Cool News
You are SECONDS away from learning who is directing Elmore Leonard's KILLSHOT!!!
Hey folks, Harry here... Our trusty sea scab has peeled back the latest bit of ooze to come from Hollywood, and this time it be COOL... Tres Cool, Mondo Cool, Wacko Cool!!! Read on and understand the reason for my celebration! I think this will rock the rust from an iron maiden!
Ahoy there, squirts. Your friendly neighborhood seaman, Quint,
here to give you guys the skinny about Elmore Leonard's Killshot, a project
that is shooting along on the fast track at Miramax right now.
I've found out from a reliable source that Steve Barancik has
turned in an incredible screenplay adaptation of Killshot and the studio
loves it. "His adaptation was solid and true Leonard," said my main (wo?)man
close to the project, who wished to be kept anonymous for obvious reasons.
The script is currently going through some rewrites, making it leaner and
meaner.
Who's working on this project, you ask? Well, it's known that
Quentin Tarantino has the rights to this and many other Leonard novelsand
it's even been theorized that Quentin himself was going to direct. At this
point, that is not true. Tarantino is indeed involved, though. He will be
exec. producing the film along with Lawrence Bender.
Now, for what hasn't been reported yet. My source taunted me with
hints of who the director of this film would be. Telling me that Tarantino
wants this one man to direct the film. The source also said that this
unidentified person was note perfect for helming this picture and is, "The
one man I would hire." After a seemingly endless barage of Gollum-esqe
riddles, I finally got him/her/it to spill the name of the director...
My source did warn me, though, that nothing has been signed, but
that Tarantino has offered the film to John Frankenheimer and that
Frankenheimer is the man they're going ahead with. Again, my source stressed
that although he/she/it can confirm the offer has been made to Frankenheimer
and he's excepted, there still is no official paperwork yet. But the studio
seems excited about the project, Tarantino's gunning for good ol' Mr.
Manchurian Candidate and, I must say, Frankenheimer sounds note perfect to
helm a Leonard crime thriller.
Pretty exciting stuff, isn't it, squirties? Quentin producing,
Frankenheimer directing a note perfect adaptation of Elmore Leonard.... I'm
so there.
Keep yer eyes on the horizon, my fellow seamen and lovely
mermaids. This ol' salt has got a lot of super cool stuff to share with all
you fine folks. I'm itchin' to share some cool script reviews and interviews
that I've just brought up from the deep with ya'. 'Til that day, this is
Quint bidding you all a fond farewell and adieu.
-Quint
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i won the prize
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Frankenheimer would be a great choice. Check out his new short on BWMFILMS. It's not getting the press of Ang lee or Wong Kar Wai's shorts.], but it's even better. No one, not even William Freidkin can dirct a car chase like JF.
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Island of Dr.Moreau? Ronin? Reindeer games? Is a new Frankenheimer movie really anything to get excited about these days I wonder.
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RIGGHT..and TARANTINO helped spread that LIE that 40 LASHES WAS DONE....and then he said he was doing VEGA BROTHERS and now he says he's not...AND KILL BILL? RIGHT! it was UMA now it's PATRICIA ARQUETTE! RIGGGHHT!!!
I'll believe that just about the time I start believing that the secret service DIDN't know JENNA BUSH was in that bar -
Why the buzz about Elmore Leonard, all his movies were horrible. Really horrible and boring. Jackie Brown was real bad, except for the opening credits which were probably the coolest opening credits ever.
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Ok...2 things!: 1st- you cant bleach a cherou! 2nd- John Frankenhimer blows ass! His work is the equivilant to the taste of a man's mouth! His work is that of the crustations and fluids that fly from an anus when it decides to talk! And the words it says are, "JOHN FRANKENHIMER BLOWS!!!!!"
P . S . get sodebergh back...or Barry Sonnenfield.
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Harry makes a clever reference to Frankenheimer's best film and everyone misses it. damn.
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He remembers what Frankenheimer is capable of and gives him the opportunity to do it again. What was the name of that Leonard novel Frankenheimer adapted with Roy Schieder? I remember it being pretty unpopular but I liked it.
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Mr. Brilliant Movie Writer comes up with such and eloquent statement and manages to only turn in a response to one Leonard adaptation? And even then all he can do is jerk off about some intro creds? No engaging reviews of Out of Sight? Any thoughtful commentary for Get Shorty? And I'm just talking the most recent, large adaptations...does anyone pray this guy isn't a real script writer? Or perhaps he is and Godzilla is the result? Would make perfect sense, there are some shite films which must've had his genius penmanship and imagination to their benefit.
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The opening credits to Jackie Brown are an homage to the opening credits of The Graduate.
