I am presenting to you, dear readers, some excerpts from an excellent script entitled "The Long Push", a continuation from the "Brick" story, which I asked him for permission to be published here. I read it, and I thought you could enjoy of some "noir-genre" reading. I must say Jason's story blew me away, for its literary definition and cinematographic echoes. Note: for questions of time and structuring text pasted into the blog I've selected the highlights scenes, if someone was interested contact the author, Jason's e-mail: lost2@easystreet.com, and he'll send the interested readers a copy from the full novella, a real "Piper-Heidsieck" of detective tale, smart as a whip:
1. FADE IN: EXT. FOOTBALL FIELD – EARLY MORNING A big empty field behind a high school. Mostly empty -BRENDAN FRYE stands stiff as a board in the middle of the field, staring down at the body of a young man. His shell-shocked eyes take in: A GUN Lying a few feet from the body.
EYEGLASSES With fat glass slabs for lenses sticking out from the dead face, vacant eyes staring at nothing. A red-rimmed hole shows starkly on the young man’s temple.
TITLE CARD OVER BLACK: “2 DAYS PREVIOUS”
EXT. SUBURBAN STREET – DAY A mail box. Quick hands open the mail box, toss something in and close it. A lone figure trudges down the street to the mail box, opens it. A something falls out. Brendan catches the something – a black rubber ball. He looks up and down the street, looks at the ball: a small hole is drilled through it. He closes the mail box, stuffs the ball in his pocket and walks on.
EXT. SUBURBAN HOUSE – DAY Brendan knocks on the front door. A young girl opens it, she’s eating toast and has jam all over her face.
BRENDAN Hi, Sidney. Is your brother home? The girl opens her mouth and shows him more jam and toast. Brendan brushes past her.
INT. THE BRAIN’S BEDROOM Brendan knocks and opens the door and walks in, he flicks the light switch.
BRENDAN Brain—?
9. BRENDAN Uh, yeah sure, Brain. I thought you might know about—
THE BRAIN (screaming) JUST DROP IT AND LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!
Brendan drops the phone like it’s lava. He picks it back up: dial tone.
LATER 7:19 by the clock. Brendan paces. It’s a small room, back and forth.
LATER 9:27. Brendan lies on top of his bed fully clothed, staring at the clock. His eyes smolder – suddenly he’s up from the bed and grabbing his jacket and bolts from the room.
EXT. SUBURBAN STREET – NIGHT Brendan lies stretched out on his stomach, chin cradled on the back of his hands, under a pickup truck parked across the street one house down from the Brain’s house. He yawns. The Brain’s house is completely dark. Brendan twists his wrist to see the time on his watch: 12:45.
A rat darts out from under a shrub across the street, Brendan watches it run up the block and scurry behind a garbage can left out on the curb. The Brain’s garage door swings open and the rat takes off. Brendan peers intently.
A darkened sedan backs out of the garage and stops and a tall figure, a man, gets out on the driver’s side – when the map light clicks on Brendan can see someone slumped in the passenger seat, he can just make out the top of their head but not who it is. The tall man swings the garage door shut and climbs back behind the wheel, the map light clicks off.
The sedan backs into the street in front of the pickup, its backup lights illuminate Brendan like a spotlight. Brendan holds his breath. The brake lights come on and paint him deep red, the sedan’s gearbox thumps and the dark car glides forward. Brendan watches as the sedan approaches the cross street, its headlights finally coming on and its right blinker flashing like a neon sign.
11. EXT. NEXT BACKYARD Brendan dances along the side rail of a deck, jumps down.
EXT. FEEDER STREET Brendan slides down a weedy slope to the unfinished edge of a curvy four-lane feeder street, the headlights of an oncoming car pinning him as he looks to: THE NEXT INTERSECTION
It’s signal-lighted – and the signal changes and the sedan pulls out to turn but in the opposite direction from Brendan.
