Thursday, August 15, 2013

Lindsay in "The Canyons"

If you enjoy tales about raucous former child-stars, has-been directors, boy-next-door porn actors, and what's new in financing on the Indie scene, this in-depth article is for you. Stephen Rodrick recounts what he saw during the filming of The Canyons
Schrader thinks she’s perfect for the role. Not everyone agrees. Schrader wrote “Raging Bull” and “Taxi Driver” and has directed 17 films. Still, some fear Lohan will end him. There have been house arrests, car crashes and ingested white powders. His own daughter begs him not to use her. A casting-director friend stops their conversation whenever he mentions her name. And then there’s the film’s explicit subject matter. Full nudity and lots of sex. Definitely NC-17. His wife, the actress Mary Beth Hurt, didn’t even finish the script, dismissing it as pornography after 50 pages. She couldn’t understand why he wanted it so badly.
...Schrader goes over some ground rules; no trailers on set and one contractually obligated, four-way sex scene. Oh, another thing, Schrader adds: he will not try to sleep with her. This was probably a more relevant point in 1982, but no matter. Lohan stands up and says goodbye, telling everyone how excited she is to be working with them. She leaves the restaurant, followed by her mother and the mysterious man with the presents. 
...Schrader knows he should be terrified, but he’s as giddy as the son of dour Calvinists can be.
“I think this is going to work.”


If Schrader wasn’t worried about Lohan’s reputation, it might be because he is familiar with dysfunction. As a boy, his mother showed him what hell felt like by shoving a needle into his thumb. His father lobbied to prevent “The Last Temptation of Christ,” a film his son wrote, from playing in their hometown, Grand Rapids, Mich. After his father died, Schrader found that he owned VHS tapes of all of his films, but none of them had been opened. In his 20s, Schrader slept with a gun under his pillow because he could fall asleep only if he knew there was a way out. Now he never travels without thousands of dollars in the currency of half a dozen countries.
...He thought his future lay in pictures that would not only play indie theaters but also be available on video-on-demand the same day. Recent movies like “Bachelorette,” with Kirsten Dunst, and “Arbitrage,” a Richard Gere thriller, made a comfortable profit that way. Schrader hoped to follow that model, but on a skimpier budget. He wrote his two partners a manifesto of sorts last January:
“The script has to be multicharactered, relationship-based, full of sharp dialogue, set in contemporary locations and have a certain outrĂ© value. . . . Cinema for the posttheatrical era. . . . We could attract interesting actors and create a profile for the film via social media. It would be something that we own.” 
Like Schrader, Ellis was at a crossroads. After his early successes, “Less Than Zero” and “American Psycho,” Ellis’s books hadn’t sold as well, and tired of the novel as an art form, he moved to L.A., looking to break into movies. But nothing had gone into production recently, and he was itching to get something made. He went to work on the script while Pope strategized. 
Schrader could talk a good game, but it was Pope who would have to implement the plan. Pope suggested making “The Canyons” the most open film ever. There would be daily Facebook updates, and the cast would be made up entirely of actors selected from audition tapes sent to the movie’s Web site. Pope argued that this populist approach could be applied to financing as well. He explained Kickstarter to Schrader: all they had to do was come up with some good prizes, and kids of all ages would pledge money online to be associated with artist outlaws like Schrader and Ellis. Soon, the film was offering donors a Schrader script-critique for $5,001 and a week working out with Ellis and his trainer for $3,000. In a month, they raised more than $150,000. 
Ellis cranked out a first draft in six weeks. He had recently become fascinated with James Deen, a 26-year-old known as the Porn Star Next Door. Deen, whose real name is Bryan Matthew Sevilla, is the Jewish son of Pasadena rocket scientists­ — really. His 4,000 films have gained him a cult of female fans because he is well endowed and sensitive. But Ellis didn’t see Deen as harmless. He wrote the script with Deen in his head for the role of Christian, a classic Ellis sociopathic trust-funder, convinced there “was a devil behind the Jewish boy-next-door cute guy.”
NYT

37 comments:

edutcher said...

I read LiLo is about as impressive as if they'd gotten a track-marked, drug-raddled hooker of the street to play the part.

