the same time, no?

  163. Ken Baumann

      Dunno, actually. Published after the film’s release, though, which could be purely tactical. Need to dip into my Kubrick library to find out…

  164. Ken Baumann

      Dunno, actually. Published after the film’s release, though, which could be purely tactical. Need to dip into my Kubrick library to find out…

  165. reynard

      well, the crux of magnolia is in all these unrelated things leading to a cataclysmic, supernatural event. and so too in shortcuts, the thread connecting a bunch of pieces gets pulled tight, ripping a hole in the barriers but also connected them in the context of this event. not only does something happen, but in both cases the event can be read as an expression of intensely vengeful emotion manifesting itself in nature.

      also, pt anderson worked with altman a lot. maybe ‘ripped off’ was too harsh, but whtvr, that’s what i meant.

  166. reynard

      well, the crux of magnolia is in all these unrelated things leading to a cataclysmic, supernatural event. and so too in shortcuts, the thread connecting a bunch of pieces gets pulled tight, ripping a hole in the barriers but also connected them in the context of this event. not only does something happen, but in both cases the event can be read as an expression of intensely vengeful emotion manifesting itself in nature.

      also, pt anderson worked with altman a lot. maybe ‘ripped off’ was too harsh, but whtvr, that’s what i meant.

  167. reynard

      did you guys know they’re remaking it. the guy that made the contender is directing it. his last movie had david schwimmer in it and now he’s ready to remake peckinpah. that guy from party of 5 is playing the lead. can’t wait!

  168. reynard

      did you guys know they’re remaking it. the guy that made the contender is directing it. his last movie had david schwimmer in it and now he’s ready to remake peckinpah. that guy from party of 5 is playing the lead. can’t wait!

  169. jereme

      hmmm. i am really fucking interested now too. let me know.

  170. jereme

      hmmm. i am really fucking interested now too. let me know.

  171. jereme

      i love me some peckinpah. wild bunch is still my favorite movie of all time. try to shit on it and i will eat your soul.

      that movie invaded my mind for 3 fucking days after initial viewing.

      like virgin blow job good.

      holy shit.

  172. jereme

      i love me some peckinpah. wild bunch is still my favorite movie of all time. try to shit on it and i will eat your soul.

      that movie invaded my mind for 3 fucking days after initial viewing.

      like virgin blow job good.

      holy shit.

  173. jereme

      shit this was me too. sorry. i need to pay attention.

  174. jereme

      shit this was me too. sorry. i need to pay attention.

  175. Blake Butler

      according to the wiki, written at the same time

  176. Blake Butler

      according to the wiki, written at the same time

  177. Ken Baumann

      Looking at the timeline in the Archive, now:

      ‘1964
      April. Clarke leaves his home in Ceylon for his first meeting with Kubrick in New York. Kubrick suggests the unorthodox procedure of writing a novel together before writing a script, a project that was to take two years to complete.

      December 25. Clarke finishes the first fifty-thousand-word draft of the novel, which ends at the Star Gate sequence. Kubrick is able to sell the idea for a film based on this draft to MGM and Cinerama. The film’s projected budget is $6 million.’

  178. Ken Baumann

      Looking at the timeline in the Archive, now:

      ‘1964
      April. Clarke leaves his home in Ceylon for his first meeting with Kubrick in New York. Kubrick suggests the unorthodox procedure of writing a novel together before writing a script, a project that was to take two years to complete.

      December 25. Clarke finishes the first fifty-thousand-word draft of the novel, which ends at the Star Gate sequence. Kubrick is able to sell the idea for a film based on this draft to MGM and Cinerama. The film’s projected budget is $6 million.’

  179. Ken Baumann

      Also:

      ‘June 14, 1965. Mariner IV comes within 6,200 miles of Mars and sends twenty-two photographs of the planet’s surface back to Earth. Kubrick contacts Lloyds of London to price an insurance policy against Martians being discovered before the release of his film.’

