I walked the Red Carpet twice…
For the first time in 1989 and again in 1990. I was a guest of actor Sonny Landham in ’89 – I’d just gotten out of prison. Landham co-starred in 48 Hours and Predator as well as appearing in 50 other films. My writing partner at the time, Robert Roy Pool, walked it with us. He had written the script for my my film "Outlaws" (which became The King of Sting) as well as OUTBREAK with Dustin Hoffman.
At the time I thought it would be the first of many times for me at the Academy Awards. I’d just completed the film CHAMPIONS FOREVER with Muhammad Ali, we just missed being nominated for best feature documentary (it should have been). Little did I know that I would sit next to the Italians that would win the same award for Cinema Paradisio.
Painful.
They let me hold the award for a moment. Great. I would later go to the green room of ABC and meet all the stars and nominees. But it was bitter sweet. I felt like a schmuck in my tux, after living in a prison halfway house, and then meeting Kim Basinger and saying, "Yes I have a film in development." l
Like she give a crap.
I was about 33 at the time. So who did I leave with? No, not with some smoking hot movie star, but the car park valet girl. A girl from South America – a beauty – there to be "discovered."
She was, by me. Her bad luck. That lasted three weeks.
Ah, when we were kids, the Academy Awards was the biggest thing. Like the Super Bowl.
Bob Hope would do the hosting, so cool. All the stars came out, even the ones who were not in the darn thing. People like Gregory Peck, Sophia Loren, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Julie Christie,Jimmy Stewart, Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster. And on and on. Those were some of my heroes. I especially pulled for Paul Newman, he lost 7 times before he won for a lesser effort in the pool shooting film, "THE COLOR OF MONEY" with Tom Cruise.
The world stopped when those awards went down.
There were no cars on the streets, everyone huddled around a TV, the entire family watching. Now it’s just not the same, is it? Oh, it’s still a big deal. The Star still makes a big deal out of it with all their older readers. But the world has changed. Everybody is busy and less people care or watch.
It’s becoming more and more an insider’s event.
This year I watched with a wince of pain, for once again, not being involved with some project, I guess most Hollywood people don’t really so much care if they don’t have horse in the race. Still I have to watch. No more Bob Hope or Johnny Carson.
Instead there are a couple of newcomers who don’t seem to truly deserve the highest rung of HOST at the Academy Awards. I know they have to go for younger viewers, but boy, it’s just not as important when they hand the job off each year.
Hell ,even Billy Crystal was a little fun.
To see Warren Beatty finally fighting the aging process and trying to force words out of his 80 year-old mouth was sad. The man once ruled that town, THE PLAYBOY. Warren is in a photo in my book THE KING OF STING, on a day he tried to pick up my then fiance, Terri Gatewood at Morton’s.
I was proud of Kirk Douglas closing in on 100 and still getting it done. He’s the last of that Great Hollywood Era of stars. I thought one of the highlights of the show was how wonderful Jennifer Hudson looks. My God, what a dish! She has lost like 100 pounds, good for her. What a talent.
It was also nice to see the Award Ceremony close with "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" from the Wizard of Oz, which I think now stands for MOVIES. Nice because who can forget that line, "We aren’t in Kansas anymore…"
Well, maybe they aren’t…
I still love the movies, though now I realize they don’t last forever. Nothing does. And maybe the message isn’t as important as I once thought.
Still for those still in it, it lasts a lifetime.
Thanks For the Memories
Ah yes Bob Hope, those were the days Glazer. Fun story, kinda sad, kinda true, liked it. Thanks for filling me in, I was one of the people who never missed this show, but did not see this one. Hudson does look sexy.
I Don’t Care Anymore
Not many movies are that good anymore. The only one I liked this year wasn’t even nominated, THE TOWN. Dumb people. Its just never been fair and the show is damn long. Thanks for letting us know it was once special, it was.
Greedy Bastards Like You
Who cares about a bunch of self loving greedy people? I sure don’t, I work for a living, I don’t pose for a living. You sure fit right in with this assholes Glazer.