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Hmmm, Frankenheimer huh? As many of you already mentioned, he has done Leonard before with 52 Pickup. A watchable but trashy film done in true junky mid 80's style. Frankly, I find Frankenheimer problematic. He has made some truely great films like Seconds and The Train and Birdman. And some that others hate that I like. Actually I love Moreau (I know this may negate my opinion for all time with many of you) but I think it's a blast: intense methods actors, an old school hollywood director, guys in rubber monster suits, Marlon Brando! And I enjoyed Reindeer Games. I think he did a good job bringing out the humor but mostly I liked the script, empty but entertaining. But it was flat directorially and I think many of his films suffer from that. French Connection 2 is dullsville and did anyone notice that Ronin echoed that film in look and tone. I think Ronin was tremendously dull and the car chases highly overrated. And I knew from the go-nowhere opening sequence I was fucked. And Black Sunday, yet another supremely eye glazing pointless opening sequence. It's like there's three directors. One makes thoughtful compelling films that stand up to time, another makes fun if somewhat junky pics, and the other makes these glacially dull stupid thrillers. A fourth I guess make prestigous cable movies. I'm guessing the second one would make Killshot, a decent Leonard story if nowhere near the canvas of say, Out of Sight. That's cool. I hope it's a good script. But I'm guessing it'll be Reindeer Games 2. But you know what? I watched this Dirctors show on Frankenheimer and like the last thing he said really irked me. He said kids ask him how to get a job in movies and he said HE HAS NO IDEA but the real problem is these kids have no sense of film history when they do get there. I found that statement obnoxious. Decades in the biz and he doesn't know how to get a job? Whatever man. So you shouldn't take an interest in us but we should in you. Hey, you made some classics but don't be an asshole. I know it's not his job to help you but it sure seemed self serving. Maybe we should remember that classic Black Sunday, right? Though there is one famous story about Frankenheimer I do like. He was pitching to a kid old enough to be his grandkid and the kid said: "Lets hear your credits." To which Frankenheimer replied: "Let's hear yours. It'll take less time."
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Jesus fucking Christ who could possibly get excited about the opinion of some Miramax Public Relations insider chronie giving us her - what I'm sure is NOT - an expert opinion, about a script for a film based on an Elmore Leonard novel not adpated by Scott Frank, being made into a film by a director who hasn't been relevant nor interesting since the mid 70's, and being produced by a guy whose so scared to get behind a camera again he inches closer and closer to "cineamtic footnote" status with every aborted project and debunked rumor that circulates about his next "masterpiece." I'll look forward to this when the word that the script is impressive comes from someone other than an NYU intern, when Frankenheimer either directs something worthwhile or gets tossed off the project in favor of someone who can understand the real Leonard and not the guns and car chases that Leonard often gets mistaken for, and when Tarantino stops inhaling cocaine like it's oxygen. Until such a time please excuse me if I remain a tad wary of this "great Elmore Leonard adaptation!" -7%
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Leonard novels are usually recipes for great movies...Get Shorty, Out of Sight (my all time fav), and let us not forget Hombre! But for those of you so quick to dis Frankenheimer, don't forget that his best recent work hasn't made it to the cinema (although I liked Reindeer Games). He's done some amazing work on tv in recent years! I'm not familiar with Killshot, but I think that anybody who can complain about a movie being helmed by one of the most enduring Hollywood directors ever (and face it, when you work consistantly for 50 years in Hollywood, you've earned that label), based on a story written by one of the most prolific American authors working today is the sort of person who is going to complain about anything. For those of us who love movies, this is probably really good news.
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To the person who responded to my last post...learn to assimilate and interpret words in the language they were written! FIRST, yes Get Shorty and Out of Sight were GREAT Leonard films (as I indicate my preference for in my post by stating anything not adapted by Scott Frank is prob'ly not a good adaptation - in case you don't know...HE ADAPTED THOSE!)SECOND, yes Hombre is also a really great film. What I am saying, however, is if you've read Leonard (I've read all his novels) you'll KNOW they don't translate well to the screen, especially when the people translating and interpreting them (writers and directors) mistake what is so good about Leonard - which is not the action, nor the gunplay but the complexity of the characters and their relationships. NOTE: Frankenheimer is categorically thought of as an action director - not someone known for their nuanced portrayls of people. Hence - I'm saying in attaching him to the project it immediatly signals that this will not be a good Leonard adaptation because it comes from a background and a place that does not indicate any pre-disposition to understanding Leonard. THIRD, more often than not Leonard books are never done justice - the instances you mentioned equal ten percent of the films made from his novels. It's easy to say Get Shorty and Out of Sight were great - try saying that about Gold Coast, Jackie Brown, Touch, or Split Images (I'll give you Joe Kidd though, a guilty pleasure of mine). NEXT, because someone has been around a long time does not mean we should respect them. If Donald Petrie were attached to this film I would be as equally underwhelmed. Frankenheimer has impressed me in the past - The Train, Seconds, Birdman of Alcatraz, Seven Days in May and of course Manchurian Candidate. He has not, however, impressed me since the mid 70's - making it time to stop considering him one of the modern day masters. FINALLY, Tarantino...?!?!?!?!?!?!