The oncoming car passes Brendan and he races across the first two lanes to the raised meridian, keeping the sedan in sight. He glances over his shoulder – and headlights coming from the other direction blind him, he tries to stop but his momentum carries him into the lane, he raises his arms and skids – KA-THUMP! BLACKNESS
Brendan opens his eyes: he’s lying on his back in the street, a coming-into-focus and frantic woman is running up to him from the car stopped just ahead. Brendan has only been out a few seconds. His glasses lie next to him, twisted and one lens popped out, he grabs them. He stands and immediately drops to one knee, clutching his left arm and grimacing in pain. The frantic woman helps him up, her mouth moves but he can’t hear her. He raises his glasses to his face and looks up the street: It’s empty, the sedan is gone.
Brendan pushes the woman away and staggers across the last lane and breaks into a gimpy jog. Cars drive silently by. Brendan reaches an unlighted side street. He stops, bent over and sucking wind, he looks up the side street, glances back up the feeder street – and a big truck blows by him at full volume. He tumbles over and lands on his hurt arm and screams. He rolls onto his knees, gets one foot up, the other foot and he’s standing and gulping big mouthfuls of air. He turns and trudges up the side street.
EXT. SIDE STREET The side street is steep and curves off and the houses are set back from it. Brendan struggles along, past hedges and low brick and stucco boundary walls. He peers up driveways, not seeing the sedan.
12. Brendan trips on a curb, catches himself on a mailbox pillar, a name in iron scrollwork with a little decorative rocket ship blasting off above it: “THE BRAMISH’S”.
Brendan glances up the circular driveway, the backend of a car shows at the bend. He hikes up the driveway, more of the car is revealed – it’s the sedan. Brendan approaches it slowly, he scopes out the house: all quiet, a far portico with a light left on. He reaches the sedan and cups his hands and looks in the passenger window but the car is empty. He straightens, sees a figure coming up behind him reflected in the window and turns – THWACK! BLACKNESS
EXT. BRENDAN’S HOUSE – EARLY MORNING Brendan opens his eyes: daylight, birds are singing. He sits up in his own front yard, his jacket and jeans are soaked with dew. The paperboy rides by on his bike and tosses a newspaper onto the porch. Brendan fingers his lip, it’s split but scabbed over, he moves his left arm and nearly screams, sucks in air through his teeth. He gets stiffly to his feet cradling his arm.
EXT. FOOTBALL FIELD – EARLY MORNING Brendan walks along the edge of the field, he looks over at something lying in the middle of the field. He stops, stares at it. Brendan walks up to the Brain’s body. He takes in: THE GUN A small automatic, lying a few feet from the body.
THE BRAIN’S EYEGLASSES Black plastic frames sticking up at an angle and looking like a tarantula crawling over the Brain’s dead face, vacant eyes staring at nothing. A red-rimmed hole shows starkly on the Brain’s temple. This is almost too much for Brendan, his face contorts and tears well up in his eyes and he hyperventilates. After a moment he gets himself back under control, breathes deep. He stares at his friend, his eyes glimmer wetly then focus in, he makes a decision: Brendan picks up the gun and wipes it clean, sets it back down. He turns and stares at the school’s various buildings like they’re alien structures.
20. She writes her phone number on his cast. JODI (cont’d) When you’re better, and you can take me to coffee. And pie. (waves) Bye. She leaves. Brendan smiles a quick small smile but it fades just as quickly.
INT. BRENDAN’S BEDROOM – DAY Brendan slowly dresses, putting his casted arm carefully through the sleeve of a dark suit jacket. His face is still discolored and with a couple bandages stuck to it. The rubber ball sits on his desk half-covered by random paper.
EXT. CEMETERY – DAY [...] 36. BRENDAN Okay. (turns to go, turns back) Thanks.
Steve smiles at him. Brendan smiles back sheepishly, he turns and walks down the driveway, angles into the street, walks on. His hands shake uncontrollably, he stuffs them in his pockets.
INT. BRENDAN’S BEDROOM – NIGHT Brendan – still shaking, an all-over shake now – strips off his jacket and heels off his shoes and crawls into bed. He pulls the blanket up to his chin, closes his eyes.