I wanted to cry for Warren
Oh My God, I used to be in love with Warren Beatty as a teenager. It hurt to see him like that, it really did. What is wrong with him do you think?
Still A Fashion Show
wish I could afford the clothes, or the girls. Nice tale, entertaining.
Loved The Show
I don’t what people expect. Its an awards show damit. They did a clean nice job. Loved it. Man those songs were so great. I kinda liked the host, James Franco, kinda devil may care attitude, and the guy lost on his nomination, didn’t seem to bother him much.
Racist Show
Almost no blacks again! Glazer the only award you get is on a poster WANTED DEAR OR ALIVE.
Winter’s Bone should’ve won SOMETHING. Excellent movie.
Do yourself a favor..watch it.
Reason shortage of good movies….
1. Investors tired of losses. When investors/bankers/wall street puts 120 million in to
a film and it flops with 4 big stars (nicholson/rudd/wilson etc.) they get leery.
They won’t put the dollars into films anymore be ause they are making millions/billions
without risks on high speed trades that have almost no risk for them. Hence…they
decided that it wasn’t making sense to put all their money into a film because there
really are no big stars that can bring in a big audience anymore.
2. Internet. the internet is draining talent…its obvious that with less investment capital
talent is moving to other media…specifically new media. Now with net flix and red box
movies will soon be bypassing theatres which raked in the millions for the studios and
their financial backers. Now…with shortened dates to dvd why would a studio make a big
budget film when they know they can’t get the theatres to bring in the crowds to recoup
their money. Talent is being deluted…as fewer dollars are available for these investement
s fewer talentgoes to the mvoies.
3. I seriously doubt that the king of sting will be made. Why….its a marginal story without
a real theme. It will be years before glazers story gets on the screen. I read the book and
while it made some good reading it has almost no entertainment value. Thats my opinion based
on 20 years ofr exeprience. There’s no core to this book and even spielbergc ouldnt resuscitate
this story. Its nice for a self written book and it was somewhat interesting to re4ad but it will
never be a major film…….more smoke and mirrors. With fewer dollars in the studios…and they’re
now owned by bottom line guys and the fact that it is too outdated makes it almost an impossible
venture. I would love to see it…but theres nothing to grab an audeince and noones going to take
the chance with an unknown writer and a weak story line.
4. 80/20. Its hollywood people. 20% of the actors make 20% of the money. In the “smashj” movie
with paul rudd/jack nicholson/wilson and rene they paid about 50 millionin cash to the stars.
And we know how that ended up. Theres too many flops. The few movies that do make money
have major bucks behind them but more importantly the ability for merchandise sales and
licensing rights to bring in 20-30% of the gross dollars. King of sting has none of that.
With so little dollars hitting the new talent…that talent goes elsewhere….theatre…commercials…
etc. and most never make it to the big bucks. The award are basically a recast of older stars who
win again and again. Few new major stars with any staying power.
Just like the musicindustry which has seen a major slump in new quality long term talent…we’re
seeing the same in the movies. Had the kings speech not made the oscars it would have never
been heard of by the public. And with so much 24/7 pre expsoure to a movie….if a movie is
half bad…the internet will pick it up….trash it…and kill the boxoffice receipts long before it
hits the theatre.
5. TV: More tv stations are going to better quality programming. TV compete with the movies.
Usually in recessions movie going picks up. B ut in this one….tv networks have turned up the
quality of their programming and with pay per view…on demand etc. people don’t need the
movies anymore.
6. Porn: with readily available porn on the internet…anything in the movies is not controversial nor
out of bounds…in fact more movies are behind the times when it comes to social issues.
7. Tax breaks: once a reason to produce outside hollywood…lots of states are cutting off
tax breaks for production in their states.
8. Entertainment alternatives: Now…there are just troo many. When i was growing up we
had 7 or 8 tv channel and the movies. Now…the 18-34 (key demo) has more alternatives
ioncluding netflix/gaming/ etc. to take up their time…movies are not a key part of their
entertainment shceudles. Just too many other things for the kids to do.
