Paul Schrader goes "Micro-Budget"... With Lindsay Lohan!
- Thread starter David G. Smith
- Start date
Ryan Patrick O'Hara
Veteran
Intentional slam piece to promote their film. Not defending LL, but actors and actresses have been nightmares on films in the past, and they (production) keep it under wraps for benefit of the film. Having this writer around to witness and report this in a NYT expose, is a very intentional and controlled leak, IMO. They know everyone loves a LL train wreck and they made sure they got one and documented it for film publicity. This came out awhile ago and the film has gotten very little positive publicity outside of slam pieces like this and the porn star co-star.
that said, I am close to an AP on the film, so I hope it does well for his sake. Despite the angle, you can't blame them for playing the publicity angle. That's the film biz for you.
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David G. Smith
Steak Knife Member
Oh yeah, Schrader is actually pretty smart to cast Lohan. She brings a lot of baggage for sure, but she also brings a lot of publicity where ever she goes and on a $250K flick, they are going to need every bit of that they can get. I have a lot of admiration for Schrader and I hope the movie does well also. I think it would be very cool if he went the route of Coppola and Ed Burns and started putting out low budget personal films.
refocusedmedia
Veteran
Regardless of whether it's a controlled leak or not, it is a fantastic read.
David G. Smith
Steak Knife Member
Yeah it is a very good read. I have mixed emotions thinking about the writer of "Taxi Driver" and "Raging Bull" having to scramble, scrape and fight to get a $250K flick made. On one hand, it is kind of sad but, on the other hand, I am excited and inspired that he is staying in the game and plugging away.
j1clark@ucsd.edu
Veteran
In the era of PG-13 madness, any film with 'sex' as a central element, will be nixed almost out of hand, and even if greenlit, having a bad girl, and a bad boy (by association with the porn industry), in leading roles... double nix... triple nix...
Back in the olden days Marilyn Chambers was nixed by Proctor & Gamble as a model, due to her having performed in porn... and only a few porn performers seem to have been able to appear in mainstream films. I see Ron Jeremy occasionally, but never as a principle. (Maybe the producers think that he's so old, no one watching the film would notice...).
It's funny to me (funny strange not funny ha ha) how things have deteriorated rather than progressed since the '60's. There was some really crazy stuff shot in the 70's, and here we are in 2013 where fun and creativity takes a back seat to PG-13 pablum. I was very inspired after seeing John Water's Pink Flamingos released in 1972 (I saw it much later) and I recommend that every indie film maker watch it. How hard would it be to make and release that movie today? Yea, it's got nudity and grossness, but it's very far from being porn. Porn is ok now, but strangeness with sex and nudity is not.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069089/
groveChuck
U-matic Member
Shcrader may have written Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, but Canyons was written by Bret Easton Ellis, who started with his novels of jaded/wealthy/disaffected/promiscuous youth before coming up with American Psycho.
Sex- bored, bizarre or otherwise is a frequently used plot device for Ellis. Will Lohan's sex scenes be anything more than gratuitous?
And... it's another Kickstarter film!
Sex- bored, bizarre or otherwise is a frequently used plot device for Ellis. Will Lohan's sex scenes be anything more than gratuitous?
And... it's another Kickstarter film!
Andrew Stone
Veteran
Schrader also directed Mishima, a remarkable low budget film.
David G. Smith
Steak Knife Member
Yeah, the YouTube stuff is kind of strange. I guess they are really playing with the marketing of the flick, but I think that is all Schrader/Ellis/Pope. I understand that the movie has been picked up by IFC and will hit theaters this summer. I would image that they will put together a proper trailer.
Here is a clip from the movie.
http://www.nytimes.com/video/2013/01/10/magazine/100000001994511/lindsay-lohan-in-the-canyons.html?smid=pl-share
groveChuck
U-matic Member
"Kickstarter Productions"... uh-oh!