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May 23, 2001 12:53:31 AM CDT
Theres no denying he was a master film maker, but the guy's over
by pupkin
He has his share of classics (The Days of Wine and Roses, The Manchurian Candidate, The Birdman of Alcatraz etc.) but his heyday was surely 40 years ago, let's hope QT knows what he's doing.
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Wan't "52-Pickup" an Elmore Leanord project. That was one of Frankenheimer's best efforts. I think he'd be a great director for this material.
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Frankenheimer is generally thought of as an action director and not good at subtle or nuanced characters? Well, it's nice that you know the names of The Manchurian Candidate and Seven Days in May, but have you ever seen them? How about my personal favorite action movie, George Wallace. No, but the guy does two action movies in a row, out of a 50 year career, and he's primarily an action director, huh? If you look at Frankenheimer's filmography, he went through a career bad patch, that was generally a result of an association with a mismanaged studio and poor marketing efforts. 52 Pick-Up and Dead Bang are both underrated movies, but ones that never found an audience. His recent foray into action seems to me to be the result of an attempt to reclaim his position as a top studio director, and, to me, when you compare them to the vast majority of action films that hit the market, they are leaps and bounds ahead of them. I'll take Ronin any day over Gone in 60 Seconds; Reindeer Games has far better performances and harder nosed action than The Art of War. In judging movies, it is important to remember to consider what the goal of the filmmaker is. Sure, Ronin is no Pulp Fiction or The Manchurian Candidate, but it's not supposed to be. I don't think it's a great movie, but I certainly don't consider it crap, and I feel it accomplishes what it set out to accomplish.
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As far as Leonard's novels being unfilmable, Elmore Leonard is generally considered to be amongst the most film friendly novelists. He has dialogue that can be lifted directly from the novel, he has tight, film-friendly plots, he has very cinematic characters. Not to mention that Leonard himself loves movies...ever notice how in virtually every novel of his, there is an example of the characters talking about movies, or often describes characters in terms of what actor they look like? Keep in mind that the examples you quote as bad adaptations are, more or less, obscure, and probably the result of amaturish filmmaking rather than the novels themselves being inherently tricky to film.
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While there is nothing wrong with the "Jackie Brown" opening credits ou should check out the opening credits for the movie the song T. used actually comes from. "Across 110th Street" with Yaphet Kotta and Anthony Quinn is a great movie and has better credits.
I'll put out there that aside from the work of Saul ass (Vertigo, Casino) the best opening credits to any film are those for "The Wild Bunch". While graphically interesting (The set a freeze frame style that is still used today from Beastie Boys videos to "Out of Sight") they are also interesting if you know the story behind the making of the film. The way Peckinpah placed dialougue before the freezes is telling. Each line- while forwarding the set-up with economy and grace, also comment on the people that appear in the credits from the Producer to the director himself. My favorite is the line just before the Producer's credit "It not what you said you'd do, it what you did do I don't like". -
Elmore Leornard rocks. Everyone of his novels that have been adapted to screen are incredible. Particularly LA Confidential and Out of Sight. And personally, I wish they'd get Soderbergh back to direct. Out of Sight is one of my personal favorites. Either that or Brian Helgeland. He did a great job with Payback. A movie with similar style. To bad Tarrantino won't take a go at it. I really enjoyed Jackie Brown. And what the hell is he doing that he can't direct. Making a sequel to Switchblade Sisters?
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I might have been excited about
another John Frankenheimer film...
in 1967. -
Killshot is not an action piece. So those expecting an overblown Frankenheimer film like Reindeer Games (never saw it, but I honestly think RONIN was a stroke of genius)
will be disappointed.
The book KILLSHOT is about a sexually charged married couple (she married a badass construction worker against her parents' wishes because the attraction was so strong) who, through a series of events, become the target of a Native American hitman and his annoying, overeager protege. It's set out in the Northwest (I think, can't remember for sure) in large wooded areas, and it's a tense drama similar in tone to A Simple Plan. There's also a slimy police officer who's supposed to be guarding them from the hitmen, but because the wife is so alluring, starts stalking her in a way that's creepier than the hitmen themselves.
Personally, can't wait to see this one. -
LA Conf. was based on a James Ellroy novel that owes nothing in tone, theme, or execution to the work of Elmore Leonard.
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RONIN is a beautifully crafted work of art. REINDEER GAMES is solid.