The number of releases are dropping and more failures are occuring. Money is drying up.
Tax breaks are being cut. Fewer quality talent to carry the movie…and too many alternatives
to the movies.
its the changing world…and its changing daily….eventually movies go direct to ppv…
UFC gets 2 million ppv each fight…i think its $39 to watch it…so eventually the studios
move to ppv or on demand right out of the box. And with netflix and redbox the revenues
to the studios goes down. AT $1 per rental how much can the studio get as opposed to the
$5 you used to pay at blockbuster…..
The movies are fading….a few will surprise us…its a changing and dying business…
Would love to see some stats /numbers to counter what i say….
sorry made a mistake
20% of the actors get 80% OF THE MONEY….
Craig Next Time Take Me
Hi babes, long tme no see. Still in good old Branson. Remember me and you in LA , fun in the sun. I was maybe too young to appreciate everything back then, but not now. Love the Academy Awards. Who the hell is this nut guy Harley? I want to come see a show soon. Will be in KC this Spring, hook me up.
Wish Mike Douglas Would have been there
My hero needed to be on the show, Mike Douglas. Enjoyed seeing Kirk still at it, nice.
Amazing
Glazer you were right dude. The hosts used the word Amazing about 100 times. The actors and winners used it 50 times. I remember you wrote something about that, funny shit. Harley my brother, so the movied biz is dead? I read that they did more this year in ticket sales then last year. You sure are a downer dude. I do think movies are not what they used to be, but some are still wonderful and entertaining. We have just seen it all, more movies, more plots, more special effects, kinda hard to show us something new anymore. I read King of Sting, twice, if that ain’t a good movie plot, I have never read one. But you hate Glazer so much it could be GONE WITH THE WIND and you would say it sucked, huh. By the way I am a real guy who did sports radio in KC. Who the FUCK are you dude? Again a fake named hater. Like my callers.
Jihad The Movie
One good reason to let the Muslims take over the US and replace the Constitution with Sharia law is that they will kill all the Jews which will wipe out the entertainment business and we won’t have to put up with a bunch of self loathing, self serving, no talent pricks and cunts patting themselves on the back for getting something right after 32 takes and a spin through Industrial Light and Magic and Digital Domain at bullshit awards shows like the Oscars, Emmy’s and Grammy’s. The Tony’s are still cool because in addition to lots of homo’s and lesbians, underneath it all they are truly thespians! Acting! Genius! Thank You!
smart? man?
Not sure I am down with Semitic genocide. KC Con offers a lot of latitude but you made it out of line on that post. I recommend fast removal.
@rainbowman
Just an observation about one way to get rid of the awards shows. I’m not anti Semitic. If I were I’d have said something like we need a new holiday called Gasover, to get some of the ones we missed. Good Yahweh man, lighten up and put on your yarmulke. It’s humor! It may seem sick to some but hey. My apology to any of The Tribe that might be offended including my literary agent Boo-Boo Berkowitz of Brooklyn, New York.
Shalom
@smartman
Who’s We?
Great to see you again, playing nicely with the other kids in the class.
There have been some great asterisk* posts this week… Go Glazer.
cmon guys….lets be intelligent…
Cowboy….where are you now…at mcdonalds…stint didnt last long and you can’t even
use any pertinent facts to refute my post. Typical ex radio jock who failed again and again.
Next time…don’t attack…like you did on radio that lost you your job….make some
intelligent arguments with factual info that proves me wrong instead of the crap you put up.
And to think you were replaced with wright and fescoe….now thats embarrasing.
Glazer…shamara? You wrote a great post and it was strong but to write your own
comments under other names is getting old. Lets talk about why king of sting won’t
become a movie…argue the points….and then explain why clint eastwood has no projects
planned in the future according to trade magazines…….. come on….you’re better than that.