Too bad, the girl had some talent.

A decade ago.

chickelit said...

Deen, whose real name is Bryan Matthew Sevilla, is the Jewish son of Pasadena rocket scientists­ — really.

Does this mean his scenes will be cut?

Trooper York said...

Also a little known fact is that Paula Deen is his grandmother.

chickelit said...

That would explain his alleged penchant for butter...

deborah said...

LiLo...never heard that one. But I'm up on J-lo, at least.

You other two...*groaan*

William said...

There used to be celebrities who were famous for being famous. Lindsay, at least, is a true generator of scandal and shame. She has honestly earned her infamy......Brittney Spears has apparently pulled out of her tailspin. It could happen to Lindsay. We use celebrities for exemplary stories. This could be a story of hubris and falling angels, but stories of pain and redemption also sell well. Lindsay is enough of a drama queen to make either story credible. I just don't see her settling into a normal life.

William said...

There used to be celebrities who were famous for being famous. Lindsay, at least, is a true generator of scandal and shame. She has honestly earned her infamy......Brittney Spears has apparently pulled out of her tailspin. It could happen to Lindsay. We use celebrities for exemplary stories. This could be a story of hubris and falling angels, but stories of pain and redemption also sell well. Lindsay is enough of a drama queen to make either story credible. I just don't see her settling into a normal life.

ricpic said...

Wow, talk about tempests in teapots.

deborah said...

That's the point, I think, ricpic. I think this sort of low-budget movie-making will become more prominent now that we have the technology. It's interesting how they used a borrowed mansion in the California hills as the location, and financing from social network platforms. Lohan's shenanigans are part and parcel of the concept.

deborah said...

William, I agree, she could go either way, but she'll probably be unable to escape current groove. She reminds me of Liz Taylor. That kind of hazy, sloppy sexuality that will have trouble keeping the weight off.

edutcher said...

deborah said...

That's the point, I think, ricpic. I think this sort of low-budget movie-making will become more prominent now that we have the technology. It's interesting how they used a borrowed mansion in the California hills as the location, and financing from social network platforms. Lohan's shenanigans are part and parcel of the concept.

Before porn became "mainstream" in the 70s, that's how porn was made.

PS LiLo's the next Anna Nicole Smith. From what I've heard about about her parents, she learned from example.

Trooper York said...

Elizabeth Taylor is the perfect comparison. The only difference is that she won't get married the same number of times. Since half the people Liz married were gay and that now gays can get married it narrows down the pool.

Although she does do the lesbian thing so maybe she can make up the numbers that way.

Trooper York said...

If you ever want to give yourself a treat watch the interview that pompous douche Dr. Phil did with Lindsey's Mom Dina Lohan.

It is really, really funny.

AllenS said...

f you ever want to give yourself a treat watch the interview that pompous douche Dr. Phil did with Lindsey's Mom Dina Lohan.

Sure, right after I hit my thumb with a hammer three or four times.


Eric the Fruit Bat said...

You know, I must really be out of the loop because I just caught myself wondering why the days of leaked celebrity sex tapes have come to an end.

Trooper York said...

They ended because all of the Kardashian girls have their own shows already.

But don't worry the two youngest ones are almost at the age of consent so they will be on a website near you soon.

YoungHegelian said...

@deborah,

William, I agree, she could go either way

Well, if she's got a contracted four way sex scene, I don't think it'll be either. I think she'll have to go both ways.

Birches said...

I was just thinking about how trashy this movie sounds. But if it was financed by a Weinstein and had Natalie Portman instead of Lindsay Lohan, everyone would be saying how "important" the film was and how the orgy was so artfully done. Oscar bait for sure.

So really, the difference between porn and Oscar bait is the packaging.

deborah said...

Ed:
"Before porn became "mainstream" in the 70s, that's how porn was made."

Oh. Yeah. lol

Trooper, thanks, I'll look for it. The article mentions a meltdown between her parents on Dr. Phil, also.

Great point, Birches. On the other hand, some movies like Rocky Horror become cult classics. Anyway, I am going to watch it on Amazon...I'll do a little review one day, if no one beats me to it :)

deborah said...

