A freebie for all subscribers: Roundup of my writing over the last couple of months, plus some thoughts on Viva Las Vegas, After Hours, Ebertfest, my time in Chicago … everything I’ve been doing. Thanks for reading!
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- “When I get into that studio, I’m in another world. I love it. When I’m performing, that’s the real me.” — Billy Lee Riley
- “If someone spends his life writing the truth without caring for the consequences, he inevitably becomes a political authority in a totalitarian regime.” — Václav Havel
- “All my life I have been happiest when the folks watching me said to each other, `Look at the poor dope, wilya?” — Buster Keaton
- Temporary
- “The problem with taking amps to a shop is that they come back sounding like another amp.” — Stevie Ray Vaughan
- “That cat was royalty, man.” — Mick Jagger on Eddie Cochran
- “I’ve been to every big city and many little towns in the USA. I really try to soak it in. I love all these little towns – the people and the places. I feel so lucky to see all these places and I truly have a hunger to see and experience them.” — G. Love
- R.I.P. Kris Kristofferson
- “I put my soul through the ink.” — Proof
- “I don’t care what anybody says about me as long as it isn’t true.” — Truman Capote
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OMG!! Just wow. Casually mentioning that you had a forty minute phone conversation with Martin Scorsese in the 5th paragraph is the definition of burying the lead! You’ve now summited Everest in film critic terms. Amazing.
I’d love to hear (and I am sure anyone reading this blog would as well) ANYTHING he had to say, about After Hours, film in general, his approach to satire, whatever – if there are any interesting tidbits or anecdotes that stand out that you feel comfortable sharing. If not, and you want to keep that conversation “yours”, well, I totally get that.
Congratulations on After Hours for Criterion. What a wonderful film – it’s close to the heart of all New York film lovers. It’s great to see what appears to be a burgeoning relationship between Scorsese and Criterion.
I find After Hours fascinating for several reasons, but most of all I feel it’s the best “passive protagonist” movie I’ve ever seen. Paul does ONE thing, decides to call Patricia Arquette, and from then on he’s caught up in this unstoppable river of New York insanity, simply trying to survive.
All New Yorkers have had nights like this, although maybe not quite as insane, where you start at 6:00 pm on the Upper West Side having a beer in a friends apartment, and nine dive bars/bodegas/pizza joints/clubs/cab rides/apartments later you’re wandering around Brooklyn Heights at 3:10 am wondering where you are and if you’ll get home alive.
It’s a screenwriting no-no to have stuff just “happen” to the protagonist – they’re supposed to be “driving the action” or the piece falls flat. After Hours is the exception that proves the rule.
I still feel if Paul had simply asked the subway toll collector to BORROW the increased fair amount, and pay him back later, all would have worked out okay.
And when I think of all the great acting in this movie, the one that keeps sticking out in my mind is Linda Fiorentino. In this film, The Last Seduction, even Vision Quest, she seems just so white hot she could burn up the film. I’m not even sure what I mean other than I think her screen presence and energy, for lack of better words, is incredibly unique and electric.
Congrats again Sheila, this is awesome stuff.
Todd! Hi! In a bit of a whirlwind and it took me a while to come back … to my own site, lol. I LOVE hearing your thoughts on After Hours!! The passive protagonist! Linda Fiorentino! How much did we lose when she basically retired. Hollywood did her dirty. She was so unique, I miss her.
// I still feel if Paul had simply asked the subway toll collector to BORROW the increased fair amount, and pay him back later, all would have worked out okay. //
hahahaha and also … you could just WALK HOME, Paul. Yes, it’s a bitch, and it’s 90 blocks or whatever, but you can WALK. We all did it in the blackout summer. The fact that it never once occurs to him to walk home is almost the most interesting thing about it!
and yeah – I talked with Marty!! It was quite a saga to connect to him, involving multiple layers of assistants – he is, as you say, busy. But he wanted to talk to me, so they tried to make it work. I was hoping he wouldn’t be like “I read your essay, it sucked” lol – even though of course that wasn’t going to happen. By this point I’ve written two pieces he liked about his films – so … I guess he just wanted to make it personal? I don’t know! I didn’t ask!!