@bschloz
Always an eye for detail. My use of “we” is only as a literary and communicative device to suggest another allegedly Anti-Semitic concept. My apology again for suggesting “we” are all in the tent of the Muslim Brotherhood. I hate it when my Lipschitz
Chocolate or vanilla, choose
Well let’s see. Craig makes me laugh, while Harley makes me think. I wonder which one of you Maria would choose…
Harley, what do you do for a living? You are my morning java, man. I so enjoy your replies. You obviously think. Alot. I’d compliment you for the difference you make on this website, but then you might quit writing. You are one ornery dude.
And tell me please, how and why you got a script for Craig’s movie–and read it? I thought you were fair in your assessment (tho I haven’t read it.) At least your tone was even. I don’t have your energy to build a case AGAINST someone that hasn’t insulted me personally. Did you perhaps go to law school? You give off that vibe. Do you have any love in your life? A plastic Barbie perhaps?
Hearne–instead of a game of where’s Waldo, how about Where’s Harley?
@Smart
I went to Sunday school with a Jeffery Lipshitz…. good stuff.
My Grandfather use to tell the story of Ellis Island how the clerk asks him what his name is?
he says “Feldman” his brother is right behind him and clerk asks him his name he says “Sam Ting”
He went thru life as a China Man.
Leeanne…..i’m not just the java in your morning…
People think i dislike glazer. Actually I love the guy. One of my favorite people. Despite all that
has been handed him and all that he took…the guys has balls. The guy keeps getting up. the
man has something few people have….confidence. I’ve always said the guy would be a billionaire
had he gone in public relations because he knows how to make a splash.
I love to disagree with him…mosty because i enjoy spirited debate and exchange of ideas…
sometimes he’s on …sometimes he’s off…but arent we all.
Still…theres no one in this podunk town with more balls and guts and flair for the
controversey than glazer…and I love him for that. He isn’t holding anything back…and i gotta
love the guy for that. The guys like the blow up clowns we used to punch as kids. You’d hit
the clown and it falls back and comes right back up. Glazers like that…despite all he’s gone thru
the guy just keeps getting up….and I’ve defended the guy and his family when it was right…
but there’s still lots of people who hate the guy….mostly jealousy on their part. I was like glazer
at one point in my life…but i changed. Wasn’t happy with myself and felt i needed to impress
others to make up for my problem. Glazer will find his love…settle down…have kids…and realize
that theres more to life than wine…women and song…and that will change his life foerver…it did mine.
I like to spell out my opinions…and leeanne and while i may be your morning java…at one time you
could have been my morning girl….but I’m happy with my present girl so I’m not available.
I love to write…i write for other websites also..so you see i have some background in other
areas.
I did not read nor steal glazers king of sting script. I based my opinion on what i read and observe and
do in my business. The book was cool…and i knew the story years ago. But there’s hundreds of thousands
of great scripts out in hollywood….hundreds of thousands of writers of award winning plays waiting to
get the big jump/ It was nothing personal…just my assessment that the screenwriter he chose had
not had anything significant in almost 15 years…and that the theme lacked what hollywood wants
and what they are now demanding. I would love nothing better than tyo be wrong and atend the
grand premiere of the movie in kc….I’ve done that with several movies including Rocky V which I
appeared in. If you disagree …fine….poinit out the differences…make a point…show me why i’m wrong
in my opinion….shoot the message…not the messenger.
As far as maria….she’d probably take glazer over me. He’s exciting…fun….probably got some great sttories.
Mine are limited to my single days years ago. Oh how i wished i c ould relive them…but we all move
on and life makes us ever more satisfied with smaller things.
but along with being a celebrity…comes the heat. And glazer takes it. He’s like teflon…it just rolls off him and
he moves on.
I know all these people well. they remind me of myself in past times. We;ve all faced down time and
difficulties in life. Hearne lost his position…but he can’t let go. I know the feeling all too well.
But i learned that the anger and rage will eat you up inside (heart of the matter by don henley)…
Glazer wants the attention. Truth is he has tremendous talent…truth is he’s wasting time in kc
and should be on inside hollywood or TMZ every night with his lifestyle. But thats where and how
we all end up.