  180. Ken Baumann

      Also:

      ‘June 14, 1965. Mariner IV comes within 6,200 miles of Mars and sends twenty-two photographs of the planet’s surface back to Earth. Kubrick contacts Lloyds of London to price an insurance policy against Martians being discovered before the release of his film.’

  181. Ken Baumann

      &

      ‘June, 1966. Clarke returns to Borehamwood. He tries unsuccessfully to convince Kubrick to allow publication of the novel before the release of the film.’

  182. Ken Baumann

      &

      ‘June, 1966. Clarke returns to Borehamwood. He tries unsuccessfully to convince Kubrick to allow publication of the novel before the release of the film.’

  183. sasha fletcher

      my dad can’t like yo la tengo?
      or that they scored a movie about a red sox fan?

  184. sasha fletcher

      my dad can’t like yo la tengo?
      or that they scored a movie about a red sox fan?

  185. mimi

      This thread has inspired me to pick up the copy of “Stanley Kubrick, A Biography” by Vincent LoBrutto that has been lying around my house for ages. I am now going to read chapter 13, entitled “The Ultimate Trip”, about the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Here’s a cute excerpt for you:

      “In February 1964, Stanley Kubrick had lunch at Trader Vic’s with Roger Caras, who worked for Columbia pictures. Kubrick told Caras he was going to do a movie about extraterrestrials. Caras asked who was writing the screenplay. Kubrick explained he was in the process of reading every major science fiction writer…. “Why waste your time?” Caras asked Kubrick. “Why not just start with the best-Arthur C. Clarke?”….”But I understand he’s a recluse, a nut who lives in a tree in India someplace,” Kubrick replied. Caras told him that Clarke lived peacefully in Ceylon and agreed to contact him….
      Caras cabled Clarke, saying: STANLEY KUBRICK_”DR. STRANGELOVE,” “PATHS OF GLORY,” ET CETERA, INTERESTED IN DOING FILM ON ET’S. INTERESTED IN YOU. ARE YOU INTERESTED? THOUGHT YOU WERE A RECLUSE.” Clarke immediately replied: “FRIGHTFULLY INTERESTED IN WORKING WITH ENFANT TERRIBLE STOP CONTACT MY AGENT STOP WHAT MAKES KUBRICK THINK I’M A RECLUSE.”

  186. mimi

      This thread has inspired me to pick up the copy of “Stanley Kubrick, A Biography” by Vincent LoBrutto that has been lying around my house for ages. I am now going to read chapter 13, entitled “The Ultimate Trip”, about the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Here’s a cute excerpt for you:

      “In February 1964, Stanley Kubrick had lunch at Trader Vic’s with Roger Caras, who worked for Columbia pictures. Kubrick told Caras he was going to do a movie about extraterrestrials. Caras asked who was writing the screenplay. Kubrick explained he was in the process of reading every major science fiction writer…. “Why waste your time?” Caras asked Kubrick. “Why not just start with the best-Arthur C. Clarke?”….”But I understand he’s a recluse, a nut who lives in a tree in India someplace,” Kubrick replied. Caras told him that Clarke lived peacefully in Ceylon and agreed to contact him….
      Caras cabled Clarke, saying: STANLEY KUBRICK_”DR. STRANGELOVE,” “PATHS OF GLORY,” ET CETERA, INTERESTED IN DOING FILM ON ET’S. INTERESTED IN YOU. ARE YOU INTERESTED? THOUGHT YOU WERE A RECLUSE.” Clarke immediately replied: “FRIGHTFULLY INTERESTED IN WORKING WITH ENFANT TERRIBLE STOP CONTACT MY AGENT STOP WHAT MAKES KUBRICK THINK I’M A RECLUSE.”

  187. Ken Baumann

      That’s awesome. Thanks, mimi!

  188. Ken Baumann

      That’s awesome. Thanks, mimi!

  189. reynard

      i remember clarke saying he cried after seeing 2001 (because he didn’t like it and it made him saddy waddy)

  190. reynard

      i remember clarke saying he cried after seeing 2001 (because he didn’t like it and it made him saddy waddy)