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Quint steps into the DeLorean and travels back to 5-25-77!!!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I saw a really early version of Patrick Read Johnson’s 5-25-77 last night at the Alamo Drafthouse. It was so early that Johnson had literally edited in two new effects shots from ILM an hour and a half before the screening. He was projecting it digitally at the Alamo Downtown.
5-25-77 is about the months leading up to that date, the release date of STAR WARS, but the movie actually has very little to do with STAR WARS itself. In fact, looking back the release of STAR WARS is the least important thing about that day for Patrick Read Johnson.
This is Johnson’s biopic, directed and written by Johnson himself, about how he started his career. You see what his home life was like, you get to know his friends, you see how this small town in Illinois did everything it could to keep him from realizing his dream.
Johnson ended up a filmmaker, starting in visual effects then eventually directing a couple underappreciated gems: SPACED INVADERS (which was a childhood favorite of mine), BABY’S DAY OUT (surprisingly funny) and ANGUS (surprisingly touching).
So, this is Patrick Read Johnson’s ALMOST FAMOUS, essentially. Kind of mix that, AMERICAN GRAFFITI and a big handful of “Geek” and you get 5-25-77.
Austin Pendleton (SHORT CIRCUIT) is Herb Lightman, editor of American Cinematographer and Johnson’s version of Lester Bangs. He’s the one who offers Johnson a foothold into the industry, the one who kind of goads him into taking the leap and becoming the filmmaker he wants to be.
Like I said, the movie was rough. Right now it’s way too long. There are about 20 minutes that need to be taken out of the movie, maybe even a little more.
You can see the small budget they had, but at the end of the day the heart of the movie and intriguing story are what will make this a good film. It’s almost there now, but it needs a lot of editing, especially in the third act. It seems that there are just two or three “life-changing conversations” that happen right in a row, sometimes with people you’re seeing for the first time in the film.
There are so many threads and relationships being juggled (Johnson’s relationship with his girlfriend, his relationship with his best friend, his relationship with his mother, his relationship with his sister, his relationship with the school bully, his relationship with his best friend’s ex-girlfriend, his relationships with a half a dozen school friends, etc). I wouldn’t be surprised if Johnson removes a couple of these threads entirely in his final cut. Right now it’s a little convoluted, so that’s what’ll have to be done… or a complete re-edit that makes it all flow a little smoother.
Pacing and editing issues on this very rough cut aside, I can also see the good movie underneath. Like I said above, this movie has a whole lot of heart and it comes from a genuine place. It’s as much a coming of age story as it is a geek’s nostalgia piece. 2001 gets a lot of time, PLANET OF THE APES gets some love, SILENT RUNNING gets a lot of love. And, of course, STAR WARS.
By far my favorite part of the movie is when Johnson gets the chance to go to Hollywood and Herb Lightman gets him into a studio. All this is a true story, by the way. On this trip he’s looking for Douglas Trumbull, director of SILENT RUNNING and effects god who worked on 2001.
At this time he’s working effects on another space movie. Unfortunately, he’s not around when Johnson and Lightman show up, but always the optimist, Johnson is just happy to watch a real movie shot, so he sits down and sees an effects shot go up. As a young dude crouches next to them, intently watching the shot as well, Johnson asks what movie this is for. Lightman responds that it’s called CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND and Johnson gets immediately excited. He hasn’t heard of the movie yet, but he knows what the title means.
The young dude in the Jaws cap crouching near them smiles at Johnson’s geekiness and offers him a Pepsi. This is, of course, Steven Spielberg.
This segment of the movie also gets Johnson into ILM, where John Dykstra excitedly walks him around, showing off pieces for this new sci-fi movie called STAR WARS.
The way Johnson shoots this is fantastic. You don’t linger at all, you get glimpses of familiar models, but Dykstra is on overdrive and running you through the entire shop. I’ve had similar experiences going through Weta on LOTR and not being able to linger and stare at the Minas Tirith model or the Mouth of Sauron sculpt, etc. And I got that same geeky excitement feeling while watching the ILM segment in 5-25-77.
When everything is said and done and the final cut is delivered, I have full faith that Johnson will have it tight and have found the heart of the film. It’s there and I can already see it in this early cut.
Alright, gotta run. Speaking of nostalgia, I’m about to get on the phone with Peter Cullen to talk Optimus Prime. How geeky is that? Look for that interview soon.
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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NYUP!
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I'll probably buy this on dvd once it's released.
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what a waste of time
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need to get on the forums. does he know he's worshipped?
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I didn't really bother reading all of that. Was there anything in there about Back to the Future? Now I feel guilty for being so lazy.
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Cause that's my new standard.
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Fun to say isn't it?
