Sometimes it’s a whole lot easier to slice that cake in two, than to pick it apart. When projects are the bulky screenplay specimen type then this logic certainly becomes a valid option especially when maximum scrutiny is appealed. Rather than go the 3-plus hour route, Steven Soderbergh is splitting the tale into two pieces written by Peter Buchman. Heck if Clint can do it - so can Steven.
Your eye immediately finds him among the passersby. Tall, saturnine, long raven hair fluttering in the breeze, the obligatory dark glasses and leather jacket. Contemplative, almost brooding, he resembles some troubled figure emerged from rock and roll mythology. Morrison just after he arrived in Paris. Leaning forward, he looks out over the water, just another tourist taking in the famous view. Until he climbs onto the railing, spreads his arms as if they were wings, and drops from the frame.
July 11, 1979. 2:28 p.m. Two Columbian men enter Crown Liquors at Miami’s Dadeland Mall and hose the place down with automatic weapon fire before fleeing on foot, leaving the interior of the store covered in broken glass, spilled booze, empty shell casings, and blood from the two bullet ridden bodies of former players in Miami’s billion dollar cocaine industry. And thus begins Cocaine Cowboys, director Billy Corben’s flashy, audacious, violent, and highly entertaining documentary about the international cocaine business that bloomed from Miami, Florida in the 1970s and 80s.
The streets of Hollywood are littered with the husks of broken dreams and lost potential. Often being born to fame guarantees nothing more than life under a microscope. Sometimes however, great careers emerge from the specter of public scrutiny. Alison Eastwood is preparing to follow in her famous father’s footsteps by helming the upcoming Rails and Ties.
Running with Scissors is writer/director Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of Augusten Burroughs’s 2002 memoir of the same title. Murphy is the creator, producer, and also serves as a writer and director on the cable series “Nip/Tuck” – a show that is disturbing, graphic, lurid, and deserving of every word of critical acclaim it gets. He also served as a creator and producer on the WB series “Popular,” which only lasted two seasons, but in my opinion was the only WB series that did not involve vampires that was worth watching, and way ahead of it’s time.