BLACKNESS Jodi moves towards us out of the blackness, a sly smile painting her lips. She beckons and we follow her back into the blackness, it swirls around us and we see: A SCHOOL HALLWAY
Students stare at us accusingly as we glide past, Jodi blithely leading us on. The Brain steps up and speaks, his voice is out of sync with his mouth.
THE BRAIN This isn’t for you—
Sidney pokes her head out from behind the Brain, that accusing stare again. We glide on, Nelly turns her back on us, Trueman shakes his head at us. At the end of the hallway we come to:
A WALL OF RED VELVET Jodi, still smiling, leads us into the crushing redness, the red swirls to purple and Jodi looks back at us but it’s not Jodi it’s Laura and we’re at: THE FOOTBALL FIELD It’s early morning and Laura is walking away from us. We look down at: A BABY It’s wrapped in a blanket at our feet. We look up again at: STEVE
Standing beside us, smiling at the baby, he smiles at us.
48. BRENDAN You know it.
JODI I do, a bit... I remember who you had eyes for, heard you were together. For a time.
He struggles for something to say here but he’s too slow.
JODI (cont’d) When she... died, were you still in love with her?
Images flip through Brendan’s head: EMILY Smiling in the sun; EMILY AND BRENDAN Together in a laughing embrace; EMILY Dead in the stream in front of the runoff tunnel, water swirling through her hair.
BRENDAN Yes.
JODI I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that—
BRENDAN It’s alright.
JODI I’m so stupid sometimes, I don’t think about—
BRENDAN (grabs her hand) Hey. You’re not stupid. It’s alright, really. I loved her, but we weren’t... together, at the end.
(she looks a question at him) She wanted something else.
JODI I find that hard to believe. (IT WILL CONTINUE...)
"Moretti, 26, and Barrymore, 32, split last month after nearly five years together, and a source tells Us Weekly the Strokes drummer wants a reconciliation.
According to the publication, Moretti was overheard talking about the actress at Los Angeles' Chateau Marmont hotel, saying he "would do anything to get her back." The Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti reportedly has been left devastated by his break-up with Drew Barrymore and is desperate to win her back.
Moretti has recently been romantically linked with "Spider-Man" star Kirsten Dunst." Source: Sfgate.com
"Our review of the Arcade Fire's first sold-out show at Judson Memorial Church last night is brief: [...] And then we realized who he was: Fabrizio Moretti. And we noticed a cute blonde in a hoodie next to him: Kirsten Dunst. Now, we're not saying that we saw them engage in any couple-y behavior. They were clearly there together. Maybe they're just friends. But we couldn't think of a situation in which their social circles might overlap, unless it involves that Strokes song that was on the Marie Antoinette trailer. All we're saying is that we saw them together and we thought it was odd, and that we cursed Kirsten Dunst for ruining our game." —Jada Yuan. Source: http://Nymag.com/daily
"Good news: Warner Bros. decides to remove the one factor that slowed down Batman Begins. Bad news: There'll be no Penguin!
Katie Holmes will not appear in The Dark Knight, the sequel to Batman Begins. Also, there will be no Oswald Cobblepot (a.k.a. The Penguin) in the sequel, Latino Review says. There are no details on why Holmes will not return as Rachel Dawes, but Latino Review confirms that the character will return in the film without her. It also reports that Matt Damon passed on a role in the film; that of Harvey (Two Face) Dent. Other actors who have been approached with the role of the Gotham City D.A. turned psycho-criminal are Josh Lucas, Jamie Foxx and Ed Norton.
Pre-production began Jan. 11 according to Production Weekly" Source: www.Comicbookmovie.com "El Mayimbe here with news from THE REAL DARK KNIGHT CENTRAL or as we Latinos call it THE DARK KNIGHT BODEGA!Anyway...WE first reported Eckhart...WE first reported Maggie...I won't even bring up Heath......and now it looks like Maggie Gyllenhaal will be the new Rachel Dawes! Confirmed by two of my strongest on the money sources." Source: www.Latinoreview.com
Mark Ruffalo has played his fair share of cops, so why are another one? That and many other questions were put to one of Hollywood's hardest working actors, as he and Paul Fischer talked serial killers, cops and Hollywood.