A lot I don’t want to share – particularly his compliments of me and my writing – I mean, I’ll just keep those to myself and think about them from time to time if I need a pick me up – but there are a couple of funny things.
We were talking about the uptown/downtown divide in New York – particularly at the time of After Hours – and he said, “I grew up in Little Italy –” and it was so charming because … I wanted to say: “We know, Marty. Everyone knows.” But he shared these vivid memories of waking up to the sound of garbage trucks right outside his window and stuff like that. It’s one thing to read him reminiscing – it’s another thing to have him just tell it to you.
We had a very interesting discussion about satire! and how After Hours is not really a satire. “I don’t know what it is,” he said, laughing.
He said, “Now Wolf of Wall Street – that’s a satire!” I then told him the story I’ve told before – how I saw it on opening night in Hoboken and it was a packed raucous crowd – not that long ago but it was when people still went to the movies. and the movie played like a grossout rambunctious comedy. you couldn’t even hear the dialogue for long stretches of time because of the laughter. He was just laughing listening to me describe this. I’m glad he enjoyed it. :). But THEN the most interesting thing, I told him, was seeing it home alone by myself and how it didn’t play like a comedy at ALL. It was grim, existentially so, and nasty, and … I was like “the whole thing is pointless!” and he BURST out laughing. I said, “and I realized the movie is BOTH.” He did really love this. he said, “EXACTLY. It’s both!”
So it was nice that it wasn’t a one-sided conversation. Honestly 5 minutes in I forgot who I was speaking to, and was just present in it.
Speaking of the subway token guy: that’s Murray Moston – the guy who got his hand blown off in Taxi Driver – and I took a Shakespeare class with Moston’s son, Doug Moston (I wrote about him here when he died. One of my favorite classes ever.) So I told him that – and he loved it. “Dougie! I knew Dougie!” (Harvey Keitel and Doug Moston were best friends since they were kids, Keitel used to sleep over at the Mostons all the time as a teenager.). so that was cool. Dougie!
I told him we had met before and he exclaimed, upset with himself, “GodDAMMIT” and I said, “It’s so totally okay” – he said, “I’m sorry, I’m so old!” then he told me if we ever met again, I was to come up to him and say “I[m Sheila O’Malley Raging Bull After Hours” and he would know it was me. Like a code. He gave me a passcode. and you know I’m gonna use it.
So there was more, of course, but it was just a really nice talk – and his assistants were super nice, and I felt like …. he really just wanted to connect with me. He didn’t have any specific critique of my essay. He loved it. “You told me stuff about my own life back then that I didn’t even know.” lol
It was just … he wanted to meet me. It was awesome!
// All New Yorkers have had nights like this, although maybe not quite as insane, where you start at 6:00 pm on the Upper West Side having a beer in a friends apartment, and nine dive bars/bodegas/pizza joints/clubs/cab rides/apartments later you’re wandering around Brooklyn Heights at 3:10 am wondering where you are and if you’ll get home alive. //
Exactly!!! lol
Such a great story! It’s easy (at least for me) to forget these people are actually human beings. The people at the top, Scorsese, Spielberg, James Cameron, they just accomplish so MUCH it’s almost hard to comprehend. They seem like Gods to me at times. It’s amazing he was so warm and “regular”.
“I grew up in Little Italy”, that’s hilarious. ” I eventually went on to direct such films as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, and The Departed”. Lol.
Thanks for sharing and congratulations again.
* correcting my prior comment, Roseanna Arquette was obviously in After Hours, not Patricia (they’re both so great).
// It’s amazing he was so warm and “regular”. //
I know. It’s good to be reminded. It’s easy to get intimidated! He means SO MUCH to me – and I know I’m not alone in that – but when I try to think of how much his work has impacted my life … I just don’t even know what to say. It would be like meeting Gena Rowlands. Like, what do you even SAY.
Thankfully, this conversatino was initiated by him so … I guess I relaxed a little bit, as weird as that might sound. I wasn’t “bothering” him, you know?
// I eventually went on to direct such films as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, and The Departed”. Lol. //
hahahahaha.
I can’t WAIT for his new one – I am doing my best to avoid the Cannes buzz!