YH, I try to avoid those types of phrasings because Trooper has a dirty mind, but that one go by me.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I read LiLo is about as impressive as if they'd gotten a track-marked, drug-raddled hooker of the street to play the part.

Too bad, the girl had some talent.

A decade ago.


How's that to say in any way that she's not perfect for the part? Or for any one of a number of roles casting archetypal female characters in American cinema?

She's nearly the best if not the best choice for this role and so many others like it (even if the other films merely do the surface service of hiding nudity and making the sex scenes less explicit), and her only problem is she's simply a pain in the ass to work with. That, and making slightly more consistent trouble for herself than the average starlet.

Revenant said...

How's that to say in any way that she's not perfect for the part? Or for any one of a number of roles casting archetypal female characters in American cinema?

Being something isn't the same as being able to make something compelling to an audience.

Revenant said...

Before porn became "mainstream" in the 70s, that's how porn was made.

"Low budget and shot in an empty house in LA" is *still* how the vast majority of American porn is made.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Being something isn't the same as being able to make something compelling to an audience.

What the hell's that supposed to mean? It could just as easily be a comment on the screenwriter or film.

Or a comment on archetypal American female cinema characters, for that matter.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

"Low budget and shot in an empty house in LA" is *still* how the vast majority of American porn is made.

Lol. The seediest section of LA still looks twenty times more glamorous than most parts of the rest of the country. And improved technology makes up for the rest.

chickelit said...

Let the trenchant warfare commence until a malestate is reached.

deborah said...

It was a lux mansion in the hills.

William said...

Historical footnote: Diana Barrymore was the first Hollywood brat to cash in on her crash. She was the daughter of John Barrymore who was about the kind of father you'd expect John Barrymore to be. She signed a contract with a studio, was given a Life cover story, and was expected to be the next big thing. She became, instead, an unstable drunk and pill head. This was at a time when it was not possible to become rich and famous for being an unreliable drunk. She was released from her contract and bounced on the skids for a while. She got a good ghost writer and her book about her fall from grace, Too Much Too Soon, became a big best seller. It was made into a movie starring Dorothy Malone and Errol Flynn. She thus became the first successful Hollywood failure. Success didn't spoil her. She married a tennis pro and died of an overdose. But she can claim first rights to the archetype.

William said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Known Unknown said...

William, I agree, she could go either way, but she'll probably be unable to escape current groove. She reminds me of Liz Taylor. That kind of hazy, sloppy sexuality that will have trouble keeping the weight off.

If she can pull off a "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" type performance when she's 44 she has more talent than I ever imagined.

Of course, that particular film was an veritable autobiography of its stars.

Known Unknown said...

To be fair to Liz, she never really squandered her talent.

She was 23 when she was in Giant. Twenty-five in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and 27 in Butterfield 8. Starred in Cleopatra at 30, and 34 (although she looked 44, sorry for the incorrect # in the previous post) when she did Woolf. It was pretty much downhill after that.

Lohan is 27 and hasn't produced a meaningful performance in nine years. (Mean Girls)

deborah said...

Good points, EMD, though how meaningful Mean Girls was is open for discussion.

I never 'got' Liz. I never thought she was a great actor, because her voice seemed weird and over-acty. The only thing I ever saw her seem real in was Woolf, and as you imply, she was really just playing herself. It's a great movie.

YoungHegelian said...

@deborah,

Let me tell you, if one is an adolescent male & watches the young Elizabeth Taylor in Ivanhoe, many things can be forgiven.

When young, she was just a a thing of beauty.

Revenant said...

What the hell's that supposed to mean?

It wasn't a complicated concept. A self-involved drug addict can give a convincing portrayal of a self-involved drug addict, pretty much by definition. But nobody wants to spend ninety minutes listening to and watching a self-involved drug addict as she goes about her banal daily life. She has to bring something else to the table to hold the audience's attention. That's where the acting comes in.

It could just as easily be a comment on the screenwriter or film.

The same applies to screenplays and films themselves, yes.

Revenant said...

Lol. The seediest section of LA still looks twenty times more glamorous than most parts of the rest of the country.

That is, of course, what attracted the porn industry in the first place: the glamorous location shoots.