Question: What research did you feel necessary to do or do you think everything was pretty much ....
Ruffalo: Done for me?
Question: Done for you.
Ruffalo: I actually ended up doing quite a bit of research. The one thing I wanted to do was get together with Dave Toschi. And so I went to San Francisco for a few days and spent some time with him at his work and hanging out with him. And that was a big part of the whole performance, was that time I spent with him.
Question: Now you've played a cop a number of times, a few times. What is about that profession that's intriguing and what do you do to try and make ...
Ruffalo: Those different?
Question: Yeah, to try and give it as much interest as possible.
Ruffalo: They're as close to being bad guys as you can get without being a bad guy so they're walking a very fine line, you know. And I mean they're certainly in the realm of good and bad and black and white and all that. So it usually has some dramatic stuff around it. It isn't like I choose it - those are the only jobs they're giving me too you know, that they offer me. There's this projection that we like go around like, 'Oh yeah I'll take that'. No. They're the only jobs they give you. You'd be surprised how little there is of choosing. And it's ended up that I've been a cop a few times now and how that's happened, I don't know. I've been running from cops most of my life. But how that's happened ..... Ruffalo: Yeah. He's a real guy and I feel like I owe it to him to be as honest about who he was and what it cost him and what he went through as I can for the movie. And that's basically what I said to him when I went to meet him. He's like: 'I just don't know why you're here to talk to me'. And I said 'I'm here because I want to honour you, man'. 'I want try and be as honest about your life as I possibly can in the context of this film. [...]
Question: What about the obsessive nature of his character. Could you relate to that?
Ruffalo: To Dave? Dave Toschi? Well I mean shit, I've been doing this for twenty something years and you have to be a little obsessed I think to keep going. I don't relate to it - I don't have that kind of obsession. I guess I do in my acting and what I want and what I'd like my career to look like and all that and I keep hammering at it and this was like a career defining moment for him. And actually when it all blew up in his face it destroyed him and his family.
Question: I would imagine you're at the point in your career where you would have said no to another cop movie at this point. What made you say yes to this one?
Ruffalo: The first thing is the calling part of it, is that David Fincher rang and I'd like to work with him. And then I pretty much go by the material. I mean that's pretty much first and foremost. Then I read it and I just thought it was - there's a whole metaphorical side to this movie about where we are in the world today and about the way we treat evidence and law and presumptions and so that also struck me as well. Sociologically where we are today in the world because of a lot of presumptions, because we didn't follow the letter of the law in evidence, because we weren't as thorough maybe as some of these cops were back then. And so there was that aspect of it too. There was the metaphorical aspect as an artist. And then there's me just playing this guy, this real guy that really took this journey. And I saw a picture of him and I was like 'I have never played that. I have never played that guy'. So that was another thing. Have I done it? I
Question: So what are the challenges for you. You were sort of joking about what the offers are or what have you but you still have a very respectable career. Ruffalo: I hope so.
Question: You still get great roles. What are the challenges for you to find characters and find projects that you can really sink your teeth into?
Ruffalo: Well there's not a lot of great writing you know. What happens now is that there's, it's writing by committee and they want - even this movie, the release of this movie, OK? This movie could have been released in November. It stands up with anything that's out there right now I think. But because it's a serial killer movie that they don't catch the serial killer in the end, everyone's like freaked out. They don't know ... 'What do we do with this movie?' you know. And it's that sort of mentality that is making the world a much smaller place. It's just the surer thing, the surer bet, you know. So characters are less interesting, stories are less risky. Question: Are you a cynic?
Ruffalo: Listen. Not only is that glass half empty - it's also a little glass.
Question: Do you see this movie getting under the skin, I mean this case has a way of getting people wrapped up in it. Did you see it happening with the film makers? Did it happen to you?
