In my past life, I worked at a giant movie studio. A movie studio with a questionable recent track record. Regardless of the box office performance of those films (does anything else REALLY matter?), I learned just about everything I needed to know about Hollywood in the 3 years I worked there. Did I mention that I USED TO work in the film industry? ‘Nuff said.
Anyway, the point is that I discovered how hard it is to make a great movie these days. Not because the talent doesn’t exist (it does), or that audiences don’t want to see good movies anymore (they do), but because the people with the dough don’t want to take risks in light of the ‘economic climate.’ If George Lucas pitched STAR WARS today, he would be laughed out of the room. E.T? Forget it. THE GODFATHER? Nice try. We’re lucky if one or two great movies slide through the cracks these days. Last year, we had a few – THE SOCIAL NETWORK, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON – but I remember growing up in the 1990’s and every weekend there was a JURASSIC PARK or FIGHT CLUB. What gives?
Wow, I’m really getting off track. But not really. Because a couple weeks ago I sat down to watch a movie which I’d only previously seen snippets of. And I laughed harder than I have in a very long time. Then, I realized I never really read the book either, even though it was written by one of my favorite authors. So, I got into some heavy wording – and laughed – half worried about how god damn funny I found the whole thing. And how NO ONE would ever dare make this movie today, though it was released only 10 years ago. Or publish the book. Which is odd, since all I hear is how disengaged, disenchanted, and dishonest we are as a society now. Thanks Arnold.
The film and book I’m referring to is, of course, AMERICAN PSYCHO. Bret Easton Ellis gives us Patrick Bateman – old money, 27 years old, a Wall Street Yuppie to the highest degree. A man who doesn’t have to work (he only shows up to wear the perfect clothes over his perfect abs/ass), dines out at the most exclusive New York restaurants and clubs, and collects material possessions like they’re going out of style (the horror). Oh, did I mention he’s a homicidal maniac who butchers people in his penthouse during off hours? Yeah, day in the life. I especially enjoy the sections where we get a solid 5 page diatribe on the brilliance of Genesis, Whitney Houston, etc immediately following the most graphic recounting of a murder you can imagine. It’s almost too much. Almost. “Do ya like Huey Lewis?”
Ellis does satire in AMERICAN PSYCHO unlike anything I’ve ever read before. We’re talking comedy so black that it’s really heading off into the other direction. The book is significantly more graphic and disturbing (and hilarious) than the film. I’ve heard that Bret is far happier with this cinematic interpretation of his prose than, say, LESS THAN ZERO. On principle, I loathe remakes of movies that were made in my lifetime – but I honestly think LESS THAN ZERO deserves a 2nd shot, since the book is genius. I recommend it to anyone who is thinking about moving to Los Angeles, as preparation for having your soul sucked out through your left nostril.
Anyway, I hope that you will seek out both the film and the novel. Prepare to have your world rocked, and then come talk to me about it, because there are just a couple of unanswered questions that are worth our time to hash out. Lets leave the axes at home, though.
By the way, I found this site on a google search – and couldn’t stop laughing. The conversation at the bottom is priceless – I love when something goes right over people’s heads. Literally.
Thoughts and rumblings 