Last night at the New Beverly Cinema screenwriter Josh Olson delighted local filmgoers when he appeared to kick off a week-long festival of films he hand-picked for the occasion.
Right off the bat, during an intro to - "A History of Violence" - the outgoing writer confided to the rapt audience that initially he didn't think he'd land the job to adapt the graphic novel for the big screen.
In fact, it was only with the help of a former agent's assistant, that he managed to wiggle his way through the front gates of Paraount Studios to pitch an idea to the "suits" who - he was told - would probably turn him down hands flat.
"Since I didn't think I'd get the job, I decided to do something wild. I just pitched the title and the backbone of the story."
Surprisingly, the suits at Paramount bought the idea and signed him on.
The script took about six weeks to draft.
And, in spite of the short time-frame to pen the material ("Violence" was his first stab at a studio feature) - only two notes were handed down from the Executive Suite.
"They cut a paragraph from one monologue because they thought it was too long. Also, I was asked to change a character's name because one of the top brass didn't like the one I chose, Gary."
He beamed when he recalled that the film was ready to screen at Cannes Film Festival just a year later.
"Everything was quick and smooth with the production," he noted proudly.
The wrangling for a director was a bit touchy, though.
"Some of the choices were scary," he laughed.
So, Olson pushed for David Cronenberg who was itching to do a studio project.
But, Paramount was worried because Cronenberg had only turned out a handful of small arty films over the years which hadn't made any money.
"I was ready to go, but they were still dickering over directors, which was frustrating."
Although the Oscar-nominated screenwriter appeared to be a pretty mild-mannered easy-going earth dude last night in the floodlights - when push came to shove - he had the gumption to stand his ground.
"I called up every day screaming for Cronenberg!"
Finally, Paramount relented, and the quirky director was signed on.
I was about to ask Olson if he had any actors in mind when he was penning the script, but before I could pose the question, he noted of his own accord that Viggo Mortensen was always his first choice for the lead.
"Maria Bello was better than any actress I could have thought of," he added with smug satisfaction.
When I asked Olson if he felt he needed to give notes to the actors - or have discussions with the director about creative decisions on set during production - his response was an emphatic no.
"David doesn't need anyone to tell him what to do. In fact, he doesn't work from storyboards at all. He walks in and figures out how he'll shoot it on the spot."
Maybe that is why the film is flawed.
The opening scenes dragged a lot, for instance.
To me, there was an excessive amount of footage wasted setting up part one of the feature.
In fact, "Violence" never really sizzled or got off the ground until Sam Harris' threatening character made his first entrance.
One fan in the audience pointed out that the fight scenes were pretty realistic, though; I wholeheartedly agreed with that sentiment, too.
The believable dialogue tumbled out at a good pace and didn't hit one false note, either.
Olson laughed when he recalled that during a passionate love scene on a stairwell, Viggo needed knee pads to ease the pain a little.
"I think I saw a little tail, too," Olson chuckled in reference to a shot of the actor's naked butt captured from behind during the throes of lovemaking.
The interviewer at the Q & A - obviously straight as an arrow - laughed.
"I don't know. I wasn't looking THAT closely."
I expect now my gay readers will be dashing off to rent the video - so they can rewind it incessantly - to catch the titillating clip in the event the writer's memory rings true.
Actually, "The History of Violence" was the last project at Paramount to be released on VHS.
"Yeah, we killed the medium," Josh chortled to a round of applause.
To get an "R" rating, some of the blood was cleaned up digitally, apparently.
Actually, about two-thirds of the original material in John Warren's book was left out.
A flashback was cut, for instance. And, so was a bloody dream sequence.
"I met John (author) at the premiere and he said he liked my version better than the book."
Olson noted that until "Violence" happened along, he'd only written a couple of junky things.
"Not worth mentioning," he asserted matter-of-fact.
The talented man - obviously, with a bright future - is either very humble or unaware that to film historians a body of work is helpful in getting a fix on an artist and their stages of creative development.
As to future projects, Olson was enthusiastic about "One Shot".
And, revealed that he was all fired up about doing a sequel to the "Wizard of Oz".
Was he joking?
Surely, Mr. Olson knows better than to tamper with the classics.
Who knows, just maybe, he has the magic touch capable of leading him down the yellow brick road to the Emerald City on that curious project.
And, a place in cinematic history.
But, if the ending of "Violence" is any indication, things may not pan out with the critics.
The closing scenes for the Cronenberg feature, after all, were too "open-ended".
"One critic in Cannes accused us of tacking on a Hollywood ending."
Well, that assessment was definitely off-base.
If anything, it smacked of one thing for sure, though.
"Lazy filmmaking."
Before ending the Q & A, Olson urged everyone to stick around and take in "Straw Dogs" on the second bill.
"I probably shouldn't say this, but at the time he shot this film, I think Peckinpaw had serious issues with women which ended up on screen, unintentionallly."
In an afterthought, Olson also noted that the Peckinpaw potboiler was a cringing example of the male id let loose on the screen.
Mr. Olson will be in attendance at the New Beverly Cinema throughout the week as he continues to hold court with some insightful discussions on favorite films such as Ed Wood, Problem Child, A Boy and his Dog, The Day the Earth Caught Fire, Exorcist III, and the Ninth Configuration.
See 'ya there!
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