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in the background?
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I loved Spaced Invaders, though not many people Ive met understand why. One of the fondest memories I have from my childhood in 1990. That, and the lady with three boobs in Total Recall.
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I read the script to this a few years back. It's funny as hell to somebody like me who was around during the seventies. I loved Spaced Invaders as well. The Jack Nicholson Martian cracked me up.
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I've just become too popular.
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the prequels? Is so, then it's going to have a sad ending.
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... Because after writing DRAGONHEART, trying (and eventually failing) to make SANTIAGO: MYTH OF THE FAR FUTURE into a movie, making ANGUS the incredibly poignant, well-made, hilarious movie it turned out to be - that man is Patrick Read johnson, and 5-25-77 will be his crowning achievement. This guy gets what we 80s kids want out of a movie. He just gets it, and he consistently delivers. The only downside is: I still don't understand why he isn't the next fucking Spielberg right now!!! Why give Shyamalashit-script that title and not Johnson? This man is the Second Coming of Movie Magicians, I shit you not.
THIS FILM WILL RULE - EVERYTHING. THAT IS ALL. -
It was suprisingly funny.
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I was thinking that would be a cool move, and was wondering what happened to this film when all the 30th anniv. hype was going on. I hope it turns out great, sounds interesting now that we get some details.
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Hope its not straight to DVD. would be fun to see it with felow geeks in a theater
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Like I said before, I am disappointed that this movie took such a wonderful title and used it for something that has "very little to do with Star Wars". Oh well.
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I have literally been hearing about this movie for years.. what's the problem?
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under the same. I mean come on - THUNDERcats? I keed, sorta.
Anyway, does anyone know if there's an interview where he tells us what Dragonheart was SUPPOSED to be like, and how they came to fuck it up? I'd be interested in reading that. -
This is a fantastic in-depth interview with the man himself - runs for five long pages and covers EVERYTHING you could imagine about Patrick Read Johnson and his work. This man should be much, much more well known than he is. This film will be awesome - I am convinced! The Spud has spoken, now he will sleep.
Good night y'all from the sleepy UK. ;D
http://tinyurl.com/22lytr -
Connery begs off the Indy IV project without ever getting onboard. He says he's having too much fun being retired...
...we now return to All Eli, All the Time... -
http://tinyurl.com/2lh9dk
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back when i chatted on this site as "samurai7"....1999-ish. glad he got it done. congrats.
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Jun 07, 2007 9:43:42 PM CDT
Quint, can you save the audio of the Cullen interview??
by iamnicksaicnsn
or maybe a clip or two? That'd be awesome to hear, even if he wasn't doing the voice, just to hear what he sounds like.
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I cannot recoomend it enough, seriously!
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I would have loved to... I'm actually in the final stages of talking the AICN overlords into getting a digital audio recorder so we can start running audio clips with these interviews. This would have been perfect to do it for, but it was a phoner and the connection was very weak. I'm hoping I can still get a good transcription out of it... but look for audio clips in interviews sometime in the near future.
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5-25-77 IN NAME ONLY!!!
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...without actually saying it.
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My wife and I saw it last night as well. My wife loved it, thought it was very touching and inspirational. I thought it was really cool, but needed quite a bit of editing still. Also, in the first act especially, a lot of the edits felt very unmotivated and distracting (I felt like I was being yanked around for no reason). But this was very close to what movies are like at test screenings, so you have to watch it with that kind of filter on, and if you can do that, you can see the potential of most movies for either good or bad. This movie is definitely of the good persuasion (the performances were fantastic, and the Close Encounters and ILM scenes were chill bump inducing). Let's hope the final version polishes the diamond that is obviously there. It's worth looking for when it's released. Like Quint said, it's ALMOST FAMOUS for sci-fi or any movie geeks.
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the future!
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Was a real pleasent surprise to me and my family when I was about 9. Might be an idea to just leave that as a childhood memory though. I have to say, it takes real balls to admit to liking "Baby's Day Out" on a site like this. Kudos.
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I really like how this site turns me on to things I wouldn't normally see. I'll be checking this out.
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I read the script years ago; emailed Patrick Read Johnson and he sent me a copy to review. As ALMOST FAMOUS is to rock music geekery, 5-25-77 is to sci-fi movie geekery.
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His idea about the kid just taking off because he was being ignored (I guess you have to rule out swimming pools or it'd be a bummer of a short) and how the thieves played into that was so much better than the final film.
Some of those Speed Racer ideas were pretty fuckin' way out though! I did like the helicopter stuff! Typical the labrynthine path to Bonaventura and the Wachowskis. Ah Hollywood.
I wonder how much the script has changed for 5/25/77 considering how many years it's been in development?!
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