These trailers raise my expectations so that they cannot be fulfilled. I want to see a real grind house movie after seeing the grind house trailer, or a real Russ Meyers movie after seeing the 50's trailer. I fear this will be no Faster Pussycat! Kill! kill!
David G. Smith
Steak Knife Member
Yeah, I would not get your hopes up for that. While Schrader is very influenced by Film Noir, and actually was one of the first critics to do an in depth look at that genre, I think he approaches it from an intellectual point of view and not so much the visceral angle. I think Harmony Korine's "Spring Breakers, which is out now, is probably more akin to an evolution of Grindhouse/Russ Meyer, in a round about way, than anything Paul Schrader will ever do.
I have to admit that I am a little confused by the trailers. Like I said above, I think that they were playing at the marketing and while it appears that their Kickstarter campaign was a success, I get the feeling they always were looking to be quickly picked up, cash the check and let the distribution company handle the marketing. The film was rejected by both Sundance and SXSW and that probably took a little bit of wind out their sails. I am with Batutta and will give Paul Schrader the benefit of the doubt. I will see the flick and let it speak for itself. I am sure it is going to be interesting, at the very least.
By the by... there is a third trailer on "The Canyons" YouTube channel...
This one was posted 9 months ago, and is pure teaser.
j1clark@ucsd.edu
Veteran
It would not be hard. The problem as I see it, is, that up to the 80's/90's, most people only saw movies in theaters. There were a range of theaters in most large cities, from the upscale new releases to, 25/50 cent admissions (and a 18 hour showing cycle...) at the bottom.
Of course film was expensive... which is why I chose to go the 'still photography' route back then...(something that I regret... but I digress...). Once having shot a film, there was 'how to get it into theaters'... even more expense for prints... etc...
But there was a market for low budget exploitation/sexploitation which ran the fine line between the crime, at the time, of pornography, and not.
If one wanted to see a low budget exploitation... there was always somewhere one could go... downtown, other side of the tracks... etc...
With the explosion of home video, that pretty much killed off the low end theaters. Porn production, becoming quasi legal, also exited the 'theaters' and into home VHS...(quasi legal because even now only a few states allow the 'production' of pornography, where as most are limited in the consumer 'buying/acquiring' porn... California was one of the first states to determine that the production of pornography comes under free speech... but I digress...).
The problem remains however, on how to get low budget films to a market... Until Harmony Korine's most recent "Spring Breakers", outside a few film buffs, most people had never heard of him... now I overheard a couple of coworkers talking about 'spring breakers'... I fear Korine is going to go mainstream...
But where would you go to see "Trash Humpers"(2009)... or "Gummo"(1997)... that sort of thing would have been shown where John Water's "Pink Flamingos"(1972) would have been shown... on the other side of the tracks...
While direct to DVD or now direct to Internet Streaming eliminates the local 'archaic' morals passing as public safety, and allows viewers to pick what they want...
The big question... is how to inform viewers of the film...
I think "The Canyons" is banking on 'star presence'... Lindsay Lohan, Paul Schrader, etc... and their either on screen, behind the screen, or off screen publicity...
I don't know how ordinary mortals accomplish similar feats of publicity...
But... that said... I do believe there could be a 100,000 "Pink Flamingos" made ever year... whether that's a good thing or not is a different question... just need to get film makers and attendant actors and actresses to take risks... which seems to be difficult these days...
I think that's a good run down of the state of things and how it came to be that way. IMO it's resulted in less variety and a more homogenized movie experience. Where are the Russ Meyer films of 2013? Not a repackaging of a Russ Meyer film, but the updated Russ Meyer of 2013?
I definitely want to check out Spring Breakers.
Altus_Libera
Carbonite Member
Probably OT, but to LL and Spring Breakers, I always think it's odd how when we have a male child actor come of age, it sort of grosses us out. But like as soon as a female child actor hits 18, we're all clamoring to get them naked on screen.