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In the flick, at one point, Robert DeNiro gets wounded. He goes and hides out at his buddy's estate. The friend has all manner of medical supplies -- a doctor's chair, lights, surgical tools, sutures. And yet, DeNiro has to perform the procedures HIMSELF. Some friend. Also, Ronin the Movie leaves out all the best stuff that was in the book: where was Casey, Billy, the cybernetics stuff and the swordfighting?
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If Jackie Brown had been presented to you without any foreknowledge of Pulp Fiction or of QT, you all would have loved it. You, like me, were secretly hoping that he would produce another masterwork, something that would suddenly elevate him to God-like status among film-geeks. When he didn't do that, we all pissed on him. But Jackie Brown is a quality film. It is not legendary, but it is head and shoulders above 90% of the films that get released. Maybe you would all appreciate it if for every Jackie Brown you saw, you had to watch 10 pieces of crap - then maybe you would appreciate it.
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And hey, with all the talk of the really great, classic stuff Frankenheimer has done, let's not forget "The Train". Anybody who's seen that should be looking forward to this collaboration. As for those who think Mr. Frankenheimer should "go to bed, old man!" in the words of the sage Dana Gould, there's a reason why he's in his 70s and still working. He's good at it. He knows it. He's a director and NOT a writer, so when a half-baked script like Reindeer Games comes along and he's asked to direct, he accepts, goes about his job and does his level best. It's something called a work ethic that sadly seemed to disappear from the average American composition about the same time the boomers started prowling this earth. But, like I say, check out "The Train" with Burt Lancaster and keep your fingers crossed they can pull a good cast together to finish this one off.
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QT has done dick since Jackie Brown. He's hidden himself away (supposedly scribbling some mind-blowing new flick) and hasn't made a sound......why?
Personally I think he is kacking it at the thought of having to write something original that will stand up next to Reservior Dogs and Pulp Fiction....those 2 flicks are a HARD act to follow. Just look at all the cheap, copycat shite that slopped out of Hollywood after Dogs and Pulp made bucket-loads of cash....utter wank.
So he's flashed his face at Cannes and mumbled something about Killbill. He did that fucking ages ago. I sent some stuff into Dark Horizons LAST YEAR about this flick and where the fuck is it?
Then there was talk of a Vega Brothers flick....where's that?
The "Guys-on-a-mission" flick? Nowhere to be seen....
It's about time QT pulled his thumb outta his ass, stopped watching trashy TV and wrote something that will give the cinema-going public the boner/wetness they desire.
He's got it in there somewhere...... -
...when the hell is Quentin Tarantino going to direct another movie?!! I mean, I've waited since, what was it, 97?, to see another one of his films... I'd see a fucking period piece about one woman's fight for equality if it was directed by this guy! (But I'd rather it have shooting and swearing in it...) Why, why WHY won't he come out with anther movie soon?!!
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I thought he was just a spaz. Is that how your spell "spaz."
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May 23, 2001 12:06:01 PM CDT
The French Connection 2 is the best fucken sequel ever. End of s
by herman snerd
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It's a hard thing to knock one out of the park each time. But I think he's just got some writer's block to work through, and he's been acting in Adam Sandler movies to try and unfreeze his brain... at least I hope that's why he was acting in Little Nicky...
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All of you who are dissing him are masturbators. Ronin is frigging spy movie classic, infinitely more watchable and interesting than any Bond movie since For Your Eyes Only. Manchurian Candidate? Seconds? Bird Man of Alcatraz? Any of these masterpieces ring a fucking bell? The guy has been working for decades. He can do more with one shot than most of the goateed punks these days can do with a whole frigging movie. Tarantino is brilliant for bringing this guy on board. Anyone who disses John Frankenheimer is a retard. AND the guy has done Leonard before with the briliant under rated 52 Pickup.
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Is a fucking Ageist.
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I take it that was meant to read that he's accepted. To paraphrase a Tarantino line of dialogue, learn to fucking type...apart from that this could be cool, it certainly has the potential if all the pieces fall snugly into place, but it could also suck royally. Then again what couldn't? I'm willing to wait and see.
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May 23, 2001 11:22:04 PM CDT
I loved 52-Pickup, so why the hell not do this one too?
by fatal discharge
Just in the last decade, Frankenheimer's made great films like Against The Wall, Andersonville, George Wallace and Ronin. I wouldn't blame him totally for Dr. Moreau as that film had major problems before he replaced another director on it. And who woulda thought a film could be ruined with such professional actors in it (Brando, Kilmer)?
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Elmore Leonard is my step father. One of my students told me about this sight & that there was an on-going chat about Killshot, QT, & Elmore. I have read your various comments with great interest -- some of you seem extremely knowledgeable about his life's work (yes, he is still writing & doesn't plan on stopping -- he recently told me he feels at the peak of his ability).
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