Ruffalo: It's like the perfect snake eating its own tail. Fincher, who became obsessed with this case makes a movie about obsession - about people's obsession about the case. It just keeps going around and around and around.
Question: So Fincher is obsessive is he?
Ruffalo: Fincher is, when he's working on something, becomes obsessed with it. He wants to know every little detail about it. He is so detailed oriented. Only because he doesn't want to be the guy who shows up and knows less than anybody else there. He is an incredibly conscientious film maker. As far as his work ethic, and I mean I have never worked with him before. But he steeped himself in this material. He steeped himself. I mean we probably came closer to solving this case than anybody has. I mean, we had the resources, we had the people, we had the technology. I mean we've been able to do stuff with ... he'll talk to these cops and they'll say 'I never knew that'. He'll spit out pieces and they're like 'I never knew that' - guys that worked on this case, whose whole life was this case. Question: What are you doing next now?
Ruffalo: I'm hanging out with my kids.
Question: You are taking a break?
Ruffalo: Yeah. I'm looking for a job.
Question: I thought you were going to do The Brass Wall.
Ruffalo: They're still writing it. You know, God help us, that happens. Yeah, they're in the middle of writing it and I'd like to do it but that's months and months away.
Question: You didn't make anything after this?
Ruffalo: I did Reservation Road, yeah.
Question: Fincher's movie Seven kind of defined a certain kind of serial killer genre movies for years. Was he consciously trying to show the opposite side of the real life frustrations?
Ruffalo: I think he said to himself 'If I'm going to do this I'm going to totally, you know, just recreate it for myself'. Question: What will you and your wife be doing for Valentines Day? Anything fun?
Ruffalo: We're going to try and get a room at the Chateau. and I'll get in. No I don't know what we're doing.
Question: Don't get the one next to Lindsay Lohan. Ruffalo: No is she still there?" Source: www.Darkhorizons.com
While film lacks the pure emotional wallop of "Eternal Sunshine", it remains a beguiling, sugar-frosted fantasy, utterly unlike anything else currently doing the rounds. It also boasts a lovely chemistry between Bernal and Gainsbourg as the mismatched playmates who may just become lovers.
Of course, movies have a knack of bamboozling the viewer. Previously, I had always imagined a similar connection between Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine. Off-screen, however, this turns out not to have been the case.
"Much more difficulty," Gondry says. "They were very different personalities and I think they are coming from such different backgrounds that they are having to stretch to meet. They did an amazing job, but it was a lot to ask for them to become friends." This thorny relationship was reflected across the entire production. "We had two producers, one from New York and one from LA, so different backgrounds again. Then you had Charlie Kaufman and Jim Carrey, two strong personalities. And I was in the middle. I would talk to Jim Carrey and listen to his ideas. And I liked them, but they were -" he gestures across the room - "way over here." Like what? "Well, I remember he would go, 'Oh, maybe I'm eating a cake and my house is inside the cake.' Or, 'Maybe I suddenly lose my eye and I'm rotting and it's like a horror movie.' And I would never even dare to pass these ideas on to Charlie Kaufman. His views were very different."
Gondry insists he never feels resentful that "Eternal Sunshine" is generally viewed as a Kaufman film, with the director playing second fiddle. "People write these things in newspapers, so it's obvious they gravitate towards the writer," he shrugs. "Yet film is a visual language, not a written one. So when people say I can't tell a story because I'm coming from videos, it's very dismissive of what movies really are."
"English is more direct, more confident," Gondry says. "I had an English girlfriend after breaking up with Paul's mother, who is French. I would never say 'I love you' in French. It is too definitive. If you say it once, that's it. It's like saying, 'I will die for you.' In England, you can say it casually."
He pauses to ponder this conundrum; this thicket of missed connections and language barriers, gaudy dreams and cold realities. Eventually he is forced to let it lie. "I wish there was an easy answer," he sighs. "It is very complexicated". Source: Film.Guardian.co.uk