Lifes one big circle…we start naked with nothing…and we end naked with nothing.
Come have coffee with me sometime on the plaza at starbucks…it would be interesting!
Maybe i’ll even buy you some java in the morning. Take care….may peace and serenity
follow you all.
Harley THIS IS THE LAST TIME OLD MAN
oK, ON King of Sting, Clint is a producer not the direcctor, thats Robert Lorenz, he is a two time academy award nominee, Million Dollar Baby and Flags of Our Fathers…he also did lst Ad on several other Clint movies including Mystic River….not too shabby…Dan Gordon wrote the script from the book got one million bucks, he also did Danzel Washingtons THE HURRICANE and Wyatt Eurp with Kevin Costner, and many others including Murder IN The First with Slaytor and Kevin Bacon…on and on…these guys kinda know whats good or not, huh. The MONEY cam from the Eisners, Eric the lead producer and selected by Michael Eisner former CEO of Disney and studio president as well as producer of many big films…these are top notch guys…Clint is directing HOOVER right now with Leo Dicaprio, then he HAS ACCEPTED ‘A STAR IS BORN” with Byonce and Wil Smith…so our movie is pushed back, Eric and I may use another director and go forward without Lorenz. Lorenz has to stay with Clint, again this is Lorenz’s film not Clints, Clint and Rob run Malpaso, the director is the ram rod, not the producer, Rob is the director Clint one of the producers with me and Eric Eisner. Got it? Movies take time, this is an A film and often they get set back, like Hoover with Clint it was at Universal with Clint and Ron Howard but they chose not to do it, so Clint took it to Warners…Enough on that.
I had five offers including Chuck Roven, Batman the Dark Knight, to do this film, I was with Roven in the 80’s, so I chose Eisner, I felt he would work hard to do this.
Getting movies made is always tough, I know I’ve done it. My best scripts never got made, and latter similar lesser films did. Much of it is the ‘who’ is doing it, not the what it is….King of Sting was written to be a movie. Clint won the Academy Award for UNFORGIVEN, that took 15 plus years to get made with Clint….the battle cry was ‘nobody wants to see a western anymore.’ Turns out they were wrong.
Lets put it this way your never doing a film til you are on a set shooting. King of Sting has been treated in a major picture deal situation. I was paid well, as was the writer, with much more on the way if the movie goes to picture. Yes Hollywood is tougher now, but it always was. When you have a few hits, they listen a bit closer and make it somewhat easier, and take risks, when you come in from a bit outside its harder, thats why you need the Eisners,Lorenz’s,Gordons and so on…I wrote several scripts and sold them. I did this one years ago and got great coverage from CAA and ICM, but I was not a ‘hit’ A list writer so they want that to go to directors and stars, simple as that. Sometimes luck plays a big part. I’ve worked on this for so many years, I have some patience left. We came along way in just one year after the book came out…we got a big name producer/writer/director we had Woody Harelson attached for Woodbeck, that may now change, they all read it and loved it, so lets see what happens next. Remember the script is not the book, the script goes from Craig at 18 to 25, his early years til he becomes an agent…so he and Don don’t die, and its an up ending…..we’ll see if that holds.
Harley some of what you say about Hollywood is true, its gonna be cut back more and more. Luckily for now they are turning back to some regular films in 2010 everything was tent pole, the 200 million dollar budgets at the studios, not now,cause most of them didn’t work and hurt the studios pockets…with movies like The Town, The Fighter, Unkown doing well we are back in the hunt, the game.
Holy shit Harley get a life
Um, H Man:
That’s a former grrrlfriend of Craig’s. I know her and she does live in Branson.
Try again.
Don’t make me stalk him, Leanne.
hey harley
I’m pretty sure Leanne in Lenexa is someone pulling your chain. I don’t have time to call out your bs but I know for a fact the best buyrate the UFC has ever had was 1.7 million buys. They’ve only had three or four over one million buys and they’ve done 128 of them.