Some Recent Threads....

[J. Lester]

Many thanks to my Opener of the Way, Mr. Paul deFilipio, who not only 
provided me with the address of this list, but also mentioned the
Pynchon-director thread. I shall try to make this short, since I'm sure 
everyone else has already done this idea to death.

CRYING OF LOT 49:  I have always thought that this movie would be an 
ideal project for Stanley Kubrick. Can't think of anyone else, really, 
except the Mike Nichols who directed "The Graduate." Unfortunately, that 
poor sod (and his cousin, who directed the 
failure-but-with-lots-of-potential "Catch 22.") were both killed off in 
mysterious circumstances and replaced by an utter hack of the same name 
who directed "Working Girl." 'Tis a pity.......

V: A ouija board is set up, and the young vital, spirit of Federico 
Fellini directs from beyond the grave. The man who crafted the endless 
parties of LA DOLCE VITA recreates the endless parties of the Whole Sick 
Crew with such vigor and moral condemnation that he manages to win the 
Academy Award for Direction. At the awards ceremony, presenters Clint 
Eastwood and Diane Keaton hold up the Ouija Board, allowing Fellini to 
spell out from beyond the grave: D-I-A-N-E I-S P-U-S-H-I-N-G T-H-I-S 
W-I-T-H H-E-R F-I-N-G-E-R-S.

Or, failing that, Mike Leigh.

GRAVITY'S RAINBOW: HA! HA! HA! Who would be crazy enough to try and adapt 
this. Would it be a huge mini-series from the BBC, directed by Steven 
Frears? A three hour Oliver Stone production starring Robert Downey, Jr.? 
A low-budget one hour adaptation filmed in silent black and white by the 
talented madman from the North, Guy Maddin? A faithfully filmed but cut 
to two hours by the producers version by Gus Van Sant with Keanu as 
Slothrop and one of River Phoenix's numberless siblings as Katje. Still, 
despite the woeful results, everyone agrees that casting William S. 
Burroughs as Blicero was a nice touch (and Udo Kier is in there, 
somewhere, which is appropriate.). No, obviously the remake by Terry 
Gilliam is the one TRP fans (nicknamed in the press "Pynchheads" or 
"Rugglerats") most prefer. Produced by famed Pynchon fan, John 
LaRoquette (sorry about the spelling there, John), who, mercifully, is 
talked out of starring as Slothrop and appears as Maj. Duane Marvy.

***EVEN BIGGER DIGRESSION*** GR would also being interesting if done by 
Lars von Trier. Not the talented, but passionless, Lars von Trier that 
wrote and directed "Zentropa" (also about the Zone of post-WWII Germany) 
but his sharper, funnier brother Lars von Trier who directed the 
miniseries "The Kingdom". To all of you on the list in the L.A. and S.F. 
areas, I know the "The Kingdom" will be playing both areas (at the Nuart 
and the Castro, respectively) in the next couple of months. Although it 
has a false ending, more of a stopping, really (but what TRP fan isn't a 
veteran of that?!), it is five hours of hair-raising, knee-slapping fun. 
And will make you think of Mr. P. than once. I guarantee it. I leave Mr. 
von Trier off my TRP list because, in my opinion, "Zentropa" tries to do 
what GR has done and blows it big-time.

VINELAND: Who knows, maybe this would make the best movie. I can't think 
of who I would have direct it, so I will just say "Quintin Tarantino" so 
that people reading this will go "Arghhh!" Becomes a big enough hit that 
Fox turns it into a TV series. Yikes........

Let's not forget the surprisingly mature job Richard Linklater does with 
"Entropy" for the Showtime series "Off The Shelf: A Series of Famous 
Short Stories Adapted for Cable to Win Us Awards".

(Oh, and hey, what about Almodavar doing GR? And Steven Soderbergh doing 
"The Secret Integration" for the above Showtimes series? Jane, get me off 
this crazy thing